[1987-12-04-NJPW] Antonio Inoki & Dick Murdoch vs Masa Saito & Yoshiaki Fujiwara

[Superstar Sleeze]

Antonio Inoki & Dick Murdoch vs Masa Saito & Yoshiaki Fujiwara - NJPW 12/4/87

Four of my Top 100 Wrestlers of all time hooking up in a dream dream tag match! HELL YEAH!

I can tell without pause why this did well in DVDVR Polling (#52) because this match is Headbutt City. If you love headbutts, this match is for you. It is a 30 minute draw that is worked like a 30 minute draw but still very good because these four are awesome even if never reaches that next level. The headbutts are the real drawing card. I am not a huge headbutt guy with the exception being Fujiwara of course who is the God King of Headbutts. There is a clip in the match, I think we lose about 4 minutes would be my guess. Murdoch and Fujiwara start us off on the mat. Nothing too fancy, I liked Fujiwara's top wristlock takeover and they trade kneecrushers. If I remember correctly, we get Murdoch vs Saito next and Saito is the first to throw headbutts. Murdoch is the only one who does not throw headbutts but instead throws Bionic Elbows, which look badass. Then it is Fujiwara vs Murdoch which is a similar story then we get Inoki vs Fujiwara. This is when it goes BONKERS! Fujiwara is throwing clear shoot headbutts with the clear intention of busting Inoki up and succeeds as Inoki ends up with a nasty cut above his eye. I didnt expect this to go the full thirty minutes and I didnt take notes. I am pretty sure Murdoch vs Saito is next. At one point Murdoch is trying to lift Saito into a Saito Suplex and how does Saito counter with what else but a headbutt! I am pretty sure Murdoch vs Fujiwara is next. They work the perfect Murdoch vs Fujiwara segment. It is filled Fujiwara Armbar Takedowns, Murdoch pulling him to the outside, wicked Murdoch punches and Bionic Elbows. I loved when Murdoch yelled for the Brainbuster and it was countered into the Fujiwara Armbar takedown. The way Fujiwara was selling those short punches to the face was amazing. Then we get full on Fujiwara in Peril and it was awesome! Inoki blitzes him with Enziguiris and Octopus Stretches and Fujiwara sold it like a million bucks. I think this is when Inoki/Murdoch did a double dropkick which popped me. Murdoch slung Fujiwara down with a powerslam! Then just kept dropping the hammer. Awesome heat segment on Fujiwara, great offense and great Fujiwara selling. Fujiwara CLUBS Saito and lunging headbutt! Hot Tag to Saito. FIREFIGHT BREAKS OUT! How does it end with a HEADBUTT of course! Saito vs Inoki is what I think happens next. This is when Saito pours it on..headbutts (of course), Lariats, Saito Suplex and finally the Inoki chants kick in. The crowd had been pretty dead. I think Inoki powders and this is when he hits his crazy Missile Dropkick! I definitely remember a missile dropkick from Inoki. I think thats what he uses to tag in Murdoch. Murdoch eats a Saito Suplex and he does his classic American sell spinning around on the mat. I remember Murdoch and Saito did the American spot of their heads banging in the middle of the ring. Murdoch going to the wrong corner very earnestly and trying to tag Fujiwara popped me huge. Saito & Fujiwara double headbutt on Murdoch repeatedly should have been the finish. It would have been so fitting. I know the match ends with Inoki and Fujiwara. I think Inoki hit a suplex for two before the bell rang. 

Two things stand out about this match, the sheer number of headbutts thrown by the team of Saito and Fujiwara. That was crazy. Fujiwara was out for blood at one point and got it against Inoki. The second thing was how good the Fujiwara in Peril segment was. The finish stretch was pretty good too. I marked out for the double headbutt after all the headbutts and really wanted that to be the finish. Great match! ****    

[KB8]

This was like two thirds really good and one third awesome. It's a 30 minute draw, but it only starts to feel like a 30 minute draw when there's an announcement that the time limit is imminent (I speak no Japanese but "2 minutes remaining" is truly the universal language of pro wrestling). Those first two thirds were fairly even, neither side really sustaining an advantage. I thought it came off as a nice slow build though, as opposed to them just killing time because they knew they were going 30. Then again it's these four so even some blatant time-killing would've been at least entertaining. Everyone was great in this and every possible match-up ruled. And yeah, they had the amazing running theme of everybody clonking each other with headbutts. I don't even remember who started it, maybe Saito though I guess the smart money would be on Fujiwara, but they all got in on it and I loved how they'd work those headbutts into standard exchanges. Saito lumped Murdoch with a couple and Dickie blocked a third with his forearms, which popped the crowd huge, then he retaliated with an elbow to the forehead that Saito did not expect. Fujiwara and Inoki were throwing putrid headbutts. This was late-career Kikuchi without the snarling and brain damage. Inoki gets cut open hardway and the sneer of pure disgust he throws at Fujiwara would shrivel your testes. The match properly kicks up a gear with ten minutes to go, first with an extended Murdoch and Fujiwara segment (Murdoch's elbow drops were some of the best I've ever seen btw), followed by Inoki coming in and decapitating Fujiwara with an enziguri. Fujiwara is maybe the king of selling a surprise KO and this was an incredible bit of selling even for him. Fujiwara in peril is just sensational - his second enziguri sell might've been even better than the first - and Inoki was top drawer revelling in the beatdown. Inoki always had an air of arrogance about him so you can imagine how much fun he had putting the clamps on one of the crowd's favourites. Last few minutes are nice and heated, everyone pushing for the late win, and the Fujiwara-Saito double headbutt on Murdoch is the nearfall of the century. Prolly. This was very fucking badass. 
 

[Sean Reedy]

This was awesome. Just nice warm comfort food. You've got a Sumo Hall crowd that understands the assignment and elevates the big moments. You've got Fujiwara throwing headbutts, Murdoch throwing elbows, Saito throwing suplexes, and Inoki busting himself open hardway off a headbutt. I could have done another 30 minutes. Built to a strong fever pitch.