Matt Watches 1989 AJPW/1986 NJPW on a Treadmill

[Matt D]

Btw, I was looking to upload the Takada vs Hase match for someone and youtube wouldn't let me even unlisted, but it's part of this archive.org playlist. Lots of other fun stuff on there too.

 

https://archive.org/details/1986.03.26-njpw-new-japan-vs-u.-w.-f.-5-vs-5-elimination-match/NJPW-The+History+of+New+Japan+vs+U.W.F/Upheaval!+IWGP+Title+Battle+Collection/1988.03.11a-NJPW-IWGP+Jr.+Heavyweight+Championship+Match-Hiroshi+Hase+(C-V1)+VS+Nobuhiko+Takada.mp4#

[Matt D]

6/10/88: Kimura/Fujinami(c) vs Saito/Choshu: This was, I think, the make good for Choshu missing out on winning the tag titles earlier in the year and (I presume) him about to do the job for Fujinami. It was a good, long match, a lot of back and forth. Saito and Choshu took back over a couple of times with belly to back/saito suplexes. Kimura was a lot of fun with his strikes on Saito especially. You could tell that he was kind of trying to own that lane in a post Maeda/Takada world. Fujinami still looks kind of off with the haircut. He didn't necessarily come off as the super ace here like he did during the Choshu singles. He also didn't sell the leg much. It was Kimura that had to after he landed a toprope kneedrop right into an outstretched knee (good looking spot). After that they pretty much demolished his leg. Finish was Saito putting on the prison lock, Fujinami breaking it up, then Choshu lariating Fujinami and Saito doing it again. Nice image of Fujinami grabbing on to Kimura to try to get him not to tap but to no avail. Oh, Saito did a couple of dropkicks here which were solid B- for effort attempts. He should not do those.

6/10/88: Yamada vs OWen: They called Yamada the Starlight Express, I think? We come in JIP after the entrances. It's what you'd expect. I have very little time for these efforts after the epic and balanced Hase matches. Owen wins with the WM 10 finish.

Edited July 11, 2025 by Matt D

[Matt D]

Snuck in: UWF 2.0: 5/12/88: Yoji Anjo vs Tatsuo Nakano: I did not have a great sense of these two in NJPW. Now I do. Anjo was more precise, had beter technique, really targeted the right arm/shoulder as the match went on. Nakano was a truck. An absolute truck. We've seen a bit with Hashimoto in the margins but i can't think of a UWF 1.0 guy like this. The closest is Maeda and Nakano is different. He's just a freight train crashing into you with these meaty shots. Holy hell. Sometimes Anjo had an answer. There's takedown I love where he absorbed a couple of kicks to get close enough get a head and shoulder and just drive him down. At one point, he turned a German pin into a Fujiwara Arm Bar. That sort of thing. Just real smooth. And when he started to unload on the arm he did so meanly. He also goaded him in with a shot a one point too. Shoot style was so nascent at this point that some of these things seem so fresh for me. It meant Nakano just came charging at him. But he got some shots in because of it. Lots of at one points here but that's kind of the flow of these matches. Yes, there was the arm focus. Yes there was skill vs size. But it all builds to these moments. So at one point, Nakano just beasted him over into a rear naked in a way I've barely seen in shoot style up to 88. Match ended with a Nakano Full nelson into a really nasty triangle like choke where he just again, beasted it. I'm ready to see more of these two moving forward now.

[Matt D]

I am posting about one gif per match on bluesky now so go check out what I've been posting. They don't all end up here.

06-17-88: Choshu/Saito vs Billy and Barry Gaspar: Ok, so I don't actually care who the Gaspars are right now. I think Big Skye is gone. Whenever I look at Meltzer again, I'll figure it out. The two important things to know going in are that they're saying this is a match Choshu has to get through to get to Fujinami and Wakamatsu is now with the Gaspars. Choshu and Saito come in with Chairs but the ref doesn't let them keep them. That leaves them open for the sword shots which is kind of bullshit but they fireback anyway. And really this is almost like a Choshu/Saito squash which is pretty cool in its own way (early on the pulled the corner guard down and controlled that way). Choshu finally hits the lariat and Saito the Saito suplex but he gets dragged out and absolutely opened up with the sword. We're talking blood ghoulish mess. He makes great faces standing tough and eventually, after Wakamatsu gets him, really firing back. He goes after Wakamatsu and things sort of break down they end up fighting Choshu 3 on 1 and he's at risk for the Fujinami match, but that's ok because...

