Superstar Sleeze

Vader vs. Cactus Jack - WCW Worldwide 4/30/94 Texas Death Match In a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same, Tony bitches about liberals and political correctness (read: “woke” for the 2020s audience) not letting him call this a Texas Death Match. It is amazing we have been litigating the same bullshit for 30-40 years. Death match is a stupid overly melodramatic name for the match. I remember reading about Texas Death matches when I was 8 and the jig was up pretty early when I would read about both competitors wrestling more matches after. I guess no one died after all, go figure. It is a stupid name. WWF/E came up with Last Man Standing you don’t hear anyone bitching about that. Just because it is the old name, doesn't make it a good name. Also to boot, Texas Death/Last Man Standing usually not very good. HOWEVER, this is very good! I was surprised in my research I somehow missed a Vader/Cactus match and in some ways I thought this was better than the others. Now granted it has been years since I watched the others but stood out to me about this one was his Cactus really brought the fight to Vader. My major bugbear about Cactus is how a lot of his matches are about his bumps and need to win gold in the pain Olympics. It doesn’t seem like he is trying to win the match but show people how much pain he can tolerate. This match he brought it to Vader and never let up. I’d say 2/3rds of the match was Cactus on offense. The chair granted it was a plastic chair but in fairness maybe we should switch to plastic were ferocious. One puts Vader down for three and second one popped me so much I woke up my wife in bed. I couldn’t stifle it. He crushed him. I thought sleeper transition into a backdrop. Vader just went into demolition mode. Vaderbombs galore and the powerbomb on the outside to win. I thought this was terrific. I loved the layout Cactus overwhelms Vader early with a fast break, full court start. Vader gets a big transition and pour it on late. It is not a match that changes your mind about Vader but a real feather in Cactus’ cap. ***3/4

Sid vs Bam Bam Bigelow - WWF RAW 7/3/95 It would be all downhill for Bam Bam from here. What should be a marquee matchup in his feud against the Million Dollar Corporation is just a random RAW match and never gets a rematch. First Henry O. Godwin blocks his path on the way to the ring to set up their PPV match. Shoving match that Bam Bam gets the best of. Bam Bam has a bunch of crazy pyro that comes out his gloves and attire. Flame tattoos on your head this is what you’ll get. He is pretty over. I am not the biggest Bam Bam fan but they could’ve gotten more of him. A surprisingly fun match. I love little things like Bam Bam teases to hit Sid in the corner but doesn’t because he is the baby face. Whereas Sid socks him in the corner right away. Bam Bam should’ve paid him back later. Some good Clash of Titans stuff with Bam Bam bowling Sid over with a shoulder tackle. DiBiase distracts him on the outside. Sid gets a good running boot and his kicks look pretty good for Sid. Thankfully commercial break means we miss the Camel Clutch. Sick Electric Chair Drop by Bam Bam. It is kickass big man high spots.Sid choke slams Bam Bam but he backs drops out of the powerbomb. Headbutt. Goes for the top rope headbutt but HOG pushes him off and Sid wins. It is that damn Arkansas Gang at it again. Sid powerbombs Bam Bam who is a load Bam Bam at least beats HOG at the PPV. Something happens because HOG absconds his partner in his battle against the MDC but is shunted down the card. Sid loses to Diesel at PPV and ends up fighting HOG in September. The last hurrah of Bam Bam in WWF, a surprisingly good match. ***

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Diesel vs Sid - WWF In Your House 2 Lumberjack Remember I said their first match at In Your House was average and almost good, well, the rematch sucked out loud. I dont know between this and WrestleMania VIII what is worse. I guess there is no interminable rest hold in this. The highspots of the match were Shawn Michaels diving on the heel lumberjacks early, Diesel slingshotting himself over the top rope onto the heel lumberjacks and then Shawn doing another dive. There were no high spots in this match until the Powerbomb. There was no sense of momentum or progression. It was abysmal goop. The clear takeaway was actually to set up the Diesel/Mabel Summerslam match. Mid-match Mabel gets some good shine squashing Diesel up against the apron. Shawn gets some licks in on Sid because of the Sid turn in April and to resume that. Sid gets a Powerbomb but Diesel kicks out because Sid lallygags again this time high-fiving the lumberjacks. Diesel who hit the Jacknife in May, just beats Sid with a big boot here. Terrible. Some comments on 1995 WWF Booking: 1. With friends like Shawn, who needs enemies. Shawn did everything he could to upstage Diesel from the entrance to the match to the finish. 2. I like Kevin Nash a good bit, but just like Stunning Steve Austin, it shows really charismatic people can be really bad at promos and uncomfortable/nervous. The Diesel promo was terrible. This is not the Big Sexy from the NWO as a kid who I thought cool as fuck. 3. Mabel, it is possible Mabel gets a bum rap, it is possible he sucks, I might explore it at some point. That outfit/aesthetic was doing the man zero favors. Even if he was fucking Vader, dressed like that, who would take him seriously. 4. This is a very interesting point in Sid's career. For the first time since the Skyscrapers run...Sid was going to the MIDCARD *gasp*. I think there was some definite politics in play here. I think there was a ready made feud with both Bam Bam Bigelow and Shawn Michaels that could have easily kept Sid in the main event picture through the end of the year. The Shawn feud was simple given Sid's turn, but they decided to blow that off on the first RAW against Nitro, the famous "he beats the big guy with three superkicks" match. They could have easily gotten a PPV out of that. Then given that Sid was the biggest star in the Million Dollar Corporation, him and Bam Bam Bigelow should have gotten a program since Bam Bam turned on the MDC after the Lawrence Taylor match. Bam Bam looked like he had something going at KOTR 95. I just looked up his Cagematch they really pushed him out the door come Survivor Series 95. He was getting no opportunities. I think there was more juice in Sid, but honestly someone like a Sid is miscast as a heel. He is a badass, ass-kicker and you want him to beat the shit out of the cowardly heels, but the WWF babyface roster was stacked with Bret, Diesel, Shawn and Razor. I think a Sid/Kid tag team title run would've been cool. It was probably for the best for Sid to do what he did...peace out until International Incident the next year.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Diesel vs Sid - WWF In Your House You know this was the removal of two very longgggggg camel clutches away from being a good match. It is very similar to the Sting match I just reviewed from Havoc ‘93 in that you think wait a minute is this actually good? Then two long rest holds just kill the match dead. SID is back baby! He ain’t Sycho yet, he ain’t vicious anymore and forget about Justice. He is with Ted DiBiase and after Bret & Shawn Diesel needed a new heel challenger. I wanted to watch the Flair ‘93 match but I didn’t have enough time before dinner. So it is onto 95 WWF. Sid is a good option for Diesel he seems like he would have been better suited for Summerslam but they needed somebody now. Diesel shows good fire early. I have. It watched Nash in forever but he has a lot more spring in his step than I remember. He is also really good at a discombobulated sell and moving forward. Really good stuff from him. Sid probably has the weight advantage but they are pretty even honestly overall, but Nash does a great job wrestling this match from underneath early. He is really hurling his body at Sid. I thought Sid could have fed him better like he did in 1993 instead of all the staggering he did here. Pretty conventional transition to heat with DiBiase distraction and Sid high knee to the back. The high knee is new! Really great bump by Nash to the floor. I thought the floor work here by Sid with the Snake Eyes on the apron was great. I thought he did a good job on his heat segment until the terrible Camel Clutches. Like I said I liked Nash’s discombobulated selling and moving forward working underneath. Nash timed his hope spots well. I thought the Sid Leg Drop and Chokeslam late were killer. The Sid Powerbomb looked sick especially on someone as big as Diesel. Sid grandstanding too long was so fucking lame. I get you gotta protect your finish but there is more organic ways to do it. Sid looked like an idiot. Sid missing the charge leading to Nash’s very short but hot comeback was good. Nash’s powerbomb also looked killer. Tatantka interferes to trigger the DQ and Bam Bam Bigelow makes the save setting up the KOTR tag match which I am not sure if I am going to watch. That might be bridge too far even for me. This not even close to being a bad match. In fact it was so close to being good. At the end of the day it was decidedly average looking forward to the rematch!

