New Japan Pro Wrestling

[SirEdger]

I'm a big fan of the Machines vs Freebirds feud already!

[kevinmcfl]

Love the shows. Enjoyed watching the USWA guys perform well in front of a new audience.

[gordi]

NJPW New Year Golden Series, Tour-ending show, January 26^th, Osaka Furitsu Taiiku Kaikan

Available soon on Laserdisc and Betamax with bonus tour highlight footage!

 

Yamada and Funaki vs. Black Tiger and Sano

These opening matches are quickly becoming big highlights for me. Funaki and Sano match up very well with their realistic martial-arts type style, and I think that Yamada and Sano might be capable of putting on some great matches a few years down the line. We’re building up Black Tiger Rocco for a probable Jr. Title run in the future so he once again takes the victory here, with a Black Tiger Bomb on Yamada. Rocco’s taken an active role in Yamada’s training and I’m sure that’s really going to help him develop.

 

The Young Lions (Mutoh, Hashimoto, and Chono) vs. The Lucha Libre Legends (Canek, Dos Caras, and Fishman)

Hopefully in a year or so we’ll be able to give this same match-up a lot more time. The main purpose of matches like this is to give our young lions the broadest possible experience base going into the future. We also want to give the young guys some shine, keep the LLL looking strong, entertain the fans, and tell a comprehensible story. That’s a lot to accomplish in 12 minutes, but with the Legends being so generous in the ring I think we were able to accomplish most of it. A Dos Caras Clutch on Chono ends things here.

 

Kendo Nagasaki vs. Junkyard Dog

Some real hate in this one. JYD just beat on Nagasaki in and out of the ring for ten minutes straight, before getting blasted with the green mist and pinned (with a handful of tights). Once he’d recovered from the blinding mist, the Dog received a huge appreciative ovation from the Osaka crowd.

 

Fujinami, Kimura, and Koshinaka vs. Kim Su-Hong, Kim Duk, and Tatsutoshi Goto

This was as close to a squash as you are going to see in a New Japan ring on my watch. Goto got a bit of shine, hitting a couple of nice backdrops, but otherwise this was a straight showcase for Fujinami and co. In an unusual twist, Koshinaka picked up the win for his team with a Samurai Driver '84 on Goto.

 

SPECIAL CO-MAIN EVENT: Inoki, Sakaguchi, and Hoshino vs. The Barbarian, Haku, and Siva Afi

To make time for the main event we’ve had to rush through the first half of the card fairly quickly… but these guys got a god 20 minutes to tell their story. The Pacific Islanders had been running wild through the New Japan roster. Now, they would have to face our top trio. It’s pretty classic Japanese booking, if I do say so myself.

 

Hoshino worked two long FIP segments, hitting the hot tag to Sakaguchi after the first one and finally to Inoki after the second one. To most of the fans, Inoki came across as the star of the match when he cleaned house on the powerful foreigners. To those in the know, however, Hoshino is really the guy who carried this one and made it something special.

Still… no big surprise to how this one ended.

 

 

*** Break ***

 

MAIN EVENT: Once-in-a-lifetime Mega Gauntlet match:

 

 

Seven Machines: Strong Machine #1, Strong Machine #2, Strong Machine #3, Strong Machine #4, Big Machine, Hulk Machine, and Giant Machine

 

versus

 

The Fabulous Freebirds, The Cobras (George and Shunji Takano), Umanosuke Ueda, and Anoaro Atisanoe

 

“Batting Order”

 

 

Strong Machine #2 Buddy Roberts

Strong Machine #3 Cobra #1

Big Machine Cobra #2

Strong Machine #4 Umanosuke Ueda

Hulk Machine Jimmy Garvin

Strong Machine #1 Michael Hayes

Giant Machine Anoaro Atisanoe

 

 

This was wrestled as a kind of combination gauntlet match and lumberjack match, with the 10 men not legally wrestling or up next in the batter’s box surrounding the ring and able to interfere if someone is tossed outside.