Spoiler

 

6/17/88: Fujnami vs Murdoch: So if I could have done this, I would have had Fujinami run through Murdoch, Kimura, and Super Strong Machine, and maybe even Saito before doing the Choshu no contest, but they're doing it now. And this was very good. Murdoch had the advantage for a lot of it but Fujinami did keep coming back. Murdoch worked over the arm and then let loose with the elbows. They spilled to the floor and Murdoch did a bit where he did a time out and they both came back inside with Murdoch holding the ropes. He was more technical and less goofy here. Eventually he really took over because they went spilling over the top and Fujinami's bad leg to caught in the ropes in a really well executed spot. He hit his signature shoulder charge into the post after that. He finally hit calf branding and the brainbuster but Fujinami got his leg on the rope and he basically got a banana peel win shortly thereafter. But now his leg was at risk going into the Choshu match too.

[Matt D]

6/17/88: Owen vs Kobayashi: This started great with Owen doing his little backflip into the ring and Kobayashi just nailing him with a spin kick, and another, and a beating outside the ring. But unlike every other match that started that way in the last six months, Owen just came back too soon and it became dumb 50-50 stuff. Good news is that Kobayashi snuck out a banana peel win and won the belt, thus defending Japan's honor against crummy spotty Canadians, which is what Owen was in 88.

6/19/88: Vader/Saito vs NORTH-SOUTH CONNECTION (Adonis/Murdoch): I had no idea this match happened. Adonis and Murdoch reunited. Adonis looked pretty damn good actually. He'd lost weight from even his AWA run and he was moving great in there. He matched up really well with Vader. Just big meaty stuff. And then Saito stooged all over the place for their punches like you'd imagine too. This was a lot of fun but eventually Saito isolated Murdoch long enough for Vader to do the tree of woe rush (which never really looks great relative to his other stuff) to Adonis and then the running powerslam.

6/19/88: Kimura/Fujinami vs Gaspars: I think this was the match where Kimura and Fujinami came out with their cool letter jackets from a year or two before. Might have been the last match. Not a lot to this really. Fujinami and Kimura dominated early. We're talking an early Robinson backbreaker/Dragon sleeper, but did eventually fall to the numbers came. They came back big but Kimura got tripped by Wakamatsu and got double teamed as this got thrown out until Fujinami was able to make the save. Just a general sense of stake raising as they approached the big Choshu match.

6/18/88: Choshu vs Fujiwara. Speaking of Choshu. This was one of the better 50-50 matches i've ever seen because each momentum shift escalated things a little bit more. Choshu got the first strike. Fujiwara came back with a headbutt. Choshu fired back by beating him up in the corner. Fujiwara got a hold in. Choshu escalated to the Scorpion. Fujiwara got the armbar. Choshu got a Lariat in, but Fujiwara was able to come back big from the outside. But Choshu was able to survive the headbutts and dodge his way to another Lariat for the win. Just heating him up for the big match but it was a very fun "sprint" of sorts.

6/11/88: UWF Starting Over II: Shigeo Miyato vs Tatsuo Nakano: I want to get through the June UWF card. This was Nakano, a tank, vs Miyato who was much smaller and had less reach and well everything but he had conditioning and was plucky. Storytelling with shootstyle is implicit and sometimes they go on a real journey through a match. Here, Nakano squashed him to start, just too big. Miyato was able to use speed to hit a flurry and get him down though. That was basically the only thing that kept him alive so he didn't get killed in the first ten minutes. As the match went on, his conditioning seemed to give him an advantage and he was able to target the leg, using these low kicks that were almost trips to get Nakano down multiple times. He almost got him on an nasty half crab but Nakano survived and when Miyato tried to go a bit more broadly, Nakano was able to get the advantage again. The back third of this had them going equal, full of exhaustion and big throws and standup striking. A lot of this seemed to be almost to get certain notions of the functional rules of the game over. Just what mattered from a narrative sense to people in the crowd maybe new to the style, the weight of everything. Miyato might hit three or four shots for every Nakano one but beacuse of the size difference that's what it took. you realized towards the end they were working towards the shoot style draw and they got there but I think I would have been happier with a 25 minute match where one of them won.

[Matt D]

Some WON updates as I catch up:

• Dave was confused by the Fujinami cutting his hair scene.
• Inoki WAS out with a broken foot but he also had his knee, elbow, and eye fixed too.
• Choshu got the first title shot by complaining a bunch as it was supposed to be Fujinami vs Sakaguchi (apparently the Fujinami vs Vader title match was first announced as Vader vs Inoki, then Inoki broke his foot, then Vader vs Choshu, but then Fujinami got into the match)
• The Yamada title match vs Owen was in Yamada's hometown
• Inoki wanted to tag with either Hogan or Backlund for his return match in August (Ban on the Sumo Hall will be over for that show)
• Fujiwara is being depushed since he is going to leave when his contract is up.
• NJPW is mad at Doc for cancelling tours and he won't be back for a bit
• The Brazos are coming in for July but I bet we don't have much footage (argh they have a match with Hoshino and Yamada that we don't have; ah well). Villanos were in and we have no footage of that.
• There's magazine feuding stuff between Choshu and the magazines but that's more of a Kinch thing than a me thing right now. Basically Weekly Pro is big on UWF and low on NJPW.

