Superstar Sleeze

AJPW World Tag Team Champions Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu - AJPW 8/30/88 The immediate next day rematch after Jumbo/Yatsu dropped the Double Cup to Tenryu & Hara. Yatsu is coming sporting quite the shiner and mouse around his right eye. First 15 Minutes: Much better start to this match than the match the day prior. More organized violence and chaos which I dig. They start with the junior partners but Tenryu tags in and makes sure the first order of business is to slap Jumbo on the apron. Jumbo is not one to take this lying down. Jumbo slaps the piss out of him. Big dropkick. Nice Tenryu slink & slump sell which he was using the day before, but it didnt making sense then. Tenryu comes back in and dump Jumbo with a back suplex. Tenryu stars attacking the bad leg of Jumbo which was established the day before. Jumbo is able to tag out to Yatsu, I believe after a High Knee on Hara. This is just an interlude to the first big segment which is when Jumbo get backs in and Tenryu gets his receipt for Jumbo's receipt and SLAPS Jumbo down and then hits an Enziguiri. They really work the leg with leg-bars and single leg crabs. Nice Tenryu catch of Jumbo's high knee into Single Leg Crab which was one of the better spots from the previous match so I am glad they recycled that. The best part is Tenryu throws a Table at Jumbo's bad leg though he catches him more in the hip. Then Hara holds the knee up while he smashes it with the table. Great shit! This already much better than the previous match. Jumbo OUT TRUCKS HARA ON LARIAT! Here comes Yatsu! Yatsu goes full offensive dynamo on Hara! Spike Piledriver! Suplexes! Bulldogs! Powerslams! My memory is kinda jumble but there was at least one meaty Hara clubbing lariat in this match. Yatsu beats Hara up on the outside as we close in on 15 minutes. Two strong control segments with lots of great selling and violent offense is a huge improvement on the previous match lets hope they can close this bad boy out on a high note! Last Ten Minutes: Hara wicked clubbing right! Tags out to Tenryu! Powerbomb! 1-2-NO! Jumbo High Knee! Yatsu Scorpion Deathlock but Hara saves and Butterfly Suplex follows. Tenryu backdrops out of a powerbomb or piledriver. Hara stomps the back lets see if that becomes a focus. Headbutts to the back. Yatsu is in the ropes on the pin. Hara dumps Yatsu to the floor and Tenryu whips him into the railing. BIG MACK TRUCK LARIAT FROM HARA! Always love to see that plume of sweat! Hara wants a receipt on the bulldog but Yatsu back suplexes out. Jumbo goes crazy! Jumbo has SNAPPED~! He destroys Tenryu on the apron with sledges. Beats him over the railing and hits him with a trunk! Back in the ring they hit simultaneous lariats, which felt like a misstep. The heat was ratcheting up thanks to Jumbo and that took the wind out of the sails of tthe match. Hara in with a big lariat on Jumbo as we are at the 20 minute mark. Headbutts from Hara and vertical suplex on Jumbo for two. Jumbo avoids the Hara Lariat but eats the Tenryu one! LARIAT SANDWICH~! Tenryu German for two! Hara Lariat but Yatsu saves. I love all the lariats. Jumbo is taking a shit kicking. Big Time Tenryu Powerbomb. Yatsu dropkicks Hara into Tenryu to break up the pin. A cute spot but a fun one! Hara takes care of Yatsu on the outside. Jumbo Death Lariat on Tenryu but Hara saves. Didnt love this. Wheres the transition? Why is Jumbo kicking ass again! Jumbo bowls him over with a lunging torpedo shoulder tackle. High Knee by Jumbo on Tenryu! Top Rope High Knee by Jumbo on Tenryu but no cover! Not loving this as a highspot feels hate spots where the the opponent has to get up, get in the right position and then eat the move. Big Lariat again by Jumbo. Back Drop Driver! Hara saves. Yatsu gives Tenryu a run for his money with a shitty powerbomb on Hara. Back Drop Driver but Hara saves. Yatsu Back Drop Driver on Hara. Back Drop Driver and Hara drapes his body over Tenryu. 6/9/95 this is not. Jumbo covers both to win the match! A marked improvement over the match from the day prior. I am shocked this match finished below the match from the day prior. This finished at #47. Some great control segments and big bombs down the stretch. It was still a little clunky and they have not worked out the kinks of the Kings Road formula but they are getting closer. ****

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 tag early and makes a beeline for Jumbo hitting him with a dropkick as he tries to enter the ring. Jumbo retaliates with his signature high knee. Jumbo is feeling it as he engages the crowd. I thought this was the best Hara performance I have seen so far. He was very rough & tumble. Throwing stiff, close-quartered shots. When Jumbo had taken over on him, it was a Hara clubbing lariat that broke him free and then nice double shouldertackle from Revolution. Jumbo & Yatsu came back with a high knee sandwich on Hara. They worked an abdominal stretch on Hara coming crashing down on him. The Jumbo & Tenryu stuff was peppered in there and keeps the energy up. Nice Tenryu Enziguiri at one point. Finally around the 15 minute mark things pick up when Tenryu & Hara target the leg of Jumbo with kicks and holds. Jumbo sells it really well. Jumbo eats a Lariat sandwich at one point. Yatsu, who I dont think I have seen before (I still need to watch the Choshu & Yatsu vs Jumbo & Tenryu matches), is a great workrate spark plug. Jumbo breaks free at one point and Yatsu came in throw some powerslams and such. Jumbo came back in and threw some High Knees. He was revving the crowd up. The High Knees given based on his leg injury doesnt seem too wise. On the third one, he charges the Knee in the corner and eats the buckles. Big bump! Hara drops down from the apron and immediately slams his knee into a hard metal object. Hara tags in and drops down into a kneebar. We have our hook, folks, lets see what the big finish looks like. Last Ten Minutes: As I was watching, my memory was jogged and neglected to mention there was a spike piledrive done by Jumbo & Yatsu's team that got a two count and didnt lead to much. That is kind of a microcosm of the first fifteen minutes of this match. Hara tags out to Tenryu who lays the badmouth on Jumbo. He smacks Jumbo around and wants a lariat, but Jumbo evades and out of instinct throws a high knee but Tenryu catches it and turns it into a single leg crab. Yatsu does a great diving save. I forgot to mention that Tenryu & Yatsu had traded saves earlier in the match. CrIss cross again and Tenryu is sandbagging on these. I think he is selling, but what. I dont know it was weird. Jumbo breaks free and tags Yatsu. Tenryu collapses into the corner again it is kinda lame. Yatsu beats up Hara but tags in Jumbo. Why? So weird. Jumbo throws another High Knee connects but he is in too much pain to capitalize. Hara attacks the leg. BIG MEATY CLOTHESLINE! Hara is wrestling great. AWESOME POWEROMB BY HARA! Hara dumps Yatsu out. Tenryu and Hara throw Yatsu in the railing. Hara Mack Truck Lariat on Yatsu. Fucking Tenryu hits the world's shittiest powerbomb on Yatsu on the outside and basically just drops him on his head. Hara CRUSHES Jumbo with a Lariat. Jumbo gets knee up when Tenryu charge. He crawls over to the corner but there is no Yatsu. That spot is always over with me! They whip Jumbo back into their corner. Jumbo hits another high knee to tag out to Yatsu. So weird because it is so repetitive and it is injured. There's no heat to it. Yatsu dropkick to Tenryu. Yatsu pounds on Hara. Nice Yatsu Belly To Belly on Tenryu. Jumbo Flying Knee to Tenryu and Yatsu Germans him. Hara saves by kicking the bridging Yatsu. Yatsu another German for two. TV credits roll and I think the end is nigh. Tenryu does a powerslam rollup on Jumbo who perched on the top. Jumbo Thesz Press! 1-2-NO! Jumbo Baba style Lariat but Hara saves. JUMBO BACK DROP DRIVER! Yatsu slaps Hara around and throws him out. Jumbo back up top. He jumps into nothing and Tenryu slaps Jumbo's leg. Running small package by Jumbo that Tenryu counters for the win and NEW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS! The finish was very All Japan and those who love workrate will love the finish. It was not really a classic finish because they lost the plot. They took their sweet time setting the hook. Then the hook really didnt mean much. It was weird because Jumbo who usually hits one High Knee a match all of sudden the only move he knew was a High Knee. His selling was good as was his crowd interactions. Yatsu was a good workrate wrestler. Tenryu didnt really click with me in this match. Hara was awesome big meaty goon wrestling. Kinda shocked this finished at #34 for the DVDVR voting. Above average but not much more than that. ***1/2

