Matt Watches 1989 AJPW/1986 NJPW on a Treadmill

[Matt D]

1/20/89: Fujinami/Inoki vs Bigelow/Vader: Huge match here. They call Inoki and Fujinami two emperor kings and of course Vader and Bigelow are some sort of monster alliance. The big takeaway here was how well Vader and Bigelow worked together actually. That was both in breaking up holds by Inoki and Fujinami but also in double teams. They needed a big win here because Bigelow was going to lose a bunch to Fujinami and while they didn't quite get that, they were dominant. Fujinami (who worked the brunt of this) or Inoki would fire back but then they'd cut them off with a double team. That was right from the get go with and awesome opening: Vader grabbed Bigelow's hand to hold him back and then when the smoke went they rushed forth to maul the heroes. Later on, Bigelow really took Inoki's punches well too. Best I've ever seen him do it. Finish had them get DQed as they were destroying Inoki in the corner. Very iconic stuff. Just remembering some other things. Fujinami was in all black and they made a big deal out of that for some reason. There is a sort of connection between Vader and Bigelow that is a lot of fun. They seem like pals (and a lot of that comes from Vader). Big Bebop and Rocksteady attitude but far more dangerous. Post match. Morgan came in with a chair and Choshu (with a ponytail!) made the save.

1/26/89: Inoki/Koshinaka vs Super Strong Machine/Takano: They note that Koshinaka and Takano had moved up weight classes. They match up better in a tag like this with other associated contrast. That contrast was SSM coming in and beating Koshinaka up. He and Takano had a fun total elimination with a clothesline and spin wheel kick. Inoki made it in, got double teamed, finally took over on Takano and they worked him for a bit. Until he just hefted up Koshinaka in a chinlock onto his shoulders so SSM could come off the top on him, but it was quite back and forth at this point and Inoki was soon working even with SSM (who was obviously a good mat wrestler). Takano did it again on Koshinaka, this time lifting up out of a headscissors to set up a doomsday device. Just a lot of variety and offense with SSM and Takano. They do feel like a real team. Double dropkicks and diving headbutts and decapitation axe handles and just lots of stuff. SSM looks like one of the best guys in the world here.  They had a lift up spin wheel kick combo too (like a hart attack version) but Koshinaka was able to somehow come back with the butt butt and Inoki cleared house. When they tried for a full nelson spin wheel kick combo on him, Koshinaka grabbed Takano's leg from outside and that let Inoki hit a belly to back for the win. I don't know how this helps build them to challenge for the tag titles but they did, at least seem dominant and dynamic for a chunk of this.

1/26/89: Vader vs Choshu: Vader carefully picked up his helmet and got it out of the ring rather than do the ceremony since Choshu kicked it over last time. Choshu still slapped him in the face in the corner. What a maniac. He then went to headlocks which worked for a minute until Vader gave him a huge belly to back. He beat Choshu on the outside for a bit until Choshu reversed a guardrail whip. Vader took back over by teasing a test of strength and punching him in the throat. Then he hit a lariat and leaned on him. Lots of choking. Some of it with his elbow or wrist which looked nasty. Vader had come a long way in a year. That's for sure. Lots of big brutal shots before Choshu recovered and tossed him off the top. Vader recovered again and hit a bunch of power slams, including an outside in jackhammer of sorts. But Choshu had one last burst and hit a lariat knocking him out. Then, as the count went on, he took his life in his hands and hit a very rare plancha and got the miracle countout. These Choshu vs Vader interactions are all super iconic too. Post match, Bigelow came in and he and Vader hit simultaneous splashes on Choshu which again was a great visual.

 

[Matt D]

1/26/89: Fujinami vs Bigelow III: Guys, I'm really ready to move on from this stuff. It's making me regret continuing on into January a bit.  Bigelow lost to Fujinami twice. Why are we doing this? This is fine. Fujinami controlled the arm well early. Bigelow sold well. Real title match stuff. Bigelow missed a corner charge with a somersault (what was he even going for?) and bumped to the floor. Visually strong.Bigelow finally taked the eyes and trounced Fujinami working the midsection, and tossing Fujinami out. Fujinami went for a slam and that didn't work. More bearhugs and midsection work. Fujinami finally came back and hit a big lariat. He finally got that slam and put on the dragon sleeper. Bigelow survived it (!). Both guys went sailing out and over the rail (and had a post match show down) and why wasn't this the second match an the Thesz press one the third match? Baffling.

2/1/89: Inoki/Choshu vs Vader/Bigelow: fancam footage. No helmet for Vader. They ambush Inoki/Choshu anyway. They control on Choshu a bit and then he hits a lariat out of the corner so Inoki can come in on Vader. Clash of the titans set up. Very different energy between Inoki and Choshu but it works well. Choshu even suplexes Vader in from the outside before Bigelow comes in and shuts him down. Honestly, there's different energy between Bigelow and Vader too with Bigelow more flowing. Inoki tries to slam him and he reverses it letting them work on Inoki for a bit. They do a tandem canadian backbreaker axehandle off the second rope and any tandem Bigelow/Vader move is nuts by definition. Eventually Inoki bridges out off a second attempt (this time with Bigelow running at him; he kicks Bigelow and then flips Vader over). Choshu comes in hot. They go to a finish. Inoki gets the enziguiri on Bigelow but he gets out. Vader and Bigelow double team and toss the ref, and that's the match. All of this is good but I'm done with it. Done.

2/3/88: Inoki vs Rip Morgan: Morgan is a poor man's Brody. He does a haka of sorts and the fans don't know what to make of it. Lots of snarling and not really credible looking stomp and grind offense. He got caught and pumphandled by Inoki immediately which was funny. Inoki gave him a lot but this did come off like Inoki vs a big goof. Another backbreaker push off the ropes hope spot. But Morgan finally missed a knee drop of fthe ropes and got the Enziguiri, some knuckle arrows, and the Octopus before Vader/Bigelow ran in to set up the next, planned tag...

2/3/88: Choshu/Fujinami vs Vader/Bigelow: Another good tag, another me being done with this. Choshu is a good FIP and eats a press slam onto Bigelow's knee from Vader early. Bigelow misses a headbutt and eats a Lariat though. But then he ducks a second and hits a dropkick. Good stuff in a bubble. They like sending Choshu into his own corner and he popped back out with a Lariat. But then Fujinami leaped off the top rope right into Vader's arms. So the heat kept coming. Fujinamia was able to come back against Vader on the floor (reverse whip) and Vader does sure take out the guard rails. Again Choshu suplexed Vader in so we have some tried and true stuff from the house show. Still a sense that Vader and Bigelow have good team work and can put down the Japanese with it no matter what. But Choshu and Fujinami have a way of keeping coming. Eventually Chohu takes over and Fujinami comes in with a missile dropkick and the dragon sleeper, but Vader tries to break it up. Fujinami is ready for him, hits a dropkick, and leads to a Choshu lariat so Vader and Choshu are out for a bit. WE get a Fujinami sleeper. But Vader makes the sense having gotten Choshu out of the way for a bit and they eventually toss the ref like usual and we get another inconclusive finish with a nice post match brawl as Inoki shows up. But we're deep into diminishing returns on this tour.

2/3/88: Koshinaka/Sano vs Hase/H. Saito: Big takeaway here is that Hase came back from injury and easing into late 88 as an absolute beast. Sano's a guy who likes to really go up for things, sure, but Hase just had a different level of meanness and intensity and monstrous offense. He had a Brock Lock and this crazy spin kick on top of the Northern Lights and what you'd expect. Saito ground Sano down cruiserweight bully that he is. Koshinaka came in hot when he got in, butt butts for all, but the tide was against him at that point. He finally came back too and Sano got to hit some big offense but they cut Koshinaka down again (Saito not falling for a monkey flip and dropping a headbutt instead). Sano got to have a second big house of fire but got caught by Hase with a blockbuster suplex and they went to the finish where Koshinaka broke things up just long enough to get back in there and hi ta backslide on Saito. Post match there was aggression between Hase and Koshinaka. 

2/3/88: Fujiwara/Kimura vs Sergio el Hermoso/El Bello Greco: Pretty hilarious stuff here. Fujiwara vs exoticos. Just one bit after another, including Kimura getting bitten and biting a butt in return and having his bitten. Stuff you wouldn't expect. Lots of mocking the step overs and endless twisting whips off the ropes. Headbutt spots. Fujiwara getting kissed and going to spit out water that a second had (and then doing a mist attack on the second kiss attempt). Etc. Everything under the sun with some very unlikely straight men. 

[Matt D]

Good news, I have the 2/8 HH. I know you guys were worried.

But first, UWF catch up. 

