Some 1980s New Japan

Super Strong Machine vs Akira Maeda, NJPW 8/20/1987

Pretty badass match. Machine is awesome here, facing an overwhelming challenge but trucking on and beating the shit out of Maeda with his straight forward pro-wrestling offense. Watching them wrestle here it’s hard not to think this late 80s New Japan/UWF influenced style is the best stuff ever. There’s intricate grappling, and a general caginess that makes everything really interesting. Great selling from Machine early on as he was quickly limping from Maedas attacks while Maeda was still strutting around confidently. Maeda would constantly get the better of Machine on the mat, and start to destroy him with kicks when standing, so watching Machine close the distance and trying to put Maeda through the wringer with punches, nasty short kicks and headbutts was pretty great. Maeda seemed to be holding back a little early on but once Machine really gets him fired up Maeda would just try to tear through him with spin kicks. Couple great moments including a few awesome counters down the stretch including Machine rolling out of an armbar and locking in a hammerlock to hit the Evil Windmill Suplex which totally ruled, and then we get Machine trying to gut it through his destroyed shoulder. Just really really good pro wrestling.

Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura, NJPW 12/6/1985

30 minutes of great old school pro wrestling. This kind of chess match NJPW style which is not quite shootstyle but done with the same sense of seriousness and spontanity may just be my favourite style of wrestling. What they do is fairly basic without much flash save for one or two moves, but they do it all with such spirit and my god do all these guys make basic stuff look awesome. It never feels like they are just going through the motions. There’s also some cool creativity like Kimura coming down on Inoki with a flying stomp while Fujinami had him in a sharpshooter because why not, the goal is to crush them. First half was pretty much an exercise in all 4 guys always doing something interesting and keeping the crowd engaged. Did I mention the crowd is white hot for this and constantly catching fire just for Inoki or whoever tagging in? It’s the 80s baby. Sakaguchi is always really cool to watch as he comes across as such a monster. There’s a bit of legwork on him that feels slightly wasted but I really liked how he resisted the figure 4. Second half was peppered with a few epic standoffs including Inoki throwing punches at Fujinami and Fujinami spiking him with an awesome suplex, the crowd rallying big behind Kimura while Inoki kept locking in Octopus Holds with the precision of an expert grappler. Kimuras leg lariat may be my favourite piece of offense ever. Pretty great ebb and flow here, anytime it would seemingly die down they would bring the sparks back up with something big like Sakaguchi absolutely launching a guy with a backdrop suplex, Inoki hitting out of nowhere enzuigiris or trying to pry guys apart with Octopus Holds. The last few seconds was right on the money with Fujinami going for the kill with the Dragon Suplex on Inoki and Inoki resisting with all his might. Simply but highly effective pro wrestling.

Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura, NJPW 12/12/1985

More great wrestling very much in the same vein as the above match, and to think they did both these in less than a week is frankly ridiculous. Lots of more great exchanges here, exhilarating pace, still no-nonsense while constantly turning up the heat. I thought it was not *quite* the house of fire that the earlier match was but it’s not much less. However, this one does have an actual finish that is built to in pretty great fashion as Inoki gets caught in a figure 4 and when Sakaguchi tags in his bad leg gave out and Fujinami and Kimura, hungry to get the win did a number on his leg. You rarely see 2 guys working as a team to just destroy a guys leg like this. When Inoki tagged back in he seemed to be limping too and was desperately throwing punches. Really good build to a finish without just going through a bunch of nearfalls. All in all, there’s plenty of really good action to enjoy here and you want to see it just for the conclusion.

Keiichi Yamada vs. Tatsutoshi Goto, NJPW 3/26/1986

You would associate NJPW young lions stuff with black trunks and ultra simplistic wrestling, but they were both wearing bright blue tights here and doing lots of different stuff. With Goto its more of a fun oddity to see him fresh faced and busting out things like a crossbody or chest kicks – I would have thought he was simply born with a mustache and a shit stirrer. As we all know, young Yamada is yoked as hell and bristling with energy. The matwork here they do is really nice – really torturing each other with basic things like a facelock and moving through their holds swiftly without losing the competitive edge. Goto in control is a bit drawn out, though he does crown Yamada with an absolutely harrowing piledriver. He would also do things like hit a powerslam straight into an armbar because that was how things were done in 80s New Japan. You could tell Yamada was a boiling hot talent and the crowd was already buzzing for him even though he hadn’t quite hit his stride yet. It’s fascinating to think he might have joined UWF and become a peer of Tamura or something. His matwork was great obviously, and he also busted out a ridiculously backflipping flying chop. Really liked how Yamada seemingly couldn’t hit a comeback, then survived Gotos (already beautifully deadly) backdrop and was able to score a flash pin for the win. Is it a surprise the top of the cards of 80s New Japan was some of the most fierce and best stuff ever when even the lower card stuff was this good and competitive?

