Superstar Sleeze

NWA United National Champion Ted DiBiase vs Genichiro Tenryu - AJPW 10/23/83 DiBiase comes in wearing a robe saying "Italian Stallion". I never once thought of DiBiase as an Italian American even though DiBiase is clearly an Italian last name. Just strikes me too much as a country boy. Jumbo vacated this championship in June 1983 as he graduated to the International Heavyweight Championship. DiBiase was awarded the title via forfeit because Jerry Lawler failed to appear for the match. The announcers namedrop Lawler at least twice during the match. This was DiBiase first title defense as champion. At the time, Tenryu had never won a major singles championship in All Japan. Match totally snuck up on me. Tenryu had disappointed in his previous pre-Choshu outings. I like DiBiase a lot in brawls in Mid-South; I have never seen much out of Technical ted. I loved this! Tenryu was a beast on the arm and I thought DiBiase sold the hell out of his arm. I really thought the arm work was tight. DiBiase let Tenryu know he was there, but Tenryu was definitely in charge. There was a great exchange where DiBiase went for a spinning toehold and Tenryu monkey flipped him into a pinning predicament. DiBiase would definitely try roughhousing to get out of this jam, but Tenryu was not afraid to throws hands with Ted. Ted was able to get some offense started with a lariat and then his big powerslam. Tenryu sent him out of the ring and SUICIDE DIVE! WOW! MARK OUT CITY! Tenryu totally wiped him out. Been loving this match, strong arm work, everything is snug. Tenryu is in control in the biggest match of his life. Reverse Tenryu elbow gets two! Back to the arm. You feel like Tenryu is wrestling the match of his career to this point. DiBiase is selling really well. Up against the ropes, DiBiase chops Tenryu and throws him out. Great typical heel tactics by DiBiase using the outside to his advantage. Big suplex by DiBiase. Could be swinging his way. Tenryu holds ropes and DiBiase crashes & burns on dropkick attempt. I love how Tenryu is grabbing him by the head and really taking control. Piledriver NO SHOULDERBREAKER ON BAD ARM! AWESOME! Octopus stretch by Tenryu! Awkward position so they both collapse on each other. Feels like this will be a short lived title reign for DiBiase. I think this match set the record for most small packages. Crossbody by Tenryu, floatover by DiBiase, I bit hard on that nearfall. DiBiase throws him out and PILEDRIVER on the floor! Bit on that near countout finish! ENZIGUIRI! CROWD GOES WILD! DiBiase rolls out the ring at the last second. Tenryu is left reaching for him inside the ring. So frustratingly close. They end up on the outside hit a suplex, but it is a double countout. It felt like they left nothing in the ring in this match and the double countout finish feels totally credible. I am so surprised this did not do well in All Japan voting. It has two really well liked and respected stars having a balls out match. Tons of action and no dull moments. There was limb psychology for those that like that. Great selling from DiBiase. Hard hitting. BIG Finish run. You had the story of Tenryu going for his first major title pouring it on at the end and hits his signature enziguiri only for DiBiase to roll out of the ring at the last second. There were some things that I would have liked. A really big transition for DiBiase, some real big momentum shifts and a nearfall or two more for him. That's stuff that I like, usually that stuff doesn't bother others. Would really like to know why people are low on this match because I thought this was great. ****1/2

I agree this match is mostly just great because of the fact that exists. Genichiro Tenryu vs Ricky Steamboat - AJPW 2/23/84 Vacant NWA United National Championship Nice Memorial to David Von Erich at the beginning. David was the previous United National Championship. His death left the title vacant. This is the match to determine the new champion. On the same show as Jumbo finally winning the big one against Bock, Tenryu/Steamboat, a dream match, deliver a solid undercard match. Up until the figure-4, it was pretty ho-hum. Very face vs face. Steamboat controlling with quickness and Tenryu with the grind. Tenryu definitely used light roughhousing to get his way. Steamboat's figure-4 came out of nowhere, but they rolled to the outside still in the figure-4. From there, definitely got a better and more heated. They were lighting each other with chops. Loved the roll-up-Boston Crab-roll up sequence pretty novel. Tenryu's enziguiri was great! Steamboat's selling in this was very good. I thought he made all of Tenryu's offense look really good. Tenryu hits his reverse elbow, BUT he was not supposed to so Steamboat does not sell. LOL! Tenryu is 2 for 2 with hilarious fuck ups. I guess that was more Steamboat's fault for not getting out of the way in time. Steamboat gets high crossbody for his nearfall. Tenryu gets Steamboat in the banana split rollup to win the match and retain his title. Biggest victory of Tenryu's career at this point as he wins his major singles championship. Pretty pedestrian opening, picked up towards the end. Mostly cool just because it is Tenryu vs Steamboat, but it never becomes TENRYU VS STEAMBOAT~! ***1/4

