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  1. I thought I would give myself some time and wait til after Thanksgiving to post this. So here we are at the end of 1985, we've got a bunch of tag matches. Let's get going! Dynamite Kid/Davey Boy Smith v. Yoshiaki Yatsu/Norio Honaga (12/04/85): Good match but not really anything special here. I'm sure you can guess the outcome. If this is on a . compilation for the Bulldogs then, its enjoyable enough. Jumbo Tsuruta v. Curt Hennig (12/04/85): Good match but boy was the crowd dead for this match. Oof! Jumbo and Curt did a nice clean match with some good action. I know no one thought Curt would win but man this was a lot better than their silence would indicate. This is one instance where the "quiet Japanese crowd" stereotype is true. Anyhow watched this after Smackdown on Friday. One thing is that I liked this simple match better than anything on there. One part is that everything was really snug and well executed. The other part is everything on Smackdown is so bright and obnoxious... tons of fucking colors, camera angle changes and absolute move overkill. One thing I'll give those wrestlers is they have a lot of athleticism. There's very little break in the action (it's a TV show after all) and they are in great shape. It's just worlds away from this stuff... but I guess that's what almost 40 years will do. Riki Choshu vs Nick Bockwinkel (12/04/85 aired 12/28): joined in progress. Pretty good match here with some good wrestling filling out the majority of the match. The final few minutes are Riki's high impact offense style. Nothing earth shattering but a good showing from both guys. I felt Bock is actually what made this worthwhile so if you're a fan of his then maybe give yourself 10 minutes and check this out. Shoehi Baba/Dory Jr. v. Stan Hansen/Ted Dibiase (12/04/85): Quiet crowd but they pop during this match at least This bout is great though because it is well paced. It is simple yet well executed and well Hansen beats on Dory Jr. like he owes him money. Holy cow, I can't believe he didn't induce a heart attack with those clubbing blows to the chest! One of the main reasons that I bought this DVD set was for the abundance of Hansen/DiBiase tag matches and they do not disappoint. Stan Hansen/Ted Dibiase v. Nick Bockwinkle/Curt Hennig (12/07/85): Not a long match but a very fun one! I hesitate to say that its anything else because there was a possibility for Bockwinkel to be more involved especially with Stan Hansen. I could tell from the pacing (more Hansen's pace) that it was not going to be some sort of lost classic. That said this might be the best showing from Hennig. He really cuts loose during the closing couple of minutes. The fans were super excited. His athletics were comparable to Misawa Tiger Mask. Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru v. Dynamite Kid/Davey Boy Smith (12/07/85): Two big teams that have been on parallel courses throughout 1985 finally meet. And it's a blast! The Bulldogs are treated like equals and as a result we get a very good match where we see a lot of good stuff from both sides. I don't think it is meant to be more than a "what if?" main event draw so there's not a ton of substance. Still, it absolutely accomplished it's goal. This is kinda like the inverse of most/all Road Warriors matches...no one is their equal, they do a bunch of stuff regardless of their opponents' ranking/standing and many of the bouts are disappointing Harley Race/Jesse Barr v. Dynamite Kid/Davey Boy Smith (12/12/85): I wasn't expecting much from this match but I loved it! It told such a great little story with a one match rivalry. Kid tries to bully Harley at the get go but Race does one of the most seamless moves on Kid...like a fucking old lion who can be quick when it counts. From there Barr, who is big dude just not ultra jacked is showing of his power. Davey Boy is like hold my beer. Meanwhile you know Harley and Dynamite want to do the diving headbutts off the top etc. It's a damn shame this wasn't a program but this was great! Perhaps the best Race match of '85 because he's basically Tenryu in the 2000's ... he doesn't have to be the best athlete, he just has to provide the heat & story of the match: younger guys try to upstage him and he just needs to be surly & hit hard while the younger guys do the moves. So you're getting the best of both worlds. This is a neat little match. Really does remind me of those early 2000's NOAH under card matches or B-show main events that mixed vets with younger guys to great results. ----- Shoehi Baba/Dory Funk Jr v. Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru (12/12/85): Holy cow! I wasn't expecting this to be as great as it was. But frankly it was a classic. The in-ring work was amazing. They didn't do the craziest moves of course but used what they had to take us through peaks and valleys. I think it's an excellent example of pacing and layout being more important than dazzling attacks. But don't get me wrong the offense is here as everyone takes some big bumps and in later AJPW fashion dusts some classic moves off the shelf to get the win. On top of that we have the stories of Dory being Jumbo and Tenryu's teacher, Baba being Jumbo's old partner and mentor, and the beginning (?) of something that becomes one of the best things going later in the decade Baba vs Tenryu. I wasn't expecting them to have that here but oh no...it's here and maybe starts here as by the end Baba & Tenryu are really going after each other. I don't recall seeing this in earlier matches. Anyhow, this felt like a quintessential AJPW tag match...maybe I'm crazy but if you like these guys it's at the very least a "great" match...but in my book it's a classic. Stan Hansen/Ted DiBiase vs Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu (Real World Tag League Finals) (12/12/85 aired 12/14): jip by 14 minutes (I believe... so this is only a review of this point forward...I do believe the full match is available). This is really great stuff from the most aggressive teams in the company. I think this was a pretty bold choice for the final match but absolutely shows the confidence Baba had in his booking. It puts Riki & Yatsu (more importantly) as the native team to beat for 1986. It cements Ted DiBiase as Stan's #1 partner for the mid/late 80's (he was teaming with Ron Bass earlier in year which we didn't see any of here). What it also does is make sure there's more matches for 1986. We never get a blow off for the Riki vs Jumbo & Tenryu stuff. We don't really know if Stan & Ted can be beaten. I was close to calling this a classic because there were some absolutely great moments in this match but I only saw half. But I'm betting the first half of the bout was quality so I'm comfortable giving this a "great " rating. 12/12/85 was a great night for tag wrestling. ----- Rick Martel v. Stan Hansen (AWA Title, 12/29/85 in Meadowlands NJ): Technically an AWA match but glad to have this on DVD. Very good to great match here. What makes it special is the psychology of Hansen staying on Martel's back, Rick's selling, and Rick's attack on Hansen's arm. Honestly I'm pretty sure its one of the most psychologically strong matches of the year (not sure that's the right way to phrase that but you get what I'm saying). Only thing keeping it from a shoe-in great match is the finish. I don't 100% get what they were going for... or I think I get it but visually didn't do it for me. No way is it a match spoiler...and in fact plays off the story of the match. Maybe its one of those things that announcers would make sense of it. Watch it for yourself and see what you think! Couple the outcome this match along with Hansen & Ted being the points victors of the tag league and Stan is definitely the Man going into 1986. In summary, 1985 AJPW was excellent. It's an awesome year for tag wrestling without a doubt.I usually do a tl;dr list of my favorite matches of a long project like this. I'm going to skip that now since we're close to my end of the year Best Matches Watched list. So you're going to have to read or wait in the meantime. It's also a weird year as the first part of the year feels like an alternate history AJPW. I mean you've a sizable chunk of NJPW & British Bulldogs there. And are pushed right away. Bruiser Brody doesn't make the tapes (and then is in NJ), Hansen is working mid card and we don't see a Funk brother until late summer. Then the last 4 months, things look more like AJPW (but we (I) miss the lower ranking guys from the Riki vs Jumbo feud). As a result things don't get stale. Historically 1985 All Japan hasn't gotten much more than middle-of-the-road hype. 8 out of the 10 '85 matches on the DVDVR Best of the 80's are in the middle of the list. The top match of the year is only #23 and the 2nd best match of '85 per their list is #37 for instance. And I don't recall anything from AJPW '85 making those old Best of the 80's lists (I think AJW/Crush Gals and NJPW did). So you can't blame a guy for skipping this. But I'm really glad that I finally listened to myself and took a chance on this year. And I did take a monetary chance buying this DVD set... like this could have been lame with only 10 matches being worth my time out of 7 discs (and not a single Choshu match remember!). But honestly, damn near everything felt worthwhile and there were plenty of great matches and a few classics that I feel confident considering "lost." It did help that the "missing" Choshu matches could be easily found the 'tube. Even had I went straight off my DVDs, 1985 genuinely feels like the first year in a new era of AJPW. I highly recommend checking some of this out...especially if you've never really dug the slower 70's/early 80's style. Thanks for reading folks!
