New Japan Pro-Wrestling

[superkix]

The last show of 1985 for NJPW, building toward their big January show, New Year Dash, which will feature all three titles (IWGP Heavyweight, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight and the IWGP Tag Team) on the line. I figured this would be a good chance to set the stage, with the respective champions (Fujinami, Tiger Mask, and Fujiwara/Yamazaki) already established. 

NJPW Japan Cup Tag Team League 1985, 12/12/85
Ryogoku Kokugikan
ca. 9500 Fans

1. Tiger Mask & Shiro Koshinaka beat Ashura Hara & Yoshinari Ogawa (7:56) by DQ. 

A fast paced junior heavyweight tag match, with some very good interactions between Tiger Mask and Ashura Hara. The youngster Ogawa was also impressive when given the opportunity to go up against Koshinaka. As Tiger Mask prepared Ogawa for the tiger suplex hold, a masked man entered the ring and attacked Tiger, causing the disqualification. The masked man was none other than The Cobra, making his return to NJPW. 

2. Antonio Inoki & Shinya Hashimoto beat Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada (9:34) when Inoki used the manjigatame on Kawada. 

Antonio Inoki continued his dominance heading into New Year Dash, this time defeating Revolution leader, Genichiro Tenryu and young Toshiaki Kawada. Inoki brought his own young protege in Shinya Hashimoto, and while Hashimoto and Kawada were given plenty of time to work, the fans were buzzing for Tenryu and Inoki to go at it. Backstage, Inoki was asked about IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Tatsumi Fujinami, and his chances in the Japan Cup Tag League. Inoki said Fujinami is distracted and should be more concerned with their title match at New Year Dash next month. 

3. Japan Cup Tag League 1985 Semi Final: Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura beat Riki Choshu & Animal Hamiguchi (12:41) when Fujinami used the dragon sleeper on Hamiguchi. 

The newly crowned IWGP Heavyweight Champion and his partner, Kengo Kimura, were successful in the semi-finals, defeating Ishin Gundan's Riki Choshu and Animal Hamiguchi. While Fujinami and Kimura had the speed advantage, Choshu and Animal brought the heavy blows and big slams, with Choshu trying to set up for the lariat on the champ. After Choshu hit Kimura with a backdrop suplex, he once again looked to take out Fujinami with the lariat but Fujinami countered with a high dropkick. Fujinami then was able to finish off Hamiguchi to advance to the finals.

4. Nobuhiko Takada beat Dave Taylor (8:15) with a jujigatame.

A showcase match-up for Takada, with Dave Taylor giving him everything he needed to look his best. Takada continued to utilize his strike and submission-heavy offense, but Taylor more than held his own in both regards, putting Takada on the ropes a number of times with some unique European-style submission holds. 

5. Japan Cup Tag League 1985 Semi Final: Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido beat Mark Fleming & Scott McGhee (10:57) when Kido used the Kido Clutch on McGhee. 

At the end of the day, technique proved to be in Maeda and Kido's favor as they were able to overcome Fleming and McGhee in the semi-finals. Fleming continued to impress as the skilled powerhouse, trying to submit both Maeda and Kido with his Boston crab hold. Scott McGhee also scored a nearfall off a German suplex hold on Maeda that Kido was able to break up. When McGhee tried to do the same to Kido, Kido rolled him up with the Kido Clutch for the three count. 

6. Super Tiger beat Kazuo Yamazaki (13:44) with a roundhouse kick.

The former Tiger Mask, Super Tiger, continued his attack on the Takada Army, this time taking out one half of the current IWGP Tag Team Champions in Kazuo Yamazaki. Tiger was very aggressive from the get go, mostly utilizing a variety of kicks to down Yamazaki before trying to choke him out on the mat. Yamazaki fought back and at one point, rolled Super Tiger up into a cross armbar but Tiger was able to break away and in the end, caught Yamazaki in the side of the head with a roundhouse kick for the win. 

7. Japan Cup Tag League 1985 Final: Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido beat Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura (17:23) when Maeda used the double wristlock on Kimura.

