Genichiro Tenryu vs. George Takano (SWS, 10/11/90)

Oh man, George Takano is like the perfect grunty worker here, with his quasi-shoot shotei strikes and wakigatame takedowns. He does a number on Tenryu at the outset, dropkicking him out of the ring and hitting a pretty sweet baseball slide through the ropes. But when he whiffs on the plancha, Tenryu takes over on offense and he's not happy about it, stomping and kneeing away at George's gut. They manage to condense a lot of big moves into a short period of time, and between George's tenacity and Tenryu's grumpy presence, this ticks quite a few boxes. Plus, you've got random English commentary sprinkled throughout. Takano keeps cutting off Tenryu's momentum, German suplexing or landing a big crossbody from the top rope to the floor. And of course, Tenryu delivers the goods on the powerbomb front, including an awesome counter to George's 'rana attempt. He tweaks his ankle on one of the attempts, giving Takano a glimmer of hope, but Tenryu ultimately puts him away with a final big boy powerbomb. Super solid match.

Hikaru Sato vs. HARASHIMA (DDT, 11/14/10)

Dueling limbwork, anyone? You know I'm all about it when it's pulled off in a smart way. This match manages to do just that, with Sato priming the arm for the jujigatame and HARASHIMA trying to alleviate Sato's kicks by working the leg. This follows the traditional DDT "Main Event" template, with scrambled matwork to start, bouts of snug slap and kick exchanges, and the sudden escalation into bigger offense. The slaps are especially stiff, as Sato's lip gets busted, and HARASHIMA's legwork gets nasty at times with some of those targeted kicks. When HARASHIMA's got him on the ground in a leglock, Sato grabs the hair and HARASHIMA returns the favor just because he can. Sato's able to go back to the armbar, transitioning into a triangle and as HARASHIMA begins to power out, Sato uses the ropes for a rope-hung armbar, choking HARASHIMA to the point of foaming. Sato's outside running PK takes a lot out of him, which allows HARASHIMA to dropkick the leg out from underneath him on the apron to regain control. They start exchanging signatures and counters, go back-and-forth with the strikes, with Sato at one point straight punching HARASHIMA, and in the end, when HARASHIMA springboards in, Sato catches him in the armbar. The final struggle is terrific, with HARASHIMA trying to boot his way out, then grabbing onto the referee, before finally giving up. Niiiice.

Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 9/30/90)

When a match goes to a draw, whether it's half an hour, the fully sixty, or somewhere in between, there's often an issue of keeping the furnace burning. This match keeps it lit and while there are the inevitable moments of downtime, they are few and far between. All four guys bring something unique to the party and perhaps best of all, buckets of hate. Terrific brawling in and out of the ring and a crowd that stays hot until the end, buying into all the big two counts in the final few minutes. The animosity between Misawa and Jumbo is still very strong here as Misawa gets in some flippant slaps prior to their initial lock up and keeps antagonizing him throughout. I loved the interactions between Misawa and Taue, with Taue's bandaged forehead getting re-opened. He plays to the sympathy of the fans so well here, as Misawa and Kawada keep riling him up with shitty kicks to the head. Kawada, of course, as the gap-toothed rowdy bully the bloodied Taue and pissing off Jumbo -- loved Kawada exploding with elbows on Jumbo before Jumbo tosses him out of the ring. In the back half of the match, the bombs start falling and there's some cool spots, including Kawada hitting a proto-Stylin' DDT on Jumbo and then a sweet atomic drop > jumping high kee > backdrop double team by Taue and Jumbo on Misawa. Misawa especially delivers some beautiful offense, including the German and tiger suplex, and an awesomely executed tiger driver. Taue and Kawada have a pretty great shotei exchange, with Kawada getting the upper hand, and in the end, he comes off the top rope with the knee drop just as the time limit expires. If you like pissy tag team wrestling sustained over the course of 45:00, this is the match for you.

Shuji Ishikawa vs. Kento Miyahara (AJPW, 8/27/17)

This was a really good match that had the potential to be fantastic had Kento Miyahara deviated from his go-to formulaic approach. I mean, you had all the Kento "ace" tropes here: the hard in-the-moment selling but convenient bouts of amnesia to shoe in his signature moves and then the final minute comeback barrage of endless knees. But it was a brutally fought match and for the most part, the conveyed struggle, fatigue and desperation on Miyahara's part was awesome, coupled with the relentless monstrosity of black trunks Shuji Ishikawa trying to destroy any chance Miyahara has of beating him. I mean, the Big Dog's yard is a truly frightening place to be cornered in. The way he just throws Miyahara throat-first onto the guardrail and proceeds to tenderize the neck like a veal cutlet, with his nasty push-up facebusters on the mat and easily the most memorable spot of the night -- the gnarly Fire Thunder Driver on the apron that was sold like absolute death by Kento.

I thought Miyahara's selling was better than his usual fare but you still have dumb spots like the no sold superplex and even dumber spots like the no sold dragon suplex. Loved the strike exchange toward the end, with an exhausted Miyahara trying to slug away with Ishikawa and Ishikawa annihilating him with that headbutt, followed by a ruthless beatdown via elbows. Wada tries to step in but Ishikawa throws him off, which allows Kento to connect with a lunging desperation headbutt. Why Ishikawa didn't go for the Giant Slam is baffling to me but instead, he tries for another pull-in knee strike and Miyahara counters with a big high knee strike...then a second...then a third...and then the arm-trap German and...it's over.

