Matt Watches 1989 AJPW/1986 NJPW on a Treadmill

[Matt D]

49 minutes ago, username said:

I just wanna drop in to say that this is probably my favorite regular write-up deal that you do, the segunda caida blog included. This whole era is a big blindspot for me and I at least feel now that I have a feel for the major players in it.

Thanks for reading along. It's a bit of a lonely journey sometimes (though Charles at the Wrestling Playlists newsletter going through 86-87 NJPW and about to hit 88 has helped a lot because he's shared with some of my views, though differed on others). 

But this is all new to me too. When I started this I couldn't really tell you the difference between Tenryu or Choshu or meaningfully describe Inoki and Jumbo. Let alone having strong opinions about Momota or Hiro Saito or whoever. So I've learned a lot and that's what this is all about.

With the New Japan footage especially, it all feels so gated and forbidden and then you factor in all the new handhelds. The matches themselves are great but it's also pro wrestling archeology in some ways. And there are a lot of thoughts I've come to going through the footage like this that are different than conventional wisdom. I promise you no one in the sheets had strong opinions about how the Gaspar Pirates helped get Vader over or how the Miyato vs Nakano series is notable or even some big stuff like how Baba relied upon hosses on top in 1990 after Tenryu leaves. You just get an entirely different view when you watch EVERYTHING. If there's ever anything you want to see, just let me know and I'll make sure it gets to you.

[Curt McGirt]

I had to look up what a Waterwheel Slam was and once I realized Hashimikov did it to VADER... boy howdy. Now THAT is a feat of strength!

As I recall, there is a 5-on-5 America vs. Japan match that is really cool coming up. Buzz Sawyer was awesome in Japan. 

[Graham Crackers]

I'm very excited for Matt to watch the 8/8/89 junior tag that sets up the next Liger vs Sano match. 

[odessasteps]

The Liger/Sano three match series that ends with the debut of the shooting star press was among the first things I got when trading tapes in the early 90s. 

[Curt McGirt]

It felt a shame that the series ended in the '90s because seeing the first two on the '80s set and not finding the final match until later was a letdown. 

[Matt D]

I still have one more end July match for NJPW, but I wanted to hit the UWF show. They're always a ton of work but they're worth it.

UWF 7/24/89: Mark Rush vs Minoru Suzuki: Suzuki is fascinating to watch. Super entertaining. This went to a draw but for a lot of it you had the sense Rush was surviving by the skin of his teeth. It took a while for it to open up as they stayed sort of even to start, but once it did, it really opened up. Suzuki hit a nasty corner dropkick for one knockdown, then really struggled to get a sloppy gotch piledriver (first I've seen in UWF) for a second, and this cool rolling takeover shoulder throw (I feel like Sasaki does it later?) for a third. The fourth was through 3 rope breaks. Down the stretch Rush almost hulked up out of desperation and hit a shoot body slam and he was in it more than you'd expect towards the end through brute force and will power, but in watching this, I think they should have just let Suzuki go over. He would have won on points.

UWF 7/24/89: Tatsuo Nakano vs Masa Funaki: Amazing spectacle. This was chippy from the start just both of them really going at it. Nakano hit a shoot DDT then when Funaki started laying in the kicks, he went for a dragon screw. Funaki jammed him and started laying in slaps and kicks. He opened Nakano's nose up huge. Tons of blood. They tried to stop it. Nakano desperately wanted to keep fighting. Finally they let him. I had the sense that Funaki was hesitant to go to the face either out of honor or camaraderie or just because he didn't want the fight to end that way. But in limiting himself he left himself open for Nakano to get some shots in and Nakano is just way too dangerous for that. There were moments where he was shaky on his feet after Nakano landed a blow. Eventually, after getting dropped, Funaki shifted gears and went right after him, not holding back anymore. Funaki had to protect himself and that left him open to Funaki attacking from other angles. Ultimately, he temporarily passed out in a hold and left the match hot. Hell of a thing.

UWF 7/24/89: Takada vs Miyato: I knew coming in this was going to be a rough match up for Miyato. It's not that Takada is a main eventer (though he is). It's that styles make fights and Miyato's success comes from discipline. He gets his opponent to punch themselves out or make mistakes. Takada is very good at not overextending. He's a measured fighter and a great striker and a good counter wrestler. Given the size/reach/striking advantage he had over Miyato this did not bode well. You're not going to blow Takada up. Miyato knew it and he rushed in with strikes and a strong offense early. Maybe that bought him a few more minutes but this was inevitable. 

[Curt McGirt]

7 minutes ago, Matt D said:

this cool rolling takeover shoulder throw (I feel like Sasaki does it later?)

I always just thought it was a Judo throw. 

Hey here is that Nakano/Funaki match. Uh, you wanna talk about a Waterwheel Slam...

 

[Matt D]

UWF 7/24/89: Anjo vs Maeda: Everyone in the crowd knew exactly what they were getting here and they got it. Anjo is the most punchable guy in the world. He's basically that thing from Pee-Wee's Playhouse...Randy. He's Randy. A lot of him trying stuff and Maeda hefting him over with versions of his capture suplex. He'd get a few flurries but the strength here was his tortured face as Maeda stretched him and just how he got beaten around. He came out stronger than he came in for putting up a fight but this was cathartic to everyone watching. Post match, he's laid out and Maeda goes to check on him and he just kips/jumps up and the crowd erupts. Very self-aware.

