[1976-12-12-Bholu Brothers Promotion] Antonio Inoki vs Akram Pahalwan

[GOTNW]

You can take all the workrate wrestling of the world, I'd much rather observe Inoki working a worked shoot in Pakistan. It's no wonder he conned people into thinking some of his fights were real. This match had a lot of "lock ups", but they were more reminiscent of judo lock-ups than pro wrestling lock ups. Basically instead of just conventionally locking up and pushing at each other they were grabbing each other's arm and neck and trying to find an opening and use it to execute a slam or a takedown, so when something actually happened (whether it one wrestler taking another's back or securing a dominant position) it came off as a big deal. The Armbar spot in the first one was a little weird at first as I'm the biggest fan of using armbars like a headlock (especially in a match like this) but Inoki on commentary explained it masterfully when commentating the finish saying the same thing happened in the first round. The finish was Inoki hooking Pahalwan in a Double Wristlock and him refusing to give up, and Pahalwan's Armbar escape was good enough that all was well in the end. ***

[KinchStalker]

Killer Khan, who was at ringside, claimed in his autobiography that Inoki had legitimately dislocated Pehlwan's shoulder, for what it's worth.