Tatsumi Fujinami vs Kengo Kimura - NJPW 12/10/86 I absolutely loved their 1/2/87 bloody barnburner and apparently this is the set up match! It is on New Japan World so I was chomping at the bit to watch this. Fujinami & Kimura were the current IWGP Tag Team Champions. I can only speculate that this was some sort of respect feud or Kimura trying to step out of Fujinami's shadow. Interestingly, in contrast to the January it is Fujinami that is the more aggressive of the two. He jumps Kimura from behind at the bell. He really takes it to Kimura. Throwing him around and focusing on the arm. Lots of hammerlocks and double wristlocks. He is countering Kimura at every turn. He is really schooling Kimura on the mat. You get the beginning of the match is to really establish that Fujinami is the better wrestler and he is putting Kimura in his place. Know your role and shut your mouth. Fujinami works two short arm scissors which I love. Eventually Kimura has had enough of this and just snaps PUNCHING Fujinami in the face! Fujinami powders and motions that he cant believe Kimura just stooped so low as to punch his long-time partner in the face. Kimura goes for eye-rakes and more punches when he gets into the full mount and start punching Fujinami liberally with closed fists. This is my shit! I love babyface vs babyface matches where tempers flare. Kimura throws a blizzard of kicks. Fujinami dragon leg screws by catching one of the kicks. This is tremendous! Nice slap exchanges. Kimura back drop driver. Kimura KNEE LARIAT~! TWO PILEDRIVERS! I saw this in Maeda/Kido match so this is definitely standard Kimura offense. Second piledriver is too close to the ropes and Fujinami's foot is on the ropes! Same with the second Back Drop Driver. This is what separates the senior and junior partners. They trade backslides and it is a Sunset Flip in the corner that gets Fujinami the duke. Perfect technical ending to a heated babyface vs babyface match. Terrific! ****

Brutha! Really glad you liked this! Been waiting since 2014 for someone to jump on this train! This was nuts! Wicked violent!

Hey thanks brutha! Dude I had been myself since like February/March. Got really into music and reading history books. I just threw on some New Japan World watched a killer Inoki vs Brody match and I am fucking hooked. I need to cross-post a bunch of shit, but I am watch a ton of great 80s Puroresu and documenting it all in the Match Discussion Archives!

Antonio Inoki vs Tatsumi Fujinami - NJPW 9/19/85 SGR: Lou Thesz No titles on the line to my knowledge but this is clearly a big match as they have trotted out Lou Thesz to be the Special Guest Ref. I was pretty excited for this match as I really enjoyed Inoki's 71 match against Jack Brisco. Generally enjoy the grapple-fuck contests that involve Dory Funk Jr, Jack Brisco or Inoki. I feel like Fujinami would be well-suited for the style. First Twenty Minutes: Admittedly I am pretty underwhelmed by this match. It is really excellent work. Snug holds, tight transitions and tremendous effort. After twenty minutes, they are drenched in sweat. You can tell how hard they are working. There is no psychology underpinning the work. I hate to call something that is worked so hard an exhibition, but there is no sense of escalation. They are just grappling and doing different holds. Inoki dominates the beginning of the match. Some really nice work, loved the takedown into that DEEP toehold. Inoki works a great Indian Deathlock into a bridge ala Mutoh. Watching this match, I realize that Mutoh was supposed to be the heir to Inoki/Fujinami whereas Hashimoto was Choshu's heir. It obviously worked out well for Hashimoto, but I think Mutoh was better at the character work and just not the technical marvel that Inoki and Fujinami. Fujinami slaps him which lets me know Fujinami is alive. Fujinami works for a reverse waistlock takedown and gets his hooks in. Inoki works a great backdrop/bridge sequence. He works a cool step up wristlock takedown and just ends up in a side mount. There is a cool Fireman's Carry from Inoki too. They tease a criss cross. Inoki hits a bodyslam into a chinlock in what I believe was the first slam bang highspot. It is high quality grappling which I have a great appetite for but I do need some character work or narrative otherwise it is too dry. Lets see what happens in the next 20 minutes or so. It is not bad per se, just disappointing. Second 15 minutes: Fujinami hits a dropkick on a criss-cross and we have life! Scorpion Deathlock and its a beauty maybe the best I have ever! That gets transitioned into a figure-4. The longest figure-4 I think I have ever seen. Had to be at least 5 minutes and I am not making that up. Inoki finally makes the ropes. Fujinami goes all Inoki with the Inoki leg kicks and then He goes back to the Figure-4 which is BALLSY! Things really pick up from there...Fujinami nails a MURDER DROPKICK! Fujinami misses the Enziguiri ballsy move in an Inoki match and Inoki NAILS THE ENZIGUIRI! He goes into the Cross-Armbreaker and in 1985 it just is not sold properly at all. Fujinami makes the ropes. Fujinami wins a high energy criss cross with a lariat and then nails the ENZIGUIRI! Inoki reverses into a German Suplex with a bridge that I bit on! Inoki bodyslam he wants the Bombs Away Kneedrop. Fujinami tries to cut him off at the pass and Inoki straight PUNCHES HIM! BOMBS AWAY KNEE! Fujinami reverses into a Dragon Suplex. Well here comes the SLAM BANG HIGH SPOTS! Inoki PUNCHES FUJINAMI! OCTOPUS STRETCH! Fujinami throws Inoki's ass off, big pop! VERY SURPRISING! It takes two more Octopus Stretches (next one is in the ropes) and final one Lou Thesz calls it...TKO, NOT SUBMISSION! Inoki put Fujinami over huge. Ref's decision finish, three Octopus Stretches, Let him break the signature hold and he had to use TWO CLOSED FISTS which is highly frowned upon in Japan. You really got the feeling Fujinami pushed him to his breaking point. The grappling was really strong in the beginning but needed either character work or narrative work to get me to really love it. That Figure-4 sure was something. The finish sequence was ultra-hot considered my interest still piqued for their 1988 encounter. ***3/4

