Posted December 4, 200816 yr comment_5436201 DVD #14 7/9/82 - Matches also on Classics 126 and 127 Tiger Mask vs. Ultraman - Again, they did some nice reverse-counter stuff in the opening section, and Ultraman hit a good-looking tope. But most of his offense didn't look impactful enough for him to come off as a threat to Tiger Mask. Neither guy looked very good working holds, so those sections were excruciating. I think Tiger Mask needed to be paired with really punishing offensive wrestlers to have good matches. All of his best opponents -- Bret, Dynamite, Kobayashi, Fujiwara, even Rocco -- had that in common. Sayama against smooth-working luchadores was rarely a great mix. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dick Murdoch - They came out firing at each other and put on a really intense match. Murdoch dominated the opening stretch with elbows. Fujinami reversed the momentum when he absolutely drilled Murdoch with a tope suicida. Dick bled (in intense matches, he often bloodied his nose, which was always a nice touch.) Eventually, they brawled to a countout outside and Murdoch hit Fujinami with a brainbuster in the crowd. I liked the fire from both guys and you know they could work. So I'll push this forward, though I wouldn't call it a high-end nomination. Huk Hogan vs. Andre - This was better than their 6/18 match as it seemed more like a desperate struggle between two superpowers. I liked Andre going after the ref early and jumping right to brawling. But it still lacked the ebb and flow of a really good match. They didn't build to any dramatic points. They just nailed each other until they spilled outside and got counted out. So it fell a bit short for me. Inoki vs. El Canek - Inoki let Canek get him up in a backbreaker, but he handled him pretty easily. No surprise there. 7/16/82 Bret Hart/Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask/Kengo Kimura - This stood out from the pack of mid-card tags, because there were real issues between these guys, and they beat the hell out of each other. Kimura took a big asskicking from Bret and Dynamite, and the Dynamite-Sayama stuff was a nice tease for their upcoming singles showdowns. Just an entertaining match that deserves to go on the block. Sakaguchi vs. Murdock - They came out exchanging blows, but the match never built much from there. Yatsu/Toguchi/Fujinami vs. Greg Valentine/Adonis/Rick McGraw - Interesting group of wrestlers but not a particularly interesting match.
