2/26/91 Miyagi-ken Sports Center, World Tag Title Match: Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Mitsuharu Misawa
11/30/79: Wahoo McDaniel & Frank Hill vs. Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik
5/12/89: Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat
Lou Thesz feature
12/2/74 Kagoshima Kenritsu Taiikukan:
Jumbo Tsuruta & Akihisa Takachiho vs. Pat O'Connor & Ken Mantell
2/3 Falls NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Jack Brisco vs. Giant Baba 20:46 [11:47, 5:39, 3:20]. I'm developing more of an appreciation for Giant Baba as I watch these fights from the late 60's-mid 70's when he's in his 30's. He's definitely not the smoothest or most fluid guy out there, but he gives a genuine effort in these big matches, is way ahead of his time at structuring matches by playing off (recent) past history (one of the most important aspects to any fan of peak AJ), and provides a lot of action (for his time). That being said, the thing I appreciate about him most is that he's an all around credible & respectable fighter who, although he'll butcher a spot here & there, never appears to be out there for himself & allows you to believe in the match as an athletic contest. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for many of his famous foreign opponents, who tend to be much more highly regarded despite actually being cornballs, the primary exception being Billy Robinson, who was a good decade or two ahead of his time & really in a class by himself. This match against Brisco had a ton of potential, and Baba more than lived up to his end. The opening was excellent because Brisco has the ability to be vastly different than the typical amateur wrestling champion. Rather than relying on power, which doesn't really come across given the opponent isn't resisting in the pros, he can be quick & nimble, as shown in the early portion when he's getting Baba to the canvas where the big man's size doesn't really matter, which comes across really well as he's beating Baba to holds on speed, superior reflexes, & through general athletcism. Baba went to great lengths to adapt to this style, being as quick, explosive, & responsive as he could be, and this was really some choice stuff before they settled in to a more traditional world title match. The 1st fall was cleanly wrestled sequences of struggle until Brisco took a cheap shot on the break at the end & began roughing Baba up. Baba almost immediately came back though, with Brisco taking absurdly overexaggerated bumps on a chop off the ropes & dropkick before losing to the Russian leg sweep. The match didn't exactly work because Baba was offensive guy, but every time he did anything Brisco insisted on selling it as though he were shot with a freaking bazooka! This obviously doesn't exactly jive with his gimmick of Mr. Serious pro wrestler who just relies upon his superior skill or his reputation as one of the supposed stallwarts of protecting the credibility of the business, but as my friend likes to describe this sort of "logic", "The best way to protect the business: act in a way no one would EVER act in a real fight." Anyway, Baba's high spots didn't wind up working great as a counterpoint to Brisco's focus on struggling for locks because Brisco doesn't know how to simply fall in a plausible manner that would allow the audience to focus on the moves Baba was using rather than what a jackass Brisco looked like putting them over with flailing, spasming, & contorting pratfalls that even the worst silent film star would be too ashamed to run with. Baba pushed hard to start the 2nd, but Brisco again took over with a cheapshot off the break. Brisco owned the match when it was on the mat, but there was no leg work at all in this fall, just a back suplex to get Baba down & the figure 4 to finish him, which I'm okay with since a submission hold that can't finish outright isn't a submission hold at all, it's an attrition hold. Brisco's choice made much more sense, as he instead worked the now injured leg to start the 3rd, leading to other figure 4 attempts that Baba defended. In turn, Brisco got his leg on the ropes to save himself from losing to the Russian leg sweep again. This fall was very action packed as well as now playing well on what history they had, but it's disappointing it was so short as it seemed they'd finally hit their stride, combining hot action with a good story, when Baba countered a charging Brisco with his neckbreaker drop to begin his 1st of 3 brief reigns with the top heavyweight belt in the sport. Baba really upped his game here, laying out a smart match, providing good action, and adapting well to Brisco's style while also making his own disparate style work as well has he could with it. Brisco is obviously the more gifted athlete, but I suppose his selling is actually even worse than Terry Funks because Funk is purposely hamming it up. There was enough to praise here from both men that the match could still be greatly enjoyed even though it was a serious match you couldn't take it seriously, but things really went into the toilet in their rematch when you combined Brisco's inability to plausibly sell anything with his inability to actually connect with a strike. ***1/2
12/5/74 Nippon University Public Hall
2/3 Falls NWA Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Ken Mantell vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 20:26
2/3 Falls, NWA World & PWF Heavyweight Double Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Jack Brisco 22:36 [13:53, 3:53, 4:50]. Their previous match was a really high end match that was turned cartoonish by Brisco's perpetually nonsensical selling, but this one showed his limitations way more than his strengths, as the last 2 falls did not work at all. The first fall was promising, basically the standard good technical wrestling, with the questions being asked for a while before being answered with a brief explosive counter. It was generally Brisco's style, with Baba giving depth to the finish by playing off their previous match. Though Brisco lost 3 days earlier, his stategy of focusing on the legs to negate Baba's size early & capitalize on the residual damage from his fall winning figure 4 late was much more practical than his failed attempts to control his towering opponent with a side headlock early on here. Brisco luckily recognized this & used more practical measures, diving at the knee & punching it to break Baba's standing armbar. The finish was excellent as Baba couldn't put Brisco away with the Russian leg sweep this time so he tried to repeat his other success on 12/2, the neckbreaker drop, but Brisco was ready for it this time, countering with a dropkick then finishing with a backdrop. The first fall was a nice lead in to a lengthy Brisco match, except this was a 20+ minute Baba match so they now had less than 10 minutes to figure out the final 2 falls. This didn't work at all, as Baba just inexplicably rolled Brisco in a brief 2nd fall to even things up. By the middle of this fall, I was certain that Brisco's head wasn't attached properly because it bobbled whether he was arm dragged, backbreakered, or stomped in the knee. Baba's winning swinging neckbreaker was worth 9 bobbles plus some mini spasms. Rumor has it that Brisco's selling was one of the reasons some states switched from the electric chair to lethal injection... The 3rd fall was an absolute disaster as they switched to striking & Brisco was either straight up missing the blows that were supposed to be connecting or doing the most ridiculous palm strike ever where he'd jump & touch his palm on the top of Baba's head, kind of like something you'd do to your little sister to annoy her by messing up her hair, except this was supposed to actually be combining annoyance with at least jab impact, I think. Baba's chops may be hokey & dated, but at least they actually connected. This was the whole fall, except for a botched swinging neckbreaker where Baba fell way too late followed by Baba kicking off the top rope while Brisco was trying to again take him out with the backdrop, landing on top for his first successful defense. **1/4
12/9/75 Fukuoka
Note: all matches Matches
Dick Murdoch vs. Anton Geesink
Mr. Wrestling vs. Don Leo Jonathan
Dusty Rhodes vs. Hiro Matsuda
The Destroyer vs. Great Kusatsu
Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Horst Hoffman
Dory Funk Jr. vs. Baron Von Rashke
Harley Race vs. Giant Baba
5/1/76 Champion Carnival League Match: Giant Baba vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
7/24/76 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, 2/3 Falls PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Billy Robinson
8/28/76 2/3 Falls UN Heavyweight Title Decision Match: Jack Brisco vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
10/28/76 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, 2/3 Falls International Tag Title Match: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Kintaro Oki & Kim Duk (Tiger Chung Lee)
Note: all matches World Open Tag Title League Matches
12/2/77 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
World Open Tag Title League Match: The Funks (Dory Funk, Jr. & Terry Funk) vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Rocky Hata
Abdullah the Butcher & The Sheik vs. Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta
12/6/77 Fukuoka: The Funks (Dory Funk, Jr. & Terry Funk) vs. Billy Robinson & Horst Hoffmann
12/10/77 Sendai Miyagi-ken Sports Center
Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Rusher Kimura & The Great Kusatsu
Abdullah the Butcher & The Sheik vs. Kintaro Oki & Kim Duk
Note: all matches World Open Tag Title League Matches
12/14/77 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
Rusher Kimura & Great Kusatsu vs. Kintaro Oki & Kim Duk
Billy Robinson & Horst Hoffman vs. Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik
Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk
12/15/77 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan: Dory Funk Junior & Terry Funk vs. Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik
3/11/77 PWF US Heavyweight Title Match: The Destroyer vs. Mil Mascaras
8/25/77 Tokyo Den'en Coliseum UN Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mil Mascaras
8/24/78 Tokyo Den'en Coliseum International Tag Title Match: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras
10/12/75 PWF US Heavyweight Title Match: Abdullah The Butcher vs. The Destroyer
12/11/75: Abdullah The Butcher vs. Kintaro Oki
5/8/76 Sapporo Nakajima 4th Champion Carnival Final: Abdullah The Butcher vs. Giant Baba
4/6/79 7th Champion Carnival Final: Abdullah The Butcher vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
7/18/79: Abdullah The Butcher vs. Terry Funk
5/2/80 Korakuen: Abdullah The Butcher vs. The Sheik
10/9/73 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, 2/3 Falls International Tag Title Match: Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta 34:32 of 61:00 [23:57 (8:10 shown), 17:24 (17:20 shown), 19:39 (9:02 shown)]. Looking at this match on the classics shows all these years later, it's easy to just see four Hall of Fame wrestlers & forget the actual context of the match, which is more toward two absolute legends, Baba & Dory (who recently had his 4 year reign as NWA Heavyweight Champ ended by Harley Race), Terry, who won regional titles wherever they traveled but was still very much in the shadow of his older brother, and Tsuruta who debuted a little more than 6 months ago & was still going by his given first name Tomomi. Tsuruta is an absolute phenom, having actually got a shot at Dory's NWA Heavyweight Title less than 2 months into his career (Dory's last successful defense, 2-1 in 52:00) & immediately became Baba's regular partner, not merely filling the void of his most recent championship partners Seiji Sakaguchi & Antonio Inoki, who were now in New Japan, but already blowing way past them as a worker. Dory & Baba appear to be the driving forces in the match, but both have their own direction, and throwing cartoonish Terry into the mix, the match, while clearly quite good, never feels particularly cohesive or unified in purpose. Dory embraces the struggle for each hold & counterhold, working a measured technical style where to some extent it doesn't matter what the hold actually is, while Baba is more concerned with just breaking free so he can get a few signature moves in. Terry & Jumbo seem to fall somewhere in between, but obviously are pulled more in the direction of their opponent than their partner, with Baba's offensive push giving Terry more reason to do his hammy overselling, which gets laughs that he embraces, though that doesn't seem to be the reaction you'd want in a serious match, and generally undermines what Dory is after. Jumbo, however, is already a top worker, doing a great job of following Dory in the struggle oriented technical wrestling as well as doing more action oriented sequences with Terry. He never looks out of place, and even his reliance on the headlock, while undoubtedly because he's still developing his offense, works really well in this type of match where whatever lock is simply asking the question, the match is about the opponent answering it. In fact, though I'd rate Dory as the best in the match given he's the one who is leading & the only one who seems to have even moment to moment direction, Jumbo seems to have already learned from him more than Terry ever would, and was right up there with Dory to the point I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn't established Jumbo. The first fall appeared to have a lot of stalling early, but the finish was the hottest of the match, with Jumbo again getting the push, pinning Terry in a German suplex. The second fall seemed more consistent, they were working hard whether it was Dory & Jumbo struggling back & forth with a reverse double wrist lock countered into a test of strength or Jumbo setting up his bulldog but running Terry into the turnbuckle instead. However, the finish was rather unsatisfying with Terry getting his pin back by rolling Jumbo up out of nowhere. The third fall again was missing the early portion, and that is perhaps accentuating my feeling that these falls are just rather random with no real connection between them. The wrestling is generally really good here, but none of the falls really seem to work individually or add up as a whole, there's no real dramatic arch or carry over, and the pace, like everything else, just seems to alter based on who is in & what they feel like doing at the moment. As far as I can see, you literally could edit out the last 15 seconds of the 1st 2 falls & turn this into a one fall full time draw without it altering anything of note. 90% of what's shown is fun to watch, but they never manage to bridge all the good that's here into something that works as drama. ***1/2 range
NWA 2/5/75 San Antonio Municipal Auditorium, 2/3 Falls International Tag Title Match: Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk vs. Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta 28:37 of 33:28 [15:45 (11:03 shown), 6:30, 11:13 (11:04 shown)]. A much faster paced match than 10/9/73, which obviously isn't surprising given it was half the length. The higher pace was a good thing when they matched it with intensity, but that only seemed to happen when they were quickly going back & forth, whether exchanging holds/blows or struggling for a hold (which didn't happen nearly enough now that they were working faster). Luckily, this was the case in the strong 3rd fall, which for a while had the story of Jumbo pushing Terry, but had spirited contributions all around. When someone would get a stretch of offense, as we saw for much of the 2nd fall, the whole interplay would pretty much disappear, with the wrestler who was taking pretty much going through a stretch of doing nothing or, in Terry's case, being obnoxiously annoying hamming it up. The match would then become somewhat dull because they weren't telling a story or working the holds & their random naked offense doesn't hold up 4 decades later. Apart from the finish, Dory vs. Jumbo was again the strongest combo, but this time there were a lot more sequences and a lot less time spent struggling for a hold (sometimes both met, but they were mostly just countering each other rather than working up to the counter). Terry's offense was good, but his selling was terrible. The beginning was clipped, but he turned the match into a cartoon at first sight by repeatedly jumping as Jumbo moved him in his headlock, then going limp, then flapping his arms, then jumping some more. It wasn't putting the headlock over more, it was putting it (and everything else) over less by making the whole match preposterous. What we saw of the first fall had some good moments between Jumbo & Dory, but was ruined by Terry's shenanigans. The second fall had a few good exchanges involving Baba, but Baba was only good here in these moments of back & forth where he was engaged & reacting, he was just too awkward when he was on autopilot doing his thing or going along for the ride of the Funks offense. This fall had one of the most annoying finishes ever as Baba got worked over the entire time but survived since he wouldn't do the job, forcing Jumbo to come in totally frest just to get pinned after a vertical suplex from each brother. The third fall got off to an excellent start as everyone wrestled with urgency. Terry was in good form, focused on the wrestling now that he was testing his skills against Jumbo. They started loosing momentum at the very end when Dory came back in, as Jumbo seemingly wasn't deemed good enough to push Dory, which would be fine if the result wasn't Jumbo pinning him anyway. Jumbo threatening to flash pin Terry was working, & his general gaining traction on him was the most exciting part of the match (partially because these few minutes were the only time they offered an actual story arch). As long as they were going for something fluky, they should have stayed with this idea whether Terry ultimately got pinned or just transposing it to Dory. Instead, Dory did a few things that caused dead time (throwing Jumbo to the floor, a double knockdown on the shoulderblock) then they went to the horribly contrived finish where Dory tried something weird that resulted in him vertical suplexing Jumbo onto the top turnbuckle, which supposedly caused Jumbo to bounce off & fall on top of Dory. The shock of this nonsense apparently rendered Dory unable to kick out, so Jumbo even got the winning pin in the match where he won his first title. As with their 1973 meeting, there was a lot of fun stuff in a vacuum, but the ideas & styles were never brought together into something with any unity or cohesion. ***1/4
12/9/76, 2/3 Falls International Tag Title Match: Kintaro Oki & Kim Duk vs. Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta 16:52 of 17:34 [ 11:38 (11:00 shown), 3:18 (3:10 shown), 2:38]. Baba & Tsuruta regain titles.