1/10/89: UWF 2.0: Yoji Anjo vs Shigeo Miyato: This went a long 30. It was fine. It was just a lot. I don't know Anjo (who I find to be... fine, but just that) is the guy I want to watch for 30 minutes. I also don't want to go back to what I had forgotten. He had a height/reach/power advantage on Miyato but Miyato probably had him on skill and stamina. This stuff matters. My favorite bit here was Anjo getting frustrated and not respecting a break and then Miyato getting pissed and taking his shin out with a kick. Beautiful stuff, that. So lots of feeling out. Anjo did his cool snap side slam. Love that thing. Lots of cravat control too. As time went on there were more and more openings but I really don't have much to say about this. It's not like Anjo doesn't belong but I'd rather see him get thrashed by an uppercard guy. 

1/10/89: UWF 2.0: Bart Vale vs Norman Smiley: I have a soft spot for Vale as he's one of the shoot style guys I saw when Phil was introducing me to Fujiwara. A Florida kickboxer dude. One of the best things about UWF 2.0 is that there are only so many fighters and a lot of times the match ups aren't about some sort of external story but solely about what would happen if fighter X with Y attributes matched up against another. So you get Smiley, who is strong and unyielding, almost Maeda-ish in his drive and ability to bully against this weirdo who just keeps throwing wild kicks. He starts with a jumping spinning kick just to make a mark and it's hilarious, and then Smiley keeps catching his kicks over and over. He'll take him down, shove him back, etc. Then Vale does the coolest thing ever as he kips up in a shootstyle fight out of one of these push downs and comes right back with a kick. Amazing. Lots of double wristlocks as that seems to be the only hold Vale can manage. And they even do a cool bit where Vale turns over Smiley as he tries it and then Smiley kicks up and over to turn him back around and keep control. You did get the sense that Vale could win out of nowhere with a lucky kick at any moment BUT Smiley was just so superior in technique. Finish was Smiley locking Vale's leg with his own to turn him to put on a cross arm breaker and it was great. I'm looking forward to seeing Vale against everyone else.

1/10/89: UWF 2.0: Tatsuo Nakano vs Mark Rush: Love these guys. Rush is so Buzz Sawyer coded in his look, his aggression, and his suplexes. He just needed fuzzy boots. At one point he does a shoot power slam and it's awesome! Just insane shoot-style stuff out of him. Meanwhile Nakano is a tank, of course. Just able to power through things. While this was a cool clash, and the high moments were incredibly high because of it, it wasn't as exciting as either of these guys vs Miyato would have been for instance. Rush wasn't able to impose as much as he usually did and when Nakano won (maybe with a deep half crab?) he was so excited for the win. Fun moment.

Edited July 11, 2025 by Matt D

[Curt McGirt]

23 minutes ago, Matt D said:

It's not like Anjo doesn't belong but I'd rather see him get thrashed by an uppercard guy. 

There's definitely a miracle match with him out there against somebody big, Kohsaka or somebody, that is pretty notorious. It's like when Masao Inoue got that big match against Akiyama, maybe not as big but still. 

[Matt D]

Finishing up the UWF show.

1/10/89: Yamazki vs Trevor Power Clarke: Clarke was a kickboxer from the UK. This was a different styles fight, which i mean, so was the Backlund match and so is some of the other things, but there were pads here on Clarke and what not. And honestly? This was one of the better Different Styles fights I've ever seen. It had that chaotic sense of early UFC or what not, where you were really getting two guys with two different traditions going at it without some of the conservatism you get with Inoki sometimes. Clarke led with strikes and it was up to Yamazaki to aggressive push in and get under him. As the fight went one, he even, at one point, got all the way under him and hefted him entirely across the ring. It was very cool and not what I expect out of Yamazaki. As a shootstyle wrestler, Yamazaki was really known for his kicks but he couldn't match here and really didn't even try. The crowd was so up for this because it felt different to them. It felt more real. I think they were starting to see through the other fights to a degree even if they play along and get swept along like any good wrestling, but this felt entirely different. It meant that when Yamazaki got around him to hit a German it felt like an absolute accomplishment. The place exploded with awe and joy. Likewise when he'd catch a limb and drive him into Maeda's folded leg crab/ankle hold. And throughout you had the sense that Clarke just needed one kick or knee flurry. Yamazaki won this with a standing guillotine which you never saw in UWF at this point but it was a great moment.

1/10/89: Maeda vs Takada: This went long and the first half was very good. It lost speed towards the end. One thing I wonder about these shows is how they were thought of as a whole. Was it just the style itself or did they build things earlier in the show so they'd pay off late. For instance the Anjo draw to set up a long match here. Or the way the half crab was put over so that it could have more meaning here. Etc. The story of the first third was that Takada was really hanging as an equal in a way i don't think he had before. Maeda finally opened things up with a big knockdown kick and controlled for the most part for the middle third. The last third had them both a bit too passive. I don't know if they were winded or what. It did build to big moments but the inbetween wasn't as compelling as you'd want or expect. This would have been better at 20 than 30 basically. Maeda ultimately slipped out of a hold and put on a deep crab to get his win back from November. (Very important of course).

The February show (Anjo vs Miyato, Smiley vs Nakano, Maeda vs Vale, Takada vs Yamazaki) isn't until the 27th so I've got a bunch of NJPW to watch before that. These are very good but also a big lift to get through. 

[Curt McGirt]

Yamazaki/Clarke was interesting. First of all you don't expect all the boxing taunt bullshit from Clarke, and second you don't expect to eat Yamazaki for lunch. 'zaki seems bored, even listless, barely raising his hands, doing practically none of his kicks, and only going for takedowns while Clarke batters him -- and I mean, BATTERS him, with kicks and punches all over for round after round in between goofy Ali schtick. It gets to be "seriously?" Yamazaki only has two moments: the German, which is the fastest German I've ever seen. Period. And, the part where he gives Clarke the bum's rush and blasts him practically all the way across the ring into the ropes. Clarke always grabs the ropes, time after time after time, and you can feel the tension continue to rise as Yamazaki tries to center him in the middle of the ring for submission. And then finally, like a fluke, he manages to grab a Guillotine and it's over in seconds. Very, very odd, but cool for that. 

[Matt D]

Ok. We had some vacations and I had to catch up on AEW but I'm back to the grind now (and after getting close to my pre-pandemic high again, trying real hard to drop about twenty pounds. I've gotten the first four or five off already but those are always the easy ones)...

This was a hh that I really had to hunt for.

2/8/89: Hiro Saito vs George Takano: Pretty solid match actually. We've seen more Takano than usual so far in 89 and while I joke about the endless spin wheel kicks in tag matches, he looked good here in a singles against a very game opponent. He did take most of the match. Saito would try to get him in a hold and he had an interesting technical escape to everything (be it stepping through the hand to set up a takedown or a headstand to get out of a headscissors). Saito had a nice escape or two of his own. Things really picked up down the stretch as they absolutely paintbrushed each other for thirty seconds. That led to a nearfall off of Saito's senton and Takano catching him out of nowhere with the spin wheel kick and then finishing him off with a suplex and top rope splash. They shook hands post-match.

2/8/89: Bello Greco/Sergio El Hermoso vs Sano/Hata: I don't think they tread any new ground here relative to the exoticos matches we've been seeing but it was still enjoyable for what it was, even just seeing some of the same spots remixed. I do have a good sense of them finally. Greco is the real base and worker and Sergio was the flash and lead for the comedy. He kissed the announcer before the match and blew one to the ref, causing all sorts of havoc. Hata and Sano had some big climb up armdrags on Greco. And the kiss spot where Sano went flying the first time but Hata blocked it to tweak the nose/lips the second worked about as well as it could. Sano had a bit more style to what he was doing maybe, whereas Hata just played into what he was given more, but both looked good. Finish had Hata hit a dive to the floor off the top and Sano hit a German (but not able to hold the birdge) for the win. Entertaining but did feel a bit more like a house show match than the TV matches we've seen so far.

[Matt D]

(The HH had come in with that Saito vs Takano match which means we unfortunately miss out on Babe Face vs Hoshino. Ah well. Glad we have this card at all).

2/8/89: Kimura/Sakaguchi vs Italian Stallion/Borne: Little bit of a weird one. Stallion (and Borne to a lesser degree) gave a bit to Kimura but mostly ate him up on the mat. Stallion would just roll around on top of him. They'd give more for Sakaguchi though. Kimura did get the win with the leg lariat/pile driver combo so maybe he felt giving but it seemed like a weird choice given his development.