Some more 80s AJW

 

Jaguar Yokota vs Devil Masami, AJW 9/7/1983

An amazing piece of new footage for the history, but also simply because it’s another Jaguar Yokota in her physical prime big match dropping on us out of nowhere. Watching this, it’s very much an early 80s AJW styled match. Serious, straight forward pro wrestling from before the Crush Gals melodrama took over. Starts with some fast paced moves, then they settle into hold-based groundwork before building up to another explosion. As much praise as Jaguar gets for being ahead of her time and insanely athletic, I always end up most impressed by the intensity of her basic wrestling. Just the fact she makes something like a schoolboy rollup look like an insanely forceful takedown or how she would pull back her opponent in the indian deathlock from the ropes. They work some momentum shifts that feel to happen at the drop of a coin but they still feel meaningful, loved how Jaguar immediately grounded the match again. Devil is as solid as you know her to be, hadn’t quite come into her character yet but her wrestling was credible and she made a fun powerful counterpart for the lighter Jaguar. However the big turning point was when Masami decided to hoist Yokota up and drop her straight on her head with probably the sickest ganso bomb I’ve ever seen. Yokota was able to slip out and hit Masami with a desperation suplex, and both of them looked like they had taken significant damage at that point. Something I miss about old school wrestling – the selling is not hyper-theatralic as it is now, but you can still tell damage was done and both of them were fighting for survival. This culminates in a brief but very memorable finishing run with some insanely intense pin attempts. Fairly modest compared to other AJW big matches, but memorable because they kept it intense and to the point. Jaguar looked liked a wrestling godess as she always does and the earnest challenger Devil Masami was really cool. A hell of a match to randomly drop on all of us.

Kazue Nagahori vs Yumi Ogura, AJW 3/20/1986

Another stellar match in the underrated careers of these two. This was both of them going hard for 30 minutes, with hardly a moment that dragged. No restholds or tentativeness, both of them go at it immediately, throwing explosive kicks and fighting like mad on the mat. Their kicks weren’t quite UWF-like yet either, so that made this pretty unique as you had the two of them spin kicking each other in the ribs and sometimes in the face. There is not a ton of overarching psychology, but there are some neat emphasized moves like the mirrored figure 4s throughout the match. Tons of cool moments of great struggle and some things that felt like a big deal. Heck, like 25 minutes into this match they would still scramble out of pinfalls before a 1 count like it was an amateur wrestling match, and that rules. Great last couple minutes with the repeated crashing and burning and both of them throwing the kitchen sink trying to win. Really unique to see a pure wrestling match in joshi like this and this ended up going down as one of the best bouts of the 80s.

Grizzly Iwamoto & Bison Kimura vs Akira Hokuto & Suzuka Minami, AJW 6/18/1989

Man checking out old AJW can be jarring. This was full-on in your face intensity, plenty of scrappy WAR-esque exchanges that would probably cause an uproar if they happened on US TV, borderline reckless brutality on display with girls slapping the shit out of each other, basic stomps and elbows executed with a real meanness, dropkicks landing flush in peoples face. First fall is pretty much an asskicking tour de force from Iwamoto and Kimura, who are in their badass military get up and there to stomp ass, with a few unpredictable babyface spots from Hokuto and Minami thrown in to keep things exciting. Minami getting punched in the face when she tried to go for a basic cover and then getting crushed by stomps and knee drops was another one of those basic but really violent moments that you seemingly don’t get in modern wrestling anymore. Minami and Hokuto won’t set your world on fire as a babyface team here, Hokuto is not yet Hokuto and Minami doesn’t have much personality at this point either, but they are energetic. Loved how Kimura and Iwamoto said ‘fuck this’ after the babyface started getting in some offense so they just grabbed some chairs and nightsticks to beat the shit out of their opponents some more. It does get a little meandering (30 minutes is long for an all out brawl) and there are some fuckups, though there is some more harrowing uncalled for kendo stick violence in the 3^rd fall, also blood because of course there’s blood. You really owe it to yourself to check this out just to see Iwamoto and Kimura kick ass.

