[1977-02-02-NJPW] Seiji Sakaguchi & Strong Kobayashi vs Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanosuke Ueda

[Superstar Sleeze]

NWA North American Tag Team Champions Seiji Sakaguchi & Strong Kobayashi vs Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanosuke Ueda - NJPW 2/2/77 2/3 Falls

A 70s New Japan match without Inoki! The NWA North American Tag Team Titles are sanctioned out of Los Angeles but primarily used in Japan, but Inoki & Sakaguchi did wrestle the Original Hollywood Blonds and some Nazis in the mid 70s. Sakaguchi & Kobayashi have been champs for about a year. Singh is the main heel of the promotion and Ueda is a Japanese heel with bleached hair, I have seen once or twice before.

First Fall: Entertaining babyface shine all the usual trappings, hot babyface offense, double teams, heel miscommunication, heels looking like chickens running around with their heads cut off. The heels grind the match and the entertainment down to a halt with the choking and nerve holds on Sakaguchi. Sakaguchi bucks them off and tags in Kobayashi. Kobayashi looks way older here than in 1974. He is apprehensive to engage without a healthy Sakaguchi. Once Sakaguchi recovers it is balls to the wall. Sakaguchi hits a Jumping Knee. Kobayashi does some slam bang wrestling of his own. The action spills to the outside. Ahhhh yes! I forgot to mention. Kobayashi has a bandage on his elbow. Singh pointed this out before the bell. It seems like something Singh or Ueda did. They jab a chair into the injured elbow. Ueda gets the cross armbreaker but nothing doing. Some chair jabs to the elbow. Singh forces the submission with a short arm scissors. I liked the beginning and end of this fall a lot. The middle not so much. Singh/Ueda keep kicking at the arm in between falls. Singh/Ueda 1-0. 
 

Second & Third Falls: Shit gets confusing here. Singh is all over Kobayashi’s bad arm, double teaming in their corner, using the turnbuckle to wrench it. He gets the Short Arm Scissors but Kobayashi counters into a backslide for what I thought was 3 but Singh’s shoulder was not really down and they didn’t really stop the match. But Cagematch says Sakaguchi/Kobayashi won a fall so it had to be there. Singh goes back to work on the arm. Ripping off the turnbuckle pad and really wrenching the arm. He slings the ref down and I could’ve sworn this caused a DQ but apparently Singh & Ueda won. Both Cagematch & Wikipedia have Singh & Ueda winning the tag titles on this date. Singh & Ueda bloody Sakaguchi. Inoki comes out to make the save as Singh & Ueda walk out with the titles. 
 

This is a much better angle than a match. If your #2 & # 3 babyfaces are going to lose titles to your top heels this is how you do it. They destroyed Kobayashi’s arm and bloodied Sakaguchi. It was an epic destruction for the heels and really put some heat on them. Loved it as an angle as a match it was good. A little long in the tooth. ***1/4