Superstar Sleeze

Genichiro Tenryu & Samson Fuyuki vs Great Kabuki & Takashi Ishikawa - AJPW 2/20/1988 With these midcard tags, it is fun to find that hook that got them nominated or made them perform really well. In this case, it is when Tenryu gets the hot tag and it is sort of your normal hot tag. He is not too terribly pissed to start. He is just laying his shit in. He just starts gradually building himself into a lather and next thing you now he is holding Ishikawa down and stiffing him elbows that slice open his forehead. Where the fuck did that come from? He just progressively got hotter and hotter. It is almost like what he started stiffing him, the floodgates exploded. The rest of the match is very good, but that is the clear reason why this stands out of the pack of the zillion midcard tags we have. Fuyuki was Kawada's partner in Footloose and I am excited to see more of them as the year wears on. This is another Tenryu & junior partner match. I am not sure if Kabuki & Ishikawa are Team Jumbo or are doing their own thing. I know they would end up being SWS/WAR guys in the 90s. The opening is pretty solid shit. Fuyuki is the junior partner. When Tenryu gets in, he wrecks fools. Kabuki & Ishikawa need to isolate Fuyuki if they have any hope of winning. Elementary, but elegant storyline. Fuyuki chops Ishikawa. Ishikawa STRIKES FUYUKI DOWN WHERE HE STANDS! Kabuki is stiffer than I expected some really good uppercut finger thrusts. Kneecrusher. Excellent knee work by the stodgy veterans. Kabuki with some really deep Spinning Toeholds while Ishikawa uses a Scorpion Deathlock and an Inverted Figure-4. The Fuyuki is kinda lame, just a spinwheel kick. Tenryu's hot tag is described in the first paragraph and Ishikawa is a bloody mess. Fuyuki holds his own and the climax is Tenryu hits a Top Rope Reverse Elbow for two. Kabuki is able to come in and actually hold his own with Tenryu. Ishikawa hits a Top Rope Leg Drop which is surprising. My memory is fuzzy, but Tenryu is able to tag out. Fuyuki gets an O'Connor Roll and German Suplex. Melee ensues. Fuyuki wants another German, but Kabuki kicks his head off and Ishikawa jackknifes him for the surprise, upset win. The Fuyuki heat segment and Tenryu bizarrely bashing Ishikawa brains in make this a hot watch. The finish stretch is decent, no great shakes, but the finish is legitimately shocking. ***1/2

Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada vs Yoshiaki Yatsu & Tiger Mask II - AJPW 1/23/88 It's BABY KAWADA! Looking about as uncool as possible in his fuchsia-animal-print pants, baby fat and poofy hair. But the brutha still runs the ropes like he is out of control and you are worried he is going to go through him! The novelty of this by far is to watch Kawada vs Misawa in 1988. Weird that in 6.5 years, they would have what many consider the Greatest Match of All Time. Never give up on your dreams kids even if your boss makes you dress in fuchsia or in a Tiger Mask. I have said in the past that Kawada is the Ultimate Choke Artist or best Loser ever. He is the Wile E. Coyote to Misawa's Roadrunner. He came off as the Ultimate Try-Hard in this match. It felt like he was trying to win Tenryu's approval so badly and probably more likely win Baba's approval as a shoot. Tenryu comes in and SMOKES Misawa! I mean I am not sure Misawa knew where the fuck he was after that. WOW! Yatsu CRACKS Tenryu back with a slap. Tenryu sells it like he got shot in the face and just goes down in heap. No fighting back just crawling over to Kawada. Kawada tries to smack Yastu, but misses and Yatsu CRACKS Kawada! This is good craic indeed. I love these fun midcard tags. They begin working Kawada. Kawada gets a nice legsweep, but instead of trying to tag out, he tries to impress and lands a Missile Dropkick, only to fall back into danger. He learns his lesson and tags out the next chance he gets. Tenryu TRUCKS Yatsu in retaliation. This does not last long as Kawada is back in and they end up working over Kawada's knee. Before that Kawada randomly does a cartwheel into a back handspring elbow that pops me huge just because it is so un-Kawada like. This is not 1993 primetime Kawada knee selling but he is pretty good. I always knew Misawa's 90s kicks were a holdover from his Tiger Mask days like his Elbow Suicida feint. Even though the kicks look good and land well, there is always something that has felt off about Misawa kicking especially that hop kick he does. Kawada lands a reverse crossbody which feels weird given his knee was being worked over, but I dont mind much. I am just enjoying this as Misawa & Kawada in 1988. The finish is fucking awesome. Misawa crossbodies Tenryu from apron, topples him over the railing onto the announce table. They brawl. I wish Tenryu threw him down with a Powerbomb on the table but we get a shitty Tenryu powerbomb. Yatsu attacks Tenryu and KAWADA WAILS ON YATSU WITH A CHAIR. IT WAS RELENTLESS! Tenryu continues the merciless beating until the ref tosses it out. I dont speak Japanese but I assume Yatsu said "That's all you got" Tenryu comes back TRUCKS him with a Lariat only for Jumbo to save. It is a New Year and Jumbo vs Tenryu is red-hot. I really enjoyed the work in this match. Yatsu and Tenryu were great stiff main eventers. Kawada & Misawa brought the action and it has that extra boost because it is Kawada & Misawa in the 80s doing some very un-Kawada, un-Misawa things. ***3/4

PWF World Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen vs NWA United National Heavyweight Champion Genichiro Tenryu - AJPW 9/20/87 I watched this last weekend, but was too tired to write a review. I really liked it at the time and wanted to do it justice. I rewatched it just now and thought this was tremendous especially with regard to Hansen. Hansen throws a classic Hansen fit at the outset of the match hurling chairs into the audience and all around ringside. He is a madman! This is full Bull in the China Shop Hansen in all his glory. They tear shit up. They blast each other to start with Tenryu getting the upper hand. The match spills to the outside and Hansen just wrecks shit. He sends Tenryu flying into the seats as fans flee the scene and he just beats the shit out of Tenryu as the fans look in horror. This is awesome shit. Back in, Tenryu uses a well-timed Enziguiri to try regain some semblance of control, but Hansen stiffs with wicked knees to the back of the head that send him to outside the ring where Hansen throws him into more hard metal. Hansen piledrives him and the rout looks to be on, only for Hansen to go charging into the turnbuckles and eat it. Tenryu works the arm. Hansen is awesome working underneath. He is so chippy. He is constantly fighting back, throwing short punches, grinding his knuckles into Tenryu, throwing elbows anything to get out of the holds or when out of the hold he just goes for it. These exchanges are wicked heated. Tenryu knows his only hope is to stay on the arm and he just keeps taking Hansen down into armbars & wristlocks. Hansen regains the advantage where he DROPS A TABLE ON TENRYU! I LOVE STAN HANSEN! Hansen ends up missing an elbow drop on the bad elbow and Tenryu goes back to work on the arm. Hansen ends up giving Tenryu a taste of his own medicine sending Tenryu shoulder first hard into the post. Tenryu tries to protect the now injured arm, but to no avail as Hansen has zeroed in on his target. Hansen gives a great arm torturing performance almost on the level of Dick Murdoch. He wrenches across the railing and announce table. He is great grinding on it, attacking with with strikes & headbutts, ramming it into things and tight holds. Hansen is tremendous in this. Tenryu kicks off to bump Joe Higuchi. Hansen goes full double windmill attacking Tenryu's injured arm. A desperation Enziguiri gives Tenryu the reprieve he so desperately needed as Hansen goes over the top which is the reason I think the ref was bump. Tenryu is great in his closing stretch offense, tons or urgency and a real sense of pressing. He hits a LONG DISTANCE Top Rope Reverse Elbow Drop. He lunges at Hansen as they both go tumbling to the outside. Everyone and their mother knows what this means. If you are going to do the double countout finish, do it this way! They tumble over the railing and spill into the front row and just brawl like mad. The ref calls for the bell, but Hansen dives across the aisle and WIPES Tenryu OUT! Pretty great post-match brawl! I loved, loved how physical Hansen was in this. Whether it was the shit on the outside, dropping tables on Tenryu and sending fans scurrying as he pummeled Tenryu in the seats, working from underneath doing everything he could to break free or working the arm, Hansen hit a home run in this. Tenryu gave his typical understated 80s performance. He matched the stiffness and focus when it was necessary, but this was the Hansen show through and through. It looks their matches in 1988 get even better, I already loved this so looking to see what 1988 has in store for us! ****1/2

Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu - AJPW 12/5/87 Real World Tag League. Tenryu & Hara are the PWF World Tag Team Champions coming into this, but not on the line because of the tournament. Live watch: Jumbo & Hara start off not much of note. Hara tags out. Jumbo tags out as a sign of disrespect to Tenryu, who gives him a sideways glance. Tenryu bowls him over with a tackle and snapmare into a chinlock. Nice almost escape by Yatsu, but Tenryu is tenacious. Yatsu destabilized him enough to convert into a wristlock and tags out to Jumbo upon standing. Tenryu backs away and tags out to Hara. More mind games. Jumbo grabs a side headlock, Hara shoots him off and Jumbo shouldertackle. Hara comes in with leather and a headbutt. Jumbo wrestles into a wristlock on the mat. Very exaggerated armbar takedown by Jumbo as he maintains wrist control. No sparks yet. I am watching this as it is another chapter in the Jumbo vs Tenryu feud, but it only finished #98 on the AJPW match so I am expecting good not great. Jumbo with a cross armbreaker sold as a resthold. I try to enforce 21st century morality on them but God there is nothing irks me more than an undersold cross-armbreaker. Jumbo/Yatsu double team Hara. Nice brackbreaker by Yatsu. Hara bullies him into Tenryu corner tags out. Double shoulder tackle by Revolution. Meaty chops by Tenryu. Wicked stomp right to the face. Now we are talking. Tenryu drags him to the match with a front chancery. Booooo. Yatsu buries the knee. Dropkick. It was not long. Tenryu is wise to their double team and tags out tot Hara. Jumbo grabs a side headlock, shot off, tackle, goes to run ropes again, Tenryu opens ropes and Jumbo to outside. Jumbo mean mugs Tenryu. Hara bullies Jumbo into corner. Jumbo slaps Tenryu around, TWO BIG TIME HIGH KNEES! Tenryu will NOT go down! Tenryu Enziguiri and Jumbo collapses to outside. Interesting juxtaposition there. First heated exchange of the match. Tenryu cracks Jumbo with a slap! He is showing up the Ace. Jumbo charging Back Elbow and Bulldog out of the corner. Jumbo has been great in 1987. Very fiery since the Tenryu feud. Jumbo Cobra Clutch right in front of Hara. Sends Tenryu into Yatsu's knee. SPIKE PILDERIVER! I love that move! Awesome belly to belly by Yatsu. Does not stay on him and Tenryu tags out. Sloppy or lame transition depending if you are looking at this from a kayfabe lens or not. Hara back suplex on Yatsu, the junior partners together does not have the same heat. Hara tags out. Tenryu whips Hara HARD into Yatsu. Enziguiri. There is good action, but not enough narrative to make it sticky. Just lots of noise. Jumbo vs Tenryu is the only hook. Tenryu literally kicks Yatsu out of the ring who takes the time to regroup. Yatsu looks hurt and is grabbing his back. Lets see if they work it. Lots of Hara blows to the back. Yep it is a thing. Hara stomping and kicking the back. Boston Crab seals that this is definitely a thing. Tenryu kicking the shit out of Yatsu and then taking a shot at Jumbo on the apron is great. They double team Yatsu, the back suplex by Yatsu lets him get the tag to Jumbo. Too soon in my opinion. Jumbo's zeal for revenge almost costs as he makes a beeline for Tenryu which allows for Hara to attack from behind. Hara looks to have the uppehand until Jumbo TRUCKS him with a Death Lariat. Hara tags out after Jumbo does not press his advantage. Tenryu TRUCKS Jumbo with his own Mack Truck Lariat! Enziguiri and Back Suplex by Tenryu for two. Tenyu foolishly tags out to Hara and Jumbo is able to tag out to Yatsu. Yatsu chops and kneelift. Yatsu suplex. Hara kicks Yatsu and tags out to Tenryu after another lackluster exchange. Tenryu grabs Yatsu by the hair and hurls him to the outside. Tenryu throws him hard into the railing. At least that was something different, but it goes nowhere. Bodyslam, Top Rope Reverse Back Elbow misses. Yatsu tags out. Jumbo tries to get the crowd into it. They kinda are. HIGH KNEE INTO THE CORNER! Jumbo is trying his best, I will give him that. Workrate does not equal greatness. Jumbo hits him with a High Knee on the outside square in the head. Nice shot. Tenryu is busted open! Nice touch. Jumbo is working the cut, nice punch right to the open wound, another one. Jumbo selling his hand. Jumbo rapidly now, Jumbo seeing red. Jumbo shoves off the ref. Tags out to Yatsu. Nice bulldog by Yatsu, Tenryu really laid out for it. Yatsu drives the bloody Tenryu into the mat. Yatsu sends Tenryu into the boot of Jumbo. Abdominal Stretch by Jubo is an odd choice once you have bloodied your opponent. Hara breaks it up. Jumbo/Yatsu double team Tenryu and Yatsu nails wicked piledriver. Jumbo grinding his boot into the cut. It is surprising there was not more staph infections in the 80s. Amazing these cuts were not infected all the time. Hara boots Jumbo in the face on the chinlock. Yatsu continues pummeling Tenryu. The match is getting long in the tooth. Jumbo attacking the cut by scraping his bootlaces across it is, just great. Yatsu with a terrific bridging German that Hara breaks up. Inside cradle by Tenryu. Tenryu tags out in the most anti-climatic way. Hara Mack Truck Lariat on Jumbo. Hara is a pretty decent hot tag, headbutts abound, bodyslam on the Ace. Tenryu is on his knees woozy. Double High Knee Sandwich by Yatsu and Jumbo. Oklahoma Slam by Yatsu. Hara slugs him with a lariat. Tags out to worse for wear Tenryu. Double team on Yatsu. Yatsu blocks the buldlog with a back suplex. JUMBO DEATH LARIAT! Too close to Tenryu who stomps Jumbo through the ropes. Double Clothesline! Tenryu slugs Jumbo with a left Lariat. Big bridging German by Tenryu saved by Yatsu. Tenryu tags out, meaty lariats by Hara. Jumbo blocks third. Yatsu double axehandle off the top. 30 seconds left. Top rope elbow drop kick out. 15 seconds? Yatsu cover for two. German Suplex lands as time expires. Everyone and their mother knew this was going to a time limit draw, it is why I knew to do a stream of consciousness review because I knew it was going to be a lot of action and not much substance. The Jumbo/Tenryu exchanges were a highlight. Jumbo drawing blood and working the cut, but ultimately went nowhere as Tenryu just did a running inside cradle and then casually tagged out. There is a post-match brawl! Jumbo and Tenryu are great. Nobody lands shit, but it was hot and sets 1988 up well. Where was I? Yeah, I think the Tenryu bleeding and then tagging out was a microcosm of the whole match. There were great bits and pieces. They never really either built to them, fleshed them out or built upon them. The moments were very ephemeral and did not connet to each other. It does not matter what year, workrate is not enough for greatness. ***1/4

Rewatch: Like their first match I’m downgrading this a tick. It is definitely inferior to their first match. The strong positives of this match are a red Jumbo who is carrying out his aggression from the prior match and Tenryu getting a bigger stretch of offense in this one. There are more clunky sections in this and the finish is both confusing and lukewarm. Jumbo repeatedly smacking Tenryu around was impressive. Every attempt at offense by Tenryu was a grand insult to Jumbo who responded with fury. I liked how so much of Tenryu’s offense was created by happenstance like Jumbo charging into the post, the hotshot or kicking off the post on the Backdrop Driver. After the Hotshot was Tenryu’s moment, what a great string of offense, he slugged with that lariat. I thought Jumbo’s Back Drop Driver was extra hot. The more chaotic brawling elements were awesome like the High Knee into the Lariat but then devolved into mess with wrestlers prematurely declaring victory and a lukewarm DQ as Jumbo body slams the ref all of sudden Bruiser Brody saves Tenryu. I’m interested to get to 1988.

Rewatched echo most of my statements. As I mention in my review, things did Peter out after the tremendous Knee to the exposed turnbuckle. Everything about that spot is so hot. Jumbo signaling to the crowd he is about to crush the upstart, the excitement in him. Then the desperation of Tenryu who not only falls to avoid the move but rips the cover off the turnbuckle. This is a spot that should be stolen as it is genius. I thought Tenryu work immediately after was solid as were the Jumbo backdrop drivers. The body slam was lukewarm and the botched crossbody left a lot to be desired. I thought the brawling on the outside was lackluster. It is cool that Tenryu that got the countout victory instead of the double countout. If the match ends directly after the Knee to the turnbuckle I’d see this as a ****3/4-ish match. I really liked the body of the match. There’s an interesting point early where Jumbo does not give a clean break. Instead it is stiff back elbows to Tenryu. He is the first to do it. This is not in response to a dick thing Tenryu did in this match. Jumbo is the clear aggressor. I think that’s very interesting. I think Jumbo saw this match even happening as an affront to his seniority. I loved Tenryu meeting disrespect with disrespect by CRACKING Jumbo with a slap in the immediate aftermath. As I stress in my original this was a very Jumbo not only does he has the big run of bombs In the middle he is the more aggressive and more emotional of the two. I think this match was to prove Tenryu could take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’. Tenryu proved his mettle surviving the cavalcade of offense and managing to hit his power bomb. Very strong opening salvo in the feud.

Hey sorry @BigBadMick didn’t mean to leave you hanging. Let me ask around. Did you get it to work? I have a lot of co-workers in Ireland and they’re telling me how rough it is. We have a manufacturing trial in Ireland this week and I’m supervising it remotely. I hope you & other Irish don’t mind me using “Craic” love the term! It is a Double Whammy! It’s Royal Rumble Sunday & My Mom’s Birthday! She was wearing the Becky Lynch Holiday sweater I got her that is emblazoned with “The Mom” on it! Popped me huge this morning. I think she’s more excited for the Royal Rumble than I am. Lol. We are rooting for the return of “The Man” Becky Lynch and a victory for Daniel Bryan. As you can see Pro Wrestling Love is a family affair and the latest episode of Pro Wrestling Love has dropped. This one sells itself...it is the Top Ten WCW Matches of All Time! What is the best of the best and Elite of the Elite? What is Number One? Click, Download, Enjoy and Spread the Pro Wrestling Love. Now that this series is over, it is time for the arguing to begin. What are too high on? Too low? What did we miss? Let us know!! https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-gehkb-f778bb

GOOD GAWD! It is the Pro Wrestling Love Show! @JKWebb & myself are breaking through into the TOP 25 WCW/JCP MATCHES OF ALL TIME! I absolutely love how Justin broke down the Piper vs Valentine July 1983, check that out on WWE Hidden Gems. I hope we dont lose that and some of the amazing stuff that cropped up to the Peacock merger. In the meantime, click, download and let us know what you think! https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-zjifv-f77834

Yeah, Mad Dog that would be a concern. Saving 50% of a year and adding Peacock content (hopefully some tennis action to boot) is a plus to me, but losing obscure things like Crockett Cup 1986 as an example would be a bummer during the transition. Fingers crossed for a smooth transition. (These things are never smooth).

Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy - AJPW 12/11/87 Tenryu & Hara are the current PWF World Tag Team Champions but the titles are not on the line as this the Real World Tag League. I am going to do this stream of consciousness style to save some time as I want to get to bed before midnight: Hansen & Gordy won their match over Jumbo & Yatsu via countout after Hansen creamed Yatsu with a Lariat out of nowhere. I skipped Tenryu & Hara vs Jumbo & Yatsu for now because I am in a Hansen groove. Joe Higuchi in his powder blue referee outfit looking snazzy as fuck. Hansen and Hara to start. Hansen a little more subdued than usual. They jockey for position standing up. Hansen with the sledge on an unclean break. They trade overhand chops. Hansen and Hara two big uglies tussling and end up in the ropes. Hansen grabs a headlock, shot of wins the shoulder tackle battle and tags in Gordy. Hansen doesnt leave right away more intimidation. Gordy and Hara, Hara grabs headlock and pulls Gordy into his corner. Tenryu tags in. Hansen starts hollering, but Tenryu cant take advantage. Tenryu takes a swing at Hansen on the apron. Melee ensues as Hansen takes exception to that. Gordy restrains Tenryu and Hansen gets his licks in. Hansen terrorize s the outside. Gordy bowls Tenryu over with a shoulder tackle. I love how chippy that was. Hansen and Tenryu bring that edge to their interaction that Hansen and Jumbo are missing. Tenryu can be as much of a miserable son of a bitch as Hansen and I think that helps their dynamic. That scrap was the best thing so far. Hansen in and grabs a tight side headlock. I like how noisy Hansen is. He sounds like he is trying to pop Tenryu's head like a zip. Love him hollering at the ref. Tenryu shoots him off but Hansen wins the shouldertackle. Awkward moment on the criss cross with them staring off. Hansen tags out but not before yelling some more. God bless him! Gordy and Hara. Hara gets three overhand chops before Gordy starts firing back. So far a strong Hansen performance as expected and cool shoot-y brawl other than that not much. Gordy tags out after a nothing sequence with Hara. Hansen and Hara jockeying for wrist control. Hansen wins. Hansen wrenches the arm around the top rope and we have a focal point now. Hansen bringing the energy and the structure to the match. Gordy grabs and armbar and I go to correct my spelling mistakes. Hara gets up and throws Gordy off. Single leg and dumps Gordy on his ass. Classic Gordy bump. Tenryu tags in and mean Mack Truck Lariat. Shoots Hara in for a Lariat on Gordy. Hara loves to headbutt and we get some on Gordy. Hara brings Gordy over to Tenryu and then Tenryu figure-4s the head. Not a lot of effort from the others here. Where was the struggle on that Gordy? Gordy gets on his belly and converts the hold into a Scorpion Deathlock almost but Hara stops him. Hansen has had enough of this boring inaction and comes in and bodyslams Tenryu. Big Gordy jumping elbow. Hansen comes in all piss & vinegar hard bone on bone and then chinlock city. It looks fierce but this match needed more action less of this. Are they going to a 30 minute draw. Seems unlikely unless Jumbo/Yatsu are the ones that win the Real World Tag League but this kinda feels like a draw. Gordy Fireman's Carry but falls away with it. Nice move. Gordy takes his sweet time pulling Tenryu into abdominal stretch. Tenryu hiptosses out but Gordy charges and nails a Lariat in the corner and whips Tenryu hard into the buckles. Hansen tags back in. Double suplex on Tenryu. Big one. Nice. Surprised how much of a beating Tenryu is taking when Hara is right there. Hansen pitches him to the outside and pulls up the mat. PILEDRIVER ON THE EXPOSED FLOOR! Not much of a reaction. Hara pulls a Kobashi and throws his body on the fallen Tenryu! NICE! I dont have has much emotional investment in this match but I love that spot. The crowd is pretty dead for this. They have not given them much but that was a great sequence and I thought deserved a bigger reaction. Hansen stomps on Hara and then takes a wild swing at photographer or official that was crazy. Higuchi throws Hansen back in the ring. Gordy holds Tenryu for Hansen to take free shots. Those kicks were wicked! Right to the head! I would not want to have my head exposed to half-blind Hansen's kicks. Snapmare, exposed knee (a Hansen staple) by Hansen to the head and he throws up the Horns and Bellows! Hara saves. Hansen tags out. Gordy drives Tenryu's head hard into the buckles. Tenryu's head has taken a beating. Gordy does that weird dance/stomp thing he does. Tenryu has a trickle of blood coming down his head. This has been a beating. Hansen drags him to his lair. He lays Tenryu down on the table prone and just dribbles his head on the table like a basketball. Hara saves but the damage is done. I wonder if Hansen had seen the blood and wanted to open him up more because back in the ring. Hansen tees off. He pounds way on the cut and delivers a big over the top elbow right to the cut. Tenryu is taking a beating of a lifetime. Hansen covers for two. Gordy elbow to the head for two. Gordy back drop driver and Tenryu does a Gordy style sell of it, ass over tea kettle for two. Gordy talks some smack to Hara but takes his eye off the prize in a cool moment Hansen tries to intercept because he can see what will happen before anyone else. Tenryu throws an enziguiri and Hansen is a second too late as he shoves Tenryu midair but Tenryu lands the enziguiri. That was awesome. Tenryu is able to tag out. Hara comes in and TRUCKS Gordy with a lariat. Headbutts. Bowls him over. Again. 1-2-No. Tags Tenryu back in. Seems early. Double Shouldertackle sends Gordy careening to his corner and tag to Hansen. Poor tag team strategy there. Tenryu may have not tagged in as it is Hara and Hansen. Hara lays it into Hansen. Hansen charges and rams his shoulder into the buckles and goes over the top to the floor. Tenryu exacts his revenge throwing Hansen hard into metal objects. Hara gets two on Hansen. Hara big Back Drop Driver on Hansen for two. Tags out to Tenryu. Lariat Sandwich! That was the move that did Jumbo in over the Summer where the ref had to call the bell for excessive double teaming. Cowboy Kick by Tenryu on the Cowboy himself. Double suplex on the might Hansen. Hara gets two. Hansen looks worse for wear. Tenryu Enziguiri great punch drunk Hansen sell leading to the collapse. Tenryu drops multiple elbows. As this drags on, it looks more and more likely it is a draw finish. Tenryu Enziguiri for two. Octopus Stretch by Tenryu and Gordy break that up with stiff right. Tenryu tries again, Gordy be damned. Gordy does not come in this time. Hara blocks Gordy with a lariat as Tenryu settles for a more conventional abdominal stretch. I think the crowd is chanting for Hansen?!?!? I know the Japanese love an underdog but thats crazy. Hara blocks Gordy repeatedly but Gordy brings in the bullrope and Hansen SMASHES Tenryu with cowbell as the ref is focused on Gordy and Hara. Fuck you Japanese fans! Gordy crushes Hara and the American team looks in a good spot but Hansne desperately needs a tag. Hansne has to kick Tenryu away as their legs are still wrapped up. Gordy tags in. Gordy big crossboy for two! The crowd is on the Americans side it feels like. Big dropkick for two. Lariat for two! I guess being a native turncoat is worse than being a foreigner. Gordy is beside himself and Hansen looks fucked on the outside. Tenryu Enziguiri! Tenryu bodyslam...Reverse Top Rope Elbow misses to the delight of the crowd. Asiatic Spike!?!? No, piledriver but HARA SAVES AND BOWLS BOTH MEN OUT! Tenryu Octopus on the outside. Hansen was winding up for Lariat when Hara dives off apron Hansen is looking to Pull trigger but Tenryu ENZIGUIRI. Tenryu beats the count. Gordy suplexes Tenryu no, Tenryu gets the Abdominal Stretch. Hansen is in the background sitting, LOCK N LOAD; HANSEN EXPLODES WITH THE LARIAT TO BACK OF TENRYU'S HEAD! Hansne is spent. Double countout. I loved the shot of Tenryu's Abdominal Stretch with Hansen sitting down and signaling for the Lariat. Look straight out of a horror movie. At 28 minutes and change this match was way too long. Shave off ten minutes and you have a great match easy. It felt like it was going to go to draw but the pull up 1.5 minutes short with the double countout. Hansen is fucking awesome in this match. Hansen/ Tenryu scrap the beginning is great. The piledriver on the floor/Hara throws his body on Tenryu was awesome. Loved Hansen treating Tenryu's head like a basketball on the table and then just mercilessly attacking the cut. I like how Hansen gets his comeuppance after an errant shouldertackle to the buckles. Tenryu beats the shit out of him and the abdominal stretch was wicked hot. The cowbell was awesome, loved Gordy's finish run and then Hansen having one last round in his gun and finally firing it off. There was just too much fat and dead air in the beginning for this to be considered great, but when it was hot it was hot. ***1/2

Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu - AJPW 11/26/87 I did about an hour of work and then I was like it is fucking Sunday night, why am I doing work? I need to honor the Good Lord and watch some badass pro wrestling! Hansen has a new partner and it is Terry Gordy. Gordy is an upgrade over DiBiase in that he fits the bill a lot better as a roughhousing bully heel. That being said, I have always found Gordy to be very alright. He is an athletic big man, whose true strength is bumping which is not as valued in Japan as it is in America so I think he is always solid as Hansen's partner, but it is always the Hansen show. I have been watching a lot of Hansen in tags and why the matches are not always ***** classics, he always gives a performance that drips with effort. I don't feel like I have been calling that out. He is usually the MVP of any tag team match he is in. He is awesome on the apron barking out orders to his partner and especially the ref. I love Hansen giving the ref the business. I really enjoyed in the second Jumbo face in peril when Jumbo hiptosses him over on the abdominal stretch, he immediately scrambles and picks the ankle to stop the tag from happening. The way he ends his own heat segment wen Yatsu comes in with brutal headbutts and general bullying. His selling at the end is sublime. He is a terrific pro wrestler. The beginning is the usual chippy Hansen vs Jumbo. They focus on the left arm of Jumbo. Gordy misses a charge in the corner, this affords Jumbo the chance to tag out and wring out his arm. Besides a quick double team, Yatsu doesnt last too long as he misses a dropkick. Yatsu and Gordy trade a couple back suplexes. Jumbo and Yastu do an an entertaining double team where each man takes an arm and wring it out. This leads to Hansen in peril and Jumbo does most of the work on Hansen. I liked Yatsu coming and kicking Hansen's arm while in the double wristlock. Yatsu loses control in the aforementioned way. Yatsu holds his own with Gordy. Gordy the king of the suplex struggle loses to an inside cradle by Yatsu. Gordy wants a piledriver on Jumbo, nope. JUMBO TRUCKS GORDY! Gordy does a very American sell with his ass over tea kettle. This is when I notice how dead this crowd is. It was would remain dead the rest of the match even though Jumbo tries cheerleading so hard to get them into it. Hansen does the whole "beast yanks the victim back to his lair" that I love forcefully pulling Jumbo to the outside, kicking ass and swinging chair wildly and connecting with Jumbo. Even Hansen going into the crowd stealing a chair and swinging it like a madman does nothing for this crowd. I love how much of a pest Yastu was in this heat segment on Jumbo, constantly breaking things up. My favorite moment of the match is when Yatsu hits a top rope double axehandle on Hansen to break up a hold. It really pisses Hansen off. He tags out, but stays in the ring to take a swipe at Yatsu. Yatsu drops off the apron, Hansen lumbers off, Yatsu sneaks back in and bowls Gordy over to break up the Boston Crab. That was awesome. The Jumbo heat segment does enter the city limits of Chinlock City admittedly. There is a double countout tease that is ice cold and not set up very interestingly. Gordy misses an elbow drop and tag out to Yatsu. Gordy takes the big back body drop and a back suplex. Hansen tags in as Gordy runs the ropes. Great fight in the corner and ends up with Hansen charging and ramming his knee into the turnbuckles! Jumbo cheerleads on the apron as a big moment! The crowd is dead as a door nail as Dickens would say. Jumbo spends the rest of the match BEGGING the crowd for a reaction. He was doing everything to cheerleader. I actually like the finish a lot. There was a lot of drama in how Hansen was selling the knee and how hard Yatsu was working to put the Figure-4 on. Jumbo and Gordy were tussling in the background. It felt hotter to me than what the crowd was giving it. I did feel like crowd started to come alive when the Figure-4 was finally applied on Hansen. It was built so well I actually thought for a second Hansen would submit especially after Jumbo suplexed Gordy, but Hansen made the ropes. The ref breaks Yatsu as he moves back to attack Hansen AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SWINGING LARIAT! The announcer scream was awesome! The Lariat really did come out of nowhere and he FUCKING SMOKED YATSU! JBL cream in his pants Lariat indeed! Excellent finish to otherwise lukewarm match that I thought was better than the crowd gave them credit for. ***1/2

PWF World Tag Team Champions Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara - AJPW 7/23/87 If not the last, probably one of the last Japanese matches Ted would have until he returned in 1993. I thought this was a major step up from the Jumbo & Tiger Mask match from a couple weeks prior. Hansen & Tenryu start off hot with the chops blazing. Hansen seems very worried about DiBiase's health as he has his ribs taped. Hansen ends up being the first one worked over as his leg becomes a target. You got to watch how Hansen works these leg holds, he is always struggling against them, looking to grab any body part of his opponent and try to disrupt the hold. This is great shit and why he is an all-timer. He needs just lays there and take it. He is a very active participant even when the hold is applied to him. DiBiase is bailing him out of some tight jams. Hansen pitches Tenryu out after Tenryu almost had him in the figure-4. DiBiase slams Tenryu into the table. DiBiase tags in and nails a suplex. He looks poised to press the advantage but then they start in on the ribs. I really thought this ribs selling by DiBiase was incredible and some of the best of his career. It really took the match to the next level for me. Tenryu and Hara were merciless. Tenryu misses his patented reverse top rope elbow drop. Here comes HANSEN! He is in full Bull In the China Shop mode! Action spills to the outside. He is stealing chairs from fans and just waylaying Tenryu and Hara. Tenryu tabletops Hansen. SPIKE PILEDRIVER ON THE FLOOR! Hansen is bleeding! DiBiase gets whipped into the railing, ribs-first, and we never see or hear from him again! Hansen is a on his own and getting his ass whupped. The climax is a Tenryu Enziguiri/Hara Backdrop Driver that looks straight out of 90s All Japan. There was a wicked double enziguiri by these two before that. It was a great bomb-throwing finish. Hansen has to kick out because DiBiase isnt there to save. Action spills to the outside. Hara has Hansen restrained. Tenryu winds up, charges and NAILS HARA WITH THE LARIAT! HANSEN BULLDOZES TENRYU! It is a double countout. Everything from DiBiase selling the ribs, to Hansen bleeding on the floor and the big finish run is excellent. ****

PWF World Tag Team Champions Jumbo Tsuruta vs Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase - AJPW 7/11/87 Jumbo & Misawa won the Tag Titles a week prior it was the first time Stan Hansen had lost the titles since he & Brody were inaugural champions in 1984 (Ted DiBiase was Brody's replacement). Interesting, Stan & Ted win them back here as it had to be known by now that Ted was WWF-bound as I got to believe this was his last tour. Austin Idol replaces Ted, I have a morbid curiosity to watch Austin idol in All Japan. Very good meat & potatoes match. Nothing that will rock your world or cause you to a write a letter home to mom, but I would never complain if wrestling was usually this solid on the TV now. It starts with Jumbo slowly getting overwhelmed by Hansen & DiBiase. DiBiase did a lot of babyface moves here, which was weird, like winning the hiptoss exchange on the criss-cross and an armdrag. Hansen targets the left arm in brutal fashion. I love whenever Hansen drags an opponent out by the arm to the outside to do more damage. It looks like a beast dragging its prey back into its lair. DiBiase gets a nice Fireman's Carry on Jumbo. Jumbo hits the High Knee. The fact Misawa & DiBiase touched seemed so weird to me, but I just love how much the 80s were intermingled and cross-pollinated. Misawa dropkick and a nice gutwrench as the hot tag, but doesnt last long as Hansen comes in and bulldozes him. Eventually, DiBiase charges and rams his shoulder into the buckles and they work that over. Hansen regains control for his team. It is interesting that Hansen takes both a hiptoss and Sunset Flip from Misawa. Misawa is not small, but he is not big enough that it would be automatic that Hansen would give him those moves so I think that was a sign of respect and signal to the audience to expect big things from Misawa. They work on Hansen's back, Jumbo gets an abdominal stretch and Misawa tries a Boston Crab. DiBiase is saving. Jumbo rocket launches Misawa as the big nearfall for the native team. It is breaking down in Tulsa. DiBiase & Jumbo end up outside and in the fracas, BOOM LARIAT HANSEN TRUCKS MISAWA! 1-2-3! New Tag Champs. Very solid stuff. ***1/4

Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask II vs Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara - AJPW 6/11/87 Let the war begin! Probably my biggest blind spot is the late 80s Jumbo vs Tenryu that changed the game in All Japan. Jumbo vs Choshu was native vs native but there was still an outsider/invader element to it with Choshu being from New Japan. With Choshu returning to New Japan and the gaijin well drying up, Baba is forced to split up Jumbo & Tenryu and forever change the All Japan booking paradigm. I understand the backstage reasons why they were split up but what happened onscreen before this match because they looked pretty pissed at each other already. The crowd was red hot at the prospect of Jumbo and Tenryu! We start with Misawa and Hara. Jumbo & Tenryu was electric throughout this match and the real selling point, but Misawa was a close second. He doesnt have his 90s presence but he was an offensive dynamo in this match. Hara is the perfect heel lieutenant very Taue like. Hara bowls Misawa over, but Misawa reverses on mat and nails a nice spin heel kick. They jockey over wrist control. Misawa wins but Hara pushes him into Tenryu's corner. Tenryu looks to put Misawa away early Enziguiri I thought it was going to be a sloppy powerbomb but it was a shoulderbreaker instead, a nerve-racking moment. Tenryu figure-4's the head. Tenryu slashing with chops, Misawa responds with swift kicks. Tenryu facelocks him and tags out. Nice stiff double chop by Hara. Misawa back suplex and Jumbo in for first time. Jumbo bowls over Hara and goes over and chops Tenryu! Crowd OOOOOO and Aaaaahhsss! Very telling taht Tenryu didnt do that but Jumbo initiated. It felt like Jumbo wanted revenge for something. That something I dont know and would love if someone filled in the blank for me. Shortly thereafter, the crowd gets what they came for...Jumbo vs Tenryu in the ring! Tenryu & Hara double chop Jumbo and Tenryu suplexes Jumbo. Tenryu tags out to Hara. Nice little tease there. We didnt get the full blow-out yet. Jumbo fires up on Hara, High Knee and Jumbo yanks Hara over to their corner. Misawa nails a picture perfect dropkick great form and extension. Misawa hits the reverse crossbody headbutt that he would continue to do in his golden years. He does the classic Misawa feign over the ropes and dropkicks him hard. Hara takes a huge bump into the railing. Best moment thus far besides the Jumbo opening salvo on Tenryu. Misawa allows himself to close control and Hara tags out. Tenryu stiff slashing chops and Slingshot Suplex! Jumbo loses it not only saves Misawa but wont stop stomping Tenryu in the head. Hara distracts Jumbo on the outside as Tenryu makes Misawa carry his weight. Misawa uses the Baba Neckbreaker Drop, nice Misawa baseball slide. Another great highspot to follow up with the Top Rope Splash onto Tenryu on the floor! Misawa is on fire! Perfect so they dont blow the Jumbo vs Tenryu matchup yet and use Misawa here as substitute. Misawa Belly to Belly Suplex and then a Somersault Splash from the top rope. Misawa rocks! He tags out! Here we go... Jumbo is ROARING! HIGH KNEE! He is fired up! Another HIGH KNEE! He is rocking! Crowd is loving this. Tenryu snuffs this out with a Back Suplex and a quick tag. Hara hits another back suplex. I love how they are doing Jumbo & Tenryu in short bursts with Jumbo getting a little more offense each time. Hara wins control and Tenryu tags back in to hit to TRUCK him with a Lariat. Dick move/ Jumbo becomes a man possessed whenever he sees Tenryu and just FIRES THE FUCK UP! Jumbo starts throwing 'bows, Mack Truck Lariat! Jumbo ties him into a chinlock, which I dont think vibe with the psychology thus far. He holds Tenryu in place for Misawa missile dropkick. He dropkicks him so hard that Tenryu ends up in his corner and tags out to Hara. Not smart tag wrestling. Misawa rifles Hara with kicks! He looks great! Misawa suplex for two. Tags out to Jumbo with the Jumbo team firmly in control. Jumbo Dory-esque Euro Uppercuts. Abdominal Stretch. Tenryu casually walks in and SLAPS THE TASTES OUT OF JUMBO'S MOUTH! Oh shit it is on! Tenryu blocks the receipt! Tag out by Hara and Tenryu Enziguiri leads to a tight, tight sleeper, looks like a choke. Crowd firmly on Jumbo's side. Misawa saves, but Hara tags in and applies the sleeper to Jumbo. Jumbo seems to be fading. Misawa saves again. Hara wants the sleeper again, BUT Jumbo drops him on his head! HOLY SHIT! That Backdrop Driver would NOT have looked out of place in 1997. WOW! Misawa tags in and piledriver on Hara! Tenryu saves. Misawa Frogsplash! 1-2-NO! It is cool how many Misawa moves he is doing. Jumbo high knee as he tags back in, meaty chops on Hara. Jumbo misses high knee, Hara pops him and tags out to Tenryu. Tenryu gives him a wicked left hook lariat! JBL would have creamed himself on that one. Top Rope Reverse Elbow for two! Tenryu and Hara double team Jumbo this would become a theme as we approach the finish. They love the Lariat Sandwich as their double team and Tenryu hits a DDT but it is very Tenryu-y how he does it. Jumbo demolishes Hara in a lariat battle. Will he tag out? Yes! Misawa spinkick! Misawa German on Tenryu! But he is too close to the ropes! Misawa dropkick on Tenryu. Misawa tries for another Somersault Splash but Tenryu was supposed to catch him and Powerbomb him. A for Effort, they almost pull it off and still looks pretty good. Tenryu gets two as Jumbo saves and Hara BLASTS Jumbo with a lariat. Hara headbutts Misawa as he pwoders. That takes care of Misawa as Jumbo is left to fend for himself against these two stiff pricks. They Lariat Sandwich him to death that Joe Higuchi in an awesome green number has lost controland is forced to ring the bell for a disqualification ostensibly for too much double teaming. Jumbo lets the crowd know he won and he is still standing but is pissed about what happened I am assuming, I dont understand Japanese, but that seems to be what they would be portraying. Just to make sure I got the result right I checked Cagematch and they confirmed the DQ finish. Very action-based match! This reminds me a lot of the 80s Crockett and 80s All Japan work where there is so much movement, moves and action it is all a blur. It is all good stuff but there were times when I thought they could have let things breathe. Two things make this great in my mind and a cut above your standard 1980s workrate action-packed match. Misawa was on fire here and looked like a future star. He was crushing it. Easy to say with hindsight but he did not shy away from the bright lights. He let it rip it. Really what propels this match is the awesome Jumbo and Tenryu interactions. Jumbo was full of piss & vinegar. Tenryu was his usual prickly, contemptible self. It just made for a great mix. It was the perfect amount to whet your appetite but leaving you wanting more and thankfully there is so much more! ****

NWA International Tag Team Champions Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs Road Warriors - AJPW 3/12/87 I did a little research on the tag team titles in All Japan. The NWA International Tag Team Championship was the Main Championship it was primarily held by Baba & Jumbo and when Baba went into semi-retirement it became Jumbo & Tenryu's titles and this was the title that they feuded with Choshu & Yatsu over that I have not gotten to yet because I am saving it for a day when I can knock out all four major matches. The PWF Tag Team Titles were only created in 1984 and these were Stan Hansen's titles. He won them with Brody and then it was awarded to DiBiase when Brody left and when DiBiase departed it was awarded to Austin Idol, which is an interesting pick. It was only in 1987 that non-Hansen teams started to win them. Jumbo & Yatsu would feud with Tenryu & Hara over the PWF titles during the Jumbo vs Tenryu war. Jumbo & Yatsu would be the team to unify the title two sets of tag titles to form the Double Cup. This was pretty good and I think if the Road Warriors either worked in Japan more or were heel more in the US they would be more fondly remembered in the ring. Monster babyface is probably the hardest role in wrestling to play and I think Roadies' style was better suited to being roughhousing heels. I really liked this match as a power wrestling match and these four big dudes hitting hard and throwing each other around. Jumbo Tsuruta is a big dude. Animal makes it look easy to Press Him Over Head and slam him. Loved Jumbo's response to this, really TRUCKS him with the Lariat. Tenryu and Hawk have a great exchange. Hawk takes a nice doubled over somersault bump off the middle. They are a lot more giving here than normal but I think it being in Japan and they are playing heels is the cause. It is just great power wrestling. Short heat on Tenryu, gets a back suplex to tag in Jumbo. Hawk hits a big bodyslam but misses elbow. Jumbo hits that great High Knee, but they both collide hard on lariat attempts. Axe Bomber by Hawk sends Jumbo cashing to the outside. Japan being so offense-focused really helps the power-oriented Road Warriors. Tag out to Animal and a miss move lets Jumbo tag out. Tenryu misses his reverse top rope back elbow. This starts the Tenryu heat proper. Lots of fake tags and chinlocks. Hawk misses a middle rope splash and hot tag to Jumbo! Jumbo is rolling; between this & Hansen/DiBiase match I just watched, Jumbo is a phenomenal hot tag. Great fire and loved the high knee in the corner! Scorpion Deathlock by Jumbo, I usually associate the Boston Crab with him, I wonder if that is some Choshu influence. Tag back into Tenryu which may be too fast. Best spot of the match: Tenryu whips Hawk into the ropes, Animal presses Hawk and THROWS HIM INTO TENRYU! Massive powerslam by Tenryu! DOOMSDAY DEVICE~! Jumbo is barely saving on these covers. Animal press slams Tenryu like he is nothing. Crazy! STUFF PILEDRIVER ON TENRYU ON THE OUTSIDE! AWESOME! Countout victory! Japanese titles can change hands on countout so the Road Warriors are new Tag Team Champions! The Roadies would only defend it three times in over a year as Crockett was sending their wrestlers to Japan less & less. Not surprising that PWF Tag Team Titles became more important as a result. Loved the power wrestling, the chinlock stuff dragged, but the Jumbo hot tag and the finish stretch were ultra-hot! Fun power wrestling match. ***1/2

Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase - AJPW 12/12/86 WESTERN LARIAT! Hansen & DiBiase look at each other as if to say "Do you know the plan?" and then BOOM! Hansen explodes into a LARIAT on the unexpecting Tenryu at the bell. Everyone brawls on the outside this is off to a red hot start. Things settle down into an incredible Tenryu face in peril segment. What I love more than anything are the frequent tags and the cutoffs. It really feels like Tenryu is overwhelmed with these two beasts. Hansen sets low and Tenryu punt kicks him, but DiBiase YANKS Tenryu down from behind by the hair to prevent the tag. Tenryu backdrops DiBiase and Hansen rumbles in and cuts him off with a well-timed knee to head. The offense is brutal and they are snuffing out hope spots with precision. Deep Boston Crab by Hansen. Jumbo cant take anymore and saves Tenryu from the Boston Crab, but DiBiase and the ref force him out of the ring. Tenryu Enziguiri! Hansne wrangles him before he can get to Jumbo, each time Tenryu is getting closer and closer. They are buidling to the hot tag so well. DiBiase knocks Jumbo off the apron and makes sure to get his licks in on Tenryu before leaving. BIG HANSEN DROPKICK! For Two! DiBiase backdrop! Tenryu holds onto ropes and DiBiase crashes & burns on dropkick! My favorite cutoff, Tenryu is so damn close and Hansen comes charging in full force and bowls Tenryu from clear across the ring to prevent the tag. They have built this hot tag to a fever pitch! Tenryu gets the boot up on a charge and HOT TAG! WHAT A FUCKING HOT TAG IT IS! JUMBO TRUCKS DIBIASE WITH A LARIAT! ATTAKCS HANSEN! HIGH KNEE TO DIBIASE! HE IS TAKING ON TWO MEN AT ONCE AND PLAYING TO THE CROWD! HE IS ROCKING! HANSEN TACKLES DIBIASE TO SAVE HIM FROM JUMBO MONSTER LARIAT! OUTSIDE THE RING HANSEN CLOBBERS DIBIASE WITH THE LARIAT! JUMBO GETS BACK IN THE RING! COUNTOUT VICTORY! HOLY SHIT! THAT WAS AWESOME! Awesome sub-ten minute sprint! That I dont think a lot of people talk about. I was totally expecting a 30 minute draw or a long match at least, I think the pace & structure caught me totally off guard. This was a great curveball! ****1/4

