Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,
Pro Wrestling Love vol. 70:
The Best of New Japan Pro Wrestling 1985-1989
Objective: Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at http://gweproject.freeforums.net/) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.
Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.
Subject: This seventieth volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the beginning of the Top 12 countdown of the best pro wrestling matches to take place in New Japan Pro Wrestling between 1985-1989. New Japan was running on a thin roster in 1985. At the start of the year, Riki Choshu had departed for All Japan with a good chunk of talent and New Japan was still smarting from the Original UWF exodus of Tiger Mask, Maeda, Fujiwara and Takada. So it relied heavily on Inoki & Fujinami to take on gaijin, signing Bruiser Brody away from All Japan. By January 1986, things were looking up. Original UWF invaded and the UWF vs New Japan feud made for red hot matches and TV. In 1987, Masa Saito returned from Jail in the US and Riki Choshu came home bringing New Japan back to full strength. Saito vs Inoki would become the main feud of the year leading to infamous Island Death Match. By late 1987, Maeda & his crew were out because you guessed it he decided to shoot kick someone in this case it was Riki Choshu. It was one of the most bullshit, cowardly shoot kicks. Choshu was applying a Scorpion Deathlock with no way to protect himself and Maeda kicked him as a hard he could in the face. Maeda is a fucking loser. This led to UWF REBORN! This time Inoki had an ace up his sleeves. At the last show of the year in 1987, he had Masa Saito, his archrival, introduce the world to Big Van Vader. In 1988, they ran various permutations of Inoki, Choshu, Fujinami and Vader, which felt red hot and led to a lot of amazing rivals. In 1989, Inoki being Inoki decided to bring in an army of Soviet Shooters to wrestle. 1989 also introduced the world to Jushin Thunder Liger and thus began the very influential New Japan Juniors boom. I hope you enjoy this article as I truly enjoying watching all these matches from this time period to come up with this list. You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.
Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.
Honorable Mentions
Antonio Inoki vs Vader - NJPW 12/27/87
Antonio Inoki vs Vader - NJPW 2/7/88
Not the best matches, but significantly historic. If you have New Japan World, they have the entire angle that sets up Vader's debut it plays out over the course of three matches. It is one of the all time great debut angle and is a must see for any pro wrestling fan
Akira Maeda vs Tatsumi Fujinami - NJPW 6/12/86
There are many people that would say it is a slap in the face to put this as an honorable mention and that this is an easy Top 5 match. After listening to the Way of the Blade podcast, I do want to revisit this. I do not like Maeda the person and I thought he was a dreadfully dull pro wrestling. Something about watching him this summer seemed to click with me. All of sudden, he felt really over and like a big deal. I could be underrating this due to my hate of Akira Maeda.
Antonio Inoki vs Tatsumi Fujinami - NJPW 9/19/85
Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi vs Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura - NJPW 12/12/85 IWGP Tag Team Championship
1985 was a tough year for New Japan, it was really just Inoki & Fujinami holding down the fort while Choshu & the UWF boys were absent. I prefer the 1988 match between these two, but anyone who loves scientific, championship wrestling owes it to themselves to watch the 85 match. The tag team match to crown the inaugural IWGP Tag Team Champion was my second favorite match from 1985.
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda - NJPW 1/10/86
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda - NJPW 2/5/86
Antonio Inoki vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara - NJPW 2/6/86
Antonio Inoki vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara - NJPW 6/12/1986
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda - NJPW 8/29/87
For me the best Maeda singles matches are against Fujiwara which comes to the surprise of no one since Fujiwara is the Boss. The 1/10/86 one is my favorite, but they are all killer. Everyone seemed to love the 2/6 Inoki vs Fujiwara, but I didnt like it. At the time, I dont think I had come around on Inoki, but now I am the biggest Inoki booster. My turning point match with Inoki was his terrific mat classic against Jack Brisco in 1971. So I think I ought to rewatch the 2/6 match at some point.
