Having finished looking at a year’s worth of the AJ Chogei Selection show, I thought I’d put together some lists that would highlight how the wrestlers performed, and what was really good and bad about AJ in 1987. AJ Selection isn’t as complete as the AJ TV shows that aired on the network in 1987, it shows complete matches, but attempts to showcase the “better” and “more notable” matches rather than being an entire rebroadcast of the year. Some matches that were skipped, especially ones involving Genichiro Tenryu, who always gets the shaft on the classics because the Baba's are still salty about him defecting to SWS, and ones that were never shown anywhere could certainly swing my opinion on some wrestlers, but I think enough was made available that I could make a worthwhile survey.

1987 was not one of the best or worst years in company history; it was a transition year. Riki Choshu and co. jumped back to New Japan in late February, leaving the company reeling. Though a plethora of talent remained, it took most of the year to reset the promotion to something workable in terms of booking. Big moves included Genichiru Tenryu leaving Jumbo Tsuruta’s side, and former rival Yoshiaki Yatsu later joining it. These moves were detrimental in the short term, but would pay big dividends in 1988 when the series of classic Tsuruta vs. Tenryu matches that changed All Japan got into full swing.

I’m not sure how much blame can be placed on Choshu, but 1987 was a far better year for tag matches than singles. Most of the big singles matches were good, and only good, which is not something I’m used to from All Japan, a league that for many later years seemed to almost guarantee an excellent or better match simply by taking out Budokan. Only the junior division, the one that Choshu had little effect on, really delivered in singles. However, there were a number of really strong tag matches. Perhaps this is because booking and rivalry were much more important to the heavyweight singles matches of the time than to the tag matches, which have more built in stories based on rank and injury?

1. Masa Fuchi. Fuchi was the man in singles. His matches might not provide the fireworks associated with the junior division, but they were some of the finest crafted technical matches of their day. He was a very smart and efficient wrestler. He wasn’t physically gifted or spectacular, but he developed the matches with a formula that made this irrelevant. At that time he had no peer in All Japan when it came to developing the counters and making lesser moves important.

2. Jumbo Tsuruta. We know Jumbo is the best, but based on a surprisingly small sample size this didn’t appear to be one of his standout years in singles. He did have, among other should be winners, two big Budokan matches against Tenryu that didn’t show up on the classics. What did show up were good matches with Flair, Hansen, & Tommy Rich. All these matches should be good and were, but Flair is even more ridiculous in Japan, and the Jumbo vs. Hansen matches always disappoint for whatever reason given it's the top native vs. the top foreigner. Tsuruta’s plentiful tag matches proved him to be in excellent form, even though he’d soon get much better despite being at an age that he had no right to.

3. Yoshiaki Yatsu. Yatsu’s singles resume is essentially the same as Jumbo’s. He had three matches, all good, against Flair, Roberts, & Hansen. Yatsu is not a guy that’s going to blow you away, but in his heyday he’s a guy you almost had to appreciate. He tried so hard that it’s difficult not to like him, but unlike a lot of guys that try hard, he did have the ability to back it up during the earlier portion of his career. He’s not a world beater, but the effect of his effort grows, and by the end of the match you really appreciate what he gave you.

1. Hiroshi Wajima. I never thought I’d see the day when I’d be writing that Tiger Jeet Singh was the better of any two wrestlers, but it came when he was programmed with this pile. Wajima is technically the more capable wrestler, I suppose, but he gave so many negative efforts. It seemed he was just on a big ego trip, showing he could force even the incredibly selfish Singh to sell for him. Granted it’s hard to blame someone for not showing up to wrestling Singh, but even supposedly legendary characters Ric Flair and Stan Hansen had dreadful title matches with him.

2. Tiger Jeet Singh. Singh is king…of no skill brawling. This was before the days when he hit his opponent with the butt of his sword for the entire match, but this guy still had about the dullest and most tedious “offense” ever, and he did his best to ensure that was the entire “match”. Not one of his singles debacles was worthy of a whole star.

1. Jumbo Tsuruta. Tsuruta excelled regardless of his partner. Whether it was Tenryu, Tiger, or Yatsu, Jumbo found his way onto the top list. Jumbo excellent regardless of the opposition, even getting a standout match out of the Road Warriors. What stood out to me though was how little time he took off. Today, the stars (*cough* Misawa *cough*) are often carried by their partner, saving themselves for the key moments and the big singles matches. Jumbo would often work 2/3 of his tag matches, even when he teamed with Yatsu, a guy whose trademark was his willingness to put out.

2. Yoshiaki Yatsu. Yatsu had a very impressive year, appearing in 2/3 of the top tag matches with three different partners. The earlier portion was by far the best because he was the star of his team, so the matches were more suited to his strengths. His team with Jumbo was actually disappointing because Yatsu didn’t really have a role; he mainly stood on the apron, which really negates his strength since he’s the type that the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts.

3. Ashura Hara. Hara got off to a slow start teaming with nondescript partners, but from June on he was always with Tenryu. He carried this team through many intense hard hitting matches, doing all the little things and getting Tenryu to be stiffer and nastier in the process.

4. Shinichi Nakano. Nakano is the one guy that matched Yatsu for effort. He didn’t have Yatsu’s ability, but you always cared about him because he hung in with better more experienced wrestlers through sheer willpower.

