This was a star building match for Maeda as Khan hit him with his whole repertoire, and Maeda kept coming. I liked that Khan came out throwing bombs. And Maeda was a fun babyface because he wasn't a spunky underdog but a feisty prick. Early in the match, Khan set him on the top turnbuckle and Maeda just smacked him right in the mouth. Later, Maeda choked him with his boot in the corner, stretching the five count to its limit. And his kick sequences always popped the crowd. This ended with them brawling outside in one of your less frustrating NJ double countouts. I'm going to push this ahead, even though it might not make a set in the end. It's a nice demonstration of Maeda as a budding star and of Khan as a gatekeeping bruiser.

Akira Maeda vs. Killer Khan (IWGP League '83) (5/20/83)

- Great spot playing off the Hogan-Khan exchange. Khan slaps Maeda early on. Shortly after, Khan picks Maeda up and puts him on the turnbuckle… so Maeda slaps Khan! Cool spot where Khan gets on his feet and goes to the ropes to break the hold. Maeda just yanks him out of the ropes and back to the mat and into some pinning combos. When Khan takes over, he lays some pretty sick shots into Maeda, just torturing him. When Maeda is able to regain the momentum, Khan must have lit a fire under him because he lays a sweet kick that forces Khan to collapse in the corner. Nice stretch run where Khan thinks he has Maeda put away but Maeda survives. Maeda is insane. He teases trying to German suplex and then Draagon suplex Khan out of the ring. It doesn’t work so he just kicks Khan and pulls him out of the ring for the countout. This was a helluva match and a good solid mid-level nomination.

 

NJ Classics 141

Yeah this was great, I loved how expressive Khan was with his facial expressions, the look he gave Maeda after the slap was great. Crowd was getting super behind Maeda too. This actually makes me question my yes vote for Khan v. Fujinami because this was the way better Khan performance.