Superstar Sleeze

WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund vs Antonio Inoki - NJPW 12/14/78 The action-packed Backlund vs Inoki match! A real false finish, big bombs, run-ins, blood and total pandemonium. I loved the beginning so much. Inoki starts off with a fast break of dropkicks that totally catches Backlund off guard. Table tops him. 1-2-3! NEW WWF HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION! Wait! What? The ref says it was 2! I love how they sold this with the bell and everything. Wrestling needs more intentional shit like this. Blown calls and then reversals are apart of pro sports. Sometimes wrestling can be too neat, clean and tidy. This was good shit. Restart and Backlund has escaped by the skin of his teeth. Now here comes the hard-fought tussle we expect, but it does not last long. These two had two one hour draws in Japan over the summer. This is wrestled in such a way you know it is not going to a 60 minute broadway. Inoki slaps Backlund. Backlund does not take too kindly to this and slaps him right back. Inoki chops him and Backlund sells it like he chopped high into the throat. Great selling by Backlund. Between this and the early dropkicks, Inoki came to play. Inoki follows up with a choke/sleeper, but Backlund resists enough to turn it into a reverse chinlock. Backlund tries to make this a game of strength which where he will win, but BANG! ENZIGUIRI! ROCKS BACKLUND! Inoki is on fire in this match. Backlund has his bell rung and powders. He comes back in and when Inoki looks to suplex him. He hoists him up into a Fireman's Carry and SLINGS HIM DOWN! Think Wasteland from Wade Barrett! Backlund using his best asset to physical strength to take control. Inoki responds with sliding leg kicks to soften Backlund up for a Figure-4! It really does feel like Backlund is in deep trouble against Inoki in this match. Backlund fights off another Inoki figure-4 attempt, but Inoki kicks him through the ropes. I love how hard fought this is. Inoki is just pouring it on. Backlund looks like a defeated champion in a heap. Inoki big time suplex back into the ring gets a big pop, but cant pin the champion. Nice floating Butterfly Suplex but Backlund bucks him off. Backlund hits a desperation back suplex but misses the leg drop. INOKI BOMBS AWAY KNEEDROP! MISSES! Backlund attacks the leg. This is Backlund's opening! ATOMIC DROP! HOLY SHIT! 1-2-NO! WOW! Backlund almost escaped with the win there. He goes for it again. Inoki evades and hits a backdrop driver. Backlund does the smart thing and powders. A bleach blond Ueda and a young Saito attack and bloody both wrestlers. For some reason, the ref lets this continue. They trade dropkicks and then Inoki dropkicks low and Backlund sells it like a nut shot and the ref does not do shit! What the fuck! First the chop to the throat and now this! Where the hell is Arnie Skaaland when you him? They end up tumbling to the outside. Backlund rams Inoki's head into the ringpost, but Inoki goes bezerk and just starts bashing Backlund's head into the post and wins the match by countout. This is unlike any of there other matches. It is pedal to the metal from jump with Inoki dropkicking and almost winning the match in the first minute. There are some awkward moments to be expected. Backlund and Inoki are probably the two most on un-rhythmic wrestlers. There is a certain rhythm a match takes shine-heat-comeback-finish, but these guys totally abscond from that tradition, but while maintaining the integrity of the contest. They just make odd duck choices here and there and sometimes arent on the same page, but this is a lot more hits than misses. I really liked the story of Backlund being in deep trouble throughout the match, which is very unusual in a Backlund match. It makes the Atomic Drop feel huge like holy shit he survived and he might win! I think I would have preferred the No Contest/Run-In finish OR the countount win, the combination was definite overbooking. This is my favorite Backlund/Inoki match so far, but I do remember really liking the July 78 Broadway. ****1/4

WWF Heavyweight Champion Antonio Inoki vs Bob Backlund - NJPW 12/6/79 Inoki was presented as the champion so he will be given that designation in this review even though WWE disputes his title reign. There is something therapeutic to me about watching championship style wrestling. It can be sat and enjoyed. You can process it and look for details and watch for facial expressions. I really enjoy the human game of chess as Larry Z would call it. A great example of this game of body positioning was Backlund looking to grab a leg while in the midst of a side headlock. Inoki dropped to his back and executed a monkey flip to discombobulate Backlund and then reassert his dominance with a side headlock. It is fun bits of strategy like that that I love. I like the organic nature of how they arrive in the first abdominal stretch. This being championship style the touchstone hold is a side headlock controlled by Inoki. Inoki controlled most of the first 15 minutes by working in and out of the side headlock. Backlund got a takedown here and there focusing on deathlocks, but Inoki always reclaimed control. Around the 15 minute mark, Backlund hit a Back suplex out of side headlock that rocks Inoki and kicks off the suplex heavy portion of the match. I like how it was a counter to the headlock that caused this. Backlund immediately pressed his newfound advantage with a legdrop for two. Inoki responded to a Backlund headlock attempt with a back suplex of his own. There are many great spots that ensue: Backlund teasing suplexing Inoki out of the ring only for Inoki to hit a suplex, Inoki missing a big kneedrop from the top, only to still cover because Backlund was still selling. In typical Backlund fashion, he deviates from conventional norms and hits a gutwrench suplex instead. I liked their awkward 1979 take on the 90s workrate of countering pinfalls. Inoki's dropkick scores him the advantage after he was forced from the ring. Inoki goes for the win early with an abdominal stretch. Backlund bounces Inoki off the mat with a butterfly suplex. Undeterred Inoki presses for a figure-4, he has to fight through a stout Backlund defense to apply it. From here on out, this is a stellar classic Backlund performance. He does pushups when he has reversed the pressure of the figure-4 to apply more pressure on Inoki. Inoki attacks the leg to destabilize Backlund's base and then Backlund's leg gives way in the most dramatic way possible during a slam. Inoki starts an onslaught of headbutts and Backlund's selling is epic. I loved the errant punch. There was a great Backlund facial expression when he fell down to his ass. Backlund pressed Inoki off him during a cover and onto the floor. That might have been the most useful kickout ever! As Inoki tries to get back in the ring, Backlund channels JYD and hits him with a headbutt from all fours. I love it! BACKLUND PILEDRIVER! IT IS AN EPIC ONE TOO! Backlund goes for another no wait it is an Argentine Backbreaker, but Inoki kicks off and hits backdrop for two (similar to what Inoki did against Andre in '78, good spot). Inoki goes into the short arm scissors, Backlund wastes no time to show off that impressive strength and dumps Inoki on the top rope. Here comes Tiger Jeet Singh. He punches Inoki. It is not that Inoki NO SELLS them, it is that he acts like they never even existed that's weird. Backlund picks him up for an Atomic Drop and ATOMIC DROPS HIM ON THE TOP ROPE! GNARLY FINISH! 1-2-3! There are few greater joys than finding another great Backlund match. This one is super ridiculously fun. There are some awkward moments, which are part and parcel with almost all Backlund matches, but that is part of the charm. It is all action in the last 15 minutes and one helluva Backlund performance! ****1/4