5. Genichiru Tenryu. Tenryu is something of an enigma. His resume is always going to be too impressive to ignore, but never as impressive as it could be if he gave his all. Effort wise, he was on much better behavior than in later years. Talent wise, he was about as good a they come. The thing with Tenryu is he’s a glory hound. You want to praise him because he’s impressive in almost every match, but you have to realize that the match is set up for him to impress, which means he’s impressive at the expense of others, particularly his partner.

6. Ted DiBiase. DiBiase’s brand of solid well-developed technical wrestling made many a match good, but what stood out about him was his attitude. He might have been Hansen’s #2, but his high profile matches were more for the benefit of the opposition. He really helped make Tiger look good, and even put him over in singles.

7. Terry Gordy. Gordy had something of an odd year in that he was a standout in virtually ever tag match and he generally had good partners, mainly top gaijin Stan Hansen, but his matches were really nothing special. I thought Gordy made a slightly more impressive showing than DiBiase did with Hansen, but his actual matches just don’t stack up to DiBiase’s. Gordy was one big man that made moves look better than they should, but more importantly he didn’t use his size as a reason not to put over his opposition. Instead, he was one of the most willing and able big men ever at taking bumps and putting over his opponents.

8. Tiger Mask. Tiger was the first native to introduce the aerial style to heavyweight matches. Keiji Muto was coming up at this time as well, but he was more a top athlete that had one great flying move than a true high flyer. In that regard, Tiger was limited by his opposition. These guys weren’t going to work junior or Lucha sequences, but Tiger was able to be highly impressive without his full arsenal. He used only moves that essentially anyone could take, basically stuff where he jumped at them, but the execution was right on, and no one was doing these moves in the division at the time so he brought a whole new exciting element to his matches.

9. Stan Hansen. Hansen had such impeccable timing. If one move was going to make the match, Hansen was the guy you wanted to set it up. If Dan Kroffat is the master at crafting finishing sequences, Hansen is his opposite. No one could find so many clever and effective ways to win with the same hold as Stan.

1. Hiroshi Wajima. Wajima’s only efforts were in tag, but at best he was the lesser of two evils, and even those occasions were extremely rare. Even though Baba was terrible, at least he was capable of something interesting on the few nights a year he picked to deliver. Wajima was just an awful selfish wrestler that, at best, could look passable for a minute stretch, but those were usually when he pulled a quick comeback.

2. Tiger Jeet Singh. You get less of him in tag, but he was never involved with anyone good, which is just as well because no one is capable of carrying him. I’m still looking for one decent thing to say about his wrestling.

3. A Sheik. The other "Mr. Perfect" was far from it. Sheik was Singh’s toady, interfering in his singles matches against Wajima so we would then be stuck with awful tag matches instead. He was better than Singh, basically by default, but luckily his reign of terror was short lived.

4. TNT. As with any time one is forced to endure the repetitive monotony of AC/DC, one can do little more than just groan "Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi!" There were worse wrestlers, but this guy might have been the one with the least business on the card. He was a nothing that should have been there to carry Abdullah, but he was so bad Abdullah actually felt obligated to step it up to keep the matches from becoming a total embarrassment.

5. Abdullah The Butcher. Butcher had energy and charisma, but he’s not capable of doing anything well. At least in these days he tried and wasn’t a complete cliché. His style wasn’t suited to the league, even though they used the blade in these days, and his unwillingness and inability to sell killed the matches because it meant a whole lotta forking.

6. Giant Baba. I’m sure Baba picked a few spots, but the only time I saw him show up was in a match with Tiger against Tenryu & Hara. There Baba was the focus, even though Tiger carried the team, and he helped Tenryu & Hara get over by allowing them to beat the crap out of him. The rest of the year, he was his usual awful self, slow as molasses rolling up a hill, awkward as all hell, and generally doing everything in such a pathetic and inept looking way it was difficult not to cringe.

1. Genichiru Tenryu & Ashura Hara. This was a team you didn’t want to meet. Their style was very straightforward and simplistic, they just beat the crap out of you and enjoyed every minute of it. They had the toughest, most intense matches in the league.

2. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shinichi Nakano. The ultimate effort team. It’s almost amazing these guys worked so well together because they’d both prefer to work the whole match. Young Nakano was usually overmatched, but he’d fight and fight with Yatsu finding ways to stick up for him and bail him out.

3. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiru Tenryu. This was really the perfect team. Sure, you had two great talents, but their preferences were totally in alignment. You had Jumbo who wanted to work and Tenryu who wanted to look great when he was in. Jumbo carried the load, allowing Tenryu to work brief stints where he showed off his impressive (for the time) offense. It’s really a shame the only way to push Tenryu was to break this team up, and more of a shame that Yatsu was put in Tenryu’s spot because everything that made Jumbo & Tenryu a perfect match made Jumbo & Yatsu a lousy one.

4. Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase. Similar to Jumbo & Tenryu, these guys were meant to work together. DiBiase could work with anyone in any style, and would carry the bulk of the match and put the opposition over. Hansen would make certain points important, and the finish meaningful.

1. Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima. Wajima was selfish and lazy except when he teamed with Baba. Then he was just a bad wrestler that did mostly all the work. Baba never showed up when he teamed with Wajima. This team was never in a match I rated better than 1 star.

