Mr JMML

I just had to pick the most badass roster possible.

Methlab Battlarts! @MLB

I'll take Tommy Rich instead.

Belfast Bruiser, Axl Rotten, Bushwacker Butch, Bushwacker Luke, Gary Albright, Greg Valentine, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Ian Rotten,Kensuke Sasaki, King Kong Bundy, Masahiro Chono, Satoshi Kojima, Shinya Hashimoto.

I'd take Battlarts if it's available.

Thanks

My love for sixteenth and seventeenth century opera is being appreciated.

How does the draft work?

I promised that I was going to review this match a few days ago, I finally got enough energy to watch it and it didn’t disappoint, it was as great as I remembered it being, before going into the match you have to know the stipulation, if Inoki doesn’t win he can’t challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Title again, that’s why the crowd is so invested in the match, every pinfall and submission attempt felt like a big deal because this match can end at any moment, this match isn’t a sprint if entered this match expecting that you’d be disappointed, it’s a technical battle between two of the greatest wrestlers in New Japan Pro Wrestling history if that doesn’t sound appealing to you don’t watch this match if not you won’t regret giving this match a watch, I personally always end up forgetting this is a time limit draw, I keep falling for the nearfalls, a completely irrational reaction by my part but the crowd is just so energetic that you let yourself go, they are so focused on the action that it’s impossible for me to look away, they’re always chanting for Inoki and their chants get louder in submission attempts, the crowd wasn’t as loud during the last five minutes, by that time they knew it was going to be a time limit draw but it doesn’t matter having a crowd hooked on a match for 55 out of 60 minutes is still very impressive, Inoki not winning it’s the definitive passing of the torch moment and a very special moment for Tatsumi Fujinami, his selling performance added so much to the experience I can’t think of a better opponent for Inoki’s last chance to get the title, he didn’t want to lose, not even in a match that’s supposed to be a passing of the torch moment,Inoki will always be Inoki. I recommend this one to everyone who enjoys great american epics from the 1950’s if you like Lou Thesz vs Verne Gagne you’ll like this match.

His last three years are full of highlights but there's nothing good before that.

I've just heard about it, what a disgrace, I love his WOS and Mid South work.

I forgot about this match completely when I did the review of the august 1987 multi-man, I promise that the next one will be Antonio Inoki vs Tatsumi Fujinami August 8th 1988, the match we have today is Tatsumi Fujinami vs Riki Choshu for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, we’ve come a long way since I covered their first encounter, Fujinami has evolved a lot as a worker as well as New Japan as a whole, that’s the most beautiful thing about projects like this, you get to see not only the progression of a wrestler but also the evolution of wrestling, this wrestler’s journey in particular has been amazing so far, Fujinami helped me understand New Japan’s main event scene and see many flaws in their booking philosophy that wouldn’t be able to see otherwise, my new perception of 80’s New Japan Pro Wrestling isn’t worse necessarily it’s just different, when I started watching Fujinami’s Jr Heavyweight Title run I didn’t expect to grow as attached to his work as I am right now, I don’t regret at all choosing Fujinami as the wrestler I’ll do a deep dive of around two weeks ago now, Grimmas was right when he said there’s something special about watching wrestling in chronological order, after getting that out of the way let’s begin this championship match. Riki Choshu is ruthless targeting Fujinami’s leg, he inmediately gets results and his opponents is visibly hurt during the rest of the match, he’s not only ruthless but relentless as well, he won’t stop until he beats him, Fujinami is going on one leg during the whole affair, his selling is outstanding, he genuinely looks hurt and that’s one of the most difficult thing to do in the wrestling business, the match ends when Fujinami is ruled not capable of continuing the bout prompting a stoppage. I’d recommend this match to everyone who liked the 1983 trilogy.

