[1983-06-02-NJPW] Antonio Inoki vs Hulk Hogan

[Jetlag]

Uhh.. it's Inoki and Hogan working MUGA. And it rules!! The crowd is molten hot, and Hogan does all these awesome technical transitions, totally holding up his end. The hold for hold stuff is basic but effective, with Inoki carrying himself like he could escalate and snap Hogans arm any minute. The Figure 4/Indian Deathlock sequence was great and so was Hogan folding himself up when Inoki threatened to go for the Octopus Hold. No doubt Hogan fully understood how to work this kind of match. I loved Inoki eating the axe bomber and slowly getting up "well, let's get back to wrestling". Add in some really well timed suplexes and a cool finish and you have a great contest. This should've gone longer and you would have a stone cold classic.

[Righteous River]

Inoki dunking on Hogan the whole time was wild and Hogan did a great job of selling his exasperation. Inoki's technical brilliance and presence were on full display here, he is a master of telling stories with his mat sequences and even when they're basic like they were in this match, they are enthralling. The finish was the perfect culmination as Hogan's brute strength required a significant opening as he wasn't gonna outwrestle Inoki. Amazing match. (****1/2)

[tcg91]

This was a blast, a very fun match. Hogan was good on the limb work here, showing a lot of potential, and Inoki sold big time for him. Still, Inoki was clearly more familiar with the armwork and those were the best sequences of the bout, as a few of Hogan's happened to be a bit clumsy. They definitely had chemistry and this was their best match together, despite Hogan struggling to keep an heel attitude, as a good chunk of fans were supporting him. Very infamous finish here, but Inoki sold it very well and this was another testament to how over Hogan was getting at the time
***1/4