6/8/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Abdullah The Butcher vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada
6/1/90 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Bam Bam Bigelow & Davey Boy Smith vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
6/5/90 Chiba Koen Taiikukan
Steve Williams vs. Stan Hansen
9/20/72 Honolulu International Center Arena
Giant Baba vs. The Sheik. Black & white footage
12/11/72 Niigata Shi Taiikukan
2/3 Falls World Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. The Destroyer
2/3 Falls NWA World Heavyweight Title: Dory Funk Jr. vs. Jack Brisco 1/27/74
2/3 Falls: Abdullah the Butcher & Cyclone Negro vs. Thunder Sugiyama & Masio Kumano 12/11/74
2/3 Falls: Jumbo Tsurta & Akihisa Takachiho (Great Kabuki) vs. Pat O'Connor & Ken Mantell 12/2/74 21:35
George Steele vs. Thunder Sugiyama 7/25/74
2/3 Falls US Heavyweight Title: The Destroyer vs. Mil Mascaras 10/7/73
2/3 Falls PWF World Heavyweight Title: The Sheik vs. Giant Baba 4/28/73
Open League: Hiro Matsuda vs. Mighty Inoue 12/17/75
2/3 Falls International Tag Title: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Kintaro Oki & Kim Duk 12/9/76
Open League: Ken Mantell vs. Great Kusatsu 12/15/75
Giant Baba vs. Dick Slater 3/11/77
2/3 Falls UN Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Billy Robinson 3/5/77
2/14/79: Giant Baba vs. Karl Von Steiger
6/1/78 PWF Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. Killer Tor Kamata
6/12/78 PWF Heavyweight Title: Killer Tor Kamata vs. Billy Robinson
8/24/78 Den'en Coliseum
Kim Duk & Randy Tyler vs. Great Kojika & Motoshi Okuma
2/3 Falls International Tag Title: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras
8/24/78: The Destroyer vs. Don Kernoodle
12/13/78: Dory Funk Jr. vs. Blackjack Lanza
10/18/78 2/3 Falls PWF Heavyweight Title: Billy Robinson vs. Abdullah the Butcher
12/1/78 Korakuen Hall
Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher
Dory Funk Jr. vs. The The Sheik
World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Billy Robinson & Black Angus
12/13/78 World's Strongest Tag League: Billy Robinson & Black Angus vs. Abdullah the Butcher & Killer Tor Kamata
12/3/79 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Terry Funk vs. Killer Tor Kamata
12/13/79 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan '79 World's Strongest Tag League: Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk vs. Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik
5/1/80 Fukuoka: Terry Funk & Ted DiBiase vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Ray Candy
6/22/80 Minneapolis, Minn Minneapolis Auditorium PWF Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. Super Destroyer Mark II
5/1/80 Fukuoka Champion Carnival League Final: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Dick Slater. Jumbo wins Carnival.
6/10/81: Giant Baba vs. Bugsy McGraw
8/22/80 AWA Heavyweight: Nick Bockwinkle vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
9/4/80 NWA Heavyweight: Giant Baba vs. Harley Race
12/9/80 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: The Sheik vs. Ricky Steamboat
4/10/81 Hiroshima Kenritsu Taiikukan, 9th Champion Carnival League Match: Brusier Brody vs. Abdullah the Butcher
9/6/79 2/3 Falls: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta & Mil Mascaras vs. Bobo Brazil & Carlos Colon & Abdullah The Butcher
9/10/80 NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Harley Race
4/30/81: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Abdullah the Butcher & Killer Brooks
6/29/80 International Tag Title: Bruiser Brody & Scott Irwin vs. Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta
9/19/80 NWA Heavyweight: Mil Mascaras vs. Harley Race
5/2/80: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Terry Funk & Dick Slater
11/28/80 Korakuen Hall
'80 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Abdullah the Butcher & Tor Kamata
'80 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk vs. The Sheik & Great Mephisto
7/4/81 Korakuen Hall: Dick Slater vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
12/1/80 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center: Giant Baba vs. Nick Bockwinkle
12/9/80 Osaka Prefectural Gym
'80 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk vs. Nick Bockwinkle & Jim Brunzel
'80 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs Abdullah the Butcher & Tor Kamata
6/3/81 Sapporo Nakajima 2/3 Falls: Giant Baba & Kintaro Oki vs The Sheik & Bugsy McGraw
12/5/80 Kochi Prefectural Civic Hall '80 World's Strongest Tag Decision League: Billy Robinson & Les Thornton vs Nick Bockwinkle & Jim Brunzell
6/29/80 Toronto Maple Leaf Garden: Dory Funk vs Abdullah the Butcher
12/11/80 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan '80 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk
4/30/81 Matsudo International Heavyweight Title: Dory Funk Jr vs Terry Funk
4/27/81 Aichi Prefectural Gym International Heavyweight Title Tournament Semifinal: Bruiser Brody vs. Shoehi Baba
6/3/80: Jimmy Snuka vs. Ricky Steamboat
10/9/81 International Heavyweight Title: Bruiser Brody vs. Dory Funk Jr.
12/1/80: Abdullah the Butcher vs. The Shiek
12/11/80 Tag League: Tor Kamata & Abdullah The Butcher vs. The Shiek & Great Mephisto
6/10/81: Ricky Steamboat vs. Jimmy Snuka
6/29/80 Toronto City Canada, Maple Leaf Garden Mid Atlantic Tag Titles: Jimmy Snuka & Ray Stevens vs. Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood. Steamboat worked most of the match and it was real good with him opposing both Stevens and Snuka. Very good match.
12/1/80 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Ricky Steamboat vs. Jumbo Tsuruta. Excellent technically, but rather dull. Slow paced because they were going to a 30:00 draw
12/5/80 Kochi-ken Min Taiikukan: Dick Slater & Ricky Steamboat vs. Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta. Jumbo worked most of the way, carrying his team big time. Slater was so much different (better) here than during his WWF days. Good match.
11/30/81 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan: Terry Funk vs. Bruiser Brody. Double juice. Snuka interferes on Brody's behalf, and they beat the hell out of Terry until Dory Jr. made the save. Very good match.
10/9/81 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan: Giant Baba & Bruno Sammartino vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanosuke Ueda. Horrible match, but what do you expect when Baba is past it and the others could never work a lick.
12/11/81 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan: Nick Bockwinkel vs. Bill Robinson
'81 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Harley Race & Larry Hennig vs. The Sheik & Mark Lewin
12/3/81, '81 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanoseke Ueda
#89
6/12/83 Savannah, GA NWA International Jr. Heavyweight Title Match: Chavo Guerrero vs. Masanobu Fuchi
6/17/83 Dallas, TX
American Tag Titles: Terry Gordy & Michael Hayes vs. Bruiser Brody & Kerry Von Erich
UN Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Ted DiBiase
PWF Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. King Kong Bundy
#90
6/12/83: Jack Brisco & Jerry Brisco vs. Bob Orton, Jr. & Jimmy Valiant
8/30/83 Niigata City Gym: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Brad Rheingans
6/17/83: Harley Race vs. Kevin Von Erich
6/12/83 Savannah, US Heavyweight Title Match: Greg Valentine vs. Ric Flair
8/30/83 Hakodate: Dory Funk, Jr vs. Stan Hansen
7/26/83 Fukuoka Sports Center, International Tag Title Match: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanosuke Ueda
1/20/84: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy
2/26/84 AWA World Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Nick Bockwinkel
3/4/84 Chicago Rosemont Horizon
Billy Robinson & Brad Rheingans vs. Steve Regal & Kevin Kelly
AWA World Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Blackjack Lanza
3/11/84 Green Bay AWA World Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Billy Robinson
3/11/84 Green Bay AWA Tag Titles: Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera vs. Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell
3/15/84 Salt Lake City
AWA Tag Team Titles: Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera vs. Greg Gagner & The Crusher
AWA World Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Jim Brunzell
3/4/84 Rosemont Horizon: Nick Bockwinkel & Stan Hansen vs. The Bruiser & The Crusher
3/11/84 Green Bay: Nick Bockwinkel & Harley Race vs. The Blackjacks
3/24/84 AWA World Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Nick Bockwinkel
12/8/84: Harley Race & Nick Bockwinkel vs. Takashi Ishikawa & Mighty Inoue
9/12/84 Worlds Strongest Junior Tag League Final: Gran Hamada & Mighty Inoue vs. Chavo Guerrero & Hector Guerrero
4/19/84: AWA World Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Greg Gagne
9/12/84: Bruiser Brody & Moondog Moretti vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Takashi Ishikawa
4/26/84 AWA World Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Jim Brunzell
4/25/84 PWF Tag Titles: Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr.
