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Post by elliott on Dec 11, 2017 1:08:56 GMT -5
Tatsumi Fujinami, Nobuhiko Takada, Riki Choshu, Akira Maeda & Super Strong Machine vs Antonio Inoki, Dick Murdoch, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Masa Saito & Seiji Sakaguchi (Elimination Match - NJPW - 9/17/1987)
Another classic 10 man. Well, I guess 8 man since Murdoch and Choshu seemingly eliminate themselves immediately. I would have said this is the NJ 80s 10 man least likely to make my list...but then I just watched it and I can't imagine it not making it. Amazing match. It is a little bit longer than the August version and a not as insanely paced. But that allows things a little more room to breathe and might make for a better match. I certainly thought the Fujinami solo act for the finish was vastly vastly vastly superior than Muto in the August match. The finishing stretch was the highlight with Fujinami bleeding a gusher and just getting destroyed by Inoki & Saito. Saito was really the star of this whole match. Loved this. Lock to make it. Has to.
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Post by problematic on Jan 10, 2018 2:46:15 GMT -5
Second this. If I can't vote on this, there is no point in me even putting in a ballot as I think this is right up there with the 86 elimination and the 84 gauntlet match on the list of best matches in NJPW history and by proxy the best matches of all time since 80s NJPW might be my favorite promotion ever. This another excellent Fujiwara performance, but elliot is right that Saito is the standout. Really this is Saito's magnum opus in a lot of ways and the drama at the end where you want Fujinami to overcome and then he just doesn't is incredible. Legit one of my favorite finishes in wrestling history. Top ten contender for me.
Edit: I got this confused with the 9/88 match! oops! Doesn't matter, it's gone through anyhow
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Post by childs on Jan 12, 2018 11:34:57 GMT -5
This isn't at the tippy-top of the NJ 10-mans for me. But fuck, I found it and nominated it for the DVDVR project, so you know I'm going to endorse it. I loved the nuance of the finish, with Inoki feeling misgivings as he watched Saito take it to a terribly bloodied Fujinami. The only bummer was Choshu and Murdoch going out right away.
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Post by exposer on Jan 12, 2018 13:14:36 GMT -5
I'll give this a fourth nod. Awesome match with an amazing final minutes. The Saito-Fujinami stuff is incredible. All of these NJ 80s tags will be on my ballot so this has to go through.
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Post by tactician on May 13, 2020 15:07:13 GMT -5
Does anybody know where to find this match? I’ve been searching for a while now and I haven’t been able to catch it.
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Post by microstatistics on Jun 23, 2020 1:30:42 GMT -5
Does anybody know where to find this match? I’ve been searching for a while now and I haven’t been able to catch it. This is on the DVDVR 80s NJPW set.
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Post by KB8 on Nov 14, 2021 18:04:24 GMT -5
TL;DR: stone cold lock. Amazing performances all around, nuclear crowd heat, zero downtime whatsoever.
The old guard and the new generation explode! I must've been HITTIN' the good whisky back when I put together my DVDVR New Japan ballot because I had this outside my top 30, and that is quite frankly a nonsense of a thing to do because holy smokes what a match. I think the biggest compliment I can give it is that Dick Murdoch and Riki Choshu are both eliminated right away and we see none of what led to that due to a commercial break, and yet 30 seconds later you don't even care because everyone else has dragged you back in. And everyone else was amazing in this. Not a bad or average performance to be had anywhere, just top drawer pro wrestling from all involved. Masa Saito may have been the star though, turning in one of the all-time great thug performances. What a monumental bastard of a man he chose to be on this night. It wasn't even like he was underhanded about it either. There were no cheapshots to speak of, nothing sly, it was all pretty clear and obvious. Clear and obvious in that he was clearly and obviously enjoying being a bastard. He was a total shark in the water, where he'd jump into attack mode and maul someone if the opportunity presented itself, but he was just as likely to go right for the throat of a fresh man as well. Sakaguchi wasn't in this for very long but he was a hoot while he was. He was the sympathetic big lanky kid in school who'd get mugged for his YuGiOh cards even though he was the only one who even played YuGiOh before finally snapping and making the bullies pay dearly. Takada was always eager to throw grenades and he had some great exchanges, especially with Fujiwara who slapped him down to size more than once. Also got wrecked by Saito because Saito was just in one of those moods. Inoki is always a bit of a prick in these matches. He's stupid charismatic and crowds will live and die on anything he does, so whenever he gets in for the first time the building just erupts, but it was always like he enjoyed fucking with people and would tag back out again straight away. This time he came in to a monster pop, immediately took a swing at Fujinami on the apron, and then Fujinami demanded to be tagged in to an even bigger monster pop. Teacher versus student, the old king versus the crowned prince...and Inoki just tags out. I think the first time I saw him do it (I specifically recall him doing it in the first big New Japan v UWF match) I was disappointed, but at this point I sort of like it because I'm pretty sure it's a deliberate wind-up tactic. There were two stretches of the match that stood out to me above the rest and the first was Fujiwara and Maeda reprising their fight from a couple weeks back. Fujiwara goes after the leg again, dogged in forcing the tap and Maeda sells it spectacularly, really milking every near submission while there's a palpable sense that he's going to submit. The desperation roll-up to flip the tables and eliminate Fujiwara was incredible, then Saito came in like a dog with a bone and was fucking amazing smashing Maeda's leg off the mat, twisting him into the prison lock for the huge tap out. The second awesome (or even more awesome) part of the match was the finishing run. Fujinami is left alone against Inoki and Saito and Saito just tries to break his skull open off the exposed turnbuckle. Fujinami is a mess and I love him swinging blindly at Inoki, while Inoki almost looks on regretfully at having to do this to his old pupil. Saito regrets nothing and completely abuses him, biting the exposed wound, hitting multiple Saito suplexes and a sick lariat, picking Fujinami's shoulders up off the mat after every two-count so he can dish out more punishment. Initially the crowd are going crazy because it looks like Fujinami is kicking out, but after the fourth or fifth instance of this it's clear he's not. His legs might be moving like he's TRYING to kick out, but the only reason the shoulders are coming up is because Saito's lifting them. Fujinami is pretty much dead in the water, so Inoki tags himself in, slaps Saito and immediately pins Fujinami to put him out his misery. I thought that finish was fucking sensational. I could see it maybe falling flat for some people, but knowing the history of Inoki and Fujinami, and Inoki and SAITO - who tried to kill each other six months ago - I thought it was a perfect little bit of storytelling that never felt forced or melodramatic or hammy at all. Choshu is irate after the bell. "He was your wee buddy and this is how you treat him?!" I assume. Murdoch has no idea what's happening and Fujinami is carried out with a head bandage the size of a bath towel and this was phenomenal.
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Post by tetsujin on Jan 15, 2022 7:20:02 GMT -5
NJPW Elimination tags are great, but I'm still looking forward one of them that blows my mind. This might be my favourite of them all, but they're all of them pretty close to