UWF 7/24/99: Fujiwara vs Yamazaki: Speaking of self-aware, look at these two. The first third of this was very measured. Lots of feeling out. You got the sense that they were too good. Some of what made the card work so far was difference in hierarchy or size or skill so that there was that gap that make things sudden and interesting. Here they were so defensive and ready for one another there was none of that. But it had a point. By establishing just how good these two were and how even, it let them open things up mid-match in a way that might have seemed hokey or "fake" were it not for the foundation they carefully and meticulously laid. The middle of the match was Yamazaki kicking Fujiwara in the gut in the corner and then Fujiwara getting revenge by punching Yamazaki in the gut in the corner. It was a great act and they made it work in this setting to high effect. Just a real sense of two guys being jerks to one another and then getting comeuppance. You wouldn't think that UWF would have this sort of range, but it absolutely did because they took the time to frame it. Finish had Yamazaki headbutting Fujiwara to open him up. And that was not a good idea and Fujiwara crushed him with a headbutt for the fifth knockdown and the TKO. Very unique match that I imagine people didn't appreciate enough over the years. I mean Phil did of course. It was his #1 for the Other Japan ballot. But others probably didn't. 

7/28/89: Liger vs Nogami: This might be my favorite Liger match so far. Nogami is an aggressive sob. Feels like he's sort of come out of nowhere. Was he on excursion? No, he doesn't go anywhere until Germany in mid 90 (and I think we're about to encounter him in PR in 91). A ton happens here. It's as maximalist as any other 10 minute Liger match I've seen so far, but the transitions are just better. Liger will escape a cross arm-breaker by bridging. He'll open things up with kicks but Nogami will catch one and drop him and then put him into a half crab. Nogami will hit his running knee in the corner (it's great) but then on the next whip, Liger will be able to leap up to the second rope and lunge back with a body block. That sort of thing. It also had solid escalation where they started on the mat and then opened things up to those transitions and momentum shifts before escalating to dives and bombs at the finish. With all of the stuff interesting and good along the way. That knee (both in the corner and off the ropes) is awesome. Liger did a half crab which was so elevated that Nogami looked like a Japanese letter. Even some of Liger's reactions where he'd take a beat and make an expression and really use his body language now that he had the mask felt like he was getting it. Some of the late match bombs like Nogami's bridging double underhook suplex looked great too. Liger finally got one up on him with one of the counters and dropped him with a Liger Bomb. Really good one. I'll see If I can push it through later.

8/3/89: Choshu/Liger/Kimura vs Vader/Manny/Buzz: Vader/Manny/Buzz is such a cool team. There were good moments in here. It was nice to see Kimura in the mix and he got to at least throw some brutal kicks. Manny hit his burrito and back elbow (though that didn't land as well as it could have). Buzz had a great couple of suplexes and the power slam. Choshu Choshued. But this was about Liger and was a clear elevation that worked with the fans. I know Dave says that Fujinami broke his back to get Vader over and I don't think that's a useful line, even if that's how he got hurt, but Vader was over at this point for multiple reasons, and now Vader was willing to give smartly to help get Liger over. Liger was following up from the save he had made back in July and he attacked Vader on the apron, knocking him off almost immediately. When they did go at it, Vader press slammed him to the floor. On the way back in, Liger was able to get free of a suplex and thanks to an assist from a Choshu Lariat was able to dropkick Vader over the top. So a big moment. There was also a great bit of rope running between Buzz and Liger. Finish had Choshu hit a lariat on Manny, but Kimura actually get the win with the Inazuma leg lariat which is not something I think I've ever seen him actually win with (even if it's technically his finisher in 86-88 before he adopts the power bomb. 

8/3/89: Hase/Iizuma vs Nogami/Sano: Most notable thing here, past Nogami being very aggressive again, was Sano being the odd man out. He ended up swept underneath a lot given Hase's suplexes and Iizuma's takedowns. It was only very late in the match that he was able to break out and start to run and jump around a bit and by then it was basically too late. Nogami was a madman and ended this with a crazy top rope dive to the floor that sent himself and Iizuma over the barricade and caused a (rare for 89) barricade DQ. Post-match they were checking on his leg heavily. 

[Curt McGirt]

Is it just me or has anyone ever noticed that Fujiwara's Achilles heel seems to be his stomach? Almost anytime somebody hits him in it, that's their transition to offense or "in" for whatever else is happening in the match, if he's being dominant. 

[AxB]

The reason Akira Nogami kept disappearing for long periods is, he had a successful acting career simultaneously, and it tended to take precedence over his wrestling. So he wound up ageing a lot slower in Wrestling years, because he just wasn't building up the level of wear and tear that his contemporaries were.

[Matt D]

8/3/89: 5x5 (singles matches) Japan B Team vs Russia: They actually call the Japan team the B team which is funny. Most of these ten to be clipped so the whole thing is less than 20 including some pre-match.

• George Takano vs Timur Zalasov: Just a couple of minutes here. Takano is selling the arm and Zalasov is working it. The Russians don't always know how to take certain moves here it was Takano's big comeback spin wheel kick which Zalasov turned around for so it got him from behind sort of. Regardless, that did turn the tide and Takano won it with a German.
• Vladimir Berkovich vs Tatsutoshi Goto: Goto is back to having black hair but it looks dyed maybe? so I have no idea what that blonde bit at the tribute show was. Maybe that was a match from a different year and I got it messed up? This is just a minute or two as well. He holds his own against Berkovich with strikes and a suplex right until Berkovich catches a foot. Then it's a struggle-laden fisherman's suplex and a belly to belly off the ropes for the pin. 
• Victor Zangiev vs Shiro Koshinaka: These two are natural opponents in some ways because Koshinaka can be a ham as well. Zangiev had a great takeover off of an armwringer but Koshinaka put him in a headscissors afterwards. The headscissors walkaround escape was particularly funny here since it took forever and Koshinaka just sat there. Koshinaka survived a Scorpion (and Zangiev was the guy doing stuff like that, more pro wrestling coded). Lots of hold trading actually. Koshinaka had a chinlock and cobra twist. Zengiev had a STF and camel clutch. Koshinaka had a half crab. Everything looked good but was moved out of too quickly. Koshinaka hit the butt butt but again Zangiev turned around and it was weird. He was able to get behind Koshinaka off the ropes and hit a German out of nowhere though. This was strong if a bit slight. 
• Shinya Hashimoto vs Wahka Eveloev: Eveloev did well early with takeovers and arm submissions. Hashimoto was able to come back at times with headbutts or other strikes. Really though this was short and despite Eveloev winning on points, all it took was one crashing spin wheel kick to put him down. Hashimoto came out looking like a monster. He was just back from Germany and ready to make a mark I suppose.
• Salman Hashimikov vs Super Strong Machine: Just a couple of minutes shown. Machine was good at making this look like a clash of the titans. He got a slam and the diving headbutt and then went for the lariat but Hashimikov got underneath him and dropped him with his waterwheel drop to win the series for the Russians. 