 

6/24/88: Choshu vs Fujinami: Been sitting on this one all day. This was excellent. Fujinami did not dominate this time around. They showed Choshu backstage to begin but he didn't have any comments. He hit a nice flying headscissors early and they did some headstand title stuff that was fun. Fujinami had a nice cravat (which you rarely see in 80s Japan) too. They advanced to rope running with Fujinami winning the first exchange but Choshu getting a knee up and then hitting is really cool running powerslam which is tough to explain but has this sort of heaving full body extension. He tried a headscissors again after that but Fujinami was able to turn it into (Inoki's) Bow and arrow.

That led to a turning point where they stopped the feeling out as Choshu, disrupter that he was, just slapped the hell out of Fujinami on a lock up. He then started laying it in with shots and holds. Fujinami came back but ate a knee breaker (the damaged leg from before) which led to the Scorpion. Fujinami survived it and somehow barely hit his Robinson backbreaker/dragon sleeper combo, but he couldn't put Choshu away. He went up to try but Choshu caught him with this sloppy (in the best way) turning superplex and then went for the lariat. That's when Fujinami did something that you see maybe once in five hundred matches, just an electric moment like nothing else. He caught him with a front dropkick off the ropes and it was like lightning striking. The sort of moment that makes you all but yelp at the screen decades after the fact. Beautiful stuff. 

Choshu went for another Lariat and Fujinami tried to turn it but got pushed out which let Choshu bump him off the apron with one. He made the count, barely, only to eat a real brainbuster from Choshu. Fujinami was bleeding now but when Choshu went for the lariat again he grazed him with a dropkick (not as good as that first one) and put on (inoki's) Octopus.  Choshu somehow survived it and tried again for the lariat. Choshu turned it into a backslide, then hit a back brain kick, and two small packages for the win. The ending was Fujinami doing what he's as good as anyone at, making wrestling feel like sport. It felt like he kept possession of the ball and was shooting on goal repeatedly until he got it in. Post match, Choshu helped him up with one hand and then walked away. Big definitive win for Fujinami to cement the title.

Here's that killer moment:

Spoiler

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:lb2j4sijdt7a2hvzw2l67lkw/post/3ljkkzztcvk27

6/24/88: Vader/Saito vs Gaspars: So one thing I forgot to mention in the North/South match was that the Gaspars attacked post-match. They were theoretically going after Saito because of the previous tag with Choshu/Saito but that pissed Vader off and the fans absolutely loved Vader going after them. The clip ended with him going after Murdoch too just to be safe. So that led to this. The Gaspars have been such a non factor in the ring in these matches that I wouldn't have thought it was still Bob Orton, but apparently it is Orton and Karl Moffat. They got a little advantage early by Vader missing the post charge on the outside and whacking him with the sword but it was really just a mauling. When Saito came in it became a revenge mauling for him being opened up. Then he got his hands on Wakamatsu and Vader fought off both of them. He dodged the powder and crushed them and then post match they crushed Wakamatsu. Fans LOVED this. I honestly wonder if this match and the post-match of North/South didn't do as much to get Vader over as anything else. he was already well on his way but this put him over the top maybe?

[odessasteps]

I dont remember if it was 87 or 88 where Inoki did an angle in Florida where he dressed up in some disguise and attacked young boy on excursion Keiji Mutoh, who was working as either the Black Ninja or Super Black Ninja at that point. 

[Matt D]

I have more stuff I'm working through.

• There's a whole thing about Sumo Hall being pissed it leaked and not allowing it so the 8/8 show will be in Yokohama.
• And how Hashimoto/Muto/Chono (the last one "now wrestling in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick) will return as a 3 man team in Fall.
• Maybe the Kobayashi win vs Owen was non title?
• Dave Peterson was in to learn a bunch of stuff but no one cares.
• Dave went on about Kimura submitting to the prison lock clean and how rare that was, but it really didn't do justice to what actually happened in the match.
• We're missing a chunk of the page which is really frustrating because Dave was JUST about to describe Ricky Morton's 'rana and it was going to be the funniest damn thing. (This was in context to Owen's rolling cradle block).
• Dave sucks in reviewing the TV. So anti choshu. Doesn't give Adonis credit because of his size (oh he does later despite it). Loves owen too much. Just frustrating.

[Matt D]

For point of transparency, I am watching some UWF 2.0 NOT on the treadmill because the matches tend to be long/involved and it's one more thing to cover that I wasn't expecting.

