gordi

I think it's more than reasonable to argue that WK12 was Jericho's best individual performance ever That is different from saying it was his best match. I also think WK12 gave us Cody's best performance ever and maybe Hirooki Goto's best individual performance as well. It's pretty hard (maybe impossible??) to think of another big card that had three all-time individual performances in three separate matches. That's pretty impressive. Of course, we also got one of the worst Tanahashi performances I have ever seen, so it's not all gravy...

Here's a pretty interesting bio of Rock Riddle: https://www.hollywoodsuccess.com/rock_riddle.htm And here is a collection of his newspaper columns: https://www.hollywoodsuccess.com/wrestling_revue.htm This dude has had an amazing life and I had somehow never heard of him before.

I like the contrast between the straight-up face vs face match between Gama and Medico and the more questionable ending to the Owen vs Santana match. I can easily imagine Owen acting like, "What did I do? Why are they booing?"

I figure Backlund vs Iron Sheik could be a pretty darn good old school grappling match if they decide to take that route.

A couple of minor points regarding typos or whatever: You have Funaki submitting Tamura with a "heel kick" You have Hase attempting to submit himself at one point. It's interesting how "pro-wrestling-y" some of the finishes are on this card. Northern Lights Bombs and Lariats mixed in with Knockouts and Submissions. I would definitely have been scrambling to trade for a VHS copy of this show. It sounds crazy entertaining.

Any and all of those guys are welcome over here any time. I'm excited to be back. Yeah, I am really looking forward to writing that one up. Interesting bit of trivia: As far as I can tell, Kawada & Fuyuki's first-ever victory as a team came in 1987, vs Haru Sonoda & ... ...Masanobu Fuchi! Thanks, Kevin! I love that team too. With everyone being generous and helpful in sending talent over, it's possible to put together a lot of fun teams and match-ups. Appreciate the kind words. I am hoping that almost every card will have at least some technical wrestling, fast-paced and exciting wrestling, purely entertaining wrestling, hard-hitting hoss battles, brawling, and a big King's Road Style Main Event. "Something for everybody" is absolutely one of my booking goals. The tough thing with having young Misawa, young Kawada, young Hashimoto, Mutoh, Chono, Liger, Takada, Funaki, Hase. etc is resisting the temptation to push them "too much too soon" style. It's a challenge to try and book them realistically, but at the same time it's lots of fun to just have all of those names on one card.

I like how you are using interference not just to affect match outcomes but also to build to future conflicts and angles.

Sadly, I think she was just drinking oolong tea that day. A pretty significant percentage of Japanese people are non-drinkers, often due to allergies. Not sure if Kana has allergies or if she is a non-drinker or if she just wasn't drinking that day... She definitely brings an electric kind of vibe into a room just by being there, though. It really is a blast hanging out with those guys and their friends. A consistent source of good times for me since moving to Japan. Thanks! Kuuga and Ebessan are very strong drinkers. About 75 per cent of the times I've been really drunk in Japan, it's been with them. We often have "nomihoudai" parties, which means all-you-can-drink.

And here's the actual reason I started this topic: Surely I'm not the only one who sees this?

Classic topic, couldn't find a thread on here using the search function. Apologies if one already exists. Here's my usual reply to this topic:

And Martel has such an amazing list of challengers to run through now. Studd, Rose... and that's just for starters!

I like how Pedro Castillo retains a gentlemanly demeanour as he doles out discipline.

How you gonna get a letter from an ORPHANS Mother???

I was just gonna say... I don't think they ever had a match "in real life" either.

Hogan and Bravo vs DiBiase and OMG sounds like a real slobber-knocker.

Martel vs Studd is a match I'd like to see. I've been watching some Studd footage from the late 70s and early 80s (The team with Patera in MACW, some AWA stuff) and he could really go.

From what I have read about the show, I feel lucky that I got to watch the Japanese feed. Even though my listening skill is still not good enough to keep up with every word of the commentary, I can still get the gist of it. And I have read a lot of complaints about the English commentary... and even worse people complaining about a flat crowd. I was really surprised by how vocal and emotional the crowd came across on the Japanese broadcast. They reacted appropriately to all kinds of small details. Jericho breaking into a genuine smile when the crowd popped for the Lionsault was a really nice moment for me in that match. It's really too bad if (as it seems from what I've read) the English broadcast muted or muffled the crowd.

