All Japan Classics 193

 

Joe Malenko vs. Masa Fuchi (PWF Jr. Title, 10/20/89) (22:48)

- This is very similar to the other one. Same ground game, dead crowd, precursor to Battlarts vibe. For reference sake, Fuchi wins with a pinning bridged double underhook suples which looked really cool. I’ll nominate this one as well but we may only need one of them in the end. Still, I think this one might have been slightly better.

 

Stan Hanson vs. Shunji Takano (10/14/89)

- Semi-competitive match that Hansen wins with a sweet lariat.

 

Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Ricky Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada (10/20/89) (20:32)

- Man, this crowd sucks. Kawada lays a vicious kicking on Kroffat and no response. However, Kroffat responds with a Chris Adams worthy superkick in the corner shortly after. This one is slightly different than the previous matches with Fuyuki playing punching bag for the gaigin. Another cool story has the gaigin beating up Fuyuki outside early on. Later on, the natives return the favor where Kawada landed a SWEET kick to the side of the head that made Kroffat o over the railing. The double teams by the Cam-Ams are kickass as always. I also have to mention a spot where Kawada knocks Kroffat’s head off with a lariat, tags Fuyuki, throws Kroffat into the corner where Fuyuki throws his great clothesline and Kawada immediately follows up with a spin kick. This match has another hot ending that brings the crowd alive but I don’t know if the crowd hurts it compared to the other two matches. Still, another easy nomination from my vantage point but 3rd in the series.

AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title: Joe Malenko © vs. Masa Fuchi (10/20/89)

 

This is almost a carbon copy of their other match even having a dead crowd. This again has really solid matwork from both men ending up with a Fuchi double arm suplex hold to regain the title. Another solid match between the two and this moves forward.

 

Stan "The Lariat" Hansen vs. Shunji Takano (10/14/89)

 

Takano gets some offense in but ends up falling to the lariat.

 

All-Asia Tag Titles: The Can-Am Express (Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat) © vs. Footloose (Ricky Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada) (10/20/89)

 

The earlier two matches these teams have had were classics but they were in Budokan in front of that great crowd, this one isn't as great. Kroffat's superkick is indeed awesome and ranks right up with Chris Adams. I loved the Can-Ams just pounding on Fuyuki both inside and outside the ring. Kawada a couple of times just kicked the shit out of Kroffat including one on the floor that sent him over the railing pissing off Kroffat enough that he threw a row of chairs over the railing and Fuyuki throwing it back. This would start a brawl in the crowd which was great as fans were getting crushed. Kroffat spitting on Fuyuki as he broke up a nearfall was great and this match had more hatred than any of the others. Kroffat nearly killed Fuyuki with a Canadian Backbreaker into a powerbomb. This ended up going yet another hot stretch run with the crowd coming alive with a great finish and Akira Fukuzawa going nuts on commentary. This may not be as good as the other two but it's not far behind and another slam dunk nomination.