Sting vs Sid Vicious - WCW Halloween Havoc 1993 Not much has really changed in three years. Yes this is not for the World Title, but men’s aesthetic has not really changed. Sid has shown significant improvement in the ring in 1993 and it continues here. Thing begins Sting’s descent into the midcard as Flair gets pushed in Sid’s stead and Hogan comes in next summer. Sid in classic Sid fashion can’t last more than 6 months in a place and is out within a week due to the Scissors incident with Arn Anderson. His Horsemen run from 90-91 is his longest run. I still want to watch the Flair match from this run but I was would say his 93 run, then Skyscrapers, then Horsemen then WWF Sid Justice is my current Sid order. I don’t really have much to say about this match. This is about the most average 90s American Main Event style match you can imagine. It is a significant improvement over their terrible 1990 match but still average. Sid is a lot better here. The bumping and feeding is great early. The way he splays on the railing to feed kicks is great. This is also probably his best heat segment of his career so far. Starts off with that killer choke slam. He is a top 5 Chokeslam. I thought the shoves into the corner and the lumbering blows mixed in with the Colonel’s cheap shots were good. Unfortunately he did run out of things to do so here comes the chinlocks and two bearhugs. Oh well! Sting hulks up. Drives his face into the mat. A couple of Stinger Splashes. In the mayhem, the Colonel trips Sid and holds his foot down. Sid is pissed. Sting O’Connor Roll to win. Presumably, this would set up Sid’s face turn and title victory at Starrcade instead Sid would spend 1994 in Memphis and not make his major promotion return until 1995 in WWF. Other notes Sid called himself Psycho Sid in his promo. The winner of this match would be the Franchise of WCW, a perfectly nebulous title to try to add stakes to this match third from the top. WCW was pretty stacked with Sting, Sid, Vader, Flair, Rude as established guys and Cactus, Dustin and Austin on the come up. Sid and Rude would be gone soon and Hogan would change everything forever soon. Average match.

This is so bizarre but it is top of the line production for 1993 but I do not understand the point of this at all. The punchline is not very good.

Vader & Sid Vicious vs Sting & British Bulldog - WCW Beach Blast 1993 What a blast this was! I dont know who got in Sid's ear and taught him how to wrestle in 1993 whether it was Harley, the Colonel or someone else but it is night and day how much better he is in 1993 than any time before. For some reason, I thought this match ended in an DQ and was generally panned. I thoroughly enjoyed this match and especially though Vader and Sid were incredible! The biggest improvement I have seen in Sid in these two matches from 1993 is how he bumps and feeds. You see this both early on in the match and in the middle match. In the early part, he made Sting looked great and it was so much better than their Halloween Havoc '90 match. I loved the Chokeslam out of nowhere to stop the Stinger's momentum dead. I love a big highspot like that early in a match. However, the party continues with Stinger & Bulldog coming off the top rope onto the Masters of the Powerbomb. A really good climax to a fun shine. The other section of the really good Sid feeding was during the hot tag to Sting. Sting was teeing off on Vader, but Sid decided to see-saw on the middle rope to feed Sting. I wish Sting did a better job paying attention to that because I think Sting was too focused on Vader. As much as Sid has improved, it pales into comparison to the Mastodon. Vader looked incredible in this match. Before yesterday, it had been awhile since I seen Vader wrestle and he is incredible. Vader overwhelms Bulldog in the corner. He is just so fucking good at his boxing in the corner. The vertical suplex by Bulldog on Vader looked killer. Vader gets back on offense and picks a fight with Sting. I will say for as much as I liked Sid on defense, he did leave something to be desired on offense besides the Chokeslam. Vader was great when he was in. The typical miscommunication spot with Vader colliding with Harley setting up the hot tag. I discussed the Sting hot tag in the above paragraph. VADER ABSOLUTELY TRUCKS STING WITH A LARIAT! I popped while I was walking. Incredible! Great tussle on the top rope with Sting getting nasty biting Vader and shoving him off the top. I am not a huge Sting fan. but there is something special about Sting/Vader. Sting needs to avoids a Sid elbow drop to finally get the hot tag. Bulldog is stymied right away by a ferocious Vader. Sting/Sid brawl onto the ramp. The finish is so bitchin'! Vader debuts the VADERSAULT! Sting comes FLYING over the top LAUNCHING himself from the ramp onto Vader to save Bulldog. Bulldog gets a crucifix pin for the win! Wow! So much fun! The shine was thrilling. The heat segments were a little long, but Vader kept it hot on top. I loved the finish. I think I would have liked the babyfaces to get a bit more offense, BUT I think it demonstrated how strong the Masters of the Powerbomb are it was only through the grittiness of a last ditch Sting dive and veteran wile & guile of a Bulldog Crucifix pin to get them a win. Awesome main event! ****

