AJPW in the 1980's

[TheBean]

I want to have a place to focus on AJPW of the 1980's and provide a good launch pad for people who are interested in checking this decade out. I didn't see a thread in the Microscope so I thought I would start one. 

I've watched a bunch of 1984 & 85 and am working my way through 86. I've seen some matches from the early 80's (80-83) which I will post in this first one. I am also trying to watch my way through the 80's. I plan to update along the way. 

My plan isn't really to put full reviews here so it doesn't get too wordy & bogged down. Click the underlined matches. They are links to the full reviews with pics when applicable 🙂

1980

• Bruiser Brody & Angelo Mosca vs Rocky Hata & Tiger Toguchi - 01/08/80 - Fun
• Giant Baba vs Angelo Mosca - 01/18/80 - Fun
• Abdullah the Butcher vs. The Sheik - 12/01/80 - Classic, an amazing spectacle/aura
• Billy Robinson vs. Nick Bockwinkle - 12/11/80 - Classic match w/ sense of struggle, excellent selling and pacing
• Harley Race & Larry Hennig vs. The Sheik & Mark Lewin -12/11/80 - OK short brawl
• Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanoseke Ueda - 12/11/80 - Great brawl

1981

• Funk Brothers vs. Umanoseke Ueda & Buck Robley - 10/06/81 - Great esp. with the brawl at the end.
• Dory Funk Jr. vs. Terry Funk (04/30/81) Great, 50 min technical match wrestled in the NWA style

1982

• Dory Funk Jr. vs Bruiser Brody - 04/21/82 - Great, simple yet primal
• Funk Bros. vs Brody & Snuka - 04/22/82 - Good-Very Good, more of an angle than a match
• Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat - 06/04/82 - Great, athletic bout
• Terry Funk vs Stan Hansen - 09/11/82 - VG-Great, chaotic w/ a sense of violence throughout
• Funk Bros vs Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood - 12/02/82 - Near classic, very exciting stuff
• Giant Baba vs Umanosuke Ueda - 12/07/82 - Fun brawl

 

1983

• Jumbo Tsuruta vs Nick Bockwinkel (07/13) - VG technical match 30 min
• Baba & Jumbo vs Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanosuke Ueda (07/26) - Fun
• Funk Bros & Baba vs Brody, Hansen & Gordy (08/30) - Great, feverish action
• Chavo Guerrero vs Masa Fuchi (08/31) - Great, technical wrestling
• Bruiser Brody vs Jumbo Tsuruta (08/31) - Great, bloody dramatic title fight
• Funk Bros vs Hansen & Gordy (08/31) - Great stuff, a spectacle
• Baba vs Stan Hansen (09/08) - Good-VG, Baba pushed himself
• Bruiser Brody vs Jumbo Tsuruta (10/14) - VG, Brody was technical, double blood
• Stan Hansen vs Dory Funk Jr. (11/28) - Great, timeless stuff
• Tiger Jeet Singh vs Dory Funk Jr. (12/05) - VG
• Baba & Dory Jr. vs Brody & Hansen (12/10) - Classic intense sprint
• Ric Flair vs Great Kabuki (12/12) - Fun title match

[TheBean]

1984

• Jumbo & Baba vs Gordy & Hayes (01/20) - Fun
• Jumbo & Kabuki vs Gordy & Hayes (01/22) - Fun-good, cool finish
• Bockwinkel vs Jumbo (02/23) - Great, slow burn title fight
• Bockwinkel vs Jumbo (02/26) - Great compliment to previous match
• Chavo Guerrero vs Mighty Inoue (02/26) - VG technical match
• Jumbo vs Black Jack Lanza (03/04) - Good, AWA bout
• Billy Robinson vs Jumbo Tsuruta (03/11) - VG title fight, AWA bout
• Jumbo Tsuruta vs Jim Brunzell (03/15) - Good-VG, AWA
• Baba vs Stan Hansen (03/24) - Great match because of the story
• Jumbo vs Greg Gagne (04/19) - Great, tech. & athletic Gagne performance
• High Flyers vs Dory Jr. & Kerry von Erich (04/24) - Great, exciting spots, excellent wrestling
• Brody & Hansen vs Jumbo & Tenryu (04/24) - Great big time tag match
• Brody & Hansen vs Baba & Dory Jr. (04/25) - VG, fast paced
• Jumbo Tsuruta vs Jim Brunzell (04/26) - VG-Great, excellent pace
• Dory Funk Jr. vs Stan Hansen (04/26) - Great, authentic feeling w/ little things done right
• Rick Martel vs Jumbo Tsuruta (05/13) VG-Great, AWA
• Harley Race vs Ric Flair (05/22) - Great, steady pace w/ plenty of surprises
• Jumbo Tsuruta vs Kerry von Erich (05/22) - Classic, best singles bout of AJPW '84
• Baba vs Stan Hansen (07/31) - Great, intense w/ a great post match
• Tiger Mask II vs La Fiera (08/26) - Fun, top notch sequences and moves for '84
• Brody & Hansen vs Baba & Dory Jr. (08/26) - Classic, all time perhaps? Furious pace, stiff w/ great post match
• Onita & Fuchi vs Hector & Chavo Guerrero (09/03) - Great Jr. tag action + comedy
• Jumbo & Tenryu vs Brody & Blackwell (09/03) - Great, excellent pacing & sense of doubt in the outcome
• Hamada & Mighty Inoue vs Hector & Chavo Guerrero (09/12) - VG, great lucha bits
• Jumbo & Ishikawa vs Brody & Moon Dog Moretti (09/12) - VG
• Tiger Mask II vs Jerry Estrada (10/05) - Fun, nice moves
• Rick Martel vs Ashura Hara (10/05) - VG, wish match was longer
• Rick Martel vs Jumbo Tsuruta (10/11) - VG, emphasis on parity
• Jumbo & Tenryu vs Gordy & Hayes (10/16) - Good
• Jumbo Tsuruta vs Terry Gordy (10/29) - VG once Jumbo starts bleeding
• Kabuki & Tiger Mask II vs Buzz Sawyer & Fiera (11/03) - Fun, great moves
• Funk Bros vs Jumbo & Tenryu (11/28) jip, great, hard shots, blood, well paced
• Bockwinkel & Race vs Ishikawa & Inoue (12/08) - Exciting, all action at junior pace
• Tiger Mask II vs Pirata Morgan (12/08) - Great, dazzling moves
• Brody & Hansen vs Funk Bros (12/08) - All time classic, peak chaos & animosity
• Funk Bros vs Bockwinkel & Race (12/12) - jip, only half shown but great stuff shown
• Jumbo & Tenryu vs Brody & Hansen (12/12) - All time classic, fast paced, intense fight

Click the underlined matches. They are links to the full reviews with pics when applicable 🙂