8/5/89: Justin Liger vs Kantaro Hoshino: This is a handheld and I actually have to track down two matches from it (M. Saito/Goto vs SSM/Takano and Hata vs Black Cat). This was a very interesting, very weird match. This was at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya. I never pay attention to venues here. I probably should. I wonder if we've gotten other handhelds from here and if the crowd's been different. Because this crowd was fully behind Hoshino. Hoshino is a guy like Fuchi or Mighty Inoue who had been around forever on the lower/mid card and always worked hard and looked good and was credible but never got a real push. He ambushed Liger to start. What was cool about it is that he didn't do any moves really. He just controlled with strikes and beating Liger around. A few minutes in Liger started to come back with palm strikes and kicks and Hoshino just flattened him with a palm strike of his own and his cheering section went nuts. They took things up with a couple of leaps off the apron and fighting on the outside, but Hoshino dragged him back down and then started to try to undo the mask. So things really escalated for a match where it might not have seemed warranted. Down the stretch Liger tried to fight back but Hoshino controlled, to the point of hitting his own Liger Bomb for a quick kickout. Liger finally got roll up out of nowhere and maybe held the tights and the crowd (and, in character, Hoshino) were not pleased. Hoshino milked things as much as possible post match and even attacked Liger once again, going for the mask until other wrestlers broke it up. 

8/5/89: Choshu/Iizuma vs Hashimoto/Nogami: People really wanted to see Choshu and Hashimoto. They tease it early but after some feeling out and a Hash kick, Choshu grabs and arm and hands him off to Iizuma. He knows not to just give it away. Nogami carries a lot of the rest of it, holding his own against Iizuma (who is hard to outwrestle right now), getting taken down once by his bodyscissors trip but jamming him the second time. Iizuma does well against Hashimoto who then is able to fire back with kicks against Choshu, but that's just another tease really. Nogami had to finally survive the Scorpion but he got a sunset flip and managed to tag Hashimoto and now, finally it was on. Hash beat the crap out of Choshu until iizuma came in to break things up and Hash took his eyes off the ball and went after him instead. Choshu nailed Hash from behind with a lariat in the corner and hit another one. Nogami made it in, but all he had to hit Choshu with was dropkicks and he wore himself out which let Iizuma come in. They did pin break ups (funnily, Hash kicked out Iizuma;s leg on a German but Choshu just kicked Nogami in the spine to break oone up). Choshu and iizuma were better at this and hit a spike pile driver to set up an exploder and win it. It was fun for what it was though. Nice to see Hashimoto in the mix.

8/5/89: Kimura/Matsuda vs Kido/Honaga: As I watched this one, all I could think about is how these guys all got left behind. Yes, Kimura is slightly more important in a world without Inoki, Fujwara, or Fujinami, but he was ascendent in 87 and it just all fizzled to nothing as Choshu came back and he couldn't figure out how to fit in. Kido was as important as any of the UWF guys in early 86, certainly more so than Yamazaki, and now Yamazaki is main eventing UWF shows and Kido is certainly not. And it feels like Nogami and Iizuma and Sano who weren't even on the radar have lapped Matsuda and Honaga. This was fine. A lot on the mat. Hierarchy at play as Kimura and especially Kido could do damage. Kido was still as believable as anyone at just dropping someone at any moment. Finish had nice nearfalls with Matsuda and Honaga and then Honaga trying a bunch of dropkicks on Kimura until he overstretched and got power bombed. It was fine. These guys are fine. But they're in a world where fine doesn't cut it. 

 

Edited January 22 by Matt D

[Curt McGirt]

I always looked at Hoshino as their Kikuchi or Fuchi. Maybe a mix of both. A lot of solid matches at the top of the '80s set. 

Re: the NJ pecking order, there was a reason Heisei Ishingun was formed. I'm surprised Kido didn't jump with them. The Blood and Thunder Pt. 2 book goes into detail on this and it was way more of a serious break-off than just another stable in the federation. 

[Curt McGirt]

https://hybridshoot.substack.com/p/the-kick-that-broke-professional

This is a little past where Matt's at now (by two years actually) but if you want the story about the infamous Maeda shoot kick incident, here you go. It definitely ties in to the NJPW/UWF division so fits here perfectly.

[Matt D]

That was a great article. I went back and forth a little with Snowden on it. What's interesting is that Charles/Loss, Snowden, and myself all have slightly different takes but they all become cultural/mythic in some ways. I've held up a bit here due to family coming in and not wanting to dig in to find the two matches I need but I do need to press on. 

Sharing the wealth for the next one since it's a HH.

