Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi (NJPW, 11/4/82)

A motivated Tiger Mask is the best Tiger Mask. I thought this was a very impassioned performance from Mr. Sayomiya, with plenty of energy, dexterity, and a little extra spicy mustard behind his strikes. Hell, before he can even remove his belt, Tiger’s tossing Kobayashi over the ropes and diving onto him full speed. Kobayashi was a decent enough opponent with his flourished kicks but Tiger was the standout here. The way he so deftly lands on his feet off the back bodydrop, his swanky takedowns and reversals, and a ton of innovative for the time offense, like the backflip kneedrop, the front neck chancery takeover, and the jumping tombstone piledriver. With Tiger able to mule kick his way out of Kobayashi’s various holds, the frustration builds and Kuniaki starts going after Tiger’s mask. Eventually, it costs him the match, as he starts ripping at it with Tiger in the ropes and the referee calls for the bell. Afterwards, a pissed off Tiger Mask and goes after Kobayashi and the two fight to the outside. This was a fun workrate match, where the submission holds were only meant to kill time, but it was one of Tiger Mask’s better individual performances.  

Tiger Mask vs. Steve Wright (NJPW, 4/1/82)

Steve Wright, father of Das Wunderkind, is a swanky dad on the mat, with his sprightly matwork and constant fluidity. Some of the exchanges he had with Tiger Mask impressed in the same way Ospreay/Ricochet impresses kids with low self-esteem. What he lacks in charisma, Steve makes up for in style. I love his shoot shoulderblocks and his dropkick, and while the submissions were meaningless, they were cool to watch as he wrenches on brutal stuff like his abdominal stretch and hanging stretch muffler. At one point, they’re both stalemate in a leglock and after shaking hands, the ref helps untangle them. The selling was meh for most of the match but I thought Tiger kept up for the most part, his strikes sounded great and he had a rad side suplex counter off the ropes that looked seamless. A slick little junior exhibition and a good introduction to the busy world of Steve Wright. 

Stan Hansen vs. Terry Funk (AJPW, 9/11/82)

This was unadulterated Texas bedlam with two of the Lone Star’s finest and a hell of a time. It’s ridiculous how over Terry Funk is with the fans as they’re trying to tear the jacket from his back. Hansen doesn’t give a fuck about any flowers and only wants to get his hands on Terry. Funk does such a terrific job selling the unsinkable battleship that is Hansen, staggering round like a drunken hillbilly and bailing from the ring when things get too rough. Love the spasmodic way he takes Stan’s knee drops. Terry conveys a great sense of anxiety throughout, the way he’s shoving around the young boys at ringside or snatching Hansen’s nose to break a hold. In probably the best moment of the match, he blindly throws a chair over his head into the ring and #1 Boss Hoss Stan Hansen catches the chair one handed and chunks it back at Terry. The end is chaos as Hansen knocks out one ref and lariats the replacement. Ron Bass or somebody interferes on Stan’s behalf, allowing Stan to hit the lariat before he starts kicking the shit out of everyone, including Jumbo and Baba.

Andre the Giant vs. Killer Khan (NJPW, 4/1/82)

Having squashed Khan the previous month, Andre is in no mood for this faux-Mongolian’s peskiness. Khan’s the cockroach that won’t stay dead. After he tries to bodyslam the Giant and fails, Andre is dumbfounded that Khan is still alive after having nearly squashed him. When Andre’s in control of Khan, Khan keeps telling the ref he’s being choked, which only further irks the big man as he keeps defending his actions to the referee. “It’s not a choke!” – for some reason, I gave Andre Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice. Such a strong performance from Andre, with Khan playing the dirty heel much to the delight of the Japanese fans. He comes at Andre with Mongolian chops but the Giant traps the arms and hits a double arm suplex. Khan goes for the eyes, poking and raking, and then he begins chopping the Giant down at the ankle. Some of Andre’s best selling here as Khan takes advantage of the situation, with Giant re-injuring himself and Khan attacking the leg. Khan is able to stun Andre with the Mongolian chops and downs him momentarily with Mongolian chops from the top rope, but when he tries to double dip, Andre throws him from the top rope, hits a suplex and a sloppy leg drop for the win. One of Andre's best in-ring performances with Khan working as the bothersome babyface heel.