WWF Heavyweight Champion Antonio Inoki vs Bob Backlund - NJPW 12/6/79 Inoki was presented as the champion so he will be given that designation in this review even though WWE disputes his title reign. There is something therapeutic to me about watching championship style wrestling. It can be sat and enjoyed. You can process it and look for details and watch for facial expressions. I really enjoy the human game of chess as Larry Z would call it. A great example of this game of body positioning was Backlund looking to grab a leg while in the midst of a side headlock. Inoki dropped to his back and executed a monkey flip to discombobulate Backlund and then reassert his dominance with a side headlock. It is fun bits of strategy like that that I love. I like the organic nature of how they arrive in the first abdominal stretch. This being championship style the touchstone hold is a side headlock controlled by Inoki. Inoki controlled most of the first 15 minutes by working in and out of the side headlock. Backlund got a takedown here and there focusing on deathlocks, but Inoki always reclaimed control. Around the 15 minute mark, Backlund hit a Back suplex out of side headlock that rocks Inoki and kicks off the suplex heavy portion of the match. I like how it was a counter to the headlock that caused this. Backlund immediately pressed his newfound advantage with a legdrop for two. Inoki responded to a Backlund headlock attempt with a back suplex of his own. There are many great spots that ensue: Backlund teasing suplexing Inoki out of the ring only for Inoki to hit a suplex, Inoki missing a big kneedrop from the top, only to still cover because Backlund was still selling. In typical Backlund fashion, he deviates from conventional norms and hits a gutwrench suplex instead. I liked their awkward 1979 take on the 90s workrate of countering pinfalls. Inoki's dropkick scores him the advantage after he was forced from the ring. Inoki goes for the win early with an abdominal stretch. Backlund bounces Inoki off the mat with a butterfly suplex. Undeterred Inoki presses for a figure-4, he has to fight through a stout Backlund defense to apply it. From here on out, this is a stellar classic Backlund performance. He does pushups when he has reversed the pressure of the figure-4 to apply more pressure on Inoki. Inoki attacks the leg to destabilize Backlund's base and then Backlund's leg gives way in the most dramatic way possible during a slam. Inoki starts an onslaught of headbutts and Backlund's selling is epic. I loved the errant punch. There was a great Backlund facial expression when he fell down to his ass. Backlund pressed Inoki off him during a cover and onto the floor. That might have been the most useful kickout ever! As Inoki tries to get back in the ring, Backlund channels JYD and hits him with a headbutt from all fours. I love it! BACKLUND PILEDRIVER! IT IS AN EPIC ONE TOO! Backlund goes for another no wait it is an Argentine Backbreaker, but Inoki kicks off and hits backdrop for two (similar to what Inoki did against Andre in '78, good spot). Inoki goes into the short arm scissors, Backlund wastes no time to show off that impressive strength and dumps Inoki on the top rope. Here comes Tiger Jeet Singh. He punches Inoki. It is not that Inoki NO SELLS them, it is that he acts like they never even existed that's weird. Backlund picks him up for an Atomic Drop and ATOMIC DROPS HIM ON THE TOP ROPE! GNARLY FINISH! 1-2-3! There are few greater joys that finding another great Backlund match. This one is super ridiculously fun. There are some awkward moments, which are part and parcel with almost all Backlund matches, but that is part of the charm. It is all action in the last 15 minutes and one helluva Backlund performance! ****1/4