2. Tiger Jeet Singh & A Shiek. These guys apparently thought they were the masters of the punch, kick, and choke. Well, all their offense was in that vein, but they couldn’t even make those difficult things look decent.

3. Abdullah The Butcher & TNT. TNT had exactly zero offense, and just got beat on the entire match. Abdullah was a big star, but the tag league has too many good teams for a team with a green DUD to be any threat. Abdullah at least got some reactions, though mainly for a silly martial arts pose, while his nondescript partner basically just put everyone to sleep.

1. Ashura Hara. I first encountered Hara in WAR, where he had his moments, but often wasn't particularly energetic, and just seemed to be an old barrel chested dude that was there because he was Tenryu’s buddy. Little did I know that in the old days Tenryu was as impressive as he was in tag because he had Hara to do most of the dirty work for him, leaving Tenryu the best parts. Hara had been a member of Choshu’s Ishingun, and the influence was extremely apparent. He didn’t have the charisma of Riki, but I found his simple but effective stuff to be a lot more interesting to watch.

2. Shinichi Nakano. I knew Nakano was good in the program against Footloose, but I didn’t realize he was an earlier version of Kikuchi. He wasn’t the wrestler that Kikuchi was during the few years when Kikuchi was actually healthy, but he had the same kind of fire and unbending determination. He believed that he belonged in there with anyone, and no amount of punishment could change his mind. His career quickly derailed after jumping to SWS, but in his days as an up and coming wrestler he was as fun to watch as anyone in the promotion.

3. Tiger Mask. I was familiar with the younger Tiger that wasn’t really cut out to be a Tiger Mask in the junior division. Misawa was a very good athlete, but he was taking over the gimmick of the guy that was probably the best athlete the sport had ever seen. Plus he was forced to be the star of a division even though he was an inexperienced guy that would have had enough trouble simply learning. Putting him in the heavyweight division freed him of these burdens and many of the Sayama level expectations. It also made up the difference in athleticism and impressive spots. This year Tiger was impressive in every match. He was carried in singles and very much protected in every match, but whatever his weaknesses were at that point (I’m sure there were plenty) weren’t apparent because he was used so well. The closest he came to being exposed was when Jumbo, Tenryu, & Hara were beating the crap out of each other, but this wound up being the best match he was in. Instead of being a mindless follower, he brought diversity to that match and he used his athleticism in his strikes to help make up for what he lacked in sheer impact.

4. Pete Roberts. Judo Pete was a longtime British worker I knew little about despite having appeared sporadically in NJPW going back to at least 1974. He wasn’t on much, but despite being toward the end of a career that started around 1959, he only had good matches. A good technician that could mix it up as well.

5. John Tenta. This guy never showed me anything in the WWF. Granted that’s hardly uncommon, but I didn’t realize he was once a promising wrestler. That shouldn’t be confused with good, but he was consistently effective because he knew how to use his size to his advantage and to get reaction from the crowd.

1. Bruiser Brody. I always enjoyed Brody in the earlier days, but upon his October return to All Japan, he was more of a side show attraction. The fans loved him and were extremely glad to have him back, but that just made things worse because it allowed for him to totally distract from the match. Snuka would be trying to wrestle, but all anyone cared about was Brody “husking” on the apron. Brody showed flashes of still being a good wrestler, but mostly he just wasted time and basked in his own glory and adulation.

2. Ric Flair. No overrated list can be complete without Flair, who is one of the biggest fishes out of water in Japan due to his nonsensical shenanigans and histrionics. Flair made three appearances, putting his NWA title up for grabs. I can forgive him his match with Wajima because Wajima never did anything decent, but matches against a very willing and able Yatsu and the real best heavyweight wrestler in the world Jumbo that should have been at lot better than they were, even if they were actually entertaining in spite of Flair's cornball antics. Flair was far from a failure, but once again given his completely unwarranted reputation of having a good match every night regardless of the opponent, at best one could say we got the bare minimum.

3. Stan Hansen. Hansen was in his formative years with a top role, two different excellent partners, and plenty of matches to choose from. He didn’t have a bad year by any means, but his opportunity greatly exceeded his productivity. Time and time again his stuff was average to good. We didn’t see much story or any examples of his famous psychological gems. There were plenty of good bits here and there, examples of great timing like how he incorporated his western lariat and made certain spots important, but these were in place of fully realized matches. Without the psychology, his many weaknesses as a sloppy, not particularly skilled worker are apparent and he’s a middle of the pack guy. Now, Hansen did have the year’s best tag match and a few other candidates, but they were with major contributions from others rather than being matches whose greatness you could really attribute to him like in other years. His top singles match was a mere *** match against Yatsu.

1987 All Japan #8
PWF World Tag Title Match: Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Genichiru Tenryu & Ashura Hara 14:31
7/23/87 Asahikawa Tokiwa Gym
from AJ Chogei Selection #154 11/13/99

It takes a special match to have the potential to be the AJ match of the year. I’m not talking about on paper, but actually having the personnel and displaying the ideas and quality in the ring that could lead to greatness. I felt like this match had that, which is what makes it a disappointment, at least to the extent that a top 10 All Japan match can be.

