[1971-05-19 JWA] Antonio Inoki vs The Destroyer

[Superstar Sleeze]

Antonio Inoki vs The Destroyer - JWA 5/19/71 

This is on the same show as the JWA World League Final pitting Giant Baba vs Abdullah The Butcher so a pretty stacked card. This is my first ever Destroyer match so I am pretty psyched!

Is The Destroyer the Father of LOLWrestling (TM Johnny P)? He had the crowd snickering throughout. I can appreciate a good strut after escaping the headscissors, but landing on the ref and making a joke out of it and the small package spot made people laugh was a bit much, counting loudly 1-2-3 quickly when he had reversed a headscissors into pinning predicament sounds like something an annoying wrestling heel in 2021 would do.  Maybe 21st century wrestling has ruined it for me, but his shenanigans didnt do much for me. I liked some of his more charismatic moment such as getting dumped over the top rope and jawing with the fans, the aforementioned strut and I liked the run up the ropes side headlock takedown. It didnt help that this match out of these moments is pretty dry. The only thing cool thus far are Inoki headscissor takedowns. The reason I like these so much is that Inoki is performing them while Destroyer is bent over making them look more organic. I especially liked the first one while Destroyer was running the ropes. Halfway through this has been more miss than hit. That being said, this is NOT one of the Destroyer's more heralded matches so if it ends up being a stinker thats fine, I have a couple more to get to so no one panic. :p

I thought I was halfway through turns out there was like only five minutes left. One thing I liked in addition to Inoki's headscissors takedowns was how Destroyer was blocking the Abdominal Stretch. Loved how Inoki countered the Figure-4. The Destroyer missed a dropkick great crash & burn. Inoki goes in for the kill with the Abdominal Stretch but Destroyer reverses into the Figure-4. Good struggle, they end up tumbling to the outside for the double countout. The post-match puts the Figure-4 over huge. 

Recommendation to skip nothing to see here. The only strong positive was how Inoki was doing his headscissor takedowns. I will continue to watch The Destroyer with an open mind.