They started slow with Jumbo holding Martel in a headlock and not doing a lot with it. But once Martel escaped and rolled Jumbo up for a nearfall, things picked up. Martel responded with some solid work on Jumbo's arm, but the match really came down to back attack vs. back attack. Martel dropped some nasty elbows and knees to Jumbo's back, but Jumbo didn't sell the damage as well as he might have. He fought back with clubbing forearms, suplexes and a piledriver. Martel sold his stuff a lot better but turned the tide by slipping out of a suplex attempt and countering with a sleeper. Martel always looked really slick doing stuff like that. For the finish, Jumbo suplexed Martel out of the sleeper. They were both too weak to get up, but Martel had rolled to the apron, so Higuchi counted him out. I'm on the fence with this one. These guys always worked well together, but their match from six days later was a good bit better. I guess I'll still throw this one out for low-level consideration.

All Japan TV 3/84-4/84

Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Rick Martel, 7/25/84 (All Japan TV 3/84-4/84)

- I don’t know if the other match spoiled me but the early part of this match isn’t that interesting. Martel working on the legs and later the arm of Jumbo don’t set the world on fire and the highlights early on are Jumbo gaining control and hitting his big moves such as the butterfly suplex and piledriver. In a way, this seems like an abbreviated version of the Slam Dunk match. They cover a lot of the same spots but without the natural flow of the last one. I enjoyed this match fine but low level nomination at best.

NWA International Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta © vs. Rick Martel (7/25/84)

 

Martel's AWA title isn't on the line here making this an interesting match. This was a good match but the match 6 days later blew this one away so I'm not feeling this one as a nomination.