[1980-05-02-AJPW] Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs Terry Funk & Dick Slater

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[SAMS]

1980-05-02
AJPW
Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Dick Slater & Terry Funk
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Card
★★★★ ¼ 

You could tell from the opening minute that Terry came to play here. His energy levels were through the roof and he was pulling out all the spots. I think Funk’s performance here might be my single favourite performance of the year to this point. This was only 16 minutes, but that gave them the opportunity to work at an increased pace without any chaff.
Slater & Funk were really in sync and I thought Slater was on his A-game also. This match obviously wasn’t a blood feud and was probably more of an exhibition type deal so I felt the more comedic, goofy elements of Slater and Funk’s tag teaming worked really well in this setting. It’s incredible how over Funk is in Japan, at one point Baba got him in an Abdominal Stretch and the crowd began a LOUD Terry chant.
Jumbo did a great job playing off of Terry’s antics and when it came to exchanging blows he didn’t hold back. His uppercuts were particularly vicious and while he wasn’t the standout I thought this was a very good performance from him and he definitely seemed to have more bounce in his step than usual.
I just wish Giant Baba looked like he gave a shit honestly. Everybody else really seemed pumped for this and Baba just seemed like he was going through the motions. I’ve been really underwhelmed with him so far. He’s supposed to be the ace of the promotion and the top guy and he really doesn’t come across as special to me, even in how they present him. There haven’t been many instances where I felt like guys were going above and beyond to sell for his stuff, so apart from his alien-rific body, he doesn’t stand out to me.
I can’t overstate how amazing Terry was here, just dominating the tone of the match and controlling the whole flow of events. Everybody seemed to take their queues of him and he delivered in terms of great offense, selling, bumping and the tiny intangible things too. Truly top tier stuff.

[tcg91]

This was an enjoyable Carnival fallout. Slater's eye is not taped anymore, which doesn't make much sense (it's only been 24 hours since the final), plus it makes me sad that they are not hitting him there anymore. The more I see Slater and the more I think he's trying to be a little version of Terry, they have good chemistry and Jumbo bumps around for them, as they are smart enough not to overexpose Baba. Baba and Jumbo's work on Terry was a bit lazy, but Funk is so over that the crowd keeps the match alive anyway. The finish is also a bit abrupt, but consistent with the Carnival final, so thumps up.
***1/4