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Barry Windham vs Ric Flair - WCW Beach Blast 1993 Windham had been on a tear in 1993. Great matches with Scorpio, Regal and Dustin. Even the 6-man where he tagged with the Blonds against the Horsemen was really good. This was the end of the line for classic Windham he would be sidelined by a knee injury. He comes back a year later against Flair at Slamboree 94 and then doesn’t wrestler again until the WWF in 1996. This is Flair’s big comeback match. 1993 is a real blind spot for me with Flair. I have seen the Loser Leaves Town match against Hennig and the Vader Starrcade 93 match but very little on between. I have never seen a match from this PPV. All I got say is YOWZA looking at Missy Hyatt. WOW What a strange match. I don’t think it was bad. It was good. It was oddly heatless for Flair’s big singles return. How much do people care about the NWA World title and the whole two world titles? Maybe that plays a role. Maybe it being in Biloxi as opposed to the Carolinas or Georgi plays a role. It is Flair vs Windham it should sell itself. I do think it is the structure of the match. The match had all the typical action of an 80s Crockett match but with the structure of an early 2000s ROH match. There was no shine, no heat. It was just action. There is a difference about my complaint about today’s wrestling and the structure of this. Today there is too much cooperation, too many inorganic movements, and a lack of consequences. This did NOT have any of these problems. It was just totally amorphous. They fought hard and urgently. It was just a fury of action. It reminded me of some of AJ/Danielson matches from ROH. The other thing was odd was not how injured Windham looked but how uncooperative he looked. From the very first chop, he never looked interesting in selling for Flair. It was like he was The Undertaker. Flair as a baby face is a very offensive wrestler and Flair was throwing shit out there and Windham was walking right through it. It gave a really weird but competitive vibe. Like I can understand why the crowd was not responding to the match because this was a very anti-formula match. As someone who watches a lot of pro wrestling, I found it to be very experimental and intriguing. I am not sure how well it would work on a regular basis. Part of the charm is that Flair seems off in his own little world just wrestling his match and Windham is off in his deadset on not selling for Flair. Even the finish feels like a Fuck You to Flair. He gets caught with his shoulders down for 3 during a Figure-4 and kicks out right after three. I actually liked the match as a really unique structure or lack thereof. The action is good and hard-hitting. I think ultimately that lack of progression and the anti-climatic finish hold this back from being good. There’s a blueprint here for something very unique. ***

Sting, Davey Boy Smith & Dustin Rhodes vs Vader, Sid Vicious & Rick Rude - WCW Clash of the Champions XXIII I have been so disappointed with the Sid stuff I had been watching that I almost switched to a different project BUT I am glad I stuck with this because this is a ton of fun! Clash 23 is a sneaky good Clash! BW vs Scorp is killer and The main event of Hollywood Blonds vs Horsemen is also great. You add this wicked fun 6-man what a great show! The reason the match is not remembered more fondly in my opinion is that it feels incomplete. There’s no hot tag. Dustin’s FIP ends with getting pinned. It is a really interesting wrinkle that you almost never see but the body of the match is so good and entertaining that people should still watch this even if the finish leaves you wanting more. The baby face shine is so good! I am a sucker for a good baby face shine. Sting/Rude start and they have off the charts chemistry. It is too bad we never got that definitive Sting/Rude match. Rude of course bumps and stooges like a champ for the Stinger. The highlight is Sting press slamming Rude onto Vader & Sid catching him and then hurling Rude back at Sting but missing Sting. It was a tough bump for a dude with a bad neck and back like Rude. Even Sid gets in on the fun, pinballing in the corner for the faces. Feeding them clotheslines and taking the rope to the balls. Vader lets Dustin beat the piss out of him. This was an absolutely amazing beat down in the corner by Dustin. Dustin missed a high risk elbow from the top and Vader hits a Vader bomb to consolidate. Strong heat segment on Dustin. Rude who is feuding with Dustin over the US Title gets his licks in. Sid gets the kip up clothesline. Vader gets his receipts. Vader gets power slammed off the top. Dustin reverses the Rude tombstone into his own. TWO AWESOME BABYFACE HOPE SPOTS! Ref missed a tag to Sting. Katie bar the door it is a pier-6 brawl. Sting misses the Stinger Splash into the railing! Vader cracks Dustin with the Halliburton and Rude pins for the win. No hot tag feels so weird. The baby face shine and heat segment are so good. I loved those two big high spots for Dustin late. This is Dustin’s match, he feels like a huge star. Can’t go higher than ***1/2 but this is a wicked fun ***1/2

Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice - WWF WrestleMania VIII One of the worst matches I have ever had the displeasure of watching. I’m a big Hogan defender and I thought I was a big Sid fan but watching his Skyscrapers, Four Horsemen and Justice run make me realize I just like mid-90s Sid. Lots of background here, so since SNME they have changed course on what the angle is here. It is now being billed as Hogan’s farewell match. It is matter of whether it will be on Hogan’s terms or Sid will force him out. This is much better than predicating your WrestleMania main event on a “six month friendship” gone sour. They have also changed Sid’s character into an unhinged, violent lunatic. Gorilla even calls him Psycho. Laying the foundations for the 95 run. Also funny that Hogan didn’t return until a full year later for the WrestleMania IX build and Sid was gone by the end of the month. Also something I find so interesting this was only Sid’s second singles PPV match over ten minutes the other being Havoc ‘90 against Sting. The dude just doesn’t get many reps. There was zero effort in this match. If there’s one thing I can’t stand it is a lack of effort. As much as I take issue with a lot of wrestlers today their issues are not for lack of effort, it is more organization and thought process. They are trying their hardest. I can respect that. These two phoned in the biggest show of the year is pathetic. I am a big defender of the test of strength and that was the most anemic, pathetic test of strength I have ever seen. They repeated the exact same Hogan shine sequence before and after the bell. The nerve pinch was the shits. Outside of the randomly awesome Chokeslam, the body of the match was atrocious. The finish run at least had some life to it. I’m a big defender of the No-Sell but everything is circumstantial. I am not sure this was the best time or use of it BUT it did get the crowd going and Sid was gone by the end of the month. Even the Hogan finish stretch felt perfunctory. The DQ finish was bizarre. I assume Sid was not supposed to kick out of the Atomic Legdrop but neither Harvey nor Shango did anything. It was 1992 so different times but the Warrior’s did not get a deafening roar. They crowd did get hotter once they saw him flying down the ramp. The Warrior save and double posedown was cool. Perfunctory is the word of the match. Everything felt like they were going through the motions and just checking off boxes. There’s a lot of things I can forgive and find value in BUT a lack of effort is unforgivable. One of the worst matches ever.