3/5/77 Akita Shiritsu Taiikukan, 2/3 Falls United National Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Billy Robinson 23:03 [11:03 (9:32 shown), 7:54, 4:06]. Robinson is a great technical wrestler at any length, but the faster the pace, the better he is because he's going to keep countering. Thus, the match becomes an anything you can do I can immediately counter sort of battle of one-upmanship, and he's just an off the charts worker in that format because he conveys the urgency & desperation he feels about not letting his opponent get the better of him. These two just had all the answers, and that was really the story of the match, told through the series of sequences that kept proving the point in different ways. Though Baba made up for it with his effort in the great 7/24/76 match against Robinson, this was the highest level Robinson has reached so far in a Japanese match because he finally had an opponent that was a great wrestler in his own right. Jumbo could thus equally follow him, match him, or push him by initiating himself. A scenario where they could realistically tell a complete story while going all out in the process obviously helped a lot as well. They just went back & forth using their speed & precision to force one another to raise their level to answer yet again. There's little stories & plays off previous moves here and there, but for the most part the story is simply that nothing is going to last, there's always a counter, and they're going to hit it sooner rather than later, in a quick precise fashion that's just beautiful to watch. Jumbo had been wrestling a little less than 4 years at this point, but he's just amazing in this setting that allows, no forces, him to use his speed & technique to max levels & encourages him to be emotional about it. When Robinson was wrestling Inoki or Baba the skill difference both in real & fake styles was just so immense it's hard not to feel that it's ridiculous that he can't beat these guys easily much less at all, but Jumbo is already near Robinson's level of greatness, probably the 2nd best wrestler of the decade. This isn't just a technical match though, one of Robinson's greatest attributes was his ability to get over his will to win. It's hard to describe how he can take some kind of random action & make it seem so important, but take the sequence starting with Jumbo knocking him over the top to the floor with an elbow. It's not really even a sequence, it's just that Robinson can get over that he doesn't like losing & is upping his game to ensure that won't happen, so after another big bump on a dropkick, he just comes at Jumbo harder, with more intensity & urgency, & he gets knocked down again, but this time it's a double shoulderblock & Jumbo goes down too. This would normally be part of a 2 or 3 part transition where Robinson takes control, but it's not even that, in fact, Jumbo beats him to the next hold & almost submits him with a Boston crab. So in the end, Robinson hasn't changed the match in terms of control, what he's done is escalate the fans perception of the importance of control, made it feel more urgent, and gotten over how seriously he takes it, and thus we should take it, the dire importance to him (and thus us) of being better than his opponent, even if, he may not be at the moment. The 2nd fall drags some because although Robinson shows several nice escapes from the headlock, Jumbo just keeps going back to it & they take their rests until Billy hits a big backdrop out & they sprint to the finish then keep that pace going for the third. The first & third falls are both great, the first being the longer more hold/counter hold variety & the third being the energetic sprint to the finish. The finish where Robinson rolls through the rolling clutch hold & uses his weight on Jumbo to get the flash pin is fluky, but it's actually perfect for this match because they always have the answers & better whatever the opponent tries on them, so it was going to take someone finally just getting caught off guard by the latest surprise. There's flashier offense today, but this was an amazing workrate match for its time that still looks impressive because sequences of counters are a lot more difficult & thus impressive than a bunch of great moves that the opponent just stands/lays there & takes. ****3/4
3/11/77 Tokyo Nippon University Auditorium, UN Heavyweight Title Match: Billy Robinson vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 60:00 [34:19 (14:17 shown), 11:35, 14:06 (12:03 shown)]. Between being majorly disappointed by their 70:00 draw from 7/7/76 & finding the Robinson/Inoki 60:00 draw to be far less entertaining than Robinson's best AJ matches, I came to the conclusion that Robinson is most effective at this 20-30 minute length because his genius abilities to build series of counters & escalate the tension come to the forefront the more active the match is, and obviously the mid range match is going to be more active than the marathon. This theory was proved by the great 7/24/76 match against Baba & the 3/5/77 match against Jumbo, which would have been state of the art, action packed technical matches in 1996 much less 20 years earlier. I was thinking, I guess they didn't learn anything from last years draw, here comes a slow & dead match that will pale in comparison to last week's gem, but they went right ahead & wrestled this as if it was going to be another 25 minute match, and seemingly did 60 minutes at an even more amazing level, somehow actually blowing away their beautiful 25 minute match! I'm not sure I've seen a more spirited hour draw! They were really active & aggressive throughout, but most importantly, they kept the intensity growing higher & the urgency escalating. You can't really do better than arguably the two best wrestlers in the world going all out for an hour, but as amazing as the wrestling was, their emotions are kind of what set the match apart. This never felt like the usual false playing to the crowd to try to manufacture interest, the whole vibe was of perfectionism, and it was very self contained. it was an anguish to always succeed that would be there in equally overwhelming doses if they were wrestling in an empty building. Their drive & desperation to always be winning caused their frustration, both with themselves & their opponent, to grow massive & keep boiling over. Whether or not the match was actually as fast as their match from the previous week, it certainly felt faster because they told the stories & increased the tension better. I don't think I've seen a more urgent 60:00 draw, and because of that, and the way they tied the sequences together so well despite incorporating so many different ideas & styles, almost everything worked. Even on the rare occasions when they were "taking a rest", they were still working the hold& giving the illusion that a desperate struggle was taking place. The first fall is tragically cut more than in half, so it's unclear what gets Jumbo so fired up, but once he gets off his back he's coming at Billy something fierce, & in one of the prevailing themes, Joe Higuchi has to restrain him from attacking Robinson when he's both down & in the ropes. One of the biggest problems with last years draw was they never developed a sense of urgency, tonight they had it more or less from the outset, and kept milking it to ridiculous levels. The way they were able to shift back & forth between the technical match that's their strength & the brawling that makes winning and/or simply hurting the opponent that much more important was one of the aspects that made the match such a winner. It wasn't a match where they said, well the grappling doesn't work so I'm just going to put the wood to the opponent, to some extent it was more that that they'd get so frustrated because the grappling wasn't yet good enough to defeat the opponent that they'd just stoop to the fisticuffs before temporarily regaining their composure & rededicating themselves to doing the things that should lead them to victory. However, these guys had such diverse skills you couldn't really pin them down, so there were a lot of little explosions before someone found an advantage they could run with. The match wasn't the least bit random, but you had multiple threads running in and out if not just occuring simultaneously & when you combined their diversity of styles & techniques with the all out emotion they were putting into it, being so fiery & aggressive, it was often unpredictable in the best kind of way. For instance, in the 1st fall they were escalating the violence of a striking exchange & suddenly Jumbo ducked & Robinson went flying over the top rope to the floor, which ended the striking for the moment, but the striking was also brawling, which continued as Robinson tried to reenter, hitting a shoulder to the midsection then jumping off the apron so he could clothesline Jumbo's neck on the top rope. With Jumbo now getting up slowly, he was prone to Robinson's cobra twist & they went back to technical wrestling, one style continually setting up another, and the two just taking what was available as if it were a real fight. Later Robinson double crossed on his offer to lock up, kicking Jumbo in the knee as soon as he grasped his hand & firing a big forearm uppercut, but as Jumbo was trying to answer with his own uppercut, Billy picked his leg & legbreakered him, so that brawl wound up being Robinson working the knee on the mat, but the powder keg was still ready to explode whenever Jumbo got another opportunity. There was a big flurry of action at the end of the first fall, which Jumbo took back body dropping his way out of Robinson's doublearm suplex then hitting one of his own. Robinson had worked the back for a stretch in the 1st, but his own back wasn't yet recovered & gave out trying for a bodyslam at the start of the 2nd, so Jumbo continued to roll throughout that fall, exploiting the "injury". Jumbo is very fired up throughout the fall, pressing hard to take his title back. Robinson goes over the top with his selling of the back at times, but does a great job of showing he's determined to hang in until he can find his moment to answer. Unfortunately, that moment comes answering Jumbo's dropkick with one of his own, and then they simultaneously throw dropkicks for a double knockdown. Jumbo, of course, is up quicker, but Robinson still has a chance to comeback as there's another double knockdown off a shoulderblock then Robinson grabs a front facelock, but now Jumbo is the one that takes over with the leg pick, going into a Boston crab. I like the lack of transitions in this fall with the healthier Jumbo recovering quicker, and this Boston crab would have been a great finish except the match couldn't end in straight falls. I loved how after Robinson finally made it to the ropes, Jumbo shoved Higuchi out of the way & started stomping on Billy's back. The false notion that an opponent can be perpetually controlled by simply wrapping their neck without paying any attention to the rest of their body annoys me to no end, so it was great that when the transition finally came, it was in the simplest & most obvious possible way, with Robinson taking the top out of a headscissors. Robinson went to work on the neck, and took the 2nd fall with a tombstone piledriver, which the announcer obliviously called a shoulderbuster. Now it was Robinson's turn to dominate by running with the injury from the previous fall. This eventually set Robinson up for the doublearm suplex he thought he'd win the 1st fall with, and there's just this great look of exasperation followed by a disbelieving attempt to psych himself up to go on after Jumbo kicked out. Robinson's frustration begins to boil over, and he pulls out the belly to belly over the top to the floor he famously used against Inoki. They're in and out of the ring throughout the 3rd fall, which increasingly has more elements of brawling as they're just sick & tired of their opponent not giving in to them. Robinson cutely uppercutted the arm that Jumbo was holding on to in order to keep from falling off the apron from Robinson's strikes, but Robinson got cocky after Jumbo took this bump into a table & followed him out only to once again have his body slam backfire, and get his back reinjured when Jumbo instead slammed him on the concrete. Jumbo still can't finish him with the Boston crab though, and time expired just after he hit the doublearm suplex. In a fitting conclusion, Jumbo just kept fighting, stomping Robinson until people got in his way. Robinson actually seemed the level headed one of the two, but then when Higuchi raised both their hands with the announcement of the draw, he slapped Jumbo for one final outburst. There's a lot of time missing, but nothing about what's shown makes me think the match wouldn't become that much richer & more impressive if the footage is ever properly restored. This is match of the decade material. *****
CWF 3/23/77 Miami Beach Convention Hall 2/3 Falls UN Heavyweight Title Decision Match: Billy Robinson vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 31:00 [10:55, 13:00 (9:48 shown), 7:05 (5:08 shown). It was going to be nearly impossible to follow their amazing draw from 3/11, but even if this isn't nearly at the level of the previous two matches in the series, it's impressive just how much material they had. When they repeated themselves, it wasn't really doing their things, but rather continuing threads from the previous matches. It wasn't just the match that was well built, but the series in general, as again each fall told it's own story which then continued into the next fall, but now back injuries & themes of trying to win with doublearm suplexes and Boston crabs had been established. They seemed to change the match for America though, making it more technically oriented, which wasn't a good change because it made the match slower & the performers less fiery. The first fall, ironically, was probably the best all around fall of the night, as it had a really great mix of technical counter wrestling escalating to emotional striking to composed frustration. The best of the challenging sequences saw Robinson escape a hammerlock by using his leg for an outside trip then try to work the leg he tripped, but Jumbo shot him into the ropes with his other leg & tried to monkey flip him on the way back, except Robinson held onto a leg in midair & got right up to hit a leg breaker. However, they focused more on getting each other riled up to generate heat early, with the story of the 1st fall being Robinson's frustration over Jumbo getting the better of him, which caused Billy to go big early. Jumbo's strikes (chops, elbows, but mainly his slaps) got under Robinson's skin, leading to Robinson slapping instead of breaking clean, which Jumbo soon avenged. Robinson just couldn't sustain an advantage, so he unleashed a series of neckbreakers, each with that put him in his place kind of attitude, but still Jumbo just had the better positioning & timing & perhaps even luck as Robinson's one big counter pin attempt wound up in the ropes. Ultimately, Jumbo countered an atomic drop & busted out his big backdrop to take the 1st. The 2nd fall was a muvh slower, more technical fall with Jumbo maintaining his lead with the headlock. Robinson would eventually find a counter, for instance a headstand twist out, but Jumbo would just counter back into the headlock. Robinson finally used his backbreakers to take over then won with a Boston crab, which put him in maintain the advantage mode to start the 3rd, continuing to work the injured back. Jumbo finally got going with a doublearm suplex & cobra twist, and after Robinson hip tossed his way out, trapped Robinson in a Boston crab of his own. Thusfar, everything was well worked up to, and although it was early (weird having a 3rd fall that's half the length of the other two when it's not because time expired) I'd be fine with this being the finish, as it had been a major part of the series & would be a move over wrestler type of story where each guy trapped the opponent, and that's why the Boston crab is good. Instead, because it's America, and Robinson had a fued with Abdullah, he shows up out of nowhere for a preposterous run in, taking out the ref & breaking Jumbo's crab with a chop (I'm unclear why he's essentially saving Robinson even if to attack him himself) & tossing him out of the ring. Robinson gets the 1st blow in on Butcher & has a good run before taking a fork to the throat, at which point Jumbo reappears & pins him with a dropkick despite the fact that it should have been a DQ for Abby hitting the ref. This was worked more as though it was going long than the other two, and was well on it's way to being another great match, but the finish had nothing to do with anything that came before it in this particular match, a match where virtually everything had something to do with what came before it. I loved that they just wrestled this "as though they didn't know it was going to end in a stupid run in" & had an actual legit finish in mind, but in a sense that makes it more tragic. It surely was not a fitting way to end a trilogy that had already delivered two of the best matches of the decade.Yes, screw jobs always suck, but this truly & literally was Butchery! ****
12/1/78: Terry Funk vs. Abdullah The Butcher
12/1/78: Dory Funk Jr. vs. The Sheik
7/15/79: Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk vs. Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik
11/30/79 '79 Tag League: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk
12/3/79: Terry Funk vs. Tor Kamata
12/3/79: Dory Funk Jr. Mr. Wrestling
3/28/76 #2: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Rusher Kimura
6/11/76 #3 NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Terry Funk vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
7/7/76 #4 Kitakyushu Mihagino Gymnasium : Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Billy Robinson 70:00 [29:05 (8:45 shown), 21:52 (13:18 shown), 9:03 (6:54 shown), 10:00 (shown)]. Lazy, sweltering summer days where the fans are constantly faning themselves & wiping the sweat before it drips off their forehead don't really make for ideal circumstances to do a 70:00 draw. These guys were leaking sweat from the moment they joined the match, and I don't know if these guys were planning on getting going later & just were too overheated when the time came or what, but they just weren't moving much outside or the briefest bursts. I would be okay with a technical match if they were actually doing things, but for the most they were content to lay there with Jumbo holding a headlock. This wasn't a bad match, but it was terrible compared to Billy's match with Baba a week later or the 3 match series with Jumbo the next year. It made the Inoki match look like a n action packed sprint, and just didn't have more than flashes of what makes either of these guys great.