NWA International Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuruta - AJPW 10/18/86 Stan Hansen has been since stripped of the AWA Championship in a infamous story. He is defending the International Heavyweight Championship against Jumbo , which was traditionally Jumbo's title. This is considered the greatest of their matches of a rivalry similar to Hansen/Misawa that generally people are lukewarm on. Joe Higuchi's all orange outfit with a white accents was ******, eat you heart out, Omega. As I was watching this match, I was like what is the big deal? Yes, it is great and I would say it a cut above the other two from 1986, but I didnt see it as a major leap up. Patience is a virtue and if you wait, you will be rewarded with a terrific double juice brawl! I did like how chippy this started out. Some great slashing chops from both men. I really liked how Jumbo fought through the onslaught to earn his offense. He ends up eating the railing. Hansen starts in on the left shoulder. At first it is nerve holds and such, you are not too sure this will become a focal point or if he is just wasting time, it does become the object of his attack. There's a nice moment when he was going to send Jumbo into the buckles but if he would hit the wrong shoulder so reverses course so that when Jumbo takes the bump it is on the correct shoulder. What could look like a flub to the untrained eye, was a brilliant moment of psychology. Hansen really grinds on the arm. Offensively, there are two Hansen's: Bull In The China Shop Hansen and Grind It Out Hansen. I greatly prefer the former. I was gobsmacked at this point that this match fared so well. I was like yes this might be the best grinder Hansen has looked at targetting one body part and Jumbo is not going to make a Top Ten Seller list is doing a great job selling, this is still more like in **** territory than anything else. Then the high knee happens... Jumbo nails the High Knee as a hope spot. In the follow-up, Hansen drops down and Jumbo goes sailing over the top rope. WESTERN LARIAT! JUMBO BLADES! HOLY SHIT! In one moment, I go from this is great to this is fucking great! I love when a heel has held control, loses control for a brief moment and his reaction is to just hit the biggest possible bomb and then on top of that JUMBO BLADED! Ok, I think I can fuck with this. Hansen attacks the cut and Jumbo''s selling is the best he has ever done! The way he was stumbling around ringside. Hansen DROPKICK! Exposed kneelift to the cut! Bloodstain on the thigh! Fuck yeah! If it is right armed Lariat is it Eastern Lariat? Eastern Lariat gets two. Hansen is pressing his advantage. It is the full court press. Big jumping elbow drop from Hansen just kicking Jumbo in the cut as he is down. This is killer. Football shouldertackle sends Jumbo careening out of the ring. I like the change of pace. He was not getting the job done inside the ring. Lets brawl! He sends Jumbo into hard metal objects and JUMBO REVERSES HANSEN INTO THE RINGPOST! HANSEN BLADES! I love that they used the outside as a means for Jumbo take over. He was in such a deep hole that this was the only plausible way for him to regain control. Big, meaty snapmare to bring Hansen back in over the top rope. Jumbo is FEROCOIUS on offense! Attacking the cut! Great clenched fist in the ring to pump up the crowd! Jumbo HIGH KNEE! 1-2-NO! Crowd has been rocking since the blood started to flow. Jumbo goes nuts attacking the cut, Hansen lunges at Jumbo out of desperation but eats the buckles and goes tumbling to outside. Again, it is the outside where the match changes hands. Jumbo HIGH KNEE TO RINGPOST! Great double countout tease! I thought Higuchi called for the bell, but no the match continues. Jumbo suplexes Hansen back in on a bad knee. Jumbo misses the Bombs Away Knee! Holy shit! Hansen wicked short elbow to the knee. Hansen grinding the leg. Jumbo HAMMER FISTS TO THE CUT to get Hansen off the leg. I love it! Single Leg Crab by Hansen! I love the shifting gears. WESTERN LARIAT~! He does NOT cover! Protects the finish. He also hit it differently, he kinda hugged Jumbo on follow through. All to protect the move. Hansen takes the Bret Bump as he is reeling backwards, Jumbo scoops him up into a Small Package to win the match and regain his Championship. Hansen ever the sore loser attacks Jumbo after the bell, but he is vanquished and all is right in Japan again. JIP to the high knee, I could see people calling this *****. I think lets take the average and call it ****1/2. I really enjoyed the bloody brawling. Uptempo, gritty, lots of struggle and lots of earning the offense, great selling and loved the transitions. Definitely check this out, but be patient!

PWF World Heavyweight Champion Riki Choshu vs NWA United National Heavyweight Champion Genichiro Tenryu - AJPW 9/3/86 These two have excellent chemistry and the 1985 series seems to be when Tenryu finally got it (I will say he had a terrific match with Ted DiBiase in 1983, but this was different). The 1986 is less heralded except for the review above, which is both excellent as a review and extols the virtues of the match well. Choshu comes out with his ribs taped up a result of the war with Killer Khan just a little over a month prior. Choshu returns to his typical heel roots against #2 babyface Tenryu. In a great display of Choshu drama, he rips off the tape in front of Tenryu and the crowd in defiance. The velocity by which they run the ropes and Tenryu BOWLS Choshu over with a shoulder tackle is very 90s All Japan as is Choshu catching Tenryu subsequently and hitting a Back Suplex! Tenryu powders to regroup. This would not be out of place in a 1996 Kenta Kobashi match. They trade side headlocks. Their lock-ups are ferocious. Choshu knows how to make every little detail so big. Excellent Fireman's Carry by Choshu whilst maintaining wrist control to seamlessly transition into a cross-armbreaker attempt. Genius wrestling. Love it. Great struggle over the hold. Choshu wins the Shouldertackle takedown and figure-4s the head as he is wont to do. Choshu has been in control of most of the match, early Back Drop Driver and controlling the action via tight holds. Tenryu is able to reverse into a Bow & Arrow and for the first time, Choshu is in retreat as he powders to regroup. Tenryu allows him back in and is another of those batterring ram lock ups. The first strike is delivered a Tenryu overhand chop. Choshu hits a reverse elbow in the corner. He has his back to Tenryu. Tenryu kicks him with the toe of the boot right into the injured midsection. Dick move by man who hitherto was not known for his dick moves but would later become a King Prick. Tenryu does not continue the attack there, rather consolidates around arm work. The idea is perhaps that is more honorable and that that kicks to the injury was a desperation tactic and he was back to wrestling with honor. I LOVE how Choshu struggles to get out of these holds just throwing kicks from his back in the hold trying to connect with any part of Tenryu's body. They are doing a great job changing the holds as Choshu struggles, Tenryu repositions, rinse, lather, repeat for maximum entertainment value. Choshu bullies Tenryu into the corner to force a break but does not give one. Instead, he attacks Tenryu's knee and then delivers two WICKED, HEATED ELBOWS to Tenryu's head that pops the crowd. Tenryu's responds in turn with an AWESOME DROPKICK! Best exchange thus far! Tenryu Mack Truck Lariat on Choshu wins the Criss-Cross battle. Kneedrop re-consolidates his advantage into an armbar. Showing Choshu's rally was really just a hope spot. Choshu feels more like the babyface and Tenryu the heel here, which probably suits their personalities better. I LOVED Choshu catching the High Knee, Sweeping The Leg and IMMEDIATE SCORPION DEATHLOCK! Great struggle to turn it over, slapping Tenryu's in the face, but too clsoe to the ropes and Choshu goes right back to it. But again too close to the ropes. Choshu takes full advantage of the count. Huge highspot when Choshu goes up top and Tenryu hits an Enziguiri wicked bump by Choshu to the apron. They battle on the apron! Choshu ducks the Lariat and nails his own to win the Apron battle. I like their Battling Ram Mini-Battles. Choshu is too injured to captialize. It is actually Tenryu, who is grabbing his jaw, that drags Choshu out by his hair into the railing. CHOSHU DANGEROUSSSSSSS BACKDROP DRIVER ON THE APRON! HOLY SHIT! This would not be out of place at all in mid-90s All Japan! Choshu is Winding-Up but Tenryu has a well-placed knee to the injured side of the charging Choshu. Choshu crumples into a heap. Tenryu turning full heel here is great. Choshu is writhing in pain as Tenryu delivers a series of standing elbow drops. Struggle over the Back Drop Driver, Tenryu breaks the clasp and kicks the injured side. SLINGSHOT SUPLEX BY TENRYU! WOW! This rocks! Tenryu applies The Octopus Stretch which pops the crowd but Tenryu loses his balance and they end up in the ropes. Toe kick to injured side. Choshu catches a kick and MUSCLES his way into a Scorpion Deathlock in the middle of the ring! Great heat for this! Choshu injured ribs force him to break the hold. Vertical Suplex by Choshu gets two.. Tenryu lunges at Choshu from his knees and attackes the injured side. Choshu MANS UP and fights through the pain and hoists Tenryu over in a Dangerous Backdrop Driver. Tenryu tries for a Top Rope Reverse Elbow. Choshu pulls him down with a Back Suplex! Tenryu moved too quickly to go up top in my opinion. Another Backdrop Driver and gets a heated nearfall for two. Choshyu hammerlocks Tenryu and drives him shoulder first into the post and then he BASHES Tenryu's head into the ringpost to bloody him. It is amazing how bloody All Japan was compared to the sterile 90s. Choshu tees off on the open wound in typical awesome Choshu fashion with great punches. Tenryu collapses into the ring as Choshu winds up! MACK TRUCK LARIAT! I love how Tenryu doesnt budge initially to absorb all of the blow to make it extra meaty and then collapses. Choshu smashes him into the railing. Back in the ring he continues to brutalize Tenryu and he triggers a DQ in the only surefire way to trigger a DQ in 80s All Japan by attacking the ref. Tenryu nails an Enziguiri in the post-match but other than that Choshu is a man possessed punching Tenryu and Young Boys. I am shocked this placed #63. You have Prick Tenryu, Badass Rockstar Choshu fighting from underneath to overcome Tenryu's dickishness, you have the side injury, you have a ton of MOVEZ~! and blood. DQ finishes dont bother me too much and I thought this was a good one honestly. Choshu was seeing red. Tenryu had been a docuhe to him the entire match. He bloodies him and just starts teeing off. He cant stop, the ref does the right thing to protect Tenryu and Choshu does the right thing to signal to the audience how pissed he is by decking the ref. I really liked that Tenryu always had to use the injury to gain the advantage and as the match wore on he would become more & more focused on it. I didnt think the beginning (as much as I liked the early Backdrop Driver) was wrestled at a ***** level even though the later stages of the match got there for me. The Lariat battle on the Apron and the BackDrop Driver on the Apron were NUTS! The finish stretch was crazy! Call me crazy, but I liked this definitively better than Choshu/Killer Khan match. ****3/4

