August 1988

I'm trying to put into words how much I liked this match but I don't think I'll be able to do this justice. If the match was about ten minutes shorter I think it could've rated it as a top ten match of all time. It's still an absolutely incredible match, an the crowd never really dies but after a certain point they just aren't buying the submissions as much as they did and it's more of a "clap for rope breaks/escapes/general effort" thing. This was a perfect showcase for both wrestler's abilities, the matwork was phenomenal and they managed to escape a perfect sense of one-upmanship. It is a match that manages to excel both at the little things and the big things, there's…

These two go at each other once again after previously going to a 30 minute draw at the Starting Over Vol.2 event. There is more of the same again - careful, deliberate, both waiting for openings and defending nicely on the mat. Nakano uses his weight brilliantly to add more pressure to Miyato when he takes the back and Miyato is light on his feet to gain some ground of his own. The little spurts where they go back and forth with kicks and slaps is great and adds a little more excitement to the bouts mixed in with the grappling. They escalate nicely as the 15 minute time lapses over, throwing in more dynamic sequences and more big throws. Miyato threw a killer spinning so…

Yamazaki rules in this match. He's such an awesome fiery underdog and of the shoot-style bunch, he's one of the better sellers, especially here. The way he screams and scrambles on the armbar, or rolling out of the ring after the leglock. The crowd was brewing throughout, heating up early on when Takada reaches in during a lock up and smacks Yamazaki. Takada zeroes in on Yamazaki's leg with some snug kicks and working in the single leg crab hold. When Yamazaki comes at Takada with knees, Takada drops him with a hard right. Takada was Takada here, wrestling like he's got something to prove, but Yamazaki hung on, surviving the belly-to-belly and dragon suplexes. He's able t…

Blue Angel (Owen Hart) vs Barry Horowitz - WWF LA 8/13/88 Owen Hart in a Super Calo like mask is the Blue Angel. Owen is already technically more proficient than 95% of the WWF roster at this point and blows Gorilla and Superstar's mind within a minute with his moves. His outfit looks wicked bush league and Blue Blazer was definitely a big upgrade. Owen looked freaking awesome here. Superstar makes a great point saying he is doing cool moves, but is delivering the pain too. I love how he is always maintaining wrist control throughout all his cool, flashy chaining sequences. The shine is a really good one that really showcases Owen. Horowitz' best contribution is that …

A previously unseen 1980s bloody El Hijo Del Santo match is pretty great treat to wake up to on a Wednesday morning. This starts out a bit awkward with Santo taking a weird off bump into the turnbuckle, and Santo beating up the ref. Business really pick ups when Santo gets posted, as he has a classic Santo bloody stain on mask which keeps growing throughout the match. Chino really gets the crowd riled up and both guys brawl into the crowd, with this HH you can only catch snatches of them through the standing crazy crowd, but you can get glimpses of Santo getting chucked into chairs or Chino getting posted. Third fall is a blood soaked classic, both guys are drenched and p…

AJPW World Tag Team Champions Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara - AJPW 8/29/88 Jumbo & Yatsu unified the Double Cup (PWF & NWA International Championships) earlier in the year against the Road Warriors. He dropped it and won it back against the formidable combination of Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy. The commentators bring up Bruiser Brody who died about a month ago tragically in Puerto Rico and this must have been some sort of memorial show for him. First Twenty Minutes: First fifteen minutes are solid if uneventful. The most interesting elements are of course the Jumbo & Tenryu interactions. Tenryu gets his t…

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This is the perfection of the Bruiser Brody memorial match on 8-29-88. Holy cow is this match some closed fisted, sweat swapping wrestling. People don't talk a lot about Yoshiaki Yatsu or Ashura Hara yet they are total skull crushers. Yatsu is a real top talent and is worthy of a spotlight review because I know he's a tag master! This match is just another fine example that our chubby cheeked friend will smash his elbows into your skull and eat your brain!! Maybe not so much on the second part. So, Ashura Hara is equally vicious especially his Crowbar Lariat. I can't remember where I heard it called that but, shit! Its about as stiff as one. Love it and his jehri curl. Te…