Posted October 30, 200816 yr comment_5435458 DVD 12 6/12/86: Matches also appear on Classics 234 and 235 Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Akira Maeda - Classic match and one that has to be on the set. I hadn't watched it for several years but it holds up incredibly well because of the intensity and violence of the exchanges throughout. And it was the rare case where a screwed up finish made the match more indelible instead of ruining it. Antonio Inoki vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara - It couldn't have been easy to follow the previous match, but this was damn good too. It was also different enough from their February match that both need to be on the set. I liked Fujiwara's cocky grin as he evaded Inoki's big offense at the end. And he didn't miss a beat as he transitioned to selling big when Inoki took out his leg. Easy nomination from a great night of wrestling. 6/19/86: Match also appears on Classics 236 Antonio Inoki vs. Dick Murdoch - This one didn't quite have the intensity of the NJ/UWF matches from the previous week, but it was still excellent. Murdoch worked Inoki's arm most of the way and mixed up his attacks enough to keep it interesting. Inoki sold the damage well. I kind of liked that Inoki played the puncher/quick strike guy to Murdoch's grinding tactician. When Murdoch couldn't put Inoki away by normal means, he tried for repeated countouts (and drew juice in the process) to build tension for the finish. The only slip-up came when Inoki appeared to pin Murdoch with his second-to-last move. The crowd believed the match was over and thus, failed to react fully to the actual finish. Not a big gripe but with so much comeptition, I think the finish will knock the match down many ballots. Definite nomination as the biggest singles match these guys had in the decade.