6/11/88: UWF Starting Over II: Kazuo Yamazaki vs Norman Smiley: This started off a bit rough in as I thought Yamazaki was giving Smiley a little too much. Obviously with shootstyle it's about giving openings but not making it look like you're giving openings. As the match went on it settled down and you started to believe that Smiley was just that good, which is what you want to believe. And the story here was that Yamazaki just couldn't get anything over on Smiley. Obviously he's a master of kicking and Smiley very much is not (he may have hit one the whole match and it was a surprise since he'd not done any as of yet). But Smiley had his number on the mat (Yamazaki is kayfabe good there but not the best). And when Yamazaki tried to go to the kicks, Smiley would catch them and take him down. Honestly, there was a moment midway through here where I could all but smell Yamazaki's desperation and I knew, just knew, that the kicks he were going for were going to get caught and he'd get shut down, and that's what happened and it's one of the first time I really feel like I've predicted a beat in shootstyle like I can do with most other types of wrestling just from familiarity, so that was nice. There was a great bit of desperation where Yamazaki tried a whole bunch of things in quick succession and none worked. And there was another great bit where Smiley started pounding at Yamazaki's midsection. Still, there was an undertone here that if Yamazaki just got ONE kick, it'd all be over, and that's exactly what happened. He finally hit a kick, went into a hold, Smiley tried to turn it around, and Yamazaki put him into a reverse Fujiwara armbar and won. The crowd was great here, just really reacting for little attempts and reversals and holds being locked in or escaped. This was fun once it got going.

6/11/88: Maeda vs Takada: Very interesting match. Takada had been presented as a junior, even earlier into the year for NJPW. Maeda was the giant, looming god king of this style. I thought they'd present Takada as an equal from the beginning because they needed a second star here. That's not what happened. Maeda just ate him up at the start. His kicks are like being hit by a truck, and he knocked him down early. He was able to catch Takada's kicks (and hit a capture suplex) or just ride him like an absolute monster. If Takada got a momentary leglock or something, he just pushed through it and got his own hold. To my eyes, the difference was that Takada, despite having his back against the wall, was better able to keep his cool for most of the match while Maeda was more hot headed. I think back to the tag where Choshu got under his skin and it's hard not to see that here. When Takada made a rope break, Maeda got frustrated and went to the spin wheel kick too early. Takada ducked it and got his first real opening in the match. And really, while he wasn't Maeda, he was still dangerous, and as he got more openings, he was able to go after the legs more and more. The thing was that Maeda was able to just press up into a crab out of leglocks, that sort of deal. But because they had made it so hard for Takada to get anything in on him early, for him to block the capture suplex or to get a shot in just mattered all the more as the match went on. They elevated to bombs as things went on, various suplexes (German and Dragon), Maeda hitting the spin wheel kick. And Maeda finally got behind him for a chicken wing that ended it, but not before Takada stood up to him like he never really had been able to before. It all came together pretty well.

[AxB]

They call Norman Smiley "Black Fujiwara" in Japan for a reason.

Also, I just think it's really cool that they call Norman Smiley "Black Fujiwara" in Japan, so I thought I'd mention it here.

[Curt McGirt]

Just because you mentioned Anjo, I was really surprised watching the Pride FC two-part documentary on Vice that he was the first guy that challenged Rickson Gracie to a shoot fight (and of course lost), starting out the whole mess. Then Takada got wrecked by Rickson after, Sakuraba turned into the Gracie Killer, Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye started, etc. But it all started with Yoji fucking Anjo, of all people. 

Also, you mentioning Fujiwara vs. Choshu made me go watch their bloody classico on Dailymotion again and it's still the best thing ever. Neither of them barely do anything (most of the time is just spent by Fujiwara choking Choshu even) but every single reaction from Fujiwara justifies every bit of praise it ever has had. 

[Matt D]

6/24/88: Owen Hart vs Shiro Koshinaka: So I was wrong about Kobayashi beating Owen. That was non title. Not sure why they did what they did. Here's the title match where Owen loses. He dominates early but he misses so much stuff. There are three or four missed spots by Owen here. He doesn't have the structure so if he doesn't have the execution, what the hell does he even have? Koshinaka's comeback is great with a butt butt off the top. Then they flub a side slam but Koshinaka drops him on his head. Of course he's right back up to move to the next spot. Koshianka has some bad habits against the wrong opponents and Owen was the wrong opponent. Anyway after lots of hot stuff, Koshinaka wins with a bridging pin and now thankfully we can finish up with Owen and he can become the Blue Blazer or whatever.