  2. Here we are just a couple days past due but, finally November 1985 is ready to go. A couple of the matches were longer this week and therefore made my list a little slower to get through. It was worth it as you'll see. Let's dive in! Riki Choshu vs Jumbo Tsuruta (11/04 aired 11/09) Long time limit draw match...in my younger days I would have watched this. Anymore, I just don't want to devote this much time to one match especially knowing that it's a draw. But I did jump around (as does the TV episode...it actually jumps to the 23 minute mark after the first commercial break). I watched the last 10 minutes all the way through and this looked pretty great. So from what I saw here and the other bits I'd have to say this is pretty good to great stuff. I hesitate to go higher of course but it does have the potential to rate even higher. This just so physical throughout and a real testament to the high level of skill it takes to do do these long matches... not just the physical endurance but the presence of mind to tell a story. Stan Hansen/Ted Dibiase v. Dynamite Kid/Davey Boy Smith (11/23/85): The Bulldogs' muscles are nearly bursting out of their skin...holy cow boys...it's difficult to see how hard they were hitting the juice especially given the results down the road. That's all in the past now... so let's talk about the match. And what a match this was! Fast paced, all action wrestling right here. Hansen and Ted wrestle a Bulldogs match...and don't steam roll 'em either. It ends sooner than we'd all like but damn this was great. DiBiase was especially good with the lads. But Hansen going beast mode on Dynamite is noteworthy as well. Definitely put this on your watch-list Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru v. Nick Bockwinkle/Curt Hennig (11/23/85): Fuck yes, mid 80's AWA Curt Hennig. Bockwinkel back in AJPW... and versus Jumbo & Tenryu. This was great stuff for sure. All the little touches from Bock made this really special in my eyes. Things got a little loose at the finish but its an early Real World Tag match so really no gripes. This delivers. Shoehi Baba/Dory Funk Jr. v. Harley Race/Jesse Barr (11/27/85): Long match but a really good one. This was probably more paced & worked like it was 1975 at times but, after a few minutes I was digging it. You just have to get in that head space. Once you're there then, there's a lot to like here - Dory hitting hard, Baba doing big moves taking big bumps, Harley giving it his all and Jesse Barr does not look out of place either. It has been a minute since the last Baba match but this was a fine one to come back to. Now that's a fucking fancy ring jacket! The Bob Newhart of pro wrestling is going to kick some ass. ----- Tiger Mask v. Dynamite Kid (11/27/85): I started out watching this and comparing it to Sayama Tiger vs Dynamite based off the first little bit. It was not a fair or warranted comparison so, I waited an hour or so and started this again. I was glad that I did. This is very much young Misawa vs Dynamite Kid. And it's a really good match! And in fact its a near great match. Unfortunately this ended just as things were really starting to cook. In fact, I think this had the potential to be better overall than many of the original TM vs DK (and I'm not a hater, go back and read my Tiger Mask blogs from a couple years ago). I just think Dynamite was a little smarter now, Misawa has a different style, etc. My guess is this was perhaps the beginning of a program between the two and it was in the middle of the RWTL so Baba didn't want to risk their injury (but you wouldn't know that from this!). Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru v. Rusher Kimura/Goro Tsurumi (11/27/85): Good match with a really good final third. I'm going to put some little spoilers in here so you check it out.. at least skim through it... because they do a top rope back drop (back suplex is what I think its called in the States) and Tenryu finishes things up with a power bomb (it's not super smooth like we come to see but shit doesn't it look like it hurts... aka head bouncing off the mat potential). Anyhow both moves are super high end for '85. ----- Stan Hansen v. Ashura Hara (11/27/85): Shorter than I would have liked but hot damn! this is good shit. They are just beating the crap out of each other. They are laying in all of their shots. It's hard to tell but I think Hansen's eye is closing up on the way back to the locker room. If you're like me and disappointed from their match in the 70's from Hansen's AJPW Classics special (which many folks probably own or have seen) then THIS is the Ashura Hara vs Stan Hansen bout you were hoping for. Stan Hansen/Ted Dibiase v. Harley Race/Jesse Barr (11/30/85): Fast paced and surprisingly move heavy. We open up with Race & Hansen potato-ing each other in the best way. Then DiBiase & Barr are young and want to show the crowd what they can do. Stan and Harley get in on the action and we get a really, really good match. Had the thing gone on longer, I think it would have been a great one. Jesse Barr is Art Barr's older brother and Jimmy Jack Funk in the WWF...Terry and Dory Jr.'s kayfabe brother btw. Dynamite Kid/Davey Boy Smith v. Tiger Mask/Mighty Inoue (11/30/85): Great all action match that would be quality stuff in 1995, 2005 etc. I got serious 1988-92 AJPW all Asia tag title match vibes here. If you dig those Can Am/Footloose, Kobashi era matches, check this out this one. Again, 1985 Misawa doesn't get a lot of talk but as Tiger Mask he was pretty awesome. He's settled down from trying to do an homage to Sayama Tiger and really wrestles like you'd expect a young Mitsuharu Misawa to wrestle ----- Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu (11/30): This is from the 1985 TV episode and is joined in progress by like a minute. That makes no difference really. This is an amazing RWTL match...I was totally geeking out by the end! Maybe it's that we haven't seen a Riki & co. tag vs Jumbo & Tenryu in awhile but this near, if not at, the top of the list. Everything seemed right here. A precursor to the 01/28/86 match perhaps? More proof that Yoshiaki Yatsu is under rated for his AJPW work...excellent evidence for the Jumbo/Tenryu tag chemistry greatness, Riki Choshu is THE MAN for a hot tag-in. Yeah classic match in my book. An excellent week of wrestling. It did make me miss guys from earlier in 1985 that we haven't seen in awhile like: Animal Hamaguchi, Kuniaki Kobayashi & Takashi Ishikawa most notably. So we're almost done with 1985 All Japan. There's just one more post (Dec. '85) and then I'm thinking of using the rest of the year to tie up some loose blog ends...GAEA '99, a couple high end matches I skipped over earlier in the year, etc. Thank you very much for reading!
  3. Sorry for the delay! I'll get to that in a minute. It's nothing dramatic. So here we are in August & September of 1985 All Japan Pro Wrestling! The Funker...the late great Terry Funk is here. Lots of Stan Hansen and yeah this one is pretty star studded. Let's begin! Riki Choshu/Killer Khan vs Genichiro Tenryu/Jumbo Tsuruta (08/02 aired 08/03): A great match without a doubt! Things started out with Jumbo and Riki having a technical fight. Once Khan started slapping people in the face, the tone changed. This is one of more stiff hitting matches I've seen from mid 80's Tenryu. I'm pretty sure he punched Khan in the face on a tag team double punch. They do something different every match and they don't need a ton of signature moves. Everything feels like a fight. This is probably the frontrunner for my feud of the year. Terry Funk v. Stan Hansen (08/23/85): Oh man, this was wild from the get-go! They were just beating each other up inside and out. Terry took some wild ass bumps. One would have been right at home in mid 2000's NOAH. Also to say this was stiff would be an understatement. We get an 80's finish but is probably my favorite type and Dory ends up coming out and hitting people with his cowboy boot (while wearing a shirt and tie). Great stuff! If you've never seen either guy, this is a excellent match as an introduction. If you're missing some Terry Funk, go watch this one. Dory and Terry Funk v. Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase (08/29/85): Really good match...I'm not sure if I'd call it great as it didn't seem to have much of a story or flow to it. My guess is that the encounter was meaningful enough. All 4 guys were really exciting and man Stan Hansen is so quick! But I'll level with you. I haven't gotten a good night's sleep for a couple days so this match may be better than I reckon. So if you're interested than you should check it out, don't just take my word for it with this review. ----- Stan Hansen/Ted DiBiase vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu (08/31 aired 09/07): Aw man! They cut the finish out! This was a classic match or damn near and they ended the program :-( Talk about an 80's finish... The real same is this match was the last one to watch for this post and is kinda the reason I am late posting it. Like I said what was shown (assuming 