All Japan Classics 61

 

Abdullah the Butcher v. The Sheik (12/01/80)

- The first 5 or 6 minutes has the Sheik treating Abby like a jobber, carving him up and choking him down. Abby responds in kind and carves up the Sheik's arm. You sort of want one of these matches on the set because people really love these kind of matches but this won't be the one. About 9 minutes in, we get some interference and ruins the match. Maybe there is another match around with just these 2 guys involved.

 

Abdullah the Butcher/Tom Kamata v. The Sheik/The Great Mephisto (12/11/80)

- This continues where the singles match left off. Lots of madness in this one with the same result... Abby and Sheik brawling throughout the stands. I want to know where you guys stand on these type of matches.

 

Ricky Steamboat v. Jimmy Snuka (06/10/81)

- I already mentioned this before but I love heel Snuka. In the early part of the match, Steamboat keeps gaining the advantage with head scissors, armdrags and armbars. You can tell Snuka is frustrated because he keeps getting taken advantage of. When Snuka gains control, he throws Steamboat out of the ring and doesn't allow him to return. Everytime Steamer is on the apron, Snuka beats him down and throws him off. While I admire the strategy, it doesn't make a very thrilling match. They pick it up in the end and when it spills outside, they battle to see who can get back in the ring first. When they eventually get in the ring, Steamer's leg gets trapped i nthe ropes and when Snuka attacks him with a chair, he gets DQed. I remember liking a Stemaboat-Snuka match but it must not have been this one. THis had some ok stuff in it but nothing worth nominating.

Abdullah the Butcher vs. The Sheik (12/1/80)

 

I always dug Abby the insane babyface in Japan and this is what you would expect from these two as Sheik attacks Abby from behind with a chair then proceeds to beat his ass bloody for a while. Abby is drenched in blood but the tide would turn as Abby breaks out his fork and he goes insane on Sheik jabbing him all over his body with it especially the right arm which is a move out of the Dusty repertoire. The Great Mephisto would have enough and he shows up to jump Abby for the DQ so that brings out Tor Kamata who runs them off. This was a total juicefest and while not a nomination, this MUST go on the set as a definite extra.

 

Real World Tag League: Abdullah the Butcher & Tor Kamata vs. The Great Mephisto & The Sheik (12/11/80)

 

This was just a wild insane all over Sumo Hall brawl with no structure of a match just everyone beating each other bloody and the fans going nuts. The referee finally decides to count both teams out on the floor as there is no control here and again like the previous match this is a slam dunk extra.

 

Ricky Steamboat vs. "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka (6/10/81)

 

Here is the rematch a week later and its worked differently as Steamer concentrates more on armbars than headlocks. There is some really good back and forth action here and I give them credit for doing almost a totally different match than the previous one but the problem is that it's not as good as that one. I did like the brawling on the floor that setup the finish and this time Snuka got DQed for hitting Joe Higuchi as he worked over Steamer whose leg was caught in the ropes. Like I said this was good but not as good as the previous one.