Jumbo Tsuruta vs Ric Flair (AJPW) 06/08/1982
This match was for the NWA World Championship. The back and forth struggles throughout the entire match were all great. Tsuruta had some great offense with his suplexes and running knee strikes. Flair had great defensive wrestling. The first third of the match was a little uneventful but was helped with the aforementioned sequences that played into the rest of the match and even the finish. Everything in the match was pretty much a spoiler to the finish. It foreshadowed the result of a tie as both wrestlers were even throughout the whole match. The figure four leg-lock spots in the match were great because they were well built with prior leg work and the crowd was very hot during them. They were also placed appropriately in the match. Putting those spots right before the final back and forth battle ensured for the best possible reactions from the crowd. The technical aspects of the match were great as well.
What hurts this match a lot is the actual finish. I would have preferred a double countout, a time limit draw or even a double DQ. I hate the double pin. It has never made sense to me. Aside from the fact that it is incredibly contrived, it also makes everyone involved seem incredibly stupid. The wrestlers look stupid because they should know that they are being pinned and should try to kick out immediately. The referee looks stupid because he out of everyone should know better than to count a double pin. He needs to break it up and reset the wrestlers. They wanted to go the “nobody really won, nobody really lost” route but they chose the worst possible way to go about it.
Despite my gripes with the match I still thought it was great but it obviously could have been better with a sensible finish.
Final Rating - ****
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