Nobuhiko Takada v Shiro Koshinaka (New Japan, 2/5/87)
Cards on the table, I hated this series back during the DVDVR project. Well I hated two of their matches. This one I had just outside my top 60, so I probably didn't hate it but I wouldn't suggest I loved it. But 2009 was a time long ago and what are we (it is merely I, a singular entity) at Whiskey & Wrestling Towers if not open to re-evaluation? Honestly this is a bit of a strange match, at least in terms of structure. It's quite choppy, but that matches the rough execution and overall it adds to the uncooperative feel of it, almost like a pro/shoot style hybrid. Even though they don't necessarily communicate hatred in an overt sense, at least not early, you can tell that they do not like each other one bit and that resonates from start to finish. They're a little tentative to begin, some missed kicks here and there, mostly a feeling out process. There's one moment where they tie up and Koshinaka kind of slaps Takada's hand away, and Takada immediately sells it in a way that tells you there's something to it. Two of the fingers on that hand are taped up and the camera zooms in on it, so you can probably file that one away for later. Neither guy really sustains an advantage early and they do a few "I have you too well scouted" exchanges, but they were fine and the underlying malice behind those exchanges kept them from feeling rote. Like, the part where Takada's spin kick was met with Koshinaka's dropkick worked not just because it conveyed that part of the story ("this is our third singles match so we know each other pretty well"), but because it didn't look like those kicks were intended to do anything other than land on the opponent. Even some of the iffy selling was fine. I don't think either guy is a particularly compelling seller anyway, but this was some fight-through-pain selling that I didn't mind and even the dodgy no-selling parts added to how uncooperative everything felt. The first real example of that was when Koshinaka hit a tombstone and Takada kicked out, got up to his feet and punted Koshinaka right in the head (and even after it he sort of slumped in the ropes as a delayed reaction). Takada has the edge in grappling and he's obviously a better striker, so at points it feels like Koshinaka only has a shot through stubborn determination. There was also a great sense of escalation, the way they'd try and hit moves only for the other to fight them off, then come back to them later once fatigue had kicked in. It happened with the dragon suplex (this was one of the most gorgeous dragon suplexes you'll see btw), some of the submission attempts, even some of the strikes that were being avoided earlier. Towards the end Takada is all in on the crossface chickenwing, then we get that payoff from earlier as Koshinaka tries to snap his fingers. Takada's selling here was awesome and I loved that he looked at Koshinaka like this was beyond the pale even for him. He'd try and circle around Koshinaka with that hand hidden, but any time he'd grab him or come close enough Koshinaka would get to the finger-bending. The bit where he stomped on the hand while bleeding from the mouth made him look like a desperate man who may or may not also be a psychopath. Finish rules, with Koshinaka applying an armbar while bending the fingers at disgusting angles, leaving the fancy kickpad MMA guy no choice but to submit. Those pro wrestling rules are different, brother. This was way the fuck better than I remembered. Maybe watching it in isolation without the stink of their previous matches helped, but either way I thought it was really good. Maybe I've been too harsh on 80s Koshinaka all this time.
Akira Maeda v Masa Saito (New Japan, 5/18/87)
I guess this is more of an angle than a match, but if your angle is someone getting launched into a ring post and bleeding everywhere then I'm pretty much sold. Super Strong Machine (in his immaculate blue tracksuit) trips Maeda as he's getting into the ring at the start, rams him into the post a few times, and after about thirty seconds Maeda falls into the ring covered in blood. I mean he has absolutely massacred himself with the blade on this, good grief. Saito tries to put him away immediately with a couple Saito Suplexes and a lariat, but Maeda keeps kicking out with milliseconds to spare and the people are in bits. Maeda gets almost nothing in the way of offence but everything he does do is met with a monster pop. He also takes another three or four ludicrous postings on the floor and the fact Saito had to resort to that for a count out win is maybe a story in itself. Post-match all hell breaks loose and a shirtless Fujiwara runs off the bad bastards, practically by his presence alone. One of a kind.
Akira Maeda v Super Strong Machine (New Japan, 8/20/87)
This never quite hit the heights that the pre-match mugging promised. It wasn't really worked like a match where one of the participants had been smashed into a ring post several times by the other opponent in the not too distant past. No real sense of Maeda being out for revenge, even when SSM jumped him again here and they had to be separated before the bell. And I know that's judging something for what it isn't rather than what it actually is, but when you're all about the chaos and you've got the prospect of Maeda right there ready to bring it then it's sort of hard not to be disappointed. Still, this was alright and even pretty good when they started whomping on each other. You never quite know for sure if Maeda's taking liberties so the strike sections were super heated. Maeda threw a goodly number of kicks that I would not like to be taking and Strong Machine was throwing headbutts, some mean lariats, even a few nasty kicks of his own. The parts when they took it to the mat were a bit dry, though. It wasn't even that it was matwork as such, it was really more a case of someone grabbing a hold and struggling to apply it before the other forced the break or escaped. Towards the end the heat picks up nicely and the teased count out grabbed the crowd, so they were biting on everything after that. Strong Machine injures his shoulder missing a top rope elbow so the ref' checks for a potential stoppage, and while this is going on Maeda is gesturing to the crowd that he's going to break something and then he kicks the shoulder to bits. I know he's not for everyone but by god I love Maeda.
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