It was a bit flat, but I thought there were some nice chop exchanges. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Genichiro Tenryu - AJPW 9/22/84 Flair always looks pissed coming to the ring in Japan. I think it is because they always try to grab his bleached hair. I hate that too as someone with long hair that people are always grabbing to see if it is real. It is real, damnit! Typical NWA style opening with Tenryu grinding it out. Flair seems to want to turn this into a standup game and that's where this match is at its best. Tenryu sumo slapping Flair back. Flair punching Tenryu right in the nose with short rights. Flair actually busted quite a bit of offense in a short time usually takes him a while to get going. I don't know if the stand up game was his best route as Tenryu really started to light him up. Tenryu sleeper. Yeah it is is kinda lame that Tenryu is not getting much as a unique opponent. Also, does not feel as hot as Flair/Garvin or Flair/Wahoo where the match is centered around stand up. Lacks transitions. Finish was hot with Tenryu hitting two enziguiris in succession and then a piledriver (Flair did not want to go up for the powerbomb?) to win the first fall. Very good classic NWA championship first fall not the best. Tenryu 1-0. Flair just cant get anything going. I loved the struggle over the gutwrench suplex. Tenryu has to do an ab stretch (Gorilla would have loved this one) to unlock it. Flair is getting moves but is constantly countered. Tenryu is pouring it on the down stretch with bombs. Flair gets a kneecrucher, but then eats an enziguiri. He gets a back suplex and GREAT struggle over Figure-4 and struggle within figure-4 as Flair takes second fall. Transition really lacking but struggle over moves is really good here. One of the best figure-4 sequences ever. Tied 1-1. Third fall is a clusterfuck. Leads to one of the funniest moments in wrestling. I have not laughed this hard in a while. Flair calls for the backslide twice and Tenryu fucks up both times. Flair is pissed. Im laughing. Flair loves bumping for the enziguiri. Flair says fuck it and just goes to town drawing the DQ. Needed a chair or something more violent. Ref just calling for the DQ for excessive stomping in the ropes is lame. Fans of Tenryu should want to string that ref up. Flair loses match but retains title. I heard the '92 match is awesome. Something I really need to see. This was flat at times, lacked transitions and was just a clusterfuck towards the end. Enough stuff to call it good, not much more than that. ***

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich vs Ric Flair - AJPW 5/24/84 2 Out of 3 Falls All good things must come to an end and this is the last Kerry/Flair match that I have never seen. This may be my all time favorite series; these two just match up so well. Classic Flair/Kerry beginning with Flair being thwarted at every pass whether it is on the mat, quickness or power. They do the spot in the corner where they both fire off chops and punches and this gets so much heat in America. It just gets nothing here. I think once they heard that, the decided to take it easy and go through the motions more. Still Flair and Kerry falling out of bed and having a match is better than just about anybody. All the usual spots Flair kneedrop, Kerry sleeper, Flair delayed vertical. Kerrys cut from the Jumbo match two days prior gets re-opened which gives Flair something to work on. Kerry's discus punch gets no reaction. This crowd does not give a fuck. It is so weird because the match is great with plenty of action and in America people would be going mad. Flair misses a kneedrop. CLAW~! Great struggle over that. I love the Flair Flip->Top Rope->CLAW~! Kerry gets the fall! I love that because it is 2 Out of 3 Falls that we actually get a fall! KVE 1-0. Kerry starts off red hot and GETS THE CLAW! FLAIR SMOKES KERRY WITH A CHOP! GOES FLYING OVER THE TOP! Great fighting in the corner. Nice short knee by Flair to disrupt the momentum. Kerry sunset flip. Nice reverse elbow by Flair. Flair kneecrusher. Flair WINS by the figure-4! WOW! I love two out of three falls! Dramatic finishes with clean victories. Tied 1-1. Great selling by Kerry Von Erich during the break. He was in such a zone from 82-85. One of the best babyfaces in the world. I love him trying to get feeling back in the leg and how he tries to protect the leg from the Nature Boy. Flair goes right after the leg in the corner. Flair BLOCKS THE CLAW! Back to the leg, yanks him out of the corner. Standing toehold, cant lean too far over or he will get CLAWED! That's exactly what happens! Flair is in pain. Kerry in total control with the Iron Claw on the head of the Nature Boy. Gets a two count before Flair gets his foot on ropes. Kerry pulls a Kevin and eats knees on the splash (I guess that is also a Steamboat spot). Really great selling by KVE. Blocks snapmare with backslide nice spot. They knock heads! Feels like a reset from all the great work in first two falls. Press slam from top, really nice kneedrop from Kerry which you don't see too often. Too injured from knee to cover right away. Flair keeps trying to create motion, but Kerry gets ab stretch and CLAW to the midsection. Kerry hits a suplex on Flair for two. Nice dropkick by Kerry. Kerry is pouring it on but cant keep Flair down. Kerry misses dropkick when Flair holds onto ropes, don't do same move twice! BIG TIME CHOP BY FLAIR! Crossbody by Kerry for two! Discus punch sends Flair crashing to outside. Kerry tries a crossbody when Flair is on apron but flies outside. Nice tease of countout since they are so common in AJPW, but crowd does not give a fuck. Kerry gets an O'Connor Roll, reversed and the Flair sits on top for victory. I thought they started off really damn well. At first, they seemed a bit disappointed that crowd was not into it, but they still pulled off great first and second falls. I wished they stuck with the Claw vs Figure-4 in the third fall because it was going really well, but then they kinda did a reset with knocked heads. Kerry pours it on late, but cant get the job done. Flair gets a last minute reverse for win. They were building to something really special, but still ended up with a safely great match. Meaning I have never seen a bad Flair/Kerry match. ****1/4

