June 1986

Watched this on a whim today and it did not disappoint. Starts off with the usual pairings you'd expect and Misawa actually looks really comfortable in the TMII role. He has excellent chemistry with Kobayashi here. The heavyweights bring the heat and this gets really chippy at times. There was some stuff with Killer Khan on the outside, possibly building to a match with Yatsu? Thankfully it doesn't come into play very much. It's interesting to me that Jumbo and Tenryu worked so heelish against Choshu and Yatsu throughout much of their feud, even though I always got the impression they were positioned in opposite roles booking wise. The crowd always seems to love them some…

Ric Flair defends the NWA World Heavyweight title in Orlando. Talk about it here

The opening portion of this one was intriguing as Saito completely dominated Fuchi mostly with stomps and punchs, some were nice but overall Saito's punches and stomps didn't look good enough to have significant merit on their own nor did they look bad enough to take away from the match, the quality of this one was mostly down to how they were gonna follow up the beatdown and that's where the match really took off, Fuchi went absolutely berserk just blasting Saito with amazing punches and just beat the shit out of him and when he satisfied my bloodthirst they transition to the closing stretch which was mostly built around big nearfalls including a swell count-out tease. A…

Antonio Inoki vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara - NJPW 6/12/1986 Call me crazy but I preferred the rematch to the original. This was the brutal, violent spectacle that I expected the first one to be. So let me get out of the way why I suspect this match did not do too well the constant rear naked choke/sleeper, I can see how the repetition could make the match drag for some people. For me, it hooked me. Fujiwara was pissed he got choked out in February and was out for blood. This was Fujiwara unleashed and what I was clamoring for. He bumrushes Inoki and just snapmares him to death before applying a choke. When Inoki gets out of that, it judo throw after judo throw and apply the …

UWF top dog delivers a monstrous beating to New Japan's hero, who will not stay down no matter what. Maeda is good as the destroyer but Fujinami's epic selling performance makes this a classic. The top NJPW match of the 80s. ****5/8

WCCW TV Champion Chris Adams vs Buzz Sawyer - WCCW 6/16/86 Wrestling needs more fuzzy boots! I have loved Buzz Sawyer in everything has been in so far and this is no different. He is really good at acting off his rocker. I liked him constantly just biting Adams in whatever part of his body was closest to his mouth break the armbar. The arm work was set up nicely by Sawyer charging into a post early. Sawyer is like a better Brody. Same fuzzy boots, better at portraying crazed, he is always moving forward (little too much at times), but he will bump and sell too. I find Adams to be very technically proficient, but a bit bland prefer him as a face for this reason. Adams …

Antonio Inoki vs Dick Murdoch - NJPW 6/19/86 I believe this was the final of the 1986 IWGP League. The match feels JIP because right out the gate Murdoch hits three slams and goes to work on the arm. It feels like they just fast forwarded to the heat segment and it was not earned. However, they more than make up for it with some really amazing work. We all know Murdoch is a pro at torturing the arm with both holds and strikes. He is always great facial expressions and attitude. I thought Inoki sold the arm like a million bucks. Murdoch went out after Inoki during every rope break or powder with showed his tenacity but also his willingness to bend the rules. I li…

The second and final appearance of Breaks on 'Satellite Wrestling', and he again cuts an interview before the match while sporting a rather dashing yellow Pringle V-neck. This was better than his previous effort, but he spent most of the time knocking Johnny Saint to continue the rivalry between the two of them rather than his upcoming opponent. The commentary was better too in the fact that at least they didn't talk over each other, though I was still expecting to hear 'whattamaneuvre' at some point. The crowd were pretty dead for this match which isn't the norm when Breaks is involved. This was the first time I'd seen (or even heard of) Hunter who has a few nice spo…

Sheepherders attack before the bell. It's a brawl from Jump Street and it's a New Zealand Boot Camp Match. This is chaotic, full of danger and wildness.Loved when the Sheepherders went for a chair in the crowd and they wouldn't give it to them. Both Fantastics are bloody as hell. It seems to be Texas Tornado rules, no DQ. Fulton is bleeding . One Sheepherder is using a rope, while the other is using a wooden fork. It's been all Sheepherders. This is a total , A USA chant breaks, but the beatdown shuts the chant down. Fantastics starts a comeback with a policeman's night stick , but they're cut off. Fulton is a bloody mess. This is a Fulton showcase. He's the glue, to thes…

Ricky Steamboat vs Jake Roberts - WWF Boston 6/27/86 I really enjoyed this match! These are two wrestlers that I have been a little down on, but I thought they weaved a great story in this match. I think a lot of my issues with Jake The Snake was twofold. One was not watching enough Jake to get him and understand him. Since he is not a pure power or speed guy, it does not immediately leap off the page. On top of that, a lot of what I was watching was babyface Jake The Snake and I don't know if that's where Jake excels. From watching this and watching the SNME angle shot before this where he jumps Steamboat, cracks his head on the concrete with the DDT a couple times a…

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen vs Crusher Blackwell - AWA 6/28/86 I am just so glad Blackwell vs Hansen exists even if it is just a TV angle match! Imagine Blackwell vs Flair or even better Blackwell vs Hogan in like 1985, HOT DAMN! MSG would have been rocking on that night. Blackwell was supposed to get his title shot last month, but had an ankle injury. Hansen cut a great promo calling him lily-liver and then attacking him. Hennig saved Blackwell to set up this match, which was just a set up for the house show loop, I would reckon. This would a good bloody hoss battle to get you revved for them coming to your town. Hansen tried to jumpstart the match, bu…

UWF Heavyweight Champion Terry Gordy vs Dr. Death - UWF TV 6/22/86 If there is one style of wrestling I'm partial to it is this raw-bone, pure power slobberknockers pitting two stout hosses against each other. Mid-South gives you a lot of variety, but this is their bread and butter. Who better than two members of the Miracle Violence Connections butting heads. Doc throwing Gordy around was fucking impressive as all hell at the beginning. Gordy took him down with a clothesline and then whipped him so hard into the buckles that it broke the top turnbuckle. Worked or not, I don't think it was that was awesome. I thought Michael Hayes was great on commentary. Doc was grea…