Agree about Goto's selling. I believed that Misu really choked him out on the hanging sleeper. Very violent and intense match.

Definitely the best Jericho match in years and easily among his best performances ever. Hatred, violence, blood... and effective selling!!

Just got back from watching the show on TV at my friends house. Turns out he has a satellite dish and gets all of the New Japan events, which is how we got to watch the show. 5 hours is a LOT of pro wrestling, but the time just flew by. I had a blast, enjoyed the show from top to bottom and thought that almost half of the matches were really excellent. I missed the New Japan Rumble and the very start of the Bucks match because I finished work at 16:30 and got to my friend's place about 5:15. The Young Bucks match was pretty flippy... but I thought that 3K did a good job of selling. I didn't hate it. The Six Man Gauntlet Match didn't completely hold my attention. That's partly because my friend had just been to see Last Jedi and we were talking about Star Wars. Ishii and Fale had some pretty cool stuff going on near the end and that got us focused back on the match. Cody vs Ibushi totally exceeded my expectations. Bad guys doing bad guy things, everyone selling the gradual accumulation of damage, a sick bump or two, a nice escalation of the action. I did not expect that Cody vs Ibushi would be a damn fine pro wrestling match. Well, let me tell you: Cody vs Ibushi was a damn fine pro wrestling match. I love Cody's Dustin Tribute hairdo, and thought Brandi did a great job as a heel manager. During the Tag Title match, I got really distracted by how much Junior looks like his dad in the right light and from certain angles. Other than that, I had the feeling that this one played up everyone's strengths and camouflaged their weak points; and I really liked the structure of LIJ having to struggle back from underneath against big and mean opponents. Totally solid tag team action. Enjoyed it a lot. I love love loved Goto vs MiSu. Stiff and violent. An even better fight from underneath story than the tag match. Hardway blood. I genuinely thought that Goto got choked out on the Hanging Sleeper. That was some crazy good selling. Suzuki tossing the doctor out of the ring was a nice, sick touch. The Four-Way had some inventive spots. I enjoyed Scurl's heeling. I was surprised by who won. I don't feel like Jay White has put it all together yet, and maybe he is not quite ready for a big Dome Show singles match just yet. Also, Tanahashi legit seemed to be working hurt. The match did not suck, but it wasn't very good. I liked the ending. Jericho vs Okada blew me away. Best Jericho performance in years. There was hate and emotion and sweat and blood, and yet again there was the selling of accumulated damage. The crowd was awesome, as well. and I was a little burned out by the time it started... but it was obviously well-worked, well-paced, and had a strong layout. Great show overall. Better than I had expected. Very glad I got to watch it as it happened, with a friend.