First of all, I’m an idiot, I had access to this match since May I think but I didn’t figure out where it was until today, I feel like I’m repeating myself when reviewing New Japan’s multi-man and gauntlet matches, all of them are so good and the criticisms feel identical ( they probably are), every match is worth watching but at the same time, they never go forward, you always end those matches feeling like everything stays the same, I didn’t get that feeling here, this match is all I want out New Japan’s creative team, actual progress was made, it felt like there’s actual change in the main event scene, since Inoki took that spot it all was stale, nothing was really moving, in this match there’s a change of dynamic that will impact the promotion for years to come, Inoki was eliminated along with Akira Maeda around the halfway point which meant that the spotlight was going to be in Tatsumi Fujinami and Riki Choshu and they delivered, when all the pressure was on their shoulders they were able to perform at a very high level, seems like the future seems bright for New Japan Pro Wresting, Fujinami’s performance in particular shines the brightest, he’s a big deal, every time he entered the ring their opponents feared for their lives, that’s what happens when Antonio Inoki is willing to share the spotlight, it’s a shame that it didn’t happen more often, Riki Choshu was as amazing as usual, his intensity made him a real threat, I don’t expect less out of a wrestler as polished as Riki Choshu, he isn’t just cool, he’s dangerous and their opponent’s know it, the final stretch was out of this world, Keiji Mutoh is the only wrestler left for the babyface team and he endures all the punishment Fujinami and Riki Choshu were able to inflict upon him until he had to submit, a star-making performance for the recently retired Keiji Mutoh. I have nothing else to say, just watch all the New Japan multi-man matches, next I’ll take a look at Fujinami’s second singles match against Inoki, the famous 8/8/88.

Everyone of New Japan’s multi-man matches of the 1980’s are amazing, now I can say that comfortably, this match in particular didn’t have any downtime whatsoever they went straight at it for around 30 minutes, the stipulation is the same as in the New Japan vs UWF match 5v5 and if get pinned, submitted or counted out you’re eliminated like in Survivor Series, this matches are the most exciting and emotional in 80’s New Japan because they always guarantee a clear result something that didn’t happen often in singles competition, the intensity of this contest is unmatched, everyone performed their role perfectly, I don’t mind the first two eliminations of the match because everything else is so good it doesn’t even matter, if you haven’t seen the match what happened was that Dick Murdoch and Riki Choshu eliminated themselves inmediately, that was strange but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s something that tends to happen in matches of this nature, Fujinami had an absolutely flawless performance in the match, he was there from beginning to end and that was a good call by New Japan’s creatives, the way he struggles to get an advantage combined with his bloody face made for an era-defining babyface performance, he was outnumbered during the finish stretch which resulted in him losing to Masa Saito and Antonio Inoki, it looked like they listened to me, they knew that another finish where Inoki is outnumbered and prevails anyways would be predictable, it just wouldn’t be as fun as it is if that was the finish, the team formed by Antonio Inoki, Dick Murdoch, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Masa Saito & Seiji Sakaguchi won, not without a fight, it isn’t the best multi-man they had to offer but it was in the same level as any other from that era. I’d recommend this match to everyone who liked the first two multi-man matches, I know that there was another one in August but I couldn’t find that one if anyone reading this has it please put the link to it below.

