The 2020 New Japan that I watched yesterday wasn't really my idea of a party. We'll see what New Japan from 40 years ago has to offer instead.
Antonio Inoki v Jack Brisco (New Japan, 5/10/79)
I've been saying for ages that I want to watch more 70s Brisco. I've been saying for ages that I want to watch more 70s Inoki. Two birds, here's yer stone. Shockingly enough I thought this was really good. Brisco always brings a real sense of ruggedness to his matwork and it was no different here. Inoki kept him on the back foot so it was a cool look at Brsico working more defensive and reactionary, having to find openings while Inoki pressed for the advantage. There was one point where they came up for air and hit the ropes, ending with Inoki about taking his head off with a running dropkick. Inoki was super slick setting up the figure-four and Indian deathlock, just smooth as you like and quick into the bargain. The moment where Brisco finally cracked the code and managed to drop him with the shinbreaker ruled and there was a proper sense of panic from the crowd that Inoki might actually be up shit creek here. I wasn't expecting much of a finish to this, so to actually get not only a clean one but a brilliant one at that was a pretty awesome surprise.
I know this technically isn't New Japan, but for all intents and purposes it is New Japan. It's on New Japan world so I'll count it as New Japan, basically. And man this was good stuff. Masa Saito ruled. This is the first time I've watched anything of him in a good few years, possibly the first 70s Saito I've actually seen, and after about thirty seconds I'm reminded of why I love him. All of his offence looked killer, everything executed perfectly with real explosiveness, all of the suplexes and especially the proto-German to end the second fall, where he sort of held Choshu in the air for a second just to let him think about what was coming. The throws had an awesome snap to them, and even if he's not the tallest dude he's an absolute unit, really stocky like he's made of cement, so it's super impressive how he moves with such speed. It was amusing to see Choshu with short curly hair. Somehow he felt smaller here than he would later, not just physically but in terms of presence. You could tell he was charismatic, but he hadn't decided to stick a finger up to the establishment yet and he almost felt like a regular person. All of the matwork here was snug and precise, especially Matsuda's headlock which was about as tight as any headlock you'll see, really just grinding Choshu's ear with his forearm. I did wish the heat segment on Choshu lasted a bit longer, though (looked like it was supposed to and they sort of flubbed the timing of the hot tag). We even got a slap exchange towards the end with Choshu and Saito plastering each other and in pursuit of the cheap heat/pop let me declare it better than any of the muck I watched yesterday. Finish ruled, with Sakaguchi basically chokeslamming Matsuda onto a standing Saito who stumbled backwards into a backdrop.
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