I liked the build to the arm-trap German, with Shuji either using an elbow to escape or just bursting out, but the finish felt very lackluster, especially considering all the punishment Ishikawa had put Miyahara through, including three Fire Thunder Drivers, a bunch of running knees, and a Splash Mountain Bomb. This would have been the perfect opportunity for Ishikawa to kick out of the German and force Miyahara to introduce a new finisher to his repertoire on the biggest stage of the year. But I guess if the formula ain't broke, there's no point in going back to the drawing board. This is about even with Ishikawa's title win, possibly a bit higher due to Ishikawa's savage performance, and with that, Ishikawa's Triple Crown run ends and he's free to show up in Big Japan and attempt...and I mean, attempt...to dethrone current king of technical violence, Hideki Suzuki.

Hiroshi Hase vs. The Great Muta (NJPW, 9/14/90)

Great Muta was Muta here – you know, which is to say you get all the Muta highlights but with an added sheen of viciousness.  But Hiroshi Hase really makes this match something special. From his slick-as-catshit movements and takedowns in the early goings to him trying to fight through the heavy crimson mask with the crowd at his back, just an awesome performance from Hase. He manages to piss off Muta with slaps and gets tossed out of the ring and split open on the ringpost. Then, back inside the ring, Muta spikes him with a fucking Gotch-style piledriver. Hase’s trying to hulk up but missing opportunities to turn things around, as Muta looks to put him to sleep. But when he does finally turn it around, it’s fantastic – the Northern Lights suplex hold, the suplex onto the floor, the way he staggers in for that awesome uranage. But instead of going for the cover, he makes the mistake of climbing up top, which allows Muta to spray him with the mist. Then Muta loses his shit and gets himself disqualified but he gives zero shits for Hase or the ref or the fans, and hits his moonsault anyway because he’s Muta.

Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW, 9/1/90)

This is a match that truly clicks into place after trying to find the right pieces, and when it clicks, it’s awesome…and at this point in time, a little disheartening, as you watch Misawa at the birth of his stardom and Jumbo besieged by it, struggling to hold onto his place at the top of the mountain…and now they’re both gone. I like that Misawa thinks he’s not just some young boy Jumbo can bully around, blocking the elbow on the ropes and avoiding the jumping knee. But then he gets caught and put in his place. Jumbo relies on experience and his tried-and-true ways of dealing with the opposition – the clubbing offense, the wear-down holds, the occasional bombs but mostly reserving his energy. On the other hand, Misawa’s spry and hasty, trying to catch Jumbo off guard with kicks or a crossbody.

But Jumbo figures it out and there’s a great counter spot to Misawa’s rounding body press out of the corner. When Misawa starts popping Jumbo with elbows, that’s when it all clicks, when Jumbo’s like “are you fucking kidding me with this horseshit?!” and unloads on him. The referee’s trying to maintain order but Jumbo’s fed up, ragdolling Misawa into guardrails and smashing him with a chair, turning the crowd against him. Misawa’s able to exact some revenge and lets loose with the elbows in the corner, stunning him with another in order to deliver the German suplex hold. In the final minutes, Jumbo’s worn out, Misawa’s huffing, and the execution isn’t quite cookie cutter as they’re just lobbing themselves at each other. Jumbo folds Misawa in half with a brutal backdrop and I like how Misawa tries to buy some time with that desperation elbow but it’s not enough to overcome the inevitable and Jumbo pins him down with the backdrop hold.

BJW/Masahito Kakihara Produce "KAKI RIDE" (8/14/17)

Big Japan helped produced this special event as a way to support Masahito Kakihara, who has been suffering from malignant lymphoma since 2014. The event saw the return of Kakihara to the ring, in a sparring session with grapple legend, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, but everything else was fought under "UWF Rules", meaning points deducted for rope breaks, knockdowns, and in the case of Minoru Suzuki, penalties. On a whole, this was a really fun show and something I'd love to see BJW produce more often. Nothing super high end but I did have a few notes on the show. 

- In his sparring session, Kakihara tapped to Fujiwara a total of ten times. There wasn't much to this, some neat little tricks by Fujiwara, but the best moment came when Fujiwara smoked and ashed an imaginary cigar while had Kakihara in a headlock. Oh yeah.

- Minoru Tanaka managed to wrestle his best match of the year in just under 3:00 against Masakatsu Funaki. Funaki immediately whaps him in the forehead with a kick, and then they scramble around the mat with a real sense of urgency, trying to sink something in. Minoru's able to escape an armbar attempt but gets caught in a triangle and taps out.

- Tatsuo Nakano, still rocking that badass mullet, fought Daisuke Nakamura in a match that definitely over delivered. You've got Nakamura flying fancy round the mat and Nakano being Nakano just knees him in the face, dumps him with an armtrap release German, and submits him with the single leg crab. 