2/5/85: Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Animal Hamaguchi
3/9/85 Ryogoku Kokugikan
Harley Race & Klaus Wallas vs. Killer Khan & Masanobu Kurisu
Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi
2/5/85 PWF Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
6/2/85: Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Tiger Mask & Magic Dragon
6/4/85: Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Shinichi Nakano
5/31/85: Road Warriors vs. Takashi Ishikawa & Tarzan Goto
4/24/85 NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
10/21/85: Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk & Tiger Mask vs. Billy Robinson & Terry Gordy & Chavo Guerrero
6/21/85: Jumbo Tsuruta & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Animal Hamaguchi
6/5/85: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Road Warriors
6/21/85 PWF Title: Giant Baba vs. Rusher Kimura
12/4/85: Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Norio Honaga
6/4/85: Giant Baba & Motoshi Okuma vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Mario Milano
8/23/85: Terry Funk vs. Stan Hansen
8/29/85: Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk vs. Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase
11/30/85: Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Tiger Mask & Mighty Inoue
10/22/85: Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk vs. Terry Gordy & Art Crews
10/19/85: Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk vs. Road Warriors
12/29/85 AWA World Heavyweight Title: Rick Martel vs. Stan Hansen
10/21/85: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Road Warriors
10/22/85: Mil Mascaras vs. Norio Honaga
10/19/85: Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
11/27/85: Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid
10/22/85: Ric Flair & Rick Martel vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu
11/23/85
'85 World's Strongest Tag League: Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith
'85 World's Strongest Tag League: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Nick Bockwinkel & Curt Hennig
11/27/85 '85 World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Harley Race & Jesse Barr
11/27/85 '85 World's Strongest Tag League: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Rusher Kimura & Goro Tsurumi
12/4/85 '85 World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase
12/7/85 '85 World's Strongest Tag League: Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Nick Bockwinkel & Curt Hennig
12/12/85 '85 World's Strongest Tag League: Harley Race & Jesse Barr vs. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith
12/7/85 '85 World's Strongest Tag League: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith
1/2/86: Mil Mascaras vs. Tiger Mask
1/11/86: Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Samson Fuyuki
11/27/85: Stan Hansen vs. Ashura Hara
1/2/86: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Nikita Koloff & Krusher Krushev
11/1/86: Animal Warrior vs. Animal Hamaguchi & Shinichi Nakano
7/31/86 World Junior Title Decision: Hiro Saito vs. Brad Armstrong
10/10/86: Road Warriors vs. Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk
7/31/86 AWA & International Heavyweight Double Title: Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
11/8/86 North Carolina Charlotte Coliseum
Ragin' Bull Manny Fernandez vs. Wahoo McDaniel. *3/4
Rock & Roll Express & Brad Armstrong vs. Midnight Express & Big Bubba (Bossman). ****
9/3/86 Osaka Jo Hall International Heavykyu Senshuken: Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta. ***3/4
Chicago
Art Thomas vs. Ray Zills
Kurt von Stroheim vs. Paul Christy
Red Kelly vs. Larry Chene
Moose Cholak vs. Karl Engstrom
Skull Murphy & Brute Bernard vs. Rudi Jacobs & Harry Wenzel. No finish
AJ Chogei Selection #137 7/17/99
9/3/86 Osaka Jo Hall: Tiger Mask & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Super Strong Machine & Shunji Takano. Takano seemed like a giant in Michinoku, and in fact was called Giant Zebra, though actually he's not much taller than Misawa. They wrestled more toward junior style except when Ishikawa was in, as he can't do the quicker more athletic stuff. Ishikawa was very workmanlike and didn't hurt the match even though his presence Tiger was very smooth and his offense was quite impressive, especially for the time and compared to his opponents. Well worked match, but too short and marred by the typical terrible cop out finish. 12:38. ***
10/20/86 Okazaki Shi Min Taiikukan: Tiger Mask vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu. They worked well together and did a smart match. Where they were at this point in their career was the basis for this match. Yatsu the veteran in his prime with a regular position at or near the top of the card vs. Misawa the up and comer searching for a big win to get him closer to what Yatsu had. Tiger dropkicked Yatsu before the bell, creating an advantage for himself to help even the odds. Tiger attacked Yatsu's arm, mainly working variations of the basic arm bar and just refusing to let go as his strategy was simply to maintain control. Overall, they still wound up being on offense about the same amount of time, with Yatsu of course doing more damage. Finally, Tiger decided this wasn't working and went for broke with his flying moves. This worked for a while, but Yatsu eventually avoided and took him out. 14:03. ***1/2
9/9/86 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan: International Heavykyu Senshuken: Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta. Intense brawl totally dominated by Stan. Hansen attacked the shoulder early, but the big spot was when he knocked Jumbo off the apron with his western lariat. Jumbo bled from "crashing" into the guard rail, which looked really bad because Jumbo isn't good at taking athletic bumps. Jumbo kept coming at Hansen, but Hansen wouldn't give him a chance to come back. Finally, Jumbo posted Hansen on a counter, giving him a cut of his own. Jumbo lost control and became more concerned with pounding Hansen than winning the title. Jumbo was hobbled after crashing the post when Hansen avoided his jumping knee. He also avoided a diving knee drop and elbow dropped the knee. By this point, Jumbo had a handful of weak spots and was also in danger from bloodloss. Jumbo was able to avoid enough of Hansen's moves thout that he eventually countered into a winning move and took the title. Hansen attacked the knee some more after the match though. 14:33. ****
#139 taped 11/8/86 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Coliseum
Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Art Pritz & Grim Reaper. It's amazing how quickly wrestling "evolved" from guys like Pritz that look like they could be your neighbor to guys that look like they settled on wrestling after they failed as bodybuilders and Chippendale's. Real basic match with a lot of generic striking. No one did any moves until the very end when Tenryu pulled out his enzuigiri and diving elbow drop for the win. Surprisingly, the fans liked Jumbo & Tenryu even though they didn't show their stuff. They even popped when Jumbo chopped Reaper after the match for no reason. 10:53. *
Dusty Rhodes & Nikita Koloff vs. Ric Flair & Tully Blanchard. The crowd was quite loud, but unfortunately the wrestlers decided to waste the first 9 minutes playing to them. That might have been understandable if this was one of those 60 minute Flair matches, but instead it left them just 5 minutes to wrestle. Dusty had an injured hand, which Dillon further injured hitting with an object setting up Flair and Tully's hand attack. Tully even used what I guess you'd call a spinning finger hold. The DQ finish was really lame. When the ref was breaking up Nikita's choke of JJ, Flair tried put an end to Dusty's figure 4 on Tully with a diving knee drop, but the ref caught him. The last 4 minutes were good and the match seemed like it was just taking off when they suddenly threw it out. 13:59. **
9/3/86 Osaka Jo Hall: Yoshiaki Yatsu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Killer Khan & Terry Gordy. Rough match. All 4 were very willing to break the rules, but what was good is they did so in the context of a wrestling match, not as the usual excuse not to have one. Yatsu was at his nastiest here, with Khan taking the brunt of the cheap shots. Nice finish where Animal stopped Gordy's piledriver by grapping the ropes only to have Gordy pull him off into the powerbomb. Short, but good while it lasted. 9:47. **1/2
11/8/86 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Coliseum: Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Gary Royal & American Eagle. Baba was still able to have a legit match at this point. His team totally dominated to the point it was just a long squash, with Baba just grinning when Royal elbowed him in the corner. Wajima looked surprisingly decent here, but this wouldn't carry over when he returned to Japan. 8:42. *
12/29/86: Road Warriors vs. Dennis Condrey & Bobby Eaton
10/08/86: Nikita Koloff & Krusher Krushev vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Samson Fuyuki
10/21/86: Road Warriors vs. Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenryu
9/11/86: Stan Hansen vs. Terry Gordy
11/1/86: Tiger Jeet Tiger Jeet Singh vs. Hiroshi Wajima
11/22/86 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, '86 Sekai Saikyo Tag Decision League Match: Terry Funk & Dory Funk, Jr. vs. Rick Martel & Tom Zenk. Fast match when Can-Am had their way. Dory looked good when he was in with very quick and precise counters. Terry seemed to get in a mood and ruin the match though. Martel was very fiery. He was too anxious for Terry, so after being atomic dropped he made Martel chase him in and out of the ring since Martel refused to give him a time out. Got off to a good start, but by the time Martel ended Terry's stalling it was over. 13:24. **1/4
12/2/86 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Rick Martel & Tom Zenk Baba hardly wrestled. He took one bump on Can-Am's double dropkick, but that was it for him. Wajima did a decent job carrying his team. That didn't help the match quality though because Can-Am were just jobbers that had to put over Wajima's unimpressive offense. 9:59. *1/4
11/28/86 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center '86 Sekai Saikyo Tag Decision League Match: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Giant Baba & Tiger Mask. Well worked and laid out match with everyone putting forth their best effort. The focus was on Baba and his segments were meaningful. Tiger did a strong job of carrying the bulk of the match, but in a weird way Baba made the match with his interplay and one-upsmanship with Jumbo & Tenryu, and more importantly his willingness to take a beating for them and really put it over. Jumbo & Tenryu wanted Baba, so in between beating on Tiger they would go over and chop him until he tagged in. They wouldn't let Baba regroup after they knocked him down. This should happen in every match because it takes like 30 seconds for Baba to get back to his feet, but usually the opponent doesn't attack him out of respect. Baba took 6 months worth of punishment in this one match. He gets such reaction that he can be tollerable in situations like this where he wants to be, his segments are thought out, and they are brief. Though Baba was the focus because he's the big star and this was one of a handful of matches per year he was trying to make memorable, Tiger slowly showed he belonged in the match, and wound up being very impressive. Classic finish with Baba holding Jumbo for Tiger then trapping Tenryu in the corner so Tiger could pin Jumbo in his diving boy attack, except since his back was turned he didn't see Jumbo roll through and pin Misawa. 18:46. ****
12/6/86 Takamatsu Shimin Bunka Center '86 Sekai Saikyo Tag Decision League Match: Terry Funk & Dory Funk, Jr. vs. Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase. It's weird seeing The Million $ Man in a Hansen cowboy outfit. Dory had to fight 2-1 because Terry was injured by a chair shot at the outset. When Terry recovered, Hansen tried to post him, but Terry countered and the Funks got to double team DiBiase. Once Hansen recovered, the match ended abruptly with the crummy ring out. A real disappointment because it seemed like they had some interesting story going on. A lot of Hansen's 1987 matches that had length could have benefited from some story like this, assuming they were willing to play it out this time. 3:46
AJ Selection #142
12/29/86 L.A. Forum: Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Mod Squad. Baba was in most of the match, and got no reaction aside from two Asian fans who made a little sign with the kanji of his last name. I suppose no reaction is a good thing, as I would have been groaning at this. MOD were just overexaggerating jobbers who jumped down for every Baba chop. They were given no offense whatsoever. 9:57. 1/4*
1/17/87: Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Ashura Hara & Goro Tsurumi. Deliberate slow motion match. Again, it was a squash with Baba not taking anything at all and Wajima barely taking anything. Tsurumi was the main recipient, and he doesn't take well. Singh blindsided Wajima when Wajima's hand was raised in victory, but of course Wajima quickly ran him off. 7:27. 1/2*
1/24/87 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan: Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tiger Jeet Singh. Amazingly, Wajima likes selling even less than Singh. Wajima pulled rank on Singh, so Singh actually had to sell a little. Singh did a pretty good job of putting over Wajima's leg attack, which made it that much more frustrating that he usually just refuses to try. Not surprisingly, this was short so no one had to sell too much. Singh got his foot on the rope after taking a terrible bump on Wajima's golden arm bomber finisher, but A Sheik (Nelson Royal) jumped in anyway. They double teamed Wajima momentarily, but Singh was held back by the seconds from reentering with the others, so Wajima immediately came back on Sheik. Singh did get the better of Wajima on the outside this time, I suppose. 7:42. 1/2*
2/3/87 Yubarishi Sogo Taiikukan: Genichiro Tenryu & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & A Sheik. Though Tenryu & Sheik were the two best in the match, their addition was little help. Still no talent was displayed, with the main offense being lousy punches and kicks, rest holds, and unskilled heel tactics like the choke. Wajima & Singh fought on the outside at the end and after the match, with Wajima trotting after Singh so he could get one last chop in. 8:42. *
2/5/87 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tiger Jeet Singh. Singh got the ref to keep Wajima out of his corner while he was disrobing, only to come up from behind with the sword handle when they had their back turned. Of course, Wajima had to come right back, ducking the sword so A Sheik got hit then using it on Singh before the match officially started. A Sheik started to come in after the golden arm bomber, but this time Wajima was looking for it and went after him. After Wajima tossed Sheik, Singh tossed powder in Wajima's eyes, but the ref saw it and DQ'd him. The lack of length ensured neither had to do any real selling, though Singh delivered a laughable bit by starting to sell Wajima's chops before they arrived. 3:23. DUD
2/24/87: Hiroshi Wajima vs. Art Crews