Antonio Inoki vs Andre The Giant - NJPW 5/30/78 MSG Series Championship The MSG Series is the follow up tournament to the World League and the precursor to the International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) and finally today's G-1 Climax. It is round robin format with the two highest ranked wrestlers after the round robin format meeting in a one match playoff championship round. Andre The Giant had more points coming into this match, but with no such thing has home ring advantage (I guess they could have the match in NYC or France) this is an even contest. I thought this was the best match between these two I have seen thus far (I am missing the first '74 match and the second '77 match. I will watch the '79 match soon). I liked this a smidge better than their '76 match. I thought this had all the great trappings of the '76 match, but with even more drama. The first ten minutes is all NWA Championship style with Andre working arm holds. At the very outset, Andre is distracted talking to his manager Frank Valois and Inoki dropkicks him. Andre does big fumbling oaf so well in trying to catch Inoki. When he does, he goes to town on Inoki's arm. I liked the Hangman's style armbar. All the armbars were well-worked with good wrist control. Strong double wristlock, he even busted out the hammerlock/half-nelson pin. In the '76 match, he was really good at getting on the ref's case and here he was yelling at the ref when he couldnt negotiate the pinfall. Inoki tries to go for the legs, but to no avail. Inoki is definitely over and Andre was great playing to the crowd jawing with them. I I liked the unique counter here. Inoki decided to use his legs to counteract the Giant's strategy. He forced Andre over with his legs into a tight headscissors. I have said previously no one until Vader did wounded bear selling as well as Andre. Andre really sold like he was trapped and being suffocated. They went back to this twice to really get the point across. I liked how Andre abandoned the arm to attack the legs. Ok, so you think you can beat me with your good limbs, how about I take those away too. However, before he could really do damage, Inoki applies his signature short arm scissors. Again, great Andre selling, he dumps Inoki over the top rope onto the floor in a gnarly bump but no one in Japan cares. That was too funny, today people would go crazy, there it just felt pedestrian. Inoki tries to attack the arm again, I love the switching strategies. Now it is Andre with big headbutts. Diving headbutt to the arm like he is a Giant Harley Race. SUPLEX SLAM! Andre misses the diving headbutt! ENZIGUIRI! BIG SELL BY ANDRE AS HE TUMBLES OF THE RING! Wow! Great countout finish as Andre goes for an Argentine Backbreaker, but Inoki kicks off the ringpost and executes a back drop on the Big Man! Sakaguchi and Valois get involved but Inoki makes it into the ring, but Andre doesnt and Inoki wins the MSG Tournament. Great NWA style match which sees each man work different holds with tight transitions and logical consequences. You beat me with your legs well I will take out your legs. I thought the finish was red hot. Andre brought the character work and selling in spades and really carried the match. ****1/2

It is not, but it is wicked easy to find on Google.

Tatsumi Fujinami vs Greg Valentine - NJPW 12/4/79 One of the sad things about this world is that The Hammer didn't work Japan more. I just typed "Tatsumi Fujinami vs" into Google to see what cropped up and saw this and said Hell Yeah! Dream Match totally lives up to the hype. Stiffness to the max. Tons of great cat & mouse spots. Both dudes are super motivated. Very energetic and urgent. Valentine brutalizes and works the leg. Fujinami dishes it out as good as he gets. I really love how Fujinami stands up for himself. Valentine does Timbahhh and isn't afraid to stooge. FUJINAMI DIVES ON VALENTINE!!! AAAAHHHHHHH!!! And we get a clean finish! My only complaint is that this didn't go longer! Humdinger of a match! ****1/4

OJ, did you find Inoki vs Piper? it made TV and it is only 10 minutes. I did a cursory search and couldn't find it. I think it would be interesting. Going through Inoki's match listing, the other matchup that stood out to me was a one off against Pat Patterson. Have you seen that? It is amazing how long he milked the Tiger Jeet Singh feud. I saw their first match and thought it was ok. Did they ever have a great one? Tatsumi Fujinami vs Greg Valentine - NJPW 4/12/79 One of the sad things about this world is that The Hammer didn't work Japan more. I just typed "Tatsumi Fujinami vs" into Google to see what cropped up and saw this and said Hell Yeah! Dream Match totally lives up to the hype. Stiffness to the max. Tons of great cat & mouse spots. Both dudes are super motivated. Very energetic and urgent. Valentine brutalizes and works the leg. Fujinami dishes it out as good as he gets. Valentine does Timbahhh and isn't afraid to stooge. FUJINAMI DIVES ON VALENTINE!!! AAAAHHHHHHH!!! And we get a clean finish! My only complaint is that this didn't go longer! Humdinger of a match! ****1/4

NWF World Heavyweight Champion Antonio Inoki vs Andre The Giant - NJPW 6/1/77 A really strange match. It was building really well and then just ground to a halt. It was like they both ran out of things to do and they were just killing time to the double countout finish. The first half was great. Andre working holds like the cobra clutch and a really impressive surfboard set up Inoki's explosive offense so well. Until Vader, nobody did wounded bear selling ad well as Andre. Inoki's dropkick is a big time weapon for him. Andre bumping and selling and the crowd is eating it up. Andre invents the Pedigree in the middle of the match and Inoki no sells it...eat it Hunter! Inoki goes for the Ali leg kick strategy and then Andre bellyflops off the top. Inoki goes for strangulation to choke out the Giant but Andre uses his girth to squish him against the turnbuckles. This is when the match drags. Andre goes back to working holds but now they are meaningless. No sense of progression. Doesn't feel like Andre is trying to win. There is a pointless Electric Chair spot. Andre hurts himself and Inoki races up the ropes twice to hit Bombs Away Knees! Thought that was the finish but I guess Andre kicked out. Look at Andre go he bumps for two flying headscissors second one sends them out for the double countout but it is Andre that stands tall hitting a poweslam on a table. They are really protecting Andre as a money Inoki opponent. First half Rocks, second half meanders, finish is hot! ***1/4

WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund vs Antonio Inoki - NJPW 11/30/79 I have seen their July 1978 (amazing) match and their April 1980 Florida match (underwhelming). I love Bob Backlund like it is my fucking problem. I could watch these two shoot in on each other all day long. Great struggle and rhythm. Look how hard each man works to stay upright on those hipblock takedowns. When is the last time someone blocked a hipblock and went full Greco-Roman wrestling? That's the shit missing. You have earn even the most basic takedown here. Backlund has two spectacular bridges early on. Inoki looks to control with the headscissors. Backlund has to fight hard to get out of it and finally get a headlock. Backlund hits a kneecrusher, but it is a red herring besides a toehold, it does not stick. Tempers flare on the ropes. I love Backlund reaching around and slapping Inoki in the face. He was going to get his receipt. No one will confuse Inoki with Steamboat firing up on Flair, but the energy does pick up for a hot second when Inoki starts unloading, before settling back down. Inoki applies a short arm scissors, a hold I love and of course allows Backlund to his feat of strength. He not only places Inoki on the top rope, but slaps the taste out of his mouth and causes him to tumble back to the mat. Inoki looked astonished that he was disrespected like that. I love Bob Backlund like it is my fucking problem. Backlund then sells on the subsequent lock ups by retracting his left arm because of the short arms scissors. He is the best. Inoki gets a flying headscissors takedown that spikes Backlund on his head and Backlund powders. From here, the match turns into a wicked bombfest. They are throwing suplexes out like candy. They tease a vertical suplex to the outside but Inoki brings in Backlund the hard way. Backlund is thinking atomic drop but hits a back suplex instead. Inoki too close to the ropes. BACKLUND PILEDRIVER! Inoki too close to the ropes. Now it is Backlund's turn to be too close to the ropes after an Inoki Bombs Away Kneedrop and an atomic Legrdrop. I love how they tussle over an abdominal stretch. Backlund is working hard not to let it becomes the Octopus Stretch. It is all about how you sell it even the abdominal stretch can be fearsome and epic down the stretch. I loved the side salto suplex and Butterfly suplex each hits out of the move. OCTOPUS STRETCH! Backlund is in deep trouble! But he makes the ropes. Tiger Jeet Singh effectively runs the Entrance Music Distraction finish of the 21st century. The Japanese wrestlers hold him back, but Inoki is distracted. ATOMIC DROP! 1-2-3-No Kickout at 3. I think Backlund thinks he has won!?! Inoki hits a backdrop driver for the 1-2-3-Kickout. Backlund did the whole kickout at 3 to protect himself and the title. Baba had won his second NWA Championship just a month prior. I don't know if this was a case of keeping up with the Jones' but Inoki did manage to get that big World Championship title victory over an American on Japanese soil and even if it didnt stick and it was controversial it was another feather in his cap to continue his mystique and legacy. As far as controversial finishes go, I thought this was pretty ok. I am not a huge fan of "I thought I won, but I didnt", but Inoki's kickout was kind of late so it was sold well. I thought the match started out great as a catch wrestling contest. My complaint would be there was not much sense of progression in regards to the narrative it was just great wrestling filled with struggle. Neither of these guys will be confused for Ricky Morton, but I thought down the stretch could have used more selling or at least more move consequence, there was a definitely a lot of bomb throwing. It was the tale of two matches, the wrestling at the beginning and the more All Japan style suplex-heavy ending. I think was did make the home stretch really good was how well the abdominal stretch was used. ***3/4

WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund vs Antonio Inoki - NJPW 11/30/79 I have seen their July 1978 (amazing) match and their April 1980 Florida match (underwhelming). I love Bob Backlund like it is my fucking problem. I could watch these two shoot in on each other all day long. Great struggle and rhythm. Look how hard each man works to stay upright on those hipblock takedowns. When is the last time someone blocked a hipblock and went full Greco-Roman wrestling? That's the shit missing. You have earn even the most basic takedown here. Backlund has two spectacular bridges early on. Inoki looks to control with the headscissors. Backlund has to fight hard to get out of it and finally get a headlock. Backlund hits a kneecrusher, but it is a red herring besides a toehold, it does not stick. Tempers flare on the ropes. I love Backlund reaching around and slapping Inoki in the face. He was going to get his receipt. No one will confuse Inoki with Steamboat firing up on Flair, but the energy does pick up for a hot second when Inoki starts unloading, before settling back down. Inoki applies a short arm scissors, a hold I love and of course allows Backlund to his feat of strength. He not only places Inoki on the top rope, but slaps the taste out of his mouth and causes him to tumble back to the mat. Inoki looked astonished that he was disrespected like that. I love Bob Backlund like it is my fucking problem. Backlund then sells on the subsequent lock ups by retracting his left arm because of the short arms scissors. He is the best. Inoki gets a flying headscissors takedown that spikes Backlund on his head and Backlund powders. From here, the match turns into a wicked bombfest. They are throwing suplexes out like candy. They tease a vertical suplex to the outside but Inoki brings in Backlund the hard way. Backlund is thinking atomic drop but hits a back suplex instead. Inoki too close to the ropes. BACKLUND PILEDRIVER! Inoki too close to the ropes. Now it is Backlund's turn to be too close to the ropes after an Inoki Bombs Away Kneedrop and an atomic Legrdrop. I love how they tussle over an abdominal stretch. Backlund is working hard not to let it becomes the Octopus Stretch. It is all about how you sell it even the abdominal stretch can be fearsome and epic down the stretch. I loved the side salto suplex and Butterfly suplex each hits out of the move. OCTOPUS STRETCH! Backlund is in deep trouble! But he makes the ropes. Tiger Jeet Singh effectively runs the Entrance Music Distraction finish of the 21st century. The Japanese wrestlers hold him back, but Inoki is distracted. ATOMIC DROP! 1-2-3-No Kickout at 3. I think Backlund thinks he has won!?! Inoki hits a backdrop driver for the 1-2-3-Kickout. Backlund did the whole kickout at 3 to protect himself and the title. Baba had won his second NWA Championship just a month prior. I don't know if this was a case of keeping up with the Jones' but Inoki did manage to get that big World Championship title victory over an American on Japanese soil and even if it didnt stick and it was controversial it was another feather in his cap to continue his mystique and legacy. As far as controversial finishes go, I thought this was pretty ok. I am not a huge fan of "I thought I won, but I didnt", but Inoki's kickout was kind of late so it was sold well. I thought the match started out great as a catch wrestling contest. My complaint would be there was not much sense of progression in regards to the narrative it was just great wrestling filled with struggle. Neither of these guys will be confused for Ricky Morton, but I thought down the stretch could have used more selling or at least more move consequence, there was a definitely a lot of bomb throwing. It was the tale of two matches, the wrestling at the beginning and the more All Japan style suplex-heavy ending. I think was did make the home stretch really good was how well the abdominal stretch was used. ***3/4