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Nobuhiko Takada vs Shiro Koshinaka - NJPW 8/5/86 Koshinaka was the inaugural IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion having defeated the Cobra in February and then dropped the belt to Takada in May. Takada is Team UWF all the way with UWF on his boots. I have not watched Shoot-Style in so long and this was great to see to scratch that itch. Takada throws a wild kick that connects pretty good with the head. Koshinaka NO-SELLS, Lock-Up slaps the taste out of Takada's mouth. Takada rifles off some more kicks and more no-selling from Koshinaka who has come to play! This leads to a great, heated feel to the match. I thought early holds were well-worked. Takada was completely in charge. He worked the holds well but more importantly was how Koshinaka reacted in scrambling for the ropes. Koshinaka tried to take charge and Takada NO-SOLD his takedowns. He refused to go down twice! I wonder if that was a receipt for the no-selling his kicks. Koshinaka REFUSES to go down on a snapmare! OH SHIT! Takada purposefully evades a dropkick. This shit is wild! It feels really uncooperative. They settle into some boring legbars which is too bad. They had something cool going. It was only two minutes or so and then Koshinaka finally got some offense with a bodyslam and legdrop into a figure-4. They standup. Takada says enough of this shit and it is a BLIZZARD OF KICKS! Takada pummels him into the corner. Koshinaka sold so well. He collapsed twice after two rounds of bitchin' Takada kicks. Takada much like Maeda is at his best when he is throwing kicks. He threw some that connected with the head & jaw that looked WICKED! Takada was on fire offensively here going some tight holds, big strikes and big bombs like a Tombstone. Koshinaka was trying for stuff like a Superplex but got stuffed by a slap. I thought Koshinaka stuff didnt always connect. He had a wild slap after the onslaught of kicks and just kinda grazed Takada who sold it and fed him so he could properly hit it. Takada rattled off some jumping Karate kicks but whiffed on the Enziguiri. At some point, Koshinaka was supposed to stymie Takada's flurry with a leg sweep and again didnt get much on it, but Takada sold it. Koshinaka strength was eating Takada's offense and selling. Koshinaka was especially good in holds. As we all know Takada can be quite dry on the mat especially in his leg-laces. Koshinaka was great spicing these up. One time he rolled out with Takada all the way to the floor which was great. The best was the last one, it was maybe the most electric leg lace I have ever seen and I am no fan of it. Koshinaka starts with heel kicks and Takada fires back. Koshinaka then tries slaps and Takada just loses it at one point and SNAPS~! He unleashes fury on Koshinaka's face! Before that, I would be remiss not to mention that Koshinaka true to form hit two Rear Views. I have seen a smattering from Koshinaka from the 90s and that is what stands out from him. I really hope the Japanese commentary was saying "He calls that the Rear View!". Koshinaka does earn the Superplex. After the leglace, we see Koshinaka go for the diving headbutt which is his big finish attempt but on the miss, you can tell the end is nigh. Takada PULVERIZES him with a bevy of brutal kicks which I thought was a sufficient finish. Dragon Suplex and Crossface Chickenwing polishes him off. I really liked Takada's offense especially his kicks. Koshinaka was great eating and selling Takada's offense. I think what lifts this match a little higher than your standard Takada match was how hard Koshinaka worked to make the holds interesting especially the leg-laces. ****1/4

IWGP Tag Team Champions Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido - NJPW 8/5/86 The inaugural IWGP Tag Team Champions were crowned in the previous Tag Team League in December of 85 when Fujinami & Kimura defeated the old guard of Inoki & Sakaguchi. They were still in their first reign. Then they ran into shoot kicking Akira Maeda and his his buddy Kido. I have never seen Kido before and he was fine, nothing too special based on this viewing. This match completely hinged on Maeda. I say the same thing over and over about Maeda. If he was doing worked kickboxing, he would be an all-time great. He is boring as hell on the mat. He is even worse than Takada for me at least. I am still trying to figure out Fujinami. I like big personalities. He doesnt have one. He is very good but I have not seen his ability to take over a match in the way a true GOAT candidate can. To me this was definitely a Maeda, just like the Hogan and Brody matches were Hogan & Brody matches. Fujinami & Maeda do some adequate chaining at the beginning the only thing that bothered me was the cross-armbreaker sell by Fujinami was not at the level I wanted it to be. Kido came in and just was all punt kicks. I dig that. Fujinamic catches the third one. Dragon Leg Screw. I have seen a couple Kimura matches and I like him. He pretty easily handles Kido. Piledriver and Fujinami comes in & applies a Scorpion Deathlock. Kido wisely tags out. Maeda just comes in like a whirlwind throwing high kicks with reckless abandon! The match heats up! Fujinami catches and tries to convert it into a Scorpion Deathlock but Maeda has tree trunks for legs and converts into a Single Leg and then a Full Boston Crab. Great form. Fujinami tags out. MAEDA KNOCKS KIMURA'S LIGHTS OUT! Damn. That's the beauty of Maeda I guess. You dont whats shoot and work. That legitimately looked like it was not pulled. Kimura "sold" it like he was fucking out. Maeda being Maeda sits in the laziest leglace you'd ever seen and then releases him and he throws him into Fujinami. Thats doesnt amount to much. What I liked was when Fujinami went to tag in Kimura he was busy using a towel to check his teeth. Kimura is selling loopy well as him and Kido dont do much. Maeda comes in and fells him with one kick. The cross-armbreaker sell is weak. The ref is trying to protect a groggy Kimura and Maeda blitzes him with kicks. Kimura SWEEPS THE LEG AND SLAPS MAEDA! As a Maeda hater, I enjoyed that. Fujinami & Maeda work a great criss-cross sequence ending with a nice Rainbow Spinning Heel Kick by Maeda. All the heat is on Maeda & Fujinami! This is about two months after their insane heated IWGP League match in June when Maeda busted Fujinami open hardway. Maeda goes for the same rolling Koppou Kick and MISSES! Fujinami pounces with a Figure-4 in an electric moment! Maeda tags out in the hold and Kido crashes down on Fujinami. Fujinami Saito Suplex and Kimura delivers the same. Kimura calls for a big move and hits a running knee into a Scorpion Deathlock, but Maeda smokes him with a kick to break. Butterfly Suplex. Looked like he was going to go for a Gutwrench Suplex when Kido countered into a pin. Everyone Fujinami, the ref, Kido and Maeda are shocked that was the finish! As was I and the crowd! The Maeda kicks were electric. Everything else was fine. Cant go much higher than ***3/4

