August 1992

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This went from not good to okay upon re-watch. Allen has the credentials and he does get a decent throwdown into an armbar attempt but he also doesn't look like he's trying too hard. Albright, on the other hand, loves to suplex and slings him with a belly-to-belly, then German suplexes him, puts him in the grounded full nelson before Allen gives up the ghost. Here's hoping the rematch is something else.

It's Ray Lloyd aka WCW's Glacier making his UWFi debut against none other than KiyoshI Tamura. This has to rule, right? Wrong. Baby Glacier shows off a big kick but promptly gets taken down and put into a kneelock. Tamura just keeps taking Lloyd back to the ropes with holds, and everything Lloyd tries to do is sloppy and unsuccessful. Tamura did what he could and finally submits him with the single leg crab. Not good.

Well, it's happened. Tom Burton was involved in the best match of a show. Granted, the show wasn't very good in general but credit where credit is due. Honestly, it comes down to the Kaki/Burton exchanges because as we know, Kaki is slappy and he ambushes Burton. The transition from Burton's double leg takedown attempt to a shoot piledriver was so good. And then when Burton tries another takedown, Kakihara smacks his head and Burton crawls like a big baby out of the ring and to the floor. So I guess the best part is Burton getting beaten up but he still manages to hit a decent double arm suplex. Nakano wasn't at his best here but he did have some nice interactions with Mi…

This wasn't very good either. Yamazaki kicking everyone was probably the highlight. Fleming sucks and I guess Takada looked pretty good against a guy like Mark Silver, who sells plenty but also gets some shine, putting the boss himself in the dreaded single leg. Takada of course finishes it out, kicking Silver in the head and submitting him with the armbar. Mehhh.

Any idea what happened to Masakazu Maeda? It appears his pro-wrestling career was over after his 5/8/92 match and now Takayama has been plugged into the opening rivalry with Kanehara. Anyway, this was better than their previous match. It's still sloppy with lots of flailing around and wild strikes but I guess that's part of the charm. Takayama hits a nice German suplex and Kanehara knocks down Takayama with a nasty high kick to the throat! He also tries to follow up with some big spin kicks to no avail but still high kicks Takayama in the head a bunch and finally taps him with the kneebar. This was pretty fun and probably the second best match of the show.

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IWGP Heavyweight Champion Riki Choshu vs The Great Muta - NJPW 8/16/92 It is pretty telling of how New Japan in the 90s is viewed that this is not considered a seminal match. It is not a great match, but it is an incredibly important match. Muta is the first of Three Musketeers to win the IWGP Championship and he does so by beating Choshu, the rockstar of New Japan 80s. Muta is the rockstar of the New Japan 90s in a more demonic and over the top way. Inoki at this point put charisma over everything else. Yes, Chono won two G-1 Climaxs in a row and was crowned NWA World Champion four days before, but it is Keiji Mutoh in the Great Muta gimmick that is the first of the …

This was a really good studio match between two talented young workers. Hell knows why, but for some reason they got a lot things right that many other joshi matches get wrong. It may be just my imagination. The thing I liked most about this bout was that it was basically a primitive approximation of a lucha title match. They start it very mat based and build nicely from simple holds into submission nearfalls. Then Bolshoi Kid was working like one of the stranger luchadores - think Matematico, or maybe Super Astro, doing all these funny clown moves that work really well for an eccentric technical wrestler. Mariko shows her colors when it's time to drop bombs and she dishe…

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This was similar to Kopilov’s match against Han in that it was more or less a stalemate on the mat. But it was fun seeing Maeda go to the mat early on, and I thought the struggle and defense on the ground was well-executed. Where this match excels over the match with Han is Maeda's character work. He's such a good babyface-in-peril when he needs to be and I loved the drama from him as he's trying to get to the ropes when Kopilov snags him with the kimura. Kopilov’s terrific on the mat, trying to tie Maeda into knots, until eventually Maeda says “fuck the matwork” and starts picking up knockdowns with his strikes -- big open-hand slaps to the face, kicks, and knees. But Ko…

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