I popped for this!

OJ, I may not post on here as frequently as I used to. But lets not act like I dont exist anymore. I have really been getting into Inoki recently so it is on my list to watch all their matches. I love their 7/78 match. Their 1980 Florida match is a bit of a letdown. I will add my thoughts in here as I watch them.

WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion Tatsumi Fujinami vs Ryuma GO - NJPW 11/30/78 I had heard of the Fujinami/Go series many years ago and I am finally getting around to watching it, but how come we never hear about Go before or after this? He is quite good. Ryuma Go came to wrestle in this match. In the last match, I thought Fujinami dominated. Here, Go wanted to get off to a hot start. I don't think the mat work here was as breath-taking as the previous match. This was much more gritty and deliberate, but in a good way. The first ten minutes was a stalemate. Go tried headscissors, deathlocks and armbars all targeting a different part of the body to try establish control, but nothing stuck. Fujinami was his usual wizard self, but mostly in the forms of counters. Go was doing a good job of stopping him convert defense into offense until the halfway point. Go went for a crossface and Fujinami grabbed a wicked toehold and wouldn't let go. Tempers flared. Slaps were flying and Fujinami was winning those exchanges. The crowd Ooooh and Aaaaah. Fujinami went for a Bombs Away kneedrop from the top, but MISSED! Go pounced attacking the leg and applying a figure-4. Great stretch here with Go relentless and Fujinami selling well. They tumble outside on an ab stretch. The playing field is levelled for the finish stretch. Go throws Fujinami off the top and a suplex and a neckbreaker are his nearfalls. Fujinami holds the rope on a second neckbreaker. Fujinami wins in definitive fashion...piledriver...Dragon Suplex...TKO! The piledriver/Dragon Suplex finish was awesome! I slightly prefer the first match actually because I loved the pacing and Fujinami's work and the finish was still very good. This match does present Go as a more credible challenger. I am looking forward to the last match in the series. ****1/4

Antonio Inoki vs THE MONSTER MAN - NJPW 8/2/77 After seeing this advertised as Inoki vs The Monster Man I had to watch it. Is ther anything more 1970s than Antonio Inoki doing a fixed MMA match against a black Kung Fu dude from Detroit? I like stylized Karate a lot and The Monster Man throws great kicks especially a good enziguiri and a couple good flying classic flying karate kicks. He is in boxing gloves so he can't takedown or wrestle. Inoki does his sliding leg kick Ali strategy and works a couple takedowns. Things get chippy here and there. The finish is a massive letdown. Monster Man takes a dive off a phantom strike. They tease the Ganso Bomb but it is just a sloppy Tenryu style powerbomb and then Inoki adds a leg drop for the hell of it. More surreal than entertaining. Monster Man actually would have been a great great gimmick stateside. I think they was a real missed opportunity for him and American pro wrestling.

Antonio Inoki vs Great Antonio - NJPW 12/8/77 Pretty infamous work turned shoot that everyone should watch, I wrote this in April 2016: Just watched the Great Antonio match. Was Great Antonio drunk? I was laughing pretty hard when Inoki goes for a shoulder tackle and just goes flying off the fat guy. It is self-serious Inoki so it is pretty funny. Then Great Antonio starts hitting him pretty hard in the back of the neck and I was like this is not going to end well for him. Inoki beats the living shit out of his face for like a minute and he is a bloody pulp. Inoki was a bad muthafucka.

I looked it up on Cagematch it was 2/3 Falls but listed it as Inoki winning 2 falls to 1 and I have no clue how they came to that conclusion. What is considered the best Singh vs Inoki match? NWF Heavyweight Champion Antonio Inoki vs Tiger Jeet Singh - NJPW 6/26/74 One of the most infamous feuds in pro wrestling history Antonio Inoki vs Tiger Jeet Singh is often reviled as one of the worst in terms of in ring quality. Inoki had two types of go to opponents: foreign shooters and wild men gimmick brawlers. Singh was the biggest of the latter. I have never seen a match of theirs or a Singh match but I felt I owed it to myself to watch at least one. Singh who wrestled in the US/Canada before this is definitely a product of The Sheik school of Heeling. I prefer Hansen and his bullrope doing a bull in a China shop routine but the Sword and turban are a good gimmick. The brawling in this match is better than I expected given how much people dislike this. I prefer let the fist fly and fighting through your opponents offense brawling. This however is beat the shit out of the babyface lopsided brawling. I liked that a lot of foreign objects like chairs, tables and the post were used. Definitely a lot of choking and that weird stabby foreign object Sheik uses to jab the threat. The downfall of this match is that this style requires the babyface to be a great seller, Inoki is the shits at selling. At least Inoki bleeds! So it is not quite as compelling as it could be. It is also super confusing. I thought it was a DCO with a long post-match but Cagematch lists at 2 out of 3 Falls with Inoki winning. I fast forwarded a bit because I thought Match was over then I saw Singh biting. Inoki makes a great comeback with three lunging head butts and then pays Singh back with chair shots and ring post shots busting him open. They do a really weak arm breaking angle and Inoki wins by countout. Not out of control, spectacle brawl that Inoki can do well but it was a good brawl. I can't decide if I will watch the rematches but I'm glad I saw one. ***