1/2/87: Takashi Ishikawa & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & A. Sheik
12/29/86: Bunkhouse Battle Royal
12/12/86 World's Strongest Tag League Final: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase
1/3/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta & The Great Kabuki vs. Abdullah The Butcher & TNT. Jumbo did a great job of making this passable, sometimes even enjoyable. He was more active,so Abdullah didn't have to be. They fought in the crowd with Jumbo bringing back a stool to bloody Abby with. TNT was typically as worthless as the old WWF show that bared the same name. Long post match brawl around the arena. 8:13. *3/4
1/2/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, AWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Curt Hennig vs Tiger Mask. The potential was there, but they held a lot back leaving us with a huge disappointment that felt so incomplete. Technically good, but Hennig wasn't looking to showcase Tiger's flying like the natives did, which left Tiger kinda naked. Tiger did get a few aerial moves going at 10:00 after countering with a dropkick, but instead of taking off they quickly pulled the screw job. 11:17. **1/4
1/2/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara. Better than their tag league match. It was faster with better moves and Yatsu's best performance so far with Olympic. Tenryu & Hara were getting near fall after near fall on Jumbo until he pulled a slingshot counter on Hara. Jumbo didn't tag though, so Tenryu came in and stopped his backdrop with a shoulderblock and jumping kneed him off the apron. If they had to do a screw job, this was the perfect opportunity for Tenryu to get on up on Jumbo. Yatsu was fighting Hara and then Tenryu, which somehow resulted in Jumbo getting back in but Hara not being able to. To me, having Jumbo hog the match should have got his team pinned if not counted out, and with that you'd get your program going. The wrestling was good enough to be a great match, but it had little story and what was there confounded me. Hara not getting back because of Yatsu would have made more sense if Tenryu was busy with Jumbo, but instead Tenryu came over to help him and simply couldn't get the job done. 21:51. ****
AJ Chogei Selection #162 1/8/00 taped 12/11/87 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
'87 Sekai Saikyo Tag Decision League Match: The Great Kabuki & John Tenta vs. The Terminator & Tom Zenk. For some reason Terminator & Zenk thought they were going to bowl over Tenta. Tenta wrestled the bulk of the match; he didn't need much help dispensing of such brainy opposition. Tenta looked pretty good, getting a big pop for his dropkick, but no one else did anything. 9:03. *
'87 Sekai Saikyo Tag Decision League Match: Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Abdullah The Butcher & TNT. No skill slow motion chopfest that was as fake and contrived as could be. The "excitement" I suppose was trying to determine the least bad of the bunch, though no one showed enough to earn that reward. TNT was bleeding, so when Bram Stoker's Butcher tagged in he whiped some blood from his head and licked his hand. 9:30. DUD
'87 Sekai Saikyo Tag Decision League Match: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy. Tenryu is more a guy that comes in, does some good moves, and tags out. That was extremely apparent in this disappointing match, as for whatever reason Tenryu was asked to work almost all of this near draw and he came up considerably short. After some meandering Hansen piledrove Tenryu on the floor. Tenryu bled and they worked over the cut including Hansen putting Tenryu on a table stomach first and repeatedly ramming his head. Hara finally made the hot tag at 18, but Tenryu was still involved both double teaming and fighting Hansen on the outside, and Tenryu tagged back in by 20. Gordy was the best, but way underutilized. Hansen was also exposed here because there wasn't much psychology or story to distract from his weaknesses. What little story there was seemed to involve the cobra twist. Gordy distracted the ref so Hansen could escape by hitting Tenryu with his cow bell. Later Tenryu had Gordy in it on the floor and Hansen tried to break it up with the western lariat, but Hara intercepted with a shoulderblock off the apron. Hansen got up and called for the lariat, but Tenryu released the twist and gave him an enzuigiri. Back in the ring, Tenryu reapplied the cobra twist on Gordy, but Hansen snuck up from behind with the western lariat, knocking Tenryu & Gordy to the floor for the double count out. To me you either go for the length (draw) or the energy (15-20 minute double count out). 28:35. ***
1/2/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Abdullah The Butcher vs. Hiroshi Wajima. Abby totally carried this with Wajima just standing or lying and getting hit. Wajima's claim to fame was using leverage to throw Abby down from the clinch a few times. Abby would hit him one or two times until he knocked Wajima down or out of range then just wait for Wajima to recover/get up. Wajima got his leg on the ropes after the elbow drop, and this time Butcher followed through rather than waiting. He did it again even though Wajima's leg was still on the rope, and again even though Wajima wasn't moving. He tried for a fourth, but the ref stood in his path, so he bowled him over and delivered the elbow drop for the DQ. Considering who was involved, this was almost good. 6:33. *
1/9/88 Ehime-ken Gym, PWF World Tag Title Match: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Abdullah The Butcher & TNT. Disappointingly by the numbers match. Just the requisite stuff like Butcher bleeding and TNT getting destroyed. Tenryu was the only one who did anything, so I guess he was the best by default. Butcher's team was on offense way too much, though TNT did finally show a few kicks. 17:38. *1/2
1/13/88 Kagoshima Kenritsu Taiikukan, NWA International Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Abdullah The Butcher. Totally Butcher style double juice brawl. It wasn't embarrassing, but it's sad to see Jumbo involved in something that was nothing more than blood letting. Jumbo did manage to do a few moves rarely done to Butcher such as the monkey flip and back drop, but this is basically as bad as a Jumbo title match can be. 13:30. *1/4
AJ Chogei Selection #164 1/22/00
1/28/88: Jumbo Tsuruta & John Tenta vs. Abdullah The Butcher & TNT. The crowd was really into the match despite the low quality. TNT was, as always, the whipping boy. Picked up pretty well, and the last minute was even decent. 10:28. *1/4
3/5/88: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy. Rougher and faster moving than their last meeting. Gordy and Hara were more involved here, with Hara making a better showing after a handful of down matches. Hara took a big beating, making some brief comebacks but never being able to tag. Hansen did something of a tope and the match got out of control on the floor with Stan tossing chairs around and everyone fighting in the crowd. 14:53. ***
3/9/88 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Tiger Mask. Tiger was around a long time before he came to prominence. They didn't shove him down your throat like so many promotions do today with guys that don't even have 1/10th of his ability. Instead, they picked their spots to feature him, putting him in a position to impress when he had a big match and protecting him much of the rest of the time. These big matches were well laid out with the veteran knowing the real purpose was for Tiger to come out looking good, which was agreeable since they were beating him and he was not taking their spot any year soon. This match with Jumbo is the best of the one's to promote Tiger, and the one everyone remembers. However, it should also be noted that the high quality didn't make them scrap their plans and suddenly rush things with Tiger, as his next big match at Budokan wasn't until almost a year later, when he lost to NWA Champ Ricky Steamboat in the semifinal. As far as the match with Jumbo goes, it was similar to the match Tiger had with Yatsu the year before, but better Jumbo has the timing and ability to make people believe in his opponent. Stylistically, it was classic Jumbo vs. up and comer formula (we'd later see similar matches against Kawada and Kobashi), with Tiger playing ball control. The match might sound boring, but part of the brilliance of Jumbo is how he can make you remember when he levels Tiger with the backdrop rather than all the time Tiger held a headlock that led up to it. Tiger did his best flying here with a plancha and a new (?) swandive tope con giro. For me it was a big success because going in everyone knew Jumbo would win for absolute certain, but you were able to get lost in the moment. The fans ultimately believed, or at least were allowed to delude themselves into hoping, Tiger could win this match, and started a big "Tiger" chant when he kicked out of Jumbo's backdrop right at 2. Reality soon kicked in, but sometimes good wrestling is all about those moments where suspension of disbelief is possible, where you can listen to your heart despite all the empirical evidence pointing in the opposite direction. 14:42. ****1/2
3/27/88 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Isao Takagi vs. Tom Mcgee. McGee was one of those gassed up juniors that looked to have gotten into the business because they weren't casting any cheesy doomed Tarzan series that year. He didn't sell much and had robotic transitions. He did maintain a surprising amount of athleticism, but didn't utilize it too much, fighting more dated and basic junior style than the Japanese. McGee's lip was busted up hard way. Adequate short match. 5:43
3/27/88: Tiger Mask & The Great Kabuki vs. Tommy Rich & Austin Idol. Tiger was treated more like a star, but was hardly in. Rich did nothing either. That left Kabuki vs. Idol, which was dreadfully boring. Basically a waste of a match. 10:36. *
3/26/88 Koga City Gym: Jumbo Tsuruta & John Tenta vs. Bruiser Brody & Big Bubba. Focus was on Tenta, who was surprisingly dominant. Jumbo wasn't in too much, but what surprised me is Brody, who had a big title match with Jumbo the next day, was getting tossed around by Tenta including a slam and belly to belly suplex. Some enjoyable action, but so incomplete with no conclusion even being approached. 10:13. **
3/9/88 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan, PWF NWA UN International Heavyweight Double Title Match: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Stan Hansen. Very fast start with two enzuigiri from Tenryu for a near fall then Hansen bowling Tenryu to the floor and getting the brawl going with stiff chair shots. Aside from the initial near fall, Tenryu had almost no offense in the first 7 min, but after that point it was an even match that was up for grabs. Excellent selling from both to the point that by 10:00 you felt like they were so hurt they could go at any time. This wasn't just a tool to set up a bunch of near falls either, they kept building the match up slowly and making you think a move or counter might be real important only to prove you wrong. There were very few near falls here, as they didn't want to waste the opportunity to do damage. This was shown by a section where Hansen really believed he could get the pin, but Tenryu kept kicking out so Hansen shifted his focus back to attacking. Tenryu caught Hansen in a small package for the surprise win. After the match, Hansen wrapped the bull rope around his arm and lariated Tenryu. He was going to hit Tenryu with the cow bell, but Hara jumped on top of Tenryu to protect him. Hansen seemed prepared to spare Hara, but eventually decided to hit him with the bell. 14:38. ***1/2
AJ Chogei Selection #166 2/5/00 taped 3/27/88 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Rusher Kimura & Goro Tsurumi. Stalling and chopping. The big pop was when Baba blocked Rusher's chop. Tsurumi seemed the only one that could put 2 moves together, but preferred to do no skill brawling. Way too long. 12:13. DUD
PWF NWA UN International Heavyweight Double Title Match: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Stan Hansen. They wanted each other in the worst way, and couldn't even wait for the bell. Intense, heated, well focused match. Tenryu had been cut recently around the eye, so Hansen gave him repeated stiff shots to the area, quickly reopening the scab. Tenryu worked over Hansen's ribs. There was a goofy spot where Tenryu was so worried about getting a big running start to punt them that, with a little help from Hansen, he couldn't stop and wound up going over the top to the floor. Otherwise it was a smart match that was only kept down by yet another screw job. 15:32. ***1/2
NWA International Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Bruiser Brody. Didn't aspire to be anything, which luckily is not the kind of comment you'd usually make about an AJ Budokan main. Brody hadn't impressed me in a while. He was more sane and less selfish here, but his wrestling still wasn't what it used to be. Everything was well executed, but his stamina was down and the match just kind of meandered. They'd do one good move, but some meaningless momentum killer to keep it slow. There was a lot of down time until the final 5 minutes, which were good because they finally put some moves together in succession. I would have preferred they use less damaging moves, but more moves in succession rather than basically biding time and then doing a run of finishing type moves. 17:07. **1/2
4/21/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Asia Tag Senshukenjiai: Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Takashi Ishikawa & Mighty Inoue. Very efficient match. The veterans fought smarter (in the story) and worked better as a unit doing impressive double teams, but more importantly in the way they used position to their advantage. They worked on Kawada's knee, but he quickly found a way to tag. However, Fuyuki sometimes suffers from delusions of grandeur, and after a quick start allowed them to cut the ring off and keep him in for about 11 minutes. Ishikawa & Inoue deserve credit for wrestling tag the way it should be done, but the other half of it is Fuyuki makes going on offense his first priority, so instead of rushing to tag he winds up getting countered right back. Ishikawa's team really stepped up, being both intelligent and fun to watch. The match has some of the best offense so far in my Selection watching, but their knee attack is regular and they are able to work all their best moves in without seeming to depart from it. Kawada looks great early on, actually doing a moonsault attack, but for the bulk of the match is relegated to saving Fuyuki and giving him potential openings to tag. I really liked the spot where Kawada stops Inoue's series of somersault sentons by leveling him with a lariat, but this knocks Inoue on top of Fuyuki, nearly resulting in a fluke victory. This does lead to Kawada finally being able to make the hot tag though, however it's at the same time Ishikawa does. Kawada is nearly pinned twice in the first minute, and even though they are flash pin attempts, it seems Kawada's instinct is exactly the opposite of Fuyuki's, tag when you are in trouble. This however is ill advised because Fuyuki hasn't had any time to recover. Kawada benefitted from the ref being out of position when he used a chair to break up Ishikawa's scorpion, but then Ishikawa pulled the ref into the path of Kawada's corner lariat. Ishikawa stopped the second and Inoue hit a dropkick then pinned Kawada in the flying crucifix because the ref was too groggy to realize Inoue isn't the legal man. However, another ref surprisingly runs out and waves it off. 19:16. ****1/2
