goodhelmet

Tatsumi Fujinami & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Dynamite Kid & Steve Keirn (1/18/80) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Steve Keirn (2/3 Falls) (2/1/80) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dynamite Kid (2/5/80) Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen (2/8/80) Gran Hamada vs. Babyface (4/3/80) Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen (4/3/80) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Chavo Guerrero (5/9/80) Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen (5/9/80) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Tony Rocco (9/11/80) Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen (9/11/80) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Tony Londos (9/19/80) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Kengo Kimura (9/25/80) Chavo Guerrero vs. Kengo Kimura (9/30/80) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ron Starr (9/30/80) Bob Backlund vs. Stan Hansen (9/30/80) Chavo Guerrero vs. Kengo Kimura (11/3/80) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Steve Keirn (11/6/80) Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (4/23/81) Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen (4/23/81) George Takano vs. Stan Lane (7/24/81) Tiger Mask/Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Pete Roberts/El Solitario (9/4/81) Andre the Giant vs. Stan Hansen (9/23/81) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Isamu Teranishi (10/8/81) Tiger Mask & Kengo Kimura vs. Negro Navarro & El Signo (10/30/81) Tiger Mask vs. Gran Hamada (11/6/81) Tiger Mask vs. El Canek (12/8/81) Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Andre the Giant & Rene Goulet (12/10/81) Tiger Mask, Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Baby Face, Dynamite Kid & Abdullah the Butcher (1/8/82) Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (1/28/82) Tiger Mask vs. Bret Hart (2/5/82) Tiger Mask vs. Steven Wright (4/1/82) Andre the Giant vs. Killer Khan (4/1/82) Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger (5/26/82) Hulk Hogan vs. Abdullah the Butcher (5/26/82) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dick Murdoch (7/6/82) Tiger Mask & Kengo Kimura vs. Bret Hart & Dynamite Kid (7/16/82) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dick Murdoch (7/23/82) Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (8/5/82) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Hiro Hamaguchi (9/24/82) Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi (11/4/82) Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan (12/9/82) Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi (1/6/83) Gran Hamada, Kantaro Hoshino & Tiger Mask vs. Missionaries De La Muerte (1/14/83) Tiger Mask & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Gran Hamada (2/10/83) Antonio Inoki & Kengo Kimura vs. Adrian Adonis & Bob Orton Jr. (3/4/83) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (4/3/83) Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (4/21/83) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (4/21/83) Akira Maeda vs. Killer Khan (5/17/83) Hulk Hogan vs. Antonio Inoki (IWGP League Final) (6/2/83) Dick Murdoch vs. Abdullah the Butcher (7/7/83) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (7/7/83) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (8/4/83) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (9/21/83) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Killer Khan (11/3/83) Tatsumi Fujinami & Akira Maeda vs. Riki Choshu & Higo Hamaguchi (12/2/83) Tatsumi Fujinami, Akira Maeda & Kengo Kimura vs. Riki Choshu, Yoshiaki Yatsu & Animal Hamaguchi (12/8/83) Antonio Inoki, Akira Maeda & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Riki Choshu, Yoshiaki Yatsu & Animal Hamaguchi, (2/9/84) Nobuhiko Takada vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi (3/9/84) Tatsumi Fujinami, Seiji Sakaguchi & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Riki Choshu, Yoshiaki Yatsu & Higo Hamaguchi (3/22/84) 5-on-5 Gauntlet Challenge (4/19/84) Antonio Inoki vs. Riki Choshu (5/18/84) Antonio Inoki vs. Andre the Giant (6/11/84) Bob Backlund vs. Riki Choshu (8/24/84) Riki Choshu vs. Greg Valentine (9/7/84) Antonio Inoki vs. Billy Crusher (9/17/84) The Cobra vs. Hiro Saito (11/9/84) Tatsumi Fujinami & Antonio Inoki vs. Dick Murdoch & Adrian Adonis (12/7/84) Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Dick Murdoch & Adrian Adonis (12/8/84) Hulk Hogan vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (2/5/85) Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch (3/29/85) Keiichi Yamada vs. Shunji Kosugi (4/18/85) Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Dick Murdoch & Adrian Adonis (5/24/85) Andre the Giant & Tony St. Clair vs. Seiji Sakaguchi & Kantaro Hoshino (6/13/85) The Cobra vs. Don Arakawa (8/1/85) Keiji Mutoh, Keiichi Yamada & Kengo Kimura vs. Shinya Hashimoto, Shunji Kosugi & Kantaro Hoshino (9/13/85) Antonio Inoki vs. Bruiser Brody (10/31/85) Dick Murdoch vs. Bruiser Brody (11/22/85) Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Masked Superstar & Dick Murdoch (11/29/85) Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi (12/6/85) Antonio Inoki vs. Dick Murdoch (12/10/85) Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi (12/12/85) Akira Maeda vs. Nobuhiko Takada (1/3/86) Akira Maeda vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (1/10/86) Akira Maeda vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (2/5/86) Antonio Inoki & Keiichi Yamada vs. Nobuhiko Takada & Osamu Kido (2/5/86) Antonio Inoki vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (2/6/86) Tatsumi Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Akira Maeda, Nobuhiko Takada, & Yoshiaki Fujiwara (3/7/86) Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, Umanosuke Ueda & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Akira Maeda, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Osamu Kido, Nobuhiko Takada & Kazuo Yamazaki (3/26/86) 5-on-5 Challenge (5/1/86) Kengo Kimura vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (5/16/86) Antonio Inoki vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (6/12/86) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Akira Maeda (6/12/86) Nobuhiko Takada vs. The Cobra (6/17/86) Antonio Inoki vs. Dick Murdoch (6/19/86) Akira Maeda & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Bad News Allen & Steve Williams (7/25/86) Nobuhiko Takada vs. Shiro Koshinaka (8/5/86) Tatsumi Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, Kantaro Hoshino, George Takano & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Akira Maeda, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Osamu Kido, Nobuhiko Takada & Kazuo Yamazaki (9/16/86) Nobuhiko Takada vs. Shiro Koshinaka (9/19/86) Akira Maeda vs. Don Nakaya Nielsen (10/9/86) Tatsumi Fujinami & Keiji Muto vs. Nobuhiko Takada & Shiro Koshinaka (11/24/86) Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido vs. Nobuhiko Takada & Shiro Koshinaka (12/8/86) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Kengo Kimura (1/2/87) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Kengo Kimura (1/14/87) Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Nobuhiko Takada & Akira Maeda (2/2/87) Nobuhiko Takada vs. Shiro Koshinaka (2/5/87) Keiji Mutoh & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Akira Maeda (2/5/87) Nobuhiko Takada & Akira Maeda vs. Keiji Mutoh & Shiro Koshinaka (3/20/87) Nobuhiko Takada & Akira Maeda vs. Keiji Mutoh & Shiro Koshinaka (3/26/87) Antonio Inoki vs. Masa Saito (4/27/87) Nobuhiko Takada & Akira Maeda vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kazuo Yamazaki (5/25/87) Riki Choshu vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (6/9/87) Kengo Kimura vs. Masa Saito (NJ TV 6/10/87) Riki Choshu, Super Strong Machine & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Osamu Kido & Nobuhiko Takada (6/12/87) Riki Choshu vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (6/29/87) Masaharu Funaki & Akira Nogami vs. Yoji Anjo & Tatsuo Nakano (7/18/87) Nobuhiko Takada & Akira Maeda vs. Super Strong Machine & Kuniaki Kobayashi (8/2/87) Inoki/Fujiwara/Sakaguchi/Hoshino/Mutoh vs. Fujinami/Choshu/Maeda/Kimura/Super Strong Machine (8/19/87) Akira Maeda vs. Super Strong Machine (8/20/87) Nobuhiko Takada vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi (8/20/87) Akira Maeda vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (8/29/87) Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kazuo Yamazaki (9/1/87) Keiichi Yamada & Nobuhiko Takada vs. Mark Rocco & Owen Hart (9/7/87) Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Antonio Inoki vs. Akira Maeda & Tatsumi Fujinami (9/7/87) Tatsumi Fujinami, Nobuhiko Takada, Riki Choshu, Akira Maeda & Super Strong Machine vs. Antonio Inoki, Dick Murdoch, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Masa Saito & Seiji Sakaguchi (9/17/87) Dick Murdoch & Antonio Inoki vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Masa Saito (12/4/87) Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Masa Saito (12/7/87) Nobuhiko Takada & Osamu Kido vs. Kazuo Yamazaki & Yoshiaki Fujiwara (12/27/87) Hiro Hase vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi (12/27/87) Keiichi Yamada vs. Masakazu Funaki (12/27/87) Keiichi Yamada vs. Shiro Koshinaka (1/25/88) Keiichi Yamada vs. Hiro Hase (2/4/88) Antonio Inoki vs. Riki Choshu (2/4/88) Nobuhiko Takada vs. Hiro Hase (3/11/88) Shiro Koshinaka & Antonio Inoki vs. Hiroshi Hase & Riki Choshu (4/11/88) Akira Nogami, Tatsutoshi Goto, Keiichi Yamada, Kantaro Hoshino & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi, Hiroshi Hase, Hiro Saito, Norio Honaga & Kensuke Sasaki (4/27/88) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Vader (4/27/88) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (5/27/88) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (6/24/88) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Vader (6/26/88) Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Don Nakaya Nielsen (7/29/88) Antonio Inoki vs. Vader (7/29/88) Tatsumi Fujinami, Keiichi Yamada, Shiro Koshinaka, Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura vs. Hiro Saito, Kuniaki Kobayashi, Super Strong Machine, Masa Saito & Riki Choshu (9/12/88) Keiichi Yamada & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Perro Aguayo & El Canek (10/10/88) Tatsumi Fujinami, Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Chono vs. Tracy Smothers, Steve Armstrong & George Takano (11/11/88) Antonio Inoki, Riki Choshu & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Kengo Kimura & Osamu Kido (11/11/88) Antonio Inoki, Riki Choshu & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Scott Hall, Bob Orton & Dick Murdoch (11/17/88) Antonio Inoki, Riki Choshu & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Tatsutoshi Goto, Masa Saito & Seiji Sakaguchi (12/5/88) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Grappler (12/5/88) Tatsutoshi Goto, Masa Saito, Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Scott Hall, Bob Orton & Dick Murdoch (12/7/88) Keiichi Yamada vs. Shiro Koshinaka (12/9/88) Naoki Sano & Osamu Matsuda vs. El Bello Greco & Sergio El Hermoso (1/6/89) Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura vs. El Bello Greco & Sergio El Hermoso (2/3/89) Antonio Inoki vs. Riki Choshu (2/22/89) Shiro Koshinaka vs. Hiroshi Hase (3/16/89) Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs. George Takano & Super Strong Machine (3/16/89) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Jerry Lawler (3/16/89) Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Vader (4/24/89) Shinya Hashimoto vs. Victor Zangiev (4/24/89) Shinya Hashimoto vs. Vader (4/24/89) Riki Choshu vs. Big Van Vader (6/27/89) Jushin Liger vs. Black Tiger (European Rounds) (7/12/89) Riki Choshu vs. Salman Hashimikov (7/12/89) Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (7/13/89) Big Van Vader vs. Salman Hashimikov (7/13/89) Riki Choshu & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Super Strong Machine & George Takano (7/13/89) Hiroshi Hase & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Naoki Sano & Akira Nogami (8/3/89) Riki Choshu, Jushin Liger & Kengo Kimura vs. Big Van Vader, Manny Fernandez & Buzz Sawyer (8/3/89) Jushin Liger vs. Kantaro Hoshino (8/5/89) Buzz Sawyer vs. Victor Zangiev (8/5/89) Jushin Liger & Akira Nogami vs. Kantaro Hoshino & Naoki Sano (8/8/89) Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (8/10/89) Akira Nogami vs. Naoki Sano (8/31/89) Jushin Liger, Kengo Kimura & Riki Choshu vs Pat Tanaka, Owen Hart & Bam Bam Bigelow (8/31/89) Riki Choshu vs. Shinya Hashimoto (12/7/89)

