Posted June 15, 200916 yr comment_5440740 #141 May 6, 1983 Andre the Giant vs. Antonio Inoki (IWGP League '83) - Great cat and mouse stuff early on with Inoki paying the price each time Andre gets hold of him. Andre selling the missed enziguiri wasn’t Backlund bad but it wasa mark against the match. Seeing Andre working the mat and damaging Inoki’s legs was kinda surreal. Unfortunately, it was also boring. Inoki no-selling Andre’s work is aggravating and I quickly lose interest in this match. Andre wins by countout. May 20, 1983 Akira Maeda vs. Killer Khan (IWGP League '83) - Great spot playing off the Hogan-Khan exchange. Khan slaps Maeda early on. Shortly after, Khan picks Maeda up and puts him on the turnbuckle… so Maeda slaps Khan! Cool spot where Khan gets on his feet and goes to the ropes to break the hold. Maeda just yanks him out of the ropes and back to the mat and into some pinning combos. When Khan takes over, he lays some pretty sick shots into Maeda, just torturing him. When Maeda is able to regain the momentum, Khan must have lit a fire under him because he lays a sweet kick that forces Khan to collapse in the corner. Nice stretch run where Khan thinks he has Maeda put away but Maeda survives. Maeda is insane. He teases trying to German suplex and then Draagon suplex Khan out of the ring. It doesn’t work so he just kicks Khan and pulls him out of the ring for the countout. This was a helluva match and a good solid mid-level nomination. Andre the Giant vs. John Studd (IWGP League '83) - Squash Antonio Inoki vs. Hulk Hogan (IWGP League '83) - Andre watching from ringside. I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Good mix of holds and moves throughout although none of it was particularly exciting. This was more of a set-up for Inoki and Hogan to battle Andre. Fun stuff to watch.
