Posted January 31, 200916 yr comment_5436979 DVD#4 ---------------------------------------------------- February 4th: The Osaka prefectural physical education hall '88 top of the super junior league match / Koshinaka vs Takada - This appears in full on the commercial tape, so I'll review it then. '88 top of the super junior league match / Hiroshi Hase vs Keichi Yamada - This went less than 10 minutes but was a good little match. Yamada took control early with some armwork and a nice dive to the floor. Hase answered with some brutal work on Yamada's midsection -- gutbusters, a double stomp from the second rope, etc. Then they traded good-looking high spots in the build to the finish. Despite the brevity, they didn't just reel off move after move without any build. I'll give it a nomination though not a slam dunk. Handicap Match / Yamazaki, Kido, Fujiwara vs Vader, Saito - This might be the only Vader-Fujiwara confrontation on tape. It was kind of awesome to see this monstrous guy wailing away only to attempt a headbutt and knock himself loopy. Match was lots of fun in general but needed five more minutes to be something that would go on the set. IWGP Heavyweight Championship / Antonio Inoki vs Riki Choshu - This had the big fight feel. Choshu came out guns blazing with a dropkick and two lariats. Inoki mounted a pretty great comeback with a wild flurry of punches and enziguiris that bloodied Choshu hardway. They traded submission attempts in the build to the finish with Choshu passing out just as he got his fingers on the rope to break Inoki's octopus hold. Few were better than these guys on the big stage. This moves on. February 5th: Korakuen Hall '88 top of the super junior league match / Koshinaka vs Kobayashi - Clip '88 top of the super junior league match / Takada vs Hase - This also appears in full on the commercial tape, so I'll wait to review it. Fujinami, Inoki vs Saito, Choshu - The four biggest native stars in the company in a wild brawl. Can't go wrong with that I suppose. The disqualification ending was inevitable, but I wanted to see it go on longer. It's a just miss for that reason.