Chigusa Nagayo vs Yukari Omori, AJW 1/5/1988

Insanely heated, bloody, clash of the titans match in Korakuen Hall, what else do I need to say to sell you on this? This was pretty fucking great, like the female version of Hash vs Tenryu but with more blood and bigger suplexes. I quite like Yukari Omori – she’s big, has a kind of understated charisma without trying to be dramatic, and her brain chops are a pretty fun different kind of weapon for joshi. She comes across like a force of nature, and Chigusa really feels that. Chiggy ends up getting chopped in the face which causes her to bounce out of the ring and bleed, which is awesomely old school. Chigusa hitting a desperation kick to Omoris face and then smashing her into a table was one hell of a comeback. After that both of them are gushing blood and it’s all desperation face kicks and shootstyle uncooperativeness. Omori is a great asskicker, and of course Nagayo is insanely good when its time to bleed and sell like you’re about to pass out. The finish was kind of beautiful as they are in kind of a stalemate and go into a test of strength – like they had done at the beginning of the match – only for Chigusa to hit a dirty headbutt and an angry Omori firing back with a swatting lariat. Kind of the pinnacle of Chigusas style, car crash violence, blood, drama, tinges of shootstyle, this may be one of my favourite 80s AJW matches I’ve seen because it doesn’t meander or waste your time. Just to the point, gory and awesome.

80s AJW

 Yumi Ogura & Kazue Nagahori vs Mika Komatsu & Kanako Nagatomo AJW 6/21/1986

Crazy match that was over 30 minutes of straight wrestling with a ton of intensity and hard-fought chew-em-up style matwork. Really unique from a modern perspective. The match followed a simple formula, they would alternate between matwork and explosive standing moves, but the intensity at which they fought in and out of the holds was great. In terms of moves there was nothing mindblowing happening, but its 80s AJW so it feels somewhat familiar but different, and the real selling point is the struggle. They sold the match like a sporting contest that would occasionally come to a boiling point. The pinfall attempts and the struggle over getting out of them was fantastic – really nailed that amateur wrestling-like feeling of when a guy feels he is about to get rolled in his shoulders and gets into that “oh shit” zone to desperately scramble out. I really liked Kanako Nagatomo here, she hit these cool Zidane headbutts and knew how to work some mean indian deathlocks. Ogura & Nagahori would throw these wild kicks and solebutts, often out of nowhere, and they weren’t afraid to get chippy. At one point you had Komatsu and I think Nagahori going into this almost Lawler/Mantell style strike exchange on their knees with both of them throwing open hands. So the chippiness was great, the matwork was great, and the flying moves were cool (at one point one of them hit this awesome jumping victory roll that looked like the most beautiful flash pin ever). The match didn’t have a ton of limb selling or build to the transitions but they sold the whole thing as an intense sporting contest where either team could take the lead at the drop of a hat, so I didn’t care. Even something like a takedown into an ankle lock felt important, and the way they would elaborate on that really drives the point home. Matches like this that eschew traditional US style ring psychology but still work in their own way are really interesting to me. Really unique, great match that everyone should give a shot.

Chigusa Nagayo vs Lioness Asuka, AJW 6/13/1987

The match begins with a jump start. In the first minute, there's a suplex on the floor and then Lioness misses a crazy dive. Nagayo goes for the kill locking in a sharpshooter, but Lioness scrambles for the ropes. Lioness comes back with a shootstyle armbar and attacking Chigusas arm for a bit. Is Lioness gonna work the arm? No, they reset to a neutral position, working a test of strength before Chigusa takes over. After that the match becomes more focussed on grinding matwork with occasional outbursts of Lioness' kicks, with Chigusa always grinding her back down with headlocks etc. A flick is switched when a tombstone attempt is reversed and they work a 50/50 nearfall run with a lot of big moves. Lioness giant swing as a nearfall is a really cool spot, Chigusas much less energetic version less so.

