Posted July 18, 201015 yr comment_5453258 DVD #3 1/30/88 (taped 1/24/88 ) Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Buddy Landell (9:32 complete) - Yatsu went after Buddy's legs early but Buddy used some mildly dirty tactics (chokes, low blows) to turn the tide. That pissed Yatsu off, and he busted Buddy's forehead open with repeated punches. Buddy got in one alst burst of offense before Yatsu put him away with a powerslam. Solid match but it lacked the crackle of the real standout stuff. The crowd didn't care much about Buddy. Abby/TNT vs. Giant Baba/Isao Takagai (Arashi) - Abby and Baba got the crowd hyped with a testy exchange, but the match focused on Abby and TNT clubbing Takagi, which was less interesting. Abby took forever to put Takagi away while Baba pissed around with TNT on the outside. It came off silly. Jumbo Tsuruta/Hiroshi Wajima vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Ashura Hara (14:15 complete) - Tenryu and Hara tried to jump Jumbo and Wajima at the bell, but it backfired, as Jumbo outfought Tenryu and handed him over to Wajima, who went nuts trying to bust him open with headbutts. Tenryu finally crawled over to tag Hara, who took Wajima outside and busted him over the head with the ring bell. Hara and Tenryu followed with some brutal, brutal lariats on Wajima. After a few minutes, Jumbo made the hot tag, but Tenryu quickly delivered his comeuppance as well with a flurry of hard chair shots. Wajima had another great exchange with Tenryu near the end, as they blocked one another's moves until Wajima took him down for a second round of headbutts on the cut. The match ended with everybody brawling at ringside. I've been a Wajima skeptic, but I have to say, he learned to work with a lot of passion, if not skill. The hate between him and Tenryu really set this one apart, though everyone was good. Solid nomination.
