NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING KING OF SPORTS, DVDVR 80s Project

1. Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, Umanosuke Ueda & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Akira Maeda, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Osamu Kido, Nobuhiko Takada & Kazuo Yamazaki (3/26/86)
2. 5-on-5 Gauntlet Challenge (4/19/84)
3. 5-on-5 Challenge (5/1/86)
4. Antonio Inoki vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (2/6/86)
5. Akira Maeda vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (2/5/86)
6. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (4/3/83)
7. Andre the Giant vs. Stan Hansen (9/23/81)
8. Shinya Hashimoto vs. Victor Zangiev (4/24/89)
9. Riki Choshu & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Super Strong Machine & George Takano (7/13/89)
10. Kengo Kimura vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (5/16/86)
11. Antonio Inoki vs. Riki Choshu (2/22/89)
12. Big Van Vader vs. Salman Hashimikov (7/13/89)
13. Shinya Hashimoto vs. Vader (4/24/89)
14. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Isamu Teranishi (10/8/81)
15. Tatsumi Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Akira Maeda, Nobuhiko Takada, & Yoshiaki Fujiwara (3/7/86)
16. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (8/4/83)*
17. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Kengo Kimura (9/25/80)
18. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Akira Maeda (6/12/86)
19. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Vader (4/24/89)
20. Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen (4/3/80)
21. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Steve Keirn (2/3 Falls) (2/1/80)
22. Antonio Inoki & Keiichi Yamada vs. Nobuhiko Takada & Osamu Kido (2/5/86)
23. Akira Maeda vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (1/10/86)
24. Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen (5/9/80)
25. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Johnny Londos (9/19/80)
26. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Tony Rocco (9/11/80)
27. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dynamite Kid (2/5/80)
28. Antonio Inoki vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (6/12/86)
29. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura vs. El Bello Greco & Sergio El Hermoso (2/3/89)
30. Tiger Mask & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Gran Hamada (2/10/83)
31. Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi (1/6/83)
32. Gran Hamada vs. Babyface (4/3/80)
33. Gran Hamada, Kantaro Hoshino & Tiger Mask vs. Missionaries De La Muerte (1/14/83)
34. Tiger Mask & Kengo Kimura vs. Negro Navarro & El Signo (10/30/81)
35. Tiger Mask vs. Gran Hamada (11/6/81)
36. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Dynamite Kid & Steve Keirn (1/18/80)
37. Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan (12/9/82)
38. Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen (9/11/80)
39. Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen (2/8/80)
40. Tatsutoshi Goto, Masa Saito, Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Scott Hall, Bob Orton & Dick Murdoch (12/7/88)
41. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Chavo Guerrero (5/9/80)
42. Akira Maeda vs. Nobuhiko Takada (1/3/86)
43. Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (1/28/82)
44. Naoki Sano & Osamu Matsuda vs. El Bello Greco & Sergio El Hermoso (1/6/89)
45. Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (4/23/81)
46. Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (4/21/83)
47. Keiichi Yamada vs. Shiro Koshinaka (12/9/88)

Holy shit at: 1980 Keirn, 81 Navarro/Signo, 83 Missionaries, Andre-Hogan 82, hella Murdoch, prime Choshu-Valentine, and Hogan-Fujinami in 85. Would the SWS show be the last time reigning WWF/E champion fought someone from a foreign promotion/on a foreign card? Also interested to see more North-South, Williams, really late Sakaguchi, Anjo, Bello Greco-Hermoso, Aguayo, Smothers, Canek, Zangief, Lawler, Sano, and the beginning of Liger.

Tatsumi Fujinami & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Dynamite Kid & Steve Keirn (1/18/80)

For an ancient junior workrate match, this holds up quite well. Reminded me of those early 80s IWE tags – lots of fun yet meaningless back and forth action mixed with decent heel work. I've never seen that body scissors transition before and Fujinami's out of control suicide tope was spectacular. Hoshino's stiff dropkick to Keirn's temple would be the third best spot of the match.

I'm interested in what you think of Hamada/Face Mike? Personally I loved it and got it number 2 now but I seem to be the only one.

I'll check it out after I get through disc 8.

Akira Maeda vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (2/5/86)

Original UWF style match except on a bigger stage. Maeda looked like a killer when he was on his feet, his knees and kicks were ferocious and, at times, the latter sounded like gunfire. Although he had improved his mat skills, he still wasn't that great working holds, but that wasn't a problem here as Fujiwara did a masterful job keeping the matwork interesting. For example, when Maeda wasn't doing much with an armbar, Fujiwara would lock in a choke. Everything before the count out was very good; the count out itself was neat thanks to Fujiwara's super intense facial expression. Last few minutes were epic though and the main reason why this'll more than likely make my top 20. Both guys limping back into the ring before trading body shots was just fantastic, and if that wasn't enough you then had Fujiwara locking in his armbar from a variety of positions. Finish was badass.