3/27/88 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Yoshiaki Yatsu & John Tenta vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh. Much better than expected. It wasn't quite terrible because they fought with more intensity and at a fast pace for the heels (then again, turtles look quick compared to typical Singh). The heel offense was still trecherous and Singh's selling made his offense look good, though as usual he finds a way to comeback after 1-2 moves. Tenta & Yatsu were fine, though they hardly got any offense in, and Abdullah worked pretty hard. 9:44. *1/2
4/4/88 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan, NWA International Heavyweight Title Match: Bruiser Brody vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu. Brody hurt Yatsu's knee with chair shots on the floor. I don't think I've ever seen someone show such constant body part selling as Yatsu did here. Most wrestlers forget it after their second or third move on offense, but Yatsu sold it between every offensive move. This helped justify Brody's comebacks because it meant there was time between Yatsu's attacks. The match was effective, but still disappointing. Brody was still stalling regularly, the action never picked up, and it had a finish that had nothing to do with anything. 15:01. **1/2
AJ Chogei Selection #168 2/19/00
6/10/88 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: The Great Kabuki vs. Rip Rogers. This was totally WWF. Rogers was doing an "adorable" gimmick with an all pink outfit. He spend the entire match goofing around and playing to the crowd. People were supposed to care that he could yell "Oh yeah" once a minute. It seemed like Rogers was on something, and in any case he nearly killed Kabuki losing grip of his neck in the midst of a superplex. Kabuki sold the entire match then won with a few moves. -**
5/24/88: Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki vs. Robert Gibson & Ricky Morton. Very underwhelming match. R & R kept the match from picking up, grabbing a body part after 1 or 2 spots. They didn't seem to want to work, and basically fought like they were in the US and Kawada & Fuyuki were a couple of jobbers. 9:20. **
4/15/88 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, PWF NWA UN International Heavyweight Double Title Match: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Bruiser Brody. Both men took this seriously. They didn't do much early, but they made their inability to do so part of the story. Tenryu relied on spots more than Jumbo & Yatsu had against Brody, but in this case that made for a better match because it got Brody going fairly early. Yatsu's match was the smartest of the three, but he never got Brody going at all. Tenryu wasn't really better than Jumbo, but he had a far more motivated Brody and a lot more time. Though the match felt elongated and Brody's offense was in a way the match, the amount of time they were out there forced them to develop some things. Tenryu sold a lot here, with a knee attack at 15:00 being his first extended offense. Later Brody had Tenryu down and walked over to attack, but Tenryu did a series of chops to the knee from the mat. Tenryu used the timekeepers bell on the knee, then began kicking it out. One thing even big stars Tenryu and Jumbo would do with Brody is, because of his size, they'd make Brody's offense seem to be worth more. Even when they were going good, one shot from Brody could lay them out or blow them back and turn the tide. Though Tenryu got several good near falls, the most credible was from Brody's King Kong knee. Brody tried a diving kneedrop, but that hurt his own weakened knee and he had to escape to the floor, where Tenryu gave him a sloppy powerbomb for the screw job. 29:54. ***
1/25/89 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Danny Spivey
3/8/89 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Ricky Steamboat vs. Tiger Mask 13:49. Steamboat was very unselfish here, doing a nice job of making it seem as though Tiger had a chance. They did some nice running exchanges early, but as Tiger was the underdog he was content to simply maintain control, so he'd gladly just hold a headlock. Although it was mostly entertaining otherwise, it was still a disappointing match because they weren't exactly challenging themselves. The match lacked intensity and urgency, but finally picked up after 10 with a ring out tease where Tiger piledrove Steamboat on the floor then they exchanged chops. Tiger soon began getting near falls, and the fans were really into this. The finish was kind of lame, but I guess they didn't want Steamboat to sell and sell and then just bury Tiger with two moves. ***
1/28/89 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Joe Malenko & Dean Malenko. Malenkos are excited to have a team they can do their technical style with. They set the tone, using their quickness and flexibility to leverage the opposition, and Bulldogs go with them, with beautiful counters back and forth. Dynamite still has it here, working great fast paced counter laden sequences. Davey already seems on the decline, he was rather deliberate with his muscles eating into his flexibility and stamina, so the Malenkos did most of their matwork when he was in, allowing him to get away with countering in a slower, more predictable manner. I was really impressed with Dean. I'm not used to him being this quick and athletic. Both Malenkos showed some really nice suplexes, and generally found every opportunity to show their picture perfect bridges. Dynamite was busted open. The finish was a bit cheesy, but kinda worked in that it was a match where leverage tended to be valued above all else. ****
AJ Chogei Selection #178 4/29/00
3/27/88 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Shunji Takano vs. Big Bubba
3/29/89 Korakuen Sekai Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Masa Fuchi vs. Mitsuo Momota
6/5/89 Budokan: Sting vs. Danny Spivey
4/16/89 Korakuen Sankan Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen
AJ Selection #179 5/6/00
8/30/88 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Stan Hansen & Tom Zenk vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Jimmy Snuka
4/18/89 Tokyo Ota-ku Taiikukan
Asia Tag Title Match: Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki vs. Tom Zenk & Danny Kroffat 12:36. I like Zenk, but the Footloose vs. Can-Am match isn't anywhere near the same with him. The timing and chemistry just weren't there, as he couldn't seem to get past the American junior style of jumping at the opponent and get into the Japanese junior style of crafting sequences and counters. In Zenk's defense, the match wasn't that awesome when Kroffat was in with Footloose either. There was some good stuff between Kawada and Kroffat, obviously, but overall this was disappointingly short and undeveloped. **3/4
International, UN, & PWF Nintei Sankan Heavykyu Oza Decision Match: Jumbo Tsuruta (International champ) vs. Stan Hansen (UN & PWF champ)
AJ Selection #180 5/13/00
7/1/89 Omiya Shimin Taiikukan Asunaro Cup Sodatsu Leaguesen: Samson Fuyuki vs. Shunji Takano
4/16/89 Tokyo Korakuen Hall Sekai Junior Heavykyu Senshuken: Masa Fuchi vs. Shinichi Nakano
5/13/89 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan Sekai Tag Senshuken: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Danny Spivey & Dick Slater
7/11/89 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, Asanaro Cup Sodatasu League Match: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Shunji Takano
6/5/89 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Asia Tag Title Match: Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki vs. Doug Furnas & Danny Kroffat 19:35. The Footloose vs. Can-Am series is the Liger vs. Sano of junior tag wrestling, a combination of mindblowing action that's light years ahead of it's time and an insane rivalry that ads layers to the match because you believe they want to kill each other. It seems as though they shot these four out of a cannon, right on a collision course for each other. Kawada is at his most furious, literally a wildman who loses his temper so badly within the first 30 seconds wrestling Kroffat they have to be restrained by the ref and their teammates, and both wind up tagging. The intensity is off the charts right from the opening bell, and the crowd can't help but be on the edge of their seats throughout this awesome grudge match that alternates jaw dropping super fast athletic sequences with striking with an intent to injure. The whole thing is worked like a finishing sequence and about the worst thing you can say about it is there's a spot or two where they can't keep up with their own ridiculous quadruple pace. Kroffat is so beautiful to watch, just amazing agility and so ridiculously graceful. It's awesome seeing two of the best wrestlers in the world in Kawada & Kroffat go at it, but Furnas & Fuyuki wrestle way over their head as well, and the teams just have this awesome chemistry that elevates their match well above what you'd expect from even the two best teams in the world. Everyone is at their most creative, and in total blow away mode, unloading everything and anything they can think of for 20 minutes that have more action packed into them than most wrestlers deliver in an entire year. An ageless marvel. *****
6/5/89 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith 14:36
AJ Chogei Selection #182 5/27/00
7/3/89 Takazaki Shi Cho Taiikukan, Asanaro Hai Sodatasu Leagusen: Akira Taue vs. Shunji Takano
Sekai Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Shinichi Nakano vs. Mitsuo Momota
5/12/89 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas 17:50. One has to wonder if the Bulldogs were thinking they are wrestling a younger, quicker, more flexible version of themselves? In any case, everyone was showing off in the best possible way to try to stand out. Dynamite did his best to answer the call, and get one more top flight match out of his failing body. He wasn't staying in too long, and injured himself doing his avalance style brainbuster, but he delivered some great fast paced action with Kroffat, particularly in the early stages before he was hurting. Davey Boy wasn't really up to working the bulk of the match, and was killing time when he could get away with it. He kept wanting to challenge Furnas' power early, which provided the sort of unskilled dullardly that filled the screen during his forthless feud with Warlord. The match built well though, and Kroffat soon had Davey on the move, trading gymnastic counters. It seemed well on its way to being an excellent match, but Dynamite understandably couldn't maintain his early standard after the injury, and they wound up doing an incredibly contrived and force finished where he slowly countered Kroffat and pinned him out of nowhere in a backdrop hold. ***1/2
7/11/89 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rodgers vs. Jim Brunzell & Tom Zenk
Sekai Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Mitsuo Momota vs. Isamu Teranishi
Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura & John Tenta vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & The Great Kabuki & Masa Fuchi
AJ Chogei Selection #186 6/24/00
7/15/89 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Asanaro Hai Sodatsu Leaguesen: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Samson Fuyuki
7/1/89 Saitama Omiya City Gym, World Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Mitsuo Momota vs. Joe Malenko 14:10
Giant Baba Debut 30th Anniversary Memorial: Giant Baba vs. Abdullah The Butcher
AJ Selection #187
7/22/89 Ishikawa-ken Sangyo Tenjikan Asunaro Hai Sodatsu Leaguesen: Kenta Kobashi vs. Shunji Takano
7/11/89 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, World Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Joe Malenko vs. Dean Malenko 15:34. Some fantastic technical wrestling from the brothers, putting their great familiarity and chemistry to good use. I was really impressed by the balance that went into their holds and counter holds. The only downside was older brother Joe was the dominant figure, which meant it was even that much more steeped in mat wrestling. The last minute and a half had their bridging suplexes and pinning predicaments, but that was about as much concession to flash as they were willing to make. ***1/2
9/2/89 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu 16:24. Yatsu has retained his work ethic, but is a few long years past his prime, and has become somewhat awkward and graceless. Jumbo knows his partners recent liabilities as well as anyone, and manages to get around them as well as anyone has in recent times. It's by no means an awesome match, but Yatsu wasn't exactly a great singles wrestler even in the days when he was one of the best in the tag division. It is, however, one of the best examples of Jumbo's ability to carry an opponent, proof of what he can do with someone who quite frankly is merely game. They start with solid matwork, but it's not friendly for long, quickly turning into Jumbo's brand of stiff, fiery action. The psychology is good with some of the key spots built around the charging moves (knee, lariat, etc.) It doesn't all come off, but it's a fun match and a nice change of pace. ***1/4
AJ Selection #188
7/28/89 Gunma Kiryu, World Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Joe Malenko vs. Masa Fuchi 17:22
Yoshiaki Yatsu & Akira Taue vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh
9/2/89 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Asia Tag Title Match: Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki 19:56. Excellent rivalry match with the teams looking for every reason to hate each other. Kroffat incites Kawada before the match, but then slugs Fuyuki as he's exiting to allow Kawada to start with Kroffat. Early on, Furnas blows his top because Fuyuki simply makes a save. Unfortunately, the match is much slower paced than 6/5/89 with Can-am dominating by using their teamwork and picking on Kawada's ribs, which they injured in the non-title match on 8/19/89. Can-Am shows a lot of great offense, but Kawada mainly sells after the early portion, and Fuyuki's wrestling isn't memorable here. What's funny is, although these matches seem set up to babyface the natives, the fans don't care for Fuyuki, and even him making the noblest efforts to save his partner, including diving on top of Kawada to shield him from Kroffat's diving body press, doesn't get him any love. ****
9/30/89 Okinawa Shimin Kaikan: Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shunji Takano. Seemed dated, but it was a good solid match. Everything was well executed. Too many submissions that added nothing to the match. ***
9/2/89 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Kenta Kobashi vs. Johnny Ace. Match really improved as time went on. The fans got into it, and there were some believable near falls. Ace was nothing special, but Kobashi still got a very good match out of him. ***1/2
9/30/89: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Great Kabuki. Kabuki was crap. The others were fine, but it was kind of slow and deliberate. The blows were believable, but it wasn't particularly interesting or exciting.