- Hideki Suzuki once again took former student Takuya Nomura to school on the mat, being real nasty with his forearms to the face and knees to the throat. I love the way he manipulates Nomura's arm with the wristlock in order to assert dominance. It seems Nomura's learned a thing or two from their match earlier in the year, where Suzuki basically smothered him into giving up, as he's able to avoid getting suplexed by sitting down and maintains arm control long enough to force Suzuki to the ropes. He's able to let loose a little flurry of strikes but Suzuki's too good, and the finish was swanky as fuck, as Suzuki counters out of the waistlock with a front necklock and then goes into the double arm suplex hold for the submission. 

- Rocky Kawamura (sans boxing gloves) always find a way of pissing off Minoru Suzuki. Suzuki was pretty great here. After landing a few slaps, he tries for the Gotch-style piledriver because you might as well and when Kawamura avoids it, Suzuki grabs the leg and cranks away, forcing Rocky to the ropes. When Rocky uses a jujigatame on Suzuki and doesn't let go after Minoru makes the ropes, the "oh no you didn't" look on Suzuki's face is fantastic. He tries to choke out Rocky, then starts kicking, stomping, and headbutting away, receiving a couple of yellow cards from the ref. Rocky fires off a few jabs but Suzuki's able to snatch an arm and wrench in the wakigatame for the submission. 

- Naomichi Marufuji doesn't have a whole lot of experience wrestling under "UWF Rules" and when he keeps revisiting the ropes on the ground, it becomes obvious that the only way he's going to beat Takaku Fuke is via strikes. He is able to secure a keylock but that's about as close as he gets to submitting Fuke. In the end, Fuke starts laying in the slaps and knees in the corner and out of nowhere, Marufuji connects with the Koo for the KO victory. Cool shorts, Maru. 

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Akira Maeda (UWF, 6/21/90)

Fuck yeah, this has all the urgency and sense of struggle and survival of a high-stakes match-up, and Takada actually looked like a legitimate badass here, working smart to avoid Maeda's capture suplex. Right out of the gate, he fires off some slaps, blocking Maeda's retaliatory kicks and grabbing hold of a stray, turning it into an ankle hold, and then grapevine-ing the hold to force Maeda to the ropes. When they're on the mat looking for something worthwhile, Maeda's maneuvers himself into a front mount and unloads on Takada with slaps of his own. Maeda misses a spin kick and Takada's able to capitalize with a heel hook, using his foot to press Maeda's head back to prevent him from breaking the hold.

As I mentioned earlier, I like how Takada sits back when Maeda snags the leg for the capture suplex. He snaps on Maeda with some piss-quick slaps, catching him in the eyeball, then uses a waterwheel drop to set-up the single-leg crab.  Loved the closing stretch of this match, hot damn! Maeda shoves off the side headlock takedown, kicking Takada in the head and then using his foot to break Takada’s arm away in order to lock in the cross armbar...but Takada’s too close to the ropes! Takada catches another kick with an ankle hold, ducks the spin kick and again lays down to avoid the capture suplex, but Maeda's like "fuck you" and applies the kneebar to submit Takada. Awesome.

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

Sometimes in a pro-wrestling match, certain things occur and you think to yourself "well, fuck, why doesn't he just do (blank)?". Whether it's escaping a sticky predicament or blocking a strike, these things may seem obvious to us, the bystander, but more often than not, instinct goes out the window in favor of "dramatic tension". Well, Fujiwara does (blank) a lot, which is why he's one of the greatest scrappy technicians of all time, and this match exemplifies that awareness. How a simple boot to the ass can be used as a counter to a single leg crab, or turning a shoulder or back to a kick, or snagging an arm off a rear waistlock to avoid a suplex and take control of the situation. Good stuff. They open the match trying to grab holds and sink something in until Maeda gives up and just starts kicking at Fujiwara on the mat. He hits an awesome belly-to-back suplex counter to a side headlock attempt but when Maeda misses the big spin kick attempt, Fujiwara takes advantage with the headbutts. They roll out of the ring stuck in a leglock and Fujiwara's able to prevent Maeda from making it back to the ring...so they restart the match and this time, Fujiwara's all over Maeda's arm, trying to cinch in the wakigatame after a swanky roll through. He's able to catch a kick and get the takedown but Maeda slips into a choke sleeper, and the finish of the match is fan-fuckin-tastic, with Fujiwara trying to maneuver to the ropes until he starts foaming at the mouth and the referee calls for the bell. Awesome.

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Victor Zangiev (NJPW, 4/24/89)

Victor Zangiev, who looks more like a stereotyped Seinfeld character than the hulking Street Fighter, is pretty fucking awesome here, especially considering his lack of pro-wrestling experience. Between the cool shoot suplexes and practical but effective counters, Hashimoto sells him as a legitimate and unpredictable threat, which only adds to Zangiev's allure. Hashimoto's frustration builds throughout the match as Zangiev has answers to a lot of Hashimoto's offense, and when Hashimoto counters the armbar attempt with the headscissors, Zangiev performs a little dosey-doe to flip back out onto his feet, ready for the grapple. Great stuff. In the end, Hashimoto's finally able to keep him grounded with the leglock for the submission but for a sub-ten minute match, it doesn't get much better than this.

Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJPW, 8/31/90)

Kenta Kobashi is the mosquito that keeps abuzzin' and daddy Jumbo is just trying to swat him down but he's having trouble keeping him down. Kobashi gets in a lot of offense, including the moonsault press, and even shows a little 'tude when he's working Jumbo on the mat, paintbrushing him with a few slaps. Jumbo's pretty generous here but after Kobashi survives a couple of big knees and a powerbomb, Jumbo's finally had it and lays into him with some elbows before putting him down for good with the backdrop. I would've liked to have seen a more grumpy Jumbo here against Misawa's pal but it was solid enough match heading into Jumbo's much bigger rematch with Misawa.

Shinjiro Ohtani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Hideki Suzuki & Keisuke Okuda (ZERO1, 7/30/17)

Sometimes you don't need a bloated 30+ minute "epic" and the old standby story of a promotion nobody getting put in his place by the promotion's surly dad is plenty. This ticked a lot of my personal preference boxes when it comes to a pro-wrestling match: grumpy old dude (check), disappointed tag partner (check), a well-sold beatdown (check), Hideki Suzuki (check). Ohtani looked his best here and right out of the gate, he's got zero time for Okuda, laying it in with nasty slaps and knees, shoving Okuda's kicks out of the way in order to dish out more punishment. Takaiwa played the gruff uncle to Ohtani's dad role, being a little more reserved with the bomb-throwing but still kicking ass. And Suzuki, despite not getting much in-ring time, ruled here as reprimands his own partner with shitty little kicks and motivational smacks. I thought Okuda took the beating well -- that facewash to the outside looked especially rough -- and when he got the revenge tag, he brought the fire to Ohtani with some terrific machine gun-style elbows in the corner. He goes on to mock Ohtani by walking through the chops but that doesn't impress the old man, who in turn, dumps Okuda on his head not once...but twice with a release dragon suplex to put him away. Good stuff.

Shinjiro Ohtani vs. Koji Kanemoto (NJPW, 4/10/99)

This was a bit of a dumb ole pissing contest between two dudes who are so evenly matched in a lot of ways, although Ohtani is the more compelling of the two in this case. That simple narrative was the crux of this match -- the dueling legwork, the one count suplex swaps, the token face washes -- neither guy really having a clear advantage over the other. I liked Ohtani getting cheeky with the slaps on the ropes but not giving Kanemoto the pleasure. And when Kanemoto breaks out the kicks, Ohtani does the obvious and takes out the leg with a dropkick to set-up the groundwork. Ohtani does such a good job of bringing the focus back to the leg, adding little flourishes like the headbutts to the knee, but for the most part, Kanemoto blows off the legwork, which unfortunately takes away from the overall quality. Loved the dragon suplex teases on the floor and off the apron but then there’s also some dumb spots, like the “duh” missed springboard dropkick. It wouldn’t be an Ohtani match without the facewash but when he goes back to the well for a second, Kanemoto catches the foot and capture suplexes him in a neat spot. Then he catches another springboard dropkick attempt with a calf hold. The dueling legwork nulled itself out as the finishing stretch quickly ramped up with Ohtani hitting his Spiral Bomb and trademark dragon suplex for nearfalls. Then Kanemoto hits his tiger suplex hold and follow-up moonsault press for the victory. An evenly matched contest unevenly wrestled…if that makes any sense.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Riki Choshu (NJPW, 6/9/87)

Quite the little barnburner here between a couple of fiery personalities with a fun shift in dynamic, as Fujiwara goes from mean-spirited aggressor to a beaten and bloody mess on shaky knees. But when he’s being nasty, it’s terrific. The headbutts and punches, standing on Choshu’s busted face, the blatant choking. Loved the little maneuver where Choshu tries to push him off and Fujiwara takes the arms and lays back with the jujigatame. When Choshu stalks Fujiwara into the corner and starts laying in the shots, Fujiwara’s wears this amazing scowl as he absorbs the punches to the head. The only way Choshu’s able to make a dent is by ramming him headfirst into the ringpost, bloodying him…but even then, Fujiwara’s still throwing headbutts. Fujiwara makes use of the wakigatame as a counter but he can’t manage to submit Choshu and in the end, Choshu stands tall after blasting Fujiwara with a couple of nasty lariats.

Osamu Nishimura vs. Jushin Liger (NJPW, 3/29/02)

This was 85% Osamu Nishimura schooling Liger on the mat, working the leg like a part-time job. His approach was aggressive at the outset, whipping it on the apron, throwing a hard elbow, kneebreaking it on the guardrail. Silky smooth transitions, going from a kneelock to a grounded ankle hold when Liger flips over onto his stomach. Liger tries firing back with chops and slaps but Nishimura's able to trip him up, going into the Indian deathlock, bridging back with the sickle hold, then finishing with the bow-and-arrow hold. However, Liger doesn't really sell the legwork, which is unfortunate considering Osamu's effort. In fact, he doesn't really get much offense in at all and in the end, the 15:00 time limit expires with Liger in Osamu's manjigatame. A cool story in theory that wasn't very compelling.