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich vs Jumbo Tsuruta - AJPW 5/22/84 Nothing puts a big smile on my face quite like typing 'NWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich". Seen this match twice before and loved it. Lets watch this one again. I love that classic NWA Championship build with the collar-elbow tieups, the circling, the caution, the tests of strength. It allows you to settle into the match and really get into it. Jumbo is not shy about throwing bombs in a championship. He made it to the promised land in February against Bock so he has that monkey off his back. He is free to go for broke. I love little things like the struggle over the Irish whip with Jumbo kicking Kerry in the gut and after lots of struggle hoisting him in the air for the butterfly suplex. Kerry's response to immediately retreat to the ropes. Kerry's reactions to everything in the first fall was pitch perfect. Kerry tries to make in roads on the arm but instead eats a cross body for two. Jumbo shoots in with ease and gets an ab stretch. Kerry is used to Dallas where is an overwhelming favorite. Now he is in Japan where everyone loves Jumbo. Kerry needs to fire up because Jumbo is dictating this match. Banana split rollup. Kerry forms the Claw hand. I get excited. The struggle over the claw was AWESOME! Both sold the drama of it so well and the crowd was right there with a Tsuruta chant. Kerry gets the stomach claw. Kerry is able to pick Jumbo up and seat him on the top rope. Something Jumbo did to him earlier to show him up. Now things get chippy! Pride is on the line. The handshake that started the match has been replaced by shoving. It is Jumbo that comes out the winner with TWO big high knees. Kerry's sell of the second one is so damn good. Kerry is left on the outside, but gets a sunset flip back in for two. ENZIGUIRI BY JUMBO! BACK DROP DRIVERRRRRRRR! 1-2-3! Jumbo up 1-0. Jumbo looked great in the first fall besides the Claw, Kerry looked lost what to do with a firing on all cylinders Jumbo Tsuruta. Things got worse for Kerry before they got better. Jumbo pressed his advantage. He was taking no prisoners. He just starts pounding on Kerry's head with fists until it literally starts bleeding. Kerry's selling in this match is fucking awesome. Some of the best I have ever seen. He looks down and out being held up by the turnbuckles, but has just enough fight left in him. He gets a sleeper, which stops the bleeding figuratively because literally his face is now a crimson mask, but Jumbo gets out. Jumbo risks DQ by pounding on Kerry some more in the corner. This is a brutal Jumbo. Even the crowd that wants Jumbo to win does not seem happy with these tactics. The ref does not want to DQ the Japanese hero, but backs him up. Jumbo needs to get Kerry off his feet because Kerry is doing the smart thing by standing in the corner. Jumbo gets him out hits a suplex and then a piledriver. Miraculously Kerry kicks out twice. I was actually thinking to myself after the piledriver. Kerry needs to be thinking Discus Punch/Claw. He needs a home run. Lo and behold, Kerry starts firing off those big, looping Texan rights. SPINS AROUND CLOCKS JUMBO WITH THE DISCUS PUNCH! Jumbo bounces off the ropes CLAW~! Jumbo goes down, fights it off, back to his feet, Kerry with all his Texan might drives Jumbo's head back into the mat for three count. Incredible second fall. Totally believeable way to get Kerry back into the match. Tied 1-1. I liked how they have taken advantage of the fact that Jumbo will be over no matter what to have him play the roughhousing heel and Kerry do what he does best play sympathetic babyface. 1. Because it is more natural for both 2. It is unexpected. You would expect in Japan to play Kerry to play subtle heel. So it is a nice wrinkle. Kerry refuses to let go of Jumbo with the claw. There is a great visual of Jumbo being attended by all the young boys while Kerry stands alone in the corner bleeding. They comes out. Jumbo is still selling the effects of the claw as Kerry looks spry floating around like Muhammad Ali just tagging Jumbo with rights. He goes for the kill with the CLAW! Jumbo resists. Kerry runs into a knee. Jumbo says enough of this fucking claw and just DESTROYS Kerry's hand. This is the hook of the match. This is what everyone remembers. Jumbo's utter decimation of Kerry's right hand. Just watch it. It is beautiful pro wrestling. Kerry is awesome selling it and even throws a punch then grabs his hand. Kerry is able to get a suplex out of an armbreaker then a piledriver, but misses a reverse elbow from the top which bother his bad hand. Jumbo wastes no time and hits a Big Time Jumping Knee and immediately applies the Boston Crab. Kerry flexes all his muscles and powers out of it. They end up on the outside and Kerry applies the CLAW, but Jumbo hits a backdrop driver. It is a moot point as the ref counts to ten. Double Countout. Jumbo raises Kerry's hand. Incredible offensive performance from Jumbo. He did not care about being a dick. He wanted to be World Champion again. All is fair in love and war. Kerry was in his element selling his ass off. The blood added a lot as Kerry really did look overwhelmed. He survived long enough to win the stand up war with some nice punches and the claw. When it came time for Jumbo to sell, he did a great job too. The hand work is all-time great stuff. I want to give this ***** so badly, but the finish just does not do it for me. I don't mind the double countout, but want something more chaotic. Still up until that, they absolutely killed it. Two of the all-time greats putting on one helluva championship wrestling match. ****3/4

"Jumbo wins quickly with a roll up" - They all look the same to you don't they. PWF World Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen vs Giant Baba - AJPW 7/31/84 The last of their great series where they have odd chemistry with one of another. Somehow these two every different wrestlers figure out a way to make it work. A lot of that is Hansen changing and adapting to Baba. The way he sells every piece of Baba offense makes this match. Whether it is tying his arm up in the ropes, bouncing the entire length of the ring off the turnbuckle due to his bad shoulder, the way he sells Baba's backfists, he does everything to make Giant Baba look just that, a Giant. I thought Baba brought more to the table here than in March and was really launching some offense against Hansen. I loved the beginning with Hansen charging in the midst of streamers and Blears still in the ring. That's the beauty of Hansen, the chaos. It is the standard Hansen/Baba story. Baba targets the arm and Hansen tries to run roughshod by bullying Baba, but the problem is you cant bully Giant Baba. Hansen tries a new tact working the legs. They move in out of toeholds and cross armbreakers. Baba gets his Russian Legsweep. Hansen is up and really starts to throw his weight around. Nice dropkick by him. He goes for the Lariat, but Baba blocks with a big boot to a big pop! LARIAT! 1-2-NO! WOAH! Baba small package 1-2-3! Big Pop! Hansen is of course LIVID! He starts beating the shit out of everyone including the old ref and ancient Lord James Blears. Now that's a heel. The young boys corral Hansen to the back. Baba is able to soak in his World Championship victory with the fans. I thought the wounded bear selling from Hansen was better in the March match (check that one out too), but this was a more even performance from both. Still have the 82 match as their best, but this felt like a Clash of Titans. The Irresistible Force vs Immovable Object! ****1/4