PWF World Heavyweight Champion Riki Choshu vs Ricky Martel - AJPW 12/03/86 If there is one wrestler I cant resist, it is Ricky Martel, baby! I enjoyed this match. I like a good narrative and the fact this didnt really have one puts a ceiling on how much I enjoyed it. However, besides a narrative, this had everything else I really enjoy in pro wrestling. Lots of struggle, trading holds, and huge charisma. You cant have a bad time watching Rick Martel work. He is so quick and moving with such vigor. Watch his side headlock into a toehold. Or watch his O'Connor Roll. He is such a joy to watch. Choshu is a total rockstar. Just a really hot opening to the match without any highspots. Martel shoulder gets rammed into the post. Choshu nails a suplex and thinks Scorpion Deathlock but cant get Martel over. Martel goes tenaciously after the leg. Great struggle over the Figure-4. Martel does the 'ol AWA standby of dropping his weight down on the knee after the figure-4 is relinquished. Martel starts driving the knee and misses the second knee into the mat. Choshu gets two deep Scorpion Deathlocks and Martel sells well. Martel goes into his finish run...reverse crossbody...gutwrench suplex...bodyslam...backbreaker. He goes up top and crashes and burns on the Top Rope Splash! Dangerous BackDrop Driver...Windup...MACK TRUCK LARIAT for the tidy 1,2,3. Not a whole lot of substance and Martel blows off what little legwork there was. Not a whole lot meat on the bone, but what we did get was fun. ***1/2

PWF World Heavyweight Champion Riki Choshu vs Killer Khan - AJPW 7/31/86 I am just finishing Jack Weatherford's excellent Genghis Khan and specifically the chapter about Kublai Khan trying to invade Japan twice. In the first invasion, they were only thwarted because a massive Wind storm blew up and destroyed the Mongol fleet. This Divine Wind is known as the "Kamikaze" in Japanese. The use of a "barbaric" Mongol heel in the 1970s/80s, 700 years after the Mongol Invasions of Japan shows the impact of history. It is only fitting I watch a Killer Khan and one of his three classics at that. Riki Choshu is such a badass rockstar. What is the backstory here? This is heel vs heel, no? They tagged in 1985? Where was the falling out? This a Clash of Titans brawl. It is very Choshu and Khan is a perfect villain for the the Choshu style. He is much larger than Choshu, very imposing and can go blow for blow with the meaty Choshu. Lots of intense lock-ups. The unique aspect to me in this match was Khan's use of "War Cries" or "Ghoulish Screams". He sounded like a banshee. He clubbers Choshu down, mostly focusing on the midsection. It is a stomp to Choshu while he is in the supine position after being battered by relentless barrage of kneelifts that we hear the first of these war cries. He continues to use the War Cries throughout the match. Another aspect of the match that makes it great is the amount of struggle in the match. There is a lot of fighting through offense. The first major turning point is when Killer Khan misses his favorite Bombs Away Kneedrop from the top rope to the floor! Choshu begins to go to work on the larger Khan by clubbering away. There is such a great intensity to Choshu that makes this engrossing. In the ring, he uses the Dangerous Backdrop Driver and the Scorpion Deathlock to get the quick victory. This is an aspect of 80s Puroresu, dont fuck around, humiliate your opponent by beating him so bad that it is a quick win. Khan gets to the ropes and escapes to outside. It is here we see the most emphatic use of the War Cries! Khan SCREAMS as he unloads with the Mongolian Double Chops! Choshu fires right back and bashing Khan's head into the ring post twice, he signals to the crowd that he is a badass and Khan is wearing the Crimson Mask! This is killer! Khan is stumbling and bumbling. I love how quickly Choshu closes the gap when Khan is trying to scale the apron. Those punches were wicked and the acceleration was ferocious. Choshu just keeps punching the head while Khan sells blood loss/concussed really damn well. He looks like he has been beaten to a bloody pulp on the floor. Choshu allows him to get back in presumably to end him. Choshu mercilessly punches the open wound but have he feels enough punishment has been meted out, he winds up for the Lariat but eats the BIG BOOT?!?! There is life in Killer Khan yet. Kneelift back to the midsection. Big double kneedrop followed up with the BOMBS AWAY KNEEDROP! Khan cant capitalize! He is too beaten up. Khan covers for two! Khan is incredulous! He is so besides himself, that he collapses outside to tell the front row fans that was three. This is crazy! I have never seen anything like this. He is telling anybody that will listen that was three. Back in the ring, KNEEDROP! He still has three fingers up to the crowd. Again Choshu kicks out! Killer Khan is besides him as the crowd chants for Choshu. I think the end is nigh for Khan. He settles for choking the life out of Choshu with his care hands and then with wrist tape. Choshu kicks him off and the tape goes flying. Choshu pours it on with Big Dangerous Backdrop Drivers, BIG POPEYE WINDUP, Mack Truck Lariat, 1-2-NO!!!! Are you shitting me? Another Lariat does Khan in. More things change, the more they stay the same. The extra Lariat would become a staple of All Japan, NOAH and now New Japan and WWE. I dont think it was necessary at all. There was more heat on the penultimate pinfall attempt than the final. This is Clash of the Titans Tokyo Dome, WrestleMania Main Event structure to a tee. Everything feels huge. Khan not accepting his two count felt very Ultimate Warrior looking at his hands at WrestleMania VII for instance. Very simple (Khan works the midsection, misses Kneedrop, Choshu kicks ass, bloodies Khan, misses Lariat, Khan finish run, Choushu hulks up final finish run), but incredibly effective because of the heat. The heat is Khan's War Cries, his Kneedrops and his crazy awesome selling. The heat is Choshu oozing badass charisma out of every pore, not giving an inch and just kicking ass. Not quite tippy top, Greatest Match of All Time, but definitely an awesome Clash of the Titans-style, Dome Main Event match that Choshu excels in. ****1/2

@soup23 Chad! Brutha, glad you are taking the time to listen! Carolina Dreamin' was a big reason, I got hyped for this project! @JKWebb& I have reached our Top 50 Greatest WCW and Jim Crockett Promotion Matches of All Time on the Place To Be Network, the only Place To Be in your Pop Culture World! This is the front half of the Top 50 so #50-26, so buckle up because this is when the motors start to redline and your heart beats just a little bit faster. Enjoy! https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-38saw-f74b66

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen vs NWA United National Heavyweight Champion Genichiro Tenryu - AJPW 7/26/86 An under-recognized aspect of Stan Hansen's AWA World Title Reign is that it served as a major marketing ploy for the All Japan office after losing dates on Ric Flair & NWA Championship in '86. By having Stan as the World Champion, they were able to consistently book the World Championship Defenses on their tours throughout 1986. Baba must have known slightly ahead of time what Crockett/Flair were doing. I wonder if thats why he negotiated with Verne to do this deal and Verne probably needed the money. By using Hansen instead of Jumbo or Tenryu, Verne got an American who could cut promos and participate in angles. Genichiro Tenryu has basically been the United National Champion since 1984 except for a sight hiccup when he voluntarily relinquished the belt in 1986 due to being pinned in a tag match, what an honorable man. He defeated Ted DiBiase in tournament final, I loved their match in 1983. I am kinda surprised that this finished #119 as I thought it was pretty damn great and I know the All Japan set was fucking stacked but this had blood, struggle and great performances by both men. I think I prefer the inverted match structure that Stan Hansen provides as opposed to the traditional match structure. The way Jumbo wrestled him was typical with Jumbo having the advantage early and Hansen taking over for heat. Since Hansen does not bump around like a traditional heel and shine the babyface, it leaves these segments feeling like heel in peril. By doing the inverted match structure, you have Hansen open with heat and then when the babyface fighting from underneath takes over and works the Lariat arm it is still heel in peril BUT it feels more dramatic because you have seen what the Grizzly Bear can do and the babyface has earned the wound on the Grizzly Bear. Hansen comes out in all his clubbering Tasmanian Devil glory. He feeds Tenryu a bodyslam and takes an enziguiri, but he keeps on trucking. He works a side headlock. If there is one chink in the Hansen armor is that he is not always a great, entertaining grinder. Bret Hart and Greg Valentine are great grinders. Hansen relies on chaos and the bull in the china shop mentality to generate entertainment and excitement. He tends to leave the viewer longing for more when he is working headlocks. One thing Hansen does very, very well, maybe the best of all time, is that he makes you believe the babyface is fighting for his very life when he is in the ring with him. Hansen ends up missing a charge and then taking a knee to the lariat arm on a charge. Tenryu starts throwing Enzigiuris at the arm. Tenryu works the arm over like a champ. At one point, he is just grinding his knuckles into the elbow of Hansen. It is pretty typically great, work Hansen's lariat arm segment with Hansen, who is a very underrated seller doing great. I love when Hansen, Vader, Andre or Brock sell, that wounded Grizzly Bear selling is so good. Hansen flees to the safety of the outside only for Tenryu to bash Hansen's head into the announce table and slam the bad wing into hard metal objects. Hansen actually pulls Tenryu out after Tenryu went back in to break the count and this time Tenryu smashes Hansen's head so hard into the announce table he draws blood. He punches the open wound and a series of Enziguiris serve as nearfalls for the challenger. Tenryu goes for the powerbomb but Hansen blocks. Hansen BULLDOZES Tenryu with a Lariat that sends both men crashing to the floor. Tenryu is kicking at Hansen from his back on the floor in a great heated, scrappy moment. Hansen holds him back and as this is double countout as expected as it is a double championship match. Hansen crowns Tenryu with a chair and they brawl to the back. Given the blood, the great arm work and the sudden finish, I thought this was better than the two Jumbo matches (though the second one did feature some choice Jumbo working the midsection work). I loved the desperation, home run Lariat that basically said "I am fucked", "if I am going to Hell, I am taking you with me", "Fuck my bad arm, I am going to lose, I just need to clobber him with my killshot and take the draw to keep my World Championship" all in one blow. It still was not the epic, must-see classic but this was strong pro wrestling: establish the Monster, create vulnerability in the Monster, build heat to the big finish with blood & brawling, make you believe the Hero has a chance to win with nearfalls and then a badass climax and that hooks you in for rematches. ****