2/8/89: Fujiawara vs Super Strong Machine: Nothing spectacular here but it was chippy and snippy. They leaned on each other. Battering in the corner, etc. I'd say SSM had the advantage until he tried slamming Fujiwara's head into the post. Then he tried to stop the headbutts that would come (self aware) but couldn't. He did pull Fujiwara out and post his leg and Fujiwara had to fight from underneath for a bit. He came back with huge headbutts though and ultimately after two Fujiwara arm bar attempts (first rolled through) locked in a small package. Nice little self-aware bits in this at least. 

2/8/89: Koshinaka vs Hase: This was really good. I loved it. Remember the rule, Juniors matches of this era are best with an early ambush/advantage, and Koshinaka got that, nailing Hase in the ropes on the first exchange and going after the taped knee. Lots of nasty little shots and bigger submissions. At one point he went for a suplex, and Hase's leg went out and his head just crushed into the mat. Koshinaka hit the butt butt, the top rope knee drop and even the power bomb. Then he shoved Hase out. The ref got in his face and Hase pulled him out to take over. I wouldn't have minded if Hase sold just a little more but it was generally ok. Most of his offense wasn't hefting Koshinaka up but slamming his head into the exposed post instead. Koshinaka bled. Hase stayed on the would. The ref tried to stop him at one point and Hase pointed out that Shiro had been unsportsmanlike in going after his leg and this was warranted. Eventually he did hit the Northern Lights but couldn't keep the bridge given his leg. He ended up choking Koshinaka for the DQ. Post match Hiro Saito came in and they beat on Koshinaka and anyone that tried to stop them. Honestly, as a finish, it's not something we saw during this era and it was grisly and effective for me. Really good match.

2/8/89: Inoki/Fujinami/Choshu vs Vader/Bigelow/Morgan: We've seen this so much at this point but the plus side is that they've been practicing and honing the match. That meant some spots like the Inoki kicking off out of the over the shoulder double team worked quite well. I loved the start actually, with the heels ambushing and then Choshu ducking a Bigelow clothesline, hitting a lariat that just staggered him and then hitting the real one that Bigelow took a flip bump for (very rare in general for 89 and especially a guy Bigelow's size). This was fairly back and forth. You feel bad for Fujinami here. He's fine but he doesn't come off as the ace/champ when teaming with two of the most charismatic wrestlers ever. Vader was there to basically get control again. It boiled over (with a clip) to the DQ in the corner as the heels wouldn't stop double teaming and charging in. (EDIT: Couple of things. Brad Rheingans ... Rheinghans. ... Whatever was in to second the heels. I had seen a guy but wasn't sure who it was. Also according to the WON, Inoki one this one during a clip in the footage we have and all the other stuff was post-match).

2/9/89: Inoki vs Bigelow: Pretty iconic Inoki match OR, as is often the case, a match with some pretty iconic Inoki moments. Inoki vs Vader/Bigelow means Inoki's going for the arm, and at times it gets really cool either when he's fighting for the pumphandle or far more so when he's grinding the arm over the ring post/parts that connect the ring and making awesome faces. Bigelow comes back and tries to go to the leg but really all he can do is contain Inoki and it's back to punches or enziguirs to the arm. After they both miss their diving attacks, Inoki finally gets him and steps over with an armbar and gets a screaming win. Post match Vader attacks and destroys Inoki in the crowd but then Inoki comes back and actually fights off both guys by reversing a whip into a chair. Just ridiculous ridiculous top babyface stuff. (EDIT: Dave was claiming that they were doing stuff like the armbar finish here to get ready for the Russians).

2/9/89: Choshu/Saito vs Fujiwara/Kimura: Very good tag with the best of it being Saito and Fujiwara beating the crap out of each other. But all of it was good. Kimura had a nice slap and some of his boxing on Choshu as well. Choshu and Saito worked over Fujiwara in the corner for a bit. Some nice timed clubbering stuff. Kimura at least looked like he belonged and Fujiwara did headbutts and what have you and these guys are all part of what makes New Japan great really. At one point, Fujiwara and Kimura were working over Saito's leg and Fujiwara pointed at Choshu before doing a Scorpion (which he never did but was Choshu's mood) which is pure self aware Fujiwara, just doing stuff no one else was doing at the time. Finish was Saito and Choshu doing a just off-time double lariat (front back) which was very cool in theory on Kimura. He survived it thanks to Fujiwara but didn't survive the subsequent Saito suplex.

Edited August 14, 2025 by Matt D

[Matt D]

Another big catch up. I have to be better about doing these more. On the tours we have Avalanche (PN News) and the Caribbean Express (Castillo/Perez) in so I'd love to see these guys. More importantly, the Russians are coming. And Sid too.

2/9/89: Fujinami vs Vader: Goes about ten minutes. Fujinami controls with headlocks and what not to start but Vader just hefts him over the top rope to the apron and clobbers him. Fujinami turns a Vader headlock into a belly to back but Vader catches a cross body and crushes him. Tries again and the go sailing over the top and Vader nails him on the guardrail. Vader has Rheingans to coach him and he changes strategy a couple of times. Fujinami finally takes over and gets the Dragon Sleeper on but Vader's too big. He drops him one more time, hits a top rope Vader Attack and finishes with a clothesline to beat Fujinami clean in this non title match. Not sure why they were heating him up again like this at Fujinami's expense, but the latter had just run through Bigelow three times.

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2/22/89: Sid (Vicious Warrior) vs Fujinami: So in the big show that debuts the russians, you get Sid challenging for the belt. And it was fun. Lots of feeling out. Sid's face in holds was good enough I guess. They mention that he beat Jerry Lawler who they call a "Southern Gentleman" which is funny. Eventually Fujinami gets Sid in a headscissors and he kips up and hits a punch, which gets the crowd interested. Then he manages the powerbomb/whirlybird combo and the crowd goes absolutely nuts. Super over immediately as he basked in it. Fujinami makes it outside and comes back with a new strategy, going after the leg with multiple kicks. Sid sold it huge and Fujinami was ultimately able to tap him. In some ways this overachieved and Sid's getting over like he did was pretty par for the course for him.

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2/22/89: Inoki vs Choshu: On commentary they said this was to show the Russians the New Japan style of wrestling. I think they were referring to Inoki and Choshu (and maybe Fujinami) as the "Power Elite." They started out wrestling, but with these two you knew it was going to boil over. And boil over it did. Choshu decided to hit a stomp out of nowhere on a break and Inoki was pissed. They ended up in the corner and started throwing awesome headbutts at each other. Wild stuff. And really they didn't look back from there. Finish had Inoki survive multiple lariats until Choshu hit a back then a front one and got a rare clean pin on Inoki. As iconic as you'd expect it to be. 

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2/22/89: Special challenge exhibition: Hiro Saito vs. Salman Hashimikov/Osamu Matsuda vs. Victor Zangiev/Hiroshi Hase vs. Vladimir Berkovich

MD: 3 five minute challenges here. Matsuda is the future El Samurai and I have not seen him in the footage. Saito got in a few takedown attempts (attempts) but Hashimikov really crushed him with throws and holds. Finally just lifting him up and dropping him for a stoppage. Saito is considered pretty tough so this had an impact. Zangiev had the personality of course and both tossed Matsuda (who got NOTHING) around and tied him up including in a sort of standing cloverleaf. Just brutal really. And then Hase, the Olympian, held his own, but maybe got two throws to Berkovich's seven or eight. Shocking stuff. They really presented them as a huge, huge deal, as they had to given that they were the great ratings hope. Tremendous debut and now you immediately want them to face all of the big NJPW guys. 

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UWF 2.0 2/27/89: Miyato vs Anjo: Fairly equal match up, one that helped, as these usually do, to hone my thoughts about shootstyle. It's really the cross-section of opportunity, personality, and technique/traits. The technique and traits (like size difference or style) is what creates the opportunities and then personality decides how wrestlers react to them. Anjo is punchable and obnoxious in his own way, desperate to prove himself, aggressive, sometimes careless. Miyato is small, careful and cautious, likes to outlast his opponents, has patient ways of operating. He's able to withstand Anjo's aggression and put him in a short armscissors which is complex enough a move that Anjo wouldn't be able to do it to him. He's able to bide his time and hit a series of slaps and kicks mid match. Anjo may get early points but they aren't as many or as impactful as they could be. But Anjo also keeps coming with a sort of desperation. Towards the end Miyato almost has him but Anjo hit his trademark snap side slam out of nowhere and got a submission. I don't think Anjo is necessarily great and this would have been better a few minutes shorter but he is dogged and an ok foil. 

