Posted November 13, 200816 yr comment_5435714 Hey, Saito's back. Cool. For about 25 minutes, this was an intense wrestling match, with methodical, hardfought ground sequences giving way to violent exchanges of strikes and suplexes. But then, the pirate dude in the hockey mask showed up and handcuffed himself to Saito. The match seemed to end in confusion as they stumbled down the aisle. But then Saito re-emerged, sans pirate. The re-start didn't last long however, as Saito repeatedly nailed Inoki with the broken handcuff to earn a DQ. A wild brawl followed, with both guys juicing. I don't know what to make of this. It felt important and intense, but I'm sure some will find the pirate weirdness and lack of a finish off-putting. It's at least worth more discussion.
June 17, 200916 yr comment_5440838 3/26/87 Masa Saito vs. Antonio Inoki - This has the big match atmosphere and it is the only match on the episode. This is going long so god help me. Starts off really slow with lots of holds and little movement. However, about ten minutes in, it picks up with a HUGE flurry by Inoki. He does his defensive ground posture and as Saito grabs his legs to try and hook in another Sharpshooter, Inoki just nails the hell out of him with the other leg and knocks him into the turnbuckle. Good shit. I guess that little flurry of awesomeness was good enough because they go back to trading holds. Saito does go for another Sharpshooter, thinking that is his path to victory against Inoki but Inoki fights it off. This match is weird/ You have 5-10 minutes of “struggling” through holds with short bursts of momentum builders/releases. Unfortunately, there is so much dead space in this match and the pirate interference does not help either. No endorsement
September 7, 200916 yr comment_5443908 I thought the holds part was a little slow although it looked like a violent struggle, then you have the booking. This felt like a Russo booked main event with the Pirate shit, maybe put the post match brawl on as an extra leading into their awesome match, but this is a no. I mean all the post match stuff was awesome, but I don't think it redeems the dull match and the booking.
