Posted November 24, 200816 yr comment_5435922 DVD #21 12/27/87 Ryogoku Kokugikan Yamada vs. Funaki - Fun burst of action here with both guys contributing some flashy work. Too short for a nomination. Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Hiroshi Hase - This stood pretty clearly above the junior pack. Hase was already a tremendous offensive wrestler -- smooth, forceful, innovative with his matwork and suplexes. Kobayashi, as champion, was perfectly capable of hanging with him and was the better seller. Together, they produced a memorable title change that earns an easy yes vote from me. Kazuo Yamazaki/Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Nobahiko Takada/Osamu Kido - Another excellent match between the UWF guys. It suffered little from having Kido in place of Maeda. Takada and Fujiwara got really pissy with each other. Fujiwara was always great in the cocky veteran role. I loved him pulling Takada up twice before the three count so he could punish him more. I also dug the moment when Fujiwara was sort of strutting and Kido tagged in and took him right down. The over-the-rail ending was a bit of a letdown. But this is still an easy nomination. Tatsumi Fujinami/Kengo Kimura vs. Riki Choshu/Masa Saito - I don't know what Choshu said on the mic beforehand, but lord did he generate some heat. The normally reserved Japanese fans pelted the ring with trash when he tagged in. The match itself was all-action but pretty short. I'm tempted to nominate it for the spectacle but again, I think it would fir better as an extra in a Choshu/Fujinami package. Antonio Inoki vs. Riki Choshu/Inoki vs. Vader - I'm a little confused about what Phil reviewed, because the Choshu and Vader matches from the same night could be taken as a piece but were technically separate. Basically, Choshu shot his mouth off enough to earn an impromptu match with Inoki. Inoki kicked his ass, busting him open badly and ruthlessly working the cut. But Choshu was awesome in his role, refusing to die and kicking Hase aside when he tried to stop the match. He even attacked his protege after he threw in the towel. Vader then emerged and essentially squashed Inoki, who mustered virtually no offense. As a whole spectacle, this was great, but I'm not sure either match was a nomination on its own. It's also possible that something was cut from the TV version, and I just didn't notice.