10/22/76 #6: Jumbo Tsuruta vs Abdullah The Butcher
12/3/76 #7: Jumbo Tsuruta vs Chris Taylor
6/11/77 Tenryu Debut Match: Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenryu vs Mario Milano & Mexico Grande
6/11/77 #8 NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Harley Race vs Jumbo Tsuruta
1/5/79 #10: Jumbo Tsuruta vs Fritz Von Erich
6/1/78 PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Tor Kamata
6/12/78 PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Tor Kamata vs. Bill Robinson
10/18/78 PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Billy Robinson vs. Abdullah The Butcher
2/10/79 PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Abdullah The Butcher vs. Giant Baba
3/20/77 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. The Mafia
3/23/77 Tampa, FL Tampa Sportatorium: Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Angelo Poffo & Pat MacGinness
6/22/80 Minneapolis Auditorium
Akihisa Takachiho (The Great Kabuki) & Kazuo Sakurada (Kendo Nagasaki) vs. Ben DeLeon & Herman Schaefer
PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Super Destroyer Mark II (Scott Irwin)
AWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Nick Bockwinkle vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
Maple Leaf Gardens, International Tag Title Match: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Bruiser Brody & Scott Irwin
4/27/74 Champion Carnival: The Destroyer vs Abdullah The Butcher
4/10/75 Champion Carnival 1st Round: Jumbo Tsuruta vs Bob Orton Jr
5/1/76 Champion Carnival: Abdullah The Butcher vs Kintaro Oki
5/8/76 Champion Carnival: Giant Baba vs The Barracuda
5/1/80 Champion Carnival Final: Jumbo Tsuruta vs Dick Slater
4/10/81 Champion Carnival: Bruiser Brody vs Abdullah The Butcher
4/16/82 Champion Carnival: Giant Baba vs Bruiser Brody
12/1/78 1978 World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs Bill Robinson & Wild Angus
12/5/78: Giant Baba vs The Shiek
12/5/78 '78 World's Strongest Tag League: Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk vs Nick Bockwinkle & Blackjack Lanza
12/9/78 '78 World's Strongest Tag League: Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk vs Abdullah The Butcher & The Shiek
12/9/78 '78 World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs Nick Bockwinkle & Blackjack Lanza
12/13/78: Dory Funk Jr. vs. Blackjack Lanza
12/13/78 '78 World's Strongest Tag League: Bill Robinson & Wild Angus vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Tor Kamata
12/15/78 '78 World's Strongest Tag League: Nick Bockwinkle & Blackjack Lanza vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Tor Kamata
12/15/78 '78 World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk
2/18/78: Giant Baba vs. Rusher Kimura
4/27/78 UN Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Ric Flair
8/24/78: Motoshi Okuma & Great Kojika vs. Kim Duk & Randy Tyler
9/13/78 UN Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Kim Duk
2/14/79 Honolulu AWA World Heavyweight Title: Nick Bockwinkle vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
10/31/79 Aichi-ken Gym NWA World Heavyweight Title: Harley Race vs. Giant Baba
11/7/79 Amagasaki City Gym: Giant Baba vs. Harley Race
10/12/75 Osaka: Giant Baba & Anton Geesink vs. Stan Hansen & Bobby Jaggers
10/30/75 Tokyo: The Destroyer vs. Stan Hansen
1/5/79 Kawasaki-shi Taiikukan: Bruiser Brody & King Iaukea vs. The Destroyer & Giant Baba
7/19/75 Nagano: Fritz von Erich vs. Giant Baba
7/25/75 Texas Death Match & NWA World Heavyweight Next Challenger Decision Match: Fritz Von Erich vs. Giant Baba
6/10/81 Akita: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. David Von Erich & Kevin Von Erich
11/30/79 '79 World's Strongest Tag League: Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik vs. Frank Hill & Wahoo McDaniel
12/3/79 '79 World's Strongest Tag League: Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik vs. Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta
12/7/79 Osaka Prefectural Gym '79 World's Strongest Tag League: Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras vs. Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk 18:16
12/13/79 Kuramae Kokugikan '79 World's Strongest Tag League: Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras vs. Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta
12/13/79 '79 World's Strongest Tag League: Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk vs. Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik
11/28/80 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Ricky Steamboat & Dick Slater vs. Abdullah the Butcher & Tor Kamata
World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Dory Funk & Terry Funk vs. The Sheik & Great Mephisto
12/1/80 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Giant Baba vs. Nick Bockwinkel
The Sheik vs. Abdullah the Butcher
12/5/80 Kochi Kenmin Taiikukan, World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Billy Robinson & Les Thornton vs. Nick Bockwinkel & Jim Brunzell
12/9/80 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk vs. Nick Bockwinkle & Jim Brunzell
Tor Kamata & Abdullah The Butcher vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba
12/11/80 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan
Tor Kamata & Abdullah The Butcher vs. The Sheik & Great Mephisto
Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta
8/22/79: Mil Mascaras vs. Abdullah the Butcher
8/31/79 PWF Heavyweight: Giant Baba vs. Abdullah the Butcher
9/4/80 NWA Heavyweight: Harley Race vs. Giant Baba
9/10/80 NWA Heavyweight: Giant Baba vs. Harley Race
9/11/80 NWA Heavyweight: Harley Race vs. Mil Mascaras
6/29/80 Toronto, CA Mid Atlantic World Tag Title Match: Ray Stevens & Jimmy Snuka vs. Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood
12/1/80: Ricky Steamboat vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
6/3/81: Jimmy Snuka vs. Ricky Steamboat
6/10/81: Ricky Steamboat vs. Jimmy Snuka
4/30/81: International Heavyweight Title Match: Dory Funk Jr. vs. Terry Funk
10/9/81: International Heavyweight Title Match: Dory Funk Jr vs. Bruiser Brody
2/3/82 St. Petersburg, FL: International Heavyweight Title Match: Dory Funk Jr. vs. Butch Reed
4/21/82: International Heavyweight Title Match: Dory Funk Jr. Bruiser Brody
12/11/72: Thunder Sugiyama & Mashio Koma vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Cyclone Negro
12/11/72 World Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. The Destroyer
4/24/73: Hiro Matsuda & Thunder Sugiyama vs. King Curtis Iaukea & Antonio Pugliese
4/24/73 PWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. The Sheik
11/24/73 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mickey Doyle
1/29/74 Osaka, NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr.
1/30/74 Tokyo, NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Jack Brisco vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
10/9/73 US Heavyweight Title Match: The Destroyer vs. Mil Mascaras
7/25/74: George Steele vs. Thunder Sugiyama
7/25/74: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Bob Backlund & Bob Roop
7/25/74: PWF US Heavyweight Title Match: The Destroyer vs. Mil Mascaras
11/24/73 Kuramae Kokugikan: Giant Baba & Anton Geesink vs. Bruno Sammartino & Calypso Hurricane (Cyclone Negro)
6/13/74 Tokyo Taiikukan
Anton Geesink vs. Gorilla Monsoon
Jumbo Tsuruta & The Destroyer vs. Kevin Sullivan & Johnny Rodz
8/29/74 Korakuen Hall: Giant Baba & The Destroyer vs. Dick Slater & Killer Karl Kox
6/13/74 PWF Heavyweight Title & MSG Cup Match: Giant Baba vs. Pedro Morales
8/29/74: Dory Funk Jr vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
3/13/75 NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Jack Brisco vs. Bobo Brazil
3/13/75: International Tag Title Match: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk
4/10/75 PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Dick The Bruiser
7/19/75: Anton Geesink vs. Chavo Guerrero
7/19/75: The Spirit vs. Samson Kutsuwada
7/25/75: Jumbo Tsuruta & Anton Geesnik vs. Bobby Duncum & Bob Remis
7/25/75 PWF & US Heavyweight Title Match: The Destroyer vs. The Spirit
10/30/75: Giant Baba vs. Kintaro Oki
10/30/75 PWF & US Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Abdullah The Butcher
Note: all matches Open Title League Matches
12/6/75 Tokyo Ota-ku Taiikukan
Dusty Rhodes vs. Harley Race
Dory Funk Jr. vs. Abdullah The Butcher
Giant Baba vs. Baron Von Raschke
12/13/75 Fukui-shi Taiikukan
Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Rusher Kimura
Giant Baba vs. Abdullah The Butcher
12/15/75 Sendai Miyagi-ken Sports Center
Dory Funk Jr. vs. Horst Hoffman
Don Leo Jonathan vs. Abdullah The Butcher
Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Giant Baba
Note: all matches Open Title League Matches
12/17/75 Chiba Koen Taiikukan
Mighty Inoue vs. Hiro Matsuda
The Destroyer vs. Horst Hoffman
Dory Funk Jr. vs. Don Leo Jonathan
Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Abdullah The Butcher
Giant Baba vs. Rusher Kimura
12/18/75 Kawasaki-shi Taiikukan
Dory Funk Jr. vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
Giant Baba vs. Horst Hoffman
5/13/76 Kawasaki-shi Taiikukan: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Kintaro Oki & Nan Kaizan
8/28/75 Tokyo, US Heavyweight Decision Match: The Destroyer vs. Super Destroyer
10/28/76 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, US Heavyweight Title Decision Match: The Destroyer vs. Abdullah The Butcher
12/9/76 Tokyo:
Dick Murdoch vs. Killer Karl Cox
Bill Robinson vs. Abdullah The Butcher
3/20/77 North Carolina Greensboro Coliseum, 2/3 Falls PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Baron Von Raschke
2/10/79 Ilinois Chicago International Amphitheater
Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Roger Carvey & Guy Mitchell
AWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Nick Bockwinkel vs. Verne Gagne
2/14/79 Hawaii Neal Blaisdell Center Hall: Giant Baba vs. Karl Von Steiger
9/6/79: Mil Mascaras & Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs. Abdullah the Butcher & Bobo Brazil & Carlos Colon
11/8/79 Tokyo Korakuen Hall NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Harley Race vs. Abdullah the Butcher
5/2/80 Korakuen: Ted DiBiase vs. Rocky Hata
5/2/80: Terry Funk & Dick Slater vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba
1/18/81 Korakuen Giant Baba 3000th Match PWF vs. AWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Verne Gagne
2/15/81 Korakuen NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Harley Race vs. Giant Baba
6/10/81 Akita: Kintaro Oki vs. The Sheik
7/4/81 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Dick Slater vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
7/6/81 Akita: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Bobby Heenan
10/6/81 Sendai Miyagi-ken Sports Center
NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Ric Flair vs. Genichiro Tenryu
International Tag Title Match: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka
10/6/81 Miyagi-ken Spors Center: Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk vs. Umanoseke Ueda & Buck Robley
10/9/81 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, International Heavyweight Title Match: Bruiser Brody vs. Dory Funk Jr.
10/9/81 2/3 Falls NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
10/9/81: Giant Baba & Bruno Sammartino vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanoseke Ueda
12/9/81: Tiger Jeet Singh vs. The Sheik
11/30/81: Terry Funk vs. Bruiser Brody
11/30/81 '81 World's Strongest Tag League Match: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara
12/3/81: Terry Funk vs. Ashura Hara
12/13/81 '81 World's Strongest Tag League Match: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanosuke Umeda
12/13/81 '81 World's Strongest Tag League Match: Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr vs. Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka
1/15/82: Mil Mascaras vs. Sweet Brown Sugar
1/15/82: Stan Hansen vs. Ashura Hara
1/15/82: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Killer Tor Kamata & Gypsy Joe
2/4/82 IWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Mil Mascaras vs. Genichiro Tenryu
2/4/82 AWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Nick Bockwinkle vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
2/4/82 PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Stan Hansen vs. Giant Baba
2/20/82 St Petersburg, FL: Terry Funk & Dick Slater vs. Jerry Lawler & Don Diamond
2/20/82 St Petersburg, FL: Giant Baba vs. Iron Mike Sharpe
2/20/82 St Petersburg, FL: Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu
2/20/82 St Petersburg, FL NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Ric Flair vs. Mike Graham
2/28/82 Atlanta, GA Omni Center World Tag Title Decision Tournament
Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. The Stomper & Rick Harris
2nd Round: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Leroy Brown & Ron Fuller
Stan Hansen & Ole Anderson vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu
Final: Stan Hansen & Ole Anderson vs. Jack Brisco & Jerry Brisco
PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Terry Gordy
2/28/82 Atlanta, GA Omni Center, NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Harley Race vs. Ric Flair
3/4/82 Kansas City Memorial Hall: Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Bruiser Brody & Jerry Brown
3/7/82 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Coliseum
Alexis Smirnoff & Ivan Koloff vs. Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenryu
International Heavyweight Title Match: Dory Funk Jr. vs. Billy Robinson
UN Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Tommy Rich
NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Chavo Guerrero vs. Atsushi Onita
4/20/82 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan, International Tag Title Match: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody
4/22/82 Tokyo Taiikukan
Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka
UN Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Harley Race
PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Stan Hansen
6/1/82 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Atushi Onita vs. Jay Youngblood
Giant Baba vs. Stan Hansen
6/4/82 Nagaoka NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat
6/8/82 Kuramae Kokugikan
Stan Hanson & Umanoseke Ueda vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Dick Slater
AWA World Tag Title Match: Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell vs. Ricky Steamboat & Atsushi Onita
NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
7/21/82: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras
7/22/82: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Umanoseke Ueda
7/30/82 NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Atsutshi Onita vs. Chavo Guerrero
7/30/82: UN Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mil Mascaras
7/30/82 PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
8/1/82: Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras vs. Motoshi Okuma & Shinya Kojika
8/1/82: UN Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Harley Race
9/11/82: Mil Mascaras Lucha Competition Onita Picks Winner
9/11/82: Terry Funk vs. Stan Hansen
9/14/82 & 2/3 Falls: Terry Funk & Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. The Destroyer & Ron Bass & Crusher Blackwell
9/14/82 PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Stan Hansen
10/15/82: Chavo Guerrero vs. Shiro Koshinaka
10/7/82: International Heavyweight Title Match: Bruiser Brody vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
10/20/82: Bruiser Brody vs. Genichiro Tenryu
10/24/82: UN Heavyweight Title Match: Harley Race vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
10/26/82 PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Harley Race
11/2/82: Dory Funk Jr & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Nikolai Volkoff & Dream Machine
11/2/82: Bruiser Brody vs. Jimmy Snuka
11/2/82 PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Harley Race vs. Giant Baba
11/26/82: Harley Race & Dick Slater vs. Great Kojika & Mokoshi Okuma
11/26/82: Terry Funk & Dory Funk vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara
11/26/82 '82 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs. Super Destroyer & Umanosuke Ueda
11/26/82 '82 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood vs. Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody
12/2/82 '82 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Terry Funk & Dory Funk vs. Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood
12/2/82 '82 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody vs. Harley Race & Dick Slater
12/7/82: Giant Baba vs Umanosuke Ueda
12/9/82 '82 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba
Note: all '82 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Matches
12/9/82: Terry Funk & Dory Funk vs. Harley Race & Dick Slater
12/13/82: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Super Destroyer & Umanosuke Ueda
12/13/82: Harley Race & Dick Slater vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba
12/13/82: Terry Funk & Dory Funk vs. Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody
12/7/82: Dory Funk Jr. vs. Super Destroyer
12/7/82: Ricky Steamboat vs. Harley Race
12/7/82: Terry Funk vs. Bruiser Brody
12/7/82: Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
12/13/82 Sumo Hall: Ricky Steamboat vs. Atsushi Onita
11/4/82 Korakeun Hall NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Chavo Guerrero vs. Atsushi Onita
1/7/83: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Hercules Hernandez
2/1/83 Checker Dome, Missouri State Title Match: Kerry Von Erich vs. Greg Valentine
2/1/83 Checker Dome, PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Harley Race vs. Giant Baba
2/1/83 Checker Dome, 2/3 Falls NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Ric Flair vs. Bruiser Brody
4/22/83 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, Lou Thesz Cup Final: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Shiro Koshinaka. Misawa's TV debut. Digest.
