Posted August 30, 201015 yr comment_5455149 NWA International Heavyweight Title: Bruiser Brody © vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (8/31/83) Man this is slow and kinda dull to start killing what was a hot crowd to start. It took Brody ripping up a fence at ringside to get the fans back into this match as Jumbo was juicing and Jumbo took some good punishment here before firing up for a good comeback with Jumbo getting some nearfalls before a ref bump allowing Brody to get back on offense. The action would then spill to the floor as the fans chanting for Joe Higuchi to get up which he would with some help by Brody after he had Jumbo put away on the floor but Brody wanted to win this so bad by countout that he went back out there to suplex Jumbo on the floor again but Jumbo would fall on top of him then pulled him to the floor and crawled in to win by countout. Sumo Hall goes completely nuts at this finish and the 2nd half of this match had a real epic feel going on which was the complete opposite of the 1st half. I liked this a lot more than Will did as the 2nd half totally sold me on this as a nomination.
August 30, 201015 yr comment_5455151 Bruiser Brody vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (Int'l Title, 08/81/83) - One thing I have noticed about Brody is his poor bumping. I knew he didn’t sell. I didn’t know he could not bump either. The problem with this match is that it has a Race-Jumbo formula with blood in the 2nd half and a slow 1st half. Scientific chin-lock Brody is not fun to watch. Brody is best when his opponent is bleeding and selling for his offense. Well, Jumbo bleeds and sells in the 2nd half but Brody is not nearly as interesting as Harley Race. Jumbo wins in a countout where the last 45 seconds were the best part of the match.
September 19, 201015 yr comment_5455979 I much preferred this to their 1988 matches. They started slowly again, but Brody really picked things up when he raked Jumbo's face with the fence. Jumbo did a big blade job and then sold his ass off for Brody's big offense. I agree with Kris that the match took on a big-time feel, with two huge superstars bleeding and trading high-impact offense before the pumped up "Terry farewell" crowd. When Brody tried to capitalize on the ref bump to set up a countout only to have his plan backfire, the place went nuts. And I liked the way Jumbo celebrated it as a big moment. I still don't love this match-up, but this is the way I want to see them work if I must. So I'll agree with the nomination.