JWA in the Tokyo Dome – January 4th 1986 Umanosuke Ueda and Tatsutoshi Goto vs Burning Demons Ueda and Goto are classic dyed-blonde cheating heels. Burning Demons are two young boys out of the dojo (named Kenta and Akira) who are still a couple of years away from making their main roster debut. Working under masks, the young boys bumped and sold for the heel team. For their part, Ueda and Goto cheated up a storm, and this match actually managed to draw a little heat out of the Tokyo Dome crowd. Goto put Burning Demon Kenta down for the count with a High Angle Belly-to-Back Suplex. Black Tiger and Kensuke vs Nobuhiko "Esperanza" Takada and Masakatsu Funaki Black Tiger is Mark “Rollerball” Rocco, a classic heel from England. Kensuke is a dojo grad with an impressive build and a more impressive mullet, making his debut. Takada and Funaki are talented young shoot stylists, with Takada being the better striker and Funaki the better grappler. This match was a stiff, nasty slug-fest that started fast and didn’t slow down until Takada caught the rookie with a High Roundhouse Kick and Tagged in Funaki, who ended things with a Cross Armbreaker. "Carpenter" Teranishi and "Samurai" Koshinaka vs The Mighty Animals And here we shift away from hard-hitting action for a more entertaining bout, as the old school tag team of Mighty Inoue and Animal Hamaguchi try to figure out how to handle the butt-based offense of Shiro Koshinaka. Eventually, they used quick tags and teamwork to neutralize the Samurai, but then he made a quick tag and Tenranishi took over on offense. The Baba’s Corporation team managed to trap Hamaguchi in their corner, and after wearing him down a little, Koshinaka hit the Samurai Driver '84 to end a short and rather one-sided bout. Ashura Hara vs Anoaro Atisanoe And we are back to the stiff and nasty clubbering, as the former rugby star and the 330 pound Western Samoan just lay in the heavy shots from the opening bell. Atisanoe got an early advantage thanks to a series of distraction from his frequent tag partner, Sivi Afi. However, a classic “Malfunction at the Junction” spot allowed Hara to steal the momentum, and he took full advantage. In an impressive show of power, Hara lifted Atisanoe up onto his shoulders, and finished him with a somewhat ironic Samoan Drop. Mil Mascaras, Dos Caras, and El Canek vs Hashimoto, Mutoh, and Chono The first ten minutes of this match were El Canek and Dos Caras going back and forth with our young lions, giving Mutoh, Chono, and Hashimoto a brief chance to shine. The last five minutes were a typical Mil Mascaras ego fest… but the Dome crowd ate that stuff up and the Mexican superstar’s beautiful Flying Cross Body on Chono to end the match got the biggest pop of the night so far. ***BREAK*** "Thunder" Yamada vs Owen Hart This is, maybe, my favourite joke to make when writing up JWA cards: I think these guys might put on a really good match together some day. Keiichi Yamada will one day be known as Jushin Liger. So: This is a young Liger, before he was given the gimmick, against a rookie Owen Hart. It’s an absolute sprint, with lots of flying around and back-and-forth action. This being the Dome, it didn’t get the reaction it deserved from the crowd, but I loved it. Footloose and Masa Fuchi vs Mitsuharu Misawa, Gran Hamada, and Hiro Hase I guess I could make the same joke again, as the majority of this match was Misawa and Kawada just knocking the snot out each other. There was also a fair bit of Masa Fuchi kicking and stretching the rookie, Hase. And, of course, it was the rookie who ate the loss, after a Double Spinning Heel Kick from Kawada and Fuyuki. Crusher Jerry Blackwell, Big Leon White, and Big Danny Spivey vs The Machines There were a few highlights in this one: Spivey doing his fired-up, heeling, impersonation of Hulk Hogan in New Japan. Gigantic rookie Leon White both bouncing around the ring for the Machines and tossing them around the ring. Crusher Blackwell’s surprisingly athletic offense and his huge bump over the top rope onto his team-mates at ringside. That last one set up a crowd-pleasing count-out victory for the masked Japanese team. JWA Middleweight Championship Match: Tiger Mask (Champion) vs Kuniaki Kobayashi These guys had some classic matches and a great rivalry in New Japan in the early 1980s. Much like the Owen vs Liger match, this was a pure sprint, but with the added spice of extra hate and violence. The peak came when Kobayashi violently pulled Sayama off of the top rope by his mask, then started tearing and ripping at the mask while pausing every so often to kick the downed hero in the head and torso. Just as it seemed that Tiger Mask was finished, however, he caught Kobayashi’s leg, took him to the ground, and rolled into a Cross Face Chicken Wing hold that ended the match, saving his mask and his title. ***BREAK*** JWA Tag Team