All Japan Classics 152

 

Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask vs. Stan Hanson & Ted Dibiase (PWF Tag Title, 7/3/87) (17:53)

- Dibiase and Misawa play the whipping posts for their respective teams. Most of the match is back and forth with Hansen and Jumbo setting up advantages hat their partners cannot capitalize on. Hansen-Misawa was pretty entertaining though as Hansen would counter Misawa’s speed in clever ways. For instance, early on, Misawa’s leg gets caught by Hansen, who just flips him hard to the mat and follows with an elbow drop. Later on, Hansen charges the corner, realizes he can’t catch speedy Misawa and grounds him with a headlock. Misawa and Dibiase do the spinning toe hold to the outside to the plancha sequence that appeared in the singles match but the match was won when Misawa beat the count and Dibiase couldn’t make it to the ring. Solid tag match that deserves consideration even if it does not make it very far.

 

Stan Hansen vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu (PWF Title, 7/19/87)

- This starts off slow and meandering until Yatsu misses a charge and shoulders the ringpost on his way out of the ring. This opens up Hansen to attack the arm at will with some chair shots and inside ring work. Yatsu gets a hope spot as Hansen whips Yatsu into the steel rail, misses a knee lift and hurts his leg which Yatsu exploits. What was turning into a boring match picked up after that missed shoulder. The match ends in a double countout but it was pretty damn fun in the end. I’ll give it a mild nomination just so you guys can check it out.

 

Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (Int'l Title, 7/22/87)

- This one starts off with Jumbo trying to work Hansen’s arm and Hansen waiting to exploit Jumbo’s injured kidney/back/rib area. Later on in the match, Jumbo attacks Hansen’s knee and leg. The biggest knock against this match is the crowd. They are as dead as I have ever seen them. You would think Joe Malenko was fighting Tom Zenk. They pick up later but the only time they respond is when they brawl outside. The match ends prematurely when Hansen is disqualified after choking Jumbo with his bullrope. This was a huge disappointment.

PWF Tag Titles: Ted DiBiase & Stan "The Lariat" Hansen © vs. Tiger Mask II & Jumbo Tsuruta (7/3/87)

 

This is a brawl at the bell as the gaijin attack the natives and it's a match where when DiBiase & TM are in against each other, it's pretty balanced but when those two are in against Hansen & Jumbo, they are taking punishment. Hansen & Jumbo have some pretty fun hard hitting exchanges as well which is to be expected. Very solid match with both teams working at a fast pace especially Jumbo who seemed motivated here. TM would hit his big plancha on the floor on DiBiase and it ended up being a 4-way battle before TM would beat the count back to the ring and won the titles. Very good match and it moves forward.

 

PWF Heavyweight Title: Stan "The Lariat" Hansen © vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu (7/19/87)

 

Slow start here with both men jockeying for the advantage until Hansen sends Yatsu running into the ringpost shoulder first going to the floor. Hansen then attacked the shoulder with a steel chair and went to work on it immediately in the ring. Hansen was relentless here but Yatsu would fight back getting a chance when Hansen missed a running knee sending him over the railing on the floor. Yatsu then used a steel chair on the knee and he would work on the knee like Hansen did on his shoulder setting up the Prison Lock which was hard to get on as Hansen fought hard. Yatsu tied Hansen to the tree of woe before taking it back to the floor where he wrapped Hansen's leg around the ringpost but Hansen would break free and would hit a big lariat on Yatsu on the floor as Joe Higuchi counted both men out. This was a fun hard hitting match and it moves forward.

 

NWA International Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta © vs. Stan "The Lariat" Hansen (7/22/87)

 

Jumbo has taped ribs here so you know Hansen will be gunning for them. This was an okay match with the ribs giving a different story than the normal match between these two but other than that it was a pedestrian match with almost zero heat from the fans plus it went to a DQ with Hansen choking Jumbo out with the bullrope. Not a nomination.