Antonio Inoki vs Masa Saito - NJPW 3/26/87
Antonio Inoki vs Masa Saito - NJPW 4/27/87
Antonio Inoki vs Masa Saito - NJPW 6/12/87 Inaugural IWGP Champion
Inoki has two modes: Shoot-Style/MMA and big, freakshow carny angles. This falls into the latter. The first match makes no sense. It is a Vince Russo on Crack Wet Dream angle at the end with the Black Cat dressed as Michael Meyers & Jack Sparrow fucking up the angle and handcuffing the wrong dude. The April match is legitimately great but involves dismantling the ring and then the last match is historic because it crowned the Inaugural IWGP Champion. This all led to the Island Death Match which I have not seen, but really should.
Masa Saito vs Akira Maeda - NJPW 5/18/87 IWGP Tournament
This is another killer New Japan angle match as wily Saito realizes he has no chance against the shoot-style badass Maeda so he and his cronies jump Maeda before the bell and bloody him against the post. This rules.
Riki Choshu, Jushin Liger & Kengo Kimura vs Big Van Vader, Buzz Sawyer & Manny Fernandez - NJPW 8/3/89
Watch this for the Liger/Vader interactions. So bitchin'!
Vader vs Salman Hashimikov - NJPW 7/13/89
IWGP Champion Riki Choshu vs Vader - NJPW 8/10/89
Hashimikov was the shits in his first match against Vader, but somehow 1.5 months later, he figured out pro wrestling and got himself super over. Terrific, hoss stud match. Choshu had defeated Hashimikov for the title and then defended it against Vader here in another killer, meaty , hardhitting hoss battle.
Antonio Inoki vs Riki Choshu - NJPW 7/22/88
Antonio Inoki vs Riki Choshu - NJPW 10/19/88
Antonio Inoki vs Riki Choshu - NJPW 2/22/89
Excellent series of matches between the two biggest rockstars in New Japan ever. The charisma levels were off the charts. I highly recommend the 7/22 match. Crazy finish!
IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Jushin Liger vs Naoki Sano - NJPW 7/13/89
Liger took the Junior Heavyweight game to a whole new level and it all started in 1989 with his feud against Naoki Sano. Check out the July match before you check out the August super-classic.
Tatsumi Fujinami vs Kengo Kimura - NJPW 12/10/86
Tatsumi Fujinami vs Kengo Kimura - NJPW 01/14/87 SGR: Umanosuke Ueda
Fujinami & Kimura were long time tag partners. Kimura wanted to step out of Fujinami's shadow but got schooled in a terrific match in December of 1986. There is one more from this series that made the Top 12, but this is a great trilogy.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Nobuhiko Takada vs Shiro Koshinaka - NJPW 8/5/86
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Nobuhiko Takada vs Shiro Koshinaka - NJPW 9/19/86
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Shiro Koshinaka vs Nobuhiko Takada - NJPW 2/5/87
The first major Junior Heavyweight feud, I didnt expect much, but I actually really enjoyed all three match. I thought Koshinaka was a great Takada opponent. Takada really came off as a lightning foot assassin which is not always true. The finger manipulation in the last bout sealed the deal for me and was my favorite match of the series and strong contender for my Top 12, would have made a Top 15 easy.
Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada vs Shiro Koshinaka & Keiji Mutoh - NJPW 3/20/87 Vacant IWGP Tag Team Titles
IWGP Tag Team Champion Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kazuo Yamazaki - NJPW 5/25/87
Maeda & Takada were a killer tag team having awesome matches with fellow shoot-stylists Fujiwara & Yamazaki and pure pro-style guys like Koshinaka & BABY MUTOH~!
Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, Umansosuke Ueda, Kantaro Hoshino vs Akira Maeda, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Osamu Kido, Nobuhiko Takada & Kazuo Yamazaki - 3/26/86 Elimination Match
Tatsumi Fujinami, Nobuhiko Takada, Riki Choshu, Akira Maeda & Super Strong Machine vs. Antonio Inoki, Dick Murdoch, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Masa Saito & Seiji Sakaguchi - NJPW 9/17/87 Elimination Match
Antonio Inoki, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Seiji Sakaguchi, Kantaro Hoshino & Keiji Mutoh vs Tatsumi Fujinami, Riki Coshu, Akira Maeda, Kengo Kimura, Super Strong Machine - NJPW 8/19/87 Elimination Match
Tatsumi Fujinami, Keiichi Yamada, Shiro Koshinaka, Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura vs. Hiro Saito, Kuniaki Kobayashi, Super Strong Machine, Masa Saito & Riki Choshu - NJPW 9/12/88 Elimination Match
New Japan is known for their elimination matches. They finished really high in DVDVR polls. I enjoyed them for what they were. I just prefer singles and traditional tag team matches, but this is a great sampling platter of all the crazy awesome matchups New Japan offered.
Antonio Inoki vs Dick Murdoch - NJPW 6/19/86
Captain Redneck was a staple in New Japan when most gaijin wrestled for All Japan, he was strongly tied to New Japan and this was my favorite Murdoch in New Japan match
Shinya Hashimoto vs Victor Zangiev - NJPW 4/24/89
The big Japan vs USA vs USSR tournament that sold out the Tokyo Dome in 1989 was a smash hit at the box office and critical acclaim and this one of the best early round matches. Contender for one of the best sub-10 minute matches of all time. Every wrestling fan needs to see this.
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tatsumi Fujinami vs Vader - NJPW 6/26/88
Big Van Vader vs Tatsumi Fujinami - NJPW 4/24/89
My last cut was Vader vs Fujinami from the Japan vs USA vs USSR tournament at the Dome on 4/24/89. Ever since the climatic match with Inoki, Vader's Achilles heel was his bad arm. Could Fujinami take advantage and advance to the finals or would the Mastodon prevail?
Top 12 New Japan Pro Wrestling Matches 1985-1989
#12. Vader vs Riki Choshu - NJPW 6/27/1989
Vader had dropped the IWGP Championship to Salman Hashimikov who had not yet dropped it to Choshu so this is NOT for the IWGP Championship. Really awesome bloody brawl here that lives up to the hype of VADER VS CHOSHU! Vader dominates early doing Vader stuff and also busting out a dropkick. Choshu comes back with piss & vinegar pretty much hurls right everything back at Vader including a dropkick and a monster lariat. He sends the Mastodon into the railing, tears the mask and slams him into the post triggering lots of blood of course. Choshu then goes to town with chair shots. Everything I hoped for! Vader is so great as a wounded bear throwing those wild fists. Choshu goes for the Scorpion Deathlock but Vader is just too big. Choshu goes for the pin, but nothing doing. Vader hits him low, suspiciously low. Vader intimidates the ref and now we get classic Vader using his unique combination of girth and athleticism to control the match. He eats knees on a splash and here comes Choshu. Vader eats a Saito Suplex, a bodyslam and a monster truck lariat. Vader wisely powders. Choshu tries to stay on him, but Vader catches him on a plancha and THROWS HIM DOWN! Wow Choshu is not a small man. Vader hits his classic Vader body attack off the apron to win the match via countout. Great way to build to a rematch which would be a title match in August. Vader looked awesome in this.1989 was his breakout year. He does his best Stan Hansen intimidating the crowd as a crazed, bloody monster overturning chairs. Choshu is a great Vader opponent because he looks like an asskicker that can hang with Vader and not many can play that part. Just one of those great asskicking match that never drags and never a dull moment.
#11. IWGP Tag Team Champions Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs
Super Strong Machine & George Takano - NJPW 3/16/89
Even with a very high finish (13/175) in the NJPW 80s Project this is not a match you hear about a lot. Choshu & Saito are two of the greatest pro wrestlers who ever lived. Top native heels battling the likes of Inoki & Fujinami throughout the 80s. While to be frank, Supet Strong Machine (Junji Hirata) & George Takano (fka Cobra) looks like the greatest 80s New Japan jobber team. I don't know enough about 80s NJPW booking but there definitely seems to be a large gap in stardom here.