6/26/88: Saito/Choshu vs Gaspars: Not a lot to say here. Lots of standing tall babyface Saito eating offense but looking stoic. Choshu/Saito ambushed at first but then Gaspars took over with Wakamatsu's whip. Moffat (I think) missed a senton off the top. Choshu hit a lariat. Put on the scorpion. They got dqed as the other one used Wakamatsu's Jimmy Hart megaphone. Post match they destroyed the Gaspars and then destroyed Wakamatsu. Small note: in the last two Choshu matches he'd start using a Brainbuster that I really haven't seen him do before. I always like to note new signature moves on big guys.

6/26/88: Vader vs Fujinami: A lot of times I really don't know the outcomes coming in. I thought we were going to get Vader winning so Inoki could beat him in August. Maybe there's still time for that. That is not what we got here though. This probably wasn't quite as dramatic/good as their last match but it still was very good. Vader really takes offense well (including going to the floor and a great belly to back). While Fujinami had some moments (and holds like a figure four and even the Scorpion), Vader controlled a lot of this. It built to a big Fujinami comeback where he turned around a canadian backbreaker by kicking off the top and then hit a big slam and used the octopus (Vader just powered out). The end was very emotional with Fujinami turning a Vader attack attempt into a backslide and getting a shock three count. Post match Yamada and Koshinaka put him on their shoulders and the crowd went nuts (Vader trashed chairs). Felt like a huge moment.

Edited March 7, 2025 by Matt D

[Matt D]

Apparently Fujinami was working without a contract but this was the period where guys weren't really allowed to jump freely between the promotions and he wasn't going to go to UWF. But they did still have to keep him happy. Or that's what Dave's rumor mill is saying. Adrian Adonis dies right around here, btw, so this is why we don't get more tours. I think they could have used him for at least another year maybe. Hell, he might have even increased Murdoch's longevity into the early 90s? Also, the big news is how successful UWF is and how that's causing Inoki and Baba to panic. Apparently Baba is now going to come back sooner with a tournament to choose the opponent for Fujnami.

6/26/88: Yamada vs Owen: This was an asf with super low vq and I honestly couldn't really follow it well. Lots of action, like you'd expect. No spots that stayed with me though. 

6/26/88: Kobayashi vs Koshinaka: Very good. Kobayashi ripped up the title declaration to start! Then he ambushed but Koshianka came back with a butt butt off the apron to the floor and this really great German in the ring where Kobayashi did everything he could to hang on. The transitions here were just better than a lot of what you'd get in some of the more recent matches. Super hot finishing stretch (which you always get) but Koshinaka was able to hang on. He hit this lightning fast (but not a snap dragon) go behind Dragon Suplex for the win. Good stuff. Nice bounceback for the division.

7/15/88: Fujinami/Sakaguchi vs Vader/Saito: Inoki was at ringside and Vader would point to him and what not. He took over early with a killer big splash on Fujinami, but Fujinami outwrestled Saito. I really like Vader vs Sakaguchi here as they play up the size. Vader absolutely crushed him in the corner but when he tried it again Sakaguchi got his foot up, etc. They tried to put Fujinami in the tree of woe but Sakaguchi saved him. Saito hit the Saito suplex but Fujinami came back with the Robinson backbreaker and the gnarliest dragon sleeper we've seen yet. Vader broke it up though. He finally hit the powerslam and put Fujnami into the tree of woe and everything broke down. The running shoulder charge is so weak compared to his avalanche though. Vader kept Fujinami busy while Saito put the prison lock on Sakaguchi and the match got thrown out as he was in the ropes. Post match Vader bodyslammed Fujinami into a bunch of chairs and he and and Inoki got to stare down.

7/15/88: Buzz Sawyer/Manny Fernandez vs Kobayashi/Super Strong Machine: Buzz and Manny are an awesome team. They just have tons of energy and swagger and wildness. At one point they do two different Hart Attacks in a row where Manny hits a back elbow and then Buzz just hits the most thudding lariat for it. Kobayshi brings a ton of intensity too, like always and SSM is as credible as they come. Finish was a killer Buzz powerslam and then he gets a huge chant from the crowd as he and Manny celebrate. 

Edited March 10, 2025 by Matt D

[Matt D]

7/15/88: Kimura vs Choshu: IWGP League match. Choshu cut him off three times in the match with the knee to the gut (kitchen sink but I hate calling it that). Kimura had an awesome comeback in the middle with strikes. Great stuff. Choshu was a bastard. Kimura got the Inazuma Leg Lariat once but when he went for it the second time, Choshu caught the leg, put him in the Scorpion and when he got to the ropes, hit the lariat for the win. A win Choshu really needed on TV, I think. But they match up very well together, both on the mat and standing up. Post match is Choshu ripping Inoki's shirt off and teasing a big brawl with him to build heat for their match the next week.

