Andre the Giant vs. Stan Hansen (NJPW, 9/23/81)

One hell of a hoss battle -- I mean, you could fry up a couple of eggs on the atmosphere alone. Andre’s monster presence resonates throughout the arena, to the point where Andre's yelling at the fans to shut up. Hansen proves that with enough grit, sweat, and ball-bustin’, you can bleed the dragon if you keep jabbing it with the sharp end of the stick. Hansen really sells the enormity of fighting a giant but Andre’s offense comes off so crushing, from the way he wrings Stan’s arm over his shoulder to his mighty clubs and chops to Stan’s chest, sometimes accompanied by that deep-barreled laughter. Hansen’s missed elbow drops provide some of the best moments of the match, especially coming after the big bodyslam. After the restart (with a little intimation from Andre), Hansen turns up the bruising and starts pounding on Andre, tying him up in the ropes and and lariating him out of the ring! On the outside, Andre tries to load up the elbow pad and the ref’s all over him trying to get it off. Out of frustration, Andre swats him with a lariat and the match is thrown out but the fun don’t stop there as the two keep fighting, lion cubs get clobbered, and a pissed Hansen chucks a chair into the ring.

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Isamu Teranishi (NJPW, 10/8/81)

This was short, slapdash, sometimes heated, but another solid Fujinami defense, with the champ working a little more aggressive this time with his shoot-style kicks and vicious slaps. They go back-and-forth from the mat to standing position and the submission play doesn't really factor into the match, despite some focused legwork from Fujinami. When Isamu starts peppering Fujinami with slaps, Fujinami unloads on him with his own stiff smacks and a couple closed-fists. He goes to town on Isamu's leg here but Isamu ignores it to hit a backbreaker and a dropkick, scoring two off a backdrop suplex. The set-up to the finish was a little sloppy but Fujinami's roll-through German suplex hold was a swank way to win the match. Good junior heavyweight fun.