Another match from the NJPW vs UWF feud the last one was a 5v5 elimination match with the best of both worlds, this one is a traditional singles bout involving two of the greatest wrestlers these promotions had to offer, the match took place in NJPW which means that the crowd will be behind Tatsumi Fujinami and they will root against Maeda, both wrestlers were awesome at their respective roles and were able to create a big spectacle with a very underwhelming ending but at this point I’m used to that, I love how shoot guys present themselves in non-shoot style promotions, they always look like a legitimate threat to their opponent, in fact, my favourite match ( Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori 4/2/1993) could be considered a Shooter vs Ace and the same could be said about my number two (Katsuyori Shibata vs Kazuchika Okada 4/9/2017), so I love this match structure when it’s done correctly and these two nailed it for the most part, I’m sure politics had something to do with this match’s finish, I don’t see Maeda willing to lose to Fujinami neither I see Inoki willing to put Maeda over in his promotion so the middle ground was the draw and they did exactly that, double KO was the final result, it’s dissappointing considering how good the match had been to that point, the crowd was hot during the whole match there was no point in the match where the people in the stands didn’t care about it, the main reason for the crowd’s involvement in the match was the uncertainty, They wouldn’t be as interested if Inoki was the one facing Maeda, the difference between Inoki and Fujinami is that Fujinami can lose matches while Inoki can’t put anyone over him because he’s the japanese version of Hulk Hogan, the people love him and he doesn’t want to give his place on the card to anyone else unless it’s completely necessary ( we’ll get to that point). Fujinami’s performance as a babyface was amazing and he was able to make Maeda look good. I’d recommend this to everyone who likes Akira Maeda’s work in the 80’s in UWF and NJPW, this match deserves the high regard its held on, an absolute classic.

I agree with you but I know Grimmas and he isn't AJPW 90's biggest fan.

Manami had a career year, I think she'll be your wrestler of the year.

Another brilliant New Japan multi-man for me to review, this time it isn’t a gauntlet match, it’s an elimination match meaning every time someone gets pinned, submitted or thrown out of the ring is eliminated from the match, this is a part of the interpromotional rivalry between New Japan Pro Wrestling and UWF Japan during 1986, it’s a very intelligent move in UWF’s part considering that most of New Japan’s crowd would be interested in shoot-style and what better way to introduce them than having a rivalry with wrestlers they know and love, this match is significantly shorter than the last one, that match went over the 60 minute mark and this match is around 35 minutes long, although it’s shorter I think that this match is arguably even more action packed than Ishingun vs Sekigun, mainly because the match structure favored a more fast-paced approach to it, that factor also gave an opportunity to guys that normally wouldn’t have had much of a role on it but on the other hand it made the final stretch less dramatic than it should have been, in my last review I talked about how absent the crowd was and I said that I wanted more out of them, I have no complaints in this one, the crowd genuinely cares about the match, they react every time their ace is in danger, that’s something that was missing in the last match. As I said before, the finish was anticlimactic, not just because is a 2 vs 1, it’s because it doesn’t feel earned, it’s something that The Warriors vs The Heenan Family in Survivor Series 1989 did right, the main difference was that the two wrestlers that The Ultimate Warrior defeated were noticeably weaker than him and that match also was building towards a Bobby Heenan vs Ultimate Warrior that eventually happened but in this one it’s more like Inoki is going to win one way or another and that isn’t as appealing. Fujinami’s performance in the match was awesome, to be honest everyone’s performance was, no wonder why this match is considered an all-time classic. I recommend this match to everyone who liked the last multi-man, the match won’t dissapoint you I swear.

She's a great worker and people are starting to realise how good she is.

This match is the first of two matches between the two wrestlers, the other one being the famous 8/8/88 60 minute time limit draw, the last time Antonio Inoki challenged for the IWGP Heavyweight Title, this one is worse than that match unfortunately, it’s awesome still but there’s a few moments during the match that dragged it to this spectrum of great matches with potential to be masterpieces but alas they weren’t, the crowd isn’t as involved as they were in the gauntlet match, their intensity wasn’t even close, in the gauntlet match they cheered regardless of who was in the ring and they went nuts when Antonio Inoki and Riki Choshu faced each other, nobody is chanting it felt like they don’t care about who wins and who loses, that’s understandable considering how New Japan was booked in the 1980’s but I don’t think that the average fan at the time had any idea about how booking worked, don’t tell me they didn’t chant because the japanese crowds are silent and respectful because if that’s true there’s no way to explain their chants and involvement in the gauntlet match and don’t tell me it was a fluke because then you can’t explain why they were cheering so much in the legendary match between Stan Hansen and Andre the Giant, to be fair those two matches had something in common they were way better than this one, it wasn’t all bad, Tatsumi Fujinami looked very good and Antonio Inoki actually sold his offense very well, he was suprisingly generous by his standards (they are very low), Fujinami’s great performance wasn’t rewarded with a win, Antonio had an amazing comeback (even though the crowd didn’t care) and was able to submit Fujinami with his octopus hold. I’d recommend this match to every fan of NJPW in the 80’s, I think it represents well the best and worst parts of this company.

