TYWGIGB is a series where Sam breaks down the wrestling that was in 1984 week-by-week. Always expect match of the week but a grab bag from there.

MATCH OF THE WEEK

Akira Maeda & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ishin Gundan (Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu)

I’ve never really “got” Choshu. Certainly was one of those dudes who would come up in the Greatest Wrestler Ever conversations that consistently left me scratching my head. Usually when I hold opinions against the grain it is a little more “I see what you like but I think what you like is bad”. I’m not usually a MOVEZ guy but he was someone where the punches and the kicks lacked an oomph to make up for the lack of tools in the toolbox. It is a lot harder to feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel for that sort of wrestler because if they seem limited, I don’t love what they do, there isn’t much a new setting or swath of opponents can fix with that.

Sometimes life finds a way though and you manage to see the light. See, I’m not too stubborn to change my tune at the ripe young age of 32.

Practically from jump street this match enters molten lava territory. Yatsu and Maeda start though it feels only so Fujinami could forgo having the advantage and telling Choshu to get his ass in there. The crowd understands their job immediately. They lock up like bulls and the eventual backdrop from Choshu gives him the firm W in their first squaring off before Yatsu comes in.

Probably not familiar enough with Choshu to say but was shocked to see Choshu hit the Deathlock so quickly. It wasn’t The Move, at least The Time, since he called in Yatsu real quick to drop the elbow. He knew he was on the losing end of a momentum tug of war and put a stop to it. Don’t need to be too proud and hold out when the easy wins are there. And that dynamic is part of what helped me lock in. Even with his awesome suplex and throws, Yatsu is clearly being led by Choshu. Whenever Choshu comes in rocking shit at 100 MPH, you can get why. A man who can that confidently explode into another person, is not usually one that handles orders well.

Maeda is the clear fourth most important person in the match-up. Doesn’t fall into the background by any means but his dynamic with Fujinami is less defined than Yatsu:Choshu and even with awesome wrinkles like busting out a bunch of kicks to counter the pressure from Yatsu.

My only real bummer of the match was the lack of payoff to the structure. Maeda fights for his life. Stopping the Scorpion Deathlock, and a moment where he looks like he might get back in control, he counters an abdominal stretch right back into enemy territory. Terrible luck.

Then Fujinami tags in as Maeda pushes Yatsu into the corner. It isn’t met with fan fair. Fujinami does not make any attempt to rile the crowd up. He puts on bow and arrow that pops the crowd but they are popping for the move not the sequence. It is the moment that left me wanting most.

Beyond being the least important, Maeda was also the weakest link. The way Choshu and Yatsu kick the living shit out of Maeda during the finish is the good type of despicable. Spike piledriver that leaves Maeda out cold and still picking him up so Choshu can run through him with a lariat. So many times I’ve watched Choshu do something similar and it feeling unearned. Here, with Fujinami’s lackey (deeply unfair of me), the mean spirited intentions matched a mean spirited outcome. Not leaving it there, Inshin Gundan, picked Maeda’s carcass for scraps after all that. Fujinami chases and smashes Yatsu’s head into the post in a way that I have to assume a small dent was left.

Riki was left standing in the ring, a winner of the match and of my heart. I’m sure if I told him this they would viewed as of equal importance.

SUPERFLUOUS OF THE WEEK

Hoot of the Week

Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Abdullah the Butcher

Love me some weird bodies. Seiji is a former judoka with a body shaped like a trapezoid, such skinny legs for the height. Abby is Abby. Shaped like a zesty Italian meatball, with a forehead that looks like ground beef. A real meat man.

You don’t need a hand to count the number of moves in this match, just one finger. In the first minute Abby gets a nerve hold of sorts and from there it is punches and kicks delight.

And the striking is real “styles make fights” type stuff. Seiji despite having the much longer reach is getting in close and peppering with punches, forearms, and overhand chops. It gives MMA fighter. Clinch, give yourself some separation, and then pop them. Every fifth one made my eyebrows pop. Sure, 4/5 are Giant Baba feeling (not a bad thing) but then the fifth is Robbie Lawler.

Abby? Well, we’ve got headbutts and lots of them. They all rock. The strategy is mostly him string to get Seiji out of the ring and do Abby shit. You know, chairs, smacking against posts, general nefarious business. For the first two times, Seiji is too smart and dodges right back into the ring.

The second time is the one that gets me going. You see the look on Abby’s face. Truly and utterly pissed at the guy for not simply letting him have the fight on his terms. How dare he? When he finally keeps him out he doesn’t waste time getting the chair.

But this is not a video game. Your stats don’t go up just because you are fighting on different terrain. He’s still not as strong a fifth degree black belt. So Seiji simply takes the chair from Abby and smacks the shit out of him. There is a particularly gnarly shot where you can see a core memory shoot out of Abby’s head.

Styles make fights, bodies make up matches, and Abby is the hoot that always gives.

Other Musings

Dusty Not Really Giving A Shit in New Japan

What the heck is going on here? Dusty wrestles Inoki and then wrestles a tag with Buddy Rose against Fujinami and Inoki. Never mind that I find the order of those matches odd, the Son of a Plumber seemed like he would have rather done vocational training instead of wrestling in New Japan. The Inoki match feels particularly egregious. Sure, if the shoe was on the other foot and Inoki was wrestling Dusty in the states to lose I’m sure we would be seeing the same amount of effort from him. But not going to do whataboutism on this.

How did Rick Rude Get That Good?

Maybe I’m the idiot. Rude has two matches this week as an enhancement talent and I thought both were good. Yet, I sit here clacking my keyboard wondering “How does this mother trucker become an all-time great?” Nothing about it seems right. Some of the weirdest punches to start. Akin to a brain damaged boxer. Sure, that is a bit like describing a word with the word but whatever. It is probably is best asset in either match, not quite an “equalizer” but makes him look more like a threat than he otherwise would.

The selling and bumping is what really took me back. Goes against Kamala and Butch Reed, two big dudes by any metric. So I expect to see glimmers of the nearly cartoonish bumper that I know Rude as. Even under a microscope would be hard pressed to see the flashes. His biggest selling point against the two is a willingness to get chucked around, especially against Butch. I guess being able to be taken for a ride is sort of a skill. In a way it is impressive that pretty much everything he becomes great at, Rude wasn’t super adept at to start off.