8/26/84: Tiger Mask vs. La Fiera. Misawa's debut as Tiger Mask. Digest
6/21/85: Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi
8/31/85: Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi
3/9/88: Tiger Mask vs. Jumbo Tsuruta. Digest
5/15/90: Tiger Mask & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Samson Fuyuki & Yoshiaki Yatsu. Tiger unmasks. Digest
5/26/90: Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Great Kabuki & Masa Fuchi. Digest
Misawa, Kobashi, Kawada, & Taue training
6/8/90: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
7/24/91, World Tag Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy
8/22/92, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Stan Hansen
10/30/75 Kuramae: Kintaro Oki vs Giant Baba
12/11/75 Budokan: Kintaro Oki vs Abdullah The Butcher
5/8/76 Sapporo Nakajima, Champion Carnival: Kintaro Oki vs Jumbo Tsuruta
10/28/76 Kuramae, International Tag Title Match: Kintaro Oki & Kim Duk vs Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta
12/10/76 International Tag Title Match: Kintaro Oki & Kim Duk vs Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta
12/10/77 Osaka Furitsu World Open Tag Title League Match: Kintaro Oki & Kim Duk vs Rusher Kimura & Great Kusatsu
1/16/83 Aichi: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Rocky Jones
2/11/83 Korakuen: Great Kabuki vs. J. J. Dillon
2/17/83: Great Kabuki vs. Goro Tsurumi
2/25/83 Aichi-ken Gym, NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title: Atsushi Onita vs. Dos Caras
2/25/83: Great Kabulki vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
2/25/83: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Tommy Rich
3/1/83 Akita: Great Kabuki & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Goro Tsurumi
3/1/83 Lumberjack Death Match: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Umanoseke Ueda
3/2/83 Yamagata: Great Kabuki vs. Tommy Rich
3/3/83 Korakuen: Giant Baba vs. Umanseke Ueda
3/3/83: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
4/7/83 Miyagi-ken Sports Center, Missouri Heavyweight Title: Kerry Von Erich vs. Genichiro Tenryu
4/7/83 International Tag Title: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Ted DiBiase & Terry Funk
4/14/83 Osaka Furitsu: Stan Hansen vs. Terry Funk
3/3/83 Korakuen: Great Kabuki vs. Mike Davis
4/20/83 Tokyo Taiikukan: NWA International Jr. Title Match: Atsushi Onita vs. Hector Guerrero
4/20/83: PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Harley Race
4/20/83: Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr vs. Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody
4/22/83 Sapporo Nakajima: Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr vs. Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen
4/28/83: Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs. Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody
5/26/83 International Heavyweight Title Match: Bruiser Brody vs Jumbo Tsuruta
6/8/83 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs Bruiser Brody
6/8/83 NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Ric Flair vs Jumbo Tsuruta
5/26/83, NWA Jr. Title Match: Chavo Guerrero vs. Ultra Seven
6/8/83 Kuramae Kokugikan, NWA Jr. Title Match: Chavo Guerrero vs. Mighty Inoue
6/12/83Savannah, GA: Goldenboy Grey & Jake Roberts vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Giant Baba
6/12/83 NWA International Jr. Heavyweight Title Match: Chavo Guerrero vs. Masanobu Fuchi
6/12/83 NWA International Heavyweight Title Match: Bruiser Brody vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
6/17/83 Dallas, TX: Johnny Mantel vs. Genichiro Tenryu
6/17/83 UN Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Ted DiBiase
6/12/83 Savannah, GA Savannah Civic Center
Terry Funk vs. Brett Hart (Barry Horowitz)
Jack Brisco & Jerry Brisco vs. Bob Orton & Jimmy Valient
US Heavyweight Title: Greg Valentine vs. Ric Flair
6/17/83 Dallas, TX Reunion Arena
Chris Adams & Jose Lothario & Chavo Guerrero vs. Bill Irwin & Fishman & The Mongol
Texas Heavyweight Title Decision Match: Jimmy Garvin vs. David Von Erich
PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. King Kong Bundy
NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Harley Race vs. Kevin Von Erich
American Tag Title Match: Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs. Bruiser Brody & Kerry Von Erich Title Match: Ric Flair vs Jumbo Tsuruta
7/16/83 AWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Nick Bockwinkle vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
7/30/83 Fukuoka Sports Center International Tag Title Match: Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanoseke Ueda
8/30/83: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Brad Rheingans
8/31/83 Kuramae Kokugikan, International Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Bruiser Brody
10/4/83 Fukushima: Giant Baba & Kabuki vs. Bruiser Brody & Killer Tim Brooks
8/30/83 Niigata-shi Gym: Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk vs. Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy
8/31/83 Kuramae Kokugikan
NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Chavo Guerrero vs. Masa Fuchi
Terry Funk Retirement Match: Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy
9/8/83 Chiba, PWF Heavyweight Title: Stan Hansen vs. Giant Baba
10/14/83 Nagaoka, NWA International Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Bruiser Brody
10/23/83 Korakuen, UN Heavyweight Title: Ted DiBiase vs. Genichiro Tenryu
10/26/83 Iwate, NWA World Heavyweigh Title: Harley Race vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
12/8/83 Miyagi: The Mongolian vs. Stan Hansen
11/25/83 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, '83 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Ron Fuller & Barry Windham vs. Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen
11/25/83 '83 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Umanoseke Ueda & Tiger Jeet Singh vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta
11/28/83 Hokkaido '83 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Akio Sato & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Dos Caras & Mil Mascaras
11/29/83 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center '83 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Goro Tsurumi & The Mongol vs. Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen
11/29/83 '83 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Dory Funk Jr & Giant Baba
12/5/83 Fukuoka Kokusai Center, World's Strongest Tag League: Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras
12/8/83 Miyagi-ken Sports Center, World's Strongest Tag League: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Barry Windham & Ron Fuller
12/10/83 Aichi-ken Gym
Barry Windham vs. Great Kabuki
World's Strongest Tag League: Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr
12/12/83 Kuramae Kokugikan
World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanosuke Ueda
World's Strongest Tag League: Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta
12/5/83 Fukuoka Kokusai Center
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Barry Windham
Dory Funk Jr vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
12/8/83 Miyagi-ken Sports Center: Dos Caras vs. Masanobu Fuchi
12/10/83 Aichi-ken Gym Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
12/12/83 Kuramae Kokugikan NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair vs. Great Kabuki
1/20/84 Korakuen Hall: Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs. Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta
1/22/84 Tokyo: Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy vs. Great Kabuki & Jumbo Tsuruta
2/23/84 Kuramae Kokugikan
UN Heavyweight Title: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ricky Steamboat
AWA World Heavyweight & International Double Title: Nick Bockwinkle vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
2/26/84 Osaka Furitsu Gym
NWA International Jr Title: Chavo Guerrero vs. Mighty Inoue
AWA World Heavyweight & International Double Title: Nick Bockwinkle vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
3/4/84 Chicago Rosemont Horizon
Nick Bockwinkel & Stan Hansen vs. Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher
AWA Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Blackjack Lanza
3/11/84 Green Bay Brown County Arena, AWA Tag Title: Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera vs. Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell
3/11/84 Green Bay Brown County Arena
Harley Race & Nick Bockwinkle vs. Blackjack Lanza & Blackjack Mulligan
Roger Kirby & Steve Regal vs. Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenryu
AWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Bill Robinson
3/15/84 Salt Lake City Salt Palace: AWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Jim Brunzell
3/24/84 Kuramae Kokugikan: AWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Nick Bockwinkle
3/15/84 Salt Lake City Salt Palace: Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts
3/24/84 Kuramae Kokugikan
UN Heavyweight Title Match: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ted DiBiase
PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Stan Hansen vs. Giant Baba
4/19/84, AWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Greg Gagne
4/25/84 Yokohama Bunka Gym
PWF Tag Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell
Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody vs. Dory Funk Jr & Giant Baba
4/26/84 Omiya Skate Center, AWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Jim Brunzell
5/13/84 St. Paul Civic Center, AWA World Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Rick Martel
5/22/84 Tokyo Den'en Coliseum
Ric Flair vs. Harley Race
NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Kerry Von Erich vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
5/24/84 NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Kerry Von Erich vs. Ric Flair
7/31/84 Kuramae Kokugikan
Introduction of Tiger Mask II Mitsuharu Misawa
AWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Rick Martel vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Stan Hansen vs. Giant Baba
8/26/84 Tokyo Den'en Coliseum, PWF Tag Title Match: Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody vs. Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr.
8/26/84 Tokyo Den'en Coliseum
Tiger Mask Misawa Debut: Tiger Mask vs. La Fiera
NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Atsutshi Onita vs. Mighty Inoue
9/12/84 Miyagi
World's Strongest Junior Tag League Final: Chavo Guerrero & Hector Guerrero vs. Mighty Inoue & Gran Hamada
NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Ric Flair vs. Genichiro Tenryu
10/29/84 Tokyo Ota-ku Gym, International Heavyweight Title: Terry Gordy vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
12/8/84 Aichi-ken Taiikukan
'84 Worlds Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Rusher Kimura & Giant Baba
'84 Worlds Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen
Riki Choshu Debuts in All Japan
2/5/85 Tokyo Taiikukan
British Bulldogs vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Animal Hamaguchi
Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta
PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
12/8/84 Aichi-ken Taiikukan
Tiger Jeet Singh vs. Great Kojika
Harley Race & Nick Bockwinkle vs. Takashi Ishikawa & Mighty Inoue
Tiger Mask II vs. Pirata Morgan
2/5/85 Tokyo Taiikukan: Jerry Lawler & Jimmy Valient vs. Great Kabuki & Takashi Ishikawa
3/9/85 Ryogoku Kokugikan
Harley Race & Klaus Wallas vs. Killer Khan & Masanobu Kurisu
Tiger Mask II vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi
Giant Baba & Mighty Inoue & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Rusher Kimura & Goro Tsurumi & Ryuma Go
Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Bruiser Brody & Killer Tim Brooks
International Tag Title: Road Warriors Animal & Hawk vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta
3/14/85 Aichi-ken Gym, AWA Tag Title: Road Warriors vs. Riki Choshu & Killer Khan
4/23/85 NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair vs. Riki Choshu
4/24/85 Yokohama Bunka Gym, NWA World Heavyweight Title Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
5/31/85 Chiba Matsudo-shi: Road Warriors vs. Takashi Ishikawa & Tarzan Goto
6/2/85 Korakuen Hall
Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Tiger Mask II & Magic Dragon
Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu & Motoshi Okuma
5/31/85 Chiba Matsudo-shi: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu & Giant Baba vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Terry Gordy & Mario Milano
6/2/85 Korakuen Hall: Road Warriors vs. Killer Khan & Masanobu Kurisu
6/4/85 Osaka Jo Hall
Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Shinichi Nakano
Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa
Road Warriors vs. Killer Khan & Yoshiaki Yatsu
PWF International Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Terry Gordy
6/5/85 Aichi-ken Gym
Road Warriors vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu
Tiger Jeet Singh vs. Riki Choshu
6/2/85 Korakuen Hall: Giant Baba & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Mario Milano
8/2/85 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center: Motoshi Okuma vs. Giant Kamara
6/21/85 Nippon Budokan
Haru Sonoda vs. Ashura Hara
NWA International Jr Heavyweight Title Match: Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Tiger Mask II
Jumbo Tsuruta & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Animal Hamaguchi
UN Heavyweight Title Match: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu
PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Rusher Kimura
7/30/85 Fukuoka Kokusai Center
Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa
PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Stan Hansen
8/2/85 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center: Riki Choshu & Killer Khan vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu
8/23/85 Korakuen Hall: Terry Funk vs. Stan Hansen
8/29/85: Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr vs. Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase
9/14/85 Matsumoto-shi Sogo Gym, NWA International Tag Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Killer Khan & Yoshiaki Yatsu
10/19/85 Korakuen Hall
Rick Martel vs. Riki Choshu
Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
Road Warriors vs. Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk
10/21/85 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan
Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Mil Mascaras & Art Crews
Road Warriors vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu
AWA & NWA World Double Title Match: Rick Martel vs. Ric Flair
4/20/91 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Masanobu Fuchi
10/21/92 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada
5/2/99 Tokyo Dome, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Vader vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
10/22/85 Kyoto Furitsu Taiikukan
Mil Mascaras vs. Norio Honaga
Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Terry Gordy & Art Crews
Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ric Flair & Rick Martel
11/4/85 Osaka Jo Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Riki Choshu
11/23/85 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
'85 World's Strongest Tag League: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Ashura Hara & Rusher Kimura
'85 World's Strongest Tag League: Ted Dibiase & Stan Hansen vs. Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid
'85 World's Strongest Tag League: Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Curt Hennig & Nick Bockwinkel
11/27/85 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask
Riki Choshu vs. Ted Dibiase
Stan Hansen vs. Ashura Hara
'85 World's Strongest Tag League: Dory Funk Jr & Giant Baba vs. Harley Race & Jesse Barr
11/30/85 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan, '85 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu
11/30/85 '85 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Ted DiBiase & Stan Hansen vs. Harley Race & Jesse Barr
11/30/85: Tiger Mask & Mighty Inoue vs. British Bulldogs
12/4/85: Nick Bockwinkle vs. Riki Choshu
12/4/85: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Curt Hennig
12/4/85 '85 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr vs. Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase
12/7/85 Yamagata-ken Taiikukan, '85 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid
12/12/85 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, '85 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid vs. Harley Race & Jesse Barr (Jimmy Jack Funk)
12/12/85 '85 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Dory Funk Jr. & Giant Baba
12/12/85 '85 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase
1/1/86 Korakuen: Tiger Mask & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Shinchi Nakano
1/1/86: The Russians (Nikita Koloff & Krusher Kruschev) vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Isamu Teranishi
1/1/86: Ricki Choshu vs. Tom Magee
1/2/86 Korakuen: Mil Mascaras vs. Tiger Mask
1/2/86: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Nikita Koloff & Krusher Kruchev
1/11/86: Kabuki vs. Isamu Teranishi
1/11/86: Mil Mascaras vs. Takashi Ishikawa
1/11/86: Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Samson Fuyuki
1/11/86: Ricki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Motoshi Okuma
Misawa career retrospective
12/4/92 Champion Carnival: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue & Jun Akiyama
1/14/86 Kagoshima Kenritsu Taiikukan: Yoshiaki Yatsu & Isamu Teranishi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Takashi Ishikawa
1/25/86: Riki Choshu & Animal Hamiguchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Takashi Ishikawa
1/28/86 Tokyo Taiikukan: Great Kabuki vs. Tiger Mask II
1/28/86 International Tag Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu
2/5/86 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, International Tag Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu
1/28/86 Tokyo Taiikukan, IWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Mil Mascaras vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi
3/10/86 Miyagi-ken Sports Center, International Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Terry Gordy
3/13/86 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Harley Race & Jerry Blackwell vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & One Man Gang
Zen Nihon vs. Japan 6 vs. 6 All Out War
Sampson Fuyuki vs. Masanobu Kurisu
Takashi Ishikawa vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi
Mighty Inoue vs. Killer Khan
Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Animal Hamiguchi
Riki Choshu vs. Tiger Mask II
Genichiro Tenryu vs. & Yoshiaki Yatsu
3/29/86 Korakuen & AWA World & PWF & International Triple Title Match: Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
4/5/86 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan & AWA World & PWF Double Title Match: Stan Hansen vs. Riki Choshu
4/12/86 Kumamoto-shi Taiikukan & PWF World Tag Title Match: Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu
4/19/86: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu & Killer Khan vs. Shunji Takano & Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine
4/19/86, AWA World & International Double Title Match: Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
4/26/86 Omiya Skate Center, UN Champion Decision League Final: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ted DiBiase
4/26/86 AWA World & PWF Double Title Match: Stan Hansen vs. Riki Choshu
5/10/86: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu
5/17/86 PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Riki Choshu vs. Terry Gordy
5/30/86 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Road Warriors vs. Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi
5/31/86: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito
5/31/86: Road Warriors vs. Giant Baba & Motoshi Okuma
6/5/86 Osaka Jo Hall: Mil Mascaras vs. Hiro Saito
6/5/86: Jumbo Tsuruta, Genichiro Tenryu & Tiger Mask II vs. Riki Choshu, Yoshiaki Yatsu & Kuniaki Kobayashi
6/5/86: Road Warriors vs. Super Strong machine & Killer Khan
6/7/86 Takamatsu Shimin Bunka Center: Road Warriors vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu
6/11/86: Road Warriors vs. Rusher Kimura & Ashura Hara
6/12/86 Budokan World Junior Heavyweight Champion Japan Representative Decision League: Hiro Saito vs. Masanobu Fuchi
6/12/86 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
UN Heavyweight Title Match: Genichiro Tenyru vs. Super Strong Machine
Giant Baba vs. Rusher Kimura
International Tag Title Match: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. The Road Warriors
7/21/86 Fukushima Sports Center, International Tag Title Match: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Killer Kahn & Super Strong Machine
7/26/86 Ishikawa-ken Sangyo Tenjikan, AWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Stan Hansen vs. Genichiro Tenyru
7/26/86: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Killer Khan & Super Strong Machine
7/31/86 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan
World Junior Heavyweight Title Decision Match: Hiro Saito vs. Brad Armstrong
Tiger Mask vs. The Great Kabuki
UN Heavyweight Title Match: Genichiro Tenyru vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu
Riki Choshu vs. Killer Khan
AWA World & International Double Title Match: Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
Hiroshi Wajima feature. American tour, training Pat O'Connor, etc.