I think we're missing a bunch of this tournament, which is a shame. I need to look at some results. The WON around this time is spotty since a whole issue got taken up by Bruiser Brody's obit. Oh this isn't just a tournament. It's the 88 IWGP League. I'm missing so many singles matches because what didn't make tape. Ok, so Inoki returns on 7/16, but not televised (WON said he was very rusty/not ready) in a trios against Buzz/Manny/Cuban Assassin. That's the card with Saito/Honaga vs Brazos. Then 7/18 has Inoki/Koshinaka vs Saito/Choshu which sounds neat. And a league match where Saito beats Kimura. Vader's been doing two-on-ones here. Southern Boys vs Kido/Fujiwara sounds kind of awesome, as does Hoshino/Yamada vs Brazos. Ah well. I shouldn't be doing this to myself. Ok 7/21. Vader beats poor Kimura in the league (they sent him out to die in three straight matches to start the thing!) An Inoki six man in the main. Southern boys vs Hoshino/Kido this time. 7/22 this was TV. Hoshino/Yamada vs Brazos again. Kobayashi/SSM vs Southern boys (sounds great). Koshinaka vs Hiro Saito fo rthe title. And then on to the ones we have on TV. So I've just missed Kimura losing to Saito and Vader so far I guess?

7/22/88: Saito vs Vader: Another league match. They really don't show any sign of being a team here. they just go at it. Big hossfight. After Vader pounded him in the corner, saito got underneath him and really worked for the Saito suplex and then was super hyped up because he knew how to work a spot like like and the aftermath like a big American babyface. Saito took a bunch of this actually, just having an answer for him. Vader did absolutely kill him with a vader attack at one point (which they called the "Vader Killer Attack"). Eventually things sprawled to the outside and Vader missed the corner killer vader attack, recovered, and went for a charge to the rail. Saito got out of the way and Vader went flying over on his own power and lost due to "ring out". I've never actually seen that. I've seen DQs and DDQs when people either toss someone over or both go sprawling over. So Vader was protected to a degree but Saito still won.

[Matt D]

I had a mislabeled Hashimoto vs Muto match from 90 and it was pretty cool and I was amazed they had advanced so much in the few months off TV and ... nope. Mislabeled. 

ANYWAY

7/22/88: Inoki vs Choshu: I'm never spoiled on these guys but this one I was and that's a shame as I would have been really up for the finish. These two match up so well obviously. Choshu wasn't letting Inoki into the ring to start. It's little bitter things like that. Inoki had to fight his way in. This had both a lot of Inoki grabbing a limb in a way that was not good pro wrestling and also him serenely putting on his deathlock in a way that is the best pro wrestling ever. That's Inoki for you. At one point, Choshu deadlifted him out of an armbar and it was awesome. Finish was amazing. Inoki hit a German but for two. He argued with the ref and Choshu nailed him with the lariat from behind and got the win. Huge shock. 

7/22/88: Fujinami/Kimura vs Sawyer/Fernandez: Buzz is so cool in these. He just comes out and causes havoc. We have almost no 87-88 Sawyer footage (and none outside of NJ) but he's totally on, just big larger than life reactions after winning an exchange (like ducking a cross body on rope running at one point). Just a good back and forth in general with Buzz and Manny working well together and Fujinami and Kimura fighting from underneath. Finish had Sawyer accidentally hitting Manny and then Fujinami finishing things with the Robinson backbreaker.

7/29/88: Choshu vs Saito: Tremendous hossfight here. They labeled Saito as the gatekeeper of hell and all sorts of other cool stuff and Choshu as a Revolutionary. Fans were really looking forward to this one and they just hit bombs. Saito hit his suplex right from the start and there were multiple lariats to go around. He locked in the Prison lock a couple of times too and Choshu went for the Scorpion. At one point Choshu dumped Saito over the rail but it wasn't a DQ (probably to protect Saito). Finish was the two of them crashing into each other with a lairat on the apron (Saito out, Choshu in) and Choshu winning by countout in a manner he didn't like. good stuff though. I put it up for now. Catch it while you can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=ae2JiZr2EfV7eUSO&v=c4db_KZOXc4&feature=youtu.be

 

[Curt McGirt]

That was a pretty perfect example of the patented Riki Choshu Match. Simple story, hoss clash, no more than four moves and some brutal slaps. Saito getting dumped over the rail looked brutal and that grinning dude in the rain poncho was smart enough to tip on out fast. The Prison Lock is still the coolest name for a submission ever.

[Matt D]

I have a ton to catch up on since I didn't realize 7/25 had 3 matches. Totally missed them as I rushed to 7/29 so I had to go back.