Tatsumi Fujinami vs Bruiser Brody - NJPW 12/10/85 Well the bloom is off the rose quickly for Brody as this was Brody absolutely at his dirt worst. He threatens crazy, awesome violence swinging his chain, barking HUSS and throwing the ref out of the ring. He lightly wraps the chain around Fujinami's neck and then drops it. He throws a couple big boots. He just doesnt sell. He kinda registers. He sort of does an Undertaker sell on the run but then he just stops and does nothing. Fujinami has no clue what to do. It is jarring and ruins the rhythm of the match. Hansen shows how big man can do wounded bear selling and Austin brings up Taker's selling on the run, but Brody just does not sell. Brody is fine on offense. The piledriver on the floor looked awesome and love his knee drop. I dont even mind the fact that he doesnt bump that much as I think that should be done more. His selling choices are terrible. He just does not react to things organically and he halts the momentum of the match. They look like they are going to do an awesome brawl in the stands and Brody just runs away and parts the crowds. It was a really cool visual watching hundreds of Japanese fans flee from one big crazy behemoth, but thats all Brody is a visual, smoke & mirrors. I will watch the Inoki rematches because I liked the original so much, but this was terrible and I felt bad for Fujinami.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Tatsumi Fujinami - NJPW 6/11/85 VinnyMac is here to officially sanction this as a WWF Title defense. It is a good, solid match. Hogan takes the vast majority of the match which is very surprising for anybody that has watched a lot of WWF stuff. He does it scientifically. If you have watched enough Hogan, you have seen him bust out his Cross-Armbreaker takedown and his drop toehold. The Bow & Arrow might have been new for him. Because Hogan was dominating scientifically which is Fujinami's game. Fujinami countered with speed instead. When Hogan would miss a move, he would nail some dropkicks or try to chop down the big tree trunks that were Hogan's leg. The big finish alright. It ever quite ramped up to the fever pitch. Hogan had some awesome power moves: I loved his double axe-handle, his take JYD Thump Powerslam was wicked and the AXE BOMBAH~! in the corner was great. Fujinami got a couple quick moves like a crossbody and applied a Scorpion Deathlock for a split second. The finish should have the Axe Bombah but they kept it going. Hogan won with another lariat but it wasnt hit as clean. This match does more for Hogan's resume than Fujinami, who kinda felt along for the ride. Good Hogan match. ***1/4

All-Asia Tag Team Champions Shunji Takano & Shinichi Nakano vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Ricky Fuyuki - AJPW 9/15/88 This series ushered in the golden age of the All Asia Tag Team titles which climaxed with the very famous red-hot Can-Ams vs Kobashi & Kikuchi match. It really started with Footloose. It became more of a juniors/young lions division which gave it such a vibrant energy. There was a pretty big gulf between this and the first match on the 80s All Japan DVDVR rankings, but I through it was pretty comparable to the first match. Either we dont have Takano & Nakano title win on tape or it didnt make the set, they had just won the titles six days prior. Samson Fuyuki has shorn his locks but none of his powers. He and Takano engage in a heated slap fight at the beginning which is in line with their heated exchanges in July. Kawada gets trapped first being bowled over by the bigger Takano. Nakano dropkick. They work chinlocks on Kawada. Kawada wriggles free and converts into a Dragon Sleeper. Kawada tags out. They work a control segment on Nakano again nothing too special. They start working the back after a whip into the railings but much like the July match, the beginning is pretty pedestrian. Just like the first match it really kicks into high gear during Fuyuki's heat segment as they work the back. Nakano gets his receipt as he whips Fuyuki into the railing and then SMASHES a chair into his back. Great back work with plenty of abdominal stretches and they do another Torture Rack which I love. Some great Kawada saves just ripping kicks to the back I am really blanking on the transitions, but I picture Takano missing a charge and Fuyuki rolling through and tagging Kawada. Red-hot, rip-roaring Kawada HOT TAG! Back Handspring Elbow, Out of Control Lariats in the corner, Fuyuki hit his this time. In a very strange move, Nakano drops down with a legbar on Nakano. It resets the heat segment. It is double FIP with the same FIP which is unusual and also strange as that hot tag really felt like the final one. They work the leg here even better than the back. Nakano uses his knee as a fulcrum placing Fuyuki's ankle there as Takano crashes down on it. Great figure-4 and single leg that really like it could be it until Kawada comes in and Takano hits his decapitation savant kick. That thins looks great. Flying clothesline by Nakano gets two. Theres some great clubbering in this. Nakano piledriver gets two! In the best spot of the match, Kawada pushes Nakano in the way of Takano's Bomb Away Knee Drop and then Fuyuki wrangles Takano, Kawada spinning heel kick and Fuyuki rolls into the pin for the win to regain the titles! Not as memorable as the first match which I think was more efficient and done in a way where the highspots really popped, but the it had many similarities with the hot heat segments on Fuyuki and exciting finish runs. I just think July had the better, more effective finish run. ***3/4

All-Asia Tag Team Champions Toshiaki Kawada & Ricky Fuyuki vs Shunji Takano & Shinichi Nakano - AJPW 7/15/88 I had never seen Takano and Nakano before. By listening to the Japanese commentary very closely, I am 99% sure the first one who is the smaller of the two. Takano is actually pretty big, by far the biggest guy in the match and kinda surprised nothing ever came of him. Excellent all-out action, workrate tag with just enough smoky Southern flavor to sink your teeth into. Kawada is boosting himself here. I think going through watching all that 90s All Japan I was taking Kawada for granted. Seeing him in this setting not against fellow GOAT-contenders, the little things he does really stands out. The way runs like he is totally out of control on Lariats, hurling his body into everything and just how his performance drips with effort. Kawada & Fuyuki come out firing on Nakano, but Takano proves himself to be a game changer. I am glad Kawada dumped the back handspring Elbow. It is fun young plucky junior move because he hits out of control but it would not fit him as Dangerous K. It is interesting that Nakano does the famous Kawada spinning heel kick in this match. Takano & Nakano love their legdrops. They work Kawada's back with a Boston Crab and a Camel Clutch. At some point Takano and Fuyuki get into a great slap fight. Takano was definitely the more interesting of the two. In the second heat segment after the Back Handspring Reverse Elbow, Takano drops down into a knee bar and they work the leg, up until this point. I thought this was a fun Juniors tag but they kicked up into next gear when Takano catches Fuyuki coming down in a crossbody with a gutbuster. They work over the abdomen like pros. This total Southern style. Fuyuki is a great FIP. Nice abdominal stretch on Fuyuki. They beat his ass on the outside whipping him into the railing. I am a mark for the Torture Rack and Nakano does it and then Takano jumps off the top rope onto Fuyuki. That was killer. Takano misses a charge. HOT TAG! KAWADA COMES IN WITH AN OUT OF CONTROL LARIAT! Fuyuki tries to do the same thing and gets decapitated by a big boot from Takano! MARK OUT CITY! POPPED HUGE FOR THAT! Kawada German for two! Kawada tries the Spinning Heel Kick but Takano throws his ass down. Nakano & Kawada trade hot Steamboat-esque nearfalls. Fuyuki gets tagged in and Takano press slams him off the top! People love picking on Fuyuki! Takano hits a massive Bombs Away Kneedrop! Kawada saves! Fisherman Suplex by Nakano gets two! Northern Lights Suplex! Crazy diving save by Kawada! Kawada slingshot press to the floor but Takano moves and he eats CEMENT! Takano massive missile dropkick on Fuyuki! Big German from Takano but Kawada saves! Takano tries again and Fuyuki slips under to cradle him for the win! Is it me or was Shunji Takano really damn good? I see he went to SWS/WAR so thats probably why I am unfamiliar with him. He and Nakano seemed more over with the crowd as they were getting chants even though Fuyuki played what Americans would traditionally see as face in peril. I thought the beginning was kind of all over the place but the heat segment on Fuyuki and the finish run was crazy awesome. A **** and a ***** ending, so lets take the average. ****1/2