Antonio Inoki & Keiichi Yamada vs. Nobuhiko Takada & Osamu Kido (2/5/86)

Great, great crowd, match was really fun too. I recently watched some underwhelming '90 Takada, so his performance here caught me a little off guard. Thought he looked pretty great bullying Liger, all of his kicks were deadly accurate, as well. He was also great as the young rebellious outsider whenever it was time to take on Inoki. Quite the excellent underdog performance by Liger, he actually reminded me of Yujiro Yamamoto. Loved that slap. Kido's a guy who never blows me away, but tends to always look good. Inoki was the fourth best guy here, although he certainly didn't drag down the match.

Antonio Inoki vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (2/6/86)

This had so many amazing Fujiwara facial expressions, my favourite being the one where he was trying his hardest to snap Inoki's arm. Inoki looked pretty good, he certainly had underrated punches and his headbutt attacks were impressive. Matwork wasn't "state of the art", but was always entertaining mostly because both guys are so damn charismatic. I like how Inoki started trash talking during a leg struggle spot before locking in a heel hook. He'd also keep his composure when caught in a submission. Thought this built nicely to the finish - no one sells a choke better than Fujiwara. Post-match fight almost caused a riot. Borderline great.

Akira Maeda vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (1/10/86)

This felt like two workers going out and showing off their style rather than trying to have a great/epic match. I don't think they gave this much thought and certain parts felt repetitive. Matwork was technically good, especially at the start, and I liked the finish. It's definitely a good match, but nothing special and certainly nowhere near as good as their 2/5 encounter.

Akira Maeda vs. Nobuhiko Takada (1/3/86)

Pretty average match. Most of the matwork didn't interest me and the only real highlights were Takada's kicking combo and that spot where he fell into the ropes to escape a choke. Maeda's boston crab often feels like a resthold.

Gran Hamada vs. Babyface (4/3/80)

Hamada's crisp execution and intensity always impresses. The back work was good, mostly because of Hamada's two big bumps. Didn't think the matwork in the middle was pointless, to me it looked like another Hamada comeback attempt. Favorite part was Hamada reversing the second backdrop and then desperately trying to take down Babyface with dropkicks. Good junior heavyweight wrestling.

Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen (2/8/80)

This'll finish in the bottom 20 (I see there are quite a few Tiger Mask matches on the set, so maybe bottom 30) as everything up until the finish was pretty forgettable. That chinlock section really dragged on forever. On the bright side, this did have a rewind worthy finish.

Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen (4/3/80)

I'd say this was far better than 2/8/80. The first four or five minutes were incredibly well done and I really liked the finishing stretch, especially the part where Inoki avoids the lariat on the apron. I'm not even sure if Hansen looked better than Inoki in their first encounter, but he was world class in this match. His knees and stomps were vicious and he did an amazing job selling a head kick. Top 50.

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dynamite Kid (2/5/80)

Great babyface performance by Fujinami, I'm not sure if a primed Ricky Steamboat could have done a better job. His comebacks made this match for me and that was a Necro Butcher level bump at the end. Dynamite Kid was at his best when he was casually avoiding highspots.

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Tony Rocco (9/11/80)

Thought this was pretty great when the carny dude was in control on the mat, unfortunately that didn't last for too long. Fujinami looked solid working holds for the first 10 minutes or so. The two minute sprint at the end felt a little rushed. Good match overall, but definitely needed more Rocco stretches.

Kengo Kimura vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (5/16/86)

One of the best star vs lower ranked opponent matches I've seen. Ruthless performance by Fujiwara. Seeing him no-sell a chair shot was fucking great as a. it made him look like a badass and b. he's a UWF fighter, he's above that pro style bullshit. Whenever Kimura would make a comeback, Fujiwara would sell in such a way that you knew he wasn't in any danger of losing (nasty piledriver being the exception). This was also another good Kimura performance, his selling and bleeding added a lot to the match.

5-on-5 Challenge (5/1/86)

Takada/Liger section was a ton of fun, although may have gone a little too long and some of the pro style moves felt out of place. Liger going around in circles while trying to escape the armbar was a really cool spot. Sakaguchi stuff was OK and the Kido 'matches' dragged - Koshinaka looked kind of shitty to be honest. Match turned into a classic once Fujiwara entered the ring. Those sleeper spots were awesome. Maeda picking apart a bloody Fujinami was a great way to end the match. Top 10.

