Posted July 1, 200916 yr comment_5441375 Taped 10/13/89: Matt Borne/Kokina vs. Strong Machine/George Takano Decent match with Borne looking solid and Kokina bouncing around quite a bit for a guy his size. Nothing super memorable. "Combat Grizzly" Dan Peterson vs. Osamu Kido Peterson didn't do much to impress and didn't click with Kido's style. Taped 11/24/89: Salman Hashimikov vs. Hiro Hase Hase had the mat skills to blend well with the Russian, but this was a little one-sided. Naoki Sano/Kantaro Hoshino/Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Tatsutoshi Gotoh/Hiro Saito/Norio Honaga This was JIP. I loved the Hoshino/Sano/Kobayashi team. They all seemed really fired up to get their hands on the heel crew and all brought different offensive strengths to the mix. This never slowed down but also didn't feature the standout moment that would demand a nomination. Plenty entertaining though. Masa Chono vs. Shota Chochoshvili Kind of boring. I didn't buy that Chono could control a Soviet amateur product with shitty half-crabs and then submit him casually with the STF. Riki Choshu/Shiro Koshinaka vs. Shinya Hashimoto/Strong Machine This was a nasty, hard-hitting affair. Basically, Hash wanted a piece of the king. Early on, he taunted Choshu by doing vile things to Koshinaka. When the two big guys collided, they didn't disappoint, blasting away. Choshu looked totally bereft when Hash and SSM caught Koshinaka in a sudden finish with him standing helplessly on the apron. I love Hash and Choshu so I liked this. Low-end nomination but definitely worth checking out for the intensity of their interaction. Taped November 1989: Naoki Sano vs. Norio Honaga Too much lying in holds and generic clubbering early. They picked it up for the stretch but didn't produce anything remarkable.
