Posted September 30, 200817 yr comment_5434946 Disc 23 October 12th & 19th 1984: Last three matches also on Classics 175 1. The Cobra vs. Black Tiger - "Uhm, we're both pretty athletic so let's go out there and I'll do some stuff and you do some stuff. Don't worry about the order. Just whatever pops into your head." This is how I imagine Cobra and Black Tiger plotting out their matches. 2. Kuroneko/Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Strong Machines - The match was magically OK whenever Fujinami was in, magically not whenever he tagged to Kuroneko. 3. Kimura/Sakaguchi/Inoki vs. Brian Blair/Bad News Allen/Masked Superstar - With Sakaguchi in for Fujinami and Allen in for Orton, this lacked the verve of the six-man from the previous week. 4. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Bob Orton Jr. - JIP and only about seven minutes shown. We'll have to judge the Classics version, but this didn't do much for me. Robbed of his ability to do tag-team schtick, Orton failed to muster much interesting or nasty offense (he actually looked really terrible on a Savage-style double axe handle to the floor.) They wrestled at a slow pace, which didn't play to either man's strengths. Hope their next match is better. 5. The Cobra vs. Black Tiger - More frustrating than their previous match because it contained really good sections. They nailed some cool highspots early, and Black Tiger delivered a focused attack on Cobra's back for several minutes. But Cobra totally no-sold it as he began the transition to the finish. Then, they got lost to such a degree that they ended up standing, staring at each other in the middle of the ring. Crowd died completely on them at that point. They sort of reset it, and Cobra won seconds later with a roll-up. I just don't understand how two talented guys could screw up a match so completely. Their series has diminished my esteen for both. 6. Hoshino/Kimura/Antonio Inoki vs. Hiro Saito/Strong Machines - Fine sprint with the younger guys trying to show Inoki that they were tough enough to carry his banner. Of course, they weren't, so he had to pick up the pieces. Nothing set worthy.