Time for another southern tag formula, this time in Japan, the heel team is the North-South Connection formed by Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch, these two worked a lot in the WWF and they had one of the greatest matches in the company’s history not just the 80’s against the Brisco brothers Jack and Gerry Brisco just twenty two days after this match took place, if you’ve been reading my reviews in the last month or so you’ll recognise Adrian Adonis from a match he had against Buddy Rose in September 1st 1979 in Portland ( Pacific Northwest), his performance in that match was truly remarkable. Dick Murdoch on the other hand, it’s the first time I’ll review one of his matches, he is famous for his many runs in great companies like All Japan, Mid South, WWF and most importantly for today’s match New Japan, Murdoch in the ring is amazing, his facial expressions, selling and style are instantly recognisable, when you watch you know he is having fun, bumping around and being genuinely funny at times with his antics, it wasn’t something outrageous either, he wasn’t a comedy wrestler by any means, the word that comes to mind when discussing Dick Murdoch for me is standout, he’s an standout, when he’s in the ring you can’t look away from him and that’s something special, it’s a wrestler you can’t forget about if that doesn’t scream greatness I don’t know what does, anyways let’s go to the match itself. The babyface team (Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami) struggled at the beginning, Murdoch and Adonis isolated Fujinami for a long time until they let him go and tag Inoki, he didn’t waste the hot tag and made good work of both of North-South Connection’s members, they had a great back and forth, even chairs were involved in the mayhem but after around 30 minutes Antonio Inoki submitted Adrian Adonis with an abdominal stretch. Fujinami’s performance as a babyface is terrific, he did everything he had to do to perfection, the only problem was the crowd’s lack of involvement in Fujinami’s struggles, they went nuts everytime Inoki did something remotely exciting but Fujinami could have done an Orihara Moonsault and the crowd would have stayed silent. I recommend this match to everyone who likes the southern tag formula and wants to see a new twist, New Japan’s version of it ticks all the boxes and it’s worth your time.

This is widely considered best match of NJPW in the 1980’s, that’s what the people in Death Valley Driver said, this is the climax of the Choshu's Army vs New Japan Establishment rivalry and it delivered big time, every pairing was amazing and the crowd was always hot, that’s quite a feat considering that this match lasted around 75 minutes, having a crowd so involved in a plus one hour long match is very impressive, the crowd was rooting for the New Japan Establishment formed by Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Nobuhiko Takada, Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura. It’s a gauntlet match like Burning vs Kensuke Office but much better, that match was a tag team gauntlet while this one is a singles gauntlet, if someone gets pinned or submits another member of his team will replace him, the heel team ( Choshu’s Army) is headed by Riki Choshu and the other members are Yoshiaki Yatsu, Animal Hamaguchi, Isamu Teranishi & Kuniaki Kobayashi, the match is building towards a clash between Antonio Inoki and Riki Choshu. The first two pairings are Tatsumi Fujinami vs Kuniaki Kobayashi and Tatsumi Fujinami vs Isamu Teranishi, Fujinami beat both members of Choshu’s Army with ease, his next opponent Yoshiaki Yatsu was able to beat Fujinami mainly because Fujinami had been wrestling for around twenty minutes at that point while Yoshiaki Yatsu was fresh, Nobuhiko Takada enters the ring but Yoshiaki Yatsu is able to beat him pretty quickly, the match is tied, Kengo Kimura comes next, he run through Yoshiaki Yatsu to get the win and untie the match, now the match is 3-2 for the New Japan Establishment and the crowd loves it, Animal Hamaguchi enters the ring for Choshu’s Army and he beats Kengo Kimura without much problem, the match is tied again, Yoshiaki Fujiwara is next, they wrestled for a bit and then a double count out happens, which means that both Riki Choshu and Antonio Inoki will enter the ring at the same time, Inoki didn’t give Choshu a chance and Choshu submitted to a abdominal stretch. Fujinami was the best part of the match’s early moments and he contributed positively to this match’s legacy, an absolute blast, one of the best matches of all time and pretty easy to watch. I’d recommend this match to every wrestling fan, the only problem this match had was the finish but everything else was amazing.

