Posted November 3, 200816 yr comment_5435520 DVD 18 9/12/86: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Black Tiger - I didn't have high expectations for this one, because I've learned not to trust Black Tiger, but they put together a really fun juniors match. It didn't have one standout moment, just a nice build and lots of high-end offense, executed well. The selling was a tad spotty, but it's worth further review. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Madd Maxx & Super Maxx - This actually didn't suck. The Maxxes contributed a few modestly cool moves and bumped well for the natives. Not a nomination but a fine TV tag. Antonio Inoki & George Takano vs. Jim Duggan & Jerry Grey - Duggan looked pretty good beating the crap out of Takano. But he got cocky and left Grey unattended with Inoki. 9/19/86: Matches also on NJ Classics 247 IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Nobuhiko Takada © vs. Shiro Koshinaka - JIP (not sure if the Classics version is full) but it's a great match, probably Takada's best singles outing in NJ to this point. Not only did they nail all of their usual offense, they showed off a lot of clever defensive wrestling. In fact, the build to the finish was more about defense than offense, with Takada blocking Koshinaka's beautiful German suplex only to get rolled up out of the same position. Slam dunk nomination. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Bruiser Brody - Brody actually bumped and sold for Fujinami, making it seem like he had a chance to win. They didn't crank out a great match as neither guy seemed to be operating at peak intensity, and they went to the predictable double countout. But it was nice to see Brody be a little generous. Antonio Inoki vs. Jim Duggan - Very little of this shown on TV. We'll have to check out the Classics version.
