[1998-07-24-AJPW-Summer Action Series] Giant Baba & Mitsuo Momota & Rusher Kimura vs. Haruka Eigen & Masanobu Fuchi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi

[cactus]

Even when he's failing physically and he's a mere six months from death, Baba is still over and it's a big deal when he enters the arena. The house lights fade and the crowd erupt as his music plays throughout the Budokan. I've always liked the idea of having your older guys work in lowercard comedy matches to see their careers out, but this was a chore to sit through. The comedy is scarce and the work rate was virtually non-existent. It's mostly guys in their late 40s and 50s awkwardly slapping each other around for over ten minutes. Kikuchi was easily the most impressive here, who has the best comedy skills by far. Baba doesn't get involved much and I was surprised to see his team do the honors. Haruka Eigen's infamous spit spot is here, but it puzzles me why they kept booking guys like Rusher Kimura and Mitsuo Momota (who's still wrestling in his 70's now!) when they didn't bring much to the table.

★