New Japan Pro Wrestling TV (February 25th & March 4th 1983)

 

1. Tiger Mask & Kantaro Hoshino vs Kuniaki Kobayashi & Gran Hamada (10/2) - This was JIP but actually pretty long and pretty damn fun. It started as just a decently paced tag with all four guys getting in some nice looking offense. But then Kobayashi and Hamada got all hateful on TM and tried to rip his mask off. I was a little disappointed that TM didn't seem more pissed after he got free. Instead, he just hit his normal tombstone, flying headbutt sequence. But the match continued in cool fashion. Hoshino actually seemed more pissed than TM after the mask segment, and he started wailing motherfuckers in the face. Then Hamada tossed in some nasty looking strikes and head drops. I really dug him with Kobayashi. Wish they had teamed more. Anyway, Hamada did a nice flying press to the floor on Hoshino. Then TM, finally seeming appropriately fired up, did an out of control tope that carried both him and Kobayashi into the crowd. Ref called the match at that point. I liked the fire from both teams and Hamada was pretty badass, so I'll toss this one on the pile.

 

 

2. Tatsumi Fujinami vs Killer Khan (10/2) - JIP. Khan controlled most of the way with chinlocks and squelched most of Fujinami's rallies with dirty tactics. Eventually, Saito interefered and he and Khan kicked the shit out of Fujimami. Pretty typical feud builder that never really got going as a standalone match.

 

3. Antonio Inoki & Hulk Hogan vs Marty Jones & Rusher Kimura (10/2) - Inoki and Hogan never seemed in any peril, so this wasn't too exciting. Even the Inoki-loving crowd seemed underwhelmed.

 

1. Tatsumi Fujinami & Seiji Sakaguchi vs Riki Choshu & Masa Saito - JIP. This was another solid build match in the Choshu/Fujinami feud. Choshu and Saito always brought nice intensity to their double team beatdowns and Sakaguchi was actually decent in this match. It ended in the typical brawl and I don't think there was enough there to merit a nomination.

 

2. Tiger Mask & Kantaro Hoshino vs Abdullah Tamba & Miles Zrno - This was kind of a funny match. Tamba was like a 5-foot-5 Butcher knockoff who liked to do a lot of super-slow flying offense. Zrno was a pasty dude who seemed fond of athletic flourishes that led to very little. He did this one split-legged leap that truly served no purpose. Hoshino quickly mimiced it in mocking fashion. That was probably the best moment in the match. No nomination.

 

3. Adrian Adonis & Bob Orton Jr vs Antonio Inoki & Kengo Kimura - This episode of TV ends during a face-in-peril segment, and the match concludes on the next episode. A very well worked U.S. style tag match and thus, a welcome change of pace. I love Adonis and Orton as a heel team. They made Inoki look great with their crazy bumping, they tossed in a million little dirty double-team tactics and they looked really vicious when necessary. Adonis had to have been one of the all-time greats at mixing borderline cartoonish bumps with brutal-looking offense. No wonder he ended up with Murdoch. Inoki had a great hot tag, looking genuinely pissed that the gaijin had pounded on Kimura for so long. But once Kimura tagged back in, Adonis masterfully steered him back to the heel corner. They finished him with a nasty-looking double team highspot. This was a solid match that used everyone to best effect, so I'll nominate it.

I picked up some Zrno when I converted a ton of Lynch's Austria and German stuff. I thought I included a Zrno match in the Finlay set.