Hulk Hogan & Roddy Piper vs Ric Flair & Sid Justice - WWF 3/9/92 I pulled a Parv and watched the wrong match. I wanted to watch the MSG match and assumed that would be the only one on Dailymotion but I had my suspicions with how the ring was lit and all the banners. Oh well. This match sucked and do not really have the appetite for another one even if it Is the better one. If I call out the modern day wrestlers for exposing the business and looking phony, I gotta call out Piper and Sid for working light as fuck and whiffing by a country mile. Now one thing these four have in spades is charisma. The thing today’s wrestlers could learn from these four is how to have fun in the ring and not everyone has to be so damn serious. Pretty standard Flair shine here usual spots you’d expect against Piper. The shoving, the fired up shitty punching from Piper, the eye poke, the bumps, the Flair Flip into the big boot. Flair lures Hogan to the big man! I will say this A for effort on the grand sweeping body language. They are hamming it up. They go right into heat on Hogan. I have never understood the complaint Hogan doesn’t sell enough, the dude sells way too quickly and overkill. Sid’s work on top is atrocious. Hogan finally gets one over on Sid. Piper’s advantage on Sid doesn’t last long as Sid needs to work in the headlock->headscissors-> KIP UP spot baby! He blasts Piper with a clothesline he is proud of himself. They work an FIP on Piper. We see a terrible chair shot by Sid on Piper. Piper slams Flair off the top as is customary. They do a great amateur scramble for Piper to get the tag. Standard Hogan/Flair finish. Sid ones up himself and hits the worst chair shot on Hogan. Hogan hulks up. There is a melee and somehow Hogan hits an Axe Bomber on the World Champ Flair to win. Really strange. On paper sounds cool as fuck and maybe the MSG match is better but it may be a couple years before I find it as this left a bad taste in my mouth.

Hulk Hogan & Sid Justice vs Undertaker & Ric Flair - WWF Saturday Night Main Event 2/8/92 Classic Sid nothing really of note for a whole year after the Wargames ‘91 match and a cool Luger match but he thrust right into the main event. There is nothing Midcard about Sid. It is the explosion of 90s Four Horsemen! Two of the Horsemen leaving around the same time. Flair and Undertaker are such a strange team. Interesting Hogan gets awarded the shot but opts to face Sid after this. It seems like one of the more convoluted builds. How did they even get to Savage then. The match is Classic SNME fun. The baby face shine is a ton of fun. Flair is just ready to bump for everyone. Nice symmetry on the backdrops. Hell even early Taker is bumping. I love how he bumps and strains on the sit up. He really never stops moving forward. It is usually a bayface tenedenct but here it works great as the Creature from the Black Lagoon rising again and again. He loves using that underhand thrust to change the tide. Hogan hogging the spotlight and quickly saving Sid was good storytelling. Lots of fun double teams. Hogan is soaking in the adulation and Sid has had enough. Flair takes Hogan down by the knee. Figure-4. I watched this yesterday so my memory is fuzzy but the heat segment is pretty long for SNME standards as they need to milk that Sid is not going to tag Hogan and he really fucked Hogan over. There was good hope spots and Hogan selling in there. Sid jumps down and leaves Hogan to the wolves. Flair lamely throws the ref down for the DQ. I would be remiss to mention that Brutus Beefcake makes his triumphant return as Hogan’s friend to the end. Vince, I haven’t heard his voice since all sexual assault shit broke, it reminded me of the first time I watched Benoit. Anyways Vince was really hyping one shot Brutus’ face would cave it in. They teased it with Sid then Flair & Taker. Hogan saves the day. It was Classic SNME fun and camp.

WCW US Champion Lex Luger vs Sid Vicious - WCW 3/2/91 Unfortunately I watched this match two days ago but only have the time to do the review now. C’est la vie of a married man. Thank you to Elliot for the hookup. Since the Sting match at Halloween Havoc, Sid has had one competitive singles match against Rick Steiner which Id love to track down. It is amazing how few reps he gets on TV. The angle is very interesting. This is taped in advance of Wargames with the infamous Powerbombs to Pillman bashing his skull against the cage ceiling and the brutal landings on the shoulder. Yet even though it is taped before that he is already doing a gimmick where he sends jobbers out on a stretcher vi his feared powerbomb. The Wargames was always intended to be brutal. Furthermore in a rare example of WCW planning ahead this angle directly leads to the El Gigante Stretcher Match at SuperBrawl I that writes him out of WCW. As of the match itself, I thought this match was way better than the Sting. Luger was a much more confident wrestler and really knew how to lead a match. There was a great sense of progression from the tense collar elbow tie up’s to the knuckle lock to the heat segment to the hope spots and comeback, It is interesting that Sid uses the mundane shoulder charge into the buckle as a stock spot. He also LOVES the headlock headscissors KIP UP clothesline. Luger is a great fired up baby face. Great use of the power slam. I liked the use of the All Japan count out to protect Sid. Sid attacks from behind and threatens a powerbomb and the stretcher but Luger. Back drops out and stands tall. Shame I can’t remember more but I liked this one and I recommend it. ***

Skyscrapers vs Steiner Brothers - NWA Clash of the Champions IX I watched this yesterday so going off memory. I thought this was great craic. Honestly, it made me want to watch more Steiner Brothers. They are my kinda spot monkeys. They were just throwing these big lugs at will. The opening gambit of a Rick Steiner German Suplex and a Steinerline was awesome. Dan Spivey gets in on the action and almost paralyzes Rick Steiner with a crazy Tombstone. He did NOT look like he had Rick properly situated at all. The Scotty Steiner Frankensteiner and flip fallaway slam was also a ton of fun. According to Scott Keith it was that spot that injured Sid and put him out until June of the next year. There was a short heat segment, but it was not much until we were back to Steinerlines and Suplexes. Doom runs in which triggers Road Warriors to come out to set up the weird Starrcade 1989 round robin tournament. However, as I mentioned above Sid got injured in this match and Samoans took their place. Woman hits Rick Steiner with a high heel, but Rick Steiner does NOT have any brains so he is coming to get her, but Nitron (the future Sabretooth) debuts. I thought it might actually be Undertaker/Callous, but Scott Keith corrected me. Dave gave this *** 1/2 normally I would be annoyed with him overrating things, BUT FUCK YEAH GO BIG DAVE! This was a ton of fun, but I cant go over *** in good conscience.

