[1980-09-30-NJPW-Bloody Fight Series] Antonio Inoki vs Ken Patera

[SAMS]

1980-09-30
NJPW - Fan Appreciation Super Fight
Antonio Inoki (c) vs Ken Patera
NWF Heavyweight Title Match
Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan
Card
★★★

Both gave a ton in this match. Patera, great at being the dick heel; that jock bully, also knew when it was time to turn tail and beg off. Sometimes his penchant for big bumping worked against him, as it did at points here, but in the broad strokes it got the desired effect across.
Patera opened this up with three massive body slams. Usually these were reserved for humiliating jobbers, but Inoki ate the brunt of these here. Patera trash talking the whole way was gold. Eventually he followed up with a Bar Hug, and this is usually where a match would fall off, but not here. Here is where Inoki shone. Instead of just standing there and taking it, you could see he was enduring the pain but trying to remain calm, calculating his method of escape. He tucked his hand in on the one side and slowly worked it in before suddenly going for the break. He wasn’t free for long as Patera locked the Bear Hug on a second time, but again, Inoki kept his cool and managed to free himself enough to get to the ropes. What I really loved is that while he was in the hold he went to great efforts to steel himself and his expressions. His focus was on escaping the hold, however once free he leant hard into selling the back, doubling over to stretch out the lower back and gingerly moving about the ring which I thought was incredibly effective selling.
As they transitioned into the finish it was Inoki in the ascendancy and Patera switched to begging off and selling big. He lulled Inoki in and then sent him to the floor outside where he laid him out with another body slam. Inoki didn’t oversell this, but instead took his time to re-enter the ring. He circled around, coming across like a film action star, milking the moment and building towards the big crescendo. A flash tope back into the ring took Patera by surprise and it wasn’t long before he was felled by the Enziguri and tumbled to the outside. He survived one Octopus Hold, but a flurry of offense by Inoki set up a second, and Patera was too far from the ropes and that was lights out for him.
I really enjoyed Patera’s performance here, he did exactly what he should have done and at exactly the right times. But this is a great example of Inoki being Inoki and that being perfect. When it was time to just be a star, Inoki certainly had that in his locker in a way few guys ever did. He oozes cool and that sense of entitlement that I can only assume comes from actually being the boss. Sometimes it works against him, but in big moments, it often is an incredible talent to be able to rely on.