I agree that Sept 85 match is a smidge better, but this is awesome! AWA World Heavyweight Champion Rick Martel vs Jumbo Tsuruta - AJPW 7/31/84 OUI OUI RICKY MARTEL! How I missed you! This is the championship rematch as Martel defeated Jumbo for the AWA Championship in Minnesota in May of 84. Now Jumbo has home field advantage. We are nearing the end of Jumbo's role as the defender of Japan against the foreign champions, but he has one more classic in this style for us. Jumbo is ridiculously over in this match and throughout the match. I liked the champion vs challenger dynamic early in the match. Jumbo is way more offensively minded. Martel is willing to grind it out with toeholds and barring the arm. Jumbo is playing for keeps hitting big suplexes for nearfalls and dropkicks that send Martel flying. Martel realizes he is in a war and hits a reverse crossbody for two. He pounces on the back. Both are masters of the Boston Crab. They do a nice symmetry of each powering out of the other's Boston Crab. We get Martel's finish run which is comprised of a piledriver and a tenacious sleeper. I loved the roll through and hold by Martel. Real nice. The transition to Jumbos' finish run is great because its gradual. First he heaves Martel up out of the sleeper into a backdrop driver. Martel still has some energy so he goes for a tope rope crossbody but Jumbo rolls through. MARTEL IS PISSED AT HIMSELF! I love that fire. Being pinned off your own offensive move is very frustrating and he just won the World Championship from Jumbo two months ago so to lose that way would be the worst. He lets the anger get the best of him and misses a dropkick. The crowd comes alive! They have been biting on nearfalls, but they think Jumbo can do it again and win the AWA Championship for the second time! You never would hear such a big pop for a missed dropkick. Jumbo signals to the crowd. TWO Jumping knees for two! Tope Rope Crossbody! Gutwrench suplex! Jumbo off the ropes...hotshot?...nope airplane spin and they both fall over the ropes. Martel prevents Jumbo from returning to the ring and it is a double countout. I don't mind the double countout finish but the airplane spin was kinda lame and it felt very pedestrian for otherwise awesome championship match. Jumbo having defeated Bock for the title in Japan in February did wonders for this match because everybody believed it could happen again. Loved Jumbo's aggressive strategy to throw bombs. Martel as the champion was trying to wear down with holds and the sleeper proved to be his best weapon. Thought the gradual finish stretch starting the backdrop driver then Martel getting pissed at himself for almost costing himself the match and then Jumbo's bombs was a great way to end it. I have their Sept 85 AWA match just a smidge higher, but this was an awesome bomb-throwing championship match. ****1/2

I loved this! I thought this was the second best Harley/Flair match ever (8/83 being the best). I thought there were good, strong momentum shifts. It was actually really well built to a hot closing stretch with a clean finish. Selling left a lot to be desired and that is clearly the biggest knock on the match Ric Flair vs Harley Race - AJPW 5/22/84 80s Flair is the gift that keeps on giving. Best Harley/Flair match besides their 8/83, Mid-Atlantic encounter. Only second time Ive seen Harley work face besides the Central States match against Flair in July of 84. It actually works. For two very bomb-heavy, spot-oriented pro wrestlers, I thought they really build well to the finish and there was sustained heat and meaningful momentum shifts. Harley catching Flair with the bodyslam early and those wicked uppercuts was great. I loved Flair Wooooing right before he would get countered every time in this match. Great symmetry with the two biggest momentum shifts being each getting press slammed from the top. It was a nice wink to each other as the premiere NWA World Champions of their day. Harley's bombs served him well in his shine and once Flair slammed him off the top. I thought they did an excellent job mixing it up. Harley was throwing headbutts to let Flair know he was still there, but Flair always had a chop to cut him off at the pass. I thought they worked with energy without being frantic. Were they working outside? I noticed Flair's hair blowing in the wind, there were no rafters and there was weird acoustics. They tumble to outside loved Flair reversing the piledriver because he is still in command, but eats the post and then slammed off top. Really thought Harley's offense was so much better utilized as a babyface making a hot comeback. Those headbutts looked great. Figure-4 was a good break up of Harley's finish run before going back to the classic Flair closing stretch of nearfalls and Flair Flips. CROSSBODY FROM THE TOP LANDS FOR FLAIR! Wow! Loved that spot. Flair goes for his bread and butter, the figure-4 one more time, WOOOOOO but Harley counters by kicking him off. Suplex and top rope headbutt for the 1-2-3! Clean finish! Great match! Flair's overconfident Woooo and then Harley counter was so good. Loved all the callbacks to their American matches. The selling leaves a lot to be desired and is clearly the biggest knock on this match. I thought they built well to the finish. Both's offense looked great and worked with energy. It was competitive throughout and the momentum shifts mattered in the match. Flair getting the figure-4 and crossbody were nice nearfalls before a big time finish the top rope headbutt. ****

Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody - AJPW 4/28/84 The biggest native team vs the biggest gaijin team! Had a big fight feel to it even though no titles were on the line. Very much in the All Japan style of a lot of action and frequent tags for both teams. So heat is not sustained a single person with the idea to build to the hot tag, but rather there is just a steady state of heat from the perpetual motion of both teams. I would say the story of the match was that native team just could not get anything going. Jumbo starts hot out of the gate with a Thesz Press and the native team would not take the lead again until the end of the match. I loved Hansen shortening the distance between him and Tenryu on that criss cross exchange and really hitting him with that elbow. The big gaijin brutes used a lot of double teams to maintain their advantage. Brody takes a bump for Tenryu's enziguiri! Actually this was a pretty good Brody performance much more giving than usual. There felt like there were a shit ton of dropkicks in this match. Every time the natives would get a tag, the gaijin team found a way to almost immediately overwhelm them, usually with double team moves. Double shoulder block to Jumbo or that wicked blind uppercut knee from Brody to Tenryu. In one case, Hansen targeted the arm of Jumbo and the work on Jumbo's arm was pretty good and the most sustained heat of the match. The problem was that gaijin team could never maintain enough control to keep their opponent on their side of the ring so that allowed for frequent tags for the natives too. Great suplex struggle between Tenryu & Brody. Brody does not take the bump but forces Tenryu back to his corner. Hansen muscles Tenryu up for a suplex. Great meaty exchange there between the powerhouses. Hansen piledriver! Really classic Hansen a total tornado in there, double back body drop. Hansen telegraphs back body drop and Tenryu bodyslam and tags out to Jumbo. JUMBO IS ON FIRE! Big jumping knee to Hansen who tags out. Brody gets whipped so hard he falls to outside and is busted open on the ringpost, nice bladejob over one eye. Jumbo is incensed. He is relentless on Brody. Hansen tries to pull him off to no avail! That's how pissed Jumbo is! Tenryu SUPLEXES BRODY!!!! Mark out city! I think there have been a dozen dropkicks. Even Hansen hit one and it was great! Tenryu reverse flyng elbow! Enzguiri to Hansen. Natives finally have the gaijin on the ropes. Stereo BACK SUPLEXES!!! It is breaking loose in Tokyo! Brody misses the King Kong Kneedrop and Everybody ends up outside in a fracas. Hansen drives Jumbo's bad arm into the post. Tenryu double teamed. He is on apron when Brody dropkicks him off and the Monster Heels win by countout. A story of oh so close after being dominated for much of the match, the natives finally wake up and kick ass, but once the match spills to the floor it is anybody's ballgame and the heels are able to isolate Tenryu and win by countout. Interesting take on the tag match. Instead of building to one or two hot tags. There was no hot tags and it was just fluid on both babyfaces. I thought while novel it was not as dramatic as the formula. There was plenty of action, but I didn't think it added up to a compelling narrative. That being said the action made it so it was never boring, there was plenty of effort and the finish was hot. ***3/4

LOL! When kayfabe gets smart

PWF World Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen vs Giant Baba - AJPW 3/22/84 Every time, I go to watch a Hansen/Baba match I think this is the time Hansen is going to break Baba. Baba looks so frail and Hansen is so vicious. Yet every time they make it work. It is not that Hansen holds anything back (throwing the PWF World Championship Belt at him was nasty). It is that he finally sells and bumps like a traditional heel. Which means so much more now because he NEVER does it for anyone else. So it makes Baba look like a giant world beater. Lets be honest 1984 Baba aint moving around that great and those chops are all that impactful, but Hansen bumping through the ropes and THEN WIPING OUT THE RAILING AND THE FIRST TWO ROWS OF PEOPLE makes you believe! People get on Hansen for his selling, which is silly because he totally sells (just not traditionally), but it when came time do the over the top bumping for the boss, he nails it! Plus he is so great as the wounded bear. Baba is relentless on the Lariat arm of Hansen. Some really great armbar takedowns and cross armbreaker attempts. Hansen was great selling on the run and throwing these errant kicks and swipes that would connect. Instead of that bull in the china shop, he was not the wounded bear powerful, but vulnerable. Baba was great about always keeping this on the arm. My second favorite spot after Hansen's ridiculous bump at the beginning was when Baba used a drop toehold to avoid a lariat! Love a good drop toehold. They end up on the outside, Hansen lariats the ring post and wipes out the railing again. I thought they were going for the double countout, but instead Hansen's arm gets tied up in the ropes. Baba attacks it until the ref is focused to call for DQ. I am going to call a spade a spade those strikes by Baba at the end wouldn't event even tear a wet paper bag. Weak as hell and really took me out of what should have been a hot finish that was well-built from all the arm work. Love Baba, but Hansen carried this and made this work. I thought their 82 match was a match of equals. Baba looked old and weak here. Hansen through his unholy powers of selling, bumping and desperation offense carried this to greatness. I really thought this one of those amazing all time individual performances. Baba brought his larger than life persona & stature and focus on the arm so I cant deny that, but this was a Hansen match through and through. ****

Stan Hansen vs Terry Funk - AJPW 8/23/85 BODYSLAM OVER THE TOP ROPE TO THE FLOOR! HOT DAMN THATS HOW YOU START A MATCH! No this is not as good as their 82/83 output, but holy shit is it awesome still! Just a great sprint brawl. Every single moment saw them fighting each other for every single hold or move. It was just a struggle between the two toughest sons of bitches that ever lived. I thought this match Funk felt a bit more like an equal. Hansen dominated the first three minutes after the bodyslam to the floor just suffocating him with nasty shots and whipping him into hard objects. Funk wipes out the press. It felt like two of the baddest gunslingers dueling it out one more time. Hansen piledriver! Hansen missed an elbow so Funk just starts throwing nasty JYD- headbutts and then normal headbutts and great punches. Funk goes after the leg and now it is Spinning Toeholds everywhere in the ring and out of the ring. Such hard fucking shots in this. Every single move is earned. The way Hansen kicks Funk off with the boot to face is nasty. Funk getting back into the ring is met by Hansen just mauling him rom his knees. So gritty! Im glad Funk is back. Funk ducks the Lariat and grabs a sleeper. Hansen him head over heels to the outside. FUNK CHOPS HIS HEAD!!!! Hansen back suplex! WAR! Theyre fighting from their knees with nasty punches, I love it! Funk piledriver! Funk goes flying over the top on next piledriver attempt. Hansen tries to finish what he started in 1982/83 by strangling Funk with the bullrope. He throws Funk into the ref and that's DQ. Hansen's new tag partner, Ted DiBiase (seems like a weird fit on paper, but will check out their matches soon) comes out gets some licks on Funk. 1980s Match Teacher Dory Funk complete with tie and short sleeve button down shirt makes the save with a cowboy boot. He just goes crazy protecting his brother. Wild scene to end it with them all throwing chairs as the Funks retreat to the back. As Hansen and DiBiase are ringside all of sudden a chair is thrown at Hansen, I thought it was a fan, but it was the Funks returning to kick some ass. Crazy ending! I want to see Hansen/DiBiase vs Funks now! My only complaint was that it was so short. Even then that's not much of a complaint because they were cutting such a pace and just killing each other out their withese nasty shots you knew it was not going to last long. The rivalry was reborn and these two did not miss a beat. They just tore into each other with a chaotic brawl that felt like a real street fight. ****1/2