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW, 6/5/98)

I think I'd only seen a clipped version of this a few years ago but having been able to see it in its entirety, this was pretty great. Tatsumi Fujinami's the weathered champion and a bit hesitant against the unpredictability of Shinya Hashimoto. He mostly plays defense in the early going, which only works for so long before Hash plants him with a DDT and Fujinami's like...whoa, okay, let's figure something else out. Hashimoto hones in on Fujinami's leg and destroys it with kicks, wearing Fujinami down almost on repeat. Really good old man selling from Fujinami, as he tries to avoid Hashimoto's crosshairs. When he's had enough leg bullying, Fujinami lays into him with some nasty slaps but that's like poking the hornet's nest and Hashimoto overwhelms him with a barrage of strikes. Awesome. Fujinami's finally able to fight in some of his dragon screw legwhips and tries a new strategy of taking out Hashimoto's kicking leg...but that doesn't work, as Hash backchops the hell out of him and hits a couple DDTs, looking a little more frustrated and rash. The finish was terrific, with Fujinami really tapping into the fluidity of the sleeper hold, transitioning into the dragon and grounded variations depending on Hashimoto's position or attempts to break free. The final look in Hashimoto's eyes before the referee calls the match cherry-topped it.

Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW, 8/18/90)

What I love about these six-mans (and most AJPW six-mans in generals) is that everyone has a role to play, and for the most part, they play it so well. Here, we've got Misawa as the crowd-favorite, Kawada as the baby-faced aggressor pissing off Jumbo, and Kikuchi taking a hell of a beating but not staying down. On the other side, Taue is the gangling bruiser, coming in off a tag and immediately lariating the shit out of Kikuchi. Fuchi is his usual grumpster self but I thought Jumbo was really awesome here, really taking a lot from the youngsters but also dishing it out in stiff fashion. Kawada isn't scared to go hard in the paint against Jumbo but he pays for it. Jumbo busts Kikuchi open with an elbow late in the match and this after nearly beheading him with a lariat but I loved Kikuchi toward the end, desperately clubbing away at Jumbo to save Misawa and his final exchange with Taue where he managed a few hot nearfalls before taking the fall. Really fun match with lots of fire throughout. 

Minoru Suzuki vs. TAKA Michinoku (K-Dojo, 11/13/12)

Essentially a glorified squash match but masterfully executed by both guys, with TAKA Michinoku trying to outwrestle a pudgy Minoru Suzuki to no avail as each counter is promptly reversed. After a little touch-and-go, Suzuki asserts his dominance with a cravate, maintaining control through TAKA's bridge attempts and then hooking the leg, looking for the manjigatame. Suzuki ragdolls TAKA on the mat, stretching all limbs and working in the aggressive legscissors. When TAKA tries to slip out and slide into a headlock, Suzuki immediately puts him back in the legscissors. Knowing he can't outwrestle Suzuki, TAKA employs his usual tactics, grabbing Suzuki's top knot, or smacking Suzuki in the ribs when he's got him on the ground, that shit-eating grin on his face. The strikes pick up in the backend, with some snug open hands exchanged and Suzuki chopping TAKA in the throat. TAKA tries for the classic eye poke but opts for the shin kick, only to get slapped silly in the face and unloaded on in the corner with some bad boy slaps. I really enjoyed the abruptness of the finish, with TAKA starting to heat up on offense but when he tries for the Michinoku Driver, Suzuki grabs him and puts him away with almost a stump Gotch-style piledriver. Play time's over, TAKA. A sweet showcase for Suzuki and TAKA being the gnat buzzing round his intricately shaved head.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (NJPW, 8/12/17)

Like the Tanahashi/Naito match from the night before, these two put together the best match of their series by working a simple but effective formula. It was still a nutty Fire Pro Omega match but they managed to work in the spots without being too self-indulgent and it followed the thread of Okada's injured neck and Omega just blasting it with his high-impact offense. Omega as the movez aggressor works so much more than him cartoonishly selling a limb, whereas Okada, who has historically been spotty in his selling, has improved a lot since the Shibata match and his performance here really sold this match for me. The real turning point was the reverse frankensteiner on the floor, which Okada sold beautifully and it injected some drama into the final half with Omega cranking up the aggression on Okada's neck. One of the best parts of the match was Omega repeatedly kneeing Okada in the head with a distraught Gedo on the outside, covering his head. The crowd was buying the nearfalls and of course, both guys were bumping like crazy. I mean, that uranage/side suplex counter to the Rainmaker was awesomely brutal.

Obviously, they were going to ramp it up for the finishing stretch and when Omega hit the double arm piledriver for a nearfall, I thought this was going to either draw or venture into an endless waltz of counters and nearfalls...but it had me guessing and the hot atmosphere of Sumo Hall made it feel important. Omega still isn't my favorite dude in pro-wrestling but he thankfully kept the histrionics to a minimum and by telling a true and tried story rather than trying to impress the pants off of everyone, he wrestled his best match of the year. This was a top notch performance from Okada and yet another shining feather in his cap as he continues to have possibly the best year of his career thus far. Like him or not, you have to at least put Okada's name in serious contention for "Wrestler of the Year"...you know, behind Hideki Suzuki, of course.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito (NJPW, 8/11/17)

The final contest in their trilogy of matches, and quite possibly, the best of the bunch. Maybe. I don't know. Tanahashi and Naito have such good chemistry together, and it really worked here, with the Sumo Hall pro-Naito and Tanahashi turning the crowd early with a couple of bad boy slaps to Naito's face in the ropes. Kiss that ace guitar bye-bye. Then he attacks Naito during his tranquilo pose and it's on, with nasty open hands exchanged in the corner and Naito taking the first seat behind the wheel with an awesome basement dropkick counter to Tanahashi's rounding body press. It's dueling limbwork, which I can totally get behind given it's done well and thankfully, these two make it work. Tanahashi's torn bicep has been the story of his G1 run and Naito being Naito exploits that injury.

