Posted October 21, 200816 yr comment_5435303 DVD #22 10/11/85 - Matches also appear on Classics 211 and 212 (taped 10/4) Antonio Inoki vs. Bruiser Brody - I don't mind Brody escaping the octopus. I actually liked his counter here. But I do mind him brushing aside finishing offense that has put away every other guy in the promotion and fighting back at full strength. (taped 10/11) Cobra/Hoshino vs. Keiji Mutoh/Shiro Koshinaka - Weird to see Koshinaka in red trunks but at least he still featured the butt thrust. Good little spotfest, but we'll have enough higher-end ones to sort through without adding the likes of this. Sakurada vs. Barbarian - Squash designed to showcase Barbarian's power offense and out-of-control nature. Kimura/Sakaguchi/Inoki vs. Oliver/Allen/Bruiser Brody - More vintage Brody no-selling. At least against Inoki, he'd act hurt momentarily. Sakaguchi and Kimura might as well have been five-year-olds slapping an NFL linebacker. Decent match overall that ended in a three-way clusterfuck outside. 10/18/85 (taped 10/18) Sakurada vs. Bruiser Brody - Well, if you're going to squash a guy, I guess you might as well really fucking obliterate him. Brody did that. Kosugi/Hoshino vs. Giant Gustav - They built up Gustav by showing these hilarious videos of him doing "World's Strongest Man" feats. Basically, he looked like a hillbilly sumo and allowed the little fellas to just bounce off him. I'm not sure what they were thinking with this angle. The Cobra vs. Shiro Koshinaka - Not a thinking man's match but if you had to watch two guys throw bunch of big moves at each other in 1985, this was probably about as good as it got. Koshinaka is often described as a wrestler who thrived despite limited offense. Not here. He tossed in all kinds of shit, from suplex variations, to a doublestomp off the top to a swank plancha. And he joined the relatively small club of guys who pulled excellent matches out of Cobra. Nomination. Antonio Inoki vs. Konga the Barbarian - Not really bad, not really good. Just your basic Inoki takes a bunch of offense from a powerful gaijin and then wins with the enziguiri.
