Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (6/24/88) - 6
Another "FUCK YEAH!" match. Choshu has gotten so accustomed to Fuj's moves that he think he has his number, but the ever-clever Fuj has something up his sleeve when he wins this match with a roll-up. Every hold was cinched in so tight it was damn near impossible to see how both men were breathing. After seeing about four or five Chosh vs. Fuj matches, I'm convinced that you could watch them have a Sake drinking contest and it'd be awesome.
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Vader (6/26/88) - 5
For such a big guy, Vader is such a great bumper to the outside -- but you know this already. He also had good vocal selling. Fuj was able to get the big man off his feet a couple of times, but had to have some help by Vader on a scoop slam. Still was a fun match with a couple good nearfalls. Vader threw a tantrum in the stands, throwing chairs. That's always fun to watch.
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Don Nakaya Nielsen (7/29/88)- 3
A boxing match. No, Piper and Mr. T are not involved. This match was weird -- something I'm not accustomed to stating when Fujiwara is involved. Nielson comes out in his goofy boxing gloves (don't get me wrong, I like boxing, but this is PRO WRESTLING!) and lands maybe 50% of his attempted shots. Fujiwara looked so out of place in a match that goes 5 rounds. He got a good size cut on his forehead, though.
EXTRA: Owen Hart vs. Keiichi Yamada (6/10/88) JIP - 5
Two of my faves going at it~! The match is joined with Hart in a leg lock by Yamada (boo JIP), Yamada hit a sick dive on Hart -- I actually made an audible "OH!" when it happened. I just love this style of wrestling. For a match that was JIP, this was nice.
EXTRA: Owen Hart vs. Shiro Koshinaka (6/24/88) - 5
Owen didn't go over in this match, but he looked awesome. In my opinion, Owen Hart was the definition of pro wrestling as an art. There was a point in the match where Kosh dropped Owen flat on his head... with a sidewalk slam! Yeah, imagine that visual. That garnered another "OH!" from me. Fun little match that went about 10 mins.
1 comment:
loved the owen comment.....enjoyed reading about this era of new japan i haven't seen much of. thanks for going outside the proverbial box and reviewing this material.
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