Posted September 16, 200817 yr comment_5434612 Disc 12 May 11th & 18th 1984: Matches also on Classics 165 and 166 1. Kengo Kimura/Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu/Masa Saito - Good to see Saito back. He absolutely killed Kimura with a couple of suplexes. And he and Choshu busted up Fujinami's nose. They didn't build any great drama around the in-peril segments, but I'll nominate this one for the violence. I won't be surprised if it fails to make the cut, given all the good Ishingun v. Seikigun stuff. 2. Andre the Giant vs. Ken Patera - Brief squash for Andre. Patera was good in 1980 but it was hard to tell if he had anything left at this point. 3. Antonio Inoki vs. Hulk Hogan - They seemed to be building something epic as Inoki hit three enziguiris on Hogan, who rolled outside every time. But then they went almost casually to the double countout, which took the starch out of what they'd done leading up to it. 4. Masked Superstar/Hulk Hogan vs. Adrian Adonis/Dick Murdoch - They worked this more evenly than most of the Adonis/Murdoch matches in NJ. Twas not a good thing as Hogan and Superstar looked shitty on offense by comparison. 5. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Andre the Giant - Fujinami did some fun David evading Goliath stuff and popped the crowd with a nearfall on a susnet flip off the top. But of course, Andre ended it in a hurry with his flopping butt drop. 6. Antonio Inoki vs. Riki Choshu - Better start than their previous match as Choshu nailed Inoki with a lariat right away, followed with a running powerslam and went for the scorpion. Inoki sold the danger of the hold by fighting hard to escape. After the early blitz, he went to a defensive posture from his back, which was a cool thing he did in big matches. I don't know if it was a nod to the Ali match but I always like it when he does it. Inoki then rallied with a series of fierce punches and slaps. More matwork followed and though they didn't do as good a job of portraying struggle as Choshu and Fujinami, it was good enough. I also liked the finish. Choshu couldn't beat Inoki with the scorpion, so he tried for the countout with a lariat on the outside. Inoki got back to the apron, and Choshu tried to suplex him into the ring. But Inoki, realizing that he couldn't just overpower Choshu, countered into a backslide for the win. It was an effective match because it kept Inoki on top but showed Choshu gaining on him. Nomination.