But what Takano & SSM lack in star power they make up for in piss & vinegar. The beginning of the match is to establish pecking order. Choshu & Saito beat Takano like a government mule, slams, strikes and sleepers. Takano drives Choshu into SSM to get the tag. SSM can hold his own with the heel superteam taking both Choshu & Saito on the mat and coming out ok. Saito frustrated starts to smack him. SSM powers up and holds him for a top rope spinning heel kick from Takano. We come to find out Takano only has one offensive move hurling his body at his opponent in the form of spinning heel kick. Takano is fired the fuck up. He is ready to prove himself. Saito Suplex quells the rally. They expose the turnbuckle and bust Takano wide open gushing blood. CHOSHU LARIAT! Saito stiffs the fuck out of him. Takano is a bloody mess. Choshu Scorpion Deathlock...SSM LARIAT! Akira bar the door It is breaking down in Yokohama!
TAKANO DIVES FOR THE TAG! SSM is a house on fire lariats and dropkicks! Choshu takes a flat back to avoid the lariat and hits how own BIG Lariat. Windup Lariat...1-2...Bloody Takano dives for save. Saito Suplex on SSM for two. The heels are pouring it on. SSM makes Tag...SPINNING HEEL KICK! Go George Go! Another one! DROPKICKS! PLANCHA! Nobody is home! Lol! That was a great jobber moment. Saito beats the shit out of him. SSM comes flying in your screen onto Saito. The count is on. SSM dives from the top rope onto Saito CHAOS! Takano back in he beats the count! The jobbers win WAIT THEY WON THE TITLES!!!
This one of the great badass heels vs lead face/plucky underdog matches. Takano takes a lickin but keeps on tickin. Bloody he is still fired up at the end of the match! A wild finish! Great upset victory!
#10. Antonio Inoki vs Brusier Brody - NJPW 4/18/85
New Japan Match of the Year, 1985
Call me crazy, but I really liked this match. I am kinda annoyed with myself because I had to drive my airport and do some work (who fucking works? LAME!) immediately after watching this. So I am going off two hour memories so I will try to recall as best I can.
The crowd is molten lava in this match. THUNDEROUS INOKI CHANTS! Excellent Clash of the Titans match built around Hope Spots and Cutoffs. It was so, so well done. Brody's propensity not to bump enhances this match. He does one thing that bugs the shit out of me in this match but I will mention that later. Inoki has a bandage around his his left bicep. HUGE FIGHT FEEL! Inoki gets an early dropkick, Brody shrugs it off and bars the arm. Ok, Brody does two things that bug the shit out of me. One was these loose arm bars and just generally lackluster arm work. Inoki was so amazing at running hope spots out of these armbars. He shoulder tackles Brody at one point who catches him right into the slam and GETS UP HUGE FOR A MASSIVE LEGDROP! It is all about working in & out of the weak arm bar doing cool hope spot-cutoffs. Inoki trying with all his might to get an armbreaker over his shoulder got massive heat. This was such a great underneath performance. Brody was just feeding Inoki constantly letting him tee off, but always cutting off the rally at the most dramatic times. That was about the first 15 minutes. Then they started throwing huge bombs and Inoki started working the leg hard. This is where I am most annoyed I didnt write my review immediately after is it is now kinda jumbled in my head. Brody ended up blading his fucking knee in the midst of all this, which was so badass.
I guess i can talk about what pissed me off about Brody. I didnt mind him sandbagging Inoki on a Butterfly suplex. Shit shouldnt always hit clean and Brody is a monster with some life left in him. It is more his inability to convey true horror movie villain invincible charisma. The best excample of this is he eats a suplex from Inoki after he had suplexed Inoki. Brody did not no-sell it, but he didnt sell it either. Brody stayed down for two so it was not a total fuck you. It was like he was just not selling, which bugs me a lot more than no-selling. If he no-sold like Undertaker then that would have popped the crowd and Inoki would have grown wide, what do I need to do to beat this superhuman. If he sold, the crowd would have went wild because Inoki finally hurt the Monster. This weird not selling thing he does is my issue. He is oddly not charismatic. I think of early 80s Snuka like 1981-1982 that was a horror movie villain that stalked his prey. Brody actually is very smart about bumping and feeding. He is just terrible at "the how" of pro wrestling.
