[1974-06-13-AJPW] Anton Geesink vs Gorilla Monsoon (Judo Jackets)

[GOTNW]

The first ever Openweight Judo Olympic Champion faces off against Gorilla Monsoon in a special “judo jacket” rules match. In practice this essentially means they have to wear a judogi and pins last 20 seconds instead of 3, otherwise it’s the standard 2/3 falls formula of the times. I think this was well structured-Geesink carried the first half of the match which looked more like proper judo with him trying uchi mata, ouchi gari etc. but being stopped by Monsoon’s sheer size. Monsoon didn’t really do much there outside of his antics about his belt untying, but really took over in the second fall by going back to the pro-wres playbook and using chops and punches. There were some nice counters built around Monsoon going for the Fireman’s Carry and the irish whip Bearhug towards the end, with the finish being about what you’d expect for 1974. Nothing spectacular, but good fun for those interested in this particular niche of prowres. ***1/4