This is the second match of the Riki Choshu vs Tatsumi Fujinami trilogy of 1983, you can see the review of the first one, that I did yesterday if you want to check it out, it will help you understand why this match is so important for the rivalry going forward and also why this match is pivotal for Tatsumi Fujinami, if you haven’t read that here’s a brief summary of the match. Riki Choshu just manhandled Fujinami, he was just unstoppable and Tatsumi couldn’t do anything about it, the pioneer of the sharpshooter had the performance of a lifetime against the wrestler I’m making the case for, Fujinami’s selling was outstanding, he made Choshu look great. Fujinami was incredibly unselfish and did the job perfectly, Choshu won but the crowd was always in Fujinami’s side throughout the contest and with that out of the way let’s go to today’s match, it happened just 18 days after the last one so everyone has the match previously mentioned in mind, we have a much more aggressive Fujinami trying to overwhelm his opponent with a flurry of offense including a sharpshooter that he couldn’t execute successfully, after that Riki Choshu could regain his balance and keep the match in control with very few exceptions, Fujinami tried it all but he couldn’t put him in trouble at any point since then, Riki Choshu’s style got the better of Fujinami, Choshu battered the man who had conquered the junior division in the past and he made it look easy, if the previous match was a star-making performance this one is showed the world that his dominant victory weeks earlier wasn’t a fluke, in fact, it was the first of many he would have during his career in New Japan and All Japan in the 1980’s, a great performance by wrestling’s hottest heel at the time. If you enjoyed the first encounter between these two watch it, if you weren’t able to watch the first one because of the video quality please give this match a chance.

Fujinami's 1980 is incredible.

This one is stiff, I love this match, the only problem I have with it is the video quality but everything else is awesome, Choshu used his force to limit Fujinami’s technical ability, he gave him no chance at all. Choshu was relentless from start to finish and he was able to keep up hold to hold with his opponent when he had to, the pioneer of the sharpshooter looked like one of the best wrestlers in the world in part thanks to Tatsumi Fujinami’s sublime selling. The match basically is Riki Choshu tries to kill Tatsumi Fujinami in nineteen minutes, Riki Choshu’s energy combined with his opponent’s selling made for a great match, the crowd loves Fujinami and absolutely despised Choshu, when Tatsumi tried to make a comeback the people in the stands started to cheer almost instantly but I felt like Choshu I always had complete control over the situation and he was able to ground Fujinami pretty effectively throughout the entirety of this match. It looked like the first match of the Tatsumi Fujinami vs Ryuma Go trilogy but this time the roles were reversed, Fujinami’s versatility is at full display, in the that trilogy, he was that unbeatable ace figure without any notable weakness in his game while in this one he is the babyface that has no shot at beating the up and coming heel and he is outstanding in both situations, Choshu’s brutal offense also helped, he tried his best to chop Fujinami’s head off with lariats that make Stan Hansen look like Chris Jericho in comparison, add to that his sick backdrop suplex and you have a certified banger and that’s the best way to describe it, Choshu got the three count after hitting Fujinami with a brutal lariat, his opponent couldn’t kickout in time. If you don’t mind the video quality watch this, it’s absolutely worth a watch, I personally recommend it to everyone who liked the Kengo Kimura match I reviewed yesterday.