Posted November 15, 200816 yr comment_5435744 DVD #8 May 11th: Korakuen Hall IWGP・B League regular game／Akira Maeda vs Hacksaw Higgins - Maeda ate some pretty violent suplexs from Higgins, but this didn't develop into much of a match. IWGP・A League regular game／Antonio Inoki vs Killer Tim Brooks - I enjoyed Brooks' attack on Inoki's leg. Inoki largely shook it off, however and it was one of those matches where he appeared to take it home as soon as he got tired of standing out there. George Takano & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Scott Hall & Masa Saito - Young Scott Hall looked so different, with his steroid-inflated body and his Magnum T.A.-style boots and moustache. He actually wasn't terrible here as a generic power wrestler. The match in general was pretty good as Fujinami and Saito tossed in some heated exchanges. Nothing remarkable but not a bad way to pass 10 minutes. May 14th: Sapporo IWGP・B league regular game／Tatsumi Fujinami vs Masa Saito - Only highlights. May 18th: Chiba George Takano & Seiji Sakaguchi vs Alexis Smirnoff & Hacksaw Higgins - Not much to look at here. IWGP・B League regular game／Akira Maeda vs Masa Saito - Pretty great for a match that didn't even last 10 minutes. Super Strong Machine jumped Maeda pre-match, and Maeda spouted a Muta-scale gusher. Saito went right for the kill, hitting his big suplexes and going for submissions with the scorpion and a Boston crab. Saito was such a burly, powerful-looking guy that those basic holds looked devastating when he applied them. The crowd (and I) went nuts, trying to inspire Maeda to get back into the match. Eventually, he powered out of the crab and started nailing Saito with kicks. The brawl spilled to the outside, where Saito regained the advantage and hit another of his violent back suplexes. Despite tremendous cheers, Meda couldn't beat the count. As I said, this was really short, but the blood and intensity pulled me in. I'll throw it on the block to see if it hits others the same way. Kengo Kimura & Antonio Inoki vs Tony St. Clair & Konga The Barbarian - Boxing-gimmick Kimura was definitely more fun than proto-Kobashi Kimura. He could still take an ass-beating, but the punches gave his rallies more umph. I like Tony St. Clair but he always seemed out of place in his NJ matches, like he was just thrown into situations that had nothing to do with him. Anyway, this match had some good stuff in it but didn't rise above filler.