Thoughts on my top 28??

Man I must be the only one that really liked Hamada/Face cause after 5 discs that's still my number 1 match.

You're probably the only one who will have it above both Andre classics and the whole Choshu-Fujinami series. To each his own, but it seems like a small match compared to those.

Well After a rewatch I will probably have Hansen/Andre over it.

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (4/3/83)

This was great, actually far better than I thought it'd be. Everything was a struggle and all the big moves/momentum shifts felt important. Fujinami would rely on his superior technique, while Choshu, although a pretty skilled grappler, would tend to use his power to his advantage. Choshu gets criticized for his lack of offense and overabundance of restholds, but I didn't notice any of that here. In fact, as a performer, he didn't look too far behind Fujinami. Choshu's leg work was excellent. It wasn't anything complex, but I really liked how he'd literally snap on holds. The build to the sharpshooter was done perfectly, as well. His out of nowhere lariats may be the most devastating move on this set. Fujinami was excellent as usual. His comebacks were all believable and continuously selling the leg was a nice touch. Top 30.

Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (4/21/83)

Always liked the flippy shit right at the start, everything else was KENTA/Nakajima level bad. This had plenty of pointless restholds and all the spots were dated. Dynamite Kid's knee first diving headbutt was laughable. The restarts were boring. This'll probably finish last.

Keiichi Yamada vs. Shiro Koshinaka (12/9/88)

This was essentially a watered down 2009 Japanese juniors match except without the overkill. 15 minutes of boring, meaningless legwork followed by a weak 2.9 section. Before I started watching this set, I thought Koshinaka was a really good 80s worker, but now I'm starting to think he was always useless. When he was getting his leg worked over, he looked bored. Thought the heavily flawed Tiger Mask/Dynamite Kid matches were more entertaining than this.

Will accidentally copied the 1/25/88 match between Koshinaka and Yamada twice, so that's actually the one you watched. You and OJ are way too hard on Koshinaka. I thought his selling was fine, though he's not the most expressive guy by nature. It certainly worked well enough to get the story across. Yamada came in as the underdog but rapidly evened things up by targeting the leg so relentlessly. How was the legwork meaningless? The match turned on it entirely, with Koshinaka becoming the unexpected babyface because of it and then pumping up the crowd by fighting through. It wasn't a top-of-the-ballot match, but everyone on the panel liked it. Of course, we all liked the Takada-Koshinaka series as well.

Well, you guys have a different perspective on it because you sat through hours of footage to find the matches you thought were good. My perspective is skewered because I have an aversion to Japanese wrestling after living here for four years.

Personally, I didn't think there was anything good about the matwork or the roles they were playing. The matwork was pointless because in the end it was a typical juniors finish. Yamada was crap at working the leg and kept shifting positon and doing those crappy Takada leglocks and Koshinaka can't sell for shit. It took Yamada forever to take off his boot and the ref just let it happen. It didn't get any heat whatsoever and the buzz for Koshinaka's comeback was the same sort of heat juniors always got for their highspots.

I dunno. All the heavyweight stuff blows the juniors stuff out of the water. I think most people will end up agreeing with that.

Match was too similar to the crap you see today, in my opinion. There was no sense of drama during the legwork part of the match - at no point did I think Koshinaka was going to tap out. When watching I couldn't believe how much the junior style had deteriorated.

No argument there. I think this match stood out in part because the juniors so rarely tried to do anything interesting. At least with this one, Yamada went further than usual with the legwork in an effort to flip the roles in the match. Actually, Yamada stood out because he always tried really hard to get across who he was in a given match. I felt like he "got" pro wrestling from the jump, even if his execution lacked at times.

I think I liked Takada-Kosh because again, they actually went for something with the progression of their matches. Takada basically overwhelmed Kosh in the 8/5/86 match. Then, Koshinaka frustrated Takada by playing the couterpuncher on 9/19. And then Takada seemed on the cusp of revenge on 2/5/87 only to be undercut by the finger attack. There were dull stretches and sketchily executed exchanges in each match, but the series kept a forward momentum that separated it from a lot of juniors stuff.

I don't know. Koshinaka just doesn't bother me as much as he does you guys.

What was the panel's view on Hiroshi Hase? He's like the anti-Koshinaka to me. Has his flaws but makes every match he's in better.

Yamada hasn't really lived up to the pre-set talk for me and neither has Hoshino yet. I agree with everything you guys said about Kimura, though.