This match was way better on paper than it was on practice. That is not to say this was a bad match because it wasn't, but if you had told me these guys would get this much time (probably around twelve or thirteen minutes shown) I would have thought it would have been a lock for the set and this really wasn't. I actually didn't mind the slow build at all an they did some good stuff in it, the problem I had was that the transition to the stretch run felt kind of flat. I will say that the last several minutes of this were amazing and true high drama as they had done a good job establishing the significance of the match over the course of the show, the crowd was going batshit, the ringside brawling added to things, and they had some really good false finishes. Even I bought the moonsault near fall and marked out when Invader kicked out. And then amazingly Muta won basically cleanly with another big spot. Given the novelty of this, the rare length for a tv match and the super hot stretch run, I would argue that this deserves real consideration for the set. It's the sort of thing people would want to see. But I don't know that it would place all that high on my ballot.

 

 

*Even though I have this low end, that is more a reflection of my view of the match. I actually would say this probably should make the set if you factor in other aspects of this (rare lengthy tv title match, the clips around the feud that preceded the match, the hotness of the feud, the crazy finishing run, the fact that it's a Muta match which has a novelty factor, et).

WWC TV Title: The Invader © vs. Super Black Ninja (January 1988)

 

Ninja has Kendo & Pogo on the floor to start the match but they are asked to go to the back which they do. This starts with some basic matwork before Muto took over working over Invader in the ring then taking him to the floor where he choked him with a camera wire before taking it back to the ring. Invader would soon fire it up making a comeback where he locked on the sleeper which brought out Pogo and that brought out Invader III to take him out with a chair as the match continues. Kendo then came out to attack Invader III and the ref would get bumped as that happened with Invader I getting an inside cradle on Muto but with no ref. Another referee would come out as Muto took back over hitting the moonsault but Invader I would kick out so Muto would hit a missile dropkick with Invader getting his foot on the bottom rope but Profe knocked it off and the referee ruling Muto the winner. The original referee though saw the whole thing and they argued as the fans went nuts but the decision stayed the same. I wish I could nominate this because it was one of the better TV matches I've seen but there were some really slow points to start so not a nomination.

I guess one could call the start to the match slow but I didn't mind it all and thought it was actually pretty solid. Invader did some arm work and Ninja sold it for several minutes. I also liked Muta's headscissors and Invader finding a neat way out of it. There was the one flubbed spot off the ropes that was really bizarre during the heat section but other than that I thought the control segment was strong. There were a few good hope spots including a big clothesline off the ropes from Invader. The liked the strike exchange comeback from Invader and the mayhem on the floor from the sleeper to the finish was awesome and created great heat. Invader getting the near fall off of the small package and kicking out of the moonsault was a good bang bang set of near falls. The finish was kind of silly but the heat was off the charts and was a lot of fun. I liked this well enough for a nomination. LOW END nomination.