NWA World Champion Sting vs Sid Vicious - NWA Halloween Havoc ‘90 Lots of interesting context…this is Sid’s first competitive televised singles match in the NWA. Period. Not just his first title shot. Not just his first PPV main event. His first competitive televised singles match of any kind. He had a long layoff from November 89 to June of 90 but that is unfathomable today. It was interesting watch that in mind and this also being Sting’s first PPV title defense since GAB. Besides the Wargames ‘91 I know very little about Sid version of the Horsemen. Due to Black Scorpion angle which dominated commentary, the second half of 1990 is not a period of NWA that I have pursued due to the poor reviews. Just had an interesting thought. How much better would it have been if Barry Windham was the Black Scorpion. Windham/Sid split off from Flair/AA because they were holding them back. Windham was trying all these ruses to get the title to him or Sid. Just a thought. The match was interesting after the domination of Flair in 88, 89 and early 90, we see the 90s may look like… Blond, Muscular and Big. Even someone like Hogan who paved the way for a Sting or a Sid was trained old school and had some general wrestling he could fall back on. Sting and Sid don’t have that. I am really interested to see how these guys less than 5 years into the biz would start this match left to their own devices True to form there is no lock up or test of strength. It is right into it. Sid turns to play to the crowd so Sting follows suit but it was a ruse and Sid clubs him. Sting tries to hurl his body at Sid but Sid catches which establishes Sid’s size and strength advantage. The uptempo beginning actually had me thinking this match might exceed expectations. Sting takes it outside and throws Sid into some hard metal objects. Then the match grinds to a halt and it grinds for a very long time. Sting nor Sid are two wrestlers who are very interesting working on top. Sting is terrible working holds. They are both kind of awkward and stilted in between spots. Sid’s loves the headlock, headscissor, Kip Up, Clubbing Forearm transition. Sid’s heat segment is pretty horrible outside the Sting hope spots. Missed Stinger splash. Sting top rope crossbody. Gone are all those cool power moves against the Roadies and Steiners and they have been replaced by nerve holds and clubbering. The two big Sting spots at the end are fine, running down the ramp and leaping over the top rope was cool would’ve been better if Sid was closer and the slingshot plancha was great. The finish with Barry Windham switching out with Sting so Sid could pin him and then Sting coming back with a Stinger Splash to pin Sid was so silly. I understand you have to protect Sid but there’s better ways to do that. Terrible finish aside, this is still a bad match by two relatively green wrestlers. It is really interesting to watch it play out and see what they do. The beginning shine so their aversion to wrestling. However, they don’t seem to know to innovate the control segments. They are NOT outside the box thinkers. They do the control segments how they were taught and how others do them. However that is neither wrestlers strength. If they came out throwing bombs and Sid tossed Sting around and Sting hurled his body at Sid like a missile, there’s a world where this is a great match but that’s just Sting/Vader or Sid/Shawn. Which tells me Vader and Shawn were the true brains behind the operation.

Skyscrapers vs Road Warriors - NWA Halloween Havoc 1989 This is more like it, daddy! Four big muthas hitting hard and tossing each other around. Story is simple who is the baddest on the block, Brutha. Roadies shine is simple and to the point. You think you’re big, well we are fucking bad. Clothesline and shouldertackles send Spivey & Sid powdering. I thought Sid again is more interesting eating the Roadies offense than Spivey. We get the customary Test of Strength. Sid takes Hawk down with a side headlock, headscisscors reversal into a BIG SID KIP UP! A stock Sid spot but when you think about it in context way ahead of his time. Sid blasts Hawk and picks him up and spins him around sends him fucking flying. It was a surprisingly easy transition into the heat segment. Sid snake eyes in Hawk on the railing is another good high spot. The hope spots get closer together. Hawk tag out. Animal goes King Kong and rattles off a great hot tag. Drop kick and shoulder tackle electrified me. Katie bar the door, there’s a pier six brawl a brewin’. Animal power slams Sid BUT Teddy Long nails him with the Key which I think has something to do with Norman. Hawk hits a top rope flying clothesline to get the key and send the Scrapers packing. One of those really old school power matches that doesn’t overstay its welcome. ***

Skyscrapers vs Dynamic Dudes - NWA Great American Bash ‘89 Oh boy, sorry Sid not the best match to kick off remembering your badass legacy. Although it is not Sid’s fault, as I would say Spivey takes the bulk of the match, probably 75%. Both my first Skyscraper and Dynamic Dudes match. Johnny Ace’s mullet is glorious. Didn’t know Sid was a chaps man. Teddy Long is pretty lame with his shitty Burger King crown and his lame kicks. The Skyscrapers won the Battle Royale at the beginning of the show. The push is on. There were a lot of issues with this match. Execution was a big problem. There was no urgency or sense of struggle. Sid who has the most charisma was on the apron the majority of the match. Spivey and Ace are midcard All Japan dudes for a reason. They are solid mechanics but they need someone to inspire the crowd. Even a bigger problem was the fundamental goal of the match which was to get the Skyscrapers, the new big bad monster heels ready for the Road Warriors. So that means there was NOT going to be a shine or a lot of bumping. It was establish the Skyscrapers as big and they can absorb the Dudes whimpy, white bread offense and they can dish it out. The high spots were few and far between. I liked the Dudes getting the tabletop crossbody and Spivey’s Crucifix Powerbomb. Sid really lit up the crowd getting in there. There is no one that strikes like Sid. That weird is it a punch, is it a clothesline, is it a forearm, shouldn’t work but it does. It looks like a tennis forehand volley. The way he drops down to one knee and calls to the crowd. What a stud. The finish run was the best part as there was some excitement and hope for the Dudes. Spivey missed a headbutt, the Skyscrapers clothesline each other. It gave the Dudes some openings. I liked the yank down on the head scissors by Sid a great way to take advantage of the mayhem. Spivey‘s power one was the worst one this side of Tenryu. He basically just flips Ace over. Terrible match. Spivey was clearly positioned as the worker of the team, the problem is he doesn’t have much going for him. You could feel Sid’s star power from jump. Don’t bother watching this match but excited for the journey.