8/5/89: USA vs USSR Challenge

• Manny Fernandez vs. Timur Zalasov: Very cool match-up actually. Manny really presses him but he has these amazing bridging escapes, and one contorting one out of a chicken wing. They trade Germans and Manny then hits some of the meanest shots I've ever seen, including this crazy backfist that looks like the jumping one he usually does but he doesn't jump. Zasalov gets a nearfall on a roll up out of a slam. Manny crushes him with a belly to belly where he barely gets him off the ground but it still looks brutal. Manny drops him on his head with his own waterwheel drop, but then Zasalov gets a belly to belly to the win. Maybe the best example of this super sprint style. Yikes. 
• Dick Murdoch vs. Vladimir Berkovich: So great to see Murdoch against these guys. He's so alive here. Just active in every moment. Pushing and struggling and asserting himself. Trying different things. Lots of selling his arm as Berkovich targets it but then he pries off a leg. The crowd was more or less pro-America with this match up so Murdoch was really leaning into it, waving his hand around like Jake before the DDT before dropping back with a toehold deathlock. He stomped away at the foot while hanging on the ropes to jam a belly to belly and then just absolutely nailed Berkovich in the corner. Finally Berkovich gets under him and fireman carries him over though. They trade legwork ab it more until Murdoch gets him back into the corner. More punches and elbows. Finish is Berkovich reversing a whip but Murdoch getting and elbow out and dropping him for the Fujiwara arm bar. Post match he really hams it up in a sign of brotherhood. Fun stuff. Fans loved it. 
• Mike Huff vs. Salman Hashimikov: Better than the last Haff match. Lots of takedowns and contortions and riding each other. Good sense of struggle even if it might have been 2/3 legit. Haff tried some clubbering but Hashimikov got underneath him and took him up and over and that was it.
• Big Van Vader vs. Vakha Yevloyev: Vader rushed right in and they had a lot of handfighting and positioning. Very aggressive. Things got heated as Hashimikov came in since he thought Vader was taking liberties. Yevloyev got him over once with a belly to belly, but Vader came back with a slam and a splash. Less goodwill here. 
• Buzz Sawyer vs. Victor Zangiev: I really hope we get Zangiev vs Murdoch at some point but I don't want to look it up in case we don't. Big energy from both of these guys obviously. Buzz was going to fly around for Zangiev and he does with a belly to belly and that great arm twirl takeover. He got an STF on and a headscissors (but that just lets Zangiev do his walkabout escape; then Zangiev got him in a headscissors and Buzz flipped over with it to a pop). Zangiev got on a Scorpion and waved his hand around like a champion and it's so great. They scrapped on the mat and escalated to some last bombs to finish. Buzz escaped, hit a last belly to belly and won it as the place went nuts. Vader had left but the others all held him up with the flag post match. Very cool. Give it a look.

8/5/89: Shiro Koshinaka & Naoki Sano vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kuniaki Kobayashi: Tedious. Unfortunately. I really like Kobayashi. I like Hase vs the right people. Sano is very spirited. Koshinaka gets it 20% of the time better than anyone but Saito, Inoki, and Choshu but the other 80.... This had many good individual moments, like Sano and Kobayashi feeling things out early, them going hard on Koshinaka after crotching him on the post, Koshinaka and Kobayashi in a headbutt war, Sano with a big flippy comeback that was way over the top. In general it was too long and a little formless like a lot of these juniors matches tend to be. Long, never-ending (but exciting) finishing stretch before Koshinaka beat Hase with a dragon. Just not my thing (and something I personally think could be a lot tighter).  

 

[Curt McGirt]

On 1/4/2026 at 12:50 PM, Curt McGirt said:

As I recall, there is a 5-on-5 America vs. Japan match that is really cool coming up. Buzz Sawyer was awesome in Japan. 

^^^ This would be the match right up above. I don't recall if it was pro-shot or not on the NJ set. The celebration is really awesome, Vader waving the flag, Sawyer looks like a total world beater. A real "we may all be strange bedfellows but we're 'MURICAN" feel. 

[Matt D]

The 5x5 series had six matches. It was round robin. 

Japan A Team: Choshu/Saito/Kimura/Kido/Hase
Japan B Team: Hashimoto/Goto/Super Strong Machine/Koshinaka/Takano
USA: Vader/Murdoch/Manny/Buzz/Haff
USSR: Hashimikov/Zangiev/Berkovich/Yevloyev/Zalasov

We have 4 of the six matches. (Japan A vs USA, Japan B vs Russia, USA vs Russia, and I'm about to cover the Japan A vs Russia final). 

The two we don't have are as follows.

7/29/89 Japan A vs Japan B (Japan A 3 - Japan B 2)

• SSM over Hase
• Kimura over Goto
• Kido over Takano
• Hashimoto over Saito (I'd want to see this)
• Choshu over Koshinaka 

8/4/89 USA vs Japan B (Japan B 3 - USA 2)

• Vader over Goto
• SSM over Haff
• Buzz over Takano
• Koshinaka over Manny
• Hashimoto over Murdoch by countout (only one of these I'd really loved to have)

That left Japan A at 2-0 and everyone else at 1-1 or 1-2 going into the final but USSR had a chance to go 2-1 and tie Japan A to force a captain's match to decide it.

That brings us to...

8/8/89: Japan A vs USSR: We only get 17 minutes of this on TV including entrances and post-match but the overall narrative and the ending are great so this is overall great.

Kimura vs Hashimikov: Starting with the USSR big gun. Kimura nails him with a spin wheel kick to take over and then hits a suplex and the leg lariat (he takes them all weird like always) but Hashimikov gets under him and hits the waterwheel drop. USSR 1-0.

Kido vs Berkovich: These are all JIP. Berkovich is bigger and stronger, Kido tries to fight back by kicking the leg, but he gets caught and dropped. Berkovich finishes him with a shove off the ropes into a belly to belly. USSR is suddenly up 2-0.

