Here we have a window into a world in which Kikuchi jumped ship to Battlarts. I guess it's also a window into Team Taco jumping ship to All Japan on a permanent basis but that's a far less fun prospect for me personally. This was a mean nasty fight and you could tell it might go that way from the intros, just how Ikeda was pacing back and forth in front of the home team. Kikuchi offers up a handshake at the bell, and it's accepted by Ikeda but in a way that tells you there won't be much in the way of pleasantries. The first exchange of strikes led to Kikuchi absolutely drilling Ono with some of the nastiest forearms you've ever seen him eat and forget about the All Japan bar, these were set against the Battlarts bar. Team Taco were sort of treated like invading scum here and the home side never seemed particularly interested in selling a ton, but it gave the match a real gritty feel and Ikeda and Ono were more than happy to take their licks. Ogawa was in full heel mode despite being the home favourite, working the headlock on Ono, grabbing the hair when Ono tried to shake him, spitting on Ikeda when he drew attention to it. They brawl to the floor where Ogawa tries to set about Ono with a chair, the ref' takes it from him, and as they make their way back in the ring you can see Ikeda and Kikuchi in the background fully punching each other in the face and staring dead-eyed in response. There's a camera shot of Kobashi, Akiyama and Fuchi standing by the curtain watching the match and as it pans back to the ring Ikeda volleys Kikuchi as hard as humanly possible in the spine. Ikeda throws several strikes and Kikuchi somehow stays upright, so Ono spin kicks him in the back of the head and Ikeda fucking MURDERS him with one of the sickest lariats ever thrown in an All Japan OR Battlarts ring. No wonder Kikuchi was reduced to a snarling little demon bastard within a few years. After the Team Taco Doomsday Device (!!) I thought Ono was actually going to tap Kikuchi with the octopus stretch, but Ogawa breaks it up and Kikuchi folds Ono like a deck chair with a disgusting triple German. For a guy who's one of the greatest punching bags in wrestling history, Kikuchi has one hell of a mean streak in him and it turns out he had it before Liger rocked into town in '02. A rematch of this on Team Taco turf would've ruled immensely, I'm sure.
Masa Kurisu v Monkey Magic Wakita (FMW, 12/1/89)
The stage is set. The combatants are primed, ready. They shake hands, respect mutual. The bell rings. Before its din wavers, Kurisu has punched Monkey Magic Wakita in the face. If you've seen one Kurisu match you have a pretty good idea how this is going to go coming into it, and it more or less did go that way, but young Monkey Magic held his own more than I would've expected, mostly through his dogged determination to submit Kurisu with a kneebar. He went to that kneebar several times throughout the match and we can only tip our cap to the lad. Kurisu was still Kurisu, though. He would not be bodyslammed and in turn would bodyslam Wakita as hard as he possibly could. Wakita might've had an arm injury coming in because Kurisu goes after it with brutal stomps and Wakita sells it all really well, very vocal and always trying to shield it when making any comebacks. Kurisu breaks out of those kneebar attempts by axe kicking the arm and as Wakita lies curled up on the mat grasping his arm Kurisu stands up and stomps on the elbow like he's trying to kill the world's sturdiest cockroach. The match spills to the floor and Kurisu just annihilates the kid with a chair shot to the head, then as Wakita is down Kurisu repeatedly smashes him with the chair, the handheld camera position missing the visual of each shot but catching perfectly Wakita's anguished squeals. As soon as Kurisu put him in the kimura you knew it was all over but the shouting.
Dick Murdoch v The Great Muta (NWA Worldwide, 6/17/89)
I love the Muta face paint from this period, set against the lighting of these late 80s/early 90s NWA/WCW arenas. It always reminds me of seeing him on old WCW tapes as a kid. We didn't have WCW on tv anywhere I can remember so I would rent PPVs from Global Video - or Cassie's Videos, which was the independent video store around the corner from my house. They had a fruit machine that I wasn't supposed to play until I turned 18 but of course Cassie's Videos was long shut down by the time that day arrived - and Muta always mesmerised me. The way he looked, the way he moved, the way he was presented, there was nothing like Muta in the WWF, other than maybe the time Kabuki showed up and hit Undertaker with a bucket and everyone put him in a casket. I loved JR's comment about Murdoch having worked more tours of the orient than anyone else in the NWA so this might be a tricky matchup for Muta, who's basically been a MENACE in the company since arriving. Murdoch works as lovable old redneck, or as lovable as your tolerance can stretch given rumours of his salty proclivities around minorities, spry even as he ages, hitting an impressive dropkick and kipping up sharply out of a top wristlock. Both crash into each other off the ropes with a thud, and as Muta hits the deck I love how Murdoch takes a beat to hunch over selling the impact before hitting the opposite ropes. Muta nails him a nice jumping spin kick and Murdoch takes a big spill out to the floor, perhaps a sign that Murdoch has never encountered a man such as Muta on those orient excursions. Muta working the armpit nerve hold is better than the trapezius hold because he can twist and groove the shoulder at various angles while Murdoch looks to the crowd for confirmation that yes we do indeed want you to punch him in the face. In a fair and just world Murdoch would've took this one home in the end, but Gary Hart distracts the referee long enough for Muta to mist him and steal one. Good guys always finish last, I guess.
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