NWF Heavyweight Champion Antonio Inoki vs Strong Kobayashi - NJPW 3/19/74 I am kinda surprised this match seems to be the more hyped between the two compared to the December match. I thought this match was great, but the intensity of the December was off the charts. Did a little digging in Kobayashi's history to give myself some context. This is his first match in New Japan, he was in IWE previously. He was the IWA Champion (IWE's top prize) as of February 1974 when he vacated I assumed because he took this match. Interestingly, he does not wrestle again in Japan until December 1974 against Inoki in the aforementioned kickass rematch. He wrestled the intervening months in America. He wrestled a lot in America actually which I found interesting. I am sure @KinchStalker has more to say on the background. As for the match itself, this is a terrific slow burn match where the intensity ramps up to a bloody fever pitch. It explains by the December match was so hot coming out of the gate because in this match the tempers had already boiled over. I would not call this traditional NWA/AJPW championship style wrestling to open. This is more of Amateur wrestling for I'd say the first 15 minutes. Really the story of the match is reactions and how each man overreacted throughout the match to small slights. Early it was Inoki showing up Kobayashi at will, he back heel tripped Kobayashi on what should have been a clean break. Kobayashi seemed flustered and that resulted in Inoki pretty much showing him up continuously until Kobayashi got a hammerlock about 10-15 minutes later. Inoki was taking down and reversing at will. After the Hammerlock, Kobayashi started building momentum. They got into a Greco-Roman style waistlock war which Kobayashi won with a Bearhug. Now the shoe was on the other foot. Inoki was overreaction and getting frustrated and leaving himself open to counterattacks like a Kobayashi Crucifix. Inoki goes back to what works which is wrestling. He gets a nice Butterfly and takesdown into a pinning combination. Kobayashi overreacts tries to turn it into a slugfest and Inoki TAGS him with a right. Kobayashi goes down like a sack of potatoes. What a moment! It is all because Kobayashi overreacted and left himself open to the counterpunch. Inoki clamps on a TIGHT Figure-4 around the head of Kobayashi, which Kobayashi claims is a choke and I see his point. He does a great job on the rope break, selling the choke. Kobayashi lights up Inoki on the ropes in classic Inoki fashion he does NOT sell as much as Kobayashi. Inoki goes for the Octopus. Things start to ramp up. In a second Octopus attempt, they tumble to the outside. Kobayashi bulldog headlock rams Inoki's head into the post and busts Inoki open! Wow! Kobayashi punches Inoki in the head right in the wound on the apron. Vertical suplex in, 1-2-NO! Great nearfall! Strong Kobayashi lives up to his name and tries for the Argentine Backbreaker, but Inoki reverses and back drops out. German Suplex! 1-2-3! Wow a clean finish! I loved the story of the match. It something that really rewards the viewer and also speaks to the pettiness of interpromotional rivalries. The technical work was really strong and tight. It was unique to Inoki who incorporates more amateur/shooty matwork into his matches than say a traditional NWA title match. I did think it was a little slow overall in the first 20 minutes but I think it is worth because of what it sets up at the end. The finish was red hot and very climatic. Great stuff. ****1/4

Giant Baba vs Fritz Von Erich - AJPW 7/25/75 Texas Death Fritz Von Erich, shitty human being, terrific pro wrestler. He feels like the type of pro wrestler that if we had more of him, he would be a Top 100 Wrestler Ever. The Fritz Punt is so badass I wish someone would crib that. These two had a 5 star classic in 1966 excited to see what they can do in 1975 under Texas Death rules (gotta win by a 10 count). I haven’t seen Baba in years what an alien looking dude. Fritz attacks right at the bell and we get an early punt that puts a smile on my face. He applies the Claw on the ref and throws him out of the ring. The brawling out of the ring is hard to make out but somehow Fritz get lacerated on the side of the head which creates a sick visual for the rest of the match. Baba gets a stream going from his forehead and we double juice early. Baba is Baba he is fighting back with chops. Fritz pelts him with some great punches. CLAW~! In the ring. Baba sells it so well. Baba of course uses the Chop to break the hold. We get some great hand psychology with Baba kicking the hand and Fritz missing the Claw a couple times driving his hand into the mat. Fritz starts going for Stomach Claw so that he won’t miss. It works well. They end up back outside. Fritz missed a wild right and Baba gets a classic slashing, slinging Baba chop that knocks Fritz for a loop. They play King of the Mountain. Baba with a Jumping Head Chop & Big Boot finally puts the Big Texan down for ten. Of course to get his heat back, Fritz puts the Stomach Claw back on him. Fritz was a maniacal psycho in this match, the visual of him bleeding from one side of the head and like horror movie villain constantly coming at you with the CLAW~! Was so sick. Baba is such a great babyface this weird looking, gangly, uncoordinated & enormous dude just throwing chops like his life depended on it. I thought it got a little long In the tooth but it was still a ton of fun. Not as good as their 1966 classic, but few matches are. This is still a killer match and something everyone should check out. ****1/4

PWF US Heavyweight Champion The Destroyer vs The Spirit - AJPW 7/25/75 The Spirit is none other than Killer Karl Kox. This is two old, lumpy, stodgy, cheating bastards in a battle of who could be nastier. First Fall: It looks like Kox spits something out and puts it in his trunks at the bell. Destroyer wastes no time crowding Kox on the ropes and popping him. Kox responds with a shot to the eye that sends Destroyer reeling to the floor. It looked suspect like it could have been a foreign object. Nobody is going to confuse the matwork with Destroyer/Mascaras BUT there’s a lot of struggle to it and it feels like both guys are fighting with everything they got. There’s nasty stuff like Destroyer putting his hand over Kox’s mouth on the mat. Kox starts in control with a hammerlock then Destroyer then they stand up into the ropes, It is back to popping each other with blows. Destroyer rips Kox down with a double wristlock and then puts his shin across his throat. This causes a break and now things really unravel. Kox gets the better of Destroyer with punches and a suspicious headbutt to bust Destroyer open and lead to winning the first fall. Kox of course attacks the wound during the break between falls. Awesome heel vs heel shit. Kox 1-0 Second Fall: Aahhh the old two can play that game fall. Kox starts out with a commanding lead biting the cut, punching it and Destroyer has to powder. Kox rams Destroyer’s head into the steel post, the ref checks Kox‘s mask and body for a foreign object but he has put “it” in his mouth. Destroyer comes back into the ring with a headbutt but not just any Headbutt a LOADED HEADBUTT! Great selling by Kox to put it over. Destroyer punches him with “it”. Back in the mouth as the ref is now suspicious of Destroyer. Loaded Headbutt finishes Kox in a quick but delightful fall. Even Jumbo gets in on the action as he distracts the ref so Destroyer can headbutt Kox in between falls, tied 1-1. Third Fall: Destroyer looks like he is cruise to retaining his title alternating between loaded headbutts and loaded punches to Kox’s head. However in a tie up Kox is able to blast him with a loaded punch and now Kox takes the lead in the battle of the old cheating bastards. Kox misses a knee drop. Everybody and their mother knows what this means…FIGURE 4~! Kox makes it to the ropes. Ref wants a break but Destroyer says he needs to be disentangled but the ref goes to do it and Destroyer keeps reapplying the hold. Good craic from the cheeky bastard. Destroyer works the knee and the Figure-4 s’more. Kox retaliates with one last Loaded Headbutt. Jumbo takes exception to this. Destroyer rolls up Kox on the distraction and with a handful of tights wins the match. Kox & Jumbo brawl on the outside in a match I’m not sure we get but I want now! This match is exactly as advertised two surly bastards that are not above cheating trying to figure out who is the King of the Cheating Bastards. Glorious. ****1/2