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen vs NWA International Heavyweight Champion Jumbo Tsuruta - AJPW 7/31/86 Their next match in the series, quick recap in April, Hansen worked the arm, Jumbo lit off some fireworks, Hansen bulldozed Jumbo with a Lariat, but they both tumbled out for a Double Countout finish. Since this is again a double championship match, I expect a similar finish. The work in this match is a step above the work in the April match. We get the same intense struggle at the beginning of the match with Jumbo controlling with a side headlock. We see maybe more of a concerted effort targeting of Hansen's Lariat arm by Jumbo even applying a cross-armbreaker before Hansen is able to clasp his hands. From there, Hansen is able to gain control. He starts rattling off Vaderbombs but on the third one he eats knees and this would be important. He flees to the outside. Here, Jumbo hits Lariat to his kidney/ribs/side of Hansen. Hansen sells this like a million bucks. Jumbo gets greedy and Lariats the ringpost when Hansen evades. Now we get glorious dueling body part psychology with Hansen working the arm and Jumbo working the ribs/side of Hansen. This dueling body part psychology is what puts it over the April match for me. I love that Hansen never forgets to sell the ribs as he is the one who has control of Jumbo's arm first so it would be easy for his ribs to be lost in the shuffle. He goes hard charging into the buckles and make sure to take brunt of it on his side. Jumbo for his part is always wailing on this part of the body, coming down hard with body blows, double axehandles, driving the knee and even a stomach claw! Ted DiBiase comes to ringside to exhort Hansen on. Jumbo even remembers at one point to switch arms and hit the Baba Neckbreaker Drop with his left arm. That is commitment. Big Jumbo bodyslam! I love the struggle between the two. Everything is earned. Abdominal Stretch with a stomach claw! Great stuff from Jumbo! I love how laser-focused Jumbo is. Hansen kicks his feet off the top rope on a back suplex attempt and now the playing field is more levelled as Jumbo is shaking the cobwebs loose. Jumbo is up first as Hansen was trying to create distance and escape to the outside. Great dropkick by Jumbo. The biggest and best bump of the match was when Jumbo comes flying across the ring on a High Knee and Hansen backdrops him over the top rope. Insane bump by Jumbo! I thought for sure that would be the finish. The finish is anti-climatic and shocking at the same time. Hansen is selling like a million bucks on the outside. Hansen sandbags him on a suplex into the ring, just falling to the side. Then out of nowhere Hansen applies an O'Connor Roll of all things to win the match!?!?!? What the fuck? Hansen doing an O'Connor Roll is not something I expected. I definitely did not expect the title change. I looked it up; Jumbo had been champion for over THREE YEARS at this point, so a pretty shocking. So how can something this shocking, surprising be anti-climatic. There was no heat in this pinfall. It was too out of nowhere. Jumbo had been dominating him for five continuous minutes. I think the out of nowhere Lariat would have been cooler. Double Countout Tease off the High Knee bump to the floor was smart because I think every smart fan in 1986 was going to bite on that. The sandbag/O'Connor Roll just didnt do much for me. Hansen's midsection selling was really good and Jumbo's offense was smart, stiff. Even with a better finish, I dont think this touches the very similar, but even more compelling Hansen vs Taue '94 classic. The finish keeps it just under great status for me, but the body part work was really, really good in this. ***3/4

AWA World Heavyweight Champion Stan Hansen vs NWA International Heavyweight Champion Jumbo Tsuruta - AJPW 4/18/86 Double championship match means there is going to be some sort of skullduggery at the finish. Hansen had just dropped his PWF Championship to Riki Choshu earlier in the month, who would keep until he returned to New Japan in 1987. Even though, Jumbo & Hansen are each considered two of the ten greatest wrestlers who ever lived, their rivalry is generally considered lackluster and I dont really hear of anyone pointing to them having that one match that is held up as GOAT material. I do see a match from 1986 did finish highly in the DVDVR voting. It was not this one, mind you. Jumbo starts off pugnacious. He takes it right to the ornery, Texan bully. Overwhelming him to start and really smothering him on the ropes. I was not expecting such a hot start from Jumbo, it was most likely a fighting fire with fire deal as Hansen loves to jumpstart matches and cause chaos. Jumbo started to try to just control Hansen with a side headlock. Maybe sap his energy. Lean on Hansen, make Hansen carry his weight. Hansen is like the Tasmanian Devil. I think Jumbo is thinking it best to just control/contain until he can strike. It is a feeling out process that drips with struggle as each man has their hands in each other's faces and they are really grapple for best position, but still it is not the most entertaining or stimulating beginning to a match ever. Hansen looks poised to work an arm injury but Jumbo armdrags out of trouble and back to side headlock. Hansen eventually does get a hold of this arm and just wails on it. He drags Jumbo out of the ring and wrenches the arm against hard, metal object. Great selling by Jumbo while Hansen continues to clobber. Jumbo is able to get a well-timed kneelift up which Hansen sells well. Hansen DECKS Jumbo with a wild swinging Lariat from the apron albeit from a stationary position. Jumbo recovers, blocks the suplex attempt, and hit shis own. This kicks us into the finish stretch with Jumbo rattling off those big Jumbo highspots that we are accustomed to Baba Neckbreaker Drop, Russian Legsweep, bodyslam, High Knees Galore! Hansen goes for the Lariat, but Jumbo decks and gets the Sleeper. On the Second Attempt, Hansen BULLDOZES Jumbo with the Lariat and then both careen outside the ring. Hansen restrains Jumbo from getting back into the ring by holding onto the foot. Lame, albeit, expected finish aside, I liked the work, but didnt love it. The early strategy of trying to contain the normally chaotic, havoc-wreaking Hansen was smart even if it was not visually stimulating. I did appreciate all the struggle. I liked the arm psychology at first as Hansen was working the arm well, but it was ultimately meaningless and just a means to fill time. Jumbo's finish stretch was good, but I know he has bigger fireworks in his arsenal. This was only their third singles match together. Their first was in 1982 and second was in March of 1986. So they might not have had their chemistry down, BUT even more importantly, they did NOT want to blow their wad yet. With Baba waning, these were the two big stars of the promotion so you want to get a lot of rematches out of the rivalry so as a "first" match in the series, this match is tastefully executed to make you want more. ***1/2

Masa Fuchi vs Hiro Saito - AJPW 6/12/86 Masa Fuchi is two for two in unexpected, bloody brawls in 1986! I am pretty sure I have seen Hiro Saito in New Japan or MUGA against Fujinami. He has a very similar body type and tights as his namesake the awesome Masa Saito. Much like the Kobayashi match, the tape cuts right to a chaotic start where Saito is roughing up Fuchi on the outside and ends up bloodying his ear ala Piper/Valentine from 1983. Saito punches, stomps and chomps on the bloody ear! He throws in a piledriver for good measure. The ear much like Pipers is a bloody mess and this already unique and badass. The match really picks up when Fuchi back suplexes Saito as a transition to his offense. I love the back suplex as a transition. The best part of the match by far is Fuchi just walloping Saito with some of the best potatoes you would ever see. He was fucking clobbering him. In addition to badass punches, we get a lot of enziguiris and a piledriver on the floor! I dont think I have ever seen babyface Fuchi but he is pretty damn good. The fight over an abdominal stretch, Saito with a wicked German! Saito crashes and burns hard on the Top Rope Senton! I like how this has gone from bloody brawl to high end All Japan finish run. Fuchi gets a Gutwrench Suplex and then Saito a Fisherman's Suplex, I love how Fuchi breaks it up. Love the variety of throws. Fuchi hits a gnarly back suplex from the apron to the floor and as someone mentioned previosuly it leaves a blood stain on Saito's chest from Fuchi's ear. Fuchi bumps into the ref. Saito yanks the chair out from under the timekeeper and jabs into Fuchi's head for a hot nearfall. Second German puts Fuchi away. Another great bloody, kickass brawl. Similar complaint to the last match, bit too much ragdolling, I would have liked to seen more fighting through offense. This has the pinfall finish as opposed to the DQ finish, but I thought it was a little anti-climatic. We had seen the German already and if Saito was going to go over, I think the steel chair jab to the head was a better route. Still this was a killer Fuchi performance and everyone has to see those punches!!! ****