90%) was near classic but I probably would have skipped this knowing the end wasn't shown. All that said, DiBiase was fan-fucking-tastic with Jumbo & Tenryu. I'm pumped to see more of him with Hansen. Tiger Mask vs Marty Jannetty (09/05 aired 09/14): Joined in progress. This is a bit of fun. Low stakes but well executed... reminds me of a WCW TV match. Just wanted to watch it because it happened. I mean Marty Jannetty vs Mitsuharu Misawa right? Gotta check it out Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru v. Yoshiaki Yatsu/Killer Khan (09/14/85): Man, Yatsu is a really exciting wrestler. He's like that in the 01/28/86 match. I remember him being more of a tough guy when he & Jumbo team in the late 80's. He really brings some different stuff here doing both a double under hook suplex and belly to belly suplex. He's also off the top rope a couple times. I think I'm learning to appreciate him even more than I did before. So all that aside this is a very good to great tag match. It's everything I was hoping it would be - fiery, stiff, good pace, simple yet smart wrestling. ----- Jumbo Tsuruta v. Harley Race (Int'l Title, 09/19/85): Really good match. A bit more deliberate in pace than the Choshu/Jumbo stuff but still very hard hitting. Harley was letting Jumbo just blast him with chops (double handed chops later) as well as "no-sell" a couple beefy lariats. In my mind, Harley knew he wasn't as mobile as he used to be or quick like the younger guys but he was tougher. That's the story here. Both wrestlers bled and the last couple minutes are great. In the context of 1985, I'd say this was very good but if I was watching AJPW from a couple years earlier, I might call it great. Still very happy to watch Jumbo & Harley square off. Very entertaining stuff! For all of you folks that read my stuff on a regular basis - Thank you very much! I hope it gives you something fun to read. I hope it gets you excited or interested in wrestling that you may have missed, overlooked, or never thought of. I also hope it is a nice little pocket of the "old internet"
  4. Mid-South Tag Team Champions Junkyard Dog & Mr. Olympia vs Ted DiBiase & Matt Bourne - Mid-South 10/27/82, No DQ, Loser Leaves Town While Bill Watts may be obsessed with bench presses, he was incredible at getting over the angle and motivations of each wrestler. DiBiase's lust for the North American Championship caused his turn to the dark side. He wants to remove JYD from his competition by defeating him in this Loser Leaves Town match and take his tag team championship. DiBiase had used Hacksaw Jim Duggan as a partner to relieve JYD of the championships in August, but came up unsuccessful. In this match, he invited Matt Bourne from Atlanta to help him in his quest of ridding Mid-South of their beloved Dog by injuring him with the Bombs Away, top rope seat drop. Also, he could use Bourne as a sacrificial lamb if the going gets rough in this high stakes match. On the flip side, everyone's hero the Junkyard Dog has not been able to get a fair shake at the North American title since DiBiase became champion thus by pinning him DiBiase would be forced to vacate the title making the path easier for the Dog. I love the beginning of the match it is filled with JYD going for quick pins. This is not a blood feud in the sense he wants to dish out pain. He just wants DiBiase gone so he going to try to win the match early and often. It seems Dog had recently learned the back heel trip in wrestling school. DiBiase is great at selling being in there with Dog and his fear of being forced to leave Mid-South. I like the term Four Sisters On Thumb Street to describe a fist drop from the Dog. Mr. Olympia is caught by a DiBiase back suplex. A quick tag to Bourne and a follow up knee drop consolidates the advantage. It is a strong heat segment with all the trademark cheating and riling up the Dog. It climaxes with the Bombs Away, which looked fucking awesome. DiBiase, a gloryhound, looks for a powerslam, but it being No DQ, Dog comes in and saves. He waylays Bourne and drags Olympia to their corner. Dog is a house afire. DiBiase, desperate, looks to load his glove and the crowd voices their displeasure. Dog stops him and goes for the foreign object. All of sudden, a man in a Gorilla suit from the State Fair, bodyslams Mr. Olympia. What the hell! He reveals himself to be Hacksaw Jim Duggan! After a couple false starts, he hits a wedge buster on JYD and DiBiase nails him with loaded glove to sen JYD packing for 90 days! The post-match promo to establish the Rat Pack (DIBiase, Duggan & Bourne) as the premiere heel force was a thing of beauty. This is a very good, fundamentals tag team match that is bolstered by the storysurrounding it, the strong characters in it (JYD & DiBiase) and a wicked hot angle to finish it up. Next time, we look at how the Rat Pack splinters and leads a Loser Leaves Town match of their own. ****