PWF US Heavyweight Champion The Destroyer vs Mil Mascaras - AJPW 7/25/74 2/3 Falls The rematch from 10 months prior. Destroyer won with a Figure-4 in the Second Fall and throwing Mascaras over the top on a flying crossbody headbutt for a countout. First Fall: These two have amazing chemistry. Very similar efforts as there first match. They are working straight holds for ~13 minutes and it is always compelling. There are some really nifty counters like a leg trip from Mascaras on a hammerlock or a neck bridge from Destroyer. Lots of great body weight and balance work. Really cool, organic entry into a Boston Crab off a Monkey Flip for Mascaras but it is an awkward position so it explains how Destroyer is able to topple him. One key difference from the 74 match compared to 73 match is Destroyer is looking for the Figure-4 the move that won him the day in 73, early and often. They repeat a 73 spot where Destroyer tries to get a Figure-4 out of a headscissors but no dice. Mascaras works his Full Nelson from 73. The one thing I thought made 73 standout a little more than 74, is the holds came a little easier in this bout. It felt a little more routine, more like a standard NWA Championship match less unique than the 73 match. It is still high end matwork just more normal. After not being able to negotiate Figure-4, Destroyer loses his patience and takes two cheapshots in the ropes against Mascaras. Mascaras is rightfully pissed and grabs headlock and pops Destroyer with the heel of his hand. Great stuff. Then the fireworks begin. Mascaras begins the onslaught of crossbody headbutts but keeps only getting one. He winds up for a final one but nails the turnbuckle! Amazing moment! Thought Destroyer had it there, but he needed the Bombs Away Kneedrop to put Mascaras away. The slam-bang portion of this one is pretty damn awesome and coupled with the matwork, this is on track to be another instant classic. Destroyer 1-0. Second Fall: I love how Destroyer immediately shifts his strategy to focus on the neck after what happened to Mascaras at the end of the first fall. This does NOT last long as Destroyer misses a dropkick and Mascaras applies one of those Lucha submissions that gives Destroyer a bad neck as well. Destroyer tries to turn this into a firefight into the corner, but Mascaras roars back. He rams Destroyer's head in a bulldoh headlock into the turnbuckle pads. It looks gnarly someone should crib that. Mascaras nails his bread & butter BUT goes for Destroyer's Figure-4, will that cost him the fall. No he rams the head into buckles again using a bulldog headlock and a flying crossbody picks up the fall for the Luchador in a tidy ~5minutes. Really fun psychology here. Third Fall: Mascaras says "if it aint broke dont fix it", he goes right back to the bulldog headlock ramming Destroyer's head into buckles. Pilderiver gets two. Things look bleak for the US Champion. He backdrops out of a second piledriver. He wants the Figure-4 badly and desperately going after the legs. He finally gets it. Holy Struggle! This is fantastic. They are both working this hold with everything they got. They end up on the apron where the attending wrestlers have to disentangle them. Tremendous. They lay it on thick for Mascaras. Destroyer takes two bad tumbles to the outside, first Mascaras kicks him off another figure-4 and the other is a criss cross where Destroyer catches nothing but air. Each time Mascaras brings him in the hardway but cant negotiate the pinfall. They knock heads on a crossbody headbutt that looks nasty. Another criss but this time Destroyer leads with his head and nutshots Mascaras who sells this for all its worth. The ref has no choice but to call the match. Destroyer ever the sportsman undoes Mascaras' drawstrings. I dont know if I woudl want the dude that just headbutted me in the balls to be touching my junk but I guess it is the thought that counts. Different than '73 match but also fantastic. I can see why people would like this more. It is a more conventional pro wrestling match. It has more slam-bang action and really strong psychology. There is just something unique about the 73 match or maybe it is just I watched it first. I can see it both ways I am going ****1/2 here, this is sublime wrestling.

Wifi on plane back from Tokyo is being weird. Ended up on my laptop. Will post my thoughts on the first fall later, they are on my phone. PWF US Heavyweight Champion The Destroyer vs Mil Mascaras - AJPW 10/9/73 Seemingly the first highly regarded match in the history of the All Japan (it is on the same show as Funks vs Baba/Jumbo). Never seen this before but heard about it plenty. I have been enjoying 70s Inoki and felt like mixing it up. Flying home to Boston today, Japan has been incredible. The PWF US Championship is not something I heard of before but it was basically Destroyer’s title similar to how PWF Title was Baba, the International title became Jumbo’s etc…. I love the dynamic of masked American vs masked Mexican in Japan. Mascaras has a cool skeleton mask. First Fall: God, this was terrific. This is one of the best examples of sporting pro wrestling. It is so competitive dripping with effort and struggled. I loved how much body weight positioning & shifting played a role in gaining advantage. I loved the neck bridging early from both just brilliant countering. I loved how they would splay and work to use balance to their advantage while destroying their opponents. Perhaps my favorite thing was if they didn’t sense they had an advantage they wouldn’t just jump headlong into something they would reset and reassess and see how they could put their opponent in a disadvantage. Brilliant stuff. Loved the proto-90s cradle reversal spot for levity. It looks like Destroyer is going to gain the advantage by crowding on the ropes and using shoulder tackles but Masacras roars back with an onslaught of flying crossbody headbutts for the first highspot and to take the first fall. I am very excited for the next two falls. Second Fall: Mascaras comes out hot hitting the crossbody headbutt that won him the first fall and then moving into a Lucha style surfboard that looks like the great stretch I need in my life right now. I thought they lost a little zip here, but they gained it right back when things got testy on the ropes. Destroyer got a cheapshot on in before a break. Mascaras responded with a taunting slap on the next one. Then there was a little firefight coming out the next one. Destroyer down a fall was thinking Figure-4. He could not get it coming out of a headscissors or a monkey flip (great use of the monkey flip to disorient your opponent to set up the kill). Mascaras' big move of the fall was a full nelson which led to a great firefight on their knees. They go into the criss-cross, dropkick and Destroyer applies the Figure-4. Holy shit! This is best sell and struggle I have ever seen of a Figure-4. I love how Mascaras is trying to stand up and Destroyer is struggling with all his might to keep him down. Everyone needs to study this. More Figure-4's like this please and thank you! Mascaras eventually succumbs and it is 1-1. Great fall. Third Fall: Destroyer pugnaciously going after the leg right at the bell and Mascaras responding with a desperation potato to the ear from his back is everything! I popped so hard for that. That is one of the best things I have ever seen. The whole fall is just a slam-bang, rollicking good time. The desperation from Mascaras, the way he sells the knee, the way he tries to buy time, the way he he is hurling his body at Destroyer with the crossbody headbutt is fabulous. On Destroyer's side first it is pugnacious aggression to get that leg, but Mascaras starts making more and more in-roads and Destroyer makes more and more mistakes like missing a kneedrop. It looks like Mascaras would win with a barrage of headbutts but Destroyer back drops him over the top rope to send careening to the floor for the countout win. I loved this match a lot. Everything I want in my pro wrestling. I am torn between 4.5 vs 4.75, but lets go ****3/4.

