William Bologna

Jumbo Tsuruta/Shunji Takano vs Terry Gordy/Steve Williams Steve Williams' All Japan debut. He and Gordy bum rush Jumbo and dance around. It seems to be working on the crowd. The announcers are really trying to get these guys over. They’re basically making it sound like Takano doesn’t have a chance. Williams has "superhuman killing techniques"! They sit in holds a lot, and they’re not any good at it. Gordy especially is not doing a lot with Takano's legs. You're supposed to be pretending to hurt him, Terry. Williams is new here, but he knows the pecking order. Takano doesn’t get to do anything, but Jumbo can hurt him. They did a fun double-team: Gordy comes off the ropes, and Williams presses him in the air and drops him on Jumbo. Looks like it hurt. Takano finally gets in a couple moves before they run into him a bunch of times, and Williams powerslams him. Jumbo (whose jacket definitely says "Jambo") doesn’t bother to break up the pin. These guys are going to be a big part of things going forward, and so far I'm less than excited.

Genichiro Tenryu/Toshiaki Kawada vs Kabuki/Mighty Inoue Inoue’s still bouncing around like a goof - he flings himself out of the ring so Kawada can do a bad plancha. His somersault senton later made me chortle. Tenryu’s continuing to sell Kabuki’s punches like they're killing him. Kabuki's kicks are good too. Kabuki has Kawada in a sleeper for a long time. I don’t get this: They’re over in Kabuki’s corner. Kawada keeps putting a foot on the rope, but the ref kicks it off. They say “There is a large distance between the red corner and the blue corner, so there is no need for rope breaks.” That's not helping! Inoue and Kabuki never do learn the lesson that they shouldn't put Kawada in holds. You’re just going to get your head stomped on. Things get spicier and spicier with Kabuki and Tenryu cold-cocking each other at every opportunity, including Tenryu getting blasted with a chair when the ref isn't looking. Finally, Inoue reverses Kawada’s waistlock only to catch a Tenryugiri. Kawada reverses the waistlock back only to get Kabukied in the head, and Inoue rolls him up. Excellent match. Kabuki looked like a killer, and Inoue's putting in some great work when they let him.

All Japan TV February 19th, 1990 Yet again, we’re coming to you from truculent, ephemeral Korakuen Hall. Seems like we’re here more often than not. It’s the first day of the Excite Series; let’s see if it lives up to the name. Akira Taue vs Barry Windham Windham looks checked out, but maybe that’s just how he looked. I really like his punches. He and Taue spend maybe too much time standing still and hitting each other, but both of their strikes look good enough that it’s fine by me. Windham winds with a second rope superplex. Kenta Kobashi vs Stan Hansen Classic Hansen entrance. He’s shoving fans, hitting them with his rope, everyone’s going crazy, and he and Kobashi start fighting immediately. Takes a while for Stan to get rid of his chaps. They’re talking about Kobashi’s seven match series. He didn’t win much, but he had a good showing. This, they say, feels like part eight of the series. They also tell us that Kobashi weighs 1.1 kg and is 2.2 years old. I gotta say, he looks a lot older. With Steve Williams here, Stan will have to protect his reputation as the strongest foreigner. This is wonderful. They take turns beating each other up, and they’re so compelling that you can’t take your eyes off of it. I am overjoyed that Stan Hansen is back. Also, this is my favorite version of Kobashi. I always liked him less than I felt like I should - too much weeping and head-dropping. None of that here. He’s fiery, he’s a great seller, and he’s hitting Stan nearly as hard as Stan’s hitting him. I’m loving these short singles matches they’re putting him in.

