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Another good match between these two, but it was another angle advancement, that fell a notch below the one from August. It started off great, highlighting Jumbo now being extra aggressive towards Tenryu, who got his butt kicked for doing long headlocks and trying to shame his opponent with his awesome smirk. They both tried to drop each other on their necks almost as a principle, but then the match went a bit mild in the last few minutes, including the logic but disappointed ending. ***1/2

Good rematch in Boston, that was very similar to the MSG one, as they were completing the house show loop with the same skeleton of a match. In this one, the Samoans took more impressive bumps in the shining sequence, but the heat on Santana wasn't as good as in New York, plus Martel looked a bit silly a couple of times. Fun sprint with little to no downtime, they changed just a bit in execution and the double team finish was similar as well ***

Questionable booking aside, this was a very good match. I don't feel like Flair should go 30 minutes in a cage bout (unless against someone who bumped non-stop for him, like Ricky Morton in the Bash tour), so this had a few filler and repetitive sequences, but the story progression was there and Flair almost felt like a caged animal, putting over Garvin's power and explosivity. Flair's limb work was good, but not enough focused to get that needed extra drama, despite the hot crowd. As mentioned, the result is quite bad in hindsight, but the finish was good nonetheless. ***1/2

This was a blast, a solid and exciting 15 minutes of non-stop action and clear, defined roles. Strike Force had a great shining segment, but the Samoan ruled too because they bumped around for the babyfaces, before taking over and isolating Santana. The armwork wasn't super great, but solid enough as Santana sold it well regardless. Good Martel hot tag and we got some shenanigans in the last few minutes, the dirty finish worked and surely hyped a rematch. ***1/4

Not a simple Barbed Wire match, as in this one they could only win with a figure four. It was an unique stipulation to be honest, as they did the usual barbed wire spots, but this also established the barbed ropes as a way to prevent a wrestler from leaving the ring and free themselves from the the figure four. It made sense, as their previous match was pretty much only fought outside the ring, so this was a way to forced them inside the squared circle. Decent legwork and white hot crowd for Colon, especially when this got bloody as Puerto Rico's hits usually did. Great finish as well, as Hercules grabbed the ropes instinctively while in the figure four and had to deal with the wire. This was so much better than I expected. ***3/4

A surprising match, that was waaaaaaaaaaay better than expected and lasted 20 minutes. The pace wasn't stellar at times, but Race controlled this quite easily and Koko sold his back in a very convincing way. Slow climax, the match built gradually despite being a bit slow in the middle part, as they kept working hard and got the crowd involved in this. The non-finish wasn't the best way to end this, but it looked pretty good anyway, legitimising the long duration of the match and their efforts. ***

This was another really good elimination match, but not the best one of the series between old school and new school. There was lots of heat anyway, from the initial Murdoch/Choshu brawl to the Fujinami bloodbath later on, as he was alone against the veterans Inoki and Saito and tried anything he could to survive. This was never boring and even the seconds got decent exposure, despite this mostly focusing on Inoki being a d*ck to Fujinami to teach him a lesson. ***1/2

This was good, despite being heavily clipped due to the usual commercial breaks. Despite being a No DQ match, it was worked as a normal bout, which was very surprising and honestly a bit disappointing, despite the solid action and the fun R&R bumping. Morton was a good babyface in perils and the Horsemen got some good heat working on his neck, but the referee was enforcing the rules and it was quite silly, especially due to how this ended. The action was good enough though. ***1/4

This was a blast and it couldn't have been anything else . The gaijins were great at making the native guys look good, but also when indulging in competitive matwork and flashy stuff. This felt like a nice bridge between the early 80s concept of Junior Heavyweight and the modern approach, with some UK style flavour as well. Takada looked a bit odd a times, due to this not being his usual type of match, but the heat segment was really strong and so were the few final minutes. Good and satisfying finish. ***1/4

Not as good as their previous match from that spring, but still a very solid one. While the two pairings were clearly established, the funnier parts were Fujiwara stretching poor Takada and Maeda kicking Yamazaki everywhere. It was enjoyable, as the tag structure hid many of the UWF stalling habits, especially when the tags were frequent. Very cool finishing stretch in the last few minutes, which popped the crowd nicely, bringing a satisfying finish despite Yamazaki's pin on Takada being contested. ***1/2

Apart from a cold Carnival 1982 bout, this was a first time ever and finally a showdown between teacher and student after a successful partnership. What I most loved about this was Jumbo matching Tenryu's aggression and pettiness, showing that he could be as mean as Tenryu was. This admittedly had a few subpar minutes, before picking up again when Tenryu started working on Tsuruta's leg and punished him for a silly mistake. This was a successful teasing of the next few bouts, thanks to a good series of finishers and a well executed non-finish. ***3/4

Very cool match, despite the usual pacing issue that I find in the UWF singles bout that go more than 10/12 non-stop minutes. Maeda was good at poking the bear, breaking Fujiwara's defences slightly and trying not to risk too much, resorting to kicks to save himself when needed. This put Fujiwara out of his element, but his legwork on Maeda was good and effective; it was a bit out of nowhere, but it made sense because Fujiwara found a sudden opening after struggling for most of the bout. ***1/2

