Posted July 20, 201015 yr comment_5453357 DVD #19 9/4/88 (taped 8/29/88 ) Giant Baba vs. Rsuher Kimura (4:12 of 11:20 aired) - Plodding would be a euphemism, and they didn't do anything interesting enough to compensate. Genichiro Tenryu/Ashura Hara vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Yoshiaki Yatsu (29:51 complete) - After a great Jumbo-Tenry exchange at the bell, they took a few minutes to get rolling. But even when they lacked focus, they beat the shit out of each other. Tenryu and Hara eventually focused their attack on Jumbo's leg. Despite the damage, he refused to stop using his high knee and paid a higher and higher price for his will/hubris as the match went on. His selling of pain/determination was pretty great. The ending was dramatic, with Jumbo hitting big move after big move and Tenryu staggering to his feet every time. The crowd went nuts when Tenryu reversed a roll-up to get his first clean pin on Jumbo. This was a Jumbo-Tenryu match, but the other guys deserve mention as well for the sheer amount of punishment they took and dished out in supporting roles. This is a slam dunk pick. 9/11/88 (taped 8/29, 8/30/88 ) Stan Hansen vs. Abdullah the Butcher (7:06 of 10:39 aired) - JIP with Abby using a fork to gore Hansen. Eventually, Hansen removed his own boot and beat Abby bloody with it. Snuka came in to help Abby, but Stan cleared the ring by swinging Brody's chain. This was definitely an appropriate tribute for the Brody memorial show, and might make a nice extra. Genichiro Tenryu/Ashura Hara vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Yoshiaki Yatsu (25:18 complete) - Rematch of the previous day's carnival of violence. This one started at a faster pace with everyone hitting big moves in the first few minutes. Tenryu and Hara again tried to go after Jumbo's knee, but it didn't become a dominant theme this time. Instead, Jumbo fought through it and punished Tenryu for pinning him the day before. The end was just crazy. They all looked out on their feet, but they kept stumbling around and drilling each other. Hara finally threw himself on top of Tenryu to keep Jumbo from pinning his partner. So Jumbo just pinned both of them. Too much great action to describe in this one. I think people will be amazed at the violence these guys churned out on back-to-back days. Slam dunk redux.
October 13, 201014 yr comment_5457185 The Brody tribute ceremony is a slam dunk extra. Man what a touching scene.