Inoki really does a number on the knee. They work some great highspots down the stretch with big bombs. There is a ton of countout teases and ref bumps. Lots of big Bombs Away knee drops and great Clash of the Titans wrestling. It ends up being a double countout with Brody piledriving Inoki and Inoki coming back and quite literally kicking Brody out of the arena.
As a first match, in the series I loved this. Brody's selling choices leave a lot to be desired. After being disappointed by the big stadium clash between Roman and Cena, I really enjoyed this. Specifically, the hope spot/cutoff dynamic which gave the match a ton of energy! I recommend checking this one out!
#9. Tatsumi Fujinami vs Kengo Kimura - NJPW 1/2/87
Kimura punches Fujinami right in the face before the bell. Kimura goes for the cover, but the ref wont count because the match technically did not start. I did not expect this match at all. Fujinami & Kimura were long time tag partners and the current IWGP tag team champions. They were the cornerstones of the pure, technical strong style of 80s New Japan. I expected a clean, scientific match. Kimura proves that this attitude is no fluke as he continues to punch Fujinami and not give clean breaks. I wonder if it is out of respect for his long time tag partner that Fujinami tries to wrestle this match straight for so long. He is doing armdrags and trying leverage based counters against an opponent that is using a closed fist and chokes. I know I said Fujinami had the best Scorpion Deathlock but Kimura busts one out that I think is really the best I have ever seen. Fujinami is powdering but he is still coming back locking up and looking for leverage-based wrestling. Then all of sudden CRACK! There was really no straw that broke the camel's back. Fujinami just EXPLODES! Hurls him out of the ring and sends him right into the post busting Kimura wide open. Fujinami is great working as an asskicker, working the cut over. However, he is not really going for the kill. Kimura hits a back drop driver, but Fujinami catches his running knee (which I think is Kimura's finish) and turns it into a deep Scorpion Deathlock. New Japan loves the Scorpion Deathlock. Fujinami wants the flying the kneedrop after Kimura makes the ropes but he crashes and burns. High risk can come high reward or it can be your undoing. It was the latter here as Kimura sends him outside for payback. He whips Fujinami hard into the railing and then gets a chair. I love when chairs just randomly get added in puroresu. He jabs the chair into Fujinami and the PILEDRIVES him on top of the chair. Nice! Kimura hits that running knee he wanted earlier to win the match in a huge upset victory. Talk about flipping expectations upside down. Great heated brawl that really builds. The beginning of the match with Kimura being a dick and trying to step out of Fujinami's shadow all the while Fujinami trying his best to be respectful really set up the second half so well. Once Fujinami unleashes his fury, this becomes a must see match.
#8. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tatsumi Fujinami vs Riki Choshu - NJPW 5/27/88
How the fuck have I never seen these two wrestle? I know, I know I should have my pro wrestling fan license revoke! Better late than never! This was fucking awesome! If every match is as good or better than this then I am in for a treat. Background on the match, Inoki vacate the title due to injury (work or shoot? @KinchStalker?). Fujinami defeated Vader to win the vacant title. That match didnt make the DVDVR set nor is it on NJPW World. I will try to track it down separately. This is for the IWGP Championship.