NWA International Tag Team Champions Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs Riki Choshu & Killer Khan - AJPW 8/2/85 I can see why people prefer Tenryu to Jumbo during the work in this match as Tenryu is fired up from the start blitzing Choshu and Khan with chops. Whereas Jumbo takes the more scientific approach in the early going. It is only after Tenryu is being blatantly choked by Khan that Jumbo gets worked up into a lather. I think Jumbo did work hot from then with lots of slaps and emotion down the stretch. He bled for his promotion! Jumbo had an elbow pad on his arm and apparently it was injured as he is really selling after two lariats. Choshu hits a monster back suplex! BIG TIME LARIAT! Jumbo is sprawled out to the floor. Khan really adds the heel touches to this match. Bashing his bad arm to post and then attacking with ring bell. Jumbo is really cut open. Khan & Choshu beat the shit out of Jumbo. Khan is great here gnawing the cut and then attacking the bad arm. It is just an all out assault. Baba did not teach his boys lariats as Jumbo & Tenryu are nowhere as good as Choshu at the lariat. Choshu finally gets the Scoprion Deathlock but Tenryu hits a lariat. Khan makes the mistake to Irish Whip Jumbo near his corner. Tenryu SLAPS the taste out of Khan's mouth. AWESOME! Khan over hand chops. They both tag out. JUMBO HOUSE AFIRE! Pretty amazing comeback given how bloody he is. High knee, lariat and super back suplex. Didn't like transition of Choshu shooting him off into the Hotshot. Would have liked him to catch him into the move. They double team Jumbo with kneedrops from the top. Jumbo ends up outside. CHOSHU DECKS TENRYU WITH A LARIAT. Countout victory for the invading force! Putting over Choshu & Co. strong. Drawing blood on Jumbo and kicking his ass so bad he couldn't respond to a ten count. Great booking and good execution. Tenryu was fired up, Jumbo was great at selling and the blood was awesome, Khan is such a great dick and Choshu is the badass rockstar. Good installment in the series. ***3/4

NWA United National Heavyweight Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Riki Choshu - AJPW 6/21/85 Choshu takes the UN Championship and just throws it away like yesterday's garbage. Oooooooooooooooooo! They take a couple swipes at each other before the ref even checks them. Things are definitely chippy. Choshu definitely got under Tenryu's skin as Tenryu starts off red hot, but makes the mistake of trying to go up top early and Choshu is able to chuck him off. Choshu was definitely in favor of grinding this out and looking for opportunities to put on the Scorpion Deathlock. Tenryu was revved up with the focus being on taking away Choshu's lariat by targeting the right arm with wristlocks and punches (good punches). It was nice tit for tat with Tenryu supplying the energy and Choshu focusing on the Scorpion Deathlock. Lots of meaty struggle. I liked the symmetry of back suplexes changing the complexion of the match. Tenryu hits his out of a headlock. He goes after the arm, but also looks to end with a bulldog (never him use that) and his powerbomb. He goes for a second bulldog, but Choshu stops him in his tracks and BACK SUPLEX! Big pop! It was a nice one. Choshu hits a wicked lariat. So Im torn, it was clear that was Tenryu's strategy to dismantle the arm, but it was not like he made serious in-roads. What bothered me more was Choshu finally gets the Scorpion Deathlock in the middle of the ring and lets go after a minute or so. I hate that. You hold that until you win. Tenryu has a couple desperation enziguiris in him, but Choshu is just relentless with the lariats and stiff chops. He brutalizing Tenryu and Tenryu's loopy selling Is great. LOVED THE FINISH! Choshu slams Tenryu's head into the metal turnnuckle and draws blood. Then just relentlessly targets the open wound with fists and keeps throwing the ref off so finally he has to call it. Match was awesome in a totally different way of their awesome Clash of Titans sprint. Everything felt big, but it as firey. Loved the dueling strategies early. Neither one is particularly great on the mat so the first half dragged in parts but I thought it made sense. After the first Tenryu back suplex, the finish run was just excellent! Big bombs with a great momentum shift with Choshu's back suplex. The ending was hot as hell and really sets the mood for the next year and half. ****1/4 What was up with Hara coming out to defend Tenryu and then beating Tenryu up??? Russo booking AJPW in 1985? Just weird. I thought Hara & Tenryu are inseparable.

Thanks for all the responses! Some really interesting stuff! It seems like the All Japan native vs native matches happened as part of round robin tournaments rather than feuds. Sounds Inoki dabbled in some interpromotional stuff, round robin stuff, but the first major native vs native blood feud was him against Ueda. Is that right?

