Posted May 5, 200817 yr comment_5431066 New Japan Classics 82 April 4, 1980, Kawasaki Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen - Inoki unloads on Hansen while his hand is wrapped with a T-shirt, sending him out of the ring. Hansen is frustrated early on. Inoki continues to frustrate Hansen including escaping a full-nelson with a mule kick. Later on, Inoki escapes the ring but grabs Hansen’s leg and rams it into the ringpost. This set up Inoki’s legwork including an Indian Death lock and the bow and arrow. Hansen has to regroup and takes control when he re-enters the ring. The end of the match picked up and they brawl outside but both men are counted out. This was pretty fun but criminally short. This will end up on the Hansen comp but not on the New Japan set. Kantaro Hoshino & Kotetsu Yamamoto vs. Goro Tsurumi & Katsumi Ooiyama - This was a pretty fun tag match. Hoshino and Yamamoto had some decent tag team moments but some of it came off as awkward such as the awkward backdrop into the partner spot towards the end. None of the heel offense was particularly interesting but Tsurumi’s bearhug into a belly-to-belly would have been sweet if it wasn’t botched. I enjoyed the match overall but there was too much going against it to nominate on a powerhouse set like New Japan. Kotetsu Yamamoto's Retirement Ceremony Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Mike Graham (NWA International Junior Title) - I really don’t like Mike Graham. When I see him wrestling, I instantly shut down and lose interest. This had some nice stuff with Fujinami controlling the pace but I enjoyed the Keirn matches more. Graham’s death lock looked especially hurty but I don’t think this makes the final cut.