Championship Match: Power Rush (Champions) vs The High Flyers Classic tag team action here. Gagne and Brunzell got a long shine segment to start, trapping Kimura in their corner and working over his arm with various holds and also Flying Knee Drops off the ropes after every tag. Eventually Kimura dodged a knee drop and made it back to his corner. Although Choshu is basically JWA’s top heel, he has a ton of fans and when the tag was made the Dome exploded. A fired-up Choshu got a near-fall on Brunzell after a Lariat and almost made Gagne tap to the Sharpshooter, but the high-flyers came back with a series of quick tags and Dropkicks. A dazed Choshu fought back to his corner and Rusher Kimura got his revenge with some nasty Headbutts and Bulldogs on the young American Team. Power Rush trapped Gagne in their corner and dealt out some serious punishment before Choshu sunk in the Sharpshooter once again, this time for the victory. Stan Hansen, Terry Gordy, and Phil Hickerson vs Giant Baba, Yoshiaki Yatsu, and Big John Nord Pure Big Hoss Clubbering. Yatsu and Nord took a ton of punishment and Nord in particular bumped big for all three of their opponents. Baba got to make some big saves and be on the receiving end of a couple of really hot tags. A Running Neckbreaker Drop on Hickerson got a very close near fall, but in the end it was Gordy pinning Yatsu after a Hansen-assisted Spike Piledriver. Baba had to hold Yatsu back from going after Gordy after the match. JWA Japanese Championship Title Match: Tatsumi Fujnami (Champion) vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara ​with special guest referee Kengo Kimura A complete contrast to the hate-filled previous match. The two talented stable-mates fought a respectful and scientific match that nonetheless saw both men dripping sweat and blood by the 15-minute mark. They kept going for 20 more punishing minutes, exchanging holds, counters, and precise strikes. Right at the 35 minute mark, Fujinami caught the grappling master in a Dragon Suplex to earn a very close victory and retain his title. Both men embraced in a show of respect after the match. Main Event: JWA Champion Tenryu and Ric Flair vs Jumbo Tsuruta and Ricky Steamboat Genichiro Tenryu vs Jumbo Tsurua is arguably the greatest pro wrestling match-up of the 1980s. Why “arguably”? Well… because Flair vs Steamboat also exists. Both of those match-ups have produced consensus five-star classics. Jumbo and Flair have also faced off multiple times and at least a couple of their matches are comfortably in the four-star-plus range. Tenryu and Steamboat once faced off to determine who would hold the vacant NWA United National Title. It was a good-but-not-great match, notable mainly for being Tenryu vs Steamboat, but not reaching the heights it could have. So, expectations were sky-high for this match. We started out slowly; with Steamboat facing Tenryu and Flair facing Jumbo, holding off as long as possible on giving the crowd what they really wanted. Almost 20 minutes in, Flair and Steamboat finally had a long run in the ring together, with Flair dominating until he went up to the top rope (will he ever learn??). After a hot tag, Jumbo beat on Flair for a few minutes until The Nature Boy was able to fight back to his corner and tag Tenryu . The Dome crowd erupted as JWA's top wrestlers faced off. From that point, the pace and action were relentless as the momentum kept shifting back and forth. Flair and Tenryu eventually trapped Steamboat in the corner and dealt him a tremendous amount of punishment, leading to another hot tag to Jumbo. Enraged, Tsuruta charged full speed at Tenryu, who was slumped in the corner. Jumbo leapt up in the air to deliver a punishing knee strike, but Tenryu dodged the blow and Jumbo smashed his own knee into the corner and fell to the mat in agony. Tenryu picked Jumbo up off the mat and threw him back down with a vicious Power Bomb. He then tagged in Flair, who locked Jumbo up with a Figure Four. Tenryu intercepted Steamboat’s save attempt with a vicious Lariat, and Tsuruta was forced to tap out. After the match, Tenryu went to shake The Nature Boy’s hand, but Flair, still angry over losing his title to Rick Martel, slapped Tenryu and told him he would come back to Japan, to take the JWA Title.

NOICE!

Its on PPV over there? Will any of it air on TV at a later date? I wasn't sure if locals had to watch on NJPW World or there were other options. Unfortunately, I don't know. My friend set it all up. All I need to do is watch. I'm assuming it's PPV, though.

One of my few English-speaking friends over here who is into pro wrestling has ordered this up on cable. Gonna watch it on TV as it happens. I am really looking forward to that. Hopefully I can lay my old-man-yelling-at-clouds attitude about current NJPW Overkill Style aside and just enjoy watching a show with a friend.