NWA 8/7/86 Kansas City, MO: Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Earthquake Ferris & J.R. Hawk
AWA 8/30/86 Las Vegas, NV: Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Ken Glover & Paul Gardner
9/3/86 Osaka Jo Hall
Tiger Mask & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Super Strong Machine & Shunji Takano
Terry Gordy & Killer Kahn vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Animal Hamaguchi
Genichiro Tenyru vs. Riki Choshu
International Heavyweight Title Match: Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
12/3/66 International Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Fritz Von Erich
1/5/79: Fritz Von Erich vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
6/10/81: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. David Von Erich & Kevin Von Erich
4/7/83 Missouri Heavyweight Title Match: Kerry Von Erich vs. Genichiro Tenryu
5/22/84 NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Kerry Von Erich vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
5/19/71 Osaka 13th World League Final: Giant Baba vs. Abdullah The Butcher
10/12/75 Osaka PWF US Title: The Destroyer vs. Abdullah The Butcher
12/15/77 Tokyo World Open Tag Title League: Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk vs. Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik
10/18/78 Tochigi 2/3 Falls PWF Heavyweight Title: Billy Robinson vs. Abdullah The Butcher
4/6/79 Akita 7th Champion Carnival Final: Abdullah The Butcher vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
11/8/79 Tokyo NWA World Heavyweight Title: Harley Race vs. Abdullah The Butcher
9/9/86 Nagoya Aichi-ken Gym, NWA International Heavyweight Title: Stan Hansen vs. Riki Choshu
9/11/86 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Stan Hansen vs. Terry Gordy
9/20/86 Kanagawa: Riki Choshu vs. Super Strong Machine
9/20/86 Mayaguez, PR: Hiroshi Wajima vs. Huracan Castillo Jr
10/4/86 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Krusher Kruschev & Nikita Koloff vs. Animal Hamiguchi & Riki Choshu
10/20/86 Aichi
Tiger Mask vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu
Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk vs. Road Warriors Animal & Hawk
12/19/69 Los Angeles 2/3 Falls NWA International Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. Fritz Von Erich
7/19/75 Chubu 2/3 Falls Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Fritz Von Erich
7/25/75 Tokyo NWA World Heavyweight Title #1 Contender Texas Death Match: Giant Baba vs. Fritz Von Erich
6/17/83 Dallas Texas Heavyweight Title: David Von Erich vs. Jimmy Garvin
6/17/83 Dallas NWA World Heavyweight Title: Harley Race vs. Kevin Von Erich
9/17/92 Tokyo Jun Akiyama Debut: Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama
1/29/94 Tokyo Asunaro Cup 1994 Final: Jun Akiyama vs. Takao Omori
5/23/96 Sapporo World Tag Title: Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jun Akiyama & Mitsuharu Misawa
7/24/98 Tokyo Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama
2/27/00 Tokyo: Jun Akiyama vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
10/21/86 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
NWA International Heavyweight Title: Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
PWF Heavyweight Title: Riki Choshu vs. Terry Funk
10/27/86 Niigata NWA International Tag Title: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta
11/1/86 Ishikawa
Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine & Rocky Hata vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Haru Sonoda & Jumbo Tsuruta
Hiroshi Wajima Debut: Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
11/8/86 Charlotte Coloseum
Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. The Grim Reaper & Art Pritts
Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Gary Royal & American Eagle
11/22/86 Tokyo Korakuen Hall '86 World's Strongest Tag League: Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk vs. Rick Martel & Tom Zenk
11/28/86 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
'86 World's Strongest Tag League: Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Giant Baba & Tiger Mask
'86 World's Strongest Tag League: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Stan Hansen & Ted Dibiase
12/3/86 Kobe Hyogo Kenritsu Bunka Gym: Riki Choshu vs. Rick Martel
12/6/86 Kagawa Takamatsu Shimin Bunka Center: Rick Martel & Tom Zenk vs. Samson Fuyuki & Tiger Mask
7/1/89 Tokyo Asunaro Cup League: Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada
5/21/93 Sapporo: Kenta Kobashi vs. Terry Gordy
7/24/96 Tokyo Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi
10/31/98 Tokyo Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
2/27/00 Tokyo Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Vader vs. Kenta Kobashi
2/27/92 Nagano: Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
10/25/95 Tokyo Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi
1/17/00 Osaka Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada
5/26/00 Niigata Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama
9/4/91 Tokyo World Tag Title: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue & Jumbo Tsuruta
8/22/92 Tokyo Triple Crown Title: Stan Hansen vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
3/5/94 Tokyo: Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Giant Baba & Stan Hansen
12/6/86 Kagawa Takamatsu Shimin Bunka Center
'86 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu
'86 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk
12/12/86 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Rick Martel & Tom Zenk
'86 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase
'86 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk
'86 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match Final: Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase
1/2/87 Korakuen: Hiroshi Wajima & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & A.Sheik (Jerry Stubbs)
1/24/87 Yokohama Bunka Gym
Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
International Tag Title Match: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenyru
1/31/87: The Great Kabuki & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Ashura Hara
2/3/87 Hokkaido: Genichiro Tenyru & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & A.Sheik
2/5/87 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
International Tag Title Match: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenyru
2/20/96 Iwate Ken-ei Gym Double Tag Title Matfch: Stan Hansen & Gary Albright vs. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada
4/20/96 Tokyo Nippon Budokan '96 Champion Carnival Final: Akira Taue vs. Steve Williams
5/24/96 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue
12/6/96 Tokyo Nippon Budokan World's Strongest Tag League Final: Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue
3/7/87 Akita Kenritsu Gym
Giant Baba & Great Wajima vs. Road Warriors
NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu
3/10/87 Koriyama-shi Sogo Taiikukan, NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
3/12/87 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Yoshiaki Yatsu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Terry Gordy & Art Crews
NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair vs. Hiroshi Wajima
International Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Road Warriors
3/28/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Pete Roberts
4/2/87 Osaka Furitsu Gym, International Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Tommy Rich
4/5/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, NWA Jr. Title: Masanobu Fuchi vs. Pete Roberts
4/23/87 Niigata City Gym
Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Nakano Nobuichi
PWF Heavyweight Title Decision Match: Hiroshi Wajima vs. Stan Hansen
4/24/87 Yokohama Bunka Gym, International Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu
7/24/76 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, 2/3 Falls PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Billy Robinson 21:17 [9:24, 6:08, 5:45]. Robinson's match against Inoki was a nice mat display, but didn't come close to giving the full picture of just how creative & how far ahead of his time Robinson was. It showed, though even to an extent actually not as well as this did in far less mat time, that he had MMA elements before MMA, but here we get the full gamut of his ability, taking junior style bumps despite being a pudgy heavyweight & using varied '90's AJ style selling & sequencing. Robinson may not have been completely unique among British stylists with his technical gymnastics, but the best World of Sport guys weren't leaving the UK in those days & incorporating elements of the styles they came across in their travels. Because Robinson had a tremendously well rounded base & kept adding to it along the way, he wound up being so far ahead of his time in so many areas that it literally seems someone combined an elite NJ junior of the 80's with an elite AJ heavy of the 90's with a good MMA fighter of the 90's, and then put him in their DeLorean and sent him back two decades. That being said, the story of the match might actually be Baba, as I've never seen him wrestle with this kind of effort & urgency. Though Robinson deserves all the credit in the Inoki match, this match will challenge your perceptions about Baba in the best possible way. It's not merely the best effort I've seen from him, but some of the best effort I've ever seen, going fast & hard & just bringing everything he can think of for 20 plus minutes of a match that's anything but heavyweight, much less big man style. This isn't merely Baba throwing bombs though, there's an evolution to almost all the sequences & transitions here that's not just heady, but again waaaaay aheady... It begins similar to the Inoki match, but ultimately, couldn't be more different. Robinson incorporates so many quasi MMA tactics early on in this contest, ages before MMA existed, and it's despressingly lame that even though they actually worked in legimitate situations, much less ones with active cooperation, almost everyone else still opted to instead continue to use the outwardly fake traditional solutions to the same problems Robinson showed them how to solve in a better manner. I mean, since worked shoot promotions are dead, the credibility of what Robinson was doing early in this 1976 match was actually still higher than what just about anyone is doing in 2017. This match isn't ground oriented though, it's, well, so much more. It might not be a great pro wrestling match in the traditional sense, but the fact that it's not traditional at all is one of the things that makes it one for the ages. This isn't merely Robinson being a savant, we've got an exceptionally laid out match that looks like a shoot then a go go sprint, but actually is a tremendously well built match that uses series of similar sequences that evolve over time, most notably Baba's whip spots & Billy's thwarted suplexes, to constantly yield different yet very important results. It's this reason more than any other that make this one of the forerunners of what we'd now associate as the 90's AJ Triple Crown style. Starting with the shoot style though, Robinson tried to negate Baba's size advantage by shooting single legs, but Baba kept defending & countered into an armlock, taking him down with a wakigatame. Robinson eventually managed to stand back up & hit a leg trip, but Baba got him in a body scissors, so Robinson used his own leg to break Baba's lock then kept ramming Baba's calf into the back of his head until he could clear the leg & pass into top control. Don't get me wrong, the match is very much still a pro wrestling match, in fact it's actually kind of spotfest for it's era thanks to Baba of all people, but Robinson has more credible entries & grappling techniques. Although Robinson's real fight aspects stand out as being different a lot more than the sequences coming back to a certain spot does, that's because we're used to the big 90's matches where this was the norm, so we can see how people were influenced by Robinson & how they weren't but should have been. The most fantastic transition has Robinson technically coming back countering Baba's whip into the corner by climbing the turnbuckles, leaping onto the second and just decking Baba with running elbow, but he actually takes over in stages, as he had to then sell himself & beat Baba to the punch twice before he actually had Baba more dazed than he was so he could truly run with the advantage. This is actually a rather active standing sprint, with Baba pushing the pace & keeping a high workrate as they try to credibly get through 3 falls in 21 minutes a week after Robinson had a 1-1 70:00 draw with Jumbo Tsuruta. Though Baba doesn't follow Robinson as well as Inoki did, Baba actually brings a lot of himself to the match, actively trying to stay off the mat (much to the at least storyline chagrin of Robinson) & use his distinct physical advantages & his favorite moves (for better and worse) to defeat Robinson in a series of brilliantly laid out sequences that tell new stories with each attempt to press their individual advantages & skill sets, whereas Inoki pretty much could have been anyone going along for the ride on the mat. Baba can be awkward & goofy, his northern chops surely seem hokey from a 21st century perspective & some of his offense is just sloppy, but he's really working hard here as if to prove he deserves this victory, and although this was the middle of the summer in a building that likely didn't have any real cooling mechanism, both men truly earn the sweat dripped look they quickly develop by keeping the action coming. You can really see how much Akira Taue patterned himself after Baba in this match, both offensively & in his general strategy of making up for his liabilities by going hard & supplying big, well incorporated offense. I loved how the threat of big offense, in this case Robinson's, led to the 2nd fall finish. Again, this was so ahead of it's time, as Robinson kept threatening to suplex Baba, and then countering Baba's desperation suplex blocks with what Baba's defense made available. In this case, Robinson would shift to the leg (and he'd been trying to chop the Giant down to size from the outset), and win the 2nd fall with a 1/2 crab after Baba blocked his butterfly suplex. I didn't like Baba's lack of selling of this leg even though I understood it was because he wanted to work a fast paced 3rd fall, which culminated with him decapitating a charging Robinson, who got lift off just before Baba hammered him, to make it one of the best neckbreaker drops I've ever seen. ****1/2
3/5/77 Akita Shiritsu Taiikukan, 2/3 Falls United National Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Billy Robinson 23:03 [11:03 (7:51 shown), 7:54, 4:06]. Having been disappointed majorly by their 1st 70:00 match from 7/7/76 & found the Robinson/Inoki 60:00 draw to be less entertaining than Robinson's best AJ matches, I feel that Robinson is most effective at this 20-30 minute length because his genius abilities to build series of counter & escalate the tension come to the forefront in an active match. Robinson is a great technical wrestler at any length, but in a fast paced anything you can do I can immediately counter sort of match he's just an off the charts worker. These two just had all the answers, and that was really the story of the match, told through the series of sequences that kept proving the point in different ways. Though Baba made up for it with his effort, this was the highest level Robinson has reached so far in a Japanese match because he finally had an opponent that was a great wrestler in his own right, who could thus equally follow him, match him, or push him by initiating himself, and a scenario where they could realistically tell a complete story while going all out in the process. They just go back & forth using their speed & precision to force one another to raise their level to answer yet again. There's little stories & plays off previous moves here and there, but for the most part the story is simply that nothing is going to last, there's always a counter, and they're going to hit it sooner rather than later, in a quick precise fashion that's just beautiful to watch. Jumbo has been wrestling a little less than 4 years at this point, but he's just amazing in this setting that allows, no forces, him to use his speed & technique to max levels. When Robinson was wrestling Inoki or Baba the skill difference both in real & fake styles was just so immense it's hard not to feel that it's ridiculous that he can't beat these guys easily much less at all, but Jumbo, for the most part, already looks as great, if not better than Robinson. This isn't just a technical match, though, one of Robinson's greatest attributes was his ability to get over his will to win. It's hard to describe how he can take some kind of random action & make it seem so important, but take the sequence starting with Jumbo knocking him over the top to the floor with an elbow. It's not really even a sequence, it's just that Robinson can get over that he doesn't like losing & is upping his game to ensure that won't happen, so after another big bump on a dropkick, he just comes at Jumbo harder, with more intensity & urgency, & he gets knocked down again but this time it's a double shoulderblock & Jumbo goes down too. This would normally be part of a 2 or 3 part transition where Robinson takes control, but it's not even that, in fact, Jumbo beats him to the next hold & almost submits him with a Boston crab. So in the end, Robinson hasn't changed the match in terms of control, what he's done is escalate the fans perception of the importance of control, made it feel urgent, and gotten over how seriously he takes it, and thus we should take it, the dire importance to him (and thus us) of being better than his opponent, even if, he may not be at the moment or even in the end. The 2nd fall drags some because although Robinson shows several nice escapes from the headlock, Jumbo just keeps going back to it & they take their rests until Billy hits a big backdrop out & they sprint to the finish then keep that pace going for the third. The first & third falls are both great, the first being the longer more hold/counter hold variety & the third being the energetic sprint to the finish. The finish where Robinson rolls through the rolling clutch hold & uses his weight on Jumbo to get the flash pin is fluky, but it's actually perfect for this match because they always have the answers & better whatever the opponent tries on them, so it was going to take someone just not being quick enough to respond to the latest surprise. There's flashier offense today, but this was an amazing workrate match for its time that still looks impressive because sequences of counters are a lot more difficult & thus impressive than a bunch of great moves that the opponent just stands/lays there & takes. ****1/2 9:32 7:52 4:06