AJ Chogei Selection #190 7/22/00
9/30/89 Okinawa Shimin Kaikan: Joe Malenko & Shinichi Nakano & Kenta Kobashi vs. Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas & Ken Shamrock
Yoshiaki Yatsu & Akira Taue vs. Stan Hansen & Samson Fuyuki
Jumbo Tsuruta & Shinichi Nakano vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada
Selection #191 taped 10/11/89 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan
Asia Tag Title Match: Doug Furnas & Danny Kroffat vs. Joe Malenko & Kenta Kobashi 23:20. Kobashi is thrilled at the opportunity to prove he can wrestle Can-Am the way Footloose can, following Can-Am in their fast paced athletic match that's riveting from start to finish, and certainly one of the standout junior style tags of the era. They waste no time here, with Furnas being in total spot merchant mode, trying to show he can be just as good a junior as his partner. Kobashi is in most of the time, generally getting his ass kicked because he's the guy who "doesn't belong", but unlike Footloose, the crowd is ridiculously into him, roaring every time he kicks out and starting regular "KO-BA-SHI" chants. Malenko did some nice athletic counters with Kroffat, but didn't really stand out as a whole because no one else was that interested in slowing the pace for his mat wrestling. That said, Malenko wrestles a smart match, knowing when to help his partner and when to let him work his way out. For instance, Kroffat tries to bait Kobashi early by spitting at him, but Malenko quickly attacks Kroffat to allow Kobashi to cool off a minute before tagging him in, keeping his partner focused and from getting too emotional. Can-Am showed an awesome arsenal of moves, and just seemed to want to be so spectacular they started making new variations up as they went along, so occasionally the choreography wasn't perfect. I was pleased by the finish where Kobashi, despite getting battered throughout, manages to survive the whipping, as it's his veteran partner who falls. ****1/2
Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
Selection #192
10/22/89 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Giant Baba & Kenta Kobashi vs. Rusher Kimura & Goro Tsurumi
10/1/89: Joe Malenko & Kenta Kobashi vs. Danny Kroffat & Ken Shamrock
10/14/89: Jumbo Tsuruta & Great Kabuki & Kenta Kobashi vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki 20:11. A great example of a small show match that's top notch because they simply put the effort into making it be so. Jumbo & Tenryu set the tone with a fast, intense opening, and the match never flags or wavers. The veterans deliver stiff, aggressive action throughout, with the younger wrestlers mixing in some more athletic spots. It's not so much who is in or what they do, but that they are doing it as fast as they can without losing anything on the execution end. It does help that Tenryu steps up and plays a bigger role in this match than usual. He seems to get his kicks out of giving Kobashi his initiation into the program, really picking on the poor kid with brutal chops. It also helps quite a bit that Kobashi is in the match instead of Yatsu, as he's so much quicker, more graceful and diverse. He's the star of his team from the wrestling perspective, taking some of the pressure of Jumbo. Of course, Kobashi is a total whipping boy, but certainly has his moments, and the veterans hot tags are all set up through the abuse he's willing to take. Kabuki even gives a surprisingly effective performance, his thrusts really hitting their mark today. Of course, Footloose is the best native tag team, and deliver the goods once again. Just a great effort, all around. ****1/4
Selection #193
10/20/89 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan, Sekai Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Joe Malenko vs. Masa Fuchi
10/14 Tsu Shi Taiikukan: Stan Hansen vs. Shunji Takano
10/20/89 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan, Asia Tag Title Match: Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki 16:37. Kawada is healthy here, and gets to be the enforcer and star. Can-Am, particularly Furnas, really hate Fuyuki and keep losing their temper with him and flurrying on him as if they are trying to kill him. Fuyuki gets mauled for stretches then an energetic Kawada makes the hot tag and either unloads with his kicks or flies around. Overall, it's a slower paced match than some of their others, but they do a nice job of mixing the spots in with the rough housing and changing the tempos to fit the story they are telling. The match is pretty comparable to their 9/2/89 match, but I prefer this one because Kawada's offense is a lot better than Fuyuki's. ****
Selection #194
7/11/89 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, Asanaro Hai Sodatsu Leaguesen: Samson Fuyuki vs. Kenta Kobashi
10/20/89 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan, Sekai Tag Senshukenjiai: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen
AJ Selection #201 taped 11/29/89 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
'89 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh
'89 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat
'89 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen
AJ Selection #202
10/1/89 Naha Shimin Taiikukan: Doug Furnas vs. Shinichi Nakano
1/2/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Super Heavykyu Battle Royal
12/4/89 Sendai Miyagi-ken Sports Center
'89 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Terry Gordy & Bill Irwin
'89 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Nasty Boys
AJ Selection #207
1/2/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota vs. Haruka Eigen & Mokoshi Okuma & Masa Fuchi
1/3/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
The Great Kabuki vs. Kenta Kobashi
Asia Tag Title Match: Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki vs. Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers 16:02. These teams didn't have their chemistry and timing quite down yet, but it was still a nice showcase for the Fantastics act with the chain wrestling, clever setups, constant teamwork. Fantastics keep everyone on their toes and are always tons of fun. Rodgers was excellent as usual, and the teams began to find their groove in the second half of this junior style tag. They are definitely capable of a lot better, but I'm just happy to see Rogers and Kawada in the same ring. ***1/2
AJ Selection #205
1/2/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Tiger Mask & Shinichi Nakano vs. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith
1/11/90 Nagoya Tsuyuhashi Shi Taiikukan: Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Akira Taue & Isao Takagi
1/2/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta & The Great Kabuki & Isao Takagi vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki
AJ Selection #211 taped 1/20/90 Ueda Shimin Taiikukan
Tiger Mask & Kenta Kobashi vs. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith 13:01. Incredibly disappointing match dominated by a Bulldog team that didn't want to do anything. Dynamite showed no explosion, in fact he was totally subdued, pretty much just relying on his brawling. Davey had no flexibility, and was just looking to showcase his power. Really, only Tiger tried to do anything in the first 12 minutes, but the scenario was Bulldogs totally dominated with Tiger & Kobashi getting an occasional athletic counter, so it was hard for the natives to get anything going. Kobashi finally kicked it into high gear for the finishing segment, but that was just a minute long. **
1/24/90 Tooya Shinmin Center Taiikukan
Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada vs. The Great Kabuki & Isao Takagi
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Randy Rose
AJ Selection #212 taped 1/24/90 Tooya Shinmin Center Taiikukan
Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Tiger Mask & Shinichi Nakano
Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shinichi Nakano
Jumbo Tsuruta & The Great Kabuki & Mighty Inoue vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki
AJ Selection #213 taped 1/28/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota vs. Haruka Eigen & Makoshi Okuma
The Great Kabuki & Mighty Inoue vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Isao Takagi
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu & Masa Fuchi vs. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith & Tiger Mask
AJ Selection #214 taped 3/24/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Tiger Mask & Tatsumi Kitahara vs. Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat
2/24/90 Ichinomiya Sangyo Taiikukan: Jumbo Tsuruta & The Great Kabuki & Mighty Inoue vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki
3/6/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Barry Windham
AJ Selection #215 taped 2/21/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Jumbo Tsuruta & Shinichi Nakano vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
3/2/90 Nagoya Tsuyuhashi Sports Center, Asia Tag Title: Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki vs. Doug Furnas & Danny Kroffat
3/6/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
AJ Selection #216 taped 3/27/90 Niigata Shi Taiikukan
Tiger Mask & Isamu Teranishi vs. Doug Furnas & Danny Kroffat
3/24/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki vs. The Great Kabuki & Mighty Inoue & Shinichi Nakano
Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
AJ Selection #217 taped 1/25/90 Koriyama Central Hall
Tiger Mask & Isao Takagi vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Randy Rose
3/27/90 Niigata Shi Taiikukan: Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Rusher Kimura & Mighty Inoue
3/24/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Steve Williams
3/6/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Tiger Mask vs. Kenta Kobashi
AJ Selection #218 taped 3/27/90 Niigata Shi Taiikukan
Shunji Takano & Shinichi Nakano vs. Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey
taped 3/31/90 Toyama Shi Taiikukan
Rusher Kimura & Isamu Teranishi vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada
Asia Tag Title Match: Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Joe Malenko & Kenta Kobashi 22:06. Malenko pretty much sat out their great 10/11/89 meeting, so this time they give him the match and have Kobashi have minimal involvement. Malenko is in top form here, really seeming to think his way through the match, counteracting his opponents strengths and proclivities with his speed, flexibility, and ability to leverage almost any situation to his advantage. Still, Furnas is such a physical specimin he can just hoist Malenko up with 1 arm, even when that arm is in a keylock! Slower pacing never leads to Can-Am's best stuff, but the sequences and counters are quite impressive. It starts off really strong, but never seems to pick up steam, and I'd even say stagnates for a few minutes because there's only so much Can-Am has to offer in Malenko's style, but then they move on to the finishing sequence and it gets really interesting again. the heat isn't even close to what it was in their first match because the fans aren't into Malenko to anywhere near the extent they are into Kobashi, but Kobashi does work most of the finishing sequence, and suddenly the heat is there. ***3/4
AJ Selection #219 taped 4/13/90 Tokyo Dome
Masa Fuchi & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jimmy Snuka & Tito Santana
3/24/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey
3/31/90 Toyama Shi Taiikukan: Jumbo Tsuruta & Shunji Takano & Akira Taue vs. Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey & David Sammartino
WWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Ted DiBiase vs. Ultimate Warrior
AJ Selection #220 taped 4/19/90 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan
Giant Baba & The Great Kabuki & Mitsuo Momota vs. Haruka Eigen & Makoshi Okuma & Masa Fuchi
taped 4/13/90 Tokyo Dome
Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs. Big Bossman
Tiger Mask (Misawa) vs. Bret Hart 20:00. You'd think Bret might be motivated to be wrestling in Japan, in front of a huge crowd, taking on another wrestler who was poised for huge success in the new decade. But Bret could still stall with the best of them. When they were on their feet, it was generally an entertaining if somewhat basic match, but the problem is they'd set up a nice armdrag counter for Tiger then Tiger would just hold Bret's arm for the next minute. They could have condensed this into a hot 10 minute match, but at 20 there was just way too much dead time. At best, it had it's moments, but there was nothing here that showed me that either of these guys were among the 50 best wrestlers in the world. Fans weren't that into it either. In fact, outside of booing Bret a few times for posing and stalling, they were totally dead until Bret faked a knee injury then cheap shotted Tiger when he showed concern. **1/2
AJ Selection #221 taped 3/31/90 Toyama Shi Taiikukan
Tiger Mask & Shinichi Nakano vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
taped 4/13/90 Tokyo Dome
Jumbo Tsuruta & King Haku vs. Rick Martel & Curt Hennig
Stan Hansen vs. Hulk Hogan
AJ Selection #222 taped 4/17/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Doug Furnas & Danny Kroffat
