08/10/1991 NJPW

Keiji Muto def. Big Van Vader in 13:29 

This was probably peak fucking Muto, although Lord knows there were other great runs. But he was still so freakishly athletic in this era, something that changed over time as his knees deteriorated. Vader wasn’t fucking around, either. Young guys today who always take an inside-out bump on a clothesline should watch Muto take a flat back bump from Vader’s clotheslines. It looked life-altering without looking fake. Muto got all of his typical Muto/Muta stuff in. All of that looked phenomenal, but what really stood out was that every single strike looked great, be it a forearm or a kick. Muto was so precise. The music between the notes was on point. As unhinged as Vader seemed in WCW, he probably didn’t quite capture the monster feel he had here in NJPW. Not only were they kicking out of finishers, but Muto got a couple of believable nearfalls with small packages that the crowd bought. The finish came when Muto got caught coming off the top; Vader slammed him, but Muto used a kind of botched small package for the win. The finish wasn’t well-executed for sure, but this was still a great fucking match. Both these dudes rule. ****1/2