Jumbo Tsuruta vs Tiger Mask II (Mitsuharu Misawa) - AJPW 3/9/88 Jumbo is the NWA International Heavyweight Champion, but this is non-title. He had some interesting title defenses that I do want to track down in this run. This match sneaks up on you. At first you are like this is a solid match and then all of sudden you are whipped into frenzy love it. This is very much proto-90s All Japan. Tons of Big Bombs and High Drama down the stretch. The first half Misawa works the headlock and doesnt deviate from this strategy. Jumbo is able to get momentary respites through kneecrushers or European Uppercuts but Misawa always clamps it back on. Misawa hits an awesome reverse crossbody headbutt that looked amazing, usually that spot looks shitty, but that was the best one ever. Great dropkick too. Then it happens. Jumbo finally DEMOLISHES him with the Back Drop Driver out of the headlock. I love a great transition and this one was juicy. Total All Japan style big highspots but here is the ticket THEY STICK WITH YOU! Thats the difference, kids. Big High Knee! Jumping Piledriver! Butterfly Suplex! All presented in such a way to let the fans sink their teeth into it. Misawa slips down the back on a vertical suplex attempt which would be become a pivotal spot in their legendary 6/8/90 encounter. Here it sets up Misawa's crazy Tiger Mask offense. He does a Springboard Top Rope Somersault to the floor and then a High, High Top Rope Crossbody to the floor, he landed on Jumbo head & shoulders instead of chest which was a crazy visual really wiped him out. Big missile dropkick! It is so, so weird watching Misawa do all this offense under the Tiger Mask guise. It is so obvious now where 90% of his offense came from. It was from being Tiger Mask. Frogsplash eats knees! Again the transitions are sold so well and mean so much. I am such a huge mark for that. Jumbo is relentless on the abdomen. He goes for the kneelift and Misawa changes into schoolboy! He rattles off a bunch of hot nearfalls like he is Ricky Steamboat including the O'Connor Roll, Hurricanarana, and a small package on an attempted Back Drop Driver. Jumbo just keeps drilling him. Guillotining him with a hotshot which is a Jumbo staple but usually is a bump he takes. Third Back Drop Driver vanquishes Misawa! Very much a window into the future! ****1/4

Jumbo Tsuruta, The Great Kabuki & Takashi Ishikawa vs Ashura Hara, Toshiaki Kawada & Ricky Fuyuki - AJPW 3/11/88 They beat the ever-loving shit out of poor Ricky Fuyuki. I always presumed that Tenryu & Revolution were the heels and Jumbo's Army were the babyfaces, mostly due to the senior hierarchy. Perhaps, it was more like they let the fans decide who they wanted to root for and each team was just presented as a team. Any thoughts? The reason I bring it up is because the Jumbo team came across very heelish to me. Matches like this are so important to watch because they show the evolution of certain wrestlers in this case, Jumbo Tsuruta. I will have to check my notes but this Jumbo is completely different from 1987 Jumbo. This is the first signs of Grumpy, "Get Off My Lawn" Jumbo as he just THRASHES poor Ricky Fuyuki. Fuyuki really does not nothing to deserve it. Jumbo was throwing closed fists in the corner during the first heat segment on Fuyuki and I was gobsmacked. You barely ever see punches in Puroresu and when you do it set up as a big deal. Jumbo was just ripping into him. The first heat segment was all about trying to take Fuyuki's arm off and beat him with it. Fuyuki tagged out to Hara, who let me tell you after watching this match is no Tenryu. He was totally outgunned in this match and he just left poor Fuyuki to fend for himself. In that first tag to Hara, Hara comes in and really tries to get something going. Jumbo sticks him arm out. Hara runs straight into it. Let me tell you something in the war between Jumbo's arm and Hara, Hara lost bad. Hara manages to wrestle Jumbo over to his corner. Footloose double teams Jumbo. You gotta love Kawada's Out of Control Lariat. Fuyuki doubles up. Jumbo sees RED! He takes Fuyuki down to the mat and PUMMELS HIM! The second heat segment on Fuyuki was worse than the first. It was a mugging. I think Kabuki's gimmick sticks out like a sore thumb in strait-laced All Japan and would fit better in New Japan where there is a definite freak show vibe, BUT I do remember from watching definitely one maybe two Kabuki matches from this time period, that his strikes are AWESOME! Kabuki comes in and PULVERIZES Fuyuki with some of the best punch combinations you will ever see. Those lefts were insane. He kicked Fuyuki out of the ring. Ishikawa slammed him with a chair. I was waiting for it and we get the JUMBO DEATH BODYSLAM! Jumbo always had a great bodyslam, best ever really, but HE THREW FUYUKI DOWN WITH AUTHORITY! They did a bunch of back submissions and finally Hara acts like a leader and breaks them. Kawada actually tried first and Ishikawa STRUCK HIS ASS DOWN! Fuyuki got a reverse crossbody, but went for the pin instead of the tag and Kabuki damn near kicked his head off. Kawada is the one who got the tag and had himself a great little hot tag stretch against Ishikawa. He nailed a nice German. You could already tell what Kawada lacked in size he more than made up for in his intensity and energy. He was way better than the bigger Hara. Hara hits a legdrop on Ishikawa and nonchalantly tags in Fuyuki which allows Ishikawa to tag in Jumbo, cmon Hara! Fuyuki comes in all piss & vinegar firing off slaps and Jumbo POPS him with an elbow. Jumbo hates this pissant. I dont know why but he does. TWO WRECKING BALL HIGH KNEES! The second one wrecked the kid's shit. THEN A JUMPING PILEDRIVER THAT WOULD MAKE BOB BACKLUND JEALOUS! This was insane! Fuyuki avoids a second bodyslam, O'Connor Roll, Lariat takes Jumbo down, KAWADA MISSILE DROPKICK ON JUMBO! 1-2-NO! Jumbo has to tag out. That was a great payoff to Jumbo being a prick the whole match. Kabuki is in. Melee ensues. Kawada Missile Dropkick Fuyuki and Kabuki pounces on Kawada to win! Jumbo vs Fuyuki was fucking awesome! Grumpy Jumbo ruled so hard! This instantly made me to want gorge myself on 90-92 All Japan. Jumbo & His team beating the piss out of Fuyuki was great. Kawada doing his best was great. Hara was kinda useless. I loved the progression of the match. I love that after Jumbo just owning these dudes he ended getting knocked out with a missile dropkick. Awesome match! ****1/4

