Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, Umanosuke Ueda & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Akira Maeda, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Osamu Kido, Nobuhiko Takada & Kazuo Yamazaki (NJPW, 3/26/86)

This was a riot. Everyone (mostly) was fired up, the exchanges were red hot, the atmosphere electric. Ueda was a peroxide turd but fortunately, he’s not in this much – I mean, he tags in only to tag in Inoki. But when Fujiwara and Maeda are in there shooting against Fujinami and Inoki, it’s fantastic. There’s a lot to love about this match but there’s also a lot going on. The aggressive jockeying between Fujiwara and Fujinami, Takada and Maeda murdering Team NJPW with kicks, suplexes everywhere. The apron drama during the elimination teases really translated well with the crowd. The double eliminations were awesome, especially Fujinami trying in vain to shake off Fujiwara’s sleeper hold until the only option is to spill over the ropes to the outside. Of course, Inoki is the hero of this particular story and the lone survivor of his team against the invaders. After submitting Takada with the sleeper, Inoki endures everything the fiery Kido throws at him and connects with the big enziguri to win it for New Japan. Tons of passion, intensity and non-stop action – highly recommended.

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Shiro Koshinaka (NJPW, 2/5/87)

This is a low-burning match turned to a blaze by the finish, with wild execution and an air of bitterness. The tension between the two is ever-present as they work to find an opening, bursting with slaps and kicks in moments of frustration. Offensively, they're all over the place, with suplexes and tombstones. Takada's kicks are especially on point but Koshinaka is able to take him down with the single leg crab, dragging him back to the middle when Takada gets too close to the ropes. He blocks the enziguri attempt and hits a backbreaker followed by a German suplex hold for two. The referee is ridiculous here, falling all over himself during the counts. Takada stays on the ground for a while, focusing on Koshinaka's arm. When Koshinaka doesn't give up, he fires off a great backdrop and the bridge on his dragon suplex hold is insane. I loved Koshinaka countering the chickenwing by attacking Takada's fingers and working the hand to the finish, ultimately forcing Takada to submit after enduring a barrage of kicks. The pacing is odd but it works for the most part. Koshinaka's selling was good throughout and while Takada blew off some of Shiro's offense, his selling at the end with the hand was great stuff.

HARASHIMA vs. Konosuke Takeshita (DDT, 3/20/17)

On first viewing, HARASHIMA vs. Takeshita was a pretty awesome match, with a good mix of psychology, selling, and high-impact offense. I'm a big fan of Takeshita, no doubt, but I thought he looked like the total package here, working with a little more 'tude against the old "ace of DDT" and building to his German suplex finish via his focused attacks on HARASHIMA. Some of the execution was off -- leave Croyt's Wrath to Kenny Omega (ditto Ishii). He seems to be the only one who can pull it off seamlessly. And while I'm nitpicking, some of the selling gets shelved on both sides for the sake of high spots...but Takeshita does a good job of bringing it full circle, especially in the final minutes. While he excels at the physical sell, HARASHIMA's facials were terrific as always. Alright, let's dig in.

Love Takeshita pursing his lips and shaking his head at HARASHIMA's handshake offer like a brat, After the initial touch-and-go, Takeshita pops HARASHIMA with an elbow, DDTs him onto the apron, then brainbusters him on the floor. He starts tenderizing the back of the head, neck, and back of the champ to prime his finisher. Likewise, HARASHIMA starts working the leg like usual to set-up the...Somato? Whatever his motive, it looked vicious, the way he stomps, kicks, and cranks away. When Takeshita tries to retaliate with a leg lariat, HARASHIMA slickly catches the leg and drops down into a kneebar. But after an overhead suplex counter, Takeshita dumps him right back onto his neck with a snap dragon suplex. The match picks up offensively from here on out, as the two start trading offense, working in some cool counter sequences here and there. There were some brutal spots from HARASHIMA, including a top rope reverse frankensteiner and a Canadian backbreaker-style reverse piledriver, but he ends up eating Takeshita's boots in a great counter spot to the swandive Somato.

After winning another round of reversals, a frustrated HARASHIMA stomps away at the "never say die"-attitude of Takeshita. Takeshita's selling of the exhaustion and desperation at this point in the match is so good. He collapses during the heated slap-a-thon only to be re-invigorated with punches and channeling the spirit of Dusty Rhodes via Antonio Honda with a Bionic Elbow! Awesome finish, with Takeshita catching HARASHIMA in a tilt-a-whirl into a Dudebuster into a German suplex hold! Shit! And as HARASHIMA, the champ, reaches in vain for the ropes, Takeshita traps the arm and finishes him off with the shutdown German. A strong victory for Takeshita in what I could be the promotion's answer to Omega/Okada, with Takeshita re-taking his rightful place as crown prince of DDT. Can't wait to re-watch this later in the year.