Largely considered the underdogs of the tag league, Maeda and Kido made it to the finals against the league favorites, and pulled off the big upset when Maeda caught Kimura with the double wristlock for the submission victory. Of course, the interactions were largely centered around Fujinami and Maeda, with Maeda especially looking confident against the new heavyweight champion. He managed to evade the dragon sleeper attempts and kept pace with Fujinami's speed and agility, while Kido brought the veteran beats. After the match, Maeda and Kido celebrated in the ring with their trophies and officially issued the challenge to Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Yamazaki for the IWGP Tag Team titles at New Year Dash next month. 
 

 

 

[Blehschmidt]

I am very much looking forward to this as Puroresu has always been something of a blind spot for me. I know the names, but apart from watching comps of folks like Brody, the Funks, and Cactus Jack in Japan and a shit ton of Hayabusa, my knowledge is not where it should be!. So while it will be your take on it, I look forward to getting a better feel for the players involved.

The Cobra returns from his sojourn to the States and sets his sights on Tiger Mask and the Junior Title. I do know these two, and that should lead to some exciting encounters.

Had to look up what the manjigatame was, so I am already learning! Keeping Tenryu and Inoki apart while letting the rookies work is classic, smart booking! Inoki/Fujinami on New Years is a huge match!

Speaking of Fujinami, he picks up a big win in the semi-final with Kimura. I don't know Hamiguchi, but I know a win over Choshu is a big deal.

Glad to see Mark Fleming here. He seems like a guy who could flourish in Japan, despite never making it in the States.

Maeda/Kido again aren't guys I am super familiar with, but a win over the IWGP Champion even in singles competition shows me that they are a huge deal, and will be formidable challengers for the Tag Team Titles. Will definitely be looking forward to seeing Fujiwara in action!

 

Awesome start man! Looking forward to the 1/4 show!

[kevinmcfl]

I'm in the same boat as Blehschnidt as my knowledge of Japanese wrestling is almost zero but I 'm excited to learn.  The one thing that I enjoy is all of the tournaments that go on.  Welcome aboard.

[superkix]

New Japan Pro-Wrestling has confirmed all three big title matches for New Year Dash on January 3rd, set to take place from Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. In addition to the aforementioned main event, with new champion, Tatsumi Fujinami, making his first defense against Antonio Inoki, as well as the winners of the Japan Cup Tag League, Akira Maeda and Osamu Kido challenging the reigning champs, Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Kazuo Yamazaki, the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title will be on the line as Tiger Mask defends against the returning Cobra! In addition, Super Tiger's one  man war against the Takada Army will culminate with Tiger taking on the leader,  Nobuhiko Takada, under the UWF Rules. Finally, Revolution and Ishin Gundan will battle it out in a six man tag team match. More matches are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

NJPW New Year Dash 1986, 1/3/86
Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Riki Choshu, Animal Hamiguchi & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Samson Fuyuki & Yoshinari Ogawa
2. UWF Rules: Nobuhiko Takada vs. Super Tiger
3. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Tiger Mask © vs. The Cobra
4. IWGP Tag Team Titles: Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kazuo Yamazaki © vs. Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido
5. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Tatsumi Fujinami © vs. Antonio Inoki
 

[superkix]

The show opened with an opening ceremony featuring a parade of champions, as well as Antonio Inoki to welcome the roughly 10,000 fans in attendance. The opening contest saw two fiery young wrestlers working a short but stiff match, with Hashimoto especially aggressive with his kicks. Funaki landed a few hard open hands to Hashimoto’s face and largely kept him in check on the mat. But after a solebutt kick to the midsection, Hashimoto planted Funaki with the DDT and cinched in with the guillotine choke to submit Funaki.

In fast-paced six-man tag action, the junior heavyweight trio led by Black Tiger emerged victorious over the opposition, which included Steve Wright and Gran Hamada. Tons of innovative submission work from everyone involved but especially the interactions between Wright and Taylor. The younger Nogami was the chosen prey of both Tiger and Finlay, in the end, he fell victim to Tiger’s Black Tiger Bomb.