Choshu has vaulted into my top ten maybe even top five favorite wrestlers at the moment. He has everything I love...badass power moves, oodles of charisma and most importantly everything matters in a Choshu match. He is the king of weaving narrative, escalation and consequences. I have found Fujinami to be amazing at execution and technique, but he doesnt have the personality to take over a match. This is my favorite match I have seen of him in a long time because Choshu builds a match where Fujinami can really shine. At the beginning of the match is that Fujinami always has an answer for anything Choshu attempts. Running shouldertackle, eat a dropkick, Riki. Trying for a Saito Suplex, watch that textbook grapevine block and into a double wristlock takedown. God the technique has me going from six to Midnght. Oh you want a Scorpion Deathlock, Choshu let me punch you a bunch and slap on really painful Figure-4. Sublime opening sequence. Fujinami hits a Robinson backbreaker in what seems out of character for Fujinami, he exposes the turnbuckle bashes Choshu head into it and takes Choshu on a tour of all the hard metal objects he can find until he busts him open. I can only conjecture that the reason for Fujinami getting so violent is because of previous transgressions by Choshu back in their original 83-84 feud. Back in the ring, Choshu nails a last ditch Saito Suplex! He needed that desperately. He nails another one. Then he gets a massive lucky break, Fujinami hurts his knee running the ropes. I thought at first it was Fujinami playing possum but Choshu immediately stomps the knee. Fujinami's selling rivals that of Savage or Kawada which is the highest praise I can give a man. Fujinami seeks refuge on the outside. He eats a Lariat off the apron. Fujinami ends having his buddies take off his boot and wrestles the rest of the match in a sock. He ends up in a Scorpion Deathlock but mans up and makes it to the ropes. Fujinami gets one last ditch hope spot a Dragon Sleeper, but Choshu is too close to the ropes. Fujinami hobbled, collapses in his corner. The referee has to call it. Choshu is pissed. I cant speak Japanese so I dont understand the fallout. Cagematch has it listed as a No Contest. It seems like the match should be awarded to Choshu via TKO. The one thing that is certain is that IWGP Heavyweight Championship is vacated again and there will be a rematch in June between Fujinami and Choshu to determine the new IWGP Champion.
Terrific match in every regard, offense, selling, narrative, psychology, character/charisma, heat/hatred. God, I am so looking forward to devouring so much Fujinami vs Choshu!
#7. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tatsumi Fujinami vs Antonio Inoki - NJPW 8/8/88
Inoki defeated Vader for the right to challenge Fujinami for the IWGP Champion. Inoki was 45 years old and I think he knew this was it. He wanted to have one last 60 minute draws in true Championship style fashion against his best student, the one that most emulated traditional pro wrestling I have only watched twenty minutes thus far but this is a significant improvement over their 1985 match. The exchanges dont just have struggle within the exchange but there is an overarching struggle to win the match. The 1985 match lacked progression and felt like an exhibition of grappling. This feels like a match where each man wants to win. Also, I thought Fujinami was more offensive-minded in this match.
First twenty minutes: Tremendous grappling here as expected. Everything drips with struggle quite literally as they are drenched in sweat quickly. This is a Championship match and it is wrestled as such. This is one of those rare instances that the defending champion has something to prove to the challenger. For Inoki, this is one last chance to prove he is the Greatest. He only has to be as great as he once was once. The early stages are chippy as expected even throwing in some strikes. Fujinami goes for a snapmare how many times have we seen that only for Inoki to RIP him down via horse collar. That was terrific, a microcosm of this match. The ref has to slap Fujinami awake. Fujinami is definitely alert as he blocks the Enziguiri and converts it into a Giant Swing and then into a Figure-4. The Figure-4 in the 1985 was interminable and the death of the match. Here the move seems like the most epic Figure-4 of all time. Amazing struggle by both men. The sequences focus on arms. Whether it is Fujinami's straight armbar or Inoki leg-grapevine crucifix these were intense struggles and counters to each other. They even threw in some highspots. Inoki misses another Enziguiri and Fujinami nails a dropkick. Inoki shows the old school wrestler way to counter anything is to bridge as he bridges out of a chinlock. Fujinami Figure-4s the head which is a stock Inoki spot to set up the Inoki Indian Deathlock. He snaps it back multiple times and works a Bow & Arrow. He doesnt bridge back into a chinlock which I surprised me. He goes back to the Bow & Arrow but Fujinami has it scouted and applies a Dragon Sleeper. Sublime grappling with so much struggle and intensity. Champion vs Challenger. Intergenerational Match. Big improvement over 1985. On track to be one of the best hour broadways. Let see what happens...
