Posted November 16, 200816 yr comment_5435752 DVD #10 June 9th: Osaka Yosiaki Fujiwara vs Riki Choshu - This was not shown, which bummed me out, because I've been looking forward to it since reading Phil's review. I'll dig out the commercial tape. Umanosuke Ueda vs Konga The Barbarian - Brief clip. Osamu Kido vs Kevin Von Erich - A few cool mat exchanges aside, this was disappointing. Kevin did not seem at his best on this tour. Nobuhiko Takada & Antonio Inoki vs The Pirate & Masa Saito - Inoki and Takada created some intrigue with their attempts to de-mask the Pirate, and the crowd was into it. But all in all, the match was kind of boring. One segment didn't flow into the next, and the Pirate, while the focus of the story, didn't add much interesting work. June 12th: Ryogoku Masa Chono & Kengo Kimura vs Tony St. Clair & Kevin Von Erich - Two things I liked: Kevin's claw on Kimura's wrapped knee and Chono and Kimura's fiery finishing sequence to put away St. Clair. Too much dreck in between for it to earn much consideration, however. IWGP Victory Game／Antonio Inoki vs Masa Saito - Talk about a shitty finish. They really pulled me into an Inoki-as-underdog storyline. He tried to come out fast with a kick at the opening bell, but Saito shrugged it off and dominated him on the mat. Inoki tried to transition to offense off a cool headbutt exchange, but again, Saito overpowered him. After wearing Inoki down with a sleeper, he sent him to the floor with a vicious lariat. Inoki beat the count, only for Saito to move into his brutal sequence of suplexes. The crowd was desperate by then to see an Inoki comeback. But instead,he countered a Saito back suplex and fell on him for three. I'm sorry, you can't get beat to hell for 20 minutes by a guy who is supposed to be your peer and then best him with some chintzy shit like that. This was a big match,and they made Saito seem like a serious badass with the work, and then they totally undermined it. This would be a good exhibit for people who hate Inoki.