Davey Boy Smith/Dynamite Kid/Tiger Mask vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Masa Fuchi/Yoshiaki Yatsu Weird teams. Well, one weird team I guess. I wonder if everyone’s working harder because it’s the main event. Guys who usually bore/annoy me (Davey Boy, Yatsu, Tiger Mask) look good here. Everybody’s really throwing their bodies into everything. Yatsu impresses with a sick capture suplex off a Tiger Mask kick. This popped me: The Bulldogs set up their finish (DBS scoops the guy, tags Dynamite, and powerslams his opponent; Dynamite hits the top rope headbutt). But just as Kid starts flying, Tenryu and Yatsu run in and drag Fuchi back so DK hits nothing but mat. Everyone spills outside, but both Bulldogs manage to get in there to double-team Fuchi until Davey puts him away with a top rope powerslam. Fun stuff. Everyone was good. This is the end of the New Year Giant Series, and the last five minutes of the program are spent preparing us for the Excite Series in a couple weeks. They’re building hype for Steve Williams and hell, it worked on me. “Steve Williams, a murderous doctor, is a professional wrestling fan’s dream.” Awesome! Can't wait! They also run through the other foreigners who will be joining us. Each one gets an epithet, starting with Williams' "Doctor Death": Terry Gordy (“Human Torpedo”), Doug Furnas & Danny Kroffat (Can-Am Express, except my phone says “Gangnam Express”), Dustin Rhodes (billed as Dusty Rhodes Jr., “American Dream II”), Joe Deaton (“Mid-southern Young Eagle”), and finally Stan Hansen (“Unsinkable Ship”). But the biggest deal is the All Japan War! The Tenryu Alliance vs. the All Japan Army! Next week! Be there!

Genichiro Tenryu vs Isao Takagi Big match feel here. We get yet another recap and then a backstage interview with Takagi (he plans to do his best). The dubbed commentary is in fine form. “It’s a match of physical strength with a ball-smashing angle.” Seems more like an ECW thing. “Takagi is offered as a blood sacrifice to Tenryu.” That actually does sum it up. It's more of a squash than I was expecting. They never really tease the upset (which they did pretty well in their last tag match). Takagi does get a comeback - a belly-to-belly followed by a slew of headbutts and then some spinning kicks that might be better than Kawada's. But then Tenryu takes over and scorpion deathlocks him for the win. This match has a thread on this here website, and people are ecstatic. I liked it, but it's another installment of the same Tenryu show we've been getting every week. Match time, 5:41. You owe me a drink, Tenryu!

All Japan TV (February 12th, 1990) We’re back at hoary, saturnine Korakuen Hall. Kabuki/Mighty Inoue vs Toshiaki Kawada/Samson Fuyuki Inoue’s a lot of fun. He just does whimsical stuff all the time. He’s a goofball. He’s always flipping around. His neck/upper back is bandaged, and the Footloose work on it a bit. Fuyuki clothesline him right in the bandage, which makes Kabuki mad enough that he rushes in and just beats the hell out of him. The Footloose basically trade a few of Fuyuki’s brain cells for the victory: with Kabuki distracted, Kawada blasts Inoue with a clothesline and wins. That’s the coolest thing we’ve seen Kawada do so far. A hint of what’s to come. Kenta Kobashi vs Abdullah the Butcher It’s the final match of the Kenta Kobashi 7 Match Series. We learn that Kenta is 2-4 so far. In the interest of completeness, here are the results: Loss to Yatsu Loss to Kabuki Win over Randy Rose Win over Rip Rogers Loss to Davey Boy Smith Loss to Jumbo Tsuruta And now we finish with Abdullah the Butcher. Abdullah doesn’t bump too much - I’m sure that’s not a surprise - but he does it right. Kobashi has to hit him a few times and gradually wear him down. Once enough damage has been done, he’s convincingly frustrated. Kobashi takes most of the match, but the Butcher gets one of his trademark abrupt comebacks: Throat punch, elbow drop, win. This was great. I love Abdullah. It was only five minutes, but you don't want to push it. Keep in mind Abdullah's almost 50. It’s too bad we didn’t the see the rest of the series. The three we got were fun.

