Posted December 9, 200816 yr comment_5436296 11/5/82 - Matches also on Classics 134 and 135 Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi - Tiger Mask came out hot against his new rival with a missile dropkick and an out-of-control tope suicida at the bell. Kobayashi responded by taking control with mat holds and submission attempts. That became the story of the match. When they were in motion, Tiger Mask generally got the better of things, with some of the stiffest kicks I've seen him throw outside of UWF. When they grappled, Kobayashi had the advantage. In one nice sequence, Tiger Mask came up short on a diving headbutt only to roll through into striking position. But Kobayashi was ready and hooked him into a fisherman suplex for a nearfall. Shortly after, Kobayashi dodged a plancha on the outside to take the advantage, but instead of going for the win, he ripped a piece of Sayama's mask off to earn the DQ. A vicious post-match brawl ensued, with Tiger Mask throwing some serious punches. This match was really effective on several levels. First, it showed a more intense Tiger Mask, brought to life by a new challenge. It also showed that Kobayashi had answers, even for this revved up version of Tiger Mask. Finally, both men conveyed real hatred, with Kobayashi fighting to wreck the hero myth around Sayama and Sayama fighting desperately to keep his identity. Slam dunk nomination. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu - Fujinami jumped on Choshu at the bell but after regrouping outside, Choshu halted his momentum with a huge back suplex. They moved into an intense matwork section, which climaxed with Choshu applying the scorpion. Fujinami escaped and hit his favorite momentum changer, a dropkick. He followed with a vertical suplex to press his advantage. But Choshu showed his explosiveness, hitting a lariat just when Fujinami seemed ready for the kill. He tried for another lariat, but Fujinami caught it and they tumbled outside, where Choshu hip tossed him over the rail for the DQ. The match barely cleared 10 minutes but they went at it with great intensity and I would say this was the first match to show the true potential in their rivalry. They rarely did anything too complicated but had such a gift for building to dramatic peaks in each match. Nomination. Antonio Inoki vs. Animal Hamaguchi/Rusher Kimura/Teranishi - Inoki booked himself one-on-three against his rival faction and then dominated most of the action. It's hard not to tune that out. 11/12/82 Inoki/Fujinami/Sakaguchi vs. Abby/Bad News/Rusher Kimura - JIP and unmemorable. Antonio Inoki vs. Animal Hamaguchi/Rusher Kimura/Teranishi - Well, at least the three heels managed to wear Inoki down this time. He actually sort of jobbed, taking the countout after he had beaten Hamaguchi and Teranishi and Kimura had clocked him with a loaded arm pad. And they say Triple H undermines his opposition, even in defeat. Hunter must be a huge Inoki fan.