I understand that Japanese booking philosophy was very nativist with the general archetype being to bring in foreigners from all over the world to face the major stars of the promotion and that had been the booking philosophy dating back to Rikidozan. My understanding is that changed in All Japan with Riki Choshu invasion in 1985, which was the first native vs native feud in that promotion and due to the success of Choshu invasion angle: Jumbo vs Tenryu was born and the rest was history. So my questions are the following: 1. Were there ever any major native vs native matches in All Japan pre-Choshu? I am pretty sure the answer is no, but I just wanted to check. The one I am more curious about is New Japan. 2. Inoki ran some round robin tournaments in the mid-70s which required him to face Masa Saito and Seji Sakaguchi, which look like the first ever main event native vs main event native matches in puroresu history? Is the 1974 World League the first of its kind? 3. It seems like Umanosuke Ueda is the first ever Japanese heel. He regularly teamed with Tiger Jeet Singh and wrestled Inoki regularly in the late 70s. Is he the first of his kind? Is Inoki vs Ueda the first native vs native feud in puroresu history?

Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu - JWP 2/21/85 The first singles match of the feud that would change the course of All Japan Pro Wrestling happens in Riki Choshu's renegade Japan Pro-Wrestling. Choshu after feuding extensively with Tatsumi Fujinami in 1983 was set to begin a major feud with Antonio Inoki in 1984. The feud began, but in late 1984 Choshu and allies departed from New Japan and formed Japan Pro Wrestling, which basically became a satellite promotion of All Japan and did not have many important matches besides this one. Choshu & Co. invaded All Japan at the beginning of 1985 leading to first ever native vs native feuding in All Japan Pro Wrestling history. This would eventually lead to Jumbo vs Tenryu then Jumbo vs Misawa and ultimately the Four Corners of Heaven. The Choshu invasion of All Japan is incredibly influential. On top of that, this had New Japan vs All Japan implications, besides gaijin switching promotions, I cant think of any natives that switched since the split in the early 70s. It is fitting that the first major New Japan vs All Japan battle happens on neutral ground. Match is wrestled like a Dome match. Everything is HUGE. Just a great Clash of the Titans feel that totally matches the high stakes, big fight feel of the match. Since this is Choshu's promotion, he is wrestling face and Tenryu heel. Tenryu clocks him while the ref is checking him. IT IS ON! Tenryu is out to humiliate Choshu by beating him quick and decisively. Big bombs like piledriver and DDT with pinfalls after each. Eventually, Tenryu runs out of steam and works some holds. Choshu is able to finally counter with a big back drop driver to a big pop. He goes for the Scorpion Deathlock. The struggle is titanic. He cant get it on the first attempts, but gets second. Tenryu retreats to the outside. On the apron, Tenryu gets a cheapshot then an enziguiri. Great dickish heel way to regain the advantage. He nearly GANSOS Choshu with a typically shitty Tenryu powerbomb. Two count. Tenryu reverse elbow gets two. Boston Crab attempt, but Choshu pops his hips and Tenryu goes flying to outside. Tenryu sends him crashing HARD into the railing. Choshu comes flying back with a Lariat that DECKS Tenryu! I popped for that! I can feel the double countout as Tenryu holds the foot. Both on apron, Choshu hits a BACK DROP ON APRON! WOW! Choshu beats the count to win by countout. Two huge stars no way there would be a clean finish, but that was a GREAT FINISH! No wasted motion and no downtime. Just big bomb after big bomb. It worked because it was two huge superstars trying to win quick and the transitions made sense and there were long runs of momentum. Little short (~10 minutes), it was fun, but it did not have the drama to make this an all-time classic. As a breezy, summer action blockbuster between two of the biggest Japanese wrestling rockstars you cant beat this. ****1/4

Nobuhiko Takada vs Kazuo Yamazaki - UWF 9/11/85 Last Original UWF show, I feel like this is the most conventional shoot style match yet from the Original UWF. Match would have been helped a lot to JIP's 12 minutes in because the first half is just brutally boring. I was so confused why this was highly rated, but boy did it pick up. Once Yamazaki started unloading those knees in the clinch and they fell outside the ring, the match became awesome. Yamazaki caught Takada right in the face with a brutal left kick. Yamazaki was rolling. German suplex and submissions at will. Takada was able to recover enough to corner him and caught pretty good with a kick to the gut that doubled him over. Takada was great pressing his advantage here. He was throwing great kicks and slaps. Yamazaki was going for home run kicks to try work his way back into it. The first spin wheel kick missed and almost cost him the match when Takada did a legbar. The second one connected and then match became more even. There was some really great kick and stand up exchanges down the stretch. Really dramatic. Great selling too. There worked in some really nice deadlift, shoot style throws. Each had one really good one. Takada was ferocious on his feet. Quick strikes to the head on every break. Takada back drop driver was great. I loved him taking time to sell before going for cross armbreaker->triangle choke to really put over the attrition accumulated over the course of the match. Yamazaki powerbombs out of triangle and immediately goes for cross armbreaker. It is night and day how much better the last half of this compared to that dreadfully dull first half. Yamazaki gets him in the clinch with knees, but doesn't have great positioning so he lets go and Takada hits a LIGHTNING QUICK SPIN KICK to the midsection that drops Yamazaki. Yamazaki goes for a wild kick and falls over, but Takada does not take advantage. Dramatic moment. Yamazaki gets a single leg back heel trip into a single leg crab. Takada makes ropes. Takada sells shoot style well. He gets up gingerly but then gradually gets pep in his step in like 5-10 seconds. It is well done. TAKADA SWEEPS THE PLANT LEG! I love it! Again does not take advantage. Takada unleashes a barrage of kicks to the midsection. Yamazaki blocking as best he can, but leaves himself open and Takada rifles him in the stomach. Takada sells how own kick really well. Yamazaki cant make ten count. Awesomely dramatic back half that featured Yamazaki the home run slugging aggressor against the lightning quick, counterwrestler in Takada, Takada showed a lot of poise going down early to make a comeback. Yamazaki's strategy was go for bombs. Yamazaki was not nearly as good at defense left himself open to Takada's ferocious kicks. Really great story down the stretch. Back half was definitely ****1/2. I just cant rate a match where nearly half of it is so boring much higher than ****.