UWF 2.0 2/27/89: Nakano vs Smiley: Smiley is huge compared to a lot of these guys and Nakano is massive and beefy in his own way so this was a fun match up. For the first half they couldn't get anything on one another, both too strong or skilled or both (Smiley is the skilled one but Nakano has pure heft). Midway through they start bomb throwing. Nakano hits one of the best snap suplexes ever. Smiley follows up with a northern lights and belly to belly. Very entertaining stuff here. Smiley tries for the chicken wing but can't get it. Nakano tries for a rear naked choke but Smiley's able to drop it into a leglock for the win. Post match they embrace. Good stuff.

[Matt D]

UWF 2.0 2/27/89: Maeda vs Bart Vale: I don't have a lot to say about this. Sometimes it's the path of least resistance. Here, Vale was going to try to use all of his kickboxer prowess on Maeda. That was, frankly, a terrible idea because Maeda was a spider, made to catch kicks and do horrible things to the person who kicked him. So this was entertaining along those lines full of capture suplexes or Vale getting driven down and twisted into a hold. Vale had some good escapes where he just slammed his foot into Maeda over and over. At one point, Maeda did a roll up to set up a hold which was a very funny thing to see in one of these. He also had kicks of his own so it's not like Vale could bide his time. Really just a mauling. 

UWF 2.0 2/27/89: Takada vs Yamazaki: Good main event, really a sign on how far both of these guys had come to be able to credibly be in this position when they were positioned as juniors in NJPW. Yamazaki was a little more of a kicker and Takada more an all arounder, but that didn't play into things here. Takada got under Yamazaki first, lifting him up and taking him down but Yamazaki then hit a Northern Lights takeover almost immediately thereafter. Just even. Both wrestled defensively for the first half. I'd say Yamazaki maybe had a bit more of an advantage overall. He got the first rope break and drove a lot of the action but Takada had answers for most things. Most importantly, and what won the day for him, Takada was fearless. When Yamazaki started kicking, Takada would lean in and try to drive through it. When Yamazaki actually got him, Takada would get up and press to get back into it. That's what put things over the top so that he could win.

3/3/89: Inoki vs Ron Starr: Starr looked good here. Just very credible against Inoki, constantly pressing him, hanging in there with holds, and shots. He used a stump puller and got him in the tree of woe. This didn't go particularly long and ended abruptly with Inoki floating behind on a slam and winning with the inverted deathlock fall back into a bow and arrow. That's not a move I've seen Inoki win with since before 86 at least so it was an interesting call. Solid stuff if somewhat slight. 

3/3/89: Fujinami/Choshu vs Avalanche (PN News)/Sid: Neu had a blonde Mohawk which was unexpected. Really this was all about the post match challenge between Inoki and Sid. Choshu almost instantly slammed both Avalanche and Sid because of course he did. I'd say Sid and Avalanche worked well together, quick tags at times, they both crushed Fujinami in the corner, but both Fujinami and Choshu were slippery and wouldn't get swept under for long. They worked hard to get either Sid or Avalanche in the Scorpion but only got so far with it. Choshu beat Avalanche with one lariat out of the corner and then one to finish him.

3/3/89: Super Strong Machine/Takano vs Koshinaka/Kobayashi: These Takano vs Koshinaka takes are years before their time in how elaborate they are, especially in the finishing stretches but I'm not sure that's entirely a good thing. They noted this was a Choshu Army vs Choshu Army fight in Kobasyahi and Machine but you knew they'd go hard against each other just for who they were. Very back and forth. Lots of momentum shifts. Koshinaka got to stand up to Super Strong Machine and hulk through his shots. Takano got to do his excellent stand up lift out of a headscissors to set up a doomsday device. After that they did lean on Koshinaka for a lengthy bit of peril, but he finally fell into the corner after a Takano spin wheel kick (just fell the wrong way for them) and Kobayashi came in hot. Machine and Takano were fresher and able to regain the advantage before long. They had some nice double teams like a total elimination spin wheel kick/clothesline. On the comeback Koshinaka hit his butt butt and the powerbomb and they moved into that extended nearfall stretch. Exciting but a bit exhausting. Kobayashi survived a bunch of stuff (top rope spin wheel kick/SSM diving headbutt, etc.) before falling to a nice single arm suplex by SSM. I'm sure this got a bunch of stars but it was a little incoherent overall.

https://bsky.app/profile/mattd-sc.bsky.social/post/3lwxcjxxlfs2u

3/7/89: Sid vs Choshu: Honestly? This was actively awesome. We start by seeing Sid move the corner guard off the post to expose the connector and then come in after a clip with Sid using the claw on a bloody Choshu. He drags him across the ring in a way I've never seen before really, and then they just keep working it hard as Choshu bleeds. At one point Choshu fires back and tries for the Scorpion but Sid just gets the hand up to block it by putting the claw back on. Really grisly, gripping, minimalist stuff that was carried by Sid's intensity and Choshu's bloody visage. Choshu finally does come back but Sid just eats the first lariat only to fall to the second. As perfect a match as you could get between these two at this time maybe.

https://bsky.app/profile/mattd-sc.bsky.social/post/3lx4dwyj4ns2u

3/7/89: Inoki vs Orton: Very different from the Gaspar matches. It felt almost more like a fall in a 70s match than anything else. Orton had crazy size really. You'd never think it but he did. And he had solid offense, a great gutbuster and other things, just a way of hitting from slightly different angles. This had a lot of locking up and waistlocks and just jockeying for control. Orton was the aggressor for a lot of it but Inoki would get out of things and they'd regroup. He won it out of nowhere with the enzi. Interesting in that it was a throwback feel but nothing super memorable.

3/7/89: H. Saito/Hase vs Koshinaka/Sano: Nice to see see Sano in with these guys. I don't get the Hase depush coming off the injury. Sano and Koshinaka controlled with an early attack but Sano, who had looked like he belonged early, got dragged down quickly until he was able to dropkick both at once off the ropes. and then land on his feet (sort of off a Hase monkey flip) and then belly to belly him. Koshinaka and Hase scrapped after that culmanating in a spike pile driver and Sano and Saito having an exchange. Sano raelly did have some flashy stuff, jumping over heads and backflipping off the top. Probably diminishing returns though. That led to Saito and Koshinaka going at it and they matched up well. We don't have enough singles matches with them in 87/88. They dragged first Koshinaka and then Sano down and doubleteamed on them, until Koshianak was able to get in. He hit the power bomb and Sano got a nearfall or tow on Hase, but Hase caught a victory roll attempt in an electric chair drop and hit the Northern Lights. Good action and a little more coherent than the 3/3 SSM/Takano tag. Sano is an interesting addition to the roster.

 

[Curt McGirt]

Man, you can get on him for being an oaf, but Sid knew pro wrestling and how to get himself over. That claw escape from the Scorpion ruled.

[Matt D]

3/7/89: Fujinami/Kimura vs Super Strong Machine/Takano: They are REALLY pushing SSM/Takano, and that doesn't even mean that they win all the time. They're just presented as a real team. I don't love Takano's instincts maybe? I didn't as Cobra. I don't here. These tags have been maximalist and exciting but formless as well. This one, with Fujinami to help steer the ship, was better. It's still so striking to see how ineffectual Kimura ended up after 87. He could have been the second coming of Choshu, maybe. There were so many different ways to map out his 87 where he could have been between all three factions or part of Choshu's army or anything, but nope. Choshu coming back diminished him. NOW vs NEW destroyed him, and here he is, back as Fujinami's little buddy again, power bomb in his arsenal, having mastered punching, but he's the second banana. Ah well. 

These matches are kind of what I dread to write about because there's not a lot to grasp onto. It was even to start out with lots of transitions. Super Strong Machine did work well with Takano both with their big doubleteams but also just hitting a headbutt in the corner as Takano held Kimura. That sort of thing. It opened up once they started on SSM's leg. Eventually he did make it to Takano but things stayed a little loose until Takano recovered. Then they went into an executing stretch, with SSM hitting a hotshot on Fujinami, thing spilling out, Fujinami getting the dragon sleeper on Takano (SSM broke it up), and Kimura hitting the Inazuma Leg Lariat followed by the power bomb (SSM broke it up). It ended with SSM vs Fujinami and Fujinami was able to reverse a backslide into a pin (Takano broke it up), before getting a small package out of nowhere. Exciting but unfocused like a lot of these tags. This was much helped by that one stretch where they controlled on SSM though.

3/15/89: Inoki vs Minoru Suzuki: Suzuki was 20-21. Inoki was working his way up the card. It feels a little amazing this match happened, but it did. We have this on a HH. A lot of the early Suzuki matches are in these unwatchable real player style handhelds, but this one is more or less watchable. We apparently have nothing else from this card, which I don't believe. It had Inoki vs Vicious later (really?) and Fujiwara/Kimura vs Avalanche/Starr and some of the juniors vs Caribbean express. Maybe It'll turn up. Inoki gave him a lot, which he often does to kids, but the best stuff was Suzuki slapping him a couple of times and then getting absolutely clocked by Inoki's Knuckle Arrows. Post match, they had a nice moment where Inoki acknowledged him. 