Giant Baba & Andre The Giant & The Great Kabuki vs. Masa Fuchi & Shunji Takano & Shinichi Nakano
4/13/90 Tokyo Dome: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Randy Savage
4/17/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Doug Furnas & Danny Kroffat
Giant Baba & Andre The Giant & The Great Kabuki vs. Masa Fuchi & Shunji Takano & Shinichi Nakano
4/13/90 Tokyo Dome: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Randy Savage
AJ Selection #223 taped 6/1/90 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Abdullah The Butcher & Randy Rose vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Goro Tsurumi
5/26/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Terry Gordy vs. Davey Boy Smith
4/17/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Jumbo Tsuruta & Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey
AJ Selection #224 taped 6/1/90 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Kenta Kobashi vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow
4/19/90 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan: Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey 20:53. This violent grudge brawl for gaijin #1 bragging rights is about as good a tag match as you'll ever get from four American heavyweights. Gordy & Williams were looking like the top working team they were always billed as in the US, but never seemed to live up to, and Spivey did some of the most effective wrestling of his career. They beat the hell out of each other, with Hansen bleeding from the forehead early but still using headbutts. However, they also worked actual wrestling moves in as well, building to a couple awesome spots involving the finishers. There was a great near fall where Gordy spiked Williams Oklahoma stampede, but Hansen made a diving save. Later, Hansen finally has his western lariat set up on Gordy, but Williams picks his own partner's leg as he bounces off the ropes, and Hansen goes flying over the top to the floor when Gordy avoids via tripping. Hansen is the least interesting wrestler in the match, by the way, but these sort of spots are what elevates his matches above his actual ability. ****1/4
Sankan Heavykyu Senshuken: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu
AJ #225
6/8/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Abdullah The Butcher vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
5/14/90 Tokyo Taiikukan
Yoshiaki Yatsu & Samson Fuyuki vs. Tiger Mask & Toshiaki Kawada. Kawada unmasks Tiger.
Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
NJ #829 taped 6/11/96 Hiroshima Sun Plaza
Keiji Muto vs. Tatsutoshi Goto
Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka & Akira Nogami vs. Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Hiro Saito
Best of the Super Jr. III Champion Decision Tournament Semifinal: Wild Pegasus vs. Black Tiger
12/11/77 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan: Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk vs. Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik. Dory gave a typically strong performance, but couldn't save the match with such unskilled opposition. Butcher & Sheik bled, but that was all they could do. *1/4
12/13/81 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan: Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk vs. Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka 21:41. Dory was typically excellent here, and brought the best out of Snuka. Their stuff was quite good, with Snuka utilizing his athleticism including a swandive body press and Dory making him really work to keep his headlock. Brody was on offense most of the time he was in, though he found a way to bleed. Terry was alright, but really pales compared to Dory. He did a plancha, but he did one of his completely ridiculous oversells, a 360 degree spin after Brody kicked him. Funks worked the knee setting up the key spot where they had spinning toe holds, but Brody shot Terry to the floor and whipped him at Hansen, who took him out with the western lariat. Dory continued on his own, persistent on the knee, but Snuka was able to tag while in a subsequent spinning toe hold. Dory attacked after the bell, but Hansen beat him up then Baba & Jumbo jumped in and fought Hansen, who juiced. ****
12/13/83 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody 17:43. Jumbo & Tenryu were good at having action oriented match with the gaijins, making up for their technical deficiencies by keeping things moving and doing a number of good well executed simple spots. Though Hansen & Brody aren't exactly limited and are capable of a deeper match, this is certainly the kind of match they can excel in, especially since their moves are so over. Even though I prefer the other style, it's nice seeing a double dropkick from Hansen and Brody every once in a while. Surprisingly Tenryu carried things for his side, allowing Jumbo to eventually make the hot tag. Once this occurred the match really picked up; great action in the final three minutes. ****
11/30/85 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu 30:00. One of those matches where it was obvious they were going long. Started slow and the pace never seemed to pick up, continuing to be technical in the boring wear the opponent down with rest holds kind of way. The crowd didn't react that much until Jumbo tagged in at 27:30 and used some finishers. It was a solid match, but what makes Choshu good is fire and intensity and for the most part that was sorely lacking here. ***
11/24/89 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura. Well thought out match that told a good story. If Baba & Rusher weren't so disgraceful on offense it might have been a great match, but man their offense is just terrible! As Baba was about to enter the ring Tenryu caught him with a tope, causing the match to begin without ring announcements. Tenryu & Hansen were nasty, and the match was quality as long as they stayed on offense. They beat Rusher up for 8 minutes while Baba was selling on the floor, causing him to juice a gusher. Baba eventually came in and cleaned house, but he has about 2 minutes worth of stamina and Rusher was still on the floor recovering. Soon the tide turned when Hansen chaired Baba in the stomach. ***
12/9/95 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, '95 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei League Yushoketteisen: Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 27:00. Overshadowed because they had so many great matches in such a short period of time. This may have been the worst, and a half dozen in one year is too much, but these are the two greatest teams ever and 1995 was a peak year for all. Everything that made the other matches great except for crowd heat was present here, the big difference to me is the best stuff came early. Kawada stalled the start to incite Kobashi then when Kobashi finally got him in a headlock Kawada exploded with a backdrop driver, high kick to Misawa, and jumping high kick. Taue worked on Misawa while Kawada and Kobashi were legal, with Kawada assisting every time Kobashi was down. This led to the dynamic duo taking Misawa out with an elevated nodowa otoshi on the floor at 5:00. Kobashi's left arm was injured when Taue pulled him off the apron into the security rail, and they worked it over for several minutes while Misawa was out of it on the floor. When Misawa would make it back to the apron they would knock him off, which elicited some boos. Eventually Misawa got back in the match when Kobashi blocked Kawada's udehishigigyakujujigatame so Taue came in and broke his clasp, turning it into a double. Misawa did enough damage that Kobashi was able to make the hot tag at 13. The first half was tremendous, but they either used up their story points too early or didn't capitalize on them quite enough during the second half. The final half contained most of their top moves, but the fans didn't react as they should. For instance, at one point Kawada turns Kobashi's lariat into an udehishigigyakujujigatame and even though they'd worked over Kobashi's arm for all that time, the fans didn't buy it. It would have helped if Kobashi didn't rope escape so quickly, but Kawada didn't even get too negative a reaction for refusing to release. The tide turned when Misawa blocked Kawada's powerbomb on the floor and took him out with a Tigerdriver. Taue was getting the better of Kobashi in the ring, but finally Misawa's team was able to do some double teaming. *spoilers* Given they were beaten on almost the entire match, it was not very credible that they were able to put Taue away within two minutes. ****1/2
12/5/98 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, '98 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei League Yushoketteisen: Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Vader & Stan Hansen 18:58. They delivered all you could ask for. Vader gives an excellent performance carrying his team and Hansen doesn't screw it up. Obviously the problem with the match, with any match involving a monster team, is it's completely one-sided. Vader & Hansen really don't take any legitimate bumps, but you knew that coming in. The crowd was going nuts anytime Kobashi & Akiyama did anything, which granted wasn't too often but shows the monster gimmick worked. In particular, they were exploding when Vader's knee was injured. The '95 final was way better in every other regard, but this at least felt like a tag final due to the fans. Kobashi & Akiyama gave regular performances, both very good but I would not say either were that impressive. The gaijins stepped it up a lot more than the natives, though obviously they were still the weak link, Vader is the only one that really impressed me in all he did to carry his team. One wicked spot where Akiyama tries to use his northern lights suplex on Vader, but Vader uses his weight to drive Akiyama straight down into the canvas nose first with Vader coming down on top. Finish was improbably but basically all they could do given the result and the limitations of those involved. ***1/2
5/1/76 Tokyo Nichidai Kodo, Champion Carnival: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Giant Baba. I was really surprised by this match, which showed Baba to be a much more capable singles wrestler in his heyday than I would have guessed. Baba had some athleticism in these days, and was actually making moves look good rather than, at best, weird. Jumbo was also far more athletic here, getting Baba in the side of the face with a dropkick and the chin with his jumping knee. Slow match where they worked the holds, but they did an excellent job of working in a high spot or near fall to keep you on your toes. The match didn't feel long because of how well they spaced the action out, not putting you to sleep and then finally starting to work like Leizi Muto. They picked it up so much around 12 I thought it was going to be over by 14, but they were able to take it back to the mat and calm things down, perhaps making the crowd wait to explode again but certainly not losing them by "going in reverse". They made me consider whether the lost art of knowing how to take it down isn't more important than knowing how to take it up. They made the audience believe in moves that would never beat Giant or Jumbo because they made the when and how much more important than the what. 24:56 of 26:15. ****
8/28/76 Tokyo Nichidai Kodo, 2/3 Falls UN Heavyweight Title Decision Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Jack Brisco. The first time I've seen the legendary Brisco in Japan, and he was quite a disappointment. I can see what people say about his technical ability, but his selling was so irritating. Every time he got hit in the back he would jerk his stomach out and his head back, like some kind of bobble head and waist doll, making the overselling of Terry Funk look like nothing. The first fall was pretty well ruined by this because Jumbo was on offense the whole time, and really it's hard for anything with Jumbo on offense to not be good. The second and third falls redeemed the match, as Brisco injured Jumbo's knee. Brisco won the second fall with the figure 4, refusing to release which kept the attack going strong into the third fall because it started before Jumbo had come close to recovering. Jumbo finally made a little comeback, but his jumping knee hurt him as much as Brisco. Jumbo was in top form and carried the match, with Brisco showing good focus. 11:09, 6:19, 5:34. ***1/2
2/23/84 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, International Heavyweight & AWA World Heavyweight Double Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Nick Bockwinkle. Bockwinkle worked Jumbo's arm for the first 15 minutes. Bockwinkle was never a big offensive guy, but by attacking the arm most of the match he provided the framework and let Jumbo add in the good moves. Terry Funk was the guest referee, which like every other example of an active wrestler being a ref, just detracted from the match. The bulk of the match was technical, so Funk should have had nothing to do, though he kept calling attention to himself by making rulings on the legality. To give Funk something to do, they worked in a few potential double KO's and count outs. Bockwinkle "didn't like" Funk being an active ref, and eventually shoved Jumbo from behind, knocking him into Funk and both to the floor. Joe Higuchi was a second official on the outside, and he nearly counted Jumbo out then took over in the ring because for some reason it took Funk much longer to recover than Jumbo. Funk recovered just in time to count the winning fall. Jumbo unified the titles. 32:00. ***1/2