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW, 3/19/17)

The rivalry between these two is one of the best in New Japan and going into a match, you already know what to expect: stiff strikes, bouts of no selling, pissing contests, and tons of suplexes. You see it plenty these days but no one can pull it off quite as well as Shibata and Ishii. After a pedestrian opening, with Ishii saying "fuck you" to Shibata's armwork and going straight to the strikes, the match picks up once the enmity kicks in. Like an angsty Shibata walking over and punting Ishii back or Ishii repeatedly chopping Shibata in the throat against Red Shoes' wishes. It wouldn't be a Shibata/Ishii match with a minute-long elbow exchange, with Ishii's nose getting busted open in the process.

I loved the spot with Shibata popping up after the lariat like a zombie only for Ishii to lariat him back down. This time, we get the Indian-style slap off, with Shibata really laying into Ishii once they've made it back to their feet. After they trade suplexes, Ishii catches a PK attempt and what what...armbar takedown! Ishii's selling in this match is terrific (no surprise there), especially toward the end as he's fighting the sleeper attempts, fading into the PK, with Shibata going right back to the sleeper to win in dominant fashion, and Ishii still not wanting to give up the fight as he crawls toward the victor. Awesome stuff. I think it's right up there with last year's battles, thanks to the strong second half, and I may have even liked it more than their WK match. We'll see upon rewatch later in the year. Definitely the best match of the New Japan Cup.

Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu (AJPW, 1/28/86)

This match is incredible and my favorite tag match of the decade so far (the other being the Funks. vs. Hansen & Gordy from 1983). It has everything I love about professional wrestling, from great psychology and selling to the unruly nature of the match and the escalation of emotions and hostilities. Everyone plays their respective roles so well, to the point that grumpster Tenryu is more concerned about beating on an injured Choshu outside of the ring then what’s happening to his partner inside. Jumbo immediately goes after Choshu’s taped ribs and in one of the best moments of the match, he slaps Yatsu silly and throws him into his corner so he can tag Choshu back in. When Tenryu comes in, he’s double teamed at once -- actually, twice, taking an assisted piledriver. He’s able to put on the figure-four leglock but Choshu’s able to roll to his corner, where Yatsu flies in with a diving elbow drop to Tenryu while Tsuruta takes advantage and stomps at Choshu’s prone ribs.

Tsuruta and Tenryu continue targeting Riki’s ribs with Jumbo tearing away some of the protective tape and putting him in the cobra twist. Chaos unfolds as backdrops are…well, dropped, brutal lariats are thrown, and a chair is used against the recovering Choshu. Tenryu continues attacking Choshu while Yatsu works away on Jumbo, busting him open on the ringpost before unloading his offensive arsenal, hitting a piledriver, a backdrop, and a backbreaker before poorly applying the sansori-gatame, which is broken up by Tenryu’s nasty lariat. Choshu is the thorn in Tenryu’s side during the finishing stretch, thwarting his pin attempts on Yatsu, and while Yatsu is able to hit a big German suplex hold for a nearfall, Tenryu at last puts him down with the powerbomb to win it. I can’t recommend this match highly enough.

Nobuhiko Takada vs Shiro Koshinaka (NJPW, 8/5/86)

The young Shiro Koshinaka here looks strikingly like a present-day Isami Kodaka. Lost dad? This match was a blast. I love how he no sells Takada’s high kick early on so he can tie him up in the ropes and give him a good smack. They maneuver for leg control until Takada backs out and starts unloading with the kicks, catching Shiro with a foot to the face. Takada’s kicks look brutal and Koshinaka’s selling is terrific, at one point dropping like a bag of flour. There’s some sloppiness to the match, especially with some of the pin attempts, but it doesn’t take too much away from the total package. They fire off some bigger offense, Takada with his jumping tombstone and Koshinaka with a German suplex hold after landing some booty attacks. As Takada tries to submit Koshinaka, first with the arm, then the leg, tension starts to build. They start kicking at each other while Takada’s got the kneebar on and then they just explode into a maelstrom of vicious slaps. Koshinaka builds momentum heading into the finish but he misses the diving headbutt and Takada comes after him with those stiff kicks. After a full nelson suplex hold isn’t enough to put him away, Takada locks in the crossface chickenwing for the submission victory.

