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Post by marc91 on Jan 11, 2024 0:55:22 GMT 1
#0018 UWA World Light Heavyweight Title Match Gran Hamada (c) vs Baby Face (NJPW 03.04.1980) This has a decent reputation, but it doesn't age that well. It wasn't bad by any means, but the solid matwork didn't have enough energy and the crowd seemed to agree, as they only popped when the action became quicker. Hamada was definitely more motivated and took better bumps, while Baby Face didn't impress me that much. The finish was botched as well, as Hamada got a 2.5 count and was declared the winner anyway. I don't know who messed it up, but it didn't look good at all
**1/2 |
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Post by marc91 on Jan 11, 2024 16:03:41 GMT 1
#0019 WWF Junior Heavyweight Title Match Tatsumi Fujinami (c) vs. Ashura Hara (NJPW 03.04.1980) Another really good Fujinami match, he was so versatile in 1980 and could adapt to any opponent. Here the matwork takes a step back, as Hara hits hard and Fujinami is not afraid to change his strategy and do the same. They go back to Fujinami's forehead wound, so by the end of the match he's bleeding a ton, but he dishes a lot of punishment as well and is not afraid to push a boundaries a little bit, like kicking Hara while the opponent in at the ropes. This only lasted 12/13 minutes, so there is zero downtime and everything looks so solid. Hara is a big threat and so Fujinami goes back to what he knows best, submitting his opponent to win the match. This was different than what the New Japan Junior Heavyweights were and would become, but it worked really well
***1/2 |
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Post by marc91 on Jan 11, 2024 19:11:28 GMT 1
#0020
NWF World Heavyweight Title Match Stan Hansen (c) vs Antonio Inoki (NJPW 03.04.1980) This wasn't a masterpiece, but a perfectly enjoyable main event and also a bit better than their previous bout. Inoki wants to block the lariat this time and immediately goes for Hansen's arm, especially because it's taped; the gaijin is overwhelmed by this attack, but dishes some violent shots to Inoki's neck to keep some control. Hansen gets to look good once again, because this time Inoki is saved by the ropes when he eats the lariat. We get another count-out tease, before Inoki's impressive brainbuster from the apron for the 3.1 pinfall, again Hansen looks strong even in defeat as Inoki also had to resort to a rare top rope dive to desperately put him down. Quite impressive how this match had like 1 big move and a couple of bumps only and yet everything made complete sense
***1/2 |
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Post by marc91 on Jan 12, 2024 22:23:39 GMT 1
#0021 Champion Carnival Match Terry Funk vs Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW 04.04.1980)
This is slightly clipped, we get 24 minutes out of 30. I was disappointed with the match and so I had to watch it twice, but sadly I still am. I think Jumbo is the one to blame here; Terry is so much over than him and the crowd doesn't buy his matwork, especially because he doesn't do anything to effective or special. Funk sells, but nothing really good happens until they start throwing bombs in the last 10 minutes, which is understandable but all the limbo work goes out of the window in an instant. Funk is saving the match with his selling and the way he kicks out from Tsuruta's near falls, we get a predictable time limit draw before Terry can come back and bring his experience to the table. I have seen better things from these two
*** |
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Post by marc91 on Jan 13, 2024 2:07:10 GMT 1
#0022 Two Out Of Three Falls Match Gary Young vs Gino Hernandez (HOUSTON WRESTLING 11.04.1980) Man, Gino was so great in this. He made the match a blast and he would sell an armbar like somebody was setting him on fire. I haven't seen a lot of Young matches, he seemed okay to be fair, but clearly not at the level of Hernandez, who managed to dictate the pace of the match also when the other wrestler was getting heat on him, which is a testament to how good Gino really was. Gino took a lot of punishment, building a lot of tension among the crowd as he would always trying to reach the ropes, irritating Young and even the referee! Quite surprising to see Gino going over in some sort of a clean way (he used a weapon, but it was long enough before the finish), he was really on form that night and probably deserved a better opponent
