Dory Funk Jr vs Antonio Inoki (JPA) 12/02/1969
From the beginning the crowd is very hot. The match is 2 out of 3 falls and from the start you can tell they’re going long. Inoki and Funk trade holds for the first 20 minutes or so. Funk at first plays to Inoki but as the match progresses and Inoki shows his dominance on the mat, Funk begins to get frustrated. Funk begins to use some shortcuts and then is able to control Inoki. Inoki shows flashes of a comeback but is cut short by Funk. This gets the crowd strong behind Inoki, more than they were at the beginning of the match. About half an hour in the match is kind of boring. The hot crowd really saves this match. Wrestling before the 1980s to me can get really boring but this match is one of the better ones. Inoki gets in a boston crab and the match picks up the pace. This match is a good example of the era. It is a simple battle between a beloved underdog and a strong champion. The single camera captures the essence of the era perfectly. No flashy lights or production just a camera and two wrestlers fighting for supremacy. Dory Funk Sr throughout was great. He’d rile up the crowd whenever things were about to cool down. It helped Inoki garner a lot of sympathy from the crowd. The hot back-and-forths in the second half of the match were a great bridge to the finish. This match did a great job building anticipation. The work was pretty good. Most of the moves were executed perfectly with the exception of the dropkicks that both men threw. Predictably the result was a time limit draw (I did not know the result coming in). There was really no deeper story. It was simple and well-executed. It did go too long but it didn’t lose my attention as most 1 hour+ matches seem to do.
Final Rating - ***½
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