Antonio Inoki vs Willem Ruska - NJPW 2/6/76 New Japan runs the Budokan for the first time as Inoki faces Olympic gold medalist Dutch judoka, Wim Ruska. This is a primer for Inoki's crown jewel fight against Muhammad Ali which would happen in the summer of '76. This is the thick of Inoki's ultimate shooter gimmick bringing in foreign shooters to do the job. Ruska looks like a lumbering Frankenstein looking for a hug. He is quite fond of the oo-soto-gari aka Space Tornado Ogawa. He lacks the intimidation and charisma of Naoya Ogawa. His attempts at heeling do little to stir emotion whether cowering from strikes, not breaking in the ropes and feigning a handshake. Inoki is bested early probably to establish Ruska as a credible challenger worth beating. Ruska wrestling in a Gi causes quite the scrape over Inoki's eye and get gets his receipt in the form of a stiff bow to the face. I thought it was weird that Inoki struck first but then I saw the scrape. That was the story Ruska would do something heeling and then Inoki would retaliate with strikes. I was surprised Ruska broke the Octopus Stretch mid match. Inoki won with an onslaught of Back Drop Drivers like it was 1998 All Japan. Interesting historically but a tame match.

NWA United National Champion Antonio Inoki vs Jack Brisco - JWA 8/5/71 First Fall: The first fall was absolute, pure genius. I'm floored. This was the best possible catch grappling I could imagine. When I watch the Ishikawa or Fujiwara Do this stuff enjoy it was as a tricked out exhibition. This was mind blowing but the struggle was real. Everything was so sudden. So organic. So fucking pure. The tone was set right away Inoki grabs a quick single leg pickup and Brisco applies an amazing body scissors that leads to a pinning predicament. Inoki's waistlock rolls by holding the Indian Deathlock was nifty. Inoki's bridge was insane. Inoki got the advantage first with a deep chinlock. Brisco threw him off with a great arm drag and Inoki pounced right back. I loved Brisco's response to get chippy and threw some hands. This gives him the opening to go for the leg. Knee Crusher! Amazing leg work! Sublime! Great figure-4 attempt. Loved Inoki getting desperate for the Octopus Stretch. Brisco heels a little by not always breaking on the ropes. Good shit. Nice Butterfly Suplex! Loved loved loved the sudden Boston Crab and then Brisco's sell and BOOM Inoki dropkick to the mush. Brisco ends up caught in the ropes instead of his head like Foley or arms like Andre it is his waist! Never seen that! There's at least three things I've never seen before and this match is from 1971! I loved the finish! Inoki goes for his kill shot the Octopus Stretch and Brisco Bucks him off quickly and pins him to win the first fall. That fall was ***** fucking stars. I didn't know it was 2 out of 3 falls so I popped and popped again knowing I was getting more! Second Fall: Classic short second fall that picks up right where these two badasses left off. Brisco looks poised to blow Inoki out. Inoki's morale is low and Brisco hits a big knee lift and controls the head. Inoki claws his way back he is looking for a butterfly Suplex but can't quite manage. He does apply his trademark short-arm scissors which is a great idea. He was getting his ass kicked and he needed a hold he could rely on that could cause damage to Brisco and let Inoki catch his breath. Genius move to quell the Brisco's momentum, Brisco's selling is top notch. We get the rolling short arm scissors, Brisco slapping his hand from going numb, the roll up with the tights ref pulls Brisco back down and Brisco in a fit of rage flails his legs at the ref. Genius! Brisco breaks it on the next roll up with knees. Great Irish Whips by Brisco...Sunset Flip...1...2...No! Brisco throws punches but Inoki gets behind textbook German with a bridge to take the second fall. An absolute clinic and Brisco is wrestling out of his mind! Third Fall: The rout is on! Inoki beats Brisco pillar to post. Great dejected selling by Brisco. The Octopus Stretch puts him out of his misery. The first fall is exquisite. It is the most amazing grappling I have ever seen. I actually liked the ending. It felt definitive, earned and realistic. Inoki made a comeback that was not too unrealistic. He injured the arm and hit a great German to go in with the momentum into 3rd. I liked the idea of the rout Inoki had all the momentum and hit cruised for the win. Easy ***** 'match and Top 100 match what keeps it from #1 is I would have liked a cooler turning point in the 2nd fall. If Brisco makes a big mistake that squandered his 1-0 lead or Inoki lands a big desperation shot, that would elevate this match to a #1 contender. Genius match. *****