Mr. Gannosuke vs. Isami Kodaka (Mr. Gannosuke Produce, 3/7/17)

Hey, this match was really good and maybe 16 people will see it but that's okay because I'm telling you it was a really good match -- that is, if you like watching a 48-year old sake-guzzling dad with gross hair schooling a part-time bartender in professional rasslin'. Gannosuke's ring knowledge is refreshing, in that the little things he does come off as obvious but they're tricks that not a lot of guys employ. For example, trying to pin Isami while keeping a grounded headscissors applied. Or countering a sickle hold with a choke, a figure-four leglock attempt with a small package. When Isami is in non-deathmatch mode, he's pretty good. His kicks don't always land but neither do his dives. Gannosuke outveterans Isami early on, going back to his headscissors until Isami is able to counter out successfully with a bow and arrow hold. He continues working the leg, using a figure-four leglock, a spinning toehold, and an ankle hold. Gannosuke's limb of choice is the arm and he wrings and wrenches it, hits a couple of running armbreakers. When Isami struggles against a hold, Gannosuke is quick to either try a pin him or trap the flailing limb. The back-end of this match sees Gannosuke throwing some bombs, including a Falcon Arrow and a powerbomb, but also using Isami's injured arm as a way to shift the tide. The wily Isami is able to avoid the Fire Thunder Driver, dropping Gannosuke with a brainbuster and back-to-back diving knees. Gannosuke gets one last gasp with a Gannosuke Clutch but after a shitty superkick, Isami defeats Gannosuke with the Isami-ashi-zan. Mr. Gannosuke still rules.

Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Hideki Suzuki (BJW, 3/5/17)

Hideki Suzuki rocking the purple for his big title match. I love Hideki Suzuki. He's one of the most engaging wrestlers to watch in the ring but works in such a cool-headed, almost nonchalant way, reserving most of his energy to unleash these micro-explosions of offense throughout. There's very little downtime with Suzuki and his spontaneity is incredible as he's quick to take advantage of an open door. The small package on a doubled over Sekimoto, the sleeper hold off the pin attempt, and kneeing Sekimoto off when he tries to cover him. Because Suzuki's such a maestro on the mat, I think I underrated him as a striker but he throws great strikes -- some of the best snap elbows and I love the way he lays into his uppercuts.

This story was technique vs. power, with the hyper-alert challenger taking the powerhouse champ a few clicks past empty. Suzuki immediately sells Sekimoto's strength in their first lock-up but he's able to shows off his ring smarts early on with some take downs and ground control, leaving Sekimoto huffing. When he tries to strike with Sekimoto, it backfires and Suzuki aborts by belly-to-bellying the wild Sekimoto over the top rope. Suzuki chills a minute and then sinks Sekimoto with an elbow on the outside. They do a really good job of teasing Suzuki's suplexes, whether its the double arm or the dragon suplex, and when he tries for the first, Sekimoto counters with a side suplex.The match loses a little bit of steam when Sekimoto takes over on offense but he's still as intense as always and heats up to a double suplex of his own. There's some great counter sequences and ultimately Suzuki comes back out on top and starts targeting Sekimoto's head and neck, drilling him with a scoop piledriver and some nasty deadshot elbows.

This became a war of attrition as they empty bombshells and slug away at each other in exhaustion. This is where Suzuki's energy reserve comes into play as he tries to capitalize on Sekimoto's lack thereof. He's finally able to deliver the dragon suplex but it's not enough to put the champ away. Sekimoto collapses into Suzuki with a lariat for two and hits a sitout powerbomb for another nearfall. Suzuki's selling when he's getting rocked with Sekimoto's beefy elbows was great and he's able to come back with some brutal strikes of his own. In the end, they're both so drained, they don't even have the energy to effectively execute their respective finishers. Maybe this wasn't the match I was hoping for but it became a match I really enjoyed. There wasn't a particularly loud crowd but that's been the trend with these BJW Strong Heavyweight title matches. I won't be shocked if Sekimoto retains in their rematch but Suzuki came away looking like a true badass.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (UWF, 1/7/85)

I said it once, I'll say it again: if a match doesn’t involve Yoshiaki Fujiwara, it’s not really a pro-wrestling match. I kid, I kid, but seriously, Fujiwara was once again ruled the match with his great veteran prowess, time and again forcing Yamazaki back to the ropes as he zeroes in on Kazuo’s arm. Seriously, those ropes became Yamazaki’s second home. When Yamazaki realizes that taking the grap action down to the canvas is a bad idea against Fujiwara, he starts snapping off dirty kicks. It works to an extent but it also serves to further piss off Fujiwara, who starts jabbing and booting him out of disgust, like “Who the fuck does this young kid think he’s kicking?” The build to the arm submission finish was teased throughout, with Fujiwara briefly switching things up to the legs as a way to weaken some of Yamazaki’s kick. His kicks were on point, especially that solebutt, and he puts a little extra Dijon behind them toward the end of the match. Yamazaki’s able to deliver a low-bridging German suplex but Fujiwara responds with a sick piledriver, transitioning right into the kimura. Yamazaki again makes it to the ropes but after Fujiwara stuns him with a big slap, he’s back on the arm and quickly submits Yamazaki. An awesome "Take Your Kid to Work Day" match.