On the other side, Tanahashi is looking to submit Naito with the cloverleaf hold he used to win the IC title back at Dominion, using his variety of dragon screws. There were some neat counters, like the legwhip off the slingshot dropkick and then the frakensteiner roll through into the legwhip. After he delivers a big top rope dragon screw, Tanahashi locks in the cloverleaf hold and essentially sits on Naito's head, bending exerting a ton of pressure in the most memorable part of the match. Naito's able to escape to the relief of Sumo Hall and after going back the arm, he hits a few swinging DDTs to set-up the Destino but Tanahashi counters with three consecutive whiplashes! But when he tries for the slingblade, Naito hits the Destino counter into the Destino to finish off the old ace. A simple story told exceptionally without the need to drift into the usual NJPW main event overkill territory. Great stuff.

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Antonio Inoki (NJPW, 08/08/88)

For whatever reason, time limit draws are in this year, whether it's half an hour or the full sixty. Some of them have been great (Okada/Suzuki, Suzuki/Sekimoto), some...eh, not so much (Takeshita/Endo, Omega/Okada). But one historic match that's been sitting in my queue is the time limit draw between Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami. There's a lot to digest with this one but on a whole, it's a pretty spectacular display of athleticism and endurance. I can see where some might be turned off by this as it's a lot of takedowns, counters, and matwork but they manage to keep the drama going and the crowd engaged. I'll hit on a few of my favorite moments instead of regurgitating sixty minutes worth of action.

Early on, Inoki stuns Fujinami with a takedown but when he tries for a high kick, Fujinami catches the leg and turns it into a giant swing to set up the figure-four leglock. I love the Indian deathlock teases and when Inoki's able to lock it in, he turns it into a bow-and-arrow hold, then goes back to the Indian deathlock, then again to the bow-and-arrow hold, but this allows Fujinami an opportunity to escape and in turn, cinch in the dragon sleeper. Fujinami's use of the choke was awesome, with the ref reprimanding him between counts. Inoki scores a two count off a German suplex hold and Fujinami takes a breather on the outside, returning to barrage Inoki with headbutts, hitting a Billy Robinson-style backbreaker to once again set up the figure-four. This time, they end up falling out of the ring with the hold still applied! With Inoki struggling back into the ring, Fujinami continues targeting the leg with kicks and a sasorigatame.

Inoki was really terrific in the last half of the match, getting pissy with Fujinami when he tries for the octopus hold, peppering him with slaps, then straight punches, before taking him down with the enziguri. He uses a seated torture rack and when Fujinami escapes, Inoki backdrops him. At this point, they're trying to wear each other down on the mat and as Inoki starts building some momentum, hitting a double arm suplex, Fujinami's able to cut him off with the octopus hold. Inoki's tried just about everything to beat Fujinami but he can't do it and in the end, you really see the desperation as Inoki repeatedly tries to pin Fujinami before the time limit expires. If you've got the patience and time, check this one out. It's the last of its kind in a lot of ways as the style transitions into what would become the more fast-paced, bomb-dropping routine of the 1990's.

Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 6/30/90)

This had moments of future greatness for sure but both boys are still very green at this point, especially Kawada, and this match has its fair share of slog and slop, with really long control segments from Kobashi, working over Kawada's leg, but not enough on Kawada's part to convey the extent of all that legwork. But onto the cool stuff, like Kawada whiffing on the plancha, Kobashi kicking him over the guardrail, some rando kid patting Kawada's ass as he stands before he gets taken out with a big swandive from Kobashi. They engage in a pretty great pissy exchange in the corner that ends with Kawada forearming a grounded Kobashi in the face. Kawada's a real grunt on top, implementing the stomps to the head while applying the sasorigatame, but once Kobashi counters a spinkick with a cloverleaf hold, it's snoozeville. Kawada doesn't do much else in the match, aside from a springboard somersault plancha that mostly takes out the guardrail, and the finish is an absolute mess. But hey, we all gotta start somewhere, am I right?

Minoru Suzuki vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 8/8/17)

Without a doubt, this was Minoru Suzuki's best match since returning to New Japan and it blew away their title match from earlier in the year. Was it perfect? Subjectively, no, but it's hard to pull off a flawless 30-minute draw without a little meandering here and there, and they did a damn good job of keeping things moving. What I loved about this match is that it played up Okada's weakness when it comes to his striking ability, with his elbows obviously puny compared to Suzuki's. In fact, Suzuki puts his hands behind his back to allow Okada to fire shots at him and still, Suzuki shuts him down. They got the Suzuki-gun shenanigans out of the way early, which allowed Suzuki to really tap into that "baddest motherfucker around" mentality as he starts in on Okada's injured neck, ripping the protective tape off and ragdolling him into the guardrail. I thought Okada's selling was really some of his best to date, always reminding us that he's fighting through the pain. But the bread-and-butter of this match is Suzuki wrecking the golden boy, between his strikes and him cranking away at the neck. I liked the transitions through the facelock, with Suzuki trapping the arm and going into a crossface and then just using a lot of headscissor variations to bend and twist the neck. Awesome stuff.