Antonio Inoki vs Chris Markoff - JWA 5/16/69 Is Chris Markoff the great lost heel of the 60s? He reminded me a lot of Pat Patterson and it was just the bleached hair and Bombs Away Knee. It was big bumping and the energy. He was even more vocal than Patterson and I liked that. Reading about him, he was born in Yugoslavia raised in Minnesota and seems like he was kinda big deal in AWA. Him vs Da Crusher sounds good to me! Had no idea what to expect out of this but energetic bloody brawl is not what I was expecting but I loved it! Markoff jumpstarted the match and just hurled Inoki around. This was a great vicious heel performance. Chairshots, foreign objects, blood and big knee drops. First Bombs Away kneedrop lands but he pulls up. Second misses this is Inoki's first big opening as he works the leg. Markoff retaliates with great punches and kicks to the breadbasket. A lot of throwing him out the ring this is when he bashes him with the chair. He jaws with crowd and Inoki comes from behind and dropkicks him out of the ring. Goes for the Octopus Stretch! Great hope spot/nearfall and this is when Markoff brutalizes and bloodied him. Inoki fires bank up and gains hold of the foreign object and let's Markoff have a taste of his own medicine. Octopus Stretch finishes it! Big celebration and Inoki ends up with that huge head wound bandage to sell it. I love old school Pro Wrestling! Markoff was a great old school heel lots of cheating, violence and bumping. Inoki actually sold, fought from underneath came off as sympathetic maybe it was because he was not the boss yet and was younger. It was a nice change of pace. Just an excellent old school brawl. ****1/4

WWF Jr Heavyweight Champion Tatsumi Fujinami vs Ryuma Go - NJPW 7/27/78 The only thing makes you 100% sure that this match takes place in 1978 is the ref's pastel green bell bottoms. If you told me this took place in 1998 I would believe you. This feels like the pinnacle of 90s workrate except it is 1978. They even do the headlock-headscissors-pop out-stare off-applause spot. We have been popping for that for over 40 years. There is the Stampede wristlock reversal sequence (though this may be the best version of it because there is a sense of struggle). Did Fujinami work Stampede? Or was it the Stampede guys working New Japan that caused this style to proliferate to America? What makes this so high end is how much struggle there is. The grappling is so gripping and so compelling. It is fast paced but without feeling loose. I loved Fujinami upping the ante by slapping Go. It gets Go's dander and causes him to make a mistake and Fujinami takes him down with a spinning toehold. Go gets receipts with slaps to a vulnerable Fujinami but Fujinami maintains his toehold I love it. Fujinami has an answer for everything. This feels like the best possible blow out. Fujinami is taking Go down at will or quashing his offense at will. It is a clinic. Fujinami spikes a piledriver but only gets two. Fujinami gets greedy trying to go off the top rope. Fujinami takes a great bump off a flying karate kick. Go's big nearfall is a beautiful German Suplex Bridge but Fujinami is too close to the ropes. Go pours it on with more suplexes but it is Fujinami that finishes him with a German Suplex. Just beautiful intense pure pro wrestling. Fujinami looked world class here, Go was game but Fujinami was on another level. ****1/4

Stan Hansen vs Andre The Giant - NJPW MSG Series 5/18/79 A great portent of their 81 classic. Hansen beats up Andre's second with a bouquet of flowers. Loaded Lariat! Blood! Crazy post-match brawl! It is short & sweet but this is what Godzilla vs King Kong should be. It made so much better that we get the full Godzilla vs King Kong classic in 1981.

The Destroyer vs Stan Hansen - AJPW 10/30/75 Young, blond mop top Nature Boy Stan Hansen playing a loud, big bumping stooge heel is a hoot. He is flying all around looking discombobulated. Bumping from the Apron to the first row. This is not the monster that scared so many Japanese crowds. He's a 70s heel clowning and it is just fun. Destroyer uses all of Hansen youthful piss & vinegar against him as each charge Hansen takes an armdrag. Destroyer doesn't let Hansen have all the fun, he shows the ref how he does an armdrag at one point and how to properly count to three. This match was not short on charisma. They work the Murdoch/O'Connor formula of headlock->headscissors->escape but the shenanigans and Hansen's hollering make this much more entertaining. I love Destroyer throwing the chest right back in Hansen's face literally with a thumb to the eye. Hansen bulldozes Destroyer with a wicked shoulder tackle foreshadowing the Western Lariat. Destroyer hits his own and a big back drop to set up his figure-4 victory. Perfect veteran vs young lion match and Stan Hansen unlike anything we have seen before out of him. ***3/4

