Throwback Match Reviews: Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF) (12/05/1984)

Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF) 12/05/1984

This was a great follow up match to the one they had earlier in the year. They picked up where they left off in that previous match. They go after each other right away. Tiger was excellent in this match. His strikes were brutal and his grappling was smooth. The mat work in this match was great because it had major importance to the overall match. There was only one part that was a little slow and it hurt the match a little. Fujiwara was also great here. He tried to slow down Tiger with his submissions. The match flowed very naturally despite the slow portion of it. The closing 7 to 8 minutes of the match were incredible. They absolutely battered each other. The finish was also great with Super Tiger just beating Fujiwara down to the point the referee stopped the match. Although there was the element of honor that a lot of shoot wrestling presents, they did a great job portraying some animosity between them. It was well balanced that way.

Final Rating - ****¼

Throwback Match Reviews: Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (UWF) (12/05/1984)

Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (UWF) 12/05/1984

Overall I will say this is a great match despite some flaws that I found with it, particularly due to the style of match. A large portion of this match was very slow and boring. A lot of the mat grappling was very badly done. When Takada had Yamazaki in a hold Yamazaki showed little to no effort to escape. He looked like he was just letting Takada try different holds on him the way you would with a younger sibling when you were kids. This is something that is present in a lot of matches in this shoot style of wrestling. It does not look like a struggle, it looks like cooperation. The crowd proves this theory as they only reacted when the match left the mat. During the mat grappling portions the camera would sometimes point at the crowd and everyone looked bored to death. You really can’t say that they were focused on the work. They were just waiting for something to happen.

Once the match kicked into the next gear it really got good. The mat work in this portion was really great because it was the opposite of the mat work earlier in the match. Both men wrestled with intensity and urgency. The grappling was clean and the strikes were impactful. Yamazaki’s performance was excellent. His comebacks were exciting. Whenever he fought back the crowd went nuts. Takada was a proper dickbag here. He did everything to suppress Yamazaki’s momentum. One spot I really enjoyed was when they were sparring and then went to a neutral position and Takada just slapped Yamazaki. The dynamic between the two was clearly defined and was consistent throughout the match. The finish saw Yamazaki pick up a quick pin with a bridging German suplex. It was a great pay off to the story they told in the match.

Final Rating - ****

Throwback Match Reviews: Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF) (09/07/1984)

Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF) 09/07/1984

This was a good match. Super Tiger’s offense was really great. He did everything with great intensity. Fujiwara’s control periods early on were really boring. He didn’t do anything of interest. Going back to the same well after it not working initially and not doing anything to change it was kind of dumb on his part. Super Tiger’s comebacks were well done. They were the things that the crowd really got into. After a while the action from both ends picked up. Fujiwara’s submission holds began to have more effect. Tiger ended up making Fujiwara tap for the victory. 

Final Rating - ***½

Throwback Match Reviews: Antonio Inoki vs Riki Choshu (NJPW) (08/02/1984)

Antonio Inoki vs Riki Choshu (NJPW) 08/02/1984

This is a match where both roles were played to perfection and the story was told through the actions of the wrestlers. Inoki at this point is undoubtedly the ace of the promotion and has had years of success at the top. Choshu comes in as the future of the company. He is the underdog looking to dethrone the king.

The opening stretches serve to put both wrestlers at the same level. The mat work is very good and very smooth. One negative here, and it’s one that affects the entire match, is that this portion lingered on for too much. I didn’t mind the mat work later on because it was crucial to the story of the match. There was a bit too much down time here and 5 or 6 minutes could have been cut down. Choshu’s first application of the Scorpion Death Lock garner’s a great response from the crowd. The build up to that first hold paid off in a big way. 

This was a major transition in the match. For most of the rest of the match there was a great back and forth struggle that told a great story. Choshu had some fiery comebacks and offensive stretches which included a couple of other applications of the Scorpion Death Lock and some great suplexes. Everything he did was explosive and intense. These moves exemplified Choshu’s character. He’s the enthusiastic underdog looking to get a major victory. Inoki responded to Choshu’s offense with some masterful technical wrestling. It was very interesting watching him try different ways to escape the Scorpion Death Lock and also wear Choshu down with his own submissions. This illustrated Inoki’s veteran status in this promotion. The mat work here, as opposed to the mat work earlier, weighed very heavily. It contrasted Choshu’s work emphasizing both men’s characters. 

The match ends with Inoki out wrestling Choshu. He puts him in the Octopus Stretch and converts it into a pin. It was a great way to end this match. It tells the story of Inoki being the veteran ace and it protects Choshu to an extent as he is sort of defeated by his own ambition. It leaves room for improvement for Choshu. Another aspect about that match that also added to the drama was the crowd. They were hot from the start. Whenever a big transition occurred, like when Choshu locked in the Scorpion Death Lock, they erupted with excitement. They loved both guys and would cheer one when the other had the advantage. Overall this match is an all-time classic although it had its faults.

Final Rating - ****¾

Throwback Match Reviews: Iron Sheik vs Sgt Slaughter (WWF) (06/16/1984)

Iron Sheik vs Sgt Slaughter (WWF) 06/16/1984

This was a pretty good brawl. Both men were in a blood feud so this was a natural step in the series. It was brutal and bloody but at times it was a little silly. For example the overdramatizing of certain spots like the windup punch and at the end when both wrestlers crawled for Sheik’s boot are out of place in a match that’s supposed serious. The selling in this match was for the most part pretty good. Like mentioned before the overselling at points was unfit for a match like this. The crowd was hot and that definitely added to the atmosphere. 

Final Rating - ***½

Throwback Match Reviews: Kerry Von Erich vs Ric Flair (AJPW) (05/24/1984)

Kerry Von Erich vs Ric Flair (AJPW) 05/24/1984

This was a pretty boring match. I found myself drifting off and going to my phone throughout the whole thing. It was two out of three falls for the NWA Heavyweight title... in Japan. The crowd likes both guys but they’re not fully behind either one. The action, especially in the first fall, was slow. It picked up later in the match, particularly in the last few minutes. There was nothing really to this match. I liked the way the first fall ended with Kerry using the claw to pin Flair. Flair won the second and third falls to win the match. This match was just here to get the title off of Kerry but not do it in Texas where the fans would probably riot.

Final Rating - **¾

Throwback Match Reviews: Austin Idol vs Jerry Lawler (CWA) (04/27/1984)

Austin Idol vs Jerry Lawler (CWA) 04/27/1984

This was for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship. It was a Steel Cage match and hair vs hair. The match starts with Idol cowering away from Lawler. Lawler immediately goes after him. For a supposed blood feud the action really isn’t that brutal. There have been way more brutal Jerry Lawler matches with much lower stakes. The match was very slow at the beginning. It picked up a little when Lawler began to make his comebacks. The selling was pretty good here. Tommy Rich ran in after the referee had been knocked out. The problem with that is that he waited a good while under the ring even after the referee went down. It was kind of dumb. Rich and Idol double teamed Lawler and Idol gets the victory. The best part of the matches happens after the match when the crowd nearly riots when Lawler is getting his hair cut off.

Final Rating - ***