Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Osamu Kido (NJPW, 3/7/87)

I love a good 80's handheld match. Some can be a drag to sit through based on the operator, others are little hidden gems and I think this fits into the latter category. Tons of heat between Takada/Maeda and Fujiwara, but especially between hot-head Nobuhiko Takada and old iron-head Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Osamu Kido is the low man on the totem pole and things slow down whenever he's in the ring but, for the most part, he manages to fit in with these guys and does some neat stuff on the mat. At one point, he's got Takada in a leglock and when Takada struggles, Kido kicks his opposite foot to put the pressure back on Takada. Later on, he's able to catch a back kick from Takada and take him down into the single leg crab. But man, once Fujiwara gets in there vs. Takada, the match sizzles. Takada starts cracking Fujiwara's legs with kicks, Fujiwara gets pissed and smacks him down. Against Maeda, Fujiwara immediately takes it to him with body blows before Maeda and Takada work him over with stiff kicks. He's able to slip out of Takada's suplex attempt and take him down with the Fujiwara armbar but he can't get the submission. Maeda German suplexes him and goes into a crossface chickenwing but Fujiwara whips him off and re-applies the hold himself. The finishing stretch between he and Takada is just as nasty as when they started and I loved the actual finish, with Fujiwara catching a kick, stomping out the opposite leg, and then submitting him with the leglock.

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.