[1974-06-26-NJPW] Antonio Inoki vs Tiger Jeet Singh

[Jetlag]

Pretty simple match. Tiger comes in with his goofy rapier and is ambushed by an overzealous Inoki throwing wild punches. Jeet produces forth a foreign object and stabs the fuck out of Inoki and from then it's Singh procuring every dirty tactic in the book to work over Inoki. Choking, hits to the throat, bashing his into turnbuckle post, tables and chairs, and then some more chairs... Inoki quickly comes up bloody and there seems to be a DQ of some sort but the match is restarted (or 2/3 falls?) and Singh continues the beating. Inoki finally makes a pretty cool comeback by ramming into Singh like a bull. After some good payback using the steel posts again Jeet is bloodied aswell and Inoki finishes him off by snapping his arm, forcing the ref stop. This match had good pace but at over 20 minutes it was far too long. You can argue whether Singh's tactics were effective heel work or lazy garbage brawling... if the later, atleast give him credit for being the patron saint of the art form. Inoki ate an epic beatdown and gave gruesome comeuppance, so the match did everything right in that regard.

[Superstar Sleeze]

I looked it up on Cagematch it was 2/3 Falls but listed it as Inoki winning 2 falls to 1 and I have no clue how they came to that conclusion. What is considered the best Singh vs Inoki match?

NWF Heavyweight Champion Antonio Inoki vs Tiger Jeet Singh - NJPW 6/26/74

One of the most infamous feuds in pro wrestling history Antonio Inoki vs Tiger Jeet Singh is often reviled as one of the worst in terms of in ring quality. Inoki had two types of go to opponents: foreign shooters and wild men gimmick brawlers. Singh was the biggest of the latter. I have never seen a match of theirs or a Singh match but I felt I owed it to myself to watch at least one. Singh who wrestled in the US/Canada before this is definitely a product of The Sheik school of Heeling. I prefer Hansen and his bullrope doing a bull in a China shop routine but the Sword and turban are a good gimmick.

The brawling in this match is better than I expected given how much people dislike this. I prefer let the fist fly and fighting through your opponents offense brawling. This however is beat the shit out of the babyface lopsided brawling. I liked that a lot of foreign objects like chairs, tables and the post were used. Definitely a lot of choking and that weird stabby foreign object Sheik uses to jab the threat. The downfall of this match is that this style requires the babyface to be a great seller, Inoki is the shits at selling. At least Inoki bleeds! So it is not quite as compelling as it could be. It is also super confusing. I thought it was a DCO with a long post-match but Cagematch lists at 2 out of 3 Falls with Inoki winning. I fast forwarded a bit because I thought Match was over then I saw Singh biting. Inoki makes a great comeback with three lunging head butts and then pays Singh back with chair shots and ring post shots busting him open. They do a really weak arm breaking angle and Inoki wins by countout.

Not out of control, spectacle brawl that Inoki can do well but it was a good brawl. I can't decide if I will watch the rematches but I'm glad I saw one. *** 

[Makai Club #1]

I loved Jeet’s entrance. It's magnificent. And by far my favourite thing about him. Firstly, he stands in the entrance way for ages with a half smiley and menacing look upon his face with a sword in his mouth. That's all he does to rile the crowd up to the point where he almost has a fight with a fan coming to the ring. The Young Lions and other assistants have to seperate the fan and move him far away to avoid escalating. If there is one thing that I like, it's entrance fights. Then he walks around the ring stalling and threatening the crowd with his fist. Great character work. Inoki walks out with nothing but business on his mind. He is ready and Jeet Singh isn't having it. The match is rather simple; for example, Inoki would try to attack and Jeet Singh would pound on him, drag Inoki around the ring and throw anything that was in his grasp at Inoki. Whether it be a table, a chair or a sword. Inoki is cut open and does his best to sell the beat down. The match is under ⅔ falls, as it was the norm back then, so the double count out threw me a little. However it makes the structure of the match easier to follow. Both lost/won the fall so it's a simple fight to the finish. Singh tones down his wild brawling for more simple stomach claws and chokes, which do look good on a bloody Inoki, to be fair, but is unable to ramp it back up as Inoki is able to make a great comeback, stomping and punching the shit out of Jeet. Then Inoki tears Jeet’s arm out of its socket with some gruesome arm pulls and that's it. Inoki made the comeback and won the match. Inoki Bombaye. ***