A lot of cool wrestling on display here with both of them hitting some cool fireman carrys and suplexes. There was considerable struggle and a palpable sense of "grind her down". The UWF influence was really cool. Certainly made me wish this style would come back and be brought to its completion. This match felt a little random to be truely gripping for me but it was cool to watch.

Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka vs Lola Gonzalez & La Galactica, AJW 10/6/1984

Another really wild match from this era. What makes this stand out is the rudo tour de force from Gonzalez and Galactica. They both did a great job both bumping for their opponents and beating the hell out of them. Gonzalez especially stood out in a major way and I was surprised this match isn't more famous considering she doesn't exactly have a ton of matches on tape. Galactica was a bit more subdued but she got some good licks in. At one point she had this really awesome sugar hold on Chigusa tearing up her leg. Also, Dump Matsumoto and her gang is at ringside and she interfers liberally in this match, at one point jumping straight in the ring to beat on people with an iron rod. If you don't like liberal interferences you'll probably dislike this but I didn't mind it because the action still stayed in the ring and it was all part of the beatdown. In a way mid 80s AJW feels like this corrupt lawless land where all the referees are crooked and you might get stabbed by Dump Matsumoto at the drop of a hat. Of course the Crush Gals are generating molten heat by just existing in this match. There's a minute long Chigusa chant as she's exchanging basic knucklelocks. Any wrestler alive today would give their toe for these kind of reactions. They were super in the moment and feeding off the energy. Some things they did looked a little sloppy or blown, with Chigusas kicks not looking very good yet, and the comebacks felt pretty random (e.g. Chigusa gets her leg worked over and comes back just hitting a random tombstone piledriver), but it doesn't really matter when you have a pair of babyfaces this passionate. The escalating violence towards the end was really great with Asuka bleeding in a really grizzly way, and Gonzalez also getting bloodied with a bleeding Asuka hitting an amazing late match giant swing, fans pelting the ring with garbage in protest to the over the top heel antics etc. Both looked like they wanted to make the cover of an Apter mag. Great spectacle with the atmosphere being off the charts.

GWE Watching #2: Devil Masami

 

Devil Masami vs. Lioness Asuka, AJW 4/5/1986

This was just a bomb throwing war all the way through. Bombs looked good, but I was hoping for a bit more depth. Most of this was just Asuka taking a move, then getting up and doing a move of her own. At least Devil did some reversals. There was a badass punch exchange at one point, but I was hoping for more depth. Heat was tremendous, at least. They do stupid double countout and then a lame restart into time limit draw.

Devil Masami & Akira Hokuto vs. Lioness Asuka & Chigusa Nagayo, GAEA 5/14/2000

Really good beginning here with some unpredictable lariats being thrown and Hokuto running in to brain people with weapon shots at surprise moments. Asuka and Nagayo end up bleeding and we get a really good segment built around Hokuto stomping on them and Masami dropping bombs. Masami was acting like a monster in this and really solid. Of course, eventually it was time for the Crush gals to make their comeback, and after Hokuto got hit by a measly clothesline they took over. After that it was all bomb throwing as they rolled out random double teams and finishers by the moment. That was maybe a 10 minute stretch of nothing but 2.999999s. Even things like Devil Masamis Fire Valley felt like throwaway nearfalls. I was gateful when Masami hit a basic leg drop to give some breathing space between the bomb throwing. I mean, it was good bomb throwing, but completely ridiculous. Everyone entered the ring at will and then there was a spot where we were supposed to care for an attempted tag? Hokuto, to her credit, sold really well, even though she wasn‘t the one bleeding. Fun match but a reminder of how ridiculous joshi can get.

Devil Masami & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Dynamite Kansai & Cutie Suzuki, JWP 8/16/1992

Excellent tag, in which everyone played their role and rank really well. Masami and Ozaki controlled the opening portions of this being a vicious heel team, and the Cutie/Dynamite largely relied on Dynamites juggernaut kicks and Cuties agility to make comebacks. There wasn‘t much of a story or epic transitions, but every section was good and it built to a really good, complex finishing stretch. Kansais kicks were brutal, Ozaki looked vicious booting people in the face and Masami gorilla pressing Suzuki around and working over her mid section was pretty sick. Ozaki also took an insane guardrail bump. Ending run was great with lots of well timed reversals. Pretty exciting stuff and everyone added to the match.

