Posted August 25, 200817 yr comment_5434189 New Japan Pro Wrestling TV (July 1st & September 30th 1983) 1. Tiger Mask & Kantaro Hoshino vs Pete Roberts & Isamu Teranishi - I had no expectations of this going in but ended up really enjoying it. It didn't have a great story or anything. It simpy featured solid work from all four guys. Teranishi and Tiger Mask had good chemistry as Teranishi looked like a powerhouse against other juniors and let TM beat the shit out of him in retaliation. Hoshino could be counted on as a proto-Kikuchi. And Roberts was a very sound worker, tight on the mat, good-looking Euro uppercuts. I don't necessarily expect this to get on the set, because there's nothing remarkable, but I'll put it forward for discussion. 2. Akira Maeda & Seiji Sakaguchi vs Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch - Adonis and Murdoch are always a pleasure, and the crowd was really behind Maeda as the face-in-peril. But the match ended (in DQ or some other kind of ref stoppage) just as they were getting fired up. Too bad. 3. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi - I think this was Hamaguchi's first televised performance as Choshu's partner and boy did he slide perfectly into the role. He had so much offense and unlike Saito or Khan, he was really well-suited to take beatdowns from oppoents. Choshu seemed to have Fujinami's number according to the booking at this moment. Fujinami had taken a lariat and the scorpion when the episode ended without a finish. I'll check the next chronological episode to see if it picks up. But given the amount of good stuff involving these parties, I wouldn't advocate for it without any finish. But it was a solid tag match with a lot of crowd heat. 4. Bad News Allen vs Killer Khan (22/9) - Good little brawl while it lasted. Nothing that remarkable. 5. Animal Hamaguchi & Riki Choshu vs Akira Maeda & Kantaro Hoshino (22/9) - The crowd went into a frenzy every time Maeda and Choshu squared off. This was an energetic match in which everyone other than Choshu played the in peril role at some point. Maeda just teed off on Hamaguchi in the corner at one point. But later, when he had Hamaguchi in a Boston crab, Choshu annihalated him with a lariat. Eventually, Ishingundun killed Hoshino beyond repair. This was very fun and I'll push it forward. 6. Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Tony St.Clair & Dick Murdoch (22/9) - Another good tag match from this disc. My only complaint would be that St. Clair didn't have enough to do. Murdoch was Murdoch. He did his little sequence where he uses leapfrogs and a sudden dropkick to turn the tide. Fujinami used the same sequence on him later in a nice bit of turnabout. Dick sold expertly for Inoki at the end. This one falls just short for me, I guess, because Murdoch and St. Clair lacked standout tag chemistry and it ended with INoki's typical superman routine.