4/16/91 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan, '91 Champion Carnvival Yushoketteisen: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen. Exciting, stiff well wrestled match with great heat. Looked like it was going to be one of their best, but was surprisingly short. Jumbo started with an inspired arm attack, but this wasn't developed nearly as well as it normally would have been because they didn't have the time. They did a great job of making their blows look vicious, throwing them in a more abrupt and jerky manner and opening their hand just before impact so it would make a louder sound. Hansen hit the western lariat before 12, but Jumbo got his foot on the ropes. He tried it again almost immediately, but Jumbo ducked into a schoolboy. I was intrigued by these two spots early, wondering where they'd go from there. Unfortunately, I was then disappointed because they went home on the next spot. It seems odd to pick this match to be short considering they were bringing the Carnival back after an 8 year absense, but maybe it would make sense to me if I was watching in context. 12:53. ***1/2
10/30/75 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan: Stan Hansen vs. The Destroyer. Hansen looked hilarious with his bleached mop. Pretty well wrestled. The early portion was on the mat with some good quick moves into long locks. Around 10:00 they began doing some basic suplexes. Both used the football stance shoulderblock. Destroyer tried to help Hansen up after the match, but Hansen punched him in the stomach. 12:40. **1/2
11/15/82 Chiba Kisaradzu Kuragata Sports Center: Stan Hansen vs. Ashura Hara. Hara looked something like Hase would a decade later with the long hair, mustache, and tights with yellow in the front. Hara did a few good chops after Hansen controlled him with a chinlock. This just pissed Hansen off though, and he quickly took him out with the western lariat. 2:25
9/8/83 Chiba Koen Taiikukan, PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Stan Hansen. They understood Baba's limitations, and tried to work around them. The early portion was weak, but the last few minutes were good for what they were. It was obviously awkward, but a good effort and with Baba that goes a long way. Baba actually hit a double axehandle off the top. Hansen hit the western lariat a little before 8:00, but Baba kicked out at 2 then rolled to the floor. Hansen followed trying to post Baba, but Baba pushed him off so Hansen's lariat arm crashed the post. 9:02. **1/2
12/12/83 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, '83 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leagusen: Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu. Exciting well executed match with everyone performing to their ability. Jumbo is generally considered to have had a slight down period while adjusting to the faster paced matches of Riki Choshu, but here he was the guy that was pushing the pace and along with Tenryu he really excelled in the style. Jumbo was much more agile here than 3-4 years later, but it probably didn't make much difference since only a few of his moves like the jumping knee, Thesz press, and enzuigiri employed this ability. The jumping knee was the only one of these moves he stuck with, but that was probably more a stylistic change than anything else. Brody really executed his offense well. In essence, his move set was pretty basic and nothing special, but it didn't come off that way because he made the moves look so much more impressive than normal, mainly through his exceptional athleticism for his size. Jumbo has the best looking stomp for a different reason, the impact isn't necessarily more but his body language is so nasty and malevolent. 17:43. ****
12/6/88 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, '88 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leagusen: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada. Great heat because it was a big match, but more importantly because they told a great story that was designed to get the fans behind faces Tenryu & Kawada. Kawada was the youngster that didn't belong, and Hansen & Gordy were out to put him in his place. Kawada was very fiery, trying to take it to the opposition with kicks and even a pescado but his attacks were very short lived. Tenryu tried to play big brother, actually making a hot tag at 2:00, but Hansen pulled Gordy to safety on the floor. The key to the match was Hansen injuring Kawada's knee, kicking it out when Kawada had Gordy in a German suplex hold. After kicking the knee repeatedly, Hansen pushed Kawada in the back as he was going to tag Tenryu, sending Kawada through the ropes to the floor instead with Hansen following through by lariating Tenryu off the apron. Hansen proceeded to destroy Kawada on the floor while Gordy took care of Tenryu in the ring. Kawada kept coming back for more, until Hansen rendered his knee useless. Kawada was down on the floor for several minutes, meaning Tenryu had to fight most of the match 2-1, which resulted in him also getting destroyed and even busted open from Hansen's knee drops. This set Kawada up to finally save his senpai, after Gordy's powerbomb, but Hansen made him pay for it. 21:02. *****
4/17/92 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan, '92 Champion Carnival Yushoketteisen: Stan Hansen vs. Mitsuharu Misawa. Very simple all arm match, but that was its strength because everything was built around the arm with no waste and just a bunch of simple but effective stuff. Misawa even used his elbows to Hansen's lariat elbow. Sure it wasn't the most exciting or diverse match, even diverse attack, but Misawa showed tremendous focus in attacking Hansen's lariat arm for the 1st 15 minutes. They really didn't even "do less" because of the arm attack, they just saved the high spots for the final 5 minutes, which I should add had major heat. Hansen did an impressive job of acting like his arm was in great pain, especially during the offense oriented portion where he was walking around like his arm was in an invisible sling. Hansen had to strike with his right arm, and even had to resort to trying his western lariat with his right arm. It was slow and awkward because he'd never done it before. The first time Misawa was able to get his foot on the ropes. The second time he blocked it, but Hansen immediately unleashed the usual lethal left arm western lariat to a prone Misawa. This was literall the only time Hansen used the left arm in the match, but that's Hansen at his best, finding a way to pull out the one move win. He seemingly had his weapon taken away, but sucked it up and withstood the pain to himself once to get the victory. Just a great finish. 20:06 ****
6/11/77 Tokyo: Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Mario Milano & Medico Grande 12:09
3/1/83, Lumberjack Match: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Umanosuke Ueda
2/23/84 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, UN Heavyweight Title Decision Match: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ricky Steamboat 21:23
6/8/87 Fukuoka Kokusai Center: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Hiroshi Wajima & Takashi Ishikawa
7/30/87 Tokyo: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Giant Baba & Tiger Mask
6/5/89 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Sankan Heavykyu Senshuken: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu
1/5/79 Kanagawa Kawasaki Shi Taiikukan: Bruiser Brody & King Iaukea vs. Giant Baba & The Destroyer. Very dull match. Brody's team dominated with even Baba selling a lot. Baba & Destroyer don't take very well, but Brody & Iaukea basically do moves anyone could take. Destroyer was the only one that did anything skilled, but he was only on offense for 30 seconds. I guess this was significant because Brody pinned Baba. 9:50. *
4/27/81 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan, International Oza Sodatsu Tournament Ketteisen: Bruiser Brody vs. Giant Baba. Brody controlled most of the match with his brawling, including choking Baba with a chain. Brody bled from being rammed into the table and post. Bad match, but so short it wasn't painful. 5:59
12/13/81 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan '81 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka vs. Dory Funk, Jr. & Terry Funk. Dory was typically excellent here, and brought the best out of Snuka. Their stuff was quite good, with Snuka utilizing his athleticism including a swandive body press and Dory making him really work to keep his headlock. Brody was on offense most of the time he was in, though he found a way to bleed. Terry was alright, but really pales compared to Dory. He did a plancha, but he did one of his completely ridiculous oversells, a 360 degree spin after Brody kicked him. Funks worked the knee setting up the key spot where they had spinning toe holds, but Brody shot Terry to the floor and whipped him at Hansen, who took him out with the western lariat. Dory continued on his own, persistent on the knee, but Snuka was able to tag while in a subsequent spinning toe hold. Dory attacked after the bell, but Hansen beat him up then Baba & Jumbo jumped in and fought Hansen, who juiced. 21:41 ****
10/20/82 Aomori Kenritsu Taiikukan, International Heavyweight Title Match: Bruiser Brody vs. Genichiro Tenryu. Tenryu was still developing and Brody was carrying the match, two things that didn't make me expect much. Brody got off to a quick start and was dominating until Tenryu came back around 5:00 with a couple suplexes. They mixed in some submission and weardown, which is far from Brody's strength, but since it was mostly good moves (his strength for his size) that weaknesses was less apparent. They did enough to keep it interesting and not expose themselves. 12:14. ***
11/22/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, '87 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy. Fans just went nuts for Brody. Snuka was going to start, but the fans were so loud chanting "Brody" that he tagged in before the first lock up. I'm not sure if the fans or Brody were the problem, but he was more a side show than a wrestler on this tour. The fans were more into him than the match. The matches themselves weren't much, but one wonders if they would have been better if the guys had to actually work to get reaction. Gordy vs. Snuka was the best thing here, even though there wasn't much interest in it. Otherwise there was too much punching and kicking. This was one of those matches that wanted to be out of control, but other than stall they didn't really do much in any regard. 17:12. **
3/27/88 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, NWA International Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Bruiser Brody. Didn't aspire to be anything, which luckily is not the kind of comment you'd usually make about an AJ Budokan main. Brody hadn't impressed me in a while. He was more sane and less selfish here, but his wrestling still wasn't what it used to be. Everything was well executed, but his stamina was down and the match just kind of meandered. They'd do one good move, but some meaningless momentum killer to keep it slow. I guess the idea was that Jumbo was trying to ground Brody, but Brody was also grabbing the front facelock. There was just too much down time until the final 5 minutes, which were quite good because they finally put some moves together in succession. I would have preferred they use less damaging moves, but more moves in succession rather than basically biding time and then doing a run of finishing type moves. 17:07. **1/2
9/15/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Sekai Junior Senshuken: Masa Fuchi vs. Toshiaki Kawada
9/15/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Sekai Tag Senshuken: Shinichi Nakano & George Takano vs. Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada 19:11
7/1/89 Omiya Shimin Taiikukan, Asunaru Hai Sodatsu Leaguesen: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi
4/16/94 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, '94 Champion Carnival Final: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Steve Williams
3/1/98 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Sekai Tag Senshuken: Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Gary Albright & Yoshihiro Takayama
2/5/85 Tokyo Taiikukan: Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu 16:35. Good solid match. Never outstanding, but they kept the effort and intensity up resulting in strong heat. Everyone was about equal, though Tenryu seemed particularly at home in this style, which was more or less Choshu's simple but effective because they hate each other. ***1/4