It’s possible to have too many things working in your favor. This match came just 6 days after my #1 match, where DiBiase & Hansen found a way to successfully defend despite both injuring their knees. Tenryu & Hara attacked Hansen’s knee early as a carry over, but they didn’t show near the ability to keep him in the ring that Yatsu & Nakano did. DiBiase was soon in, but for whatever reason they attacked his arm. This attack was extremely successful. In fact, once he tagged out at 8:45, he was on the floor or apron writhing in pain, never able to return to the match or even muster up a save.

Hansen quickly took Tenryu to the floor, which just gave Hara free reign to begin the double teaming. Hara ate a chair shot, but soon he was jumping off the apron to spike Tenryu’s piledriver. This busted Hansen open, which again shifted Tenryu & Hara’s focus. Instead of going back to Hansen’s bad knee, it was forgotten about in favor of opening Hansen up further. Again, this strategy was successful, as Hansen was soon bleeding pretty heavy.

This was a very rough match, the kind Tenryu & Hara were known for, and they managed to give Hansen the beating of the year. They double teamed him regularly, using all their signature moves, but in typical Hansen fashion he found a way to survive.

There are very few screw job finishes that I would call great. This match has as well thought out of one as you’ll find. The result was a double count out, but they earned it by eliminating every wrestler. DiBiase was already out of the picture, so the question was how to get rid of the other three. It actually only took two moves, back to back, which makes one wonder why so many count outs are done so ineptly. Well, actually that’s no mystery, what this finish really entails is four guys that are willing to put their egos aside and allow themselves to be “out” for 10 seconds.

Hara held a near defeated Hansen on the floor and Tenryu charged with an ax bomber. Hansen avoided, eliminating Hara, then unleashed his western lariat on Tenryu, collapsing on top of him. What was also good about this finish is the ref had barely started counting when it occurred, so there was some real drama in wondering if anyone was ever going to get up, and if so could they get back in or break the refs count.

Since Hansen compromised his gimmick some in taking such a beating, he went wild after the match walking through the crowd and throwing things out of his way. He eventually returned to the ring, breaking the end off a broom in hopes of using it on Tenryu & Hara, but they wisely called it a day. 14:26. ***3/4

1987 All Japan #7
International Tag Senshuken Jiai: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiru Tenryu vs. The Road Warriors 11:17
3/12/87 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
from AJ Chogei Selection #145 9/11/99

I wouldn’t have guessed the Warriors had this in them, but I’ve learned to never bet against Jumbo. He figured out how to get the most out of the Warriors. They don’t sell and have little stamina, but do have some impressive moves and can excite the crowd, so a sprint was the way to maximize them. This was to Tenryu’s liking as well since tagging in, doing some nice moves, and leaving the rest to his partner was his m.o. anyway.

They tagged frequently so Animal & Hawk could take some moves without having to show the accumulation of damage. In this match they did take moves and they didn’t pop up, really their only shenanigans were Animal pressing Tenryu off at 1 once. The Warriors kept attacking their opponents’ necks with reverse chinlocks and the like. This was really just to allow them to rest, but since they kept going after the same body part it could deceive the audience into thinking they had focus.

I was more impressed with this match the first time. Of the eight matches I went back and reexamined to review, this was the only one whose rating dropped. That was actually a blessing because it forced me to look for a #5 match, and in doing so I discovered how badly I underestimated Jumbo & Yatsu vs. Tenryu & Hara. This Warriors match was the first top match of the year, which made it the hardest to rate because you have to try to reimmerse yourself in the mindset and time period to set accurate levels, but I don’t think that was it. The shock of the Warriors being in such a good match was pretty major, but now that it’s worn off the match’s weaknesses are clearer. There isn’t as much here as I thought, and Jumbo is the only wrestler that’s particularly impressive. Jumbo is at his best here though, bringing so much energy and looking to take whatever high impact or power move the Warriors could throw at him.

The best spot was when Tenryu whipped Hawk off the ropes and bounced off the rope close to him to get more momentum for his lariat. It was too late to do anything by the time Tenryu realized Animal had prevented Hawk from hitting the rope and was press slamming him into Tenryu for a kind of rocket launcher. Tenryu was soon counted out after being spike piledriven on the floor. 11:17. ***3/4

1987 All Japan #6
Sekai Junior Heavykyu Senshuken Jiai: Masa Fuchi vs. Shinichi Nakano 18:35
10/31/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
from AJ Chogei Selection #155 11/20/99

Fuchi employed the same formula as he did in his previous title defense against Kawada. At times the match looked identical, which was especially obvious since they showed them back to back here. I think it caused me to underrate this match initially, but it actually tells quite a different story and is probably a better realized match considering the dropoff from Kawada to Nakano. As always, the match started off rather calmly with a nice technical display. Nakano started working on Fuchi’s left leg, which pissed Fuchi off. Fuchi doesn’t show much emotion in these junior title matches, but he started slapping Nakano and tossed him to the floor, where he would have followed him had the ref failed to restrain him.

Slowly the match took shape with Nakano employing an arm attack. Fuchi picked it up at about the same time and in about the same way as the Kawada match, but instead of exploding Nakano soon brought the arm attack back. This helped conceal the real story, which was centered on the double knockout.

