Posted December 14, 200717 yr comment_5425269 International Heavyweight Title: Masao Ito © vs. “Wildfire” Tommy Rich (7/9/84) JIP with Rich having Ito in a side headlock on the mat. Ito starts working on Rich using his odd strikes but Rich has been working with Tojo Yamamoto who is at ringside to counter Hart about how to get around them. Rich starts coming back using a double jumping knee smash to the face but Ito would strike him back down again then goes for a nerve hold. Rich fights out of it but Ito keeps on using different strikes before Rich starts firing the punches in. Ito hangs tough though and chops Rich in the throat but would miss a diving headbutt off the middle rope as Rich rolls away. Rich then climbs up and hits an elbow smash off the middle rope before hitting three diving strikes then hits the Thesz Press but Tojo is in the ring trying to get after Hart. Hart then throws the flagpole to Ito who nails Rich with it as Paul Morton is trying to get Tojo out of the ring but Rich would kick out of the pinfall attempt. Ito goes back to work using reverse chops but Rich fires it up and comes back throwing punches then hits a backdrop. Rich throws Ito in the ropes but Hart throws salt in his eyes and Ito goes for another pinfall but Rich kicks out again. Ito places Rich on the middle rope and Tojo gives Rich his own salt to use then hits a cross body block to get the win. Rich falls out of the ring to a large pop and gets the belt. This was quite a different match for Memphis as Ito wasn’t the normal Memphis styled guy but this worked and the story of Rich fighting through adversity was great. This goes on the block which I thought I would never nominate an Ito match because I thought he sucked.
December 26, 200717 yr comment_5425900 Yeah this fucking rocked. I like Ito a bunch more then Kris as I think his chops look super nasty. This is Rich just getting beaten on, and babyfacing the fuck up. Rich is really amazing at working Memphis babyface, the finish with Rich kicking out of the flag shot and the salt, before Tojo evens the score was just great. This was my favorite match on this disc. Absolute nomination.
July 28, 200817 yr comment_5433319 Masao Ito vs. Tommy Rich 7/9/84 (Wrestling Gold Disc 3) - I enjoyed this but is this complete? It seems awfully short to be considered such a strong favorite. Is the Wrestling Gold version the definitive version or is this one of those matches we need to look at again after seeing so many better matches? I am kind of neutral on this. I won’t fight its inclusion but I can’t endorse it as a favorite either.
