superkix

This match is incredible and my favorite tag match of the decade. It has everything I love about professional wrestling, from great psychology and selling to the unruly nature of the match and the escalation of emotions and hostilities. Everyone plays their respective roles so well, to the point that grumpster Tenryu is more concerned about beating on an injured Choshu outside of the ring then what’s happening to his partner inside. Jumbo immediately goes after Choshu’s taped ribs and in one of the best moments of the match, he slaps Yatsu silly and throws him into his corner so he can tag Choshu back in. When Tenryu comes in, he’s double teamed at once -- actually, twice, taking an assisted piledriver. He’s able to put on the figure-four leglock but Choshu’s able to roll to his corner, where Yatsu flies in with a diving elbow drop to Tenryu while Tsuruta takes advantage and stomps at Choshu’s prone ribs. Tsuruta and Tenryu continue targeting Riki’s ribs with Jumbo tearing away some of the protective tape and putting him in the cobra twist. Chaos unfolds as backdrops are…well, dropped, brutal lariats are thrown, and a chair is used against the recovering Choshu. Tenryu continues attacking Choshu while Yatsu works away on Jumbo, busting him open on the ringpost before unloading his offensive arsenal, hitting a piledriver, a backdrop, and a backbreaker before poorly applying the sansori-gatame, which is broken up by Tenryu’s nasty lariat. Choshu is the thorn in Tenryu’s side during the finishing stretch, thwarting his pin attempts on Yatsu, and while Yatsu is able to hit a big German suplex hold for a nearfall, Tenryu at last puts him down with the powerbomb to win it.

I feel like this Is a match of firsts but maybe I’m mistaken. The first apron suplex spot? The original bombfest? I mean, right out of the gate, Tenryu clobbers Choshu with a lariat, before following up with a ton of offense, including a jumping piledriver and DDT. When he’s unable to seal the deal as quickly as he’d like, a grumpy Tenryu starts putting some nasty boots to Choshu, not giving him an inch. Choshu’s finally able to fire off a beautiful belly-to-back suplex for two, following it up with a lariat. His sasorigatame attempts are unsuccessful and Tenryu’s able to find an opening, delivering a sheer-drop powerbomb for a nearfall. The finish is awesome, as the two fight on the apron and Choshu kills him with a backdrop onto the apron, winning via countout. This ruled.

Kind of a mess but fun – Sergei’s almost filled the Willie Peeters role for 92-93 with his explosiveness but lack of actually connecting. He does have some cool suplex throws and slams, and when he’s on the ground, he’s grabbing arms, legs, chokes. Naruse is, more or less, trying to weather the storm of Sergei’s barrages and find a submission. He’ll throw a couple of knees here and there, but he’s mostly attacking the legs on the mat. This went a little long as they kind of struggle to get anything cinched in, with Sergei ultimately submitting him with a kneebar. Sergei is dope but his sweet spot is under 10 minutes.

Yeah, you're basically giving a platform for idiots to say idiotic "fake science" things to easily impressionable listeners.

This match is the culmination of the entire rivalry and embraces the viciousness of shoot-style through Tiger’s strikes and Fujiwara’s grappling. Fujiwara puts Tiger through the ringer on the mat, making him work for his rope breaks and at times, refusing to let him out of his grasp. He’s spry and self-assured, bouncing around the ring and looking maybe five years younger here. But once again, he’s starkly reminded of his own kryptonite when Tiger mule kicks him off and punts him in the ribs. As Tiger’s aggression becomes more and more intense down the stretch, Fujiwara’s resolve wavers and ultimately, he’s conquered by Tiger’s kicks – the viewer left with a lasting image of Fujiwara as Tiger’s foot slips through his desperate fingers and he crumbles in complete exhaustion. Awesome match and my second favorite of the series. It's a shame this does not exist in full.

This was most evenly matched in terms of modifying offense and defense for combat. For Tiger, he obviously practiced his arm takedowns and holds in between matches, whereas Fujiwara’s plan is a simple one – catch a kick, trip the leg, and submit. Tiger doesn’t make it easy for him to pull off, as he’s able to counter the catch with a kick or a takedown of his own. Tiger comes at him harder, faster, repeatedly hacking at Fujiwara’s leg with strikes to prevent him from being able to stand on his own two feet. The punishment and perseverance on Fujiwara’s part pays off in the long run, as he’s finally able to catch the Tiger by the tail (or, in this case, the foot) and lock in the kneebar for the submission.