Nakano back body dropped his way out of a piledriver on the floor, but Fuchi was backdropping his way out of Nakano’s subsequent bulldog so Nakano kicked off the post. This could have been a count out, but they were able to get back in because the ref gave them a ton of leeway. A few counters later, there was a second double KO when they collided with each other both going for a shoulderblock.

The excitement in these Fuchi matches is not so much from the moves themselves, but from the way they are incorporated. Anyone could do some nasty driver and have it mean nothing, but it takes real ability to make someone shifting their weight on a bodyslam exciting. That’s what Fuchi is able to do though, right after the collision Nakano got a near fall by doing this, and it was a credible near fall because Fuchi had nearly been KO’d twice in a minute. Another example of the way Fuchi makes basic holds exciting and credible near falls was an earlier sequence where Fuchi slipped out of a cobra twist. Two more go behinds later, Fuchi did rolling clutch hold, which is nothing by itself, but off all these counters it had a chance.

A real back and forth struggle took place in the final minutes. The main goal was simply to get on top of the opponent because at this point any pin attempt might get the job done. Fuchi ducked a punch and back body dropped Nakano to the floor. This set up the third and final double KO with Fuchi doing his enzuigiri, but Nakano going over the top on the body slam and German suplexing him. AJ did way too many screw jobs this year, but this was one of the least of the evils because they built to the finish enough that they earned it.

The main downside was inconsistent selling. It’s very difficult to mix scrambles and fast sequences with the idea both guys are nearly out of it. You can sell an arm or a leg by favoring it, not using it, or adjusting your posture, but speed pretty much undermines the idea you’ve about had it. At times they were effective, but there was a sudden recovery between the first and second double KO’s that didn’t work at all. Fuchi’s arm injury was also forgotten about. The final problem was the crowd, while appreciative, didn’t get into the final minutes like you’d hope. I found the match to be very dramatic, but the audience wasn’t backing that up so it felt like there was something missing. 18:31. ***3/4

1987 All Japan #5
Genichiru Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shinichi Nakano 12:16
6/9/87 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
from AJ Chogei Selection #149 10/9/99

Nakano was the youngster that didn’t belong with the veterans. Everyone had a big role, but the story revolved around how Nakano was fairing. The segments were brief, but all had a purpose and told the story of the match.

Hara bowled him over right away, but then Nakano put him down several times in a row with dropkicks. This just irritated Tenryu & Hara though. Hara tried a snapmare into a chinlock, but Nakano slipped out into a hammerlock and made the tag, his first stint a success.

Yatsu upped the stiffness and showed a few nice suplexes before letting Nakano come back in. Nakano was unable to do much of anything this time, so Yatsu quickly tagged back in to bail him out. Though Tenryu is one notch ahead of Yatsu on the native totem pole (#2 & #3), Yatsu had his way with him today because he was the offense for his whole team. Had they asserted Tenryu over Yatsu, the match wouldn’t have been nearly as effective because that would have eliminated any chance Yatsu’s team had of winning.

Yatsu gave Nakano a lead and control this time. Hara tried his best to put Nakano back in his place, but Nakano landed on his feet for a vertical suplex and backdropped Hara then tagged. Yatsu & Nakano put the boots to Hara, but Tenryu was dominating Nakano, so Yatsu broke Tenryu’s Boston crab up with a lariat. Tenryu made the tag first though.

Yatsu was getting the best of Hara, so Tenryu made the save after Yatsu’s bulldog. This lead to an exchange between Yatsu and Tenryu, an uncharacteristically bad move by Yatsu allowing his emotions to get the best of him. It allowed Hara to recover and take control before Yatsu knew what hit him. This set up the segment where Tenryu got the best of Yatsu.

Nakano now had to bail Yatsu out, and he came in getting a near fall with a nasty lariat. Tenryu soon avoided Nakano’s missile kick though, and Hara was in to bail him out. They hurt Nakano with their sandwich lariat then Hara did an enzuigiri and Tenryu powerbombed Nakano for the win. In the end, Yatsu’s team lost as expected because his partner was the weak link, but Nakano fought so hard and was so resourceful that your opinion of him only improved. ****

1987 All Japan #4
Sekai Junior Heavykyu Senshuken Jiai: Masa Fuchi vs. Toshiaki Kawada 15:46
9/15/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
from AJ Chogei Selection #155 11/20/99

Fuchi really seemed in control in these days. I felt like he knew what he was doing, and he’d just maneuver until he had his opponent where he wanted him. Though Kawada can carry a match like no other, this was the beginning of his first push and Fuchi was guiding him.

They started with Fuchi’s technical style that’s about leverage and movement. Kawada is not the wrestler that Fuchi is on the mat, but he had the advantage when they were on the move. Kawada didn’t try to make this match about running around, rather he used this advantage to gain one on the mat. For instance, he whipped Fuchi into the ropes and applied a sleeper so he could bring Fuchi down and be in control.

Fuchi isn’t about flash, but he can put together 2-4 average moves so well, and that’s much better to watch than the usual one nice move stuff. He employs more basic pinning predicaments than anyone I can think of, making them credible by using the element of surprise or countering until someone is caught.