3/16/89: Inoki vs Fujiwara: One last time between these two lions. You love it for the familiarity and for the headbutts. For the way every hold has fight behind it but also understanding. I don't have a lot to say about the specifics. It went ten minutes and I wasn't surprised until the finish but I was delighted the whole way through. At the end, as they jockeyed for the Fujiwara armbar, Inoki attacked Fujiwara's taped up knee and then got a win with the Octopus. Very Inoki thing to do and Fujiwara was bemused post match but respected it and he hugged Inoki. Change is coming but it was nice to see this one last time.

3/16/89: Fujinami vs Lawler: This was great. It got a bad rep out of the 80s set nominations but that's nuts. Phil S likes it. I like it too. Fujinami controlled early with a headlock but Lawler hit a belly to back. Then he did Hogan-in-Japan stuff times ten, hitting a Reinera (behind the back backbreaker stretch) drop and a calf branding. Fujinami took back over with holds and wrist work and after threatening to do it for a bit, Lawler hit a punch and started taking over with punches and fistdrops. After the first couple of fistdrops Fujinami rolled out of the ring, sometimes after getting at foot on the rope. On the third fist drop attempt, Fujinami lifted his hand up and CAUGHT it. Incredibly iconic moment. They went into a solid stretch including a pile driver, but Fujinami caught him out of nowhere for a three count to win it. Really enjoyed this.

[No Point Stance]

Where can this stuff be found? I need some Choshu vs Vicious Warrior in my life.

EDIT: love Sid repeatedly going to the cut so he can smear Choshu's blood over his own face - seemed like a spur of the moment choice but absolutely 10/10 pro wrestling

Edited September 11, 2025 by No Point Stance

[Matt D]

19 hours ago, No Point Stance said:

Where can this stuff be found? I need some Choshu vs Vicious Warrior in my life.

EDIT: love Sid repeatedly going to the cut so he can smear Choshu's blood over his own face - seemed like a spur of the moment choice but absolutely 10/10 pro wrestling

Some things I can post unlisted. Some things YouTube won't even let me. 

But that one it is letting me post.

If you want to know in general, I'll drop you a line later.

 

 

[No Point Stance]

Again I am in your debt

[Matt D]

3/16/89: Black Cat vs Don Arakawa: This one I couldn't post even as a draft so it's a bit of a blur how I went through it. But it was so great to see another Arakawa match and one that got some fanfare. This felt like a big celebration match as he came out on shoulders. Like it was his anniversary in wrestling or something. Black Cat would beat on him and he'd use his goofy throat strikes and other attacks to come back. What I love about the few glimpses we see of him is that it shows there were actual comedy matches on so many of these NJPW shows (not just comedy in a Fujiwara match for instance). This happened on the same card as UWF guys and Inoki standing tall. It was a bigger tent promotion than we readily understand. 

3/16/89: Riki Choshu/Masa Saito vs Super Strong Machine/George Takano: All of those SSM/Takano matches that have frustrated me were more than worth it for this match. This is what everything was building to, the entire push, and it really is one of the best tags I've seen from NJPW in this project. What makes these tags work are control segments and transitions that make sense and have struggle. It's not the moves. It's not the action. It's the drama.

This began with Takano wrestling even against Choshu but getting swept under and leaned on, especially by Saito. After a big back elbow by Choshu, Takano recovered enough to drive to the corner and make the tag. Saito and SSM wrestled evenly for a little bit but they were able to isolate him and Takano came back in to get revenge. Underpinning all of this was that SSM was Choshu and Saito's guy even if Takano wasn't. It didn't necessarily directly impact the match but you knew. 

They beat on Saito with double teams like their back of the head clothesline/spin wheel kick total elimination, until Saito could get his suplex on Takano. Then Saito and Choshu started on their double teams on Takano (the belly to back/knee off the top and double suplex). Saito held him for a Choshu lariat (illegal man) and he beat him on the turnbuckle and chopped and punched him until he was a bloody mess. This, as you can imagine, added a lot. Choshu would just run off teh ropes and stomp and kick him over and over. Saito would pull back the turnbickle pad and just crush him on the ring connector. Brutal stuff. They'd throw double headbutts on him. At one point, Choshu goaded SSM in so that he'd not be in position for a tag. They were really leaning into this in a way that they don't often in NJPW. Meanwhile, Takano was leaking all over. 

Finally, Choshu put on the scorpion but SSM dashed across the ring to hit a huge lariat and Takano was able to make the tag. One of the better NJPW hot tags ot the decade too. SSM cleaned house including hitting a great single underhook suplex. He went for a lariat but Choshu did the coolest thing, dropping to his back so that he'd dodge it. Then he popped up and hit one of his own. Koshinka broke that up and a Saito Suplex pin and then when Saito went for a second one, SSM rolled him up so he could make the tag. Things became chaos after that as Takano got Saito out but missed a dive but then SSM hit one to the floor and a bloody Takano made it back in at the last second to beat the count and win the belts. Incredibly exciting stuff. Just a great match. Post match, Saito and Choshu put the belts on them. 

4/13/89: Inoki vs Koshinaka: Start of this was awesome. For absolutely no reason Inoki just charged him like he was some sort of mad god and he beat the crap out of Koshinaka. Since Shiro is the most punchable guy, I loved this. In short order, Shiro got a belly to back after jamming a russian leg sweep and started firing back. He definitely "got it" and Inoki "got it" so this pairing worked despite the hierarchy difference. In the states, the dissonance of Inoki charging at him would have led to a heel reaction for Inoki. Here, it was just an angry god doing angry god things and you were to be properly awed by it. They went back and forth after that pretty evenly, at least until Inoki knocked him off the top to block a superplex and hit the craziest missile dropkick right in Shiro's face. Shiro blocked a subsequent punch and hit the butt butt but then Inoki caught him on the second and hit a belly to back for the win. Very close pin and Shiro was pissed after. Pretty good sub ten minute match right here. 

4/13/89: Choshu/Fujinami/Kimura vs Vader/Brad Rheingans/Buzz Sawyer: Nice to see Kimura in with Choshu and Fujinami. Brad is treated almost like a lesser NJPW version of Billy Robinson just in how he moves and controls on the mat and powers people around. This feels like a real lucky break for him to land in this spot as Vader's player/coach mentor. They asked how the Japanese team could possibly face the "American beef steak hordes" as the came out so that's good stuff.

Vader charged in to start and hit a lariat on Choshu but Choshu fired back. Vader beat on Fujinami for a bit until he finally slammed him, but Brad was able to power him around. More beating on Fujinami ensued, but Vader missed the corner post charge on the outside and they actually worked him over for a bit including a Scorpion attempt. Finish had Brad hit a pretty cool tilt a whirl slam off the ropes and Vader hit a splash for the pin. This needed more Buzz but Brad immediately made an impact.

4/13/89: Super Strong Machine/George Takano vs Southern Boys: Southern Boys really took the fight to SSM and Takano for the first two thirds of this. Takano was in for a while before SSM could even get in and they bore down on him, cutting off any comeback. Even when SSM came in they just grinded down on him in a way you wouldn't expect. I'd liken this a little to how the Fantastics overcompensated and took too much of their matches in AJPW during a similar time period. Complicating matters was that SSM and Takano, who are usually quite good at execution, just weren't hitting anything clean, whether it was a singles move or tandem. The top rope spin wheel kick whiffed big. That idea over and over. Southern Boys finally hit the bearhug/missile dropkick combo but there's always an issue pinning due to two guys being in the ring at once here. Then SSM/Takano hit the tandem spin wheel kick/back of head clothesline but SSM missed it big. They got the pin anyway but this didn't work too well overall. 

4/17/89: Inoki vs Tracy Smothers: This file was 3.3 MB big. It was an .asf. It was like watching on real player. But you still had a sense of what was going on. We're lucky to have it I suppose because Inoki footage is going to be coming to an end soon. Smothers was spirited and aggressive. He put Inoki in the tree of woe early and he just kept on him as much as possible even taking Inoki's punches and other things by bumping big. The performance of someone who wanted a steady job touring really. One thing I like about Inoki vs undercard guys is that he wins different ways with moves that rarely get him a win otherwise. Here he used the rolling Kappo kick to win. 

