Posted June 22, 200916 yr comment_5441027 #275 12/24/97 12/14/87 Shiro Koshinaka/Keiichi Yamada/Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Hiro Saito/Norio Honaga/?? - Fun six man but it was clipped which is a rarity on the classics. 12/28/87 Riki Choshu vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara - Fujiwara was just nasty early on and busts Choshu open with the headbutts. So far, so good. I have seen Choshu in a lot of fights but he is just being manhandled here. The only thing that bothers me is that Fujiwara is relying heavily on the choke early on. Come on man, mix it up. They redeem with both guys getting to apply their trademark holds. Oh shit, I thought it was over after choshu’s lariat. Sweet counter as Fujiwara counters a 2nd lariat attempt into the armbar. I was about to bitch about the countout ending but Fujiwara comes back in covered in blood. Kickass. The ending with Fujiwara knocked loopy was great too. I would have loved to see the overkill of three lariats but a KO ending is good enough for me. Blood plus great sequences mean an easy nomination. 12/28/87 Riki Choshu/Strong Machine/Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Nobuhiko Takada/Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Osamu Kido - This can’t be the same date as the last match. Hmmmm. Another six man that felt rushed but this was fun.
June 24, 200916 yr comment_5441062 #275 12/24/97 12/14/87 Shiro Koshinaka/Keiichi Yamada/Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Hiro Saito/Norio Honaga/Kensuke Sasaki?? Shame this was clipped as what was shown really clipped along. 12/28/87 Riki Choshu vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara This was awesome. I loved Fujiwara jumping Choshu and busting him open in the first few minutes. I loved the ending. The last lariat looked absolutely sick. Slam dunk pick and maybe just as good as their 6/9/87 classic. 12/28/87 Riki Choshu/Strong Machine/Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Nobuhiko Takada/Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Osamu Kido Rushed huh? I loved this match. It was all action and all violence from the first minute to the last. Great interactions between Choshu/Fujiwara and Choshu/Takada. Kobayashi looked great. This might have been the last match that seemed like a hot showdown between the UWF and New Japan. Felt like a slam dunk to me.