 

Here are the rules: Tags can be made, but only in the batting order provided. So, at the start of the match SM #2 can only tag in SM#3and SM#3 can only tag in Big Machine. If SM#3 is eliminated and SM#2 is the legal man, he can only tag in whoever the next remaining wrestler is on the batting order (for example, Big Machine). The “next man up” in the batting order must stand on the ring apron holding the tag rope. A wrestler can be eliminated by pinfall, submission, count-out, disqualification, or referee’s decision. Outside of the ring, interference is permitted. Any in-ring interference whatsoever is grounds for disqualification. Eliminated wrestlers may remain at ringside but are removed from the batting order and may not be tagged back in to the match. The match is over when all seven members of one team have been eliminated, with the other team being declared the victor. In the case of the one hour time limit being reached, the team with the most remaining wrestlers will be declared the victor.

 

Got it?

 

The heels tagged out frequently and quickly, cycling through their complete batting order while the Machines had only made a single tag. They constantly tried to bait the Machines into making a foolish mistake, but the face team managed to keep their cool. You could see that some of them were getting pretty angry, though.

 

The first fall came when Strong Machine #3 caught Buddy Roberts with a nasty looking brainbuster in the middle of the ring, putting the Machines up at 7-6. Cobra #1 flew into the ring as soon as the 3 had been counted and nailed #3 with a dropkick before #3 knew what was happening. Takano followed up with a series of knee strikes and then he and Roberts threw the Strong Machine out on the heel side of the ring before the ref could restore order. #3 took quite a beating, but his fellow Machines were able to make the save before he got counted out. However, The larger Cobra had been tagged in by that time, and he was waiting on the top turnbuckle as #3 made his way back into the ring. One Missle Dropcick later and the score was even at 6-6.

 

As Big Machine was making his way into the ring, Cobra #2 tagged in Umanosuke Ueda. Once again, the heels double-teamed the Machine and tossed him into the danger zone before the ref could gain control of the situation. By using such tactics, and by forcing a few of the Machines to lose their cool and make mistakes, the heels managed to pick off Big Machine, Strong Machine #4 (who was counted out while trying to get revenge for the beating Big machine had taken) and Strong Machine #2.

 

This left Hulk Machine, Strong Machine #1, and Giant Machine facing two to one odds as the score stood a 6-3. With Hulk Machine in the ring, though, the face team was far from losing hope. Sure enough, Hogan took out both Cobras by himself, #1 with an Axe Bomber and #2 with a Big Leg Drop.

 

Hulk Machine tagged Giant Machine in and went to ringside for a well-deserved rest. However, when Ueda distracted the ref and all three Freebirds interfered by going after Giant Machine’s mask and eyes, Hulk Machine lost his cool and jumped into the ring to make the save. All three Freebirds bailed, and when the ref turned around and saw Hulk Machine in the ring going after Ueda he had no choice but to hit him with an instant DQ. Hulk Machine was livid, but the rules are the rules.

 

Now Giant Machine and Strong Machine #1 were at a 2-4 disadvantage, with Ueda, Garvin, Hayes, and Atisanoe all remaining eligible for the heel team. The heels, however, had made the mistake of angering the Giant, and he went on a wild tear, eliminating Ueda and Garvin in quick succession. Unable to contain the Giant, Hayes decided to sacrifice himself. He went after Giant Machine’s eyes through the torn mask, enraging the big man even more. Hayes then bailed out of the ring and took the Giant on a goose chase, leading to both men being counted out.

 

 

This left Strong Machine #1 and Anoaro Atisanoe as the last two remaining fighters. They locked up in the middle and bulled each other around the ring, trying to gain an advantage. There was a big struggle where both men tried to hit a Piledriver. When #1 won that struggle and the heels tried to interfere, the remaining Machines swarmed over to stop them. As the twelve eliminated men fought outside the ring, Strong Machine #1 picked Atisanoe up, put a Hammerlock on him, spun him into position, and snapped his head into the mat with a vicious Machine DDT. Three counts later, all seven Machines were posing and celebrating inside the ring as the angry heels limped to the back.

[SirEdger]

WOW! Who knew that I'd get to see a Torneo Cibernetico way back in 1985!!! LOVED IT.

[kevinmcfl]

The rules of your elimination match were great. I might have to steal that one sometime.