4/19/89: Koshinaka/Hase(?) vs Southern Boys: I'm wasn't 100% convinced this is Hase, but I guess it is. Definitely a mustache, but the hair's off. The aggression wasn't. Both teams went hard. They'd go to the mat, get up, do some wild rope running, and go back down. Momentum shifts tended to be based on double teaming. Southern Boys hit the bearhug/missile dropkick again but couldn't get the pin off of it due to both guys being in the ring. Then they had a couple of mishaps and one hit a missile dropkick on the other and Koshinaka/Hase hit a double missile dropkick from adjacent corners and then the Shiro german for the win. Good action but nothing to really sink your teeth into.

There's a Minoru Suzuki vs Tayayki Iizuka match I have to go back for too.

[Curt McGirt]

The single Don Arakawa match with Cobra on the NJ set was unfairly treated to me, even though it was 150. I thought it was probably top 20-30. He had so much fire. 

Tracy Smothers having gotten to wrestle Antonio Inoki in Japan had to be something he was so proud of.

[Matt D]

3/16/89: Minoru Suzuki vs Tayayki Iizuka: Handheld. Most interesting thing here to me was the fact that they didn't both have black trunks. Maybe this was to differentiate from UWF. Maybe it was to be better on TV. Maybe it was to match AJPW where guys were obviously color coded, but it was surprising. It made it easier to keep track of them tough as it was mostly just scrappy matwork. Suzuki won it with a nice rolling takeover armbar.

4/19/89: Super Strong Machine/Takano vs Goto/Sano: This let the new champs flex a bit. First half was primarily just mat/chain wrestling, with some overlap but mostly Takano vs Sano and SSM vs Goto with a slight advantage for the champs. Match opened up in the middle with Takano and Goto just headbutting the hell out of each other.  Goto got the advantage and they were able to press a bit but never for long. Takano got revenge with headbutts of his own later. Takano and SSM just had size and experience. That's not to say that Goto/Sano didn't have a nice late flurry including a Sano dive and top rope sunset flip but they had to wrestle a perfect match and they had one miscommunication where they crashed into each other. Finish had Takano jamming Sano on a victory roll for three. Maybe a little unfocused at times but lots of energy and a fresh pairing with clear hierarchy.

4/19/89: Inoki/Choshu/Fujinami vs Vader/Rheingans/Sawyer: This time Inoki and co attacked to start, double suplexing Vader, who ended up on the outside and threw a fit. We come back to Choshu vs Buzz and Choshu refuses to get outwrestled. Fujinami comes in and refuses to get suplexed, but Rheingans demolishes him anyway. They really, truly were treating him like Robinson or even Rick Steiner/Brock just the way he was owning the mat with even a guy like Fujinami. They worked him over with a while with Vader squishing him in the corner and dropping him on the rail on the outside out of a press slam on the floor. But he ran into an armdrag and things sort of went back and forth from there for a bit. Inoki held off Vader until he hit a headbutt. Choshu was able to push him back with a dropkick but ate a lariat. They leaned on Fujinami more. But he finally got out of Rheinghans' submissions. It was very back and forth. Vader got lariated by Choshu and enziguried by Inoki but he caught Fujinami's body press off the top. Rheinghans ate a Fujinami dropkick and Inoki got him in a cobra twist into a roll up. Lots of finishers by Inoki this year. Again I'm appreciating the Power Elite matches while we still have them. Rheinghans and Sawyer were a refreshing change to Bam Bam and Morgan.

News: It was Arakawa's retirement match so that makes sense. UWF scooped up Funaki (who had been wrestling in the UK and that Inoki hoped would be the next Fujinami) and Suzuki. Glad he got that Inoki match I guess. Fujiwara shocked everyone by not signing back with NJPW so people don't know what will happen there. Dave was insufferable in all of his write-ups of the matches in the last few posts. Fujinami gives up the title since Vader beat him in a non title match and it'll be decided in a tournament on the big Dome show where they debut all the russians, and Inoki will be facing a judo guy (that's below) who was a Soviet olympic medalist. 

4/24/89: Fujinami vs Vladimir Berkovich: I was really worried about these tournament matches because they are all short, basically five minutes tops for the first round. And I thought it'd screw with the crowd since very few NJPW matches go this short and for all of them to go this short has a feeling of "fake." But they're actually all kind of great in their own way and end up as tangible, believable sprints. This had a US vs USSR vs Japan theme with Brad and some 84 US medalist (not looking it up) out with the Americans. The Soviets had some other guy with crazy eyebrows too. 

This was a bomb fest. Berkovich would hit a crazy suplex. Fujinami would hit a conventional one. That was the match really. But the fans totally bought into it. Fujinami had amazing pro wrestling credibility. He made pro wrestling feel like a legitimate fighting form in ways few others were able to. And he won this by getting the last of the suplexes and then locking in a headscissors with the arm barred (I think) which Berkovich just couldn't escape from.

4/24/89: Buzz Sawyer vs Victor Zangiev: This was all Zangiev. He's super theatrical and dramatic and plays to the crowd and is excited when things go his way. Total star. They had matching blue singlets which was kind of funny especially as both were more or less bald. Buzz was great in reacting but he really didn't get month. He was protected on the finish though. After getting schooled, he rolled out to talk to Brad and the olympian. Then he immediately came back with a bridging German. Zangiev kicked out but Buzz thought he'd won and was distracted so that Zangiev could hit the German on him. Post match Brad got in everyone's face. 

4/24/89: Choshu vs Hashimoto: This was awesome. Just a great five minute match. Super chippy. Obviously Hash (who we haven't seen. He's been in Memphis teaming with Hickerson. Feels totally unnecessary for him to take another trip given his skill/size, but whatever) carried himself with an attitude and obviously Choshu was going to meet him more than half way. They had just a really nasty exchange in the corner with Choshu elbows and Hash headbutts. Crowd popped huge as Hash hit a spin wheel kick on the first lariat and survived the second. Choshu survived the DDT as well. Finish was shocking as Choshu went for the Scorpion and Hash rolled him up, really using his size to keep him down. Big upset. I had been spoiled on it which is a shame, but I was trying to figure out what was round 1 and what was round 2 in the footage.

4/24/89: Chono vs Vader: Chono tried but this really didn't go well for him. He got pounded around the ring, press slammed. When he tried something like floating over a suplex, it didn't quite work. He went for a German and Vader landed on him with a squish. Then Vader came off the top with a splash and really squished him. I wouldn't say he made an impact (but Vader made an impact on him). 

4/24/89: Bam Bam Bigelow vs Salman Hashimikov: This was NOT a tournament match (to protect Hashimikov overall) but it was still very short. It was a cool match though as Bam Bam hit stuff steadily for a few minutes, as if Hashimokov couldn't figure out how to deal with a giant, agile pro wrestler doing dropkicks and what not. But then he was able to heft him up and plant him and hold him down for three. It was all built to extremely well and put over Hashimikov huge because he was able to defeat Bigelow by absorbing a few things and hitting one huge power move out of nowhere. 

4/24/89: Inoki vs Shota Chocohishvili [Different Styles]: One of my favorite Different Styles fights I've seen. Part of it was that Shota was a judo guy and not a kickboxer so it gave them more options. Some of it was just the drama though. Of course Inoki's weirdo Martial Arts title was on the line here. There were no ropes here but no moves seemed off limits. Inoki did quite well the first round, hitting a belly to back and defending himself. But things really opened up with the second round as Shota hit a urinage type move, that started as a Saito Suplex but landed with just one arm controlling him. You'd recognize it if you saw it but it's a move that was almost never done in NJPW at this time. And Inoki came out of it with only one arm (worked to give the finish cover but effective). He got tossed around with just one arm for a round or two until he stared using the leg kicks and all of his other tricks and that had Shota rocked. But Shota, unlike others, didn't back down. He pressed his advantage and started tossing him on the mat and Inoki couldn't make the count. Pretty shocking stuff and Shota left with the title. 

4/24/89: Jushin Liger vs Kobayashi: Liger's debut. They actually namedropped Yamada a few times though they seemed unsure if it was him. But noted that instead of just winning a junior title, he wanted to give young people dreams or something like that. It still came as a surprise to me, but it shouldn't have because Yamada was such a well known entity and he was the only guy doing shooting star presses, etc. This went double most of the tournament matches I've seen so far and frankly, while Kobayashi is a great opponent in general, he was TOO good, and he took too much of this. All of his stuff is credible and he's dogged, but this was just too 50-50 and had a lot of Liger working from underneath. Every time he did hit something, it was big and explosive and over the top and he was great at working the crowd and projecting like a star. But for a debut like this, he probably should have had Sano or Goto or someone. Kobayahi and even Hiro Saito were going to wrestle too even. The look was obviously still developing too and I kind of miss Eye of the Tiger or the Rocky Theme or whatever he was coming out to before. But it all worked out anyway I suppose.

