Throwback Match Reviews: Rick Martel vs Ric Flair (AJPW) (10/21/1985)

Rick Martel vs Ric Flair (AJPW) 10/21/1985

Unfortunately for the match I knew the result from the start but not because I was spoiled, but because you could see the finish coming from a mile away. It was a title unification match. Martel the AWA Heavyweight Champion against Flair the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. It is also 80s All Japan so add that to the mix to the politics of the match and some sort of “creative” finish is apparent. With all that said the match was pretty great. 

Both wrestlers’ performances made the match. Martel fit the fiery babyface role to perfection. His offense was intense and explosive and his control periods were pretty good. There was one early in the match when he had Flair in a side headlock, which is usually a boring spot, but he put some extra torque in the headlock which made it look like he was trying to rip Flair’s head off his shoulders. His comebacks were hot and his strikes were powerful. Flair’s offense was the opposite (in a good way). He was more precise with his holds. Every strike was well placed to get the maximum effect. For example whenever Martel would make a comeback he countered with some well placed knees to the abdomen in order to shut him down. Not only did they knock the wind out of Martel but they knocked the wind out of his comebacks. 

The back and forth battles were as you would expect from a Flair match. They were heated and intense and well executed. The early mat work was real crisp. Both wrestlers looked world champion caliber. The transitions improved the flow of the match and made sense whether it was a flurry of offense from Martel or a clever counter from Flair. 

There were a few spots, especially early in the match, that dragged a bit too long. There wasn’t really anything bad in those sections but they could have definitely been removed and it would not have taken anything away from the match. One of these spots in particular happened right before the climax of the match, which definitely hurt the flow.

The finish, predictably, saw both guys get counted out. It was the best way to do one of these non-finishes. I still would have preferred for a clean winner but what are you gonna do. The crowd was hot for the most part except in those slow periods as I mentioned before.

Final Rating - ****¼

Throwback Match Reviews: Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF) (09/11/1985)

Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF) 09/11/1985

This was a great match to continue this rivalry. Super Tiger had defeated Fujiwara in the previous two bouts. The story of the entire match was that of Fujiwara trying to tame this wild animal and his flurry of attacks. From the start we get Tiger unleashing his devastating kicks. Fujiwara goes right after the left leg. Fujiwara’s attack on the leg was intense. He smoothly transitioned from hold to hold with great focus and intent. Tiger did an excellent job selling the leg while still throwing kicks with his right leg. Both wrestlers were consistent with their work. The match had great escalation that was properly done throughout. This first stage set the groundwork for the next phase.

Tiger countered Fujiwara’s leg attack by absolutely battering him with kicks with his other leg. He kicks him everywhere: on the legs, on the torso and on the head. These were some nasty kicks. At one point he does a spinning kick right to Fujiwara’s face while Fujiwara is backed up in a corner. I replayed the spot about five times. He also begins to kick him with his left leg in the torso in an act of defiance. It was a great no-sell but at the same time was still able to sell the leg. When Tiger would kick the torso with the right leg Fujiwara would go down with one or two kicks. With the left leg, Fujiwara took like four kicks but still did not go down. The kicks with the left leg were not as effective as the ones with the right leg. It’s a clever way to no-sell and sell at the same time. 

The escalation continued onto this third phase. Here it seemed both wrestlers have had enough of each other’s BS and just starting throwing suplexes and some nasty strikes. It was Tiger’s frustration that got the best of him here. He drifted away from what was working for him earlier in the match. At one point he even tried to do a Fujiwara armbar which Fujiwara easily escaped. The finish saw Fujiwara reverse a suplex attempt with an elbow to the face and some other type of armbar (I’m bad with move names). It was a bit anticlimactic even though I understand what they were going for. They wanted to go for the quick “gotcha” victory in order to show Tiger’s mistake. They could have reincorporated the leg here to really hammer home the point they were trying to make. Fujiwara finally gets the win against Tiger and did so by staying consistent with his plan.

Final Rating - ****¼