NWF Heavyweight Champion Antonio Inoki vs Andre The Giant - NJPW In Brazil 12/15/74 Japanese National Hero meets French Giant in Brazil in 1974. Pro Wrestling is the best. This is not their first meeting Andre bested Inoki in March of '74 in Japan. Inoki would not get his win back in Japan until 1976, interesting booking move to keep the monster heel hot for years. Inoki & Sakaguchi would routinely beat Andre & Partner at the conclusion of Andre's tours while Andre would usually win singles matches over Strong Kobayashi & Sakaguchi while on tour. As for this match, it owes most of its entertainment and excitement to the fact that see two are instrincally interesting as larger than life characters. There is not much in the way of highspots and the rhythm of the match is unusual but it is still compelling. There is not much in the way of realism either. I don't want to be misconstrued when I saying the pacing was odd because it felt shoot-y because it didn't. There would be moments of fast break offense but that would be quickly quelled. It also never really progressed, but I kinda liked that given how routine modern wrestling feels. Inoki's greatest weapon against the Giant was his speed. The dropkick proved to be very effective against Andre along with generally moving out of the way letting Andre do his get tied up in the ropes spots which were the best highspots. The dropkicks along with the snapmare were the biggest pops of the match. Andre stuck to the fundamentals and worked great holds. The ref intimidation spots were fun. I really liked him holding the rope on the second snapmare attempt felt like a duck move. The match was hurt by Inoki's penchant for not selling. Big heavy handed blows by Andre were just shrugged off. Inoki teed off at one point but this never really felt the brawl you wanted it to be. The finish is classic puroresu. Loved the Flying Short Arm Scissors takedown even if it was botched because it is such a neat idea. Andre picks him up in the hold and they both tumble over. Knew it was the finish immediately I'm a bit confused if it a DCO or an Inoki win. Worth a watch but ultimately underwhelming. ***1/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Toru Yano - NJPW G-1 Climax 8/3/2011 As soon as I read the description, I knew I would love this match and it did not disappoint. First off, I am a huge Tanahashi mark. Secondly, Yano was described as a dumpy, scuzzy, cheating heel that goes full rudo. I lap that shit up. Yano is an ugly muthafucka to boot. It is very rare that Tanahashi is better than his opponent in a kayfabe sense. Usually he is pitted against catch wrestlers with shoot credentials like Nagata, Nakamura or Suzuki. He overcomes the fact he is not as talented by taking out their knee and just feasting on it. This match shines a different light on Tanahashi when he is the better pure wrestler. I think this match does a great job putting Tanahashi over and thus explaining why Yano has to cheat. Because Yano cant win in a fair fight, he has to resort to hair pulling, chair throwing and ball shotting. It is glorious. The initial hair pull when Tanahashi is trying to run the ropes is so good. Where do you think you are going. Tanahashi is great at fighting back at every turn. In fact, I think the key weakness of this match is that he is too scrappy and fights back too much. He does not milk eating an exposed metal turnbuckle or the ballshot. By being too scrappy, it does undercut the heel work and does not make Tanahashi feel like he is not in too much peril. Yano does have some great cutoffs. How they set up for the ballshot using the ref is really good and they do get a ultra hot nearfall out of it. The High Fly Flow that eats knees also gets a hot nearfall. I thought the finish stretch dripped with urgency and it featured a lot of good counters. Not my turn, your turn bullshit. Tanahashi eats the chair on High Fly Flow and then chairshot to the head. BLOOD~! Awesome! Exactly what this match needed! Tanahashi kicks out! He gets a SlingBlade into a Oklahoma Side Roll, but cant finish it. Yano Powerbomb! Tanahashi has a SWOLLEN EYE! Nasty! Northern Lights Bomb finishes it for Yano. Just a great heel-driven match with lots of cheating and violence. My one complaint is that Tanahashi is a bit too plucky, but they did a great job telling the story of why Yano has to cheat. Great character work, lots of energy & effort and an entertaining story make this one of the more memorable New Japan 2010s matches. ****1/2

GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion Kotaro Suzuki vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - NOAH 3/5/11 Big Nakajima fan as early as 2008 went to an ROH show in Detroit specifically to see him in 2009/2010. I think I saw him against Kenny Omega actually. Weird, who became the bigger star. I am always excited when I see a pimped Nakajima match as this made Ditch's Top Ten for 2011. Suzuki has always been pretty bland to me except for his awesome scummy, cheating 100% rudo performance against KENTA in 2009. Nakajima is rocking some Sabu-style pants. Cant say I am digging it for Nakajima who I think is best suited for traditional trunks or tights. I hate when I hear a time call and all of sudden a wrestler wakes up and says it is my turn. First ten minutes, Nakajima dominates Suzuki and basically plays with his food. Unfortunately, Suzuki decides to play this match straight, which is a poor strategy both in kayfabe (Nakajima is a much better ass-kicker and overwhelms him) and non-Kayfabe (he is quite generic). The first ten minutes is fun to watch Nakajima kick ass. I could watch Nakajima throw kicks all day. Suzuki is not much of a seller and does not put up much of a struggle. Nakajima is being aggressive and intense but not enough to make up for Suzuki's milquetoast performance Time call and look at that, Suzuki is alive and kickin'! He is ducking shit and hitting moves. Bleh. The moves he hit are those 21st century modified suplex/slams, yuck. Suzuki misses a 619 and Nakajima hits his own version that is pretty cool. Nakajima lights shit up with missile dropkicks and suplexes. Best spot of the match thus far: Nakajima hits his trademark rainbow kick to the head as Suzuki is perched on top. He wants the superplex, but it is converted into a reverse suplex by Suzuki now that is a nearfall. The action is great, but no character work and a basic, generic story make this match forgettable thus far. Now I see why this match is heralded the last 7 minutes or so are grand. It is a great Juniors workrate bombfest including a breath-taking cradle reversal sequence that is really well done. The Tombstone reversal sequence is always over in my house. NAKAJIMA SWEEPS THE LEG~! One of the best leg sweeps in pro wrestling history. Check it out! Nakajima looks like he almost takes Suzuki's head off with a wicked roundhous kick. HOLY SHIT THIS IS HOW YOU THROW SUPERKICKS!!! Every modern wrestler with a shitty superkick take note. Nakajima looked like he was ready to KO Suzuki. So is Suzuki doing a mini Misawa tribute gimmick with all the Roaring Elbows and the Tiger Driver? I know he teamed with Misawa at one point so is he carrying the torch for Misawa? The Northern Lights Bomb Nakajima hits is pretty wicked. Nakajima missing his rainbow kick leaving him open for an elbow to the back of the head and then a Tiger Driver is a great finish. The home stretch is too little, too late to call this great. Not enough character work, story or struggle to really hook you in. Then they go balls to the wall with the spots which at least excites even if it does not do much to move me. I will forget about this, but it is a shame as Nakajima has all the tools to be one of the greats. Dat Leg Sweep DOE~! ***1/2