Saito vs Zalasov: We come in with Zalasov gutwrenching Saito like it's nothing and tossing him. He hits a Saito suplex of his own (the jerk!). But that just wakes up Saito and he hits a belly to belly, bullying it around. Then he dominates in the corner, hits his own Saito suplex, and then the Scorpion. USSR 2-1.

Choshu vs Zangiev: These two absolutely get it. They bull each other into the corner back and forth. Zangiev takes him over with the rolling arm whip. Choshu gets the headscissors and tries to jam the walkabout but Zangiev gets it the second time and then hits a belly to belly. Choshu drives him to the corner and whacks him. That opens things up for a Saito suplex and lariats until he can keep him down for 3. 2-2 tie.

Hase vs Eveloev: Interestingly, we go back to JIP here. Eveloev has the advantage early, working the arm. Hase fires back with slaps, but Eveloev shoves him and flips him over, to snatch the arm again. Hase scapes and hits a Northern Lights throw. Then things get emotional as he puts on the Octopus (which I've never seen him do before) channeling Inoki. Given his hurt arm, Eveloev is able to make it to the ropes, but Hase gets the exploder and another Octopus for a jubilant win. Everyone goes nuts to celebrate. Great stuff.

8/8/89: Vader vs Hashimoto: Clash of the Titans, and another step up for Hash. Vader tries to charge him through the mask smoke, but gets redirected out. Vader bullies him in the corner but Hash comes back with kicks. Vader's actually able to ground him with a drop toehold out of a test of strength and work him on the mat for a bit. He hits a corner charge and celebrates as Hashimoto crumbles. He hits a massive vertical suplex that launches Hash. After controlling ab it more, he goes for another corner charge and Hashimoto dropkicks him out of the corner (huge pop) and hits a belly to back and locks in a cross arm breaker. Vader tries to fight back but he controls the arm. Vader gets revenge with a dropkcik of his own. Hash ducks a lariat and hits the spin wheel kick knocking Vader out of the ring. They fight on the floor. Vader slams him. Hash avoids a second slam and posts Vader. He tries to make it back into the ring for the countout but vader stops him and presses him over the barricade to get the countout win. Post match Hashimoto wants more. Another step on the ladder.

[Curt McGirt]

I don't understand why they mixed up Japan A and B groups for the finale, why not give it to all the participants in A group? They won, after all. I mean Hase deserved to be in there but SSM legit beat him. If they are gonna play loose then put in SSM or Koshinaka instead of freakin' Kido. Maybe I'm missing something.

[Curt McGirt]

I hope you don't mind but I'm gonna put this here too along with the post in Not From The Now, since Fujiwara/Tenryu only happened in this and it feels like a neat missing puzzle piece for anyone following these reviews. The styles clash is the thing. 

[Matt D]

I will get to 1997 sometime in 2041 maybe, but the logic is that when I get to WAR invading NJPW in 94 or whatever, everything I've watched along the way will make it all so much better. Context means so much with this stuff.

[Matt D]

8/8/89: Liger/Nogami vs Sano/Hoshino: This ranked fairly highly on the 80s set and for good reason. It was great. It's also something where I'm glad we have the Hoshino handheld to bridge it. You can only imagine what we are missing, but this helps to explain why Hoshino has a chip on his shoulder. They ambush Liger at the start but he fights them off soundly. Right until he tries to suplex Sano out and Hoshino dropkicks him off the apron. After that they control on the arm until Liger's able to make a hot tag to Nogami. It's Japan so Nogami has to fight from underneath instead of coming in house afire but he's able to cut off Sano on the top rope and dropkick him off. He then sets up for a huge tope and.... Sano redirects him into the post and it's the nastiest thing imaginable. The rest of the match is Nogami a bloody mess getting destroyed and he never gets Liger back in there. Instead Liger gets knocked off the apron at the end and Sano and Hoshino just win. Striking stuff. 

Here's the dive: 

8/8/89: Murdoch vs Efgeni Alchuhin: I'll be honest, I haven't done the legwork on Alchuhin. If he hangs around more, I will. This was fairly straightforward. Alchuhin outwrestles for Murdoch for a few minutes. Murdoch comes back with atomic elbows to the skull. Then he targets Alchuhin's shoulder with them in the corner which is pretty cool. And he wins it with a Fujiwara Armbar. Post match he chums around with him like a ham. 

8/8/89: Super Strong Machine/Takano vs Buzz/Manny: Definitional Takano moment early here. He has this great, great rope running segment with Buzz that leads to Manny getting a blind tag and a drop toehold/elbow drop. Looks like a million bucks, wonderful stuff. Then Takano immediately comes back with a backslide and make the tag. Cool stuff that means absolutely nothing, the George Takano story. I don't blame him fully because as Cobra he had to follow Tiger Mask and that would break someone, but still... Anyway, they went back and forth after that until Buzz/Manny were able to start working on one of SSM's arms. Very focused offense, including a great second rope headbutt down onto it by Manny. SSM did come back and Takano hit a nice spin wheel kick but he got leapfrogged by Manny and ran right into the power slam. It's funny how there were three matches on the 8/8 TV that all focused on armwork.

8/10/89: Choshu vs Vader: Real clash of the titans feel which you don't often get out of Choshu in this way. He was incredibly self-aware and knew what he was doing here. Case in point, they start with a test of strength of sorts but he gets UNDER vader and hefts him over. Obviously that was Vader doing the heavy lifting but it looked great and felt like a huge moment, like Choshu really meant business. Choshu tried to work the arm but Vader was having none of it and he even got him over into the Scorpion, which was kind of terrifying. Choshu made it to the ropes though. Vader hit one corner charge but when he went for a second, Choshu dodged and got him with a back body drop. Choshu reversed a suplex for a huge pop but Vader eventually got him over with another huge one.Vader missed a splash off the top, Choshu took over with Lariats and got Vader over the rail vying for a countout. Vader beat the count though. Choshu suplexed him it, hit a lariat, but Vader hit a dropkick out of nowhere on the second and won the title with a sunset flip. Shocking ending. Great, iconic match. Maybe Vader's best match with the gimmick so far even though it might not be thought that way.