Fuchi slowly picked the pace up, getting the first near fall at 11:30 following a diving fist drop. The match quickly took off with Kawada knocking Fuchi to the floor with a kneel kick and doing a pescado. Surprisingly, the rest of the match was the best offensive stuff of the All Japan year. Though it sounds even weirder, that’s what Kawada brought to the match. The Nakano match was more developed and probably better wrestled, but this match was on another level offensively and that made the slight difference when added to what Fuchi does so well.

The finish saw some excellent out of the ring action, with Kawada back body dropping his way out of a piledriver then delivering a German suplex hold. Kawada quickly reentered and tried a pescado, but this time he missed, and it looked like he’d be counted out after taking an enzuigiri. However, Samson Fuyuki appeared and put the boots to Fuchi for the DQ. Kawada & Fuyuki double teamed Fuchi until the seconds broke it up, shook hands, and left together. Less than 6 months later they won the Asia tag titles from Takashi Ishikawa & Mighty Inoue. . ****

1987 All Japan #3
Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask vs. Genichiru Tenryu & Ashura Hara 18:28
6/11/87 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
from AJ Chogei Selection #150 10/16/99

An early match in the Jumbo vs. Tenryu feud. The story their feud used in tags this year was that Jumbo was really pissed at Tenryu and wanted him in the worst way. As soon as Jumbo tagged in he put Hara down with an elbow then went over and slapped Tenryu in the corner to incite him. Jumbo would literally run at Tenryu so he could hit him quicker.

Jumbo’s offense was, of course, very good but fiery Jumbo was that much better. This was a stiff match, but much of the reason it seemed extra stiff was the intensity and ferocity Jumbo displayed when attacking. His body language showed that he was really putting the boots to his enemy, even though in actuality he was using rather generic stomps of average impact.

The key to the match was Hara. He was the bridge between the Jumbo & Tenryu feud and the showcasing of Tiger. Hara fought a really smart and unselfish match. When Jumbo was in he would have been kind of an afterthought, especially since Jumbo couldn’t fight him with the same energy and hatred he fought Tenryu with. But it was the quick tags and regular double teams that allowed Hara’s slightly overmatched partner to get the best of Jumbo. In contrast to the cohesive Tenryu & Hara unit, Jumbo & Tiger, being an irregular team, fought more like individuals not really double teaming and tagging only when they were in trouble. Hara really looked out for Tenryu as well, doing whatever he could to keep Jumbo from putting a run on him, and to allow there 1-1 segments to be when Tenryu had the upperhand.

More important than what Hara did when Jumbo was involved was what he did for Tiger. Jumbo & Tenryu would have been fine on their own, the story and timing might not have been as good, some portions not as effective, but we are talking about two hall of fame wrestlers being assisted by a guy that had some good years and at least this year was an excellent tag wrestler. Tiger, on the other hand, was an up and coming wrestler that not only wasn’t a part of the storyline, but was a young aerial wrestler in a match with three veterans that were just pounding each other as always. Hara allowed Tiger to make him look bad, silly. Tiger used the spinning kick, sliding kick, kneel kick, and so on to allow his athleticism to help make up what he lacked in pure stiffness, but this stuff wasn’t going to distinguish Tiger any. With Hara, Tiger got to thwart him by being, well, Tigeresque. Misawa wasn’t athletic enough to do many of the land on his feet counters of Sayama, and those wild counters were made Sayama so unique in my opinion. At least in this match, Misawa landed on his feet for a vertical suplex and backdropped Hara, countered a whip into the corner by leaping to the second and back out with a reverse headbutt, and used a couple feints to allow and out of the ring attack.

Hara couldn’t wrestle with Tiger, and seemed the loser of their battles because Tiger was thriftier. Tenryu, of course, would then come in with the heavy artillery and dominate Tiger, though for brief periods so it didn’t look like Tiger was totally out of his depth. What you remembered about Tiger’s involvement, I think, were the spectacular moves he was able to pull off in a heavyweight match like the ultra Tiger drop off the top and a fantastic plancha where he flew a little more than half the length of the ring onto Tenryu.

Tenryu’s dominance of Tiger played into the Jumbo vs. Tenryu storyline, with Jumbo’s saves being more a way for Jumbo to get some shots in on Tenryu than anything else. Jumbo would keep hitting Tenryu until someone stopped him, but Hara was always right in to rock Jumbo with a lariat.

The big fault of the match is the key spot didn’t work. Tenryu was supposed to catch Tiger in the air, turning his ultra Tiger drop into a powerbomb to set up a desperate Jumbo save from Tenryu’s finisher. It didn’t happen, so Tenryu had to pull Tiger off the canvas and drop him back down for a “powerbomb”. Jumbo saved with a lariat, but Hara was right in to lariat him, always one to make the opposition pay for taking advantage of his team. Hara got rid of Tiger then they double teamed Jumbo with sandwich lariats until the ref DQ’d them, though Tenryu got another lariat in for good measure.

One big problem AJ faced when Riki Choshu betrayed them was how to set up the teams. Jumbo & Tiger would have been an excellent team, with Tiger proving here he was an exciting addition that could handle the push, but this cheat of a finish shows why it couldn’t have worked. Jumbo’s partner can’t be protected because the top native isn’t going to do many jobs, especially in AJ where they wanted the top stars jobs to be special or at least meaningful.