***1/4 |
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Post by marc91 on Jan 13, 2024 15:58:18 GMT 1
#0023 WWF Heavyweight Title Match Bob Backlund (c) vs Hulk Hogan (WWF 12.04.1980) This was decent, but you can clearly see the difference between a match with good matwork and a match with stalling rest holds, they milked some of them for sooooooo long and all those submissions didn't go anywhere at the end. The truth is Hogan was too green to lead a 30 minutes match and things only got better when he started focusing on Backlund's back, which fits the story because he's so much bigger than the champion. To their credit, the crowd is into the match all along and Backlund's selling was good, he also managed to lift Hogan with one arm only and that is impressive. It's the 80s, non-finishes are very common if a rematch is on the way, but this one makes Backlund look really dumb **1/2 |
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Post by marc91 on Jan 14, 2024 22:18:06 GMT 1
#0024 Two Out Of Three Falls Tag Team Match Gran Hamada & Satoru Sayama vs Baby Face & Perro Aguayo (UWA 13.04.1980) This was really fun to watch, but it had a couple of weird moments (like Sayama's timing at the end of the first fall). Sayama throws kicks like there is no tomorrow and it mostly rules, but then he predictably plays the part of the young boy and the rudos beat him down, showing a lot of chemistry. The major focus of the match is Hamada vs Perro and Perro has a clear advantage, as Babe Face continuously interferes and they end up busting Hamada's forehead open. Cool non-finish when Perro kicks Hamada low just to stop his comeback and momentum right when the tecnicos got the upper hand, it fits the story
***1/2 |
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Post by marc91 on Jan 14, 2024 23:58:41 GMT 1
#0025 Champion Carnival Match Giant Baba vs Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW 18.04.1980) Man, I know things will get way better, but here's another All Japan match that is extremely clipped (we only get 15 minutes out of 30). The time limit draw is quite predictable here too and of course here it is. That being said, what we got was still pretty good as they wrestled a smart match to make sure Baba wouldn't be exposed. Jumbo worked extra ward to keep his mentor on the mat and then trying to get the better out of him in a striking battle. Tsuruta got most of the offense and that is a good nod as it is in a match against Baba, also because the time limit saved the giant from a submission move. It's hard to rate a match like this, as I have only seen 50% of it
*** |
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Post by marc91 on Jan 15, 2024 13:41:49 GMT 1
#0026 Champion Carnival Match Terry Funk vs Abdullah the Butcher (AJPW 18.04.1980) Terry was so great in this. Even just the moments before the match, as he wanted to jump on Abdullah and the referee had to desperately restrain him somehow. His forehead was taped and, of course, this quickly led to him bleeding all over the place after just a few minutes. No offence, but this was pretty much a broomstick match, Abdullah couldn't or didn't want to move too much and Terry had to do it all for him. The crowd gets excited when the heel starts bleeding as well, Funk had a great comeback and some of his ideas were ahead of their time. I liked the idea of Terry working on his opponent's legs, but it went nowhere because of the usual non-finish. This was better than it had any right to be
*** |
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Post by marc91 on Jan 16, 2024 2:10:43 GMT 1
#0027 WWF Intercontinental Title Match Pat Patterson (c) vs Ken Patera (WWF 21.04.1980) A few minutes are clipped, I only saw 15 minutes out of 20, but this was a blast and I really enjoyed it. Same can be said for the MSG, they were on fire for this. Patterson is not the best at the beginning when he has to dictate the pace, but then makes Patera look like a million bucks, like when he jumps over the top rope for him or sells the bearhug in a very dramatic way. Patera is another one I was never really focusing on, but he looks the part and has good ring presence, what he does always makes sense. We get a finish, which is quite rare, it might be tainted but it was well done and it's good enough for me. I can't go higher than this because the match wasn't complete
***1/2 |
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