12/6/77 Fukuoka Kyushu Memorial Gym, World's Strongest Tag League: Billy Robinson & Horst Hoffman vs. Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk
6/12/78 Ichinomiya Industrial Gym: PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Billy Robinson vs. Tor Kamata
4/23/87 Niigata-shi Gym: Great Kabuki & Tiger Mask vs. Ted Dibiase & Pete Robberts
5/1/87 Korakuen: Giant Baba & John Tenta vs. Rusher Kimura & Goro Tsurumi
5/9/87 Nagano Shimin Gym, United National Title: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu
5/30/87 Takamatsu Shimin Bunka Center: Genichiro Tenryu & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Texas Red
6/1/87 Ishikawa: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Tiger Mask
6/8/87 Fukuoka Kokusai Center
Hiroshi Wajima & Ishikawa vs. Ashura Hara & Genichiro Tenryu
Jumbo Tsuruta & John Tenta vs. Road Warriors
6/9/87 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
The Great Kabuki & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Jason The Terrible
Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shinichi Nakano
Giant Baba vs. Raja Lion
International Tag Title Match: The Road Warriors vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Hiroshi Wajima
6/11/87 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
Giant Baba vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara
Animal Warrior (Road Warrior Animal) vs. Hiroshi Wajima
7/3/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, PWF World Tag Title: Stan Hansen & Ted Dibiase vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask
7/11/87 Yonago, PWF World Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask vs. Stan Hansen & Ted Dibiase
7/17/87 Sagamihara, PWF World Tag Title: Stan Hansen & Ted Dibiase vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shinichi Nakano
7/19/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Tiger Mask Trial Series #6: Tiger Mask vs. Ted Dibiase
PWF Heavyweight Title: Stan Hansen vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu
7/22/87 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, International Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen
7/23/87 Ashikawa PWF World Tag Title: Stan Hansen & Ted Dibiase vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara
7/30/87 Tokyo
Asia Tag Title: Takashi Ishikawa & Mighty Inoue vs. Isamu Teranishi & Masanobu Kurisu
Giant Baba & Tiger Mask vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara
8/21/87 Miyagi-ken Sports Center: Jumbo Tsuruta & Great Kabuki & Samson Fuyuki vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara & Toshiaki Kawada
9/11/87 Hiroshima Kenritsu Gym, PWF Heavyweight & UN Title: Stan Hansen vs. Genichiro Tenryu
9/12/87 Okayama
International Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Nick Bockwinkle
PWF World Tag Title: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Stan Hansen & Joel Deaton
9/15/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, PWF Heavyweight Title: Stan Hansen vs. Hiroshi Wajima
10/16/87 Osaka Furitsu Gym, PWF World Tag Title: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Hiroshi Wajima
10/30/87 Chiba Koen Taiikukan, International Tag Title: Road Warriors vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu
10/31/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Road Warriors
9/15/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, World Jr. Title: Masa Fuchi vs. Toshiaki Kawada
10/31/87 Korakuen Hall, World Jr. Title: Masa Fuchi vs. Shinichi Nakano
11/21/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
'87 World's Strongest Tag League: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Mark & Chris Youngblood
'87 World's Strongest Tag League: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Tom Zek & The Terminator
'87 World's Strongest Tag League: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Abdullah The Butcher & TNT
11/22/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, '87 World's Strongest Tag League: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka
11/26/87 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center
'87 World's Strongest Tag League: Great Kabuki & John Tenta vs. Abdullah The Butcher & TNT
'87 World's Strongest Tag League: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka
'87 World's Strongest Tag League: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy
12/2/87 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
'87 World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy
'87 World's Strongest Tag League: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Abdullah The Butcher & TNT
12/4/87 Fukuoka Kokusai Center: Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Abdullah The Butcher & TNT
4/16/82 Fukuoka Champion Carnival: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
10/28/88 Yokohama: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
4/20/89 Osaka Triple Crown Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu
6/5/89 Tokyo Triple Crown Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu
10/11/89 Yokohama Triple Crown Title: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
4/19/90 Yokohama Triple Crown Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu
12/4/87 Fukuoka Kokusai Center, '87 World's Strongest Tag League: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara
12/10/87 Aizu-shi Gym, '87 World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka
12/11/87 Nippon Budokan
'87 World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Abdullah The Butcher & T.N.T
'87 World's Strongest Tag League: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy
'87 World's Strongest Tag League: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka
1/2/88 Tokyo
AWA World Title: Curt Hennig vs. Tiger Mask
Hiroshi Wajima vs. Abdullah The Butcher
Tokyo Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ashura Hara
Super Heavyweight Battle Royal
1/3/88 Korakuen Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta & Great Kabuki vs. Abdullah The Butcher & TNT
1/9/88 Ehime PWF World Tag Title: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Abdullah The Butcher & TNT
12/15/75 Miyagi Open Title League: Giant Baba vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
11/4/85 Osaka: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Riki Choshu
4/20/89 Osaka Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu
4/18/91 Tokyo Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
10/24/91 Yokohama Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Toshiaki Kawada
1/13/88 Kagoshima Kenritsu Gym, International Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Abdullah The Butcher
3/5/88 Akita Shiritsu Gym: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy
3/9/88 Yokohama Bunka Gym
Tiger Mask Trial Series Final: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Tiger Mask
PWF & UN Heavyweight Double Title: Stan Hansen vs. Genichiro Tenryu
3/11/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta & Great Kabuki & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Ashura Hara & Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada
Tom Magee vs. Isao Takagi 5:51
Great Kabuki & Tiger Mask vs. Austin Idol & Tommy Rich 11:03
Big Bubba vs. Shunji Takano 4:25
Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Goro Tsurumi & Rusher Kimura 13:24
Tokyo Abdullah The Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh vs. John Tenta & Yoshiaki Yatsu 9:46
PWF & NWA UN Double Title: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Stan Hansen 15:32
NWA Internatioanl Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Brusier Brody 17:07
4/4/88 Aichi International Heavyweight Title: Bruiser Brody vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu
4/15/88 Osaka PWF, UN International Heavyweight Triple Title: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Bruiser Brody
4/19/88 Miyagi International Heavyweight Title: Bruiser Brody vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
4/21/88 Tokyo Asia Tag Title: Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Ishikawa Keishi & Mighty Inoue
4/22/88 Kawasaki PWF World Tag Title: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Bruiser Brody & Tommy Rich
6/4/88 Sapporo PWF World Tag Title: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu
6/4/88 Sapporo: Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
6/10/88 Tokyo PWF & International Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Road Warriors
6/10/88 Tokyo United National Title: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Dan Spivey
7/16/88 Takamatsu World Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy
7/19/88 Tokyo Asia Tag Title: Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Shunji Takano & Shinichi Nakano
7/27/88 Nagano PWF & UN Title: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Stan Hansen
7/29/88 Takasaki World Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy
8/20/88 Tokyo Jumbo Tsuruta & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Jimmy Snuka
Bruiser Brody Tribute
Hiroshi Wajima & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Tom Zenk & Jerry Oates 15:36
Jimmy Snuka & Johnny Ace vs. Shunji Takano & Tiger Mask 10:10
Giant Baba vs. Rusher Kimura 11:20
Abdullah The Butcher vs. Stan Hansen 10:39
World Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Ashura Hara & Genichiro Tenryu 29:51
8/30/88 Osaka, World Tag Title: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu
9/9/88 Chiba, International Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Abdullah The Butcher
9/15/88 Tokyo, Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara
9/15/88 Tokyo, Asia Tag Title: Shinichi Nakano & Shunji Takano vs. Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada
Satoru Asako vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Maunakea Mossman vs. Daisuke Ikeda
Jumbo Tsuruta & Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota vs. Masa Fuchi & Haruka Eigen & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
Tamon Honda & Shigeo Okumura vs. The Headhunters
Wolf Hawkfield & Johnny Smith vs. Jado & Gedo
Akira Taue & Takao Omori & Masao Inoue vs. The Gladiator & Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Hideki Hosaka
Yoshihiro Takayama & Masahito Kakihara vs. Steve Williams & Gary Albright
Giant Baba & Hayabusa & Kentaro Shiga vs. Giant Kimala & Jinsei Shinzaki & Jun Izumida
Jun Akiyama vs. Hiroshi Hase
Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace vs. Stan Hansen & Vader
Triple Crown: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada. Kawada wins TC. ****1/2
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Gran Naniwa & Makoto Hashi
Satoru Asako & Takeshi Morishima vs. Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota & Masao Inoue vs. Giant Kimala & Haruka Eigen & Jun Izumida
Johnny Smith & Masanobu Fuchi & Tamon Honda vs. Gedo & Koji Nakagawa & Yukihiro Kanemura
Yoshinari Ogawa & Maunakea Mossman & Masahito Kakihara vs. Hayabusa & The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask 30:00
Giant Baba Intai: Giant Baba & The Destroyer vs. Bruno Sammartino & Gene Kiniski. Not a match. Clips of Baba wrestling these guys are played on the video wall and they have a retirement ceremony
Akira Taue & Stan Hansen & Steve Williams vs. Gary Albright & Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama
Toshiaki Kawada vs. Hiroshi Hase 20:55. Kawada was returning from breaking his arm winning the Triple Crown against Misawa on 1/22/99, wrestling in a soft cast he constantly fooled with, & Hase hadn't wrestled in almost as long due to political commitments, so this wasn't the ideal time for the 1st meeting between two of the all-time great heavyweights. Nonetheless, while they didn't tear the house down like they could have under more ideal circumstances (in a main event title match, with Hase having actually beaten at least 1 wrestler of note in AJ), this was a smart, simple but effective match that's certainly fun for Kawada fans. They started with a typical Kawada fierce striking exchange, full on intensity from the opening bell, but after a few strikes Kawada "couldn't" fire back because of the right arm. Though this was a great story point from a master storyteller, it's also true that Kawada did rush back for the Tokyo Dome, and only managed to wrestle 11 more matches in 1999, though a subsequent eye injury also played a big part in that. They quickly established that Hase was able to play more or less even in standup because, although Kawada is the much better striker, his striking game was somewhat compromised, but Hase had a huge advantage on the ground because he's the master technician. I loved how Hase shifted his more puro style technical game into something more shoot oriented for Kawada, but despite it being somewhat understandable given AJ never lets anyone win with a submission, it was epically frustrating that the crowd was dead while Hase was working the bad arm with the V1 armlock & Kimura, as that should have at least gotten some sort of heel heat or reaction to him being "opportunistic". The crowd really sucked for this match in general, reacting to things that could have been excluded such as Hase kicking out at 1, but not the actual story of the match, and I think that's the main reason it's been underrated. This was a serious match, and they did the match you'd expect given Kawada's return. It should have went over much better, but Kawada wasn't getting underdog or gutsy face reactions & Hase wasn't getting any reaction to his tactics. The crowd just reacted to the known, the giant swing, the powerbomb, the signature spots, and I suppose that's understandable given Tokyo Dome shows are mostly casual/passing/sort of fans, but that's not what this match was about at all, it was about the unknown, which is whether Kawada's arm would hold up, and if he was healthy enough to beat Hase despite being compromised. You aren't supposed to win your return match, so this was the perfect time for AJ to pull the trigger on giving Hase a big win to set up actually being able to do something meaningful for him, or hell even just having Kawada get the win back once or twice when he was actually recovered so they'd have a chance at a proper series, but instead they had Hase dominate until he semi knocked himself out when Kawada half countered his uranage, leading to Kawada quickly finishing him off. ***1/2
Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama & Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Johnny Ace & Animal Warrior & Hawk Warrior 17:37
Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Vader vs. Mitsuharu Misawa 18:07. A nice spectacle that played well for a simplistic crowd, but the match would have been a lot more dramatic if the storytelling wasn't so uninspiring. Vader dragged Misawa into a striking brawl, and that's a very bad place for Misawa to be, as Vader simply has too much size to be exchanging with. Though Vader throws in a number of impressive high impact moves highlighted by the powerbomb on the floor, his strikes generally are not that stiff compared to even what he'd do in big matches earlier in the decade against Sting or Cactus Jack, much less Antonio Inoki or Nobuhiko Takada. After getting methodically destroyed like a Saturday morning jobber for the 1st half of the match, Misawa finally ducked a lariat & made a hot comeback with his elbows. Vader hit a Big Van splash off the apron earlier, so Misawa throws in a slingshot body press to the floor to match him. Though Misawa's sequence is much more dynamic than Vader's, and the crowd really starts rocking when he's able to German suplex the big man, the biggest downside of the match is there's very little interplay. Vader has a huge run to start, Misawa has a nice sprint of offense, then Vader comes back with a huge released German & a series of big power moves that could be the finish. By the time Misawa gets his second bit of offense in after Vader misses his moonsault then gets cut off on the top, we're already down to the last couple minutes of the match. I get that Misawa winning with elbows is a more logical place to be given that someone would probably get injured if Misawa was trying to hoist Vader up & drop him on his head, but they never figured out how to transition from the logical Vader outstriking Misawa to Misawa knocking Vader out with the trusty elbow. Misawa was consistently using elbows during his very inconsistent runs of offense, but the first comeback was using the elbows to set up him beating Vader with speed & athleticism, which was the winning strategy. I would have liked to have seen more of that even if he was going to ultimately win with the elbow in a KO after just being too athletic & conditioned for the big guy , rather than basically just getting mauled all night then what didn't work before suddenly works because I don't really know other than it's the Baba "Retirement", so obviously the native top star has to take the title from the foreign monster. In any case, this started Misawa's 5th, what no one expected at the time, final TC run. ***1/2
Masao Inoue & Satoru Asako & Sean Morley vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa 12:02
Mitsuo Momota & Rusher Kimura vs. Haruka Eigen & Jun Izumida 9:19
Jun Akiyama & Kentaro Shiga vs. Takao Omori & Yoshinobu Kanemaru 11:34
Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta & Stan Hansen vs. Giant Kimala & Masanobu Fuchi & Tamon Honda 12:57. Notable because it's a special match for the 25th Anniversary show with the legends Hansen & Baba & Tsuruta teaming up. Not as bad as the regular comedy match, but still the typical slow-motion boredom. -*1/2
Gary Albright & Lacrosse & Steve Williams vs. Bobby Duncum Jr. & Johnny Smith & Rex King 13:31