1/28/86 Tokyo Taiikukan, International Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu 22:21. One of the greatest matches of the decade. Nothing spectacular wrestling wise, but the perfect rivalry match. What these guys, mainly Jumbo & Choshu, were able to do is make it look meaningful. It was always about Jumbo vs. Choshu rather than the match, which perhaps isn't coming out right, but the point is they were able to make their rivalry transcend this particular match. They made you believe they wanted to kill each other, and the fans ate it up. The wrestlers who weren't legal would wind up going at it in or out of the ring as well, they weren't going to let the rules get in the way of their bloodlust. And Jumbo did bleed. Early on Choshu's team kept Tenryu in their corner and big double team moves. Jumbo tried to help Tenryu, but the ref would force him out. When they finally gained control Jumbo's team worked over Choshu's bad ribs. Strong performances from everyone, but the match was so excellently developed with tremendous heat and intensity. ****3/4
4/5/86 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan, AWA & PWF Heavyweight Double Title Match: Stan Hansen vs. Riki Choshu 18:27. Slow dull match. Had it's moments, but lacked the intensity of Choshu vs. natives. Fans weren't that into it, at least considering how over Choshu was at the time and the fact it was a big double title match against the top gaijin. Hansen carried the match and utilized a few big moments to build the match around as usual, notably reversing a whip into the post and trying his lariat which Choshu ducked causing Hansen to injure his arm on the post, but something seemed missing and the lack of a finish didn't help. **1/2
7/31/86 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan, Death Match Rules: Riki Choshu vs. Killer Khan 16:56. Shockingly good extremely dramatic match where they got a great deal out of a little talent. In these days a death match was about beating the crap out of your opponent rather than utilizing plunder, and matches like this show that interest comes from intensity rather than gimmick. Choshu had the best disdainful look in wrestling, and it was fully utilized in this tough brawl. The wrestling was basic and fairly well executed. What made the match stand out is the super job they did of passing off the illusion, of elevating ordinary moves to the extraordinary, of making it seem like a chop or a knee drop did a ton of damage. Khan bled heavily, which obviously is not uncommon in a death match, but what is uncommon is that it was made meaningful. He bled early and always seemed to be on his last leg. Khan had a great run late in the match after stopping the Riki lariat with a big boot and kneeing Choshu in the groin where he kept Choshu from making it to his feet for four minutes. ****
9/3/86 Osaka Jo Hall: Riki Choshu vs. Genichiro Tenryu 20:01. Good match, but I expected more. I was hoping for something memorable, but it was not to be found. Choshu is better in tag since he's so limited moves. You have to believe everything is intended to injure or something has to be done to make the moves meaningful, otherwise he's completely pedestrian. Tenryu worked his ribs, which seem to have heeled some considering they weren't taped. Tenryu bled. Finish made no sense to me. ***
6/11/76 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, 2/3 Falls NWA Heavyweight Title Match: Terry Funk vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
7/18/79 Kanezawa: Terry Funk vs. Abdullah The Butcher
12/9/80 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, '80 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Dory Funk, Jr. & Terry Funk vs. Nick Bockwinkle & Jim Brunzell
9/11/82 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Terry Funk vs. Stan Hansen
8/31/83 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, Terry Funk Intai Jiai: Dory Funk, Jr. & Terry Funk vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy
8/25/77 Tokyo Daen Coliseum, 2/3 Falls UN Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mil Mascaras 22:18 (19:48 shown), 7:46, 3:20. This is the sort of traditional style match you either appreciate or you don’t. I’d rather see a shorter match with less submissions and more countering and exchanging holds, but the athleticism of the competitors probably made it a more interesting version of the sort of lengthy, technically sound big match you got in the mid 70’s. Mascaras finds as many positions to stretch an opponent from as humanly possible, and does an excellent job of moving between contortions, but the match is essentially a lengthy series of limb extensions. Mascaras was a great flyer for his time with the plancha and flying cross attack, but actually had few other moves that utilized his athleticism and greatly preferred elongating his opponent. Though Jumbo is much more apt to push the pace, they had a hold of each other almost the entire match. There was some action out of the clinch though, for instance a nice spot where Mascaras held onto a monkey flip and tried to roll on top of Jumbo, but Jumbo saw it coming and rolled up, locking a bodyscissors when they met halfway over. Generally, both men punctuated their matwork with brief spurts of action that may lead to a finish. Mascaras dropkicked Jumbo to the floor early in the 3rd, but took the brunt of the impact on his plancha since Tsuruta didn’t catch him properly, leading to the ring out. ***
8/24/78 Tokyo Daen Coliseum, International Tag Title Match: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras 14:55, 6:15, 3:10. Watching these matches of the Mascaras & Caras team, it’s difficult to imagine how Mascaras wound up being the world famous one. He’s a little bigger and more powerful, but Caras does all Mascaras’ flying moves better than Mascaras, but also has some good stuff of his own, not to mention being faster and a much better and more willing bumper. For me, the big difference is while Caras twists you up in knots similar to Mascaras, he does it with very quick movements on the mat, shifting from one stretch to the other, so he winds up doing five in a minute rather than just holding one. Caras work with Tsuruta was excellent, working their athleticism and flashiness into the submission game and being more willing to break from it entirely to deliver some running action. Jumbo didn’t exactly work lucha libre, but certainly held his own in the junior heavyweight segments, which along with the athleticism were quite impressive for the time. Though Baba isn’t able to display much litheness, he did alright, allowing Mascaras & Caras to match speed with size. Baba actually didn’t play that big a role because Mascaras’ beef was with Tsuruta. ****
8/22/79 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Mil Mascaras vs. Abdullah The Butcher 8:58. I fully expected this match to suck, but both wrestled about as well as they are capable of. They really played the big man vs. little man well, slowly boiling as Butcher played the foil to Mascaras’ nimble dancing early until he got pissed off, following Mil to the floor and tossing him into the ringside seats. Once Butcher hurt Mascaras enough to attack him when he was down, he ripped his sacred mask, causing Mascaras to lose it and no longer care about technical wrestling. The match was much more enjoyable than the rating might suggest, as my problem with it is the lack of length and screw job finish. **3/4
12/3/79 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, '79 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras vs. Wahoo McDaniel & Frank Hill 7:15. I’m not sure what the significance of this match was to warrant its inclusion, as it seemed a short little nothing match. I really enjoy seeing Wahoo in the AWA classics as he works hard and knows how to maximize the ability he has, delivering stiff simplistic matches. This more technical younger version doesn’t seem as good, but then again Mascaras & Caras aren’t turning your heads too often in this one either. **
1/28/86 Tokyo Taiikukan, IWA World Heavyweight Title: Mil Mascaras vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi 8:42. Though a short contest, Kobayashi makes the most of his time. Classic Kobayashi is countering and controlling for the purpose of setting his opponent up to invariably get all the glory. Kobayashi is much more aggressive here at asserting his own offense to get himself over as a heel, coming as close as ever to showing his opponent up. Kobayashi looks really impressive here, a step too fast for the Mexican legend and far more diverse. What we are seeing once again is that although Mascaras has a lot of good entertaining matches, he making very few of them, and his main contribution is good unique offense. ***1/4
#005
8/25/77: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mil Mascaras
2/23/84 AWA & NWA International Double Title: Nick Bockwinkel vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
#006
3/13/86: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Animal Hamiguchi
4/20/89: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu
9/1/90: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
5/1/1976 Champion Carnival: Giant Baba vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
5/2/1980 Champion Carnival: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Dick Slater
4/21/1993 Champion Carnival Final: Stan Hansen vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
4/16/1994 Champion Carnival Final: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Steve Williams 25:48
#011
10/21/92 Tokyo Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada
7/24/96 Tokyo Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi
#012
6/1/93 Tokyo Tag Title: Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa
6/3/94 Tokyo Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada
3/28/76 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, 2/3 Falls UN Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Rusher Kimura
3/23/77 Miami Beach Convention Hall 2/3 Falls UN Heavyweight Title Decision Match: Billy Robinson vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
Jumbo Tsuruta #4
11/4/85 Osaka Jo Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Riki Choshu 60:00
#023
6/9/95 Tokyo: Stan Hansen vs. Giant Kimala
6/9/95 Tokyo Tag Title: Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada
#024
10/31/98 Tokyo Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
#027
12/9/95 Tokyo Tag League Final: Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada
12/6/96 Tokyo Tag League Final: Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jun Akiyama & Mitsuharu Misawa
#028
12/7/79 Osaka Tag League: Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk vs. Dos Caras & Mil Mascaras
12/11/80 Tokyo Tag League: Abdullah the Butcher & Tor Kamata vs. Great Mephisto & The Sheik
11/22/87 Tokyo Tag League: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka
11/24/73 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Irish Mickey Doyle
8/31/83 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, NWA International Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Bruiser Brody
10/24/91 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Toshiaki Kawada
2/26/84 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, AWA World Heayvweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Nick Bockwinkle
2/27/92 Matsumoto-shi Sogo Taiikukan: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Kenta Kobashi
4/2/92 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan, Champion Carnival League Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
4/17/92 Aichi-ken Taiikukan, Champion Carnival Final: Stan Hansen vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
4/13/95 Miyagi-ken Sports Center, Champion Carnival League Match: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi
4/15/95 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Champion Carnival Final: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue
4/18/91 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue
6/12/98 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi
6/5/92 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue
5/24/96 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue
3/27/92 Champion Carnival League Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Terry Gordy
4/21/93 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan: Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Kenta Kobashi & Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
3/25/93 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Champion Carnival League Match: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Steve Williams
4/14/93 Nagoya-shi Taiikukan, Champion Carnival League Match: Terry Gordy vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
8/31/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Kenta Kobashi
4/18/91 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Kenta Kobashi vs. Dan Kroffat
2/28/93 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada 24:02
1/15/91 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue 11:41
5/21/94 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, World Tag Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 40:25
12/9/80 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, World's Strongest Tag League Match: Shoehi Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Tor Kamata
12/4/87 Fukuoka Kokusai Center, World's Strongest Tag League Match: Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu
2/14/79 Hawaii Neal Blaisdell Center, 2/3 Falls AWA World Heayvweight Title Match: Nick Bockwinkle vs. Jumbo Tsuruta