Americans Mark Fleming and Scott McGhee made relatively short work of Revolution’s Ashura Hara and Toshiaki Kawada when Fleming planted Kawada with a big powerbomb. Perhaps the bigger moment came after the match when the Revolution members were attacked by a group of individuals who came through the crowd. Hiroshi Hase, Takayuki Iizuka, Kensuke Sasaki and Naoki Sano laid waste to Hara and Kawada, seemingly declaring war on Revolution Backstage, Hase said that his group, Wild Rush, is the last line to be drawn in New Japan.

Revolution suffered further defeat when Ishin Gundan came out on top in a six-man tag team match. The crowd clung to every hard-hitting Tenryu and Choshu interaction, with Tenryu getting the better of Choshu throughout. When Choshu tried for an early lariat, Tenryu ducked it and shook him with a big backdrop suplex. Choshu, however, rallied his troops and after Hamiguchi and Kobayashi cleared the ring, Riki leveled Ogawa with the lariat for the three count. Backstage, Tenryu had no comment about their loss nor the attack by Wild Rush.

Super Tiger’s hunt through the Takada Army ranks led straight to the top, as he challenged Nobuhiko Takada under the UWF ruleset, meaning knockout or submission only. Super Tiger held nothing back against Takada, rushing him with several shorts kicks before backing him into a corner and blasting him with the big jumping solebutt kick. Takada kept trying to take it to the ground but Tiger kept on him with the kicks, trying to wear him out. Takada finally found an opening when Tiger tried for a crossface chickenwing, and rocked Tiger with hard knees and kicks. Tiger couldn’t quite come back from it and after one last-ditch effort at the chickenwing, Takada countered into a cross armbar for the submission victory.

The Cobra made his in-ring return to NJPW after a western excursion and immediately set his sights on regaining the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title. Reigning champion, Tiger Mask wasn’t going to let Cobra slow his momentum and he made Cobra work for every one of his pin attempts. But when Tiger wanted to keep the pace fast, Cobra tried to slow him down, keeping him trapped in the cobra stretch and trying to keep him from flying around the ring. He teased the piledriver throughout, much to the chagrin of the fans, but Tiger fought back and put Cobra down with the tiger suplex hold to retain the title.

The underdogs in last month’s tag tournament, Akira Maeda and Osamu Kido, had the support of the fans heading into their title match against Takada Army’s Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Kazuo Yamazaki. This played out like an unofficial UWF rules-style match, with Maeda primarily battling back against Fujiwara and Yamazaki, with some support here and there from Kido. Fujiwara was especially keen to tap out Maeda on the mat but Maeda was too slick for Fujiwara at times, and his feistiness paired well against Yamazaki’s own fieriness. The final few minutes of the match saw Yamazaki hit a German suplex on Maeda but when he tried to transition into the armbar, Maeda stunned him with a double wristlock counter and Yamazaki had no choice but to tap out. Maeda and Kido celebrated with the titles, as Fujiwara looked on in disappointment.

The night’s main event was one for the ages and a proverbial passing of the torch, as newly crowned IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Tatsumi Fujinami, made his inaugural defense against his mentor, Antonio Inoki. This was grueling in every sense of the word, with Inoki working as hard as he ever has to make himself look superior to Fujinami. But Fujinami proved to be a little too quick for Inoki, a little too agile on both his feet and on the ground, where Inoki tried to dominate. At one point, Inoki just started peppering Fujinami with hard slaps to the face out of frustration. He was able to capture Fujinami in the manjigatame but it wasn’t enough to finish off Fujinami. The champion made it known that he was the worthy successor and when he cinched in the dragon sleeper in the end, Inoki was too proud to tap out and succumbed to the sleeper. The fans lit up with excitement as Fujinami and Inoki embraced after Inoki’s recovery, and Fujinami held the title aloft as he stood triumphant on the turnbuckles.

