NJPW Super Heavy Crash, Osaka, Japan
This is a request via Ko-fi. Still early days Vader with the full mask instead of the crotchless mask. This is a first-time ever meeting between the two big Americans.
Vader shouting that wild shit before the match as Norton is checked by the referee. Bell sounds, Vader encourages chants from the crowd, Norton just waits and finally locks up. They break quickly, nobody budging. They lock up, break quickly, nobody budging. Norton gets right in Vader’s face. “You want some of this? Take it!”
Vader shoves him a bit and then here come the beefy forearms from Norton to Vader’s chest. Norton EFFORTLESSLY slams Vader, and Vader pops back up with a clothesline and a forearm to Norton’s rock-solid chest. Norton doesn’t budge. Vader slams Norton. Norton gets right back up.
Norton shoves Vader to the corner. They collide, nobody budges again. Vader backs off to the ropes, screams out like a wildman, and still can’t move Norton. Norton pushes Vader to the corner again and lays in with forearms and knees. Vader reverses a whip to the corner and crushes Norton with a big charge in.
Vader with a Samoan drop. Now some headbutts and shit from Vader. Norton off the ropes, Vader clubs him down with a lariat. Norton dumped out to the floor, and after a moment to catch his breath, Vader joins him out there. Vader with a right hand to the mush, then he sends Norton back in.
Vader body attack, cover gets two. Vader with another scoop slam, another cover, another two. Vader takes Norton down by the arm and looks for an armbar, kinda sorta has one. It’s not the excellence of execution but then these men are very large. At any rate, Vader has an armbar on and Norton is in a bad way here.
Vader releases that, then grabs a cross armbreaker. Vader eventually releases as Norton isn’t going to give up. Vader with some more big clubbing shots in the corner, first across the chest, then the side of the head. As Vader backs off and looks to charge forward, Norton springs out of the corner and drops him with a lariat, then hits an elbowdrop.
Norton with a big suplex. Cover gets two. Vader rolls out to the floor and tips a table over because he can. Norton just watches from the ring, then knees Vader off the apron when Vader tries to get back into the ring. A second attempt and Norton hammers Vader back down with forearm shots. Vader frustrated, shouting at the ref to “get him back” as the count is on again.
Vader tries to get back in, Norton with headbutts this time, then he runs Vader down the apron and posts his head. This time Norton lets Vader back in but is right there when he does get inside. Norton with a running lariat and Vader is down. Norton covers for two. He’s in control.
Vader backs to the corner, Norton forearms and chops and sends Vader off to the other side. Vader gets a boot up on a charging Norton, then hits a big lariat and looks to head up top. Norton is back to his feet, and Vader flies off, knocking him down with a shoulder or clothesline or whatever, then hits a running splash for two.
The fight goes to the floor and Vader pounds Norton against the post, then looks to crush him there, but Norton hits him with a clothesline, then another as they go out into the crowd. Norton back into the ring and willing to accept the countout, which he gets, as Vader can’t make it back in time to beat the 20 count.
After the match, Vader takes his mask off and gets the mic. “Come on back!” Crowd chants for Vader and he DROPS THE STRAPS but that is probably not going to lead to fiery right hands and a piledriver.
Norton climbs back into the ring. Vader levels the referee for the fuck of it. The young boys are climbing onto the apron. Anyway, they big boys fight some more and nobody is too keen to jump in and stop them, understandably. and Vader just CRUSHES Norton with a back suplex, then a big lariat. Vader getting his heat back here, brother, just mowing Norton down and leaving the ring. But Norton shows his FIGHTING SPIRIT by getting back up and calling for the mic.
“Vader! VADERRRR! Get your ass back in this ring! We ain’t settled nothin’ yet! Get over here, boy!”
So Vader starts to come back, headbutting a young boy on the way. Norton whacks one off the apron. Vader picks up a table and throws it at ringside. He, like Hulk Hogan, asks the crowd if they want it, and they DO. So Vader goes back in and they club the shit out of each other some more. Young boys finally try to jump in and a couple get slaughtered quickly before they finally manage to break things up.
Rating: 3/5. It’s a good match that doesn’t necessarily inspire me greatly, which goes for a lot of Norton’s Japan work. I like it, I respect it, I appreciate that it exists, but I’ve never loved it. Norton was a good big man wrestler in Japan especially but he never made me FEEL much. Vader does, but even with Vader here I don’t get the tinglies watching this, even though I enjoy the 10 minutes spent with it.
Tape Machines Are Rolling 
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