Toshiaki Kawada/Samson Fuyuki/Genichiro Tenryu vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Kabuki/Mighty Inoue It sure looks like the front of Jumbo’s jacket says Jambo. This is my first Mighty Inoue match. It’s definitely not his first match - he’s got some Dynamite Kid-quality divots in his forehead. I'm glad he's here. He seems out of place - he does weird tumbling on offense and defense (he takes a particularly goofy bump on an enzuigiri). It looks 50s-ish. I could not figure out what the finish was - everyone’s milling around and the ref raises Inoue’s hand. Finally, they gave us a text explanation. Tenryu got counted out after Inoue headbutted him. This made no impression on me. I've already forgotten I watched it. We cut to a press conference, and there’s Baba sitting there with Vince McMahon! Sakaguchi’s there too. They’re doing an interpromotional show in April. They tease us with the first minute of the long-awaited Tenryu vs. Takagi match, but we have to wait until next week for the rest of it.

All Japan TV February 5th, 1990 Great Kabuki/Isao Takagi vs Genichiro Tenryu/Toshiaki Kawada Tenryu hits Takagi with a chair. He and Kabuki bleed. Tenryu’s great (theme of the thread!) and Kabuki’s cool, but I wish we were getting more out of the supporting cast. It’s neat that Tenryu’s working this little program with Takagi, but he’s not up to it. Takagi gets a long stretch where he hits a bunch of moves, and Kawada has to save his boss. This lasts until he goes for a tag, but Kabuki’s too beat up to make it in. Kawada bushwhacks him with a clothesline, and Takagi stumbles into a rollup. Cool finishing stretch. Tenryu: “He fought back well. That guy is either incredibly gutsy or just plain stupid. At Korakuen Hall, I’ll knock him out in five minutes. If it takes longer, I’ll buy everyone a drink.”

January 1990 Power Rankings: Genichiro Tenryu: I learned during the Johnny Smith Project that All Japan Pro Wrestling was never afraid to roll out endless no-stakes tag matches and that, without the presence of a truly dynamic participant, these were the wrestling equivalent of overcooked chicken breast. Stan Hansen saved many of these matches with his presence and skill, and Tenryu is filling the same role here. Best guy in the company, and it's not close. Abdullah T. Butcher: I never thought I'd be on Team Butcher, but he's so much fun. Samson Fuyuki: Great German suplexes, impressive flying bodypresses, and he's good at something I'd never considered rating a wrestler on so far: He's good at breaking up pins in tag matches. He's always right where he needs to be. Jumbo Tsuruta: Honestly he's looking a little bland compared to Tenryu and compared to what I remember of the Misawa feud. But he's still Jumbo. Randy Rose: Real fun worker. The Kobashi match was a highlight. I wish I could find a slot for Ivan Koloff. What a pleasant surprise he was. When I started this, I was most looking forward to seeing four guys: Tenryu, Jumbo, Misawa, and Kawada. Jumbo's been a little disappointing, but good lord Misawa and Kawada are useless. Does Misawa take of the mask and instantly become the best in the world? I guess we'll find out.

Genichiro Tenryu/Toshiaki Kawada vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Isao Takagi There's a recap of Takagi attacking Tenryu with a chair before the Koloff match, and the story continues seamlessly as Takagi comes out hot and brawls with Tenryu This time the dubbed commentary calls the vertical suplex “the friend-buster.” We get more Tenryu vs Tsuruta interactions this time out - they’ve been pretty sparing with them in previous matchups. These are the good parts, and they really are good. Otherwise, it’s mostly Tenryu torturing Takagi until he gets mad enough at Jumbo’s corner men that he hops down and blasts one of them with a chair. They mob him, so Jumbo has no problem putting Kawada away. Tenryu fends off the henchmen with a table and brawls with Jumbo for a little. I guess Yoshinari Ogawa’s on Team Tenryu, but he’s standing right there and doesn’t do anything. He’s insufficiently committed to the Revolution. The drama continues with onscreen text I translated with my phone: All Japan is finally headed for an all out war! Tenryu went on to storm the All Japan locker room. Tagami was knocked down when Tenryu threw a trash can at him. Tsuruta: That’s going too far. That’s not wrestling anymore Baba: There’s no such thing as going too far in pro wrestling. Just go all out. Tenryu has no comment. It’s crazy how this entire promotion is built around Tenryu right now. Enjoy it while you can.