PWF & United National Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen - AJPW 7/27/88 Hansen vs Tenryu definitely blows Hansen vs Jumbo out of the water. I know that 90s All Japan will always be more famous than 80s All Japan but the Hansen vs Tenryu feud needs to be in the discussion as an all time great pairing. I knew I loved them but when I went back and checked out my March 27th review, I forgot how much. This match is not quite on that level, but is another classic in the series. It is the tale of two equally great matches. Hansen attacks the Double Champion in the aisleway and draws blood. I always love a red hot start to a match. Tenryu taps a gusher. Hansen beat him with one of his two belts. Hansen is laying the badmouth and once Tenryu enters the ring. Hansen is all over him. Cowboy kicks, jumping elbows, vicious back elbows that cause Tenryu to fall ass first through the ropes, punches, knees. Tenryu gets a smattering of hope spots, but they are fleeting. The best is a lariat and Hansen's response is to just lunge and bowl him over. More on this in a second. The climatic sequence to this first half is an exposed knee drop which gets two and then Hansen beats Tenryu on the powder specifically knocking off the apron and causing him to take a gnarly bump and Hansen is ready for his killshot the Lariat, but but Tenryu at the last second gets a toe kick to the midsection. GAME CHANGER~! This leads to the second half which is sublime. Hansen is all-time great reactive wrestler. I love how reacts to different situations so organically. I love his combination of selling the ribs and just lashing out in pain as he tries to protect himself. Tenryu who is wearing the Crimson Mask knows his only hope is to be laser-focused on the ribs if I remember correctly...this is common trope in 80s Hansen is that his ribs/midsection/abdomen is vulnerable, his soft underbelly if you will. Tenryu goes for his kill the Reverse Top Rope Elbow misses. Hansen ducks on the Enziguiri! HANSEN ENGAGES TORPEDO MODE! I love Hansen torpedoing opponents. He knocks Tenryu out of the ring. Chair shot! Blasts him with a bottle of something! Just like that Hansen is back working the cut. Tenryu rattles off a string of Enziguiris! High drama! God I wish his powerbomb was better, but we love Tenryu for who he is not who we want him to be. Hansen flails and wriggles free from a second powerbomb attempt. Tenryu is looking to climb the top rope and HANSEN CHARGES LARIAOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOO! TENRYU GOES FUCKING FLYING INTO THE CROWD! Countout victory and in All Japan the PWF & United National Titles both change hands on a countout so Hansen is the new Double Champion! Terrific match! Hot angle to start, awesome killer beatdown from Hansen, I usually dont love grinding Hansen but this was pretty good especially the apron bump, but the best was when Stan started selling, that wounded bear selling where he is even dangerous in pain, Tenryu was laser-focused on the ribs, the brawl on the outside and then Tenryu just throwing head shots looking for a Home Run Kill Shot to KO the Grizzly only for the Grizzly to knock him out of the park literally into the stands! ****1/2

I was at the end of a night shift and it was 1:30am, I may have been a little cranky when I wrote the response to you. Eek. I agree with your last sentence. I agree with the majority of your points. It is Hansen vs Morton and frankly it should have been better, but I enjoyed it for what it was. As ol Stone Cold would say it was what it was. Swig of an Arnold Palmer for the working man.

Matt, if the match went down the way you wanted it to go down then it would just be Rock N Rolls vs Joe Blow & His Midnights Wannabe Partner. You would rob us of the uniqueness of HANSEN VS MORTON~! I think you point to a lot of valid criticisms of why this match is only very good as opposed to excellent, but you far oversell the negatives like you are a mid-match Kenny Omega wrestling in the Dome. To say the Rock N Rolls should only do Southern tag style formula is ridiculous. They should be allowed to experiment and adapt to their opponent. Your well-known anti-Japan bias can be a little bit much and is very excessive here("an environment where none of that matters" got an eye-roll so deep from me I am surprised my eyes came back down). I think what smacks me most bizarre about your criticisms is Hansen kill these guys. If it anything I didnt think Hansen was violent enough. I was expecting more of a shitkicking. The problem was Hansen was too giving. "It's a shine and it's working, at least right up until the point where Hansen storms in for no reason and starts to kill both guys." This didnt even happen! He played one of the most entertaining cat & mouse games with Morton that climaxed with Morton punting him on a back body drop attempt. He did not kill anyone! The match was herky-jerky and lacked a coherent, linear narrative, which I know is important to you and thats important to me too. The Lariat to the post leading nowhere is a glaringly obvious fault. To pin this all on Stan Hansen is ham-fisted. How the hell are you blaming Hansen for Morton hitting a dropkick twice on Kroffat. Hell one of the most egregious errors is Gibson WALKS KROFFAT OVER TO HANSEN TO LET HIM TAG IN! ZERO STRUGGLE! HE ACTIVELY PULLED HIM TO STAN! Cmon Matt, call a spade a spade, brutha. He wasnt even in the ring! Is the match underwhelming to lofty expectations? Yes. Do I thank the Wrestling Gods for blessing me with HANSEN VS MORTON~! OH HELL YEAH! Rock N Roll Express vs Stan Hansen & Dan Kroffat - AJPW 10/26/88 The Japanese vociferously chants "Rock N Roll" three separate times at the beginning. Making me even more depressed that my hometown of Boston is seemingly the only place that didnt get the Rock N Rolls. This is the closest we ever got Hansen & Bobby Eaton vs Rock N Rolls. As Kroffat is a great stand-in for the Midnights with a ton of stooging and nifty offense. Morton drop toe holds Kroffat to start and he sells like he faceplants. Dropkick by Morton. Here comes Stan! You gotta love Stan! He doesnt take anything lying down. What ensues is the greatest game of cat & mouse you'd ever see! In a shocking moment, Morton gets one up on ol Stan, punting him on a back body drop. People say Stan is selfish. In fact, I thought he was far too giving in this match. He let Morton small package him, buck him off with an armdrag and even sold a dropkick. We never got the true Hansen shitkicking of Morton I wanted. Kroffat takes over for a hot second but ends landing balls first on the knees. Anyone who seen a RnRs or Midnights match could see the spot from a mile away, but it doesnt make it any less pleasant. Morton hits a suicide dive, which I got see in person at a New Japan show in Lowell in 2019 which is forever seared in my memory. I feel so lucky. Then comes a string of disappointing moments from otherwise great wrestlers. Gibson walks Kroffat over so Hansen can tag him in. That's kinda generous, he pulls him over to Hansen is more like. That's just sloppy as shit. Where's the struggle. Hansen comes in and you ready for the mutha of all heat segments to commence and a curious thing happens. He wraps his arm around the post with a lariat. It would be an interesting wrinkle if the rest of the match is worked around it, but it is not. He sells it for a bit and then just powers out after 30-60 seconds. It kinda grinded the match to a halt. Hansen gets control of the match for his team and Kroffat does hit some nifty Midnight-y offense. Hansen and Morton have a back & forth. Lots of Morton hope spots like I described before, but because Hansen never really kicked his shit in it came off too frequent I would say. It just didnt feel that dramatic. I love Stan's full court press, but they never really built it to the next level. The finish was an oldie but goodie from Hansen he misses the first attempt at the Lariat but boomerangs annihilates Morton for the win. Underwhelming but still very entertaining, the Hansen & Morton cat & mouse is worth seeing. Hearing the "Rock & Roll" chants in Japan and the Rock & Rolls do their thing in Japan is worth the price of admission. Plus it is fucking Hansen & Morton wrestling that's cool no matter what. ***1/4

Antonio Inoki vs Riki Choshu - NJPW 7/22/88 HOT SHIT~! Total sprint! Inoki was on offense a lot in this match and I cant believe that didnt sound alarm bells in my head what would happen. They start with a King of the Mountain at the bell with Choshu in the ring and Inoki on the apron. Choshu wont let Inoki in. Inoki trips Choshu and Choshu fends him off from dragging him to the outside. Inoki immediately comes in but is met with a powerslam. Inoki fires off an enziguiri but Choshu roars back. Great struggle over a suplex than an armbar. Inoki wins into a Short Arm Scissors. CHOSHU DEADLIFT~! Into a fallaway slam! Nice deep headscissors by Choshu, but Inoki has a ton of energy comes right out and works an Indian Deathlock and plays to the crowd. The crowd was eating it up. Choshu runs him over with a hybrid shouldertackle/lariat for two. Choshu winds up for the big one, INOKI GERMAN! 1-2-NO! Inoki cant believe and seems a little dazed...AXE BOMBAH~! 1-2-3! CHOSHU BEAT INOKI CLEAN! THIS WAS FUCKING AWESOME! ****1/4