NWA North American Tag Team Champions Seiji Sakaguchi & Strong Kobayashi vs Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanosuke Ueda - NJPW 2/2/77 2/3 Falls A 70s New Japan match without Inoki! The NWA North American Tag Team Titles are sanctioned out of Los Angeles but primarily used in Japan, but Inoki & Sakaguchi did wrestle the Original Hollywood Blonds and some Nazis in the mid 70s. Sakaguchi & Kobayashi have been champs for about a year. Singh is the main heel of the promotion and Ueda is a Japanese heel with bleached hair, I have seen once or twice before. First Fall: Entertaining babyface shine all the usual trappings, hot babyface offense, double teams, heel miscommunication, heels looking like chickens running around with their heads cut off. The heels grind the match and the entertainment down to a halt with the choking and nerve holds on Sakaguchi. Sakaguchi bucks them off and tags in Kobayashi. Kobayashi looks way older here than in 1974. He is apprehensive to engage without a healthy Sakaguchi. Once Sakaguchi recovers it is balls to the wall. Sakaguchi hits a Jumping Knee. Kobayashi does some slam bang wrestling of his own. The action spills to the outside. Ahhhh yes! I forgot to mention. Kobayashi has a bandage on his elbow. Singh pointed this out before the bell. It seems like something Singh or Ueda did. They jab a chair into the injured elbow. Ueda gets the cross armbreaker but nothing doing. Some chair jabs to the elbow. Singh forces the submission with a short arm scissors. I liked the beginning and end of this fall a lot. The middle not so much. Singh/Ueda keep kicking at the arm in between falls. Singh/Ueda 1-0. Second & Third Falls: Shit gets confusing here. Singh is all over Kobayashi’s bad arm, double teaming in their corner, using the turnbuckle to wrench it. He gets the Short Arm Scissors but Kobayashi counters into a backslide for what I thought was 3 but Singh’s shoulder was not really down and they didn’t really stop the match. But Cagematch says Sakaguchi/Kobayashi won a fall so it had to be there. Singh goes back to work on the arm. Ripping off the turnbuckle pad and really wrenching the arm. He slings the ref down and I could’ve sworn this caused a DQ but apparently Singh & Ueda won. Both Cagematch & Wikipedia have Singh & Ueda winning the tag titles on this date. Singh & Ueda bloody Sakaguchi. Inoki comes out to make the save as Singh & Ueda walk out with the titles. This is a much better angle than a match. If your #2 & # 3 babyfaces are going to lose titles to your top heels this is how you do it. They destroyed Kobayashi’s arm and bloodied Sakaguchi. It was an epic destruction for the heels and really put some heat on them. Loved it as an angle as a match it was good. A little long in the tooth. ***1/4

NWF Heavyweight Champion Tiger Jeet Singh vs Antonio Inoki - NJPW 3/20/75 According to Cagematch, Singh defeated Inoki for the NWF title 7 days prior to this rematch. The announcers definitely say this is for the NWF Title but Singh does not come out with the Championship but I will take Cagematch at its word. Singh gets bombed with a milk bottle on the way in. I am on the Shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo. I had the best Tempura of my life in Osaka and for dessert I had strawberries, condensed milk over shaved ice it was incredible. ICHIBAN~! This match was not. Singh is just not compelling at all on top. The head scissors, the chokes/chinlocks, all that didn’t do anything for me. Inoki comes out swinging with closed fists at the bell this makes sense given he lost the belt a week ago so he is pissed off. Singh does a great job selling these punches like a heel, really being a chump. I am surprised Singh is able to wrestle Inoki down without much cheating. Inoki in his hope spots are great especially the knuckle lock twist which Singh sells really effectively. When Inoki is on offense it is a pretty compelling, entertaining match. Inoki goes for the abdominal stretch but Singh makes the ropes. Singh gets desperate and gets a hold of an umbrella one of those old school with the point that he jabs Inoki with in the crowd. Singh gets a proto-Jackhammer for his near fall. He whips out the Sheik mysterious white pen like thingy. Inoki gets a hold of it and blasts him until he bleeds and he is seeing red and he is blasting everyone. Ref throws the match out as double countout. Inoki suplexes Singh back into the ring and pins Singh but the ref has already thrown out the match. Inoki is a wild man in the post-match just going bezerk blasting everything and everybody. The Inoki offense is wicked but Singh just lying in holds makes it hard to call this good.

Antonio Inoki vs Tiger Jeet Singh - NJPW 1/29/76 These two have seemingly bottomless amount of matches together. Singh is just not very good at the wild man brawler act. I thought this was better than the match from earlier in the month because it was more heated in the back half. Lots of stalling and grandstanding early. Sing h is fucking around with the sword & twitching. Inoki cuts a promo. First half of the match is worked clean. Inoki works a top wristlock into a short arm scissors. Butterfly Suplex by Inoki. Singh is complaining to ref in the corner so Inoki tags him a couple times. Singh bodyslams Inoki over the top rope to the floor and here we go. Chairshots and jabs. A lot of choking. Not a little bit. A lot bit. Singh draws blood first works the cut. Inoki starts firing off DROPKICKs, one blasts Singh off the apron. Inoki gets his measure if revenge making Singh bleed and working the cut. They both tumble to the outside on an Octopus Stretch. Singh drops Inoki balls first on the top rope twice. Second time the ref starts wailing on Singh which pops me! So Singh pops the ref. Let’s fucking go! Singh crowns the red with a chair oh shit! This is sick. Melee ensues and Sakaguchi sends Singh packing. Way better ending than the last one. I’m a sucker for red violence. ***1/4