Second Twenty Minutes: They are really progressing and fleshing out the narrative which is what needed to happen in these twenty minutes as I thought that was the one weakness of the first twenty minutes. The older Inoki becomes more and more reliant on big bombs as he is being consistently out-wrestled. Big Bombs gets it over early and he expends less energy. Fujinami has energy for days. Fujinami counters into a choke early in this segment. Inoki uses the 'ol Volk Han standby of crossing Fujinami's ankles. Fujinami looks in trouble and Inoki moves into a deep toehold. They leads to an intense criss cross sequence and a flash Fujinami roll-up for two which gets nuclear heat. Thats my one knock in this match some of the connective tissue is missing. The deep toehold into a hot criss-cross seemed out of place. Inoki feigns the over the shoulder armbreaker to nail German with bridge and then a Rolling Koppou Kick. Fujinami has to powder. Fujinami needs something and he crowds in the corner and throws a barrage of headbutts, Robinson Backbreaker and back to the Figure-4. They roll all the way to the outside intertwined to put over the hold and their wills. Fujinami sticks with the leg with some strikes, a Scorpion Deathlock and then a Indian Deathlock. Inoki breaks free and throws a missile dropkick which sells his desperation. Inoki is favoring his leg he avoids two Fujinami dropkicks, trying to convert the second into a Boston Crab. To further this desperation angle, Inoki chokes Fujinami illegally on the apron which is illegal due to it being a choke and the position. Inoki applies his Octopus Stretch and the crowd is going wild. That kid is losing his shit and I am here for it! Fujinami break and hits a Belly to Back Suplex. Fujinami steals the move but he cant hold it and Inoki seamlessly transitions to it but it is too difficult a move to maintain. Inoki is relying on bigger and bigger bombs to try to win. Fujinami has been outwrestling him and has succeeded in injuring Inoki's leg. It is anyone's ballgame in the last 20 minutes...
Last Twenty Minutes: Inoki just takes over and kicks ass. I like Fujinami and think he is a great worker/mechanic, but unlike the true GOATs he doesnt have the personality/charisma/presence that just takes over a match make that match his. Inoki does. Inoki slaps the shit out of him. Fujinami's sell to no-sell transition is great. Two big Inoki blows to the chest and then the Enizguiri finally fells Fujinami again a terrific no-sell to sell transition. Loved Inoki's Kneeling Torture Rack only to demolish him with the Saito Suplex. I didnt love Fujinami coming right back with a Piledriver. There was a lot of weird things like that throughout the match that keep from being one of the best one hour Broadways I have ever seen. Inoki hits the Bombs Away Kneedrops one of his many staples. The second one is met by Fujinami they struggle over a Superplex that never materializes. Around the 50 minute mark, they have an insane grappling scramble that would have been wild in the first five minutes, at the fiftieth minute their cardio is insane! As previous posters have mentioned the match loses a little sumthin sumthin here as for the first time it becomes obvious that they are going the distance and the crowd loses a bit. There are still great moments here and there. Fujinami is busting out Dragon Sleepers and trying for the Dragon Suplex. Inoki is still trying to choke Fujinami out and win via the Octopus Stretch. They end up entangled in Octopus Stretch and Abdominal Stretch at the end. Switching in and out. Inoki drops down into a pinning combination for two and time expires.
I love & respect all the work the DVDVR crew did in putting together the 80s sets but this has to be the biggest oversight/miss of that project as this match was fantastic and historic. This was Inoki's farewell to classic Championship style pro wrestling. He threw everything he had into this match. You could tell how much this match meant to him. Fujinami gave as good as he got, but this as the Inoki show. Both men are carried out on the shoulders of their peers a sign of respect for both warriors. A Broadway every wrestling fan should watch once.
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