Three categories I think could work: Hot chick, loveable mascot type figure, hard nosed coach. I think Daniel Bryan would be a good combination of the latter two not so much the former.

Nobuhiko Takada vs Super Tiger - UWF 9/6/85 Four days after the infamous Maeda/Tiger shoot, which led to Maeda being fired and then UWF folding with all the stars invading New Japan, Super Tiger has his penultimate match for nearly ten years against Takada. I liked this a lot more than the subdued July match even though we are missing about six minutes of a 14 minute match. Both guys are just unloading with rifling kicks. After the clip, we see Takada catch Tiger in the head with one that causes him to take a count. Not to be outdone, Tiger catches with a jumping roundhouse kick to the midsection that doubles him over. Tiger was throwing butterfly suplexes and the struggle over Takada's throws was great. The kicks were just vicious in this match each trying to destroy the other and they were connecting. I thought Sayama the super shooter was coming out at times the way he easily reversed a cross armbreaker into a single leg crab stretched reality. For a short, portly, unassuming fellow, once Sayama starts kicking he comes across as a badass. There were some really hot, spirited kick exchanges between these two. I thought the last minute before the finish was kinda boring just Tiger laying on Takada with a headlock. It was good struggle, but it was not as hot as the rest of the match. Takada goes kicks, but Tiger catches him in a Human Capture Suplex and immediately applies legbar after some struggle he wins. Too much of the match missing to be considered great and thought the finish was not as hot as the kicking sequences. Loved the kicking though. ***1/4

Nobuhiko Takada vs Super Tiger - UWF 7/21/85 Sayama without his Tiger Mask?!!? Not as cool. Two of the all-time best kickers here. First like three minutes of fifteen minute match are cut. They are throwing some really beautiful kicks, but both are so good at blocking and movement nothing really lands until the end. The matwork is pretty good. Both are better on the mat with a pro like Fujiwara rather than left to their own devices where nothing seems to connect. It is just kicks and then takedown attempts nothing connects the matwork. I liked Sayama's legsweep/legscissors combo that Takada countered with a double wristlock. Sayama had good selling during Triangle Choke with his coughing. The narrative felt like they were equally great at kicking and equally mediocre on the mat. I felt Sayama was dictating ring positioning better, but Takada being a bit taller and stronger was better at takedowns. The match complexion changed in the last minute when Sayama finally lands a wild spin kick to the head that causes Takada to take an 8 count. Takada had his bell run and it is a matter of time. Takada goes for a throw and Tiger squashes it and grabs a double wristlock for a win. The match flew by and there were some good kicks, but not much else. I was hoping more some really badass kicks to the head. ***

Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara - UWF 7/8/85 I'm hard pressed to believe that Maeda and Yamazaki both had more great matches in the Original UWF than Takada. Takada has looked really good in all his outings at the spirited young lion. Here it is the uptempo stand up game of Takada against grind it out style of Fujiwara. It is very basic, but very compelling because these are the two best sellers in Original UWF. I loved how Takada sold every legbar with cries of agony and throwing axe kicks to break the hold. While Fujiwara sold every takedown as a deadlift with tons of struggle. In the stand up, Takada would just send a barrage of really nice looking kicks at Fujiwara usually aimed at knotting up the thigh. Fujiwara with patience would counterwrestle by grabbing the leg and wrestling to the ground. I thought Fujiwara selling of the leg was great as was Takada's fire with these kicks very energizing. Takada feels like a dangerous underdog but he never goes for a headshot so eventually Fujiwara is able to switch from a legbar to a double wristlock to win. Very basic, but very effective. Missing about the beginning 4 minutes. ***3/4

Amen!

Was at the show last night at Mohegan Sun. Wicked fun! USOS vs American Alpha was bitchin! Easy ****1/4they killed it. Love AA as the Neo-Steiners just tossing muthafuckas around. It was so cool watching GRONK lose his mind for those nearfalls. That false hot tag sequence ruled! One of the best I have ever seen! I was biting on all sort of nearfalls because I didn't think they switch titles and then I thought they would. I became so absorbed in it. I thought escalation in this match was really good! The crowd was dead at beginning but they totally won them over. Hell they made me do something I thought never do...chant "This is awesome". They deserved it not just for an awesome match with good psychology but for wining over a dead crowd. Definitely one of the best WWE tags of the year and a favorite live match of my life. God, that false hot tag sequence was so damn good! ****1/4

Was at the show last night at Mohegan Sun. Wicked fun! Smackdown is so damn good now. It helped that I won the price of my ticket back with one spin of the Roulette Wheel right before the show. If I didn't have good luck, I'd have no luck at all. USOS vs American Alpha was bitchin! Easy ****1/4they killed it. Love AA as the Neo-Steiners just tossing muthafuckas around. It was so cool watching GRONK lose his mind for those nearfalls. That false hot tag sequence ruled! One of the best I have ever seen! Miz & Maryse HOLY SHIT was that funny! Miz as Robo-Cena was great that is a much fresher take on Cena. Cena feels like a WWE programmed Robot. So I love it. Maryse was next level awesome. Her doing Nikki & Brie was great! The DDP Yoga gag was ridiculously funny! Only disappointment was that they shortchanged the women which is my favorite part of show. Loved the standard HOLY SHIT SHane elbow to close out the show! So much fun! Smackdown is on a roll!