MARCH 21
1991
WCW and New Japan co-promoted a show at the Tokyo Dome in front of 55,000 fans. The show was billed as “Starrcade In Tokyo” and in the main event, Ric Flair defended the NWA World Title against Tatsumi Fujinami in a ***1/2 match. The match had a Dusty finish where Fujinami pinned Flair after a ref bump, but because he threw Flair over the top rope, the title was returned to Flair. Retroactively, the NWA recognized this as a title change. Also on the card, Jushin Liger and Akira Nogami had a **** match and Sting had his first match with The Great Muta on foreign soil. The most memorable match of the show was not one that I think holds up at quite this level (I’d give it ***1/2), but was a classic match at the time, as The Steiner Brothers defeated Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles. Parts of the show were later broadcast in the United States as a WCW pay-per-view.
1992
SMW television had Jim Cornette attempting to debut his new tag team, but he was unable to do so because they were mobbed by Hooters waitresses when attempting to come out of their limousine. In a funny inside joke, Cornette’s limo driver was named Herd.
WWF Superstars included a segment where Gene Okerlund interviewed Ric Flair on his yacht. Flair showed a picture of himself and Miss Elizabeth with a horse, saying that she was with her two favorite studs.
1995
AJW held the Wrestling Queendom card at Castle Hall in Osaka before 8,500 fans. In the main event, Kyoko Inoue and Takako Inoue defeated Manami Toyota and Blizzard Yuki (Sakie Hasegawa’s alter ego) to win the WWWA Tag Team Titles in a *** match. Also on the card, Lioness Asuka and Yumiko Hotta squared off in a ***3/4 fake shootfight which was quite the spectacle.
JWP held a card at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall with one of the best main events in company history, a ****3/4 match where Mayumi Ozaki teamed with Cutie Suzuki, Candy Okutsu and Sumiyo Toyama to face Dynamite Kansai, Devil Masami, Hikari Fukuoka and Hiromi Yagi. The match was contested under elimination rules and only a one-count was required to be eliminated, giving this a heightened sense of drama.
All Japan held a card at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall which kicked off the Championship Carnival. Toshiaki Kawada defeated Jun Akiyama in a ***3/4 match, while Akira Taue defeated Kenta Kobashi in a ****1/4 match.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcyZh0OneVc
1999
ECW aired Living Dangerously ’99 live on pay-per-view from Asbury Park, NJ in front of 3,900 fans. Rob Van Dam and Jerry Lynn had one of their most fondly remembered matches while Super Crazy and Yoshihiro Taijiri gave a strong opener. In the main event, Taz defeated Sabu to unify the ECW and FTW titles in a Falls Count Anywhere Extreme Death Match. The show did just over 82,000 buys, and you can watch it on the WWE Network.
In The “To Watch” Queue:
Mayumi Ozaki & Cutie Suzuki vs Devil Masami & Dynamite Kansai (JWP 03/21/93)
Stan Hansen vs Takao Omori (AJPW 03/21/95)
Mitsuharu Misawa vs Doug Furnas (AJPW 03/21/95)