Posted June 12, 201015 yr comment_5451868 DVD #4 Aired on 2/15/86 1. Stan Hansen vs. . Rick Martel (12/29/85) - AWA match. Shiragawa gymnasium Tiger Mask/MIGHTY INOUE vs. Fumihiro Niikura/Kuniaki Kobayashi - Inoue and Niikura were actually the more interesting guys in this match. The Kobayashi/Misawa stuff just felt so stale. Overall, this was clipped, toss-off juniors stuff. Yoshiaki Yatsu/Riki Choshu vs. MIKE ROTUNDO/BARRY WINDHAM - Typically frustrating TV match from the period in that it featured good action but was JIP and went to the double countout before it really built into anything interesting. Windham hit a sweet flying lariat. It's a shame he didn't pop up in All-Japan more. Takashi Ishikawa/ Tenryu/TSURUTA vs. Goro Tsurumi/Ashura Hara/ KABUKI - The Kabuki team dominated most of the way, working Tenryu's arm and then clubbing on Ishikawa. I sort of liked Tsurumi as a goofy fat guy with a giant afro, but Hara wasn't very interesting before he teamed with Tenryu and Kabuki was a blah heel. Eventually, Jumbo turned the tide for his team and Ishikawa pinned Tsurumi in the chaos that followed. This was fine but certainly not a nomination. February22：Heda city sport center (aired 2/22/86) Isamu Teranishi/KILLER KHAN vs. CRUSHER BLACKWELL/HARLEY RACE - I'm always happy to see Blackwell in a match listing, but this was JIP and didn't feature any of his superfun fat-man agility. The match amounted to a clip of Harley and Khan trading clubbing blows. Tiger Mask/MIGHTY INOUE vs. Ashura Hara/THE GREAT KABUKI - Misawa and Inoue dominated the offense, which was fine, because they were pretty dynamic. Misawa's high flying stuff looked sharp and I always like Inoue's combination of solid groundwork and flipping sentons. Unfortunately, they used the formula of smaller team dominating only to lose on a sudden move by one of the heavyweights (in this case, a Hara lariat.) I understand that they wanted to put one team over without disturbing the hierarchy. But there's a way to build drama with teases, cutoffs, etc. And they didn't do any of that, so it just came off flat and lazy. Genichiro Tenryu vs. The One Man Gang - I was intrigued when I saw this in the listing. Gang dominated most of the way with clubbing blows, bodyslams and a big splash. Tenryu started a comeback with some slaps and an enzuigiri but Gang cut him off with a clothesline. I was getting into this but then Gang missed a splash and Tenryu beat him with a quick roll-up. Man, I really wish Tenryu had mounted a more significant comeback and they had built in a few more cutoff spots. I liked the match-up and the approach, but it ended up feeling like too much of a toss-off. Takashi Ishikawa/JUMBO TSURUTA vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu/Riki Choshu - This was a sprint built entirely on hierarchy. Basically, Jumbo could handle Yatsu easily and had a slight advantage on Choshu, but Choshu and Yatsu could both handle Ishikawa. So Choshu and Yatsu had to distract or debilitate Jumbo long enough to put Ishikawa away. The action kept up throughout, but this didn't feature any moments that pushed it beyond a decent TV match.