Antonio Inoki vs Vader - NJPW 2/7/88 Vader has his black mask now and still has the Elephant Steam Helmet that he worships. This coming off the heels of his December debut where he demolished and squashed Inoki in 3 minutes flat. Very tentative match from both. Vader was not as unrelenting and vicious as he would become. Inoki bumped and sold for him. Selling shock at Vader's power on lock ups and powdering a lot. Vader was using the standing arm bar as a base which is fine but not Vader's forte. The real key to this match was to advance how Inoki could beat Vader. It was a match to give fans hope and show them where the opening lay. The opening was Vader could hurt himself and that Inoki needed to evade and create those opportunities for misses and capitalize. I t took three big misses before that happened. Two charges in the corner and a missed elbow drop and finally Inoki could hit an Enizguiri that rocked the Big Man. That is why this match is crucial to watch. It is not a great standalone match but it provides key progression to the climatic July encounter. They tumble to the outside. Vader smashes Inoki's back into the post, but then Inoki is able to push Vader into the post. This triggers a double countout. The Man In Hockey Mask & Pantaloons Is BACK! According to @KinchStalker, it is Black Cat and he successfully attacks the correct man, Inoki this time with powder and a cane. He ends up leaving. Was there ever a blowoff? Or a reveal? What is with this dude? Anyways, Vader kicks Inoki's ass post-match. He brings in a table and sets it up in the corner, but of course due to rule #607 of pro wrestling, he who sets up the table, eats the table. Vader is escorted out of the ring by Masa Saito as Inoki was looking to get the turnbuckle as a weapon. Inoki has made progress. Not a great match, but a meaningful match, I wish we had more of these type of matches to help bridge us throughout feud or series. ***

That’s really interesting so the plan was to have Inoki/Saito align against the younger generation oh and that’s why Sakaguchi was used in the embrace. Jericho of all people covered this last year in his podcast. He covered the Island Death Match and the Japanese fan he had on explained the intergenerational feud you mentioned. If you have not listened to that podcast it is worth a listen.

Yes! I was hoping you’d see this! Black Cat handcuffing the wrong dude is so classic and makes so much sense why the angle felt so confusing. Thank you!

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Antonio Inoki vs Riki Choshu - NJPW 2/4/88 In 1988, Antonio Inoki turned 45 and he had one of his hottest years of his career. He had long feuds with Riki Choshu & Vader and an hour draw with Tatsumi Fujinami. In 1989, it would be the Soviet invasion and he would be tied to a Georgian judoka. I feel like the early 90s was a short bridge of Fujinami/Vader/Choshu to the Three Musketeers. So 1988 feels like Inoki's swan song. This would be Inoki's last IWGP title defense as Cagematch says the upcoming Vader match was not for the title and he vacated the title due to a foot injury, whether it was kayfabe or not just to get the tile off Inoki without doing the job I do not know. This is a humdinger to go out on. Riki Choshu was firing on all cylinders. Big dropkick right at the beginning! I love the hot start. Choshu beats the ever loving shit out of Inoki for five minutes. Great King of the Mountain. He bashes Inoki's head repeatedly into the post and turnbuckle and surprisingly does not draw blood. The ref breaks up one of the King of the Mountain spots on the apron and that dickwad Inoki nails an Enziguiri. Inoki lets the fists fly on Choshu's head and he is the one to bloody Choshu with a railing shot, which is again surprising given how much Choshu bashed his head in. Inoki gets an abdominal stretch but Choshu hiptosses out. Choshu roars back with a Saito Suplex and into the Scorpion Deathlock. Inoki makes the ropes and on the second attempt, Inoki rips Choshu in the head with fists, fucking wicked. Choshu winds up for the lariat and Inoki lunges at him and headbutts him in the head. It looked like it could have been bad and Choshu kinda had to bend over for him. Inoki figure-4. Wicked hot action, lots of asskicking, blood and big time submission. Very little downtime. Inoki ENZIGUIRI! iNOKI OCTOPUS STRETCH! Choshu falls over to break it. CHOSHU SAITO SUPLEX! 1-2-NO! Great nearfall. Choshu steals Inoki's Octopus Stretch! Inoki Dropkick. Inoki steals the Saito Suplex to set up the Octopus Stretch. Choshu gets a finger on the rope but the ref doesnt feel like it counts and calls the match for Inoki. I dont know if the basis for this was the old school interpretation of the rule that the two combatants needed to be tied up in the ropes as opposed to contact with the rope by one combatant. Or if it was intended to be controversial as Saito came out to bitch and moan. I really like this style of match. It reminds me of All Japan King's Road where it is big bomb after big bomb (which makes sense as Choshu was in All Japan from 1985-1986). The difference between this and 90s All Japan is Choshu is much more efficient. This clocked in around 12ish minutes and theres no fat on this. From the King of the Mountain to Inoki bloodying him to all the BIG BOMBS & SUBMISSIONS! This is really my kinda wrestling. Everything mattered and felt important. ****1/2

Before there was ECW, there was fucking New Japan in 1987 BABY! Right out of the ECW playbook, this was a series of impromptu matches that led to a mega-hot debut and apparently a riot at the Sumo Hall. New Japan World has an excellent 38 minute video up covering it all. So it begins with Saito cutting a promo in the ring with Choshu and Vader. This is after the very famous Island Death Match. I am presuming Saito is introducing Vader as his assassin. Inoki comes out. It is a bit confusing but we end up settling into a tag team match pitting Masa Saito & Riki Choshu vs Tastumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura. Masa Saito & Riki Choshu vs Tastumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura A match that wont really change your life but there is one very strange moment. Saito & Choshu dominate the match. Outside two flurries of offense for the babyfaces, the heel dominated. Choshu blasts Fujinami with a lariat to send him to the outside and then winds up and crushes Kimura to win. What was weird? How unruly the crowd was! They were chanting something that I couldnt understand they would not relent. They seemed angry. A couple minutes into the match, Choshu puts on the Scorpion Deathlock on Fujinami and the crowd morphs into a 1997 Nitro crowd and litters the ring with drinks and trash. It was so bizarre and electric. They never did it again, but they were not as vociferous as the match wore on but they would still chant. So Choshu immediately gets on the mic and yells for Inoki. Super hot. Inoki comes out, Choshu bails. Inoki tries to call him back out. Choshu trots out but Inoki has left. Inoki comes back in. That was a lot of wasted time. Antonio Inoki vs Riki Choshu. The ref is trying to pull Choshu out of the corner for crowding and Inoki nails him with an enziguiri which is a dick move that only like Hogan or Dusty could get away with as a babyface. He bloodies Choshu on the outside. Back in the ring, Choshu is lunging, but collapsing at Inoki trying to hit him as Inoki beats him up. Choshu hits one Saito Suplex in defiance but basically gets owned by Inoki who slaps on the Octopus Stretch. There is some commotion but it looks like Hase throws in the towel. Hase bowls Inoki over to break Choshu free. His reward, Choshu giving him a hard shove out of the ring. A bloody Choshu is pissed at Hase. Inoki now calls out Saito but Saito has back-up in the form of the Mastodon, Vader! Vader has the silly looking Elephant Steam Helmet but no mask but he is in great shape. Antonio Inoki vs Big Van Vader. Inoki tries a surprise attack, but Vader shrugs it off and DEMOLISHES INOKI! He squashes him like this was nothing. Outside of the famous Brock squash of Cena theres nothing like this maybe Vader vs Sting at GAB 1992. After watching a shit ton of Bam Bam Bigelow in New Japan I am so glad they picked Leon over him for this gimmick. The Vader whistle, his cockiness and his ferocity were on display. He fucking rocked. He kicked Inoki's shit in. Inoki fucking MADE VADER! This is how you get a monster heel over on night 1. Insane string of impromptu matches leading to one of the hottest debuts and angles in pro wrestling history! Something every wrestling fan needs to see! Also I invite anyone who knows more about this night to please further elaborate on what happened!