Even if only for one match, I thought these pairings brought out the best in everyone. Jumbo doesn’t need motivation, but is that much better when there’s reason to incorporate more aspects into his match, and probably no one is more believable at wrestling pissed off than he is. Tiger added diversity and unpredictability to the match. Tenryu was motivated by the rivalry, and a motivated Tenryu makes all the difference in the world. He still did his usual glory hunting, but in this situation it made sense because he’s ranked a lot higher than Tiger and Jumbo was getting double teamed. That said, Tenryu certainly sold in this match because Jumbo was basically there to beat him up. Hara got to do a lot of little things he normally wouldn’t have to, making the most out of the matches potential. ****1/4

1987 All Japan #2
'87 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Genichiru Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu 30:00
12/9/87 Fukuoka Kokusai Center
from AJ Selection #160 12/25/99

There was a lot more to this match than I initially realized. It was a 30-minute draw that didn’t feel long or dragged out because they had stories to tell and enough going on to warrant the length. It had the look of a 15-20 minute match, but they couldn’t come close to settling it in that time. The stories, not surprisingly, centered on the big Jumbo vs. Tenryu feud.

The early portion was all about their first confrontation. The actual wrestling during this portion was nothing special. It certainly wasn’t bad, actually it was good considering how long they were wrestling after that, but there was nothing in and of itself that would distinguish it. What made it great was the anticipation they built for what you wanted to see, all the cat and mouse games, baiting, and mind games between Jumbo and Tenryu.

Jumbo called Tenryu out early, running to the corner and slapping him the moment he stunned Hara. Tenryu remained calm, but did tag in a few seconds later only to have Jumbo tag Yatsu to spite him. Yatsu tagged back when he got the advantage, but Tenryu immediately tagged Hara. Hara pushed Jumbo off into the ropes near Tenryu to break his headlock, but Tenryu did nothing. Jumbo plowed Hara over with a shoulderblock and ran off the ropes near Tenryu again - this time so close Tenryu had to move so they didn’t collide - and kicked Hara.

It looked like Jumbo & Tenryu would finally lock up at 7:00. Yatsu was in control and made the tag, with both whipping Tenryu into the ropes for a double team, but Tenryu managed to hold on and tag Hara. Jumbo soon ran the ropes by Tenryu, and this time Tenryu opened them with Jumbo flying through and “landing badly” because he didn’t see it coming. Now Tenryu couldn’t wait to tag, but Tenryu got Jumbo’s adrenaline rushing so quickly he recovered and hit two jumping knees before Tenryu knocked him to the floor with his enzuigiri. Now that Jumbo and Tenryu had fought a little, Yatsu & Hara could also fight because one or the other didn’t have to be in the ring to prevent the matchup. Yatsu hadn’t had much role in the Olympic team because Jumbo would work 2/3 of 15-18 minutes, but today he had time to do a lot of good work even though the focus wasn’t on him.

They built Jumbo vs. Tenryu up so well there was a letdown after their first segment. They didn’t need to rush into the rest of the story though. If anything, not doing so might even have helped the match because everyone needed to calm down a little.

What started to really stand out was the stiffness. It was the stiffest of Tenryu & Hara’s matches this year, which is saying something. They were by far the stiffest team in All Japan, but this match presented a new level of brutality. It was hear the impact of the blows kind of rough. That’s just one aspect of the promotion that was improved by the Jumbo vs. Tenryu feud. The promotion was already heavy hitting, but there’s no comparison between the before and after.

They heated it up again just before 15:00, with Jumbo kneeing Hara in the stomach then attacking Tenryu on the apron with several forearms to the back. Hara came back getting whipped into the corner but charging out with a big lariat only to have Jumbo duck his subsequent lariat and blow him away with one of his own. Tenryu bailed his partner out and got into the lariat game as well though.

Jumbo worked Tenryu’s head, pulling his knee pad down and doing the jumping knee in and out of the ring as well as several strikes to bust Tenryu open. Jumbo certainly wasn’t going to show any mercy, and attacking Tenryu’s head also plays into Yatsu’s offense since the bulldog is one of his top moves. Jumbo was particularly great here, adding a big nasty streak to his fiery streak. He’s one of the only guys you can tell is having a good match just by watching his expressions.

Tenryu took his beating of the year. That made this match much more memorable because Tenryu had spent the year working brief segments where he showed the best offense in the match, and letting Hara or even Jumbo early on take the beating and do the grunt work. The expected storyline would have been either Hara or Yatsu getting overwhelmed, but they actually delivered a lot with Jumbo vs. Tenryu in a position where you expected them to only be building it up for future singles matches. And in the end, that only made me want to see their singles matches more.

I loved when Jumbo whipped him into the ropes because Tenryu bent over and stumbled awkwardly to show he could barely stand on his own. Another excellent point was Tenryu finally giving hope by ducking Jumbo’s lariat, but Jumbo tagging on his way by and coming back off the ropes with a kick. Instead of Tenryu making his comeback, Yatsu was in with a legitimate chance to upset him right away with his German suplex hold, but Hara saved.