The crowd was way into Suzuki being a badass and the Gotch-style piledriver teases were well done, with the crowd eating them up. When Okada delivers the German to set up the first Rainmaker attempt, Suzuki counters with the sleeper, taking him over with that fantastic Saka Otoshi before cinching in the grounded sleeper. When that doesn't work, Suzuki starts paintbrushing him with slaps, jabs, and palm thrusts. Fucking great. Okada's able to hit a weak Rainmaker, holding onto the wrist, but when he tries for another, Suzuki slaps his hand away and then just bitch slaps him hard in the face, repeatedly. Okada does manage a few nasty shots of his own but again, it's nothing compared to Suzuki and Okada really sells the exhaustion and Suzuki's ruthlessness perfectly. There's an amazing moment toward the end when they smile at each other...Okada almost proud he withstood Suzuki's onslaught and Suzuki like "I can do this all day, kid." Then Suzuki smacks the hell out of him, trying once more for the sleeper and while Okada's able to avoid it and deliver another Rainmaker, he's a few drips past empty and can't follow up as the time limit expires. Probably my favorite match of the tournament thus far and a true testament of Okada's versatility on top. There wasn't a reliance on panty-soaking spots or over-the-top antics...I mean, the biggest move was probably Suzuki's Saka Otoshi. It was a terrific contrast of classic vs. modern, similar to what Suzuki did with Tanahashi a few years ago, but with a new ace at the helm.

Jushin Liger vs. Masashi Aoyagi (NJPW, 6/12/90)

Jushin Liger with the more ergonomically-designed mask because this isn’t your daddy’s wrestling match. No, this is a contest fought in rounds, against an opponent who doesn’t take to the turnbuckles but who kicks…a lot…because he’s a certified karate master. The first round breezes by as they work the mat and Liger keeps cranking on the arm until Aoyagi’s able to grab a single leg to win the first round. Aoyagi ain’t playing around at the start of the second round and goes right into the mounted strikes, going after Liger’s mask, then landing some big kicks back on his feet. But this time, Liger’s able to snag a leg to take Round 2.

But Round 3 ushers in the violent chaos that makes this match a full-fledged spectacle, with Liger saying “fuck it” and losing the mask before destroying Aoyagi with headbutts on repeat and palm strikes, bloodying him in the onslaught. He’s able to secure a cross armbreaker but Aoyagi boots him off in a last gasp effort. He’s a mess at this point and Liger’s able to choke him out. The final round, Liger immediately returns to the choke, forcing Aoyagi to the ropes, and once he has him on the ground, he drills him with some nasty knee strikes before the ref calls it and awards Liger the victory. A contest that quickly escalates into a pissy Liger beatdown...awesome.

Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW, 6/8/90)

Oh yeah, Daddy Jumbo is in full on "I'm too tired for this shit" mode and Misawa's the disrespectful teen incessantly looking to snatch away dad's pick-up truck keys. The match doesn't quite burn with the same fire as their 5/26 six-man but there's still plenty to love on. Jumbo's all over Misawa early on until he tries for the backdrop and Misawa's able to hook the leg, turning the attempt into a body press. In a true teenage maneuver, Misawa teases the plancha, only to blast Jumbo with the apron dropkick. Misawa's able to sit pretty in the driver's seat, peppering Jumbo with some snug elbow shots and mule kicking him when he tries to take the wheel. The "WTF" look on Jumbo's face when Misawa slaps him on the ropes is priceless and it seems to add a little piss to the fuel tank.

They meander a bit, throwing suplexes and squatting piledrivers, but the longer the match goes on, the clearer it becomes that Misawa ain't laying down easy. This is especially evident after Jumbo powerbombs Misawa as dad's getting a little frustrated that Misawa's staying up past his bedtime. The finishing stretch heats up as Jumbo delivers two back-to-back lariat-ohs and blocks the Tiger Driver. He's able to stop Misawa's turning body press with an elbow to the head but misses the follow-up dropkick, bouncing off the ropes in an awesome moment, which allows Misawa to score the miracle pinfall. A great match-up from top to bottom, although the midsection is a little long-winded and it could've used a few more pissy interactions to really solidify this as an all-time classic.

Kazunari Murakami vs. Yuki Ishikawa (BattlARTS, 11/26/00)

Kazunari Murakami looks like the Japanese version of the Joker with his twisted grin and little to no regard for the human condition. He's wild and unpredictable, coming right out of the gate kicking and swinging for the fences. Yuki Ishikawa does all he can to quell the maelstrom of Murakami's violence by avoiding the big blows and trying to take Murakami down to the canvas. He's able to force Murakami to the ropes, at one point utilizing an Indian deathlock, but once Murakami slips in the choke, the momentum shifts in his favor. He batters Ishikawa into a corner, busting his mouth with a right hand before they spill over to the outside and wonderful chaos ensues. They throw each other into the crowd and exchange strikes but Murakami gets the better of him, leaving him a bloody mess on the floor. He's able to coolly counter Ishikawa's armbreaker attempt with a choke, slinging him back inside the ring only to continue the barrage of kicks and punches. Ishikawa's finally had it and slugs Murakami in the face, headbutts him, and chokes him out with the guillotine. A short, spurt of aggression and mean looks. Bravo.