Fujiwara is constantly aware of his positioning in the ring and Tiger's proximity to the ropes, scooting back when he’s got him in a leglock to prevent the break. When Tiger’s on the offensive, Fujiwara retreats to the corner in defense, cognizant of his weakness to Tiger’s strikes. Tiger nearly overwhelms him again with strikes until Fujiwara starts lobbing punches of his own and shoot piledrives him to red light Sayama’s drive. There’s effective simplicity in Fujiwara’s execution of the final submission -- the way he maneuvers himself around Tiger’s body with the arm in tow, patient yet methodical as he seeks out an opening and quickly cranks on the elbow to tap Tiger.

A fun exhibition match for Todorov, who was really good at tying Gotchev up in interesting predicaments. He keeps trapping the arm, whipping him down, going for armbars. Gotchev is less of a finesse guy and more of a rough and tumble guy. He isn’t much of a striker but he’ll dump Todorov with a fireman’s carry, or his awesome bearhug suplexes, and when he’s got him on the mat, he keeps trying for a choke. Cool submission finish too.

A pretty fun, extended squash, with Nagai controlling most of the match. He's throwing suplexes and attacking the leg with submissions, popping Naruse with kicks to the leg and the ribs. At one point, Naruse catches a kick and uses a cool waterwheel drop. But that’s about it. Nagai knees him in the face, kicks him in the head, and finally submits him with the armbar.

Hasn't this been the case for awhile now? Since like...Fozzy?

Love this match wholeheartedly. This is two guys going out there with something to prove. In the case of Maeda, he's the reigning king of shoot-style. He's got a status quo to maintain and Takada's the pesky teenager trying to the keys to dad's car. The striking in this match is no joke, the takedowns and suplexes awesome, and mixed into the groundwork are some really neat moments. After a couple of love taps to warm up the fans, Takada goes in for a takedown and Maeda catches him with a reflec kick before taking him to school with the educated feet. Maeda's takedowns and counters are almost self-regulating, and he's able to slip out of a lot of Takada's submission attempts on the mat. When Takada looks like he's in control, Maeda slaps on the cross armbreaker early on and Takada freaks his way to the ropes and retreats to the corner, only for Maeda to follow the trail of blood and get back in the hunt. When they're on their feet striking, Maeda catches the leg and slams him with a capture suplex in almost one fluid motion. The selling in this match is pick and choose -- it's blatant at times and good when it needs to be but you know, that's mas o menos the standard for shoot-style wrestling. Takada is more of the offender in this case but Maeda does a terrific job selling the leg as Takada relentlessly attacks it with kicks and holds. The way he grabs a leg and steps into the opposite leg before laying back with the hold was sweet. Takada's on it in the final minutes, as he's able to block another capture suplex attempt, cracking Maeda with a high kick to the head, slamming him with the belly-to-belly, and locking in the reverse armbar. He counters a German suplex hold with another armbar and gets a nearfall off of a dragon suplex hold but the king still wears the crown. When Takada tries to take him out with a rolling kick, Maeda catches the attempt and hits his German suplex hold, transitioning into the crossface chickenwing to tap Takada out. Not as true "shoot-style" as their follow-up match in November but definitely the most entertaining match of their rivalry.

For fifteen minutes -- no strikes, one suplex, lots of grappletime. Greco's swift and sneaky, able to evade a lot of Ishikawa's gruff old man attempts. They're both largely looking for chokes with Greco quick to apply the leg scissors. When Greco tries for the out-of-nowhere leg takedown, Ishikawa's able to snag an arm with his legs and get the cross kneebar on but Greco uses a rope break. Ishikawa throws Greco with a German suplex but can't capitalize as Carl's able to put him in a swanky scissored armbar and then a front necklock to force him to the ropes. The way Greco cranks his legs around Ishikawa's neck during the follow-up guillotine is awesome but the veteran grabs an arm and lays back, forcing Greco back to the ropes. They stand, they mutually grab the ropes because they want this to end, and the last couple of minutes are about as aggressive as this match gets, with lots of cool holds and slip outs. In the end, Greco cinches in a cravate and picks up the impressive win over Ishikawa. A matwork wet dream.

This was part of the '88 BOSJ tournament. Hase gets punished by Takada early on in this match-up, taking some nasty kicks to the face and really struggling to stay on his feet in a terrifically sold performance. But he goes from nearly being KO'd on the mat to firing off a quick German suplex hold at the snap of a finger. The selling, more or less, goes out the window in favor of back-and-forth offense, with Hase managing to pull off his signature Northern Lights suplex hold for a two count. Takada tries to suplex Hase from the top rope but they end up collapsing to the outside and brawling over the barricade, which results in a draw. This had its moments but these two would go on to have a superior match the following month for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title.