7/25/88: Inoki vs Kimura: Not sure if Inoki was just not ready or what but this was pretty dreadful. Loooooong sleeper/chinlock. At one point they cut to Fujinami on commentary and he waved them off like he was seriously watching as basically nothing was happening. They were barely working it. When they got free, Kimura kicked and whacked a prone Inoki until he got pissed and they got scrappy and that was pretty good. They went back and forth with the uncooperative scrappiness until Kimura got the Inazuma leg lariat. Inoki recovered and dropped him with a Shibata style instant sleeper. Kimura jumped up to meet him when he was about to come off the top with the kneedrop though and we got this great visual image of Inoki punching down on him. he then landed the knee and followed it up with the Octopus for the win. Post match Choshu (who had come down to ringside) had words for him.

7/25/88: Fujinami/Koshinaka vs Southern Boys: We lose some of this but it was fun to see Steve and Tracy in this setting. Lots of dropkicks. They controlled on Koshinaka til he came back with the Butt Butt. Fujinami called him in for the double dropkick. Southern Boys took back over and hit a top rope hart attack style dropkick but it was broken up on the pin. They did their own double dropkick. Eventually, Fujinami got one isolated and hit his "Dragon Backbreaker." Always good to establish it.

7/25/88: Vader vs Choshu: This was pretty awesome like you'd imagine. It started so well too, with Vader rushing through the smoke from his helmet to ambush Choshu. Choshu came back early with some lariats (One thing I see about NJPW in 88 is that you do see finishers right up front and then that defines the match and it's interesting). Vader took back over and dominated for most of the match. There was an awesome strength spot in the corner where Choshu basically caught him in a Samoan drop and fired back for a bit, including trying for the Scorpion. Finish was very good as Vader hit a Vader attack off the apron for the countout win.

7/29/88: Inoki vs Vader: This was the league finals. If Inoki lost, he said he'd retire. Similar start to the Choshu match but THIS time, Inoki charged forth and hit the back brain kick to start as the smoke was going. Great visual. Before that, Vader had destroyed his own skull staff (I miss it already; amusingly, he had poked Choshu with it). Afterwards they went tumbling out and Vader stretched Inoki's back over the guardrail. Back in the ring, Inoki kept trying to pry the arm off since he had luck with that. Vader hit Vader Attacks. Inoki kept going to the arm. Vader did a double arm stretch and then started really laying shots in (the most I've seen him do up until now). Inoki fired back and pounded on him in the corner (this part was good). Inoki survived the power slam. Vader survived the knee drop off the top. Vader finally missed the charge to the post on the outside and his arm just opened up with a deep wound. Inoki tried for the octopus. Vader powered out. Vader tried for his top rope Vader Attack again (that just beat Choshu), and Inoki turned it into an armbar guiding him down and the ref called the match. huge win for Inoki. Huge bloody gash for Vader.

7/29/88: Fujinami/Kimura/Koshinaka vs Hashimoto/Chono/Muto: So I also had a Muto vs Hash match on the date but it was from 90. Oops. That was really good though. This was interesting since you had the tag champs, the jr. champ and the world champ against a bunch of punks. They ambushed the vets right at the start too and they had Hashimoto hit the spin wheel kick on Fujinami. They stayed on him til Chono got nailed by a belly to back and the vets took over. Chono was pretty skinny here. Muto had a totally different look with short hair and a goatee. Hash was the great equalizer. AT one point he did this crazy hefting tilt a whirl gutbuster onto Koshinaka. They built first to Fujinami and Hashimoto scrapping and then to everything breaking down with Fujinami destroying Muto in the tree of woe until the ref called it. Felt like it might set up things for years to come.

7/29/88: Fujiwara vs Nielsen: Pretty shocking outcome here as Fujiawara gets knocked out of the ring and can't get back in after Nielsen dominated. I can only assume Fujiawara was on his way out and they wanted to do this to build him for Inoki or something. The match itself was interesting with Fujiwara just absorbing stuff and getting rocked into a corner until he could get a limb and pull Nielsen down. The sort of stuff you can only do if you have total confidence like he did. I wouldn't say it was as entertaining as the Yamada fight but it was certainly unique. Some great comebacks by Fujiwara but too little too late. I don't know. It sure felt shocking to me.

[Curt McGirt]

It could be Fujiwara helping out by at least putting over the Different Style Fight at his own expense for Inoki?

[Matt D]

Just some clips on the last few matches. Check out the Vader smoke one!

Spoiler

 

 

 

[Curt McGirt]

Cut out gruesome arm wound footage BOOOO. Not watching! For shame. 

But, the Vader Attack through the smoke is awesome, especially for the woman in the crowd screaming as he jumps through, and that really is Inoki In Fifty-Two Seconds. 

[Zimbra]

Matt do you happen to know if any of Tracy Smothers' 88-89 NJPW tour is on tape?  All I've been able to find are a couple of JIP tag matches.

[Matt D]

On 3/25/2025 at 12:44 PM, Zimbra said:

Matt do you happen to know if any of Tracy Smothers' 88-89 NJPW tour is on tape?  All I've been able to find are a couple of JIP tag matches.