All Japan TV January 28th, 1990 Abdullah the Butcher/Randy Rose vs Yoshiaki Yatsu/Shinichi Nakano When join in progress with Butcher choking Nakano over the rope until Yatsu hits him in the head with a case. And Abdullah’s bleeding. They actually get heat on Abdullah, and he even takes (badly) a couple moves. He’s full savage madman from fake Africa in peril for a minute here - Rose is trying to save him, but the ref won’t let him. The crowd’s really into Yatsu and Abdullah. The latter abruptly decides he’s done for the day: He tags in, throat chops Nakano, and drops the elbow. He does an extended victory dance, and the fans are loving it. He mad dogs Baba at the commentary table on the way out. British Bulldogs vs Tiger Mask/Kenta Kobashi Not a whole lot to say about this one. The announcer calls Tiger Mask a Canadian backpacker. They do play off the ending of previous Bulldogs matches. We get the powerslam/headbutt setup, but Misawa comes in and breaks it up. Predictably, Kobashi takes the fall, and once again Misawa has to force himself to stay on the apron and not stop it. I blame Davey Boy. He should have run in to block the Canadian backpacker while Dynamite was in the air.

Genichiro Tenryu/Samson Fuyuki vs Tiger Mask/Jumbo Tsuruta Fuyuki’s wearing a Revolution jacket. On the back it says “Now more than ever we can work it out.” If anyone has an explanation for that, I’d love to hear it. There’s a lot of faction talk from the commentary desk. The Tenryu alliance got weaker once Hansen left (which he hasn't - maybe they meant that he’s not on this tour). I hate this Tiger Mask crap. His kicks suck. His flying looks like shit - Fuyuki’s is better. In his book, Dynamite Kid mentioned that Misawa was not a good Tiger Mask, and he was right about that. Tenryu always makes it spicy, and the quality of this match is attributable to him alone. He breaks up a pin and turns it into an extended assault. He rips Misawa’s mask then hits him with a chair. “Among fans it is known that Tiger Mask is Mr. Misawa.” Interesting finish. Jumbo has Fuyuki in a half Boston crab. Tenryu comes in, clotheslines him, and heads back to his corner, but Tsuruta holds onto it and gets the submission while Tenryu’s back is turned. Disgusted, he leaves Fuyuki in the ring. Good stuff. Tenryu rules.

All Japan TV (January 21st, 1990) We are coming to you once again from venerable, stately Korakuen Hall. We begin with part three of the Kenta Kobashi Challenge Series. Kenta Kobashi vs. Randy Rose They're calling Rose "the Crimson Baron." We start with a cool sequence where they get in a knuckle lock and hold onto it for some time while they do monkey flips and stuff. Rose has fun tricks. I already mentioned the grab trunks and fall backwards to sling your opponent out the ring spot. He does that here, and later he’s sitting on the second rope. Kobashi punches him, and he wobbles backwards and then back up. Another punch, another wobble. Love it. They go back and forth, and it’s all very nifty. Kobashi wins with the moonsault to put himself at 1-2. Rose is poor loser - he looks pissed and insists he got his shoulder up. This was really good. British Bulldogs vs The Fantastics I guess I should learn which Fantastic is which. Tommy Rogers is the dark-haired one, and they’re both looking real spiffy in their glittery vests and matching bowties. They do a full lap high-fiving fans. A commentator mentions “The Brilliant Pervert.” Keep that guy away from me. They spend a long time ranking six tag teams. I'm not sure who they all are, but the Malenkos and Rock and Roll Express are mentioned, and Footloose gets third place despite being the champs. Rogers does all the work, and he's a flashy guy. Sweet German on Davey, amazing top rope sunset flip. Also, they tell us that he won a million yen in that battle royal the other day. We get the regular Bulldogs finish. Fairly entertaining thanks to newly-minted millionaire Tommy Rogers. They're putting Davey and Dynamite on TV every week, but they're not very good.