Antonio Inoki vs Masa Saito - NJPW 6/12/87 Inaugural IWGP Champion The winner of this will be crowned the inaugural IWGP champion. Before the G-1 Climax, there were annual round robin tournaments in New Japan since 1974 about a year after the founding the company. They were first called the World League then the MSG League and finally the International Wrestling Grand Prix which is a fucking badass name for a tournament. As one would suspect, Antonio Inoki won the vast majority of these, but other winners included Seiji Sakaguchi, Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan, a pretty illustrious list. Inoki would defend titles such as the NWF Heavyweight Championship a title out of the Buffalo/Cleveland area and the WWF World Martial Arts Championship but this was the first time New Japan would promote their own singles heavyweight title. I really like both Inoki & Saito as singles wrestlers but again I found this match to be peculiar even though I enjoyed the work for the most part. Saito dominated Inoki for the vast majority of the match and the conclusion of the match is not very satisfying in my opinion. At the outset of the match, Inoki throws a wild mule kick that catches the ref and then hits a rainbow spinning heel kick and an Enziguiri to force Saito to powder. Saito return is able to get a trip but Inoki working into some arm work. Saito counters into the inverted figure-4 he used in the March pull apart brawl to injure Inoki's leg. Inoki comes up hobbled and Saito catches him with a lariat. Saito works a nice, tight Boston Crab. Great power out from Inoki sending Saito into the buckles as the crowd roars. Inoki works some heabdutts and then a tight chinlock, but Saito goes back to his inverted figure-4 and again upon the break clobbers Inoki with a lariat. As Inoki tries to get back in, Saito rams Inoki's head into the turnbuckle repeatedly and then hits not one but two Saito suplexes. This is where the match goes off the rails for me. I felt like Saito poured it on too much so that any Inoki comeback would not be credible. Saito went for the sleeper I presume as to not kill off his finish. They work the sleeper well, Inoki makes it to the apron and when Saito has to let go Inoki slumps to the floor. I think I have asked this before, but why do Japanese refs call the match in English when two Japanese wrestlers are working? I have heard this before and it always surprises me. Inoki comes in and eats another Saito Suplex and this time a cover for two. Saito goes for another and Inoki shifts weight and wins the match. Funny enough, this was my preferred finish when wrestling my younger brother. The Saito Suplex is the safest suplex in my opinion and I would do it all the time to my brother but the finish would always be him finally reversing the weight and picking up the three. I thought the match was anti-climatic and I thought the Saito heat segment was overkill. ***1/4 The post-match was confusing. Choshu clearly calls out Fujinami and Maeda who were on commentary. I am sure of this because I understood him calling out their names. The rest of it I couldnt make out, but it felt electric. These are five megastars no matter what I think of Maeda he was over. The weird part is Inoki/Sakaguchi/Saito hug it out, but Inoki & Saito have an island death match soon. I thought Choshu & Saito were buds. I dont know. Anyways a solid match but anti-climatic.

Antonio Inoki vs Masa Saito - NJPW 3/26/87 Masa Saito is BACK BABY! Saito had served his time, finished out some work in AWA and was ready for the big money feud with Inoki. This would be match one in a series that would culminate in the famous Island Death Match which may have been the pioneer in cinematic pro wrestling. Saito became Inoki's main rival for 1987 and along side the return of Riki Choshu ensured that the New Japan would continue its hot streak after the return of the UWF workers in 1986. The April match is a wild, red hot match, this being the first match in the series is more of the technical match then turns into a Vince Russo Wet Dream Angel. Front Half: I enjoyed the work. There was not really a sense of progression per se, but there was a lot of tight, snug work, lots of close quarter grappling. They worked some good NWA championship style grappling with Inoki working out of Saito's headscissors. Tempers flare a little. Inoki smacks Saito. Saito headbutts and Inoki returns in kind. Inoki hits a great explosive dropkick and Saito powders. Saito comes back with a Scorpion Deathlock. I was surprised how quickly they went to that. Great struggle over it. Inoki powdered. Tried for the working from his back strategy. Amazing leg kicks and ENZIGUIRIS from his back. Inoki was an insane athlete. SAITO SUPLEX~! Demolished him! They are bringing out the big bombs. Inoki used his insane leg strength to whip Saito off on the next Scorpion Deathlock attempt. Inoki throws another headbutt in there and some great suplex bombs. Hitting a top rope kneedrop. Peculiar that Saito nailed suplex shortly thereafter. It wouldnt be a long Inoki match without an Inoki Short Arm Scissors, which coincidentally is a favorite move of mine. I really enjoyed watching the work of this and it was breezy action. I wish there was a better constructed narrative, but I have enjoyed this so far. Saito breaks free and Saito Suplex! Inoki retaliates with his own Saito Suplex. This is red hot shit and then the Inokiism kicks in... Second Half: Maybe this would be improved if I understood Japanese, but here we are and I will describe what I saw. Anybody that has any more information, I would be very interested. All of sudden there is a commotion in the crowd and the entire crowd has their heads turned to an aisleway as if this was WCW 1998. Saito drops Inoki repeatedly three times on the top rope balls first. Then it happens. I thought it was going to be Riki Choshu's big return. It was a man dressed in a hockey mask and pantaloons. It looked like something Tiger Jeet Singh would wear. They mystery man handcuffs himself to Saito, which I think is a play off Saito's jail time. Then it was weird, heatless stretch of time. Saito and Inoki took shots at the hockey mask but neither get it off. It was lame and weird. Saito is dragged to the back. The crowd chants Saito as if they want an encore at a rock concert. Saito comes back with the handcuff cut off, but the cuff still on his wrist. Inoki feeds to have Saito hit him in the head with the cuff. It is very clear they are trying to draw hardway blood and it is gnarly to watch. At one point the ref throws a toekick to Saito's gut and throws a left kick. Saito clobbers him. What the fuck? They finally get it so Inoki undoes the top turnbuckle which happens in the April match. Saito wraps Inoki in an inverted figure-4, what the fuck? Inoki cracks him with the turnbuckle and draws blood. They slap each other a little. It was a pretty tepid brawl. Nearly impossible match to rate. The match was ~**** but the angle was convoluted and heatless. It was a Vince Russo. Wet Dream. So Bizarre! Does anyone have any info on this?