Event: New Japan "Super Force Group Declaration 2001"
Location: Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Announced Attendance: 13,200

This would be Mutoh and Hase's first singles match since Hase left New Japan in early 1996. They circle each other to start, front facelock by Mutoh but Hase rolls out of it. They jockey for position, front facelock by Hase and he shifts to the back. Mutoh applies a bulldog headlock, Hase struggles to his feet and regains the advantage. Hase takes Mutoh to the mat and rolls up Mutoh, but it gets a one count. Both wrestlers return to their feet and go into a Test of Strength, which Hase gets the better of and he drop toeholds Mutoh to the mat. Hase begins working on the leg as he applies a modified leg lock. Mutoh reaches the ropes to get a break and both wrestlers return to their feet, full nelson by Mutoh, he takes Hase to the mat by his arm but Hase quickly rolls out of it and tries to pin Mutoh to the mat. Mutoh gets out of that and they return to their feet, side headlock by Hase, Mutoh Irish whips out of it but Hase shoulderblocks him down. Hase goes off the ropes and both wrestlers go for dropkicks with neither connecting. Hase goes for Mutoh's arm but Mutoh pushes Hase into the ropes. Shoulder tackle by Mutoh and they trade chops, snapmare by Mutoh and he delivers the Flash Elbow. Cover by Mutoh but Hase quickly gets a shoulder up. Mutoh goes for Hase's arm and applies an armlock, but Hase gets out of it and jumps down onto Mutoh's leg while it is resting on the second rope. Hase goes for Mutoh's leg again but Mutoh is too close to the ropes and gets the break. Mutoh goes for Hase's arm and tries for the cross armbreaker, but Hase blocks it. They jockey for position, bodyscissors by Mutoh but they roll into the ropes. Back up, side headlock by Hase, takedown by Mutoh and he applies a headscissors, side headlock by Mutoh, Hase Irish whips out of it but Hase shoulderblocks him down. Mutoh avoids an Hase dropkick attempt and dropkicks Hase in the back of the knee as he is getting up. Dropkick to the knee by Mutoh and he hits a dragon screw leg whip. Mutoh waits for Hase to get up and hits another dragon screw leg whip before applying the figure four leg lock. Hase eventually rolls to the ropes to force a break, but Mutoh dropkicks him again in the back of the knee. Another dropkick to the knee by Mutoh, Hase goes for a kick but Mutoh catches his leg and hits a dragon screw leg whip. Mutoh re-applies the figure four but again Hase makes it to the ropes. Mutoh dropkicks Hase in the knee and delivers a dragon screw leg whip, he goes for the figure four but Hase rolls him up for a two count. Now Hase dropkicks Mutoh twice in the knee, he puts Mutoh in the Tree of Woe and hits a pair of dropkicks to his knee. Figure four leg lock by Hase but Mutoh gets to the ropes to break the hold.

Hase grabs Mutoh as he tries to get away and applies the Scorpion Deathlock but Mutoh quickly gets to the ropes. Kick to the leg by Hase and Mutoh rolls to the apron, but Hase boots Mutoh down to the floor. Mutoh gets up but Hase flies out onto him with a pescado. Hase rolls Mutoh back into the ring, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a missile dropkick. Kip-up by Hase but Mutoh snaps off a hurricanrana and applies the cross armbreaker. Hase gets out of it but Mutoh begins dropkicking him in the leg. He goes for the cross armbreaker again but Hase blocks it. Mutoh picks up Hase, backbreaker, he goes up to the top turnbuckle but Hase recovers and joins him up top. Uranage by Hase from the top turnbuckle to the mat, he picks up Mutoh and plants him with another uranage. Hase drags Mutoh to his feet and hits a German suplex hold, but it gets a two count. Back up, full nelson by Hase and he nails the Dragon Suplex hold for another two count. Hase is running out of tricks, but he still has the Northern Lights Suplex. Hase picks up Mutoh and drops him with a piledriver for a two count cover. Hase goes for a boot but Mutoh catches his leg and hits a dragon screw leg whip. He then hops up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a dropkick to Hase's knee. Another dragon screw by Mutoh, he goes up to the top turnbuckle again and hits a missile dropkick. Mutoh punches Hase in the corner, he puts Hase on the top turnbuckle but Hase reverses the Frankensteiner attempt with an avalanche powerbomb for a two count. Northern Lights Suplex by Hase, but Mutoh barely gets a shoulder up. Uranage by Hase, he drags Mutoh to his feet and plants him with another one. Cover, but it gets a two count. Hase goes up to the top turnbuckle but Mutoh rolls out of the way of the diving knee drop. Dropkick to the knee by Mutoh, and he dropkicks Hase in the knee again. Dragon screw leg whip by Mutoh and he quickly slaps on the figure four leg lock. Hase makes it to the ropes, Mutoh grabs him but Hase kicks him back. Hase picks up Mutoh and hits a German suplex hold, but it gets a two count. Hase picks up Mutoh and delivers an uranage, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and nails a diving knee drop. Cover, but Mutoh gets a shoulder up. Hase picks up Mutoh and hits a Northern Lights Suplex, but he still can't get the three count. Hase drags Mutoh up and goes for a second one, but Mutoh knees out of it and hits an overhead kick. Another overhead kick by Mutoh, he waits for Hase to get to one knee and nails him with a Shining Wizard. Cover, and Mutoh picks up the three count! Your winner: Keiji Mutoh

Match Thoughts: Well, this was quite the match. Suffice to say if you don't like Mutoh you probably won't like this match, but that obviously isn't an issue with me. To say they took a very slow and technical/scientific approach to this match would be an understatement, but this is really Mutoh in his element as I think all his matches would be structured like this if he had the choice. Everything was done with a purpose... sure, there were a lot of dragon screws but why would Mutoh mix it up when what he was doing worked? The only real problem I had with the match was Hase's selling, I think he blew off the first set of Mutoh's leg work way too easily. Mutoh worked his leg over for a good 5 to 7 minutes but as soon as Hase was in control again he showed no lingering effects whatsoever. On the flip side Mutoh was great at selling Hase's moves, especially the uranages. The only other minor complaint I had was Hase really did every move he has to Mutoh... at least twice... while all along Mutoh still had the Shining Wizard and Moonsault in his back pocket. It became pretty clear that Mutoh was winning (not that there was much doubt anyway) after he kicked out of the avalanche uranage, the numerous regular uranages, and two Northern Lights Suplexes. Still, I enjoyed the match, I can't watch a card full of matches like this but it is a good change of pace and this is really Mutoh at his best, putting on long technical and logical matches to slowly put his opponent away. Score: 7.5

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