[1988-02-04-NJPW] Antonio Inoki vs Riki Choshu

[Superstar Sleeze]

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Antonio Inoki vs Riki Choshu - NJPW 2/4/88

In 1988, Antonio Inoki turned 45 and he had one of his hottest years of his career. He had long feuds with Riki Choshu & Vader and an hour draw with Tatsumi Fujinami. In 1989, it would be the Soviet invasion and he would be tied to a Georgian judoka. I feel like the early 90s was a short bridge of Fujinami/Vader/Choshu to the Three Musketeers. So 1988 feels like Inoki's swan song. 

This would be Inoki's last IWGP title defense as Cagematch says the upcoming Vader match was not for the title and he vacated the title due to a foot injury, whether it was kayfabe or not just to get the tile off Inoki without doing the job I do not know. This is a humdinger to go out on. Riki Choshu was firing on all cylinders. Big dropkick right at the beginning! I love the hot start. Choshu beats the ever loving shit out of Inoki for five minutes. Great King of the Mountain. He bashes Inoki's head repeatedly into the post and turnbuckle and surprisingly does not draw blood. The ref breaks up one of the King of the Mountain spots on the apron and that dickwad Inoki nails an Enziguiri. Inoki lets the fists fly on Choshu's head and he is the one to bloody Choshu with a railing shot, which is again surprising given how much Choshu bashed his head in. Inoki gets an abdominal stretch but Choshu hiptosses out. Choshu roars back with a Saito Suplex and into the Scorpion Deathlock.  Inoki makes the ropes and on the second attempt, Inoki rips Choshu in the head with fists, fucking wicked. Choshu winds up for the lariat and Inoki lunges at him and headbutts him in the head. It looked like it could have been bad and Choshu kinda had to bend over for him. Inoki figure-4. Wicked hot action, lots of asskicking, blood and big time submission. Very little downtime. Inoki ENZIGUIRI! iNOKI OCTOPUS STRETCH! Choshu falls over to break it. CHOSHU SAITO SUPLEX! 1-2-NO! Great nearfall. Choshu steals Inoki's Octopus Stretch! Inoki Dropkick. Inoki steals the Saito Suplex to set up the Octopus Stretch. Choshu gets a finger on the rope but the ref doesnt feel like it counts and calls the match for Inoki. 

I dont know if the basis for this was the old school interpretation of the rule that the two combatants needed to be tied up in the ropes as opposed to contact with the rope by one combatant. Or if it was intended to be controversial as Saito came out to bitch and moan. I really like this style of match. It reminds me of All Japan King's Road where it is big bomb after big bomb (which makes sense as Choshu was in All Japan from 1985-1986). The difference between this and 90s All Japan is Choshu is much more efficient. This clocked in around 12ish minutes and theres no fat on this. From the King of the Mountain to Inoki bloodying him to all the BIG BOMBS & SUBMISSIONS! This is really my kinda wrestling. Everything mattered and felt important. ****1/2

[KB8]

I thought this fell surprisingly flat. Straight from the bell Choshu comes running out the corner with a dropkick and hits two lariats, so at that point I'm thinking okay it's going to be one of THOSE matches and I'm ready for the roof to go. It just never really kept hold of me for very long after that. I liked Inoki's dazed selling on the floor, the way he'd try and get back in the ring only to be knocked back down again, his whole demeanour in the face of Choshu's thuggery, and Choshu is always going to be interesting playing king of the mountain in a stretch like that. He paces around and threatens to swing at the ref' for restraining him, always eager to be dishing out punishment while being smart enough to not go out after Inoki and risk it backfiring. Then he gets a little too mouthy with the ref' and Inoki hits an apron enziguri, which is a pretty great transition spot. From there it simmered without ever really coming to the boil. They did some decent stuff and they definitely grabbed me again when Inoki punched a divot in Choshu's forehead. This was Inoki channelling whatever he unleashed on Kintaro Oki back in the day, dishing out receipts for earlier in the match. Choshu hits a real gusher and he might not be the most expressive or dramatic seller, but I sure bought him being in danger here. The finish felt like an Inoki finish, in that it left us with more questions than answers.