Backlund in UWF, looking bewildered as ever but somehow managing to pull it off, with his "whoa whoa-ing", his silly taunts, and his vicious elbow shots to counter Takada's stiff kicks. Backlund's quirkiness adds charm to the match, a fun, almost unpredictable element that distinguishes this from a lot of other shoot-style bouts of the 80's. I won't go through the whole match because at times, it's all over the place, but there are so many cool touches and moments. When Backlund is on the mat, working the arm, he throws his weight into the hold. He has answers for Takada's offense -- at one point, taking a rush of knees from Takada and turning into a backdrop before immediately going into a reverse armbar and forcing Takada to use another rope break. Once Backlund's nose is bloodied, his intensity picks up and his elbows are some of the best thrown. The work on the mat becomes more desperate, the strikes less yielding. One of my favorite moments of the match comes when Backlund uses a fireman's carry slam to put Takada in leglock and Takada responds by heel kicking his way out of it. He really takes it to Backlund in the final minutes with his kicks, using a belly-to-belly slam to set-up a calf slicer, turning that into a single leg crab. With Backlund's face a bloody mess, Takada slaps on the double wristlock, the match ends, and Backlund's like "what the heck?" -- great, great stuff. Watching Backlund fight his way out of this giant predicament of a match was a blast.

This is a good companion piece to the May tag match, with the same intensity and hot exchanges. I loved Fujiwara in this -- his ability to take a beating from the opposition is one of his hallmarks but he does his fair share of dishing out the revenge slaps and headbutts. I thought Maeda looked really good here, especially in his interactions with Yamazaki, whether its catching a kick and dropping down into a leglock, snapping off a belly-to-belly suplex or sweeping the leg in a beautiful counter. At one point, he hits what looks like a capture buster! In the final minutes of the match, Takada is blasting Yamazaki with some nasty kicks, landing a few to the head and face, but when he tries for a big rolling solebutt and can't hit all of it, Yamazaki scores the pinfall with a quick German suplex hold. Loved this.

Heated exchanges, snug strikes, sweet suplexes -- this is my kind of tag. I mean, you’ve got Yamazaki in there with his sick lightning kicks, Takada and Maeda kicking and suplexing all day long, Fujiwara with his slaps and headbutts, at one point, re-injuring a bandaged Maeda, busting him open. There’s almost zero down time, which is kind of what you want from this type of match. Maeda can be a phone call away from a shitty performance but he was really fired up here, especially after seeing red. He had some slick suplexes, including a dragon, and I loved the hot finish between he and Yamazaki – it exemplifies the three rules of UWF perfectly. He first stuns Yamazaki with wheel kicks, plants him with a capture suplex, and then submits him with the crossface chickenwing. Kick, suplex, submission.

If you liked their match from '84, then this is your jam, especially the second half, when they're trying to submit, outstrike and outsuplex each other. The early portion of this match ends in, more or less, a stale mate as they trade kicks and knees and scramble around the mat for control. At one point, Takada knocks down Yamazaki with a kick but he's unable to capitalize. Kazuo's finally able to stun Takada with a solebutt and then blasts him in the face with a kick. He becomes a pitbull at this point in the contest, sinking his teeth into Takada with strikes, hitting a German suplex hold and going right into the submission hold. Takada's able to fire back with strikes of his own, crumpling Yamazaki with a kick to the gut. Before long, they're both unloading with some really brutal offense, trying to get that ten count or submission. Yamazaki is able to make back to his feet before the 10 but finally, a well-placed kick to the midsection from Takada is enough to keep him down for the count. Really good stuff.

This is Jumbo working in dominant fashion, with Tenryu fighting to get in every lick of offense. He tries to wear Tenryu down with a hard-hitting onslaught of moves, including an awesome diving knee strike, and that recurring Cobra Twist. Tenryu gets in a knee here or an armbar takedown there but Jumbo's firmly in control early on. Tenryu is able to pull off a German suplex hold and powerbombs Jumbo a little too close to the ropes. Late in the game, he starts picking apart Jumbo's leg, surviving a pair of backdrop suplexes, before the action spills outside. Tenryu tries to take him out with a kneebreaker onto the time keeper's table but Jumbo is able to make it back to the ring. However, after they trade enziguris, Jumbo finds himself tangled in the ropes and can't get back to his feet before the referee calls for the bell, awarding Tenryu the victory. A good spirited showing from Tenryu against the more experienced and confident Jumbo.

This was a whirlwind of non-stop, no nonsense action, with plenty of stiff kicks and suplexes from Team UWF. I mean, the selling is non-existent but there's little to no downtime. This builds from their 3/20 match with Takada being a little more on the ball when it comes to Koshinaka's wiliness. After Koshinaka catches a foot, Takada slaps his way free and blasts him with a back kick to the grill. Maeda suplexes everyone around the ring, including dumping Koshinaka on his noggin with a belly-to-belly. Mutoh pulls off the moonsault press for a fired up crowd but it's not enough to beat the shooters. Koshinaka tries for a few roll-ups but Takada is able to counter an attempt with a cross kneebar and Koshinaka has no choice but to tap out. A fun, suplex-happy match with everyone poppin' up and hittin' moves.