Akira Taue vs. Johnny Ace 16:54. Big performance by Taue carrying Ace to one of his best singles matches. It wasn't going to be graceful and there wasn't even much of a story, it was just highly motivated heavyweights throwing bombs, but for the Taue Budokan action match you felt it seriously overachieved and was probably as good as one could possibly ask him to do with Ace. They fought hard from the outset, keeping a high pace for their size, and relying on cycling through the big moves to see them through. Taue hit a DDT on the floor early, and generally had Ace on the defensive throughout the body of the match, but Ace always at least managed to avoid taking the big nodowa otoshi. Ace finally came back turning the nodowa into a DDT, but they smartly made this a double knockdown spot as Ace still took impact as well. Taue did his best to avoid the Ace crusher, but eventually had to settle for escaping to the floor to buy himself enough time to avoid being pinned. Ace had his big run and the key spot saw Ace turn the nodowa otoshi into the Ace crusher, but Taue managed to survive. They kind of went home quickly after this with Taue ducking a rolling lariat and finally hitting a clean nodowa, following it with a second one when Ace's strikes couldn't hold him off, and avenging his 10/11/97 tag loss with a dynamic bomb pin. Overall, it was the right length though, and certainly it being on the shorter side allowed it to be much more exciting. ***3/4
Toshiaki Kawada vs. Yoshihiro Takayama 18:22. Kawada did his best to relive the glory of his match two years earlier with new shooter Gary Albright, who was in fellow UWF-I alumni Takayama's corner. Although Takayama isn't as over or as effective as Gary, the match showed some serious progress in believability, and was probably the most realistic match All Japan had ever presented. Kawada did his best to stay within the shoot realm and make sure Takayama was always in his comfort zone. It was a very thoughtful performance where Kawada was getting trounced because he quite simply lacked answers. Takayama would control the center of the ring and use his long legs to rock Kawada with a kick. Either Kawada was knocked to the floor and forced to lick his wounds, fell to the canvas allowing Takayama to try to finish with an armbar, or stayed up and Takayama got inside and nailed him with knee lifts or shotei's before Kawada could do anything. Kawada kept looking for a takedown, but just couldn't find any opportunity to get inside Takayama's kicks. The match was really in how Kawada played it. It had such a different feel because he couldn't just be bold and blindly rush in. He wasn't scared, but he was forced to be tentative, to try to stay outside and find his opening, but it just wasn't coming, and he was as perplexed as patient. The match was a bit repetitive, but shoots can be that way, especially when the story is that one man has a clear advantage the other can't simply avoid. Kawada finally caught Takayama's kick, but Takayama easily avoided his pro style lariat. Next time Kawada tripped Takayama up, but Takayama was up before Kawada could get on top of him. The match was super effective and believable up to this point. It wasn't as credible during Kawada's flurry of offense to win the match, though they didn't do anything out of UWF-I bounds, it's just that the real problem was they had to find a way to have Kawada beat a guy they did a perfect job of showing he should lose to. Not that Takayama deserves to beat Kawada, this was a one man show if there ever was one, but Kawada is the one guy in All Japan who can do Takayama's style well enough to show Takayama as an imposing figure that belongs near the top of the card. Takayama is only okay, but Kawada's super smart performance combined with the uniqueness of the match in All Japan rings make it memorable. ***3/4
Triple Crown Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi 32:55. This was named Match Of The Year by Tokyo Sports and by AJ. Tremendous match that was between the 2nd-4th best match of 1997, though clearly not as amazing as their January match! That said, the match showcased the greatness and diversity of these two, as it had everything, all the elements that make the top AJ matches great combined with the best high spots you'll see in a heavyweight match. Kobashi used everything he could think of, including a dangerous released ½ nelson German suplex on the floor to debilitate Misawa's neck. Not as good as their 1/20 epic, but still a MUST SEE ***** match that's way better than any of their subsequent meetings. *****
1/14/86 Kagoshima: Jumbo Tsuruta & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Riki Choshu & Isamu Teranishi
1/14/86 Kagoshima: Jumbo Tsuruta & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Isamu Teranishi
1/25/86 Takasaki: Riki Choshu & Animal Hamiguchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Riki Choshu
1/28/86 Tokyo: The Great Kabuki vs. Tiger Mask
1/28/86 Tokyo: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu
2/5/86 Sapporo NWA International Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu
disc 2
1/2/87 Kobe: Hiroshi Wajima & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Sheik Jerry Stubbs
1/24/87 Yokohama: Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
1/24/87 Yokohama: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu
1/31/87 Aomori: Tiger Jeet Singh & Ashura Hara vs. Hiroshi Wajima & Great Kabuki
12/3/87 Hokkaido: Genichiro Tenryu & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Sheik Jerry Stubbs
12/5/87 Sapporo: Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Tornado
Haruka Eigen & Kimala II & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Giant Baba & Mitsuo Momota & Rusher Kimura 11:35
Jun Akiyama & Tamon Honda vs. Akira Taue & Masao Inoue
Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Hayabusa & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Gary Albright & Stan Hansen & Takao Omori vs. Johnny Ace & Johnny Smith & Steve Williams
Champion Carnival 1997 Final #1 Match: Kenta Kobashi [1] vs. Mitsuharu Misawa [1] 30:00
Champion Carnival 1997 Final #2 Match: Toshiaki Kawada [2] vs. Mitsuharu Misawa [1] 6:09
Champion Carnival 1997 Final #3 Match: Toshiaki Kawada [4] vs. Kenta Kobashi [1] 21:27
3/1/97
Tokyo Jun Akiyama & Kentaro Shiga vs. Kenta Kobashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru 17:06
World Tag Title: Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Gary Albright & Yoshihiro Takayama 14:12
Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Steve Williams 27:52
7/25/97
Hiroshi Hase & Jun Akiyama vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & Johnny Smith 18:39
Tamon Honda & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Lacrosse & Yoshihiro Takayama 14:52
World Tag Title: Johnny Ace & Kenta Kobashi vs. Gary Albright & Steve Williams 29:36
Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue 20:25
Naomichi Marufuji & Satoru Asako vs. Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru 12:20
World Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Masahito Kakihara 16:22
Hiroshi Hase & Jun Akiyama vs. Gary Albright & Wolf Hawkfield 16:37
Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & Mitsuharu Misawa 20:40
Vader vs. Kenta Kobashi 16:59
Masao Inoue & Mitsuo Momota vs. Satoru Asako & Takao Omori 9:25
Johnny Ace & Johnny Smith vs. Nigel Towers & Pete Roberts 12:49
Haruka Eigen & Masanobu Fuchi & Motoshi Okuma vs. Mighty Inoue & Rusher Kimura & Ryuma Izumida 12:28
Abdullah The Butcher & Kimala II vs. Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas 8:33
Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Jun Akiyama & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 18:12
Danny Spivey & Steve Williams vs. Kenta Kobashi & The Patriot 11:31
Andre The Giant & Jumbo Tsuruta & Terry Gordy vs. Dory Funk Jr. & Giant Baba & Stan Hansen 14:32
Triple Crown Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada 29:52
Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Makoto Hashi vs. Naomichi Marufuji & Satoru Asako & Takeshi Morishima 12:25
Haruka Eigen & Jun Izumida & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Masao Inoue & Mitsuo Momota & Rusher Kimura 12:02
Masahito Kakihara & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 8:35
George Hines & Johnny Ace & Mike Barton vs. Gary Albright & Maunakea Mossman & Scorpio 7:43
Akira Taue vs. Hiroshi Hase 15:11
Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Yoshihiro Takayama 18:11
Kenta Kobashi vs. The Gladiator 19:09
Vader vs. Mitsuharu Misawa 7:21
Jun Akiyama vs. Takao Omori 24:29
Naomichi Marufuji & Satoru Asako vs. Makoto Hashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru 15:54
Headhunter A & Headhunter B vs. Kentaro Shiga & Masao Inoue 8:00
Giant Baba & Mitsuo Momota & Rusher Kimura vs. Haruka Eigen & Masanobu Fuchi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 16:03
Gary Albright & Giant Kimala vs. Jun Izumida & Tamon Honda 12:29
Bart Gunn & Johnny Ace vs. Maunakea Mossman & Takao Omori 12:44
Masahito Kakihara & Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada & Yoshihiro Takayama 17:11
'98 World's Strongest Tag League Final: Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama & vs. Stan Hansen & Vader 19:03
12/3/66 Tokyo Nippon Budokan NWA International Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. Fritz Von Erich
3/2/67 Osaka Furitsu Gym NWA International Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. Bruno Sammartino
3/7/67 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan: Kintaro Oki & Michiaki Yoshimura vs. Buddy Austin & Hans Schmidt
3/7/67 Tokyo NWA International Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. Bruno Sammartino
12/6/67 Tokyo Gym NWA International Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. Crusher Lisowski
1/3/68 Kuramae Kuramae Kokugikan NWA International Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. Crusher Lisowski
2/28/68 Tokyo Gym NWA International Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. Dick The Bruiser
6/26/68 Kuramae Kokugikan NWA International Heavyweight Title: Bobo Brazil vs. Giant Baba
3/5/69 Tokyo Gym NWA International Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. The Destroyer
4/5/69 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan: Giant Baba vs. Gorilla Monsoon
5/16/69 Tokyo Gym: Giant Baba vs. Bobo Brazil
12/19/69 Los Angeles NWA International Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. Fritz Von Erich
3/3/70 Aichi-ken Gym NWA International Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. Fritz Von Erich
12/3/70 Osaka Furitsu Gym NWA International Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. Gene Kiniski
12/18/70 Los Angeles NWA International Title: Gene Kiniski vs. Giant Baba
12/6/53 Honolulu, NWA Heavyweight Title: Lou Thesz vs. Rikidozan Highlights
2/19/54 Tokyo NWA Tag Title 2/3 Falls Ben & Mike Sharpe vs. Masahiko Kimura & Rikidozan
Rikidozan vs. Masahiko Kimura Highlights
Rikidozan vs. Lou Thesz Highlights
Rikidozan vs. Mr. Atomic Highlights
Rikidozan vs. Jess Ortega Highlights
Rikidozan vs. Great Antonio. Highlights
3/28/62 Los Angeles, CA WWA Title 2/3 Falls Fred Blassie vs. Rikidozan
Rikidozan vs. Fred Blassie Highlights
Rikidozan vs. Fred Blassie Highlights
Rikidozan vs. The Destroyer
10/2/58 Tokyo Rikidozan vs Don Leo Jonathan
6/15/59: Rikidozan vs. Jess Ortega
Rikidozan Highlights from 1960
5/1/61 Tokyo: Giant Baba vs. Mr. X
5/1/61 Tokyo: Dao Yoshimura vs. Karl Krauser (Karl Gotch)
5/12/61 Fukuoka: Great Antonio vs. Kaoru Sato & Toshi Toigo
3/28/62 Los Angeles, WWA Title 2/3 Falls: Fred Blassie vs. Rikidozan
4/23/62 Tokyo, WWA Title 2/3 Falls: Rikidozan vs.Fred Blassie
7/25/62 Los Angeles, WWA Title: Rikidozan vs. Fred Blassie
5/12/61 Fukuoka Rikidozan vs. Mr. X
12/2/63 Tokyo 2/3 Falls: Toyonobori & Great Togo vs. Ilio DiPaolo & Budy Austin
12/2/63 Tokyo, NWA International Title: Rikidozan vs. The Destroyer
5/12/64 Tokyo: Calypso Hurricane & Chief Whitewolf vs. Giant Baba & Michiaki Yoshimura
5/12/64 Tokyo, World League Final: Toyonobori vs. Gene Kiniski
4/6/68 Tokyo: Giant Baba vs. Killer Kowalski
12/1/64 Osaka: The Destroyer & Bill Dromo & Kurt Von Stroheim vs. Toyonobori & Giant Baba & Michiaki Yoshimura
2/26/65 Tokyo NAWA/WWA World Title 2/3 Falls: The Destroyer vs. Toyonobori
12/3/66 Tokyo 2/3 Falls NWA International Title: Giant Baba vs. Fritz Von Erich
2/28/68 Tokyo 2/3 Falls NWA International Title: Giant Bab vs. Dick The Bruiser
6/27/68 Tokyo 2/3 Falls NWA International Title: Giant Baba vs. Bobo Brazil
8/7/68 Osaka 2/3 Falls NWA International Title: Giant Baba vs. Bruno Sammartino
Tokyo: Giant Baba vs. The Sheik
9/29/72 Pittsburgh, PA: Giant Baba vs. Frank Holtz
12/19/72 Niigata City Gym 2/3 Falls: Giant Baba vs. The Destroyer
12/2/74 Kagoshima 2/3 Falls NWA Title: Jack Brisco vs. Giant Baba
12/5/74 Tokyo 2/3 Falls NWA & PWF Title: Giant Baba vs. Jack Brisco
10/31/79 Nagoya NWA Title: Harley Race vs. Giant Baba
9/4/80 Saga NWA Title: Harley Race vs. Giant Baba
10/30/75 Tokyo: Giant Baba vs. Kintaro Oki
7/24/76 Tokyo 2/3 Falls PWF Title: Giant Baba vs. Billy Robinson
2/10/79 Chicago, IL 2/3 Falls PWF Title: Abdullah The Butcher vs. Giant Baba
2/4/82 Tokyo PWF Title:Giant Baba vs. Stan Hansen
3/3/83 Tokyo: Giant Baba vs. Umanosuke Ueda
7/31/84 Tokyo PWF Title: Stan Hansen vs. Giant Baba
5/1/76 Tokyo Champion Carnival: Giant Baba vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
2/18/78 Tokyo: Giant Baba vs. Rusher Kimura
6/12/86 Tokyo: Giant Baba vs. Rusher Kimura
8/29/88 Tokyo: Giant Baba vs. Rusher Kimura
11/29/89 Sapporo World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen
6/1/93 Tokyo: Giant Baba & Mighty Inoue & Rusher Kimura vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Haruka Eigen & Masanobu Fuchi. Digest
11/21/90 Osaka World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Andre The Giant vs. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy
3/5/94 Tokyo: Giant Baba & Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa
12/10/94 Tokyo World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Stan Hansen vs. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada
1/23/98 Tokyo: Giant Baba & Maunakea Mossman & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi & Masanobu Fuchi & Toshiaki Kawada
10/28/66 Sendai 2/3 Falls NWA International Title: Giant Baba vs. Gorilla Monsoon
8/14/67 Osaka 2/3 Falls NEPW International Title: Giant Baba vs. Gene Kiniski
12/6/67 Tokyo: Kintaro Oki vs. Nicko Kozak
12/6/67 Tokyo 2/3 Falls: Antonio Inoki & Michiaki Yoshimura vs. Victor Rivera & Baron Scicluna
6/25/68 Nagoya 2/3 Falls NWA International Title: Giant Baba vs. Bobo Brazil
3/5/69 Tokyo: Antonio Inoki & Kintaro Oki vs. Paul Jones & Nelson Royal
2/26/69 Osaka NWA Internatial Tag Title: Giant Baba & Antonio Inoki vs. The Destroyer & Bull Ramos
4/5/69 Tokyo
Kintaro Oki vs. Tom Andrews
Seji Sakaguchi & Michiaki Yoshimura vs. El Medico #2 & El Medico #3
Gorilla Monsoon vs. Giant Baba
Antonio Inoki vs. Bobo Brazil
4/16/69 Osaka
Seiji Sakaguchi vs. El Medico #2
Antonio Inoki vs. Gorilla Monsoon
Giant Baba & Kintaro Oki vs. Bobo Brazil & Chris Markoff
5/16/69 Tokyo: Giant Baba vs. Bobo Brazil
5/16/69 Tokyo: Antonio Inoki vs. Chris Markoff
2/11/69 Akita 2/3 Falls NWA International Tag Title: Giant Baba & Antonio Inoki vs. Danny Hodge & Wilbur Snyder
2/11/69 Tampa NWA Title: Gene Kiniski vs. Dory Funk Jr
12/2/69 Osaka 2/3 Falls NWA Title: Dory Funk Jr vs. Antonio Inoki
12/3/69 Tokyo 2/3 Falls NWA Title: Dory Funk Jr vs. Giant Baba
3/3/70 Nagoya Kintaro Oki & Antonio Inoki & Mitsu Hirai vs. Prince Iaukea & Jim Osbourne & Phil Robley
8/13/69 Osaka NWA International Tag Title: Dick The Bruiser & Crusher Lisowski vs. Giant Baba & Antonio Inoki
3/3/70 Nagoya 2/3 Falls NWA International Title: Giant Baba vs. Fritz Von Erich
4/4/70 Tokyo The Covict vs. Motoshi Okuma
8/14/70: Antonio Inoki & Giant Baba vs. Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk
12/1/70: Giant Baba & Antonio Inoki vs. Gene Kiniski & Johnny Valentine
3/2/71 Tokyo 2/3 Falls NWA International Tag Title: Giant Baba & Antonio Inoki vs. Mil Mascaras & Spiros Arion
5/19/71 Osaka
Antonio Inoki vs. The Destroyer
Giant Baba vs. Abdullah The Butcher
9/4/71 Tokyo NWA International Title: Giant Baba vs. Fritz Von Erich
Maunakea Mossman & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Kentaro Shiga & Satoru Asako 9:03
Giant Kimala & Jun Izumida vs. Masao Inoue & Tamon Honda 10:32
Giant Baba & Mitsuo Momota & Rusher Kimura vs. Haruka Eigen & Masanobu Fuchi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 13:16
Takao Omori vs. Skull von Crush 8:42
Johnny Ace & Kenta Kobashi vs. Johnny Smith & Wolf Hawkfield 17:40
Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Gary Albright & Ricky Santana & Steve Williams 10:42
Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama 23:09
13 Man Battle Royal: Dan Kroffat vs. Darkness Dragon vs. Genki Horiguchi vs. Gran Naniwa vs. Nobukazu Hirai vs. Ryuji Hijikata vs. SHINOBI vs. Stalker Ichikawa vs. Suizenji vs. Susumu Mochizuki vs. TARU vs. Yasushi Kanda vs. Yuto Aijima 26:14
Kim Duk & Shigeo Okumura vs. Nobutaka Araya & Yoshiaki Fujiwara 14:33
El Hijo del Santo & Mil Mascaras vs. Arkangel de la Muerte & Blue Panther 13:40
Masahito Kakihara & Mitsuya Nagai vs. Alexander Otsuka & Mohammed Yone 11:39
George Hines & Jim Steele & Johnny Smith vs. Barry Windham & Curt Hennig & Mike Rotundo 15:22