8/10/89: Hashimikov vs Hashimoto: Another step on the Hashimoto escalation ladder. I thought he was going to take it to be honest. I really did. This one had me. The crowd too. What was interesting for most of this is that Hashimoto outwrestled Hashimikov and Hashimikov really outfought/roughed him. He did get Hashimoto in this nasty Boston crab though. Hashimoto returned favor later on with this nasty grapevined leg splitter. The finishing stretch was wild. Hashimikov went for the waterwheel drop but Hashimoto hovered in midair in the bearhug set up and punched him in the face. Hashimikov got the second waterwheel drop but Hashimoto kicked out and and fought back.  He couldn't put him away though and just grazed the spin wheel kick of doom.Hashimikov got him with the third one and they embraced post-match. The elevation continues.

8/10/89: Kido vs Zangiev: Very fun match here. Lots of scrapping on the mat and escapes. Tons of character and personality even if Kido's is more subtle. Zangiev getting the Scorpion is one of my favorite things all year because he's so damn excited about it, pumping his hand. It'd be a perfect video game animation. Zangiev finally opened up things up with a true overhead belly to belly and other suplexes but Kido got his gutwrench suplex counter for a flash pin. I'm not sure of this finish. Zangiev is a guy who could have challenged Vader.

[Curt McGirt]

It looks to me like Sano took it (literally) on the chin, which is even nastier. 

Just dawned on me after looking up a comp of Holly doing them the other day, because I forgot what it was, that the Alabama Slam is a waterwheel slam. He did some brutal ones back then, too. 

[Matt D]

Stomach bug ran through the house. I thought I was doing fine and then after watching the first match below realized that no, no, I was not fine. Now I am much better however. Meant a bit of a break.

8/10/89: Liger vs Sano: This is for the Jr. Heavyweight Title. Dave said it was called "Junior War II." Or something. After what Hoshino did to him and what they did in the tag, Liger comes in with an "American Football" style set of pads over one shoulder. Very toyetic. Obviously Sano goes right to the arm/shoulder and Liger sells by scooting to the ropes gingerly. Story of the match is that anytime Liger starts to come back, Sano can just yank the arm. Liger has to fight back with one arm. He manages to do so with some high risk offense but it backfires as does Sano's escalation attempts. Liger's selling when he's back in control is amazing. He's just dragging himself around the ring and selling pure misery even after he stomps on Sano. Getting him up for a pile driver takes everything he has even though it's been a minute or two since Sano did anything to him. He ends up piledriving Sano on the floor and Sano bleeds, but Liger can't put him away with one arm and Sano more or more gets back into it. They trade some big stuff in the end, but Liger's a step behind and ultimately Sano takes it with a belly to back off the top.

8/31/89: Hase vs Kendo Nagasaki: Very strange to see Nagasaki back after two years. Lots of "containment" limbwork that didn't really go anywhere, including Hase controlling on the legs. Nagasaki feels real out of place in 89 NJPW. He doesn't quite eat up Hase but he never seems entirely in trouble. Hase sells more. Hase runs into a kick in the corner and my first though was "Huh, I guess they have to heat up Nagasaki for Inoki" before sadly remembering Inoki was gone.

8/31/89: Takano/Super Strong Machine vs Billy Jack Haynes/Italian Stallion: Haynes was a substitution for the Grappler who wanted to stay in Portland. Probably not a great career move for him given he had been presented well against Fujinami the previous year. Stallion looked great here. Or at least like he could hang. Rope running with Takano, working even against Super Strong Machine. One big German. Haynes was rough, very rough. His teeth were missing. He didn't have the physique. And he just couldn't get anyone up for anything. When he was selling it looked like they were beating on a homeless guy or something. When he tried to heft up even Takano later in the match for something like a side slam, he could barely get him up. Very strange. This was sort of inevitable but it went on longer than you'd want. 

8/31/89: Hashimoto/Saito vs Hashimikov/Zangiev: Ok, here's what's going on. There's a tag team league to decide who the challengers for Choshu/Iizuka will be at the end of the tour. Observer listed Fujinami/Nogami, Saito/Hashimoto, Kido/Kimura, SSM/Takano, Koshinaka/Kobayashi, Hashimikov/Zangiev, and Owen Hart/DJ Peterson. But obviously Fujinami will remain out so we'll see. This was a little weird as the last few Hashimikov matches I'd seen had him go more "pro wrestler" and here he had a clear advantage on the mat vs Hashimoto but far less so when striking or pro wrestling stuff like whipping into the guardrail were in play Hash struck hard against Zangiev too. Zangiev and Saito had a fun suplex war. Finish had Hashimikov with a clear advantage but not able to figure out how to deal with a tag team setting so they kept breaking up the pins. That let Hashimoto beat Zangiev with the spin wheel kick and DDT.

UWF 2.0 8/13/89: Miyato vs Tamura: My second look at Tamura. He's very aggressive. They're more matched in size than most Miyato matches which surprised me. Miyato had an answer for everything, but that did not seem like dominance. It seemed like patience and technique. Sometimes that was keeping the hands clasped to stop a cross arm breaker; sometimes that was charging in to meet a Miyato flurry; sometimes it was immediately rolling in order to jam a hold right as he got it on. So he weathered the storm and then, when an opening arose, he hit his spinning heel butt and an unrelenting assault on a slightly gassed Tamura to get the win.

