Really great shit, you get an opening matwork section between Fujiwara v. Kido which is like Panther v. Santo awesome. Inoki and Maeda also have really great chemistry with each other. Pretty great throughout, I would have loved it to be a bit longer, but this is on.

Wildly disappointing match. I enjoyed the opening matwork section between Fujiwara and Kido, but the match stayed largely on the mat, and much of the work was uninspired. I expect electricity from the Maeda/Fujiwara and Maeda/Inoki match-ups but felt very little here. And on top of all that, it lasted less than 15 minutes -- really lackluster for a year-ending match that could have touched on so many stories. No vote from me.

 

Appears on NJ TV 12/11/86 and on NJ Classics 254

I'm leaning closer to Childs on this. Loved the Fujiwara v Kido exchanges. And a good bulk of the match was that. But it felt unattached plus your big hot tags to Maeda and Inoki needed to deliver more.

Early on, the Kido-Fujiwara shit was cool but not Panther-Santo awesome but to each his own. I enjoyed Maeda-Inoki early on much more than the last match since the crowd was more into it, Inoki showed weakness on the leg and Maeda grabs the leglock. Good stuff. Fujiwara-Kido part 2 was much better with the corner strikes, Kido countering and throwing Fujiwara down and more nifty mat stuff. Overall, I thought the mat work was much better here than in the 12/10 match. Down the stretch, there was one point where Fujiwara was selling the leg damage from Kido, nails him with a punch, staggers to make the tag and Inoki comes in right with an enziguiri. Super sequence. I really liked the end run with Kido and Maeda taking turns trying to put Inoki away but each failing. Each time they made the tag, it was like they were saying "Fuck, it's your turn". The end with Fujiwara running around the ring to grab Maeda while Inoki hooks the Octopus was cool too. This is so much better than the previous match in my eyes. Nomination.