Posted August 13, 200817 yr comment_5434004 New Japan Pro Wrestling TV (March 11th & 18th 1983) 1. Adrian Adonis & Bob Orton Jr. vs Antonio Inoki & Kengo Kimura (4/3) - This was the finish of the match from the previous episode that I nominated. 2. Tiger Mask vs Chris Adams (4/3) - I wanted to like this because I like Chris Adams. But it was kind of just there. I've been trying to identify what holds back so many Tiger Mask matches. And I think it's that he wasn't very good at working with a lot of opponents. He had matches where he just went in and did his stuff, let his opponent do some stuff and then finished with some more of his stuff. The matches just didn't feel blended. 3. Adrian Adonis & Bob Orton Jr. vs Rusher Kimura & Animal Hamaguchi (4/3) - More fun work from Adonis and Orton, but this didn't have the sturdy structure of the Inoki/Kengo match, so it falls short. 4. Antonio Inoki, Seiji Sakaguchi & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Masa Saito, Riki Choshu & Killer Khan (4/3) - This came close to being the match I've wanted to see from these groups. Choshu's Army really was a finely tuned trio, masters at keeping an opponent in the corner, quick tagging and stringing together brutal double team stuff. Everbody got to have a nice sequence as the thing built to a hot showdown between Fujinami and Choshu. But it turned out to be a tease as the match ended right there. I'm tempted to nominate it, but it was another build match in the Choshu/Fujinami feud without much payoff. Falls just short for me. 5. Tiger Mask & Kantaro Hoshino vs Chris Adams & Abdullah Tamba - Other than Hoshino getting fired up at times, this lacked much to recommend it. 6. Killer Khan, Masa Saito & Riki Choshu vs Rusher Kimura, Animal Hamaguchi & Isamu Teranishi - Another nice demonstration of Choshu's Army trios. Watching them abuse future member Hamaguchi was very fun. Saito almost killed Teranishi right off the bat with a back suplex. When Teranishi tagged back in later, Choshu quickly hit him with the same move and flashed a dickish grin. Despite such sequences, this never really built beyond its first act. 7. Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Adrian Adonis & Bob Orton Jr - This was a tight, all-action match featuring more great heel work from Adonis and Orton. Inoki was better armed this time with Fujinami on his side instead of Kengo. Adonis did the Eddy Guerrero spot where he flipped from the apron into a senton. Pretty sweet for a fat man in 1983. Anyway, this was another nomination for me.
