SAMS Ragtag 1970s Yearbooks

[SAMS]

1973-07-09
IWE - Big Summer Series - Day 16
Strong Kobayashi (c) vs. Rusher Kimura
IWA World Heavyweight Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, Japan
Card
★★
Kobayashi was the clean cut, straight laced champion up against Kimura who was more of a rough and scrappy challenger. If I’m not mistaken this was also the first clash for the title between two Japanese wrestlers, a departure from the company ethos of pitting homegrown Japanese stars against international competition. 
I liked how the first fall was decided by a furious slugfest, both men dispatching a flurry of strikes but the more aggressive Kimura came out on top and captured the fall. This meant that Kobayashi needed to retaliate and he came out the blocks fast in the second, upped his own aggression levels to match Kimura and in turn levelled things up. This concept of Kobayashi needing to dig deep to match Kimura was a neat one I thought.
To contrast the good, this match had a fair chunk of negatives as well. As for Kimura, some may say his selling style is subtle, I’d say it verges on the non-existent. He’s as wooden as he’d be a decade later and his lack of response to many of Kobayashi’s attacks prevented me from properly engaging in the match. Kobayashi as well is what I’d describe as a solid performer, but he doesn’t jump off the screen. These two being IWE’s top stars goes a long way to explaining why they lagged behind New Japan and All Japan.
The moment that took the cake however was what I can only assume was a botch, as it couldn’t have been intentional, but with Kobayashi in control during the third fall, he went for a rudimentary elbow drop. Kimura didn’t flinch in the slightest, but was merely his usual motionless self, and Kobayashi inexplicably whiffed on the move and landed straight on his elbow. This led to a massive switch in momentum and considering the time it happened in the match I assumed it was going to be  the catalyst for Kimura to go on and snatch the win. If that had happened I don’t see how Kobayashi could have been seen as a credible top guy and challenger for the title moving forwards as such a rookie error just made him look like a chump. Luckily for him the booking decision was for him to seal the deal. Even if Kimura and the referee, for both of Kobayashi’s falls, seemed intent on creating confusion and further delegitimizing Kobayashi’s win - Kimura lifting his shoulder up at the last second and the referee hesitating and having to recount the three. 

1973-07-17
French Catch
Jose Gonzalez vs. Batman
France
★★★
I have to admit I was perhaps a little overexcited in my anticipation for this match as I love both these guys, however while this didn’t set the world alight, honestly I’m not sure I could have asked for much more. Batman was as smooth as ever, I still enjoyed his combination of power and grace, but Gonzalez just was a supernova,  literally dripping with heel charisma. His look went a long way to selling the vibe, but he had the mannerisms, the facial expressions, the stooging, the big bumps. Literally everything you’d want he had in his locker. Another real standout performance from him.