Posted August 18, 200817 yr comment_5434107 Keichi Yamada (Liger) vs. Nobuhiko Takada Nobuhiko Takada v. Seiji Sakaguchi Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Kazuo Yamazaki Osamu Kido vs. Seiji Sakaguchi Osamu Kido vs. Shiro Koshinaka Kengo Kimura vs. Osamu Kido Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kengo Kimura Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara Akira Maeda vs. Tatsumi Fujinami Your early sections of this match were a little underwhelming, I liked Takada v. Yamada’s match fine, but your Sakaguchi sections didn’t do a ton for me. Kido v. Koshinaka and Kido v. Kimura were cool shit, but the match really kicked in gear with Fujiwara. Kimura busts him open and you get bloody Fujiwara kicking ass. Fujiwara v. Fujinami was epic with both guys bleeding tons, and you get the awesome blood stoppage to Maeda v. Fujinami. You have to treat this as one long match, and it is a nomination
October 28, 200816 yr comment_5435420 The beginning was good and the ending fantastic, but the middle section, with either Sakaguchi or Kido in five straight matches, dragged. I still think it should go on because of the blood and craziness at the end, but it didn't hold a candle to the '84 Ishingun-Seikigun series.
November 28, 200816 yr comment_5436026 5-on-5 Challenge (05/01/86): I am going to watch each match individually t osee if any stand out as a great single but I will judge the whole as well. This is a wierd way to watch a match and I don't know how you argue for or against it. Keichi Yamada (Liger) vs. Nobuhiko Takada - The matwork and counters in this were cool as shit. There were some Pete Roberts-Masa Fuchi type cool shit going on. Fuck, Takada's kicks toward the end with the Yamada counter to the figre-four was a thing of beauty. The end tstretch where you got the feeling that Yamada may be able to pull it off was also awesome. Then to see Takada's face in disgust as Yamda kicks out after the back suplex and ultimately putting it away with the leg bar. Shit, if the whole thing didn't move forward, I would be tempted to put this one in as a stand-alone. Nobuhiko Takada v. Seiji Sakaguchi - This wasn't much of a match but it is understandable after the battle Takda went through. After missing a move from the top riope, Seiji puts this away with the backbreaker. This match actually puts Yamada over even more since he should not have given Takada the back and forth contest that ensued. Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Kazuo Yamazaki - Another match that wasn't much, and since Takada did not put up much of a fight, Seiji disposes of Yamazaki in about 6 minutes but Seiji does seem to be favoring the leg. Osamu Kido vs. Seiji Sakaguchi - Kido wins in about 4 minutes after a quick small package. Nothing to see here. Osamu Kido vs. Shiro Koshinaka - Shit, Koshinaka takes no time in taking this to the outside, first attacking Kido outside the ring and then following up later and piledriving Seiji on the outside. It didn't take long to reciover though and I want Phil to explain how it is ok here but not in a Harley Race match. I am a little disappointed that this teased wild brawl but ended up being a so-so mat match. I don't understand how Kido won the match but I am guessing it was because Koshinaka was outside the ring longer. Kengo Kimura vs. Osamu Kido - Another quick match but I can understand why since Kido got his ass kicked in the last match. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kengo Kimura - Fuck what a nasty piledriver. This was super fun with Fujiwara getting busted open and Kimura going to town on the cut. I love Fujiwara's counter to the sharp-shooter using his head to flip out of it. Fuck, this was victory through guts because Fujiwara was getting his ass beat. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara - I am siappointed that Fujinami is choosing to go with the chinlock instead of exploiting the cut and kicking the fuck out of Fujiwara. I understand the strategy and you see it come into play as Fujiwara shows clear desparation in trying to battle through it but it isn't the most exciting way to follow the Kimura match. Fuck, just as I typed it, Fujiwara decides to continue the fight outside and make Fujinami a bloody mess. The backslide ending kind of sucked because Fujiwara finally evened up the odds. Akira Maeda vs. Tatsumi Fujinami - This is more like it. Maeda's first move... a fucking kick straight to Fujinami's bloody head. Maeda just destroys Fujinami here and he ends up eliciting the same sympathy you had for Fujiwara in the last match. The ending was out of nowehere but made sense. Fujinami was getting his ass kicked. As individual matches, only the first one felt like a nom. Together, this has a real shot as my number one as it was such an emotional roller coaster where each elimination was logical and made sense. The different styles really helped this along as well as they saved the blood and brawling for the last 20 minutes or so. Great slam dunk pick. After reading David's thoughts, I have to see the 84 match.