[Curt McGirt]

Oooo this means Zangiev/Hash is coming up, the ultimate sprint.

[Matt D]

I always get a little behind during AEW PPV weeks.

The 4/24/89 show at the Tokyo Dome is one of the biggest I've seen since starting this project. It just felt huge. Apparently there's also Benny Urquidez vs. Shinya Asuka and Masa Saito vs. Wahka Eveloe on the card that we don't have too.

4/24/89: Vader vs Fujinami (semi-finals): When you see these in context, you get different things out of different moments. Here it was the pre-match handshake. It really feels like a culmination of something for both Vader and Fujinami. You couldn't have imagined it a year or six months before but it just felt right and monumental and it's something that people dropping in on this match probably wouldn't give a second thought. There's a Choshu or Saito match or two and the Inoki match of course, but to me, this is the most and clearest Fujinami has appeared as the successor of Inoki, a real top top card star. And that's in losing too. It was very equal, almost 50-50. Vader hit a belly to back out of a headlock to start, but the Fujnami was able to get one. Vader went for the arm early but then Fujinami went most of the match working for it and when he did pry it off to try one lock or another or when he hit an armdrag to set one up, the fans popped big for it. It was even though with Vader getting the bigger advantages but then Fujinami fighting back. One of the best examples was a huge Vader clothesline where he flexed after and Fujinami crumpled in the ropes. Vader went for another one and Fujinami hung onto the ropes and back body dropped him over. It really did feel like it could go either way and that Fujinami's arm work was going to win the day, but then Vader dropped down on him on a sunset flip and hit a splash for a pretty surprising win. Excellent match.

4/24/89: Hashimoto vs Zangiev (semifinals): In context, I can't imagine most fans thought that Hashimoto was going over here. This really was a coming out party for him but you didn't know it coming in. I should read the WON on this. But at the same time he was proven against the UWF guys (and the trainees who went off to UWF like Anjo) to a degree already and we knew he could hang. And hang he did. This had some great struggle. The story was that Zangiev could get him over but he couldn't press the matter and Hashimoto could keep up with him better than you'd think. So Zangiev hit a great Belly to Belly and caught a kick for a Fisherman's but Hashimoto kept pressing. He jammed him in the corner after a second belly to belly, using his size to do so, and hit a spin wheel kick out of nowhere and snapped on a leglock for the win.

4/24/89: Vader vs Hashimoto (finals): Thesz was the ref. Just Hashimoto standing toe to toe with Vader like this was a huge deal, and they were even early, but then Vader hit a spinning backfist, which I've never seen him do to this point, and that opened up the match. Vader ground down on him and forced him out but Hashimoto came back by working the arm. That went well for a while until Vader hit him so hard with a punch that his head crunched against the turnbuckle pad. Just an awesome bump off a punch. Vader kept the advantage, but Hashimoto would come back in key moments. He'd dodge a corner charge. He'd hit the Spin Wheel Kick when Vader went to the top. When he did, he went back to the arm. When he tried to press with kicks, Vader just hit a haymaker and KOed him. He followed up with a clothesline that Hashimoto kicked out of and a second that he didn't. Post match, Vader went nuts threatening announcers and celebrating with Rheinghans with the title and trophy. All of this was great in putting both Vader and Hashimoto over while still keeping the Russians and Fujinami strong. 

4/24/89: Super Strong Machine/Takano vs Koshinaka/Hase: Thesz was the ref here too. It takes the right team to ground SSM and Takano and this was not it. Not at all. Plus Takano was headbutt crazy lately. There's one point where he and Koshinaka just start headbutting each other and not reacting and Thesz had to be watching thinking they were two idiots. Just the prototype for the worst, least effective fighting spirit stuff unfortunately. What was good was seeing Super Strong Machine and Hase face off and go to the mat against each other as they were stablemates so it was rare. Things went back and forth for a while, but whenever it went back to Hase vs SSM it was really good. Eventually Hase threw SSM into the wrong corner with a belly to belly and they were able to tag and start in on him. He did this deal where he split his legs while getting pile driven for a great visual. SSM missed the diving headbutt and Koshinaka got the tag and started in on him. He and Hase hit their tandem missile dropkick but couldn't put him away. And really this just kept going. Lots of cool stuff but it was all just noise to me after a while. It had none of the drama of the Choshu/Saito match or the structure of the Fujinami/Kimura one. Hase hit a sort of air raid crash out of a back body drop attempt but couldn't get the Northern Lights and SSM hit his single underhook suplex for the win. Just too much.

4/24/89: Hiro Saito vs Sano: This was the Young Lions Cup final and that's pushing it for Saito. It's obviously to get Sano over as a new big Jr. He gets a flurry to start ending with a big tope suicida which they call as such excitedly. They move into holds and Saito has an advantage until Sano can string together three big moves (a reverse enziguiri with the foot caught, a Gangrel arm trap suplex, and a tombstone). Saito comes back (huge missile dropkcik) but misses a dive and Sano hits a huge one. Then they go to the finish where Saito blocks the victory roll attempt by falling backwards and catches him with a power bomb but Sano flips him over for the pin. This was probably overall stronger and more coherent and purposeful than the Liger match, but they're close. 

[Matt D]

UWF 2.0 4/14/89

MD: First and foremost, the pre-show celebration is very cool. They have everyone out like usual but then they bring out Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki. Remember, Suzuki was a super undercard NJPW guy never on TV. Funaki was in the UK getting seasoned though we had seen him a few times in 88. But he was considered internally as the next Fujinami. Suzuki jumping matters but Funaki was a big deal and he was treated like a huge get. But even Suzuki moved the needle. He might have been young but the small roster was beginning to feel like an issue for UWF when it came to sustainability. With Funaki, Suzuki, and Fujiwara jumping, it felt like they had enough fresh matchups to take them another year. That's my outsider view from decades later at least. 

Yoji Anjo vs Minoru Suzuki: Anjo fought this one like he was afraid his spot on the card was going to get gobbled up by Suzuki. It made for a pretty compelling fight. Anjo had more flourishes maybe, but a few minutes in, Suzuki just hefted him up, dropped him down and locked in a leglock when he couldn't get the half crab. Anjo made the craziest faces like only he could and the crowd went nuts. They'd trade advantages with Anjo more aggressive and Suzuki picking his moments. This really was made to showcase and present Suzuki as a dangerous young lion. Anjo got a late advantage after hitting his snap side slam but Suzuki came back and I really thought he might take this one to give him a shot in the arm as a new fighter, before Anjo hung on with it. Very Japanese way of building up a new guy where he has a great showing but still lose.

Shigeo Miyato vs Tatsuo Nakano: Yes, they've run this a lot and yes they had a roster issue before this show, but honestly, this is a really great rivalry given the inherent physical and stylistic differences. It's great we get to see it so many times. It, like always, had Nakano rushing in early because he knew the longer this went the more it favored Miyato. Whereas Miyato had to wrestle defensively given Nakano's size advantage. It was a little scrappier than previous outings though. For one thing, you got the sense Nakano was developing. He was a smarter, better fighter as these went on and was able to control more. There was more of a sense Miyato was fighting from a deficit and not just because Nakano got in some big, sharp throws. Still, he had the superior stamina and even after getting rocked and being unsteady on his feet, he could turn the tide down the stretch at any moment. That's exactly what he did with two spinning heel butts deep into the match and he was able to barely get a win shortly thereafter. 

Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki: What's interesting here is how Maeda fought defensively. He never did that. He was almost always the aggressor. You can even look at something like the Vale fight where he leaned in so as to catch the kicks and hit throws. But Yamazaki wasn't the same sort of outsider. He was as pro as pro got and  as dangerous as could be with his kicks, so Maeda fought him with great respect. It was fairly even overall. Occasionally Maeda would take a big swing but it generally didn't work for him. The finish was wild though. Maeda missed a spin wheel kick. He caught a subsequent Yamazaki kick though, but Yamazaki just headbutted him straight on to prevent the capture suplex. Yamazaki followed up with a slew of offense but the refs all rushed in at that point as that headbutt had opened him up huge. He had to forfeit and it was a shame as it was looking like a very good fight. 

[Matt D]

5/17/89: 5x5: Bam Bam Bigelow/Darryl Peterson/Steve Williams/Rip Morgan/Italian Stallion vs Salman Hashimikov/Victor Zangiev/Vladimir Berkovich/Wahka Evloev/Timur Zalasov

MD: So believe it or not, this was kind of my initial destination with the NJPW side of the project. Obviously it's changed a bit because I've come to love certain aspects of the company (some of which I'm about to lose in Fujiawara and Inoki) and because it just feels like such forbidden lore that no one else gets to learn about. But some of these matches were uncovered a few years ago and no one really went through them, and certainly no one's gone through them with the week to week context like I have. So here we go.

