May 1989

Nobuhiko Takada vs Kazuo Yamazaki - UWF II 5/4/89 First Half: Well this is not the most exciting 15 minutes of wrestling ever. I found myself zoning in and out. The match picked up at the first rope break when Takada needed to escape a kneebar. Good selling from him. Interesting that Yamazaki went back after that leg not always a strategy in shoot-style. Bundle of legs where both guys are working leg laces is my least favorite hold. My favorite part of the match thus far is when Takada catches a kick and headbutts Yamazaki and then powerslams him. So pro wrestling, but great. Takada cant capitalize and Yamazaki armdrags and applies a sleeper. There is an escape and Y…

This is easily the best UWF Miyato match that I've seen so far. There's not much of that to attribute to Miyato, which is even more remarkable, since it was still Suzuki's rookie year and only his second UWF match! Suzuki quite literally wrestle circles around Miyato, and his mannerisims honestly aren't far off from what we'd see from him nowadays. Miyato basically stays in the match by sheer force of will to not let the rookie show him up by beating him. Miyato winds up winning when he figures out that Suzuki is susceptible to suplexes, and getting a few lucky shots when they were both throwing wild swings at each other. After a year of snoozefests with Nakano and Anjo, …

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Boston house show match. Talk about it here

Terry Funk vs Eddie Guerrero - WCW 5/20/89 This match totally lives up to the hype. One of the best superstar vs JTTS matches and shows Eddie definitely had the skills to pay the bills. Funk gave so much to Eddie. Eddie evades early and shows off his high flying with a back flip. Then Funk catches his drop kick and turns it into a GIANT SWING! Wow! Funk had some awesome chops in this. Funk hoists him up and lawn darts Eddie over the top. Crazy bump! Funk into post. Eddie does his crazy splash from top rope to the floor! Eddie misses the plancha. Funk hits a baseball slide and then Piledriver to the floor ala what he did to Flair. Throws him back in for the 3. Awesome…

Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki - UWF II 5/21/89 I was dreading this because I found their '88 match so dull, but this was phenomenal. Best Akira Maeda match ever even better than the November '88 match with Takada and I hate Maeda. I think he is boring as piss, but this was great. Tons of great stand up exchanges and throws. Very little time on the mat which suits these guys well. I knew this was going to be great when Yamazaki caught a head kick and just threw Maeda down and starting kicking the shit out of him. The throws were organic and felt like each was earned. The string of four knockdowns in a row were amazing and compelling. Yamazaki was working that leg and …

Man, I forget what a great fight this was. Crazy UWF grappler Backlund was so cool to watch. Easily the best stuff he ever did. Basically Backlund irritates Cool Guy Funaki a bunch so Funaki tries to beat him to a pulp, including knife edge chopping him in the face. Supposedly the UWF people didn't like Backlund's pro style spots (altough Funaki starts working more pro stylish himself), and it almost felt like Backlund was being intentionally goofy to piss Funaki off. He even seemed to be smirking for a few moments. The best part is that Funaki can't seem to crack Backlund. I loved how Backlund would take a beating, but seemingly toy around and then fuck Funaki up with a …

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Vader vs Salman Hashimikov - NJPW 5/25/1989 Nothing like seeing dying days USA VS USSR feud play out in Japan. :p Inoki, after a couple years of wrestling traditional heels such as Masa Saito, Riki Choshu and Vader, is going back to a well he is familiar with SHOOTERS, specifically SOVIET SHOOTERS! He was embroiled in a feud with Shota Chochishvilli, a Georgian gold medalist in Judo. I was watching the Olympics this year and the World's Strongest Man is from Georgia. Forget Gabel Steveson, somebody needs to hire that big muthafuck ASAP. He was pressing insane weight over his head. He would be a killer monster heel. Hashimikov is a Chech…

IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Hase vs Jushin Liger - NJPW 5/25/89 Jushin Liger takes his place in the sun nary a month after his redebut as Liger in the Dome. I have watched very little pre-93 Liger what a different worker. He throws his body with reckless abandon in these 89 matches. End of an era for Hase too who would graduate to Heavyweight division soon. Liked the hot start by Hase hitting a dropkick at the bell and throwing a suplex. Liger throwing kicks so well has been a revelation. Great way to start hot but once both guys get to stalemate we go to mat. Hase has a great heat segment working over Ligers abs in vicious fashion. Ligers finish run is h…

The best pure brawl of all time, IMO. One of the big reasons is that it is so different, completely rejecting the standard structure and themes of 2/3 Lucha brawls and 80s US bloodbaths. This was all about Satanico willing himself to stand up to master brawler Sangre Chicana. Satanico is working from underneath but he is still a rudo and doesn't hesitate to resort to dirty tricks including an awesome eye hook. Chicana uses cool psychological tactics to gain the advantage. Felt like an incredibly gritty yet strategic fight and where they are trying to claw and maim each other but remain somewhat cerebral in their approach even as the intensity ramps up. Include…

A fun match with an absurd start. Zeus from No Holds Barred is out to hype his SummerSlam main event and knocks Hogan down to start the match. Boss Man drags Hogan back in and starts a working a simple but decent heat segment on him. The drama picks up quite nicely once Hogan Superplexes Boss Man off the top of the cage and both men are down. Loved Hebner coming in and not knowing how to call the match from there. Then you get Boss Man using a chain to try and get Hogan down and I really enjoyed Hogan's selling in this portion. Shenanigans ensue when Slick gets into the cage to try and help Hogan but Hogan ends up handcuffing Boss Man. The finish is kind of ridiculous. Y…