Super Tiger & Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Akira Maeda (UWF, 7/23/84)

Oooh, boy, this screwy combination of shooters kick and suplex their way into our hearts, setting the stages for two of the biggest feuds in the early UWF days between Tiger/Fujiwara and Takada/Maeda. Let’s not kid ourselves, Fujiwara is the man here and he makes everyone look money, even throwing his own partner some spare change. Between his grappling and bridging dance-off with Takada or his headbutt barrage to Tiger, Fujiwara's the best part of this match. But Super Sayama Tiger is motivated and angsty with kicks. There’s a great spot where he’s laying into Maeda with strikes and goes for the kneedrop, shifting gears midair when Maeda rolls through to his feet to land a solebutt. Maeda's clearly the weakest of the bunch but he does hit a powerbomb! The second half picks up on the offensive front with piledrivers, headbutts (diving and otherwise), and suplexes galore. Takada brings that grumpy fire out of Fujiwara after paintbrushing him with slaps and Fujiwara carries the flame through to the finish, pinning Takada with the low bridging German suplex hold.

Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Nobuhiko Takada (UWF, 12/5/84)

The first five minutes or so is a feel out process between Takada and Yamazaki as they bite with strikes and try to maintain arm control on the mat. But when Takada bridges out of a hold, Yamazaki kicks him in the ribs and the match finds the sweet spot as Yamazaki starts unloading on Takada with kicks and knee drops. He works his way back to the arm but Takada is able to fight out, landing a short spurt of kicks and planting Yamazaki with a tombstone piledriver. When that doesn’t work, he pelts him with stiff as day-old catshit strikes and pulls out the running jumping tombstone! Yamazaki rules in this match, really kicking it up a notch (literally) heading into the final stretch as he fires back with his own hard-hitting offense, including a great belly-to-belly suplex. I like the crossface chickenwing teases on both sides, before Yamazaki uses it almost as a distraction to deliver the German suplex hold for the surprise victory. A short and sweet exhibition of pro-shoot-style-wrestling.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Tiger Mask W (NJPW, 3/6/17)

I don't watch Tiger Mask W, I don't know what the "W" stands for, but I do know that Kota Ibushi personifies him. I also know he's wearing a much better mask than the plush cosplay version. Viewed within an animesque bubble, I had a blast watching this match. The age-old story of the young punk ass Tiger Mask trying to keep pace with the big money champ was well told and I love that Tiger Mask W is basically Kota Ibushi playing a fiery Satoru Sayama. The hiccups occur when they try to overdo it with some elaborate spot and it comes off looking awkward and out-of-place. But the basic execution is great and a big part of the visual presentation is Ibushi's bumping. This match also made me excited to see Okada in 10 years. 

A simple start to the story, with TMW showing he can keep pace with the champion, boosting his confidence a little until Okada shuts him down. Okada's flying crossbody over the guardrail was a thing and beauty and he starts building that ace swagger as he slingshots in across TMW with the senton. When Tiger starts to heat up and show off, Okada cools him back down. I liked his neckbreaker counter to the first Tiger Driver attempt but when he tries to put him away early with a Rainmaker, Ibushi fires back on offense. He tries for a tiger suplex but the champ fights out, in turn looking for a tombstone, but Ibushi slips out and cracks Okada upside his head with the high kick! 

Pissy ace Okada is terrific and Tiger Mask's heelish response to the bullying is with the closed-fists and pesky kicks to the face while the referee is admonishing him. When Tiger counters the Rainmaker with his Rainmaker-style high kick, I'm now in favor of Tiger Mask actually defeating the champ and challenging him for the title in this weird parallel NJPW universe. Love his Super Tiger Sayama attitude as he puts the boots to Okada's arm to set-up the Last Ride or the knee response to Okada trying to fight out of the tiger driver. That corner spot was an absolute mess and nearly killed the match, with Okada corpsing as he re-positions Ibushi. Personally, I thought Tiger beating Okada in a non-title match with that Super Tiger Driver would have been a great route to go, with TMW emerging as a star and the two building to a title match down the road. But Okada hits his trio of Rainmakers to trounce Tiger's chances this time around. Despite some of the miscommunications, I thought Okada and Ibushi had really good chemistry and I'd love to see a title match in the future, even if it's inside the same anime bubbleverse.