This was a blast. Everyone (mostly) was fired up, the exchanges were red hot, the atmosphere electric. Ueda was a peroxide turd but fortunately, he’s not in this much – I mean, he tags in only to tag in Inoki. But when Fujiwara and Maeda are in there shooting against Fujinami and Inoki, it’s fantastic. There’s a lot to love about this match but there’s also a lot going on. The aggressive jockeying between Fujiwara and Fujinami, Takada and Maeda blasting Team NJPW with kicks and suplexes everywhere. The apron drama during the elimination teases really translated well with the crowd. The double eliminations were awesome, especially Fujinami trying in vain to shake off Fujiwara’s sleeper hold until the only option is to spill over the ropes to the outside. Of course, Inoki is the hero of this particular story and the lone survivor of his team against the invaders. After submitting Takada with the sleeper, Inoki endures everything the fiery Kido throws at him and connects with the big enziguri to win it for New Japan. Tons of passion, intensity and non-stop action – highly recommended.

The pairing of Shibata with KENTA works on so many different levels. It’s a shame we only got three tag matches out of them. Hot opening as Big Taue chicken-steps around the ring and Shibata tries to bully the vet with elbows and boots. Taue slaps him silly and gives him a coconut crush to the entertainment of the fans. They eat up Taue’s dive tease. Shibata really brings out the best in the veterans because he gives zero fucks regarding their age. Shiozaki makes for a good whipping boy, especially against a pissed off Shibata. They have great chemistry together. Shibata mocks Taue with a couple of coconut crushes over his knee to Shiozaki and oh boy, Taue is pissed, shaking the ropes. Shibata puts Taue in the octopus hold and when Go comes in and breaks it up, Shibata pedigrees him! They try to set Taue up for the Doomsday Device but he chops his way out. He catches KENTA with a great chokeslam counter to the springboard before chokeslamming Shibata and hitting a sit-out powerbomb for a huge false finish. After Shibata takes down Taue with the sleeper hold > PK combo, they finish off Go with the brutal springboard Doomsday Device for the win. Probably the best Takeover match of the three and a hot crowd for the Shibata/Taue exchanges.

For the most part, I liked the story of Shibata trying to take down big boss Kensuke. I thought the legwork was a smart approach, even if it didn't feel like a real threat, but I liked how it came about with Sasaki powerbombing his way out of an armbar, showing off, and Shibata quickly snatching the leg for the takedown and heel hook. Shibata kicking the leg before dragging Sasaki back to the middle and re-applying was great. Sasaki's selling was okay at best but he no sold a lot of Shibata's strikes. At one point, he hulks through probably 15 hard kicks from Shibata before finally succumbing to the damage. After blowing off the legwork, Sasaki hits a bunch of lariats and hurts himself finishing off Shibata with the Northern Lights Bomb. Not a barn burner but the crowd was into it and I thought Shibata playing the underdog was fun.

Well, this was a hot mess. Marufuji and Ibushi weren’t at their bests here, with Ibushi looking especially ungainly. Marufuji just didn’t seem to care much at all. That being said, I loved the shoot interactions between Shibata and Morishima. During the match, Shibata tags in Ibushi but Morishima completely blows off Ibushi’s kicks to continue fighting with Shibata and when Ibushi finally gets his attention, Morishima clobbers him with an elbow and tags out. Team NOAH work on the lower back and legs of Ibushi for a bit, keeping him at a distance from his partner, but once Shibata gets the tag, he goes completely nuts on Marufuji with strikes in the corner and poor Marufuji doesn’t have a prayer. It’s an awesome moment in an otherwise not-so-awesome match.

This may be my favorite Shibata in BML match. A super fun little match, with a pudgy, teenaged Nakajima slugging it out with Shibata Tons of great strikes, good counterwork, and crowd-supported hope spots for Nakajima. I loved Shibata’s Cobra Twist counter into the shoot pin attempt and Nakajima’s mini-elbows. When Nakajima begins a comeback, Shibata cuts him off the hard way with a piledriver! Nakajima fires off a big roundhouse kick and a German suplex hold but Shibata comes out of the two count with a double wristlock on Nakajima. Shibata follows that up with a PK to the arm, a kick to the chest, and he’s right back into the armbar off the kickout. Nakajima tries to escape but when he slips, Shibata sinks his teeth in and it’s over quickly.

Monma’s got an interesting look, almost JCVD villain-esque. He’s a little wild with some of his strikes but his knees looked decent and he did pull out a swanky armbar takedown. After an exaggerated Death Valley Driver, Shibata unloads on him with penalty kicks and backdrops, dumping on his head for the three count. Decent match.