These were 5 singles matches but with a lot of fun camaraderie, big hype up moments from the "American" team where they all put hands in. Bunch of hooligans and ne'er-do-wells so it's funny to see. They did the anthems beforehand too. 

Italian Stallion vs Timur Zalasov: thankfully, this was listed in reverse order because I'm not familiar with Evloev (we don't have his match vs Saito from April) or Zalasov. I am familiar with Stallion and he's hilarious here. He decides to work this as a total stooging heel up against a foreigner who was barely smartened up. That meant he kept complaining about hair pulls and tightspulls and then, of course, did them himself. Meanwhile, Zalasov just wanted to shake his hand. It was all pretty endearing. We've seen Stallion assert himself in NJPW matches so he could go and he did a little bit here, but it all ended with a German and him complaining to high heaven about the count too. Very fun stuff and it hit with the crowd even if it wasn't what they were expecting.

Rip Morgan vs Wahka Evloev: We'd see this in a couple of these matchups. Remember, Morgan had just been the third guy in all of those main events and was presenting himself a bit like Brody. He ended up taking a lot of this grinding down Evloev. Clubbering, stomping, using a cross toehold. I'm not sure it was compelling, but it was effective. And it made things all the more shocking when Evleov hit him with a flying cross armbreaker takedown and submission out of nowhere. So it's 2-0 for the Russians at this point.

Steve Williams vs Vladimir Berkovich: Doc was so cool in this setting. Very evenly matched and they'd just go hard with one another. Doc took over with some pro wrestling shenanigans kicking on a handshake and then hitting a very labored press slam. He'd also throw in a shot when Berkovich was just trying to wrestle with him. All of that gave the slight impression that Berkovich was maybe a better pure wrestler (especially given some of the throws/suplexes he got) but Doc was a better total package. Along those lines, he finally trapped Berkovich in the corner and laid in a bunch of knees before hitting the Stampede for the win. This had a different energy than the rest. After the pin they did shake hands for real though.

Darryl Peterson vs Victor Zangiev: We haven't seen much Peterson in 89. Not sure what he's been up to on the undercards. He's still a very big guy though and he had been training long enough that he could hang with the theatrical Zangiev a good deal. They got right up in each other's faces to start which helped matters. Lots of riding around on the mat, but it was all energetic and exciting. Peterson hit a slam and a few other things but he missed a splash and Zangiev was able to take him over with a front chancery suplex for the win. 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs Salman Hashimikov: While some of the others were very good having more "shooty" matches with these guys, Bigelow could have the most complete pro style matches with them. This did stay on the mat a lot but it started with Bigelow rolling and moved to him tossing Hashimikov out for instance. At one point Bigelow suplexed him but then went flying out of the ring himself on the kickout which really put over Hashimikov's strength. The couple of throws Hashimikov did looked very impressive including a double arm suplex he really fought for. He also had this great rolling legpick. The idea was that Bigelow really made him work for it but that he could do the work. Finish had him heft up Bigelow and was about to really plant him but the Americans distracted the ref and Doc grabbed the leg to let Bigelow steal the win. They celebrated big even though they lost the series (it was inevitable at this point). And it was all a pretty effective scene.

But I'm sure the crowd was desperate to see the Russians up against the Japanese stars. 

[Matt D]

Trying to keep track of a bunch of handhelds that have shown up in the last ten years. I'm not the first person to have gone through these ever (I'd even seen some already) but I do think I'm the first one to integrate them into the context of the rest of the footage we have as far as I know. 

5/19/89: Fujinami vs Sano: Such a cool match. Sano comes in and dropkicks Fujinami from behind right at the start. He doesn't let up. Dropkicks. Strikes. Grounded moves. A hold. Just powering him over for a belly to belly. The thing is. Everyone knew he was on borrowed time. I think he knew he couldn't beat Fujinami but every second he was on top was a second he was making a name, making his mark, becoming someone just a little more. And he made the most of it. Fujinami, when he took over, didn't do it like Inoki. He did it like himself, grounding him, stopping the speedy attack. He was conservative and Sano was able to fire off once more, even hitting a German. But when Fujinami finally shut him down, he really shut him down. He hit the Robinson backbreaker and put him in the Dragon Sleeper. But then the little bastard had the audacity to make it to the ropes. Fujinami hefted him up and hit three more Robinson backbreakers, the last one out of a belly to belly position with a deep twist. Then he pinned him. Post match Koshinaka and others were celebratory for Sano though.

5/20/89: Sano vs Osamu Matsuda: It's wild to see this super undercard match after Sano was up against Fujinami the night before. Matsuda had black trunks, one of those guys. He was a meaner striker, a meaner stomper. Sano was flashier, hit bigger stuff, lots of suplexes actually and they all had cool heft, really working for them. Matsuda did kind of grind him down though. Finish had Sano doing his reverse enziguiri, the shotgun missile dropkick, a kip up, and a jumping pile driver. Pretty definitive even if he had to do a reversal to get there.

5/20/89: Liger vs Akira Nogami: I haven't seen much Nogami in this run yet. He's got the black trunks too. The fans were oohing for all of Liger's stuff early (kappo kick, etc) even though it wasn't super flashy or anything. He gave Nogami a lot, too much probably, even if it was just Nogami trying to drag him down with an armbar or crab. Liger could really go on the mat and would reverse both in time. Nogami got to do a dive through the top and second ropes and a corner dropkick, but Liger wiped him out with a reversal out of the corner and hit a dive of his own to set up a superplex for the win. He's still figuring it out.

[Curt McGirt]

You're right on the lip of the Sano/Liger feud. Great stuff!

[Matt D]

5/20/89: Hiroshi Hase vs Vakha Yevloyev: Finally we're getting to Japanese vs Soviets here. The underlying story in these matches will be "pro wrestling" vs "wrestling" basically. For instance, Hase, a skilled mat wrestler himself, starts this with an ambush dropkick. He's able to hang when it comes to scrapping and grappling but not have any advantage there and he needs to utilize pro wrestling tricks to get the offense back. Yevlovev gets a cross arm breaker on him and as he rolls out, he starts stomping him, etc. Yevloyev has a way of just being able to get under him and hefting him over. All of this has a quasi UWF feel because of it. Hase tries to stay on the leg, including kicking it and lifting it for a takedown and then a leg lock, but you get the sense he's really just trying to contain Yevloyev, and for good reason, as the latter locks in a triangle out of nowhere (one of the first we've seen in the footage) and that's that. Yevloyev does a fun little roll of celebration post match.

5/20/89: Shiro Koshinaka vs Salman Hashimikov: You'd think this would be a mauling but Shiro is savvy.. Hashimikov can just slip under Shiro and roll him over while holding on an arm and there's nothing Shiro can do. That's not to say Shiro isn't game and doesn't press advantages and get a few takeovers (and grounded shots) himself. But he's not going to win this with a chinlock. Hashimikov just hefts him up and tosses him down. Shiro even gets a figure four and a butt butt and really presses in on him in the corner, but again, Hashimikov is able to get up from under him and spin and drop him like a sack of potatoes to win.

5/20/89: Big Van Vader vs Vladimir Berkovich: This was clipped but you get the idea. Vader presses right up with Berkovich who puts on a headlock and eats a belly to back for his trouble. He actually gets Vader over off the rope with a chancery throw and tries to work the arm, but Vader, sick of it all, hits him with a low blow mule kick and then clotheslines and splashes him for the pin.

5/20/89: Inoki/Iizuka vs Super Strong Machine/H. Saito: We're almost done with Inoki so every match like this was a joy. Interesting it's not Takano here but that would screw with the finish. Iizuka and Saito match up well together to start before SSM comes into crush him. Iizuka gets a belly to back out of nowhere to turn the tide and Inoki comes in. Just great to see them match up until SSM works him into the corner and Saito gets to try with strikes and bullying and even using the ref as a stalking horse to get a takedown. Inoki quickly out wrestles him on the mat and Iizuka comes in to work him over. It looks like Saito's going to show him what for with a German but Iizuka does a great rolling leg pick out of it and maintains control. Right until SSM comes in and crushes him. But he makes it to Inoki who comes in hot. They go around for a finish with Saito hitting the senton on Iizuka and then iizuka coming back with a cross arm breaker. That gets broken up but it allows Inoki to come in to win it. Iizuka felt like he leveled up a bit here and always great to see Inoki against more unique opponents.