There were long stretches in 2006, 2007, 2008 and earlier this year where Edge was the top heel on his brand. You could argue that whoever was Top Heel in the company was on the other brand (Orton, HHH, etc.) but Edge was in the thick of things in nearly every Main Event program since 2006 on his brand.

OK, translate.

Bret needs to stay off of TV so I can continue to have fond thoughts. I would hate for it to be another Foley situation where the return ends up killing what positive memories remain.

You can still be called a pro wrestler but you aren't pro wrestling. Should Sting's appearance in Dune be a factor in being included in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame? Should we include Brock Lesnar in the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame because of his success currently in MMA?

It should.

Really interesting article and it really helps trying to make sense of it all when putting together footage for the Texas 80s set.

Working on a Dustin/Goldust comp now so it will be interesting to see how I view him and how people who buy the set view him when it is all said and done.

Is Fujiwara the best worker of all-time? From my NJ 80s viewing, I have him behind Fujinami, Choshu and Yamada/Liger as guys who consistently kicked ass day-in and day-out. From All Japan 80s vieiwing, I would easily put Choshu, Jumbo and Tenryu above him. For the shoot style guys, I prefer Maeda more. I prefer NJ Murdoch and Vader as gaijin that I would call better than Fujiwara. With that said, Fujiwara does have some absolute classics including one with Inoki that is Top Ten material and Fujiwara-Choshu that is on the Schneider #23 set. I need to re-watch it for the project but remember enjoying it when putting together #23. Phil and Childs claim the guy is a great seller but I don't see it all. In fact, he no-sells a bunch of shit. However, he does have awesome facial expressions especially when playing chickenshit. Hogan or Dusty? Hogan in a heartbeat. I have watched a ton of Dusty for the Crockett set and he had some good shit but Hogan has been a revalation on the NJ set. I don't care about ticket sales or any of that bullshit. Means nothing to me. Hogan has had top notch matches with Fujinami, Inoki, Abdullah the Butcher, a really good match with Andre, and some others that will probably just miss the cut. Barry vs. Arn? I don't know how it could be said that Barry wasn't a Big Match Worker. His Flair series lived up to the hype and were all pretty great. The Battle of the Belts, the Worldwide match, the Crockett Cup.... not Big Time enough? In fact, Windham's most disappointing match... came against Arn in the 80s viewing. I prefer Arn as an overall performer but prefer Windham in the singles matches. Arn was awesome in almost any Horsemen tag team but was really hit or miss as a singles wrestler. Santo or Casas? I just made a 38 disc Santo set. I don't know if I could be objective because Santo is one of those guys I just genuinely mark out for regardless of the opponenet and one of the few sets I made where I wasn't burnt out on the wrestler when it was over.

Yeah, Choshu is one of those guys, after watching a ton of 80s New Japan and All Japan, who people will talk about as one of the best when those sets are finished.

You still are wrong on this point. jdw asked for specific examples of botched spots since he didn't see any... twice. If you make a contentious statement, you should be able to back it up whether you are watching wrestling, UFC, football, baseball, or anything else. If you can't back it up with more than "this match sucks" then the LOL is on you.

I couldn't disagree more. Since they are not watching the match together, and both are arguing a point, this may be the only way of effectively arguing thier point and allowing the other person to find a specific example. I use it regularly in the 80s nomination threads and all of us in that process have watched matches multiple times to confirm our like or dislike of a match.

My thoughts when I nominated it for the NWA project... Man, this plays almost like a 1989 version of the Murdoch-Nightmare match where the ref prevents Dick from getting down and dirty while Luger gets away with the dirty tricks. There aren't many wrestling moves in this but alot of punches which is a good thing in a Murdoch match. Late in the match, the ref continues to catch Luger cheating. This plays perfectly into the finish as they pound each other in the corner and as the ref tries to separate them, both wrestlers throw him off resulting in a double DQ. This was awesome to see Murdoch in classic form and Luger has had some really good matches in 1989.

Probably the most contentious match yet in the NJ nomination process... Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura (12/8/84) - Starts off strong with Murdoch and Adonis using the belts as weapons, nearly knocking over a trophy, slamming the Japanese guys on tables. Murdoch and Adonis are such a great tag team, abusing Kimura, cutting off the ring. Adonis lays in some pretty vicious shots. Kimura makes a great comeback using the Americans against each other. He whips Adonis into the corner, crushing Murdoch and shortly after, he uses Murdoch to ram Adonis out of the ring. It was short lived after a Murdoch elbow but it was a great comeback sequence. Kimura’s selling after each shot is pretty great too and something I never noticed before. Great turnaround later on as Kimura slams the Americans on the table outside and they lay there in a crumpled mess. Hot ending which ends in a North-South Doomsday Device and a clean pin. This was just super freaking great. Murdoch and Adonis ruled, dominating the match with Kimura and Fujinami throwing in enough hope spots and comebacks to keep it moving. Add the clean pin and this is probably in my Top Ten. Strong, strong nomination.

I am apathetic towards Bock. I don't mind him in short matches but I have trouble staying awake for his longer All Japan matches. Zzzzzzz.