Invader I vs. Super Black Ninja (1/23/88)

[El Boricua]

Invader I vs. Super Black Ninja (1/23/88)

[elliott]

Super Black Ninja is Muto and Invader I is Invader I so I have high hopes for this. Muto was so fucking fast as a young wrestler. It is pretty amazing. Really good back and forth chain wrestling early on. Muto uses his cool back suplex and elbow drop to take command of the match before slapping on a Choshu head scissors. Invader works his way out pretty quickly shows his mat skills. Great suplex by Invader. Awkward moment when Invader bends down for a back drop and Muto just kinda runs into him like he was expecting a shoulder block. They recover well enough and Muto continues to dominate with punches and a nice dropkick. I like the psychology behind Invader wearing the mask, but I prefer it when he’s maskless because his facial expressions are so great. His body language remains terrific though. I like this because it is more proof that Invader was a complete wrestler and not “just the best brawler and seller of all time at his peak.” Of course when it is time to fire up and kick some ass in this match Invader is fucking great as usual. This turns into a wild scene when Kendo Nagasaki tries to interfere and Invader III runs out leading to a wild brawl around ringside as Muto & Invader work to the finish. Good match. Spectacular finishing run.

[AJS]

So many of the matches have been full on from the start. Most of them have been great, but this was a match that began relatively low key and gradually increased in tempo. I enjoyed and appreciated that. It was to interesting watch a young Muto strut his stuff in this one. His dropkick is superb and we of course get the moonsault. Invader looks great on offence too, hitting some terrific chops. Cool match.

[KB8]

Okay, so Invader v Mutoh (Super Black Ninja) is one of the few matches from Puerto Rico I'd seen before. Not this match specifically, but one of the stadium brawls (I think it was a Texas Death Match). This was more of a slow burner, but it built up to a hot finish. Young Mutoh had such a cool presence. The way he moves around and conducts himself, it has a hint of menace to it, like he's stalking you down. Plus he was super quick with his strikes, his dropkick had massive air, and he'd do things like his spazzed out elbow drop that just looked cool. We've heard plenty about him being lazy and all that, and I'm not really a fan of his, but early Muta could be pretty fun and he had a genuine aura. Invader was probably at his best during this on the back foot, which won't be too surprising because he's Invader and you want to watch Invader selling, but the early matwork was pretty solid as well. I'm looking forward to seeing these guys try to tear each other's throat out soon (I mean, hopefully).

[AstroBoy]

We get sporting mat work to start. Eventually Super Black Ninja asserts some control and returns to holds but only after using some rough tactics to do so. Ninja hits the familiar power drive elbow. I'm a bit confused when Invader just punts Ninja in the balls and takes over to great fanfare. Invader's chops are really great here. A big schmozz at the finish when Invader III brawls with Ninja's second at ringside. I'm shocked when Invader kicks out of the moonsault but they add a big dropkick off the top and the finish comes when Invader gets his foot on the bottom rope and it gets pushed away to allow the three count. This was pretty fun and a good slow build to a cluster of a finish.

[dawho5]

Did not expect this style of match, much more your standard wrestling match. This really doesn't play to Invader 1's strengths, but it doesn't have to as it's more a showcase for Mutoh. It's nice to see how feuds start in Puerto Rico after seeing them end for so long, and a pretty good wrestling match to boot.