NJPW New Year Dash 1986, 1/3/86
Ryogoku Kokugikan
10,000 Fans

1. Shinya Hashimoto beat Masakatu Funaki (7:10) with a guillotine choke.
2. Black Tiger, Dave Finlay & Dave Taylor beat Steve Wright, Gran Hamada & Akira Nogami (8:45) when Tiger used the Black Tiger Bomb on Nogami.
3. Mark Fleming & Scott McGhee beat Ashura Hara & Toshiaki Kawada (6:34) when Fleming used a powerbomb on Kawada.
4. Riki Choshu, Animal Hamiguchi & Kuniaki Kobayashi beat Genichiro Tenryu, Samson Fuyuki & Yoshinari Ogawa (12:34) when Choshu used the lariat on Ogawa.
5. UWF Rules: Nobuhiko Takada beat Super Tiger (16:29) with a cross armbar.
6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Tiger Mask beat The Cobra (14: 55) with a tiger suplex hold (3rd defense)
7. IWGP Tag Team Titles: Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido beat Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kazuo Yamazaki (18:48) when Maeda used the double wristlock on Yamazaki to become the 3rd champions.
8. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Tatsumi Fujinami beat Antonio Inoki (26:12) with the dragon sleeper (1st defense)

[Blehschmidt]

Hash' picks up the win in the young lions opener, but I have to assume it was the following six man tag that really got the crowd going. Not super familiar with Nogami, but I know the other 5 and I can guarantee that they put on a show!

Nice to see Fleming getting some love. I hated to cut him, but I just didn't have a spot for him in Texas. The hard hitting, technical foreigner is a great spot for him here. I am interested to see what "Wild Rush" brings to the table and how they fit in here.

The Takada/Super Tiger match sounds awesome, and makes me want to look into UWF Rules matches. It'll be interesting to see if Tiger continues going after the Takada Army, or if this is the end of that vendetta.

Big win for Tiger Mask over the returning Cobra. I'll be interested to see who steps up to challenge for the Junior Title next. Several exciting possibilities.

I am still learning who is who here, but the switch of the tag team titles seems like something of an upset even though Maeda/Kido did win the tournament.

Big time main event as Fujinami retains against Inoki. Love the touch of Inoki not submitting. The torch may have been passed, and the fans may be happy with the change, but something tells me that Inoki may not be out of the spotlight quite yet.

 

Great Show! As I stated before, a lot of these folks are new to me, but I enjoy learning about the one's I don't know and reading about the one's I do. Looking forward to the next show!

[kevinmcfl]

Fun show...  A couple of questions as I am trying to learn about something I know nothing about.  

What are the major differences in wrestling in Japan in the 80's and in the U.S.

What does it mean UWF rules in a match in Japan

[spaldoni]

Exciting show! 

In the 80s, I was only able to read about Japanese wrestling in the magazines so it's cool to see shows in this game and learn more about it.. 

I was looking forward to Tiger Mask vs. Cobra and they delivered.

I agree with Bleh, I think Fleming could have a nice run in Japan.  

A Fujinami vs. Inoki main event is huge! The torch is passed but I'm sure Inoki will still be in the main event scene. 

Good stuff! 

 

[superkix]

Thanks. I've been a bit busy with real life stuff as of late, so I haven't been able to do much at the moment. To answer kevinmcfl's question, UWF rules is basically winning via knockout or submission only. No pinfalls. As far as the major differences, I can only go off of what I know regarding Japanese wrestling since I'm largely unfamiliar with American wrestling in the 80's...but it was more focused on the athleticism and incorporating legitimate moves from karate and other forms of martial arts, as well as catch-as-catch-can wrestling and traditional Greco-Roman wrestling. While they had some characters, it was less of the "larger than life" characters of the U.S. and more inspired by the masked wrestlers of Mexico, etc. Hope that helps!

[Wahoos Leg]

I like how the recaps and results have that feel of a legit NJPW show from the mid 80s 

[superkix]

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to go on hiatus for a bit. Things are a little too hectic for me to devote time to this right now, I apologize.