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Masanobu Fuchi 18:04. There weren't many good things about the AJ split, but Fuchi's resurgence was at least one highlight. Though a 47-year-old junior heavyweight isn't exactly what a promotion is looking for in their #2 native, hence him ceding the position to Tenryu when they got a 3rd native, Fuchi is the sort of crafty old sadistic buzzard who could still be viable in his later years, and he'd managed a classic with Kawada against Takashi Iizuka & Yuji Nagata on NJ's PPV the previous month. Liger was an ideal opponent for him in the junior division because he was also a lot more about craft than flash at this point, and these two just ground away at each other's appendages for the majority of the match. Fuchi worked over Liger's knee, but this wasn't so much a focused contest as a match about Fuchi being a big dick, pulling shenanigans such as crotching him on the top rope, headscissoring him in the top rope, & hanging him across the middle rope & standing on him. Black Liger eventually lost his cool, refusing to release his armbar when Fuchi made the ropes & then just putting the boots to him. The match really took off & changed entirely once Liger snapped, going from something that could have taken place in the 1950s to a spirited exchange of high spots. I'm not sure this was the ideal format, but these managed to get & keep the fans reacting, which was rare today. Fuchi's tactics also allowed Liger to play the underdog role, and the fans got really excited when he reversed Fuchi's suplex on the floor & hit a plancha. Liger collapsed when Fuchi tried to follow his backdrop with a front kick, and Fuchi milked this for all it was worth, with a helpless Liger seeming destined to be pinned by one of Fuchi's many backdrops. Liger kept kicking out even though he was too wobbly to stay on his feet, and eventually countered Fuchi's whip with a leg trip & flash pinned him in la magistral. ***1/2
Atsushi Onita & Terry Funk vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Giant Kimala 8:26
Stan Hansen retirement ceremony
Steve Williams vs. Mike Barton 14:47
Keiji Muto vs. Taiyo Kea 18:43
Toshiaki Kawada & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Hiroshi Hase 23:48. As the culmination of a sad show that only existed to honor two legends, they needed to come out like gangbusters to make us forget that Baba was gone, Hansen was done, and AJ was on life support with few stars & nothing major going on, or at least honor those legends with a match worthy of their heyday when All Japan was the best promotion in the world as Kawada would later do turning back the clock for the excellent Misawa Memorial match on NOAH 10/3/09. Instead, they did a match that felt more like a Korakuen main than a Dome main, and even then, it was more of a NJ match than an AJ one, one of those well executed hard hitting contents that was totally solid but lacked anything to pull the crowd in & really getting them engaged. The pairings were odd as you had former partners Kawada & Tenryu and Sasaki & Hase opposing each other, but there was no particular reason for their current aliances other than AJ needed two names beyond their current top two stars - Kawada & Tenryu - to have something that resembled a main event. Sasaki had just defeated Kawada 3 weeks earlier in the final of the IWGP Heavyweight Title Tournament, which was one of the best 10 minute matches you'll ever see. This was also a violent match, but nowhere near that next level of violence, with Hase being something of the odd man out because he's a technical wrestler rather than a striker, but carrying the majority of the load because he's 11 years younger than Tenryu and that's what Hase has always done. Sasaki was finally coming into his own in this time period, and was the one most responsible for upping the stiffness & intensity, just mauling poor Hase. Tenryu was mainly paired with Kawada, and while that was good, it didn't exactly approach their great match from 10/28/00. Hase really needed to find a way into the match or Tenryu needed to answer Sasaki's roid rage & bullying to get the crowd involved & take the match to another level. Sasaki instead put a beating in Tenryu after breaking up his attempt to pin Kawada following the Northern Lights bomb. Tenryu did somewhat avenge when Sasaki was legal, softening him up with the guu punch so Hase could finally gain an advantage on Sasaki and do his giant swing, but Sasaki destroyed Hase's midsection with knees twice fending off the uranage & came right back. As much as I enjoyed Sasaki beating the shit out of Hase, he was just so dominant here it was taking away from the match as much as it was adding. Compounding the problem was Tenryu never got that big energized run you were expecting, so it almost felt like an elongated squash given you knew Hase was eating the pin sooner or later, and they didn't do much to make you forget that. Overall, it was a fine match in a vacuum, but it really needed a story & some more dynamics to live up to the billing. ***
Daisuke Ikeda & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru 13:32
Haruka Eigen & Masanobu Fuchi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Mitsuo Momota & Rusher Kimura & Shigeo Okumura 12:06
Takeshi Morishima & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Scorpio & Wolf Hawkfield 12:43
Tamon Honda vs. Masao Inoue 11:04
Johnny Ace & Mike Barton vs. Jun Akiyama & Maunakea Mossman 12:30
Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Yoshinari Ogawa 13:21
Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Johnny Smith & Steve Williams 16:01
Champion Carnival 2000 Final Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Takao Omori 25:12
George Hines & Wolf Hawkfield vs. Giant Kimala & Maunakea Mossman 12:09
Mitsuo Momota & Rusher Kimura & Tamon Honda vs. Haruka Eigen & Masanobu Fuchi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 11:30
Masahito Kakihara & Yoshinari Ogawa & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Jinsei Shinzaki 13:19
Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada 16:06
Jun Akiyama vs. Johnny Ace 3:20
Vader vs. Bart Gunn 6:37
Triple Crown Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi 43:40
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Makoto Hashi 5:32
Masao Inoue vs. Takeshi Morishima 7:37
Haruka Eigen & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Mitsuo Momota & Rusher Kimura 10:26
Jun Izumida & Takao Omori & Tamon Honda vs. Johnny Ace & Johnny Smith & Maunakea Mossman 17:20
Giant Baba & Jinsei Shinzaki & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Gedo & Jado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru 16:16
Satoru Asako & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Jun Akiyama & Kentaro Shiga 14:07
Gary Albright & Giant Kimala vs. Stan Hansen & Wolf Hawkfield 9:32
Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Masahito Kakihara & Yoshihiro Takayama 15:05
Triple Crown Title Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa 43:29. Great match!
Masao Inoue & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Naomichi Marufuji & Satoru Asako 18:28
Tamon Honda vs. Takeshi Morishima 11:15
Giant Baba & Mitsuo Momota & Rusher Kimura vs. Haruka Eigen & Masanobu Fuchi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 19:28
Masahito Kakihara & Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Gary Albright & Giant Kimala & Jun Izumida 17:16
Bart Gunn & Johnny Ace & Maunakea Mossman vs. Jun Akiyama & Kenta Kobashi & Kentaro Shiga 17:04
Real World Tag League 1998 Match: Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada [2] vs. Headhunter A & Headhunter B [0] 8:38
Real World Tag League 1998 Match: Stan Hansen & Vader [2] vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa [0] 7:10
Masahito Kakihara & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru 12:39
Tamon Honda vs. Jun Izumida 7:16
Haruka Eigen & Masanobu Fuchi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Makoto Hashi & Mitsuo Momota & Rusher Kimura 13:32
Gary Albright vs. Masao Inoue 8:35
Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama & Takeshi Morishima vs. Johnny Ace & Mike Barton & Wolf Hawkfield 13:36
Johnny Smith & Maunakea Mossman & Vader vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Satoru Asako 20:35
World's Strongest Tag League 1999 Final Match: Jun Akiyama & Kenta Kobashi vs. Akira Taue & Stan Hansen 20:15
Giant Baba & Kurt Beyer & The Destroyer vs. Haruka Eigen & Masanobu Fuchi & Masao Inoue 13:08
Jun Akiyama & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Dynamite Kid & Johnny Smith 11:23
Akira Taue vs. Big Bubba 8:39
Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi 22:35
Triple Crown Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada 25:53
10/17/88 Hiroshima Triple Crown International PWF UN Heavyweight Unification Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen
10/26/88 Tokyo: Dan Kroffat & Stan Hansen vs. Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson
10/28/88 Yokohama Bunka Gym
Stan Hansen vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu
Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu
11/19/88 Tochigi World's Strongest Tag League: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. John Tenta & Shuji Takano
11/21/88 Nagoya World's Strongest Tag League: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy
11/28/88 Osaka World's Strongest Tag League: Abdullah the Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy
12/14/88 Kanagawa World's Strongest Tag League: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson
12/16/88 Tokyo World's Strongest Tag League: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Abdullah the Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh
12/16/88 Tokyo World Tag Title: World's Strongest Tag League: Final: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada
7/1/89 Saitama Asunaro Cup League Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada
7/11/89 Sapporo Asunaro Cup League Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Samson Fuyuki
7/22/89 Ishikawa Asunaro Cup League Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Shunji Takano
7/22/89 Ishikawa Asunaro Cup League Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Shunji Takano
1/2/90 Tokyo Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask & Shinichi Nakano
1/20/89 Fukuoka World Junior Heavyweight Title: Masanobu Fuchi vs. Joe Malenko
1/25/89 Osaka World Junior Heavyweight Title: Joe Malenko vs. Mighty Inoue
2/23/89 Tokyo World Junior Heavyweight Title: Mighty Inoue vs. Shinichi Nakano
7/15/89 Tokyo: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Kenta Kobashi
1/28/89 Tokyo: Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid vs. Dean Malenko & Joe Malenko
2/2/89 Kansas City
Tiger Mask vs. Tommy Sharpe
Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk vs. Doug Somers & Gary Young
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Bill Irwin
World Tag Title: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu
2/15/89 Cleveland NWA World 6 Man Tag Title: Road Warriors & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Kevin Sullivan & Steve Williams & Mike Rotunda
3/4/89 Shizuoka: Genichiro Tenryu & Road Warrior Hawk vs. Isao Takagi & Shunji Takano
2/23/89 Tokyo World Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada
3/8/89 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
World Junior Heavyweight Title: Mighty Inoue vs. Masanobu Fuchi
Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura vs. Abdullah the Butcher & Giant Kimala
NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ricky Steamboat vs. Tiger Mask
3/29/89 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
World Junior Heavyweight Title: Masanobu Fuchi vs. Mitsuo Momota
PWF Heavyweight & United National Title: Stan Hansen vs. Genichiro Tenryu
4/4/89 Yokohama World Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen
5/14/90 Tokyo: Tiger Mask & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Samson Fuyuki & Yoshiaki Yatsu
5/17/90 Hiroshima Asia Tag Title: Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Davey Boy Smith & Johnny Smith
5/26/90 Tokyo: Akira Taue & Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Masanobu Fuchi & Great Kabuki
6/1/90 Sapporo: Jumbo Tsuruta & Great Kabuki vs. Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa
4/16/89 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
World Junior Heavyweight Title: Masanobu Fuchi vs. Shinichi Nakano
Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen
4/18/89 Tokyo Ota-ku Gym
Asia Tag Title: Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Dan Kroffat & Tom Zenk
Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen
4/20/89 Osaka World Junior Heavyweight Title: Shinichi Nakano vs. Mitsuo Momota
5/12/89 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
World Junior Heavyweight Title: Mitsuo Momota vs. Johnny Smith
Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid vs. Danny Kroffatt & Doug Furnas
4/20/89 Osaka Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu
5/18/97 Tokyo: Johnny Ace & Kenta Kobashi & The Patriot vs. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada & Takao Omori
5/13/89 Nagoya World Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Dan Spivey & Dick Slater
5/20/89 Tochigi Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid vs. Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas
5/24/89 Akita World Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid
6/5/89 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
World Junior Heavyweight Title: Mitsuo Momota vs. Isamu Teranishi
Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Shunji Takano
Danny Spivey vs. Sting
Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu *****
6/5/89 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Asia Tag Title: Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki kawada vs. Dan Krofatt & Doug Furnas
Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith
6/8/89 Chiba World Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Stan Hansen & Toshiaki kawada
7/1/89 Saitama World Junior Heavyweight Title: Mitsuo Momota vs. Joe Malenko
7/3/89 Gunma: Jumbo Tsuruta & Great Kabuki & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Samson Fuyuki & Stan Hansen
7/11/89 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center
World Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen
Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers vs. Jim Brunzell & Tom Zenk
World Junior Heavyweight Title: Joe Malenko vs. Dean Malenko
3/5/94 Tokyo: Giant Baba & Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa
11/27/92 Sapporo World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada
7/15/89 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. John Tenta
Dean Malenko & Joe Malenko vs. Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers
7/16/89 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada
Giant Baba & John Tenta & Rusher Kimura vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Masanobu Fuchi & Great Kabuki
7/28/89 Gunma World Junior Heavyweight Title: Joe Malenko vs. Masanobu Fuchi
7/18/89 Shiga Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu
7/22/89 Ishikawa World Tag Title: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu
8/19/89 Korakuen Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta & Kenta Kobashi vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Yoshinari Ogawa
8/29/89 Osaka Furitsu Gym: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada
9/2/89 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
The Great Kabuki & John Tenta vs. Tiger Conway Jr. Shaska Whatley
Giant Baba Debut 30th Anniversary: Giant Baba vs. Abdullah The Butcher
Johnny Ace vs. Kenta Kobashi
Asia Tag Title: Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada
Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu
Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Terry Gordy
1/2/91 Tokyo: Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen
9/4/91 Tokyo: Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen
7/8/92 Aomori: Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen
7/29/93 Tokyo: Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen
8/25/77 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, 2/3 Falls NWA United National Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mil Mascaras
12/3/93 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, World's Strongest Tag League, World Tag Title Decision: Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada
Motoshi Okuma vs. Haruka Eigen
Shunji Takano vs. Shinichi Nakano
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Kenta Kobashi & Great Kabuki
Genichiro Tenryu & Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Giant Baba & Masanobu Fuchi & Rusher Kimura
10/11/89 Yokohama Asia Tag Title: Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Joe Malenko & Kenta Kobashi
10/20/89 Nagoya World Junior Heavyweight Title: Joe Malenko vs. Masanobu Fuchi
10/11/89 Yokohama Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
10/20/89 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan
Giant Baba Debut 30th Anniversary: Giant Baba vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
Asia Tag Title: Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada
11/17/89 Osaka World's Strongest Tag League: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid
11/19/89 Tokyo World's Strongest Tag League: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Bill Irwin & Terry Gordy
11/25/89 Shizuoka World's Strongest Tag League: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Abdullah the Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh
11/29/89 Sapporo World's Strongest Tag League: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura
12/6/89 Tokyo World's Strongest Tag League, World Tag Title Decision: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu
1/2/90 Tokyo: Genichiro Tenryu & Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Isao Takagi & Jumbo Tsuruta & Great Kabuki
1/3/90 Tokyo: Genichro Tenryu vs. Ivan Koloff
1/20/90 Nagano: Isao Takagi & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada
1/24/90 Iwate: Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Isao Takagi & Great Kabuki
1/28/90 Tokyo Kenta Kobashi 7 Match Trial #7th: Abdullah the Butcher vs. Kenta Kobashi
1/25/90 Fukushima: Jumbo Tsuruta & Mighty Inoue & Great Kabuki vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada
1/28/90 Tokyo: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Isao Takagi
2/21/90 Tokyo: Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Shunji Takano
2/24/90 Aichi: Jumbo Tsuruta & Mighty Inoue & Great Kabuki vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada
3/2/90 Aichi Asia Tag Title: Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Danny Froffat & Doug Furnas
3/6/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Triple Crown: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Barry Windham
World Tag Title: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy
3/24/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Steve Williams vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu
Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey vs. Akira Taue & Jumbo Tsuruta