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Tatsuo Nakano (UWF, 5/28/90)

Neither guy is particular exciting on the mat and unfortunately, this match sees them spending quite a bit of time on the ground. Seriously, you can see a couple dudes in the crowd falling asleep. Not to mention Nakano, whose usually a pissy little warthog, seemed to be playing nice with Takada here. He does connect with a few headbutts and tries to choke him out, dumping Takada on his head with a German when that doesn't work and then unloading on him in the corner. But Takada quickly shuts him with a flurry of strikes. Nakano doesn't want to stay down for Takada but by the end of the match, despite the crowd cheering him on, it's obvious Nakano's optimal match length is less than 15 minutes. He's barely hanging on in the final minutes, firing off a last gasp spurt of slaps, before Takada wears him down on the mat...slowly...finally submitting him without much of a struggle from Nakano. Meh.

Jumbo Tsuruta, Masanobu Fuchi & Great Kabuki vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Akira Taue & Kenta Kobashi (AJPW, 5/26/90)

And so it begins...again. The "Golden Age of AJPW" and my introduction to Japanese 'pure wrestle' 15+ years ago.  I watched WWF as a kid in the early 90', rooting for Tatanka with my dad and Max Moon because he looked like Mega Man. At the very same time, unbeknownst to 8-year old me, Misawa, Kobashi, Kawada, and Taue were shaking the pillars of heaven over in Japan. I stopped watching WWF when Tatanka joined the Million Dollar Corporation and grew out of wrestling. It wasn't until I was a freshman in college that I found myself watching a handful of borrowed DVD-R's. Over the course of "Best of Japan" volumes one through four, I re-discovered my love of pro-wrestling and discovered a newfound appreciation for the beauty and chaos in it .

A lot of this stuff, I haven't revisited since college, and some of it, including this match, I've yet to witness. As expected, this was a total blast, with everyone playing their respective roles so well. On team Jumbo, you had the cantankerous Captain Tsuruta himself, Grampa Fuchi destroying limbs, and crazy Uncle Kabuki doing...uh, a little bit of everything. On the other side, the young gate-rattlers: the babyface fire of young Kobashi, the "too cool for school" 'tude of middle child Misawa, and the gangly big brother power of Taue. When Kobashi comes in, he's red-hot, blasting Fuchi with a beautiful top rope dropkick and getting antsy Jumbo. Jumbo lays him out with the jumping knee and takes out all the kids on the apron, pissing off middle child Misawa, who wants in there so bad and when he does, he gets lariated the fuck down. The stern dad vs. disrespectful teen dynamic between Misawa and Jumbo was terrific, and even when they were quarreling somewhere the ring, I liked that the other guys were still trying to wrestle the match.

Kobashi's arm gets bullied for awhile, with Fuchi being especially relentless and awesome, targeting arms and legs both, wrecking Kenta's knee on the timekeeper's table. Love Jumbo waving off Kobashi's dropkick to pummel him with knees and boots. Misawa and Taue take over after teaming up on Tsuruta with a double dropkick. Misawa gets to show off his Tiger Mask offense with Taue knocking bodies around. Kobashi gets a little revenge on gramps the end, picking up a great nearfall off a German suplex hold on Fuchi. When Misawa tries to finish Fuchi off with the Tiger Driver, Jumbo creams him with a lariat. But, alas, youth prevails and Misawa's able to pin Fuchi with the tiger suplex hold. A great start to what is perhaps the greatest decade in Japanese pro-wrestling.

But the 1980's were pretty great.

Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Tatsuo Nakano (UWF, 5/4/90)

I love Tatsuo Nakano matches because you know things are going to get real ugly and real scrappy, and that's exactly what you get here with a bloody-nosed shitkicker Nakano, who just pounds on Kazuo Yamazaki until the more proficient Yamazaki can find an opening and sink his proverbial submission teeth in. Early on, you've got snug slaps exchanged before Nakano starts with some nasty shoot headbutts from the front mount. He throws a lot of great suplexes throughout the match, including a release Northern Lights to escape the headlock. Things cool down on the mat as they work some holds and Nakano isn't quite as skilled at the submission game but I like how he'll throw an elbow or two, or just grab a leg and start bending. Nothing pretty but it all looks painful. Yamazaki's strategy is to try and tap Nakano with a leglock and he goes for it a number of times, supplementing the holds with kicks. But Nakano just wants to bash Yamazaki's skull in with the headbutts. At one point, he takes Yamazaki down with a dragon screw legwhip but doesn't really know how to follow up, other than trying to get back to that front mount to dish out more blunt force trauma. Yamazaki's able to suplex him off or catch him with a hard knee in response to a headbutt but Nakano's relentless at times, climbing onto his back with guillotine choke or German suplexing him onto his head. Nakano's such a squat little prick, it's fantastic -- he'll snap Yamazaki over with a suplex and immediately slap him in the face. Yamazaki's finally able to land some stiff kicks to the head and leg, wearing Nakano down enough to seize hold of the leg and really crank in the submission. Nakano hollers like an animal caught in a snare and taps out. Awesomely brutal match.