UWF 2.0 Suzuki vs Nakano: This was amazing and people should seek it out. Suzuki is a bastard early, just throwing in swipes. Nakano has the size and power and presses in. Suzuki gets a knee but Nakano tries to hang on. Nakano gets swiped repeatedly. But he's not opened up yet. Suzuki tries to go low and eats a knee and goes down. Nakano charges in and Suzuki gets behind him. Every Nakano swiping back elbow is awesome. Nakano finally takes him around and over as Nakano's blood flows. It's just two body types going at it with everything they have. Swipes, elbows, knees, Nakano headbutts. Finally a German. But Suzuki comes back with his shoot Gotch pile driver and a half crab and he's screaming as he puts it on at a nasty angle. Nakano comes back but Suzuki catches a kick and hits a fisherman's. He drops a killer knee onto Nakano's skull. He goes for a dropkick but Nakano absorbs it. He gets the rolling arm takeover and this is incredible stuff.

UWF 2.0: Yamazaki vs Anjo: Anjo may be one of the most fascinating pro wrestling characters of the 80s. He's entirely petulant, irritating, put upon. He's outclassed and outmatched but he's stubborn and defiant and just ... loathsome really, but he just keeps rushing in and fighting. Yamazaki has his number but he keeps getting cheapshots. First he'd get a crab on, be unable to hold it and kick Yamazaki when he was down. You don't do that in UWF and Yamazaki comes up and destroys him. Later he'd get headbutts off the ropes or work and work work for a suplex. Just little things. Eventually, Yamazaki gets entirely fed up, just absolutely fed up and he catches a kick and kneecaps him with a kick of his own. Anjo keeps on fighting so Yamazaki just hones in on the leg. Brutal stuff. But you kind of love to see it because Anjo's petulance and the faces he makes as he's dealing with the futility of his own existence, they're all just fascinating.

[Matt D]

Not much observer news to report. Dave thought the second Liger vs Sano match wasn't as good as the first because of Liger's injury. Dave was a moron who only appreciated pro wrestling on the most superficial level. He may still be. Liger's selling in that match was amazing.

UWF 2.0: 8/13/89: Takada vs Funaki: Really interesting one. Funaki, showing that same sort of youthful aggression we're seeing out of Suzuki and Tamura, rushes right in and smacks the hell out of Takada, dropping him. Fans are shocked. Takada gets up totally out of it, punch drunk, and gets dropped twice more with slaps and knees. So he's down 3-0 on knockdowns (out of 5) almost immediately. His selling is excellent here. Just totally dazed and having a hard time moving around. He wasn't up until 8 on some of these either. Funaki's almost not sure what to do with it and as Takada comes out desperately swinging, he eats a shot to the gut and then Takada's able to down him again, so it's 3-2 and a totally different fight. Things sort of even out after that with Takada trying throw him, and Funaki unlocking a double arm suplex after a knee to the face, but neither guy can really press an advantage. Takada gets him down one more time making it 3 to 3 but then Funaki (who was pissed off and popped right back up) drops him with a rolling kappo kick out of nowhere making it 4-3. Takada, realizing his back is against the wall, comes out like a bat out of hell and they're really swiping at each other. It feels like a huge deal, Takada gets the advantage and Steiner Recliners him for the submission. First camel clutch submission I've seen in Newborn UWF but it was warranted. Spirited affair here.

UWF 2.0: 8/13/89: Fujiwara vs Maeda: Fujiwara in the first ten minutes of this match is as good as any wrestler I've ever seen in my life. Maeda presses him towards a corner. Fujiwara turns it around and throws some nasty headbutts. He's the greatest defensive wrestler ever. Maeda tries some kicks and Fujiwara gets his legs up. Then he has the canniest smile in the world. It's amazing stuff and the crowd is totally eating it up. Maeda gets him in the corner again and tries to go for headbutts of his own but Fujiwara leans deep away from him and they graze. Then Fujiwara follows it up with this beautiful twisting leg-scissors takedown. This is the most "Gotten To" I've seen Maeda since the Choshu incident and it's amazing. Maeda tries to power him down but he can't lock in a hold and Fujiwara turns things around for a headbutt. Maeda tries for kicks in the corner but he's too wary now and Fujiwra takes him back down. Things settle down and they try to get an advantage with holds for a bit. Maeda is stronger and he can get Fujiwara over but he's got to get out of his own head first. Fujiwara reverses things into a headlock in the corner but Maeda kills him with a belly to back suplex and locks in a modified chicken wing choke. Now Maeda has his confidence back and he trucks Fujiwara with kicks in the corner. Fujiwara tries to charge him out of the corner a second time and Maeda underhooks the arm to take him over. Things have turned. But even then, Fujiwara turns a body scissors into a killer ankle hold and Maeda has to SCRAMBLE for the ropes like I've never seen him. Things have, it seems, turned back, and Fujiwara strikes Maeda all the way out of the ring, leaving him embarassed and dangled which is something you never see in UWF. Fujiwara presses with low kicks back in the ring. So Maeda STOPS THE MATCH and gets into a kneeling position inviting Fujiwara in to wrestle him. Fujiwara does not. It looks like Fujiwara is going to take him down with leg scissors again but Maeda survives it and starts kicking him to hell in the corner. Fujiwara gets knocked down a few times for the TKO basically done. But it was a hell of a ride while it lasted. 

