[1982-11-04-NJPW] Antonio Inoki vs Rusher Kimura & Isamu Teranishi & Animal Hamaguchi (Handicap)

[Jetlag]

Yeah, like Inoki hasn't buried those IWE dweebs enough!! How about burying them all in a single stroke! Admittedly, this was some highly entertaining pro wrestling. The IWE boys couldn't really play the number's game at first, so Inoki just ate them all up, busting out lots of cool shit in the process. We also got to see referee Kotetsu Yamamoto tackling guys trying to run into the ring like the world's greatest security guard. Inoki slowly tires out and the IWE dudes go to town on him. Kimura hits some really stiff chops and Hamaguchi is just a dynamo in this match, attacking Inoki's leg like a terrier and taunting him. Hamaguchi ain't backing down from anyone. Inoki looked convincingly tired and wounded by the end (check out that leg selling) which helps even the dull Rusher Kimura to a heated finish. The only thing about this that bugged me was how quickly Teranishi was eliminated. Ah, can't win em all, or in this case, pin em all.

[tcg91]

I hate "attitude era handicap matches", but this was quite different. Not a bad one, but essentially it was 20+ minutes of Inoki putting holds on the IWE guys and them trying to cheat despite the 3v1 advantage, so it was kind of a burial in a way. Slow pace, which was a good thing as Inoki dosed his stamina and the opponents created enough heat with their hit and run strategy. He actually looked quite tired towards the end, but maybe it was just him selling the leg in an efficient way. The eliminations were fine, but the IWE guys ended up looking bad, despite picking up the win by countout. 
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