This had too much stalling for me at the beginning, but it was fun once it got going. Santana did some great selling babyface work, putting over Bass and allowing him to dictate the pace efficiently. The match was smartly executed, as the MSG fans were more focused on the heat side, than the action itself. The time limit draw became obvious once the announcers mentioned it, but they got there in a pleasant way and even the finish was well done. This was a pleasant bout, despite a skippable beginning. ***1/4

This was a blast and a pleasant surprise. Hot crowd, that was into this B-story of the NJPW vs UWF feud. Maeda's matches can easily have exciting strikes and boring matwork all rolled into one, but SSM sold his arm really well and showed a rare fire when fighting from underneath, making this very enjoyable. They had a couple of nice highspots and then a few very hot nearfalls. I also liked the submission finish, as it put over Maeda's lethal hold but made Machine look decent, as he took too many risks and it ended up costing him the bout. ***1/2

Amazing crowd. This was one of the best New Japan elimination tags of the 80s, as they did not rush anything but only wrestled for 25 minutes, everything looked crisp, quick and meaningful without any downside. The Inoki/Maeda double elimination spot was genius and gave a lot of spotlight to young Muto, who was outnumbered and tried to chase a miracle before losing. Give this a bit more of a dramatic 1 vs 1 finish and this could have been one of the best matches of the decade as a whole. ****1/4

Not as good as the first edition of the War Games, despite being very similar to it in terms of structure, entrants and some spots. They changed a few things anyway, so they tried call things on the fly and to bring fresh sequences, which was cool. The match picked up after about 10 minutes, thanks to Flair and Koloff doing the best stuff, but the last few minutes were kind of lazy and a copy of the first War Games, including rushing the 'match beyond' finish. ***1/4

This was a very good bout and easily the best singles stuff I have ever seen from Tama, while Martel looked like the same hot babyface that was setting Portland on fire a few years earlier. This was all about Martel igniting the crowd and the Samoan bumping generously from him, before taking some dirty heel heat. While the matwork wasn't anything excellent, this was a very enjoyable basic babyface formula match, it went 20 minutes and they just flew. Cool underdog finish for Martel, who looked really good here. ***1/2

This was a remarkable match and it could have been even better with a more effective beginning. Casas was such a great rudo, getting the crowd heavily involved in their cheers for Santo, but the action in the first 2 falls was 'only' good; I felt like both decisions didn't mean much, as they quickly got the 2 falls out of the way. The last caida was amazing, a mix of dives, drama and nearfalls, Casas pulled some amazing punches and Santo risked his neck with a couple of spots. Good, satisfying finish. ****1/4

This was quite hard to rate, one could claim it is a great match or a weak one and I would agree with both views. Colon was such a fantastic babyface with his dramatic expressions and comeback teasing, he took a hell of a beatdown from Hercules and bled buckets, getting the crowd behind him. However, this was too long at 30+ minutes and plus it felt like they were just filling time on occasions (intense leg work and a Texas Death Match didn't really look like a perfect combo, especially if it gets quickly forgotten). Great finish, as it protected the babyface and got tons of heat on the heel. ***

This was better than it looked on paper, as the underdog challengers managed to find an opening by targeting DiBiase's knee, making their control segment somewhat believable. Hansen/Yatsu was the best stuff here, but they clearly didn't touch too much to tease future matches, so there was too much of Nakano here maybe. Hansen was on one leg too at one point, teasing further problems, but this was put to break by a disappointing non-finish. **3/4

45 minutes long, but about 10/12 of them were missing as a result of TV commercials. Such a shame, as this was insanely good. They worked on each other's arm with precision, without rushing anything and the selling was on point. Murdoch took a single neckbreaker after 15 minutes and sold it like his neck was in pieces, which got Windham to continue his work and made for great storytelling. The neck stuff was so simple and so effective. As great as this was, the finish was too overbooked and reiterated, I really could have done without all that. ****1/4

Solid stuff. Jumbo was involved in most of the action, as Misawa was pretty much only beaten when he got in, apart from a few spots (and a couple, like the 'assisted crossbody' were a bit awkward). The gaijins did decent heel stuff, but there wasn't much focus or a great flow here, so this didn't pick up and felt like a B show performance all along. Predictable epilogue, but it was a clean and fine finish anyway. **3/4

This was clipped due to TV commercials, which kind of spoiled it. Garvin was clearly not as his best here and Flair managed to lay down good stuff here, selling and bumping like usual. It also got bloody, but it clearly wasn't an epic cage match, especially as this took place only a week after the first War Games. Solid knee selling by Garvin and Flair did his usual figure four preparation stuff, with an original, but meaningful finish to top it off. **3/4

This was fun, but quite difficult to rate. Great brawl, white hot crowd and they built the match the right way, using the right people from the beginning and hiding the limited guys' involvement (and the managers). While most of the stuff was on point, this was one of the most 'rigid' War Games in terms of 'your turn, my turn, next entrant' and the finish was also just there, a mere 2 minutes after they hyped 'the match beyond' concept, I didn't feel like they build the climax perfectly. ****

Usual good match, obviously. I still find the Eaton/Lane pairing to be more polished in the ring, Lane was isolated by the babyfaces for a bit and sold his knee well, until the heels took over. Once again, the heat was on Gibson, which is not AS good, but Morton was a great hot tag anyway. Cool final minutes, despite the heavy overbooking ruining it a bit for me. ***1/2