8/31/89: Sano vs Nogami: Gritty, very aggressive match. The early matwork had them just driving into one another. Nogami looked great bridging over out of holds and putting a ton of pressure on Sano. Eventually Sano had enough, picked him up out of a hold, put him on the top and knocked him off. We take this top rope to the floor bump for granted in these but at the time it was very novel. It's certainly effective as a transition. It seemed like after some rope running, Nogami would fight back into it but then he missed a dive (plancha not a tope this time). He reversed a suplex to the floor though and followed it up with killer top rope dive to the floor. They went back to holds with a Nogami advantage. but Sano fought out and hit a pile driver to take back over. Really good transitions in this one. They moved on to bombs and a hot finishing stretch. Finish had Sano come close with a victory roll after he mostly landed on his feet off a back body drop, Nogami almost winning with a German, but then eating a dropkick off of a flying body press and losing to a cradled fisherman's suplex. Great match.

8/31/89: Choshu/Kimura/Liger vs Bigelow/Owen/Pat Tanaka: These trios don't quite have the momentum shifts I'd like unfortunately. I thought this was going to be about heating Bigelow up to challenge Vader (since that was coming in Japan) but it was to get Liger's heat back a bit after the title loss too. He no longer had the shoulder pads. This is a weird foreigner team but not as weird as what would be coming the next day. With Inoki and Fujinami gone you'd figure that maybe Kimura would feel elevated but he really doesn't. Choshu and Bigelow always have great chemistry. They have a good exchange to start building to a Choshu slam. That hurts his back and he has to fight back against Tanaka (back elbow takes care of that). Tanaka doesn't show much early but Liger does. Second Owen is in they're on the outside and Liger's hitting a dive. But again things build right back to Choshu vs Bigelow as there just aren't great momentum shifts here. Kimura gets swept under the most, as does Tanaka. It has a hot finishing stretch though, where Liger  (after surviving a nasty Owen tombstone) gets to dropkick Bigelow out of the ring and Tanaka takes the Choshu lariat with a flip bump that looks great (he also takes the Inazuma Leg Lariat right in the face when it's usually a chest strike). For the most part, AJPW trios in 89 are going to be weightier than these. 

9/1/89: Liger/Nogami vs Sano/Hoshino: Liger, after everything, holds his hand out to start. Sano slaps it. Nogami worked the mat against Hoshino and Sano early but then got knocked off the top to the floor to Sano. It was early enough that he recovered well/landed well and was able to tag Liger who took right over on an overconfident Sano and they started to get revenge for the last month or two. Sano bumped all over the place for them. After long minutes of this, he was able to turn a hold around on Nogami, stretch him a bit, and after Liger intervened, got a tag to Hoshino. Hoshino did a better job of fighting back but couldn't really stay in it for long. Turning point towards the stretch was Nogami going for a superplex and Hoshino and Sano double teaming him to break it up. Some really scrappy stuff from Liger and Sano down the stretch. Hoshino finally hit the Liger Bomb on Nogami but Liger broke it up and as he and Sano were fighting, Nogami was able to escape a full nelson (dragon Suplex?) and get a roll up for 3 on Hoshino. This entire series has been good honestly.

9/1/89: Choshu/Hashimoto/Kimura vs Nagasaki/Hart/Haynes: Weirdest WAR team you'll ever see. Apparently this made "news" because Nagasaki didn't sell much for Hashimoto and he has Vader later in the month too so people were wondering how he could face Vader if he couldn't stand up to Nagasaki. Seems anecdotal to me. Nagasaki eats people up as a rule but he did stagger heavily for Hashimoto's kicks for instance. Match was still disjointed but it was fun to see Choshu rope run with Owen, for instance. Haynes looked better but he mostly took stuff and made people look fairly good. Finish had Hashimoto hit the DDT first and then as Haynes was getting up, then hit the spin wheel kick which is probably a better one-two punch than the alternative we've seen a bit.

[Matt D]

Just as an aside, the Jrs scene in July/August/September based around Liger, Sano, Nogami, and Hoshino has been excellent. Best things have been since the early days of Hase (maybe even better)

9/1/89: Hase vs Pat Tanaka: Fairly disappointing match. This was a house show but I was expecting more fireworks here. Tanaka is a guy who could bump and feed for Hase and Hase has a lot of stuff. It's not that I always want stuff, but here I did. Instead we had some pretty boring holds. Might have been better with close up camera work. They'd build to something but just go right back to it. I wasn't feeling it. When they did get moving, Hase won with a tricked out leglock takedown pretty quickly. 

9/1/89: Saito vs Bigelow: This was sub-ten minutes but pretty much as good as you'd think it'd be up til the finish. They matched up extremely well. Bigelow controlled with headbutts to the back and elsewhere. Saito's comebacks were awesome as he'd start pumping his hands and acting like he was Dusty Rhodes or something. On the second comeback he hit the slam and milked it huge. Very fun stuff. Bigelow got a low blow out of nowhere really right in front of the ref and then blew the sunset flip that was supposed to win the match as he couldn't sit up with it. He won instead after some discussion with a big splash. But this was great for Saito being a super babyface and for how they matched up until the end.

9/1/89: Super Strong Machine/Takano vs Hashimikov/Zangiev: A little disjointed as the SSM/Takano matches usually were but fun individual exchanges. Takano didn't have a hope against these guys but SSM really asserted himself and dominated much more than you'd think. Not a lot of memorable transitions overall unfortunately. A few big suplxes though. Some fun stuff down the stretch as SSM held a Soviet for a missile dropkick from Takano but said Soviet moved so Takano hit his own partner with the spin wheel kick. Finish had Zangiev get on the Scorpion with SSM cutting him off. So he whipped SSM into the corner where Hashimikov choked him and he Germaned Takano for the win. Good moments but I wouldn't say it came together. Takano/SSM trademark.

[Curt McGirt]

That eyebrow raise from Sano when he was looking at Liger's football pads was hilarious. Kind of with disgust, like "seriously?"

If you haven't seen Tamura vs. Kohsaka from RINGS then you are missing out BIG BIG BIG time.