[1985-12-04-AJPW] Riki Choshu vs Nick Bockwinkel

[GOTNW]

I think Choshu is a pretty great matworker, this might not be *the* match to showcase, more of a mat-heavy match that showcases why Choshu was so great in general. I loved how Bockwinkel stepped on Choshu's left leg while holding his right, that's the kind of neat detail work you want to see from him. Choshu's repetead counters to Bockwinkel's takedown attempts were awesome, completely shutting down an opponent's attempts at offence is something I love but you rarely see in wrestling. Bockwinkel countered Choshu's Scorpion Deathlocks by pulling his hair and using everything he could, Choshu countered Bockwinkel's Figure Four by chopping away at him and pushing him off, it was good stuff and the shots we got were all good looking, both Bockwinkel's knees and Choshu's chops looked vicious. The build to the Lariat is great but unfortunately it is followed by the ~cheap 80s finish~ (I don't mind that the finish wasn't clean but that it was lazily done and didn't add to the match). At least the post-match brawling was fun. ***1/2