Jumbo Tsuruta/Isao Takagi/Great Kabuki vs Toshiaki Kawada/Samson Fuyuki/Genichiro Tenryu They set this one up with a fun recap of recent events. We see Jumbo beat Hansen to win the Triple Crown (I like the finish - Hansen misses a lariat and bounces off the ropes, allowing Jumbo to roll him up. Stan is less than pleased and socks a bleeding Jumbo in the head repeatedly). We move onto Tenryu beating Jumbo with a powerbomb to become the second champion (Stan is so happy for him!). Jumbo wins back the belts awkwardly (powerbomb attempt into a bad hurricanrana for the pin). We’re all caught up. They tell a couple stories here. One is that Kabuki keeps getting to Tenryu. He wins a bunch of strike exchanges with his weird punches, and Tenryu winds up getting real mad at him. At one point he takes a break from Jumbo to turn around and slap Kabuki, who’s on the apron minding his own business. The other is an actual face in peril sequence. After some rough work outside (including another bout of Tenryu and Kabuki hating each other) Takagi comes back in bleeding. Tenryu & co. cut off some tag attempts until he brings in Jumbo, who’s a figurative literal house afire. After fighting spiritedly, in his weakened state Takagi does eventually take the fall. I don’t want to focus on the translationese gibberish I’m getting, but when there’s a vertical suplex, and they start talking about the devastating “brain pasta” - that got a reaction out of me. I loved the finishing stretch, particularly the logical run-ins. These dudes weren’t acting like they’d never seen a tag match before. When someone’s setting up a finish, the other guys try to stop it. This continues til the end, as Fuyuki gets in the way of Team Tsuruta while Tenryu polishes off Takagi with a powerbomb. Note that this match explains Takagi’s chair attack on Tenryu the next day before the Tenryu/Koloff match, which makes it even dopier that they aired them out of order. This was easily the best thing we’ve seen so far. Real hot stuff, and we got more of a contribution from the henchmen than we did last time/next time. Takagi did his job well enough, and Kabuki was great with Tenryu. Kawada’s still working on his kicks, but he hit a few nice ones. Fuyuki did some decent flying. I’m more used to him as an enormous greasy fat guy, so it’s odd seeing him soar from the top rope. Battle Royal We actually get two battles royal, one from night one and one from night two. Battle Royal the First Takagi goes after Tenryu. I’m glad he got a chance to clean himself up. Abdullah pins Baba, and then there’s a frenzy of everyone jumping on a guy to keep him down for a pinfall. At last, Davey Boy sunset flips Shunji Takano, then Yatsu rolls Smith over to win. Battle Royal the Second Same idea. I like how loose these things are. All Japan booking is always real tight, but in a battle royal you can have Skull Von Crush pin Misawa. Tommy Rogers of all people wins this one. Now we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming.

British Bulldogs vs Tiger Mask/Shinichi Nakano This is Misawa’s return from knee surgery that kept him out for most of 1989. Lot of talk about this, including an interview segment and training footage. I don’t know one damn thing about Shinichi Nakano. Commentary is very frank about physiques: They’re amazed at Davey, but they do note that Dynamite is a lot smaller than he used to be. He is still dangerous because of his technique. “The elbow that once split Tenryu’s forehead flew into Nakano’s face.” I remember in Dynamite’s book mentioned that he hit Tenryu so hard it drew blood. I wonder if they’re talking about the same thing. They rassle around for a while until the out of nowhere finish (DK top rope suplexes Nakano, and Misawa has to force himself not to get there in time to break it up). This was a whole lotta nothing.