  5. Mid-South North American Champion Ted DiBiase vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan - Mid-South 3/8/85 No DQ Jim Duggan looks like Rihanna at the end of Bitch Better Have My Money. They beat the living fuck outta each other in this battle like they owe each other some cash money. DiBiase had returned to the territory from an extended stay in Georgia and All Japan. Hooking up with Dr. Death and Skandor Akbar to exact revenge against his former partner in crime and the man who banished him from Mid-South, Hacksaw Jim Duggan! DiBiase & Dr. Death had jumped Duggan to kickstart the feud on TV in the fall of 1984 and DiBiase defeated Brad Armstrong to win the North American Championship. It all came to a head in this No DQ Bloodbath. I loved the beginning with Ted making sure everything was legal only to immediately throw the powder in Hacksaw's face and once blinded he was easy pickins to busted open on the outside. The best part of this was Duggan's incredible performance throughout. He was always staggering and always swinging at DiBiase. DiBiase was kicking the shit out of him, but you always felt like Duggan had something left. When Duggan caught coming off the top (patented DiBiase somersault bump) and suplex, the crowd came unglued. You could feel DiBiase shit his pants as Duggan stomped around. The fists were flying and it looked awesome. Hacksaw got into this three point stance and hit his wedgebuster, which should have claimed his first North American title, but Skandor Akbar hit him with the cane. A shitty head collision followed which also wiped out the ref. Dr. Death handed Ted DiBiase the lethal loaded black glove and DiBiase had the presence of mind to sock Duggan. DiBiase was perfectly good on offense knowing how to work the cut and cheat his ass off, but this was Duggan through and through modulating his selling perfectly and really building to the match to crescendo. I have this under the first Buzz Sawyer brawl and the second Magnum/DiBiase bloodbath, but still a bitchin' match. ****1/4 Now if there was just some way Duggan got HIS hands on that coal miner glove and keep that infernal Skandor Akbar & Dr. Death out of the ring and come to think of it I just wished Duggan could banish DiBiase all over again and you know this fucking DiBiase thinks his shit don't stink, but if you are ugly on the inside like DiBiase then you are ugly on the outside so I know Duggan would look better in a tuxedo. If there was just a way to combine all these facets of the feud into one match....hmmmmmmmm....
  6. Let's talk about AJPW in the Spring of 1986! These are the Samurai Classics so no Riki Choshu but hey there's lots of other great stuff going on. Ted Dibiase/Ron Bass v. Motoshi Okuma/Rocky Hata (04/06/86): Kind of a squash match. Of the Japanese guys, I'm not sure who was who. Respectable start to the show nonetheless. Kuniaki Kobayashi v. Masa Fuchi (04/06/86): Now we're cooking! Kobayashi and Fuchi are just beating the crap outta each other and I loved it. Two of my favorites in their prime. Very good match Tenyru/Takashi Ishikawa v. Ted Dibiase/Ron Bass (04/19/86): Oh man everyone is on fire here. We get the nice introduction to the DiBiase & Ron Bass team and now we see what they can do versus one of the top AJ native teams. This was so basic but absolutely wonderful because you don't need big moves and flash to have a great tag match. DiBiase in AJ is the best. He vs Tenryu is money in the bank! Tenyru v. Ashura Hara (04/12/86): Holy cow '86 Tenryu is awesome! The Tenryu/Jumbo vs Yatsu/Choshu match from 01/86 is a classic but now I'm seeing more of him and there's more to the story. He's not quite as well defined as a hard hitting wrestler yet but man does Ashura Hara bring that out in him! It makes sense though as Hara is a tank and I love their tag team during the Revolution era of AJ/Tenryu. This totally exceeded my expectations. I want to call it a classic but I'll pull back a little and just say near classic at ****1/4. Harley Race/Jerry Blackwell v. Tiger Jeet Singh/One Man Gang (03/13/86): Quick bout, Blackwell vs OMG were like 2 sumo but after that it turned into a double DQ. Shohei