I think we had a HH of Inoki vs Smothers but it’s no longer online. We covered it on SC in 19. I think it went four minutes but was fun. I may recover it later though.

I hope to write up Inoki vs Fujinami tomorrow but for now I made a massive thread of clips.

https://bsky.app/profile/mattd-sc.bsky.social/post/3llqttdfjlc2x

Edited April 2, 2025 by Matt D

[Matt D]

8/4/88: Fujinami/Kimura vs Vader/Saito: Vader gets some revenge on Fujinami. Kimura fires back against Saito with his punches and the leg lariat. They do a good job of building the importance of Kimura stopping Saito's tag to Vader (but it fails and Vader comes in and destroys).He misses a corner charge but eventually hefts Kimura over the top. Kimura again fights back against Saito but he catches him and gets the suplex and we get the super vader attack for the win. Ok stuff but nothing too memorable.

8/8/88: Fujinami vs Inoki: What am I going to do with this? It's an hour draw which felt like the closing chapter on NJPW history in some ways. Like the credits should have rolled at the end. It's one of the most remarkable matches I've ever seen in my life, made all the more so by all of the context I have coming in from having gone through this project. It is one of the most expressive matches I've ever seen, where the faces tell a thousand stories. It's everything 00s Michaels wishes he was but filtered through the lens of genuine, believable, larger than life and entirely human Inoki-ism (that's not the actual use of that term). It does not tell one overarching story but has many themes running throughout, and an escalation where move are unlocked as the match goes on, with some (Inoki's choke, the figure-four) used multiple times as the match progresses. There's never a moment where something feels out of place or wrong relative to what had come before. There's just one moment at the 50 minute mark where Inoki uses a chinlock that almost feels like he just needed a rest compared to how they worked the rest of the match, and where if he had just done a sideheadlock instead into a second Dragon Backbreaker to set up the 53 minute mark (second) Dragon Sleeper it would have all been forgiven. The way they work every other hold in the match is outstanding, both in trying to put it on or scrambling away so that it can't be put on and in the fight once the hold is in. The beginning, with Inoki rushing for a kappo kick only to dodge it and the end with Inoki winning the war of the Octopus but not being able to get Fujinami's shoulders down in time are both spectacular. The little things they do here that they never do elsewhere add so much; Inoki's grueling torture rack where he fights to get up to just one knee, Fujinami's enziguiri to the leg to get back into the match after he was flagging, as well as his early Giant Swing to set up the first figure four. The post match where Choshu lifts up Inoki and then struggles to get him down the hallway in the back without banging his head on the ceiling is the height of gallantry and goofus all at once, just pure Inoki. A true bumbling Zeus, endlessly powerful but capable of human error. It's an incredible accomplishment and maybe the second best hour draw I've ever seen. (Maybe even the first). Just a beautiful beautiful match. Please do click on the link above. I went through the match and pulled out so many memorable moments (like maybe the most amazing face I've ever seen, as Inoki was in the Scorpion). There's far too much to cover for the sake of this work. I'm very glad I saw it though.

8/8/88: Bigelow vs Vader: Such a great, iconic start to this. Vader does a longer than usual celebration with the mask and then turns it on Bigelow, shooting the steam into his face and starting on him. Some big crashes into each other. Larger than life stuff. They miss Bigelow's cartwheel after his comeback dropkick that sent Vader over the top. I wouldn't say this ever came together but it gave the fans a lot of what they wanted in just seeing these two tussle. It ended in a double countout obviously. 

Here's the start: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:lb2j4sijdt7a2hvzw2l67lkw/post/3lls4vcehdc25

8/8/88: Koshinaka vs Kobayashi: These two match up very well. Kobayashi has a natural intensity that gives form to Koshinaka's more dubious instincts. It was pretty back and forth but believably so. Again, a hot finishing stretch with Germans and roll ups and what not. Great double stomp by Koshinaka at one point, and he does take it pretty soundly in the end. (EDIT: Sorry, I forgot the sequence. There's a great enzi to the back of the head as Kobayashi is rushing by, THEN the top rope double stomp, then Kobayashi doing the coolest thing as he just slaps the crap out of Koshianaka off the ropes instead of lariating him: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:lb2j4sijdt7a2hvzw2l67lkw/post/3llzcz6icgk2u)

Edited April 5, 2025 by Matt D

[Curt McGirt]

Wow. 8/8/88 didn't make the '80s set.

[Matt D]

1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

Wow. 8/8/88 didn't make the '80s set.

I'm not going to keep this up forever since it's a gig, but here it is for now. I can't put it on YT due to copyright checks.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yKYRW2pbMXoOoMR46THvT6tD_ANfanDn/view?usp=sharing