Hara really stepped up for his team in this match. He was able to pick up for Tenryu and stand up to Jumbo. After Tenryu finally pulled a small package hope stop, and Yatsu rolled it and nearly pinned him, they both tagged at the same time. Though there were only a few minutes left, with Tenryu staggering around on the floor and Jumbo & Yatsu being in relatively good shape, Jumbo’s team had a legitimate chance to finish off Hara. The final minutes were back and forth though. Hara hung in, allowing Tenryu to recover and even redeem himself some getting a few near falls on Jumbo after they nearly knocked each other out with a double lariat. ****1/2

1987 All Japan #1
PWF Sekai Tag Senshuken: Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shinichi Nakano
7/17/87 Sagamihara Shi Sogo Taiikukan 14:41
from AJ Chogei Selection #153 11/6/99

The best story match of the AJ year. Yatsu & Nakano were big underdogs, but 13 minutes into the match I’d not only forgotten this, I was starting to feel like they had to win. That’s the ultimate in positive wrestling manipulation, the ability to sucker people into believing the virtually impossible is possible.

There were essentially three portions to the match. The first more or less confirmed what we already knew, that Yatsu & Nakano were in over their heads. Yatsu knew he had to give Nakano all the help could. 5 minutes into the match, Hansen took Nakano’s enzuigiri and came right back with a suplex. Yatsu broke up the pin with a stomp, but Hansen went right back to covering. After Yatsu broke the cover up for the third time, Hansen finally gave up on winning here. This example was indicative of Yatsu’s determination to protect his partner, but also how overmatched his partner was. I mean, if you are in a title match and you have to seriously worry that your partner might not kick out of a generic suplex this early in the match, you are really in trouble.

At 6:30, Yatsu & Nakano got a great equalizer. DiBiase injured his knee missing a diving knee drop, setting off a superb knee attack by Yatsu & Nakano. That they were all over the knee was great, but what really impressed me was how they kept DiBiase in their corner and they stayed between DiBiase and his corner. DiBiase milked the knee injury for all it was worth. He tried to crawl and slide his way to his corner, arm outstretched more in the hope he would suddenly turn into Plastic Man than anything else, but he rarely made it to his blue half of the ring.

Hansen, of course, made several attempts to save, but the referee was doing his job fairly well. Hansen got his five seconds, but DiBiase was in such bad shape that it seemed like it would take him 15 to make it 2/3 of the way across the ring. Hansen could knock the opposition over, but they’d cut DiBiase off in plenty of time. One time Hansen tried rolling DiBiase to the floor before the ref made him leave. He only had time to roll him out Yatsu’s side, which just introduced DiBiase’s knee to the post.

Finally DiBiase made a comeback, but in one of his less brilliant moves he tried to follow his snapmare with a kneedrop. Nakano avoided, leaving DiBiase in even sadder shape. If you give Hansen enough time to think, he’ll come up with something though. At 12:00 he figured it out, instead of rolling DiBiase to the floor, do it to the opposition so that buys DiBiase an extra 5 or 10 while they are reentering.

After DiBiase made the tag, Hansen tried to take advantage of Yatsu being on the floor. This set up the classic spot of the match where DiBiase held Yatsu against the post and Hansen charged for a jumping knee. Nakano had other plans though, running the apron and leaping off just in front of Hansen, grabbing Yatsu in the air and pulling him out of the way just in the nick of time. Now Hansen also had a bad knee!

With two gimps standing in their way of the belts, it looked like the upset was certain. The third portion saw Yatsu & Nakano just continue their knee attack where they left off, with Hansen in DiBiase’s place. One wondered if DiBiase would even be worth anything for saves considering how slow he was moving.

When you wrestle Hansen it’s not enough to just be good and smart, you have to avoid the big mistake at all costs. Being inexperienced, Nakano took an unnecessary risk whipping Hansen into a neutral corner. Not a big risk given the way Hansen was moving, but what had been working for Yatsu & Nakano all match was to keep the opposition near their corner and only do higher risk moves when their partner was holding to eliminate most of that risk. Hansen reversed the Irish whip, and Nakano bounced out of the corner right into western lariat decapitation. DiBiase, in fact, wasn’t worth anything in preventing the save. Yatsu beat him over there, but only had time for a little stomp. Normally touching the opponent is somehow good enough to break the refs count even though it doesn’t dislodge them from your partner or help your partner get their shoulders up, which is one of those really irritating farces of tag team wrestling. Today though, the ref just kept counting.

What seemed like a certainty going in was closer to a miracle in the end, except Hansen has a way of working that kind of magic. The ending was perfect because there was only one way Hansen & DiBiase could have won, and Hansen once again found that way, pulling his move and the win out of nowhere. ****1/2

Masa Fuchi vs. Pete Roberts 4/5/87

Masa Fuchi vs. Toshiaki Kawada 9/15/87 (#4)

Masa Fuchi vs. Shinichi Nakano 10/31/87 (#6)

Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiru Tenryu vs. The Road Warriors 3/12/87 (#7)

Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiru Tenryu vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shinichi Nakano 4/23/87

Genichiru Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shinichi Nakano 6/9/87 (#5)

Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask vs. Genichiru Tenryu & Ashura Hara 6/11/87 (#3)

Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shinichi Nakano 7/17/87 (#1)

Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Genichiru Tenryu & Ashura Hara 7/23/87 (#8)

Yoshiaki Yatsu & Haru Sonada vs. Genichiru Tenryu & Ashura Hara 10/31/87

Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy 11/26/87

Genichiru Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu 12/9/87 (#2)