Baba/Ricky Fuyuki/Takashi Ishikawa v. Rusher Kimura/Ashura Hara/Goro Tsurumi (04/06/86): Really fun 6 man match! Fuyuki and Ishikawa along with Hara kept this really competitive. Goro Tsurumi is an awesome character looking like a manga heel wrestler with afro pirate mustache and skull adorned unitard. Rusher and Baba do their job and yeah this is the stuff that puts a smile on my face. Baba/Ishikawa v. Killer Khan/Masanobu Kurisu (05/10/86): OK, thought I'd like it more with Kurisu & Ishikawa but it didn't do much for me. Tenyru v. Ted Dibiase (UN Title, 04/26/86): Well here is the singles match that I was looking for. And man, it's what I wanted. Great smart arm work by DiBiase. Just a really good give and take in the beginning/middle. This is joined in progress so not sure what the true start is like. Nonetheless, the match goes on pretty long I think. In that time we get solid mid 80's meat and potatoes wrestling from both guys. Its the stuff I could watch for an hour because they have created a world where it looks like their struggle is real and relatable. Not only that but we get two of the best in the world doing it. They are physically and stylistically a great match for each other. A great match for sure! If you're a fan of Tenryu and what they were doing in SWS and WAR, you really want to check out some of these matches. Thanks for reading and stay safe folks!
  7. I'm trying to get back into my AJPW DVDs from the 80's as well as a slew of other stuff I want to watch. So instead of making big long projects that are so daunting that I don't want to do them, I have a very elaborate (not) system of flipping coins and rolling dice to get my butt in gear. Here's the end of 1985 and January 1986 of AJPW: British Bulldogs vs Jumbo & Tenryu (12/07/85): This was a good match where both teams got alot of offense in. Davey Boy press slamming Tenryu was the highlight for sure! 80's finish though... Mil Mascaras vs Tiger Mask II (01/02/86): A technical bout in contrast to the above tag match. Things picked up though and other than one miscommunication this was a good fight. Tiger Mask Misawa gets a hand shake at the end of the match so, although this is an 80's finish there's a sign a respect to end the match. Jumbo & Kodo Fuyuki vs Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda (01/86): Yes, this was shown in full! Tons of irish whipping and rope running. You better believe this was a high energy tag match for '85. Everyone brought something different to the table so everyone stood out. Plus we get a winner! Very good match. Windham vs Jumbo is a perfect fit in my eyes..wonder if that happened? Hansen vs Ashura Hara (01/86): Super heated slugfest with Hara taking it right to the Texan. It was quick violent good stuff! Russians vs Jumbo & Tenryu (01/02/86): I'm not going to spend time looking up who the "Russians" were since this was the worst bout of the DVD. It was just lame punch, stomp, bearhug type fare from them. Mil Mascaras vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (01/28/86): If you read my NJPW '88 reviews, you know that I'm a Kobayashi fan. I've taken a break on the Tiger Mask I review but, I'm really looking forward to Kobayashi vs Tiger. But here in 1985, he's in AJPW facing Mil. Both guys are technical wrestlers so this starts out really nice but, it turns into a brawl soon enough. Awesome tope and planchas punctuate the go-for-broke feel. It goes to a DQ but, would love to see a re-match with a clear winner. Good stuff. Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs Harley Race & Jesse Barr (11/30/85): Nice power moves from Barr...never seen him before. Hansen like you would hope was like a wild animal. Barr took a flip bump on the Lariat and landed on his noggin! Very good match in my book...no build up or story-just frenzy! Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr. vs Jumbo & Tenryu (12/12/85): Before watching this I knew that it was either going to be a shorty or it was going long. And this went long but, dang was it a action packed long match. Jumbo's doing leapfrogs, Baba brings out his big guns, Dory's hitting lifter like no one can and Tenryu eventually channels the grouch inside. You had better believe count outs and double DQs are a real thing in the mid 80's so, keep that in mind when the action spills to the floor. This was a great match! Man, this was a lot of fun to watch and it really seems like the best way for me to watch stuff that I'm 'not in the mood for.' I've been down a ROH rabbit hole however, this was a nice break.