Devil Masami & Bull Nakano vs. Sakie Hasegawa & Hikari Fukuoka, JWP 5/22/1994

The first 5 minutes of this were amazing and made me think this was gonna turn out to be a hidden classic. Great opening exchange, followed by Sakie being really fired up, Masami looking great controlling her opponents and Nakano being just a bulldozer. Unfortunately, Fukuoka and Hasegawa mounted a weak comeback followed by a lengthy filler hold section and some botches crept in. Still, this was pretty great when Masami and Nakano were acting like the twin towers steamrolling their opponents. I thought Masami looked significantly better than Nakano, but it may have been due to Fukuokas and Hasegawas choices. Masami just destroyed these poor women. After Masamis epic rampage, Fukuoka making an easy comeback by connecting a weak crossbody followed by a sleeper hold that the crowd didn‘t care for was very weak. Hasegawas comeback felt more earned and I loved her running wild with the solebutts. Last moments of bomb throwing were spectacular. Give this a watch.

Random Mid-South

 Fabulous Ones vs. Los Guerreros (1/24/1986)

Long, excellent grudge match. We start of with a wild segment of the F1s trying to attack early and then stooging and getting chased a bunch including Chavo hitting a beautiful dropkick. Guerreros control some with fun 80s spots and cool suplex before F1s take over double teaming their opponent. Match went to another level as soon as Chavo gets busted open and F1s start working over his cut in gritty fashion. Lane & Keirn are a whirlwind during the heat segment always getting sneaky stomps including kicking a bloody Chavo inbetween falls. Hector gets the hot tag and runs wild for a bit before he also gets stomped building to another hot tag from Chavo who has the house absolutely on fire. All time sick finish here with Fabulous Ones going crazy on Hector with a chair including hitting him in the neck and leaving him a bloody motionless mess. I'm a huge fan of the Guerreros especially Chavo but F1s may have looked slightly better here with their excellent stooging and heel tactics and wild swinging punches etc. Match was bordering on a classic as the length and number of falls were slightly an issue but the finish is an all time gruelling moment in wrestling. BRUTAL.

Buzz Sawyer vs. Jim Duggan (12/27/85)

Sawyer looks exactly like the kind of guy to get into a chain fight, possibly in some Mad Max like scenario. This exactly how you do this kind of match, just two big brutes wailing on eachother. Chain shots looked brutal and the blood was sufficiently nasty. Lots of uncomfortable dragging around by the neck too as Boesch comments „And Sawyer looks like a guy now who has a chain around his neck...“ Duggan with an AWESOME punch combo for his big comeback, everythings there. Something like Buzz falling into a chair looks dangerous and unplanned here. Duggan doesn't even care to pin Buzz, just drags him around and beats on him. Smart finish. Chair spots in Mid South always look grizzly, it's probably a mix of the excellent psychology, camera work and sound editing coming together. Just a great old school fight.

Fabulous Ones vs. Los Guerreros (2/28/1986)

Cage match. Right off the bat F1s with the punches and biting. This is just a sprint, just everyone throwing punches and flying into the page. Chavo goes from running wild to dangling upside down from the cage seconds later. Kind of sudden finish. Fun stuff but I thought what the F1s did to Hector last month deserved a bigger payoff.

Ric Flair vs Terry Taylor - Mid-South, Houston 5/3/85

Even though this had „signature Fair carryjob“ written all over it, it built to a quite fun match that stood out on it's own. Taylor is above average here, I liked his chops and punches, good selling, perfect to slot into Flairs match. This had really good build and pace with the slow beginning with some basic wrestling exchanges then building the tension by ramping up the intensity with the long headlock, Flair resorting to throws etc. Something like Flair hitting a series of hip throw stands out as a nice bit of wrestling. Arm work was fine as was Taylor getting some payback and the parts where they wail on eachother in the corner are obviously the best. The 50/50 ending run was extremely well done too. Flair matches like this are weird as it feels like you've seen it all before but in this case it works and it's nice that they took something like the legwork and Figure 4 stuff out of the equation to mix things up.

Even More Rare Assorted NJPW TV

 Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Kengo Kimura, NJPW 12/10/1986

Very good, competitive feeling match up. Fujinami controls the initial going by hanging onto Kimuras arm and they go through a few complex reversals before Kengo bitchslaps Fujinami in the middle of a sunset flip. Fujinami takes offense, but finds himself eating some bare knuckle punches from Kimura. After some more back and forth Fujinami eats a nasty leg lariat to the face from Kimura and we get some hot and unpredictable 80s nearfalls. This could’ve gone longer but it was quality shit.

Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Antonio Inoki, NJPW 5/25/1987

I am digging these Sakaguchi matches showing up. This was like Sakaguchi having one last go at his old rival. In the 70s these guys would do hold for hold matches, but this was a real exercise in pacing. They would do some grappling, and then they would do something to heat things up. Inoki tries rushing Sakaguchi at the start, but Sakaguchi blows him off. Then Sakaguchi lands a big atomic drop outside the ring. Suddenly Inoki goes for an enzuigiri, then both guys start throwing hands and Sakaguchi is downed by a huge slap. Sakaguchi really puts Inoki through the ringer with armlocks on the ground, before reversing a back suplex attempt into a Russian Leg Sweep in a great spot. I thought this was building to a classic, but then a weird transition happens where Sakaguchi seems to blow himself out hitting a big Atomic Drop and Inoki just blasts him away with enzuigiris. Still, a great lesson in how to create tension in wrestling matches.

Andre the Giant & Terry Rudge vs. Seiji Sakaguchi & Osamu Kido, NJPW 10/4/1976

Andre and Rudge! That alone makes this a gem. Match was fun too. We JIP to Andre and Rudge working over Kido with painful neck wrenches. Andre is so imposing even working basic holds. Then Andre misses a big splash, Kido makes the hot tag and we get lots of fun Andre stooging. It's a bit weird how the giant is the guy on the team taking the big bumps but it's fun to watch Andre fling himself over the top rope etc. Sakaguchi and Kido don't really sell on the level you want from a babyface team but they have some good teamwork spots. There was also a cool moment in the second fall where Rudge made Kido fly to the outside in a well timed spot. Rudge is one of the all time great asskicking wrestlers, he did kick ass a bit here but it was like 5/10 when it comes to Rudge material. Otherwise this was solid 70s action.

More Assorted Rare NJPW TV

 Riki Choshu vs. Antonio Inoki (NJPW 5/18/1984)

One of my favourite matchups in all of Japanese wrestling, and this is another good one in their series. Choshu blitzes Inoki with a big lariat followed by an oklahoma stampede and the match is blazing hot right from the go. Choshu is decimating Inoki and going for the sharpshooter while Inoki is just trying to hang on and regain his senses. Choshu is a bulldozer in this constantly pressing on, and we get several neat Inoki comebacks including one where he just clocks Choshu with a random kick that Choshu sells huge because Inoki is that much of a badass. When Inoki finally gets something going he goes berserk throwing punches and open hands and trying to pull Choshus scalp off. Love how heated the crowd gets when Inoki merely teases his armbreaker. Finishing run is pretty great and extremely well put together with an unexpectedly big bump, a typically 80s finish being test, Inoki seemingly getting destroyed etc. Great little match.

Antonio Inoki & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido (NJPW 12/11/1986)

Great tag between 4 badass wrestlers that have no problem snapping limbs. The heat was all about Maeda/Inoki, but Fujiwara stole the show. Him vs. Kido is a proven great match up, and there were several cool moments. Kido tossed the fuck out of Fujiwara after he tried getting cute with punches, later Fujiwara repaid him by making him eat a desperation punch to the face. Inoki was being a fucker, cheapshotting Maeda in the ropes and then tagging in Fujiwara, who promptly ate an asskicking, then Inoki again sneakily came in to clock enzuigiri Kido with an enzuigiri only for Kido to tag in Maeda who promptly proceeded to stomp Inokis ass. Last couple minutes were great as Kido and Maeda kept tagging in and out trying to swarm Inoki who kept coming up with counters like a dick.

Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Akira Maeda (NJPW 11/24/1986)

Really cool little scrap where they do some cool grappling and then slap the shit out of eachother. Sakaguchi is Mr. Judo so he wasn’t having Maedas crappy UWF leglocks. Maeda responds in kind by kicking Sakaguchi in the face like a punk. Sakaguchi gets mad and the match is thrown out over a triviality but they keep beating on eachother. Sakaguchi even looks like he’s had enough but Maeda just keeps hitting him, unphased by oodles of ring boys in jumpsuits coming in to separate the two.