[1980-09-30-NJPW-Bloody Fight Series] Chavo Guerrero vs Kengo Kimura

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[SAMS]

1980-09-30
NJPW - Fan Appreciation Super Fight
Kengo Kimura (c) vs. Chavo Guerrero
NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title Match
Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan
Card
★★

Well it didn’t take long for Kimura to make tape again as he defended his title on this super show of sorts. I like both of these guys but I was mildly disappointed with this. I think it’s clear that they could have produced something much better than what this ended up being. Nothing was bad, but I feel like it was less than the sum of its parts.
Kimura mostly controlled Chavo early on using a variety of chicken wing and arm holds but applying pressure onto the back with his head or feet. It wasn’t until Chavo bust out a few aggressive uppercuts that things really started kicking into gear though. My issue, I think, was Kimura’s approach. Despite being the champion, when he was matched up against Fujinami, the narrative was quite clear, as Fujinami was the company’s clearly defined No.2 (I feel comfortable putting him above Sakaguchi at this point). He was still fighting to overcome Fujinami, even in a match where he was actually defending his own title. Against Chavo that narrative didn’t exist and he couldn’t rely on Fujinami to lead the way. As champion here I feel like the onus was on him to set the tone and he came across as far too passive, letting the match pass him by and hoping that it would come together as something compelling in the end, instead of actively doing something about it. 
Also, considering how good Kimura looked coming out of that match against Fujinami, it would have been a fantastic opportunity to further solidify him with a clear win here. But I’m not sure about the politics of Chavo coming in and doing the job so maybe that was never on the cards, but the double countout finish with Kimura literally clinging onto Chavo to prevent him getting back into the ring made him look incredibly weak.