  8. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Ted DiBiase -Mid-South 11/6/85 Perhaps my favorite angle of the 1980s and that's saying a lot, but just an awesomely executed angle from every aspect. Bill Watts is just money in putting over the guts of Ted DiBiase, the violence that had just occurred and the importance of a World Heavyweight Championship match. Jim Ross puts in one of his best performance. "I CAN'T BELIVE HE KICKED OUT!" "IF HE HAD HIM IN THE CENTER OF THE RING, I GUARANATEE YOU WE WOULD HAVE A NEW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION"! Ric Flair was without question the perfect champion for this exact angle. He has all the credibility you need, but he is so selfless that he will give to DiBiase everything he needs to go from the most reviled man in Mid-South to their top babyface at a snap of the fingers. Flair can kick ass to make you believe DiBiase is climbing a massive mountain and let himself get his ass kicked that you really believe Ted can pull off the miracle. Dick Murdoch as the crotchy, old redneck that wants DiBiase to step aside and then lashes out in anger was awesome. That first punch!!! HOLY FUCKING SHIT! It sounded like a gun went off. At the end of the match, he looks crazed and calm at the same time before dropping DiBiase head first on the concrete after having done a five alarm blade job at the beginning. This is Ted DiBiase's career performance. Standing up to Murdoch, selling the attack, not backing down to Flair, giving it his all in the match. The powerslam and not being able to cover is such a dramatic moment. Fighting through everyone of Flair's offensive volleys was just pure babyface. The figure-4 attempts were riveting. When he took that tumble out on the floor and smashes his into the railing it looks devastating. It is a ***** angle, but as a match let's go ****1/2. No matter, what you do watch this angle! You owe to yourself as a wrestling fan.
  9. Parv brought this up casually in another thread, naturally believing Ted to be the better talent. I'm not so sure about this as I think it's a very complex comparison. On face value, you'd think they had very close careers. Both guys peaked in terms of national fame at the same moment and in the same place, late 80's WWF. They are two of the "big four" of more technically talented top heels of that era in the WWF (with Savage and Perfect) and are gimmicks everyone remembers. Their in ring careers ended less than a year apart and both ended up as suited NWO minions towards the end. But on face value I find this to be a very hard straight comparison to make. For one Ted Dibiase played both babyface and heel for long runs in his career, whereas Rude played basically only a heel (his early Mid South run as a lower card guy aside). For a second thing Dibiase got to work with ALL the top WWF guys in his run, whereas Rude only had one TV match with Hogan and none at all with Savage during his run. For a third thing, I'd argue they basically peaked nearly a decade apart. I also think Rude played his character in the ring incredibly well and seemed to have more passion for his run than Ted did, at least in the WWF. Rude's WCW run vs. Ted's Mid South peak make for an interesting case. Anyone else want to talk about these two? I'm not sure I have an easy answer.
  10. Dick Murdoch vs Ted DiBiase - Houston 12/27/85 This is a result from the one of the hottest Mid-South angles of all time that successfully executed the double turn of the hated Ted DiBiase and the former North American champion Dick Murdoch. A quick synopsis is that Murdoch was pissed DiBiase got a NWA World Title shot against Flair and right before the match, Murdoch beat the living shit out of DiBiase bloodying him up and nailing him with Brainbuster. DiBiase proved he is all-man and came out to wrestler Flair with a giant bandage. DiBiase was ripshit that Murdoch cost him a title shot and so they went around the loop. This match is joined in progress and also the finish stretch is an exact replica of the OKC 12/31, which we have in full. I think this is a great match, but ultimately does feel incomplete and seeing the complete match from OKC it renders this one useless. I will focus on the middle of the match that was different. Murdoch is kicking ass with solid heel offense in the form of stiff strikes, stomps and elbows. DiBiase as a babyface is interesting, he shows good fire and selling, but is being overwhelmed. They bust each other open. When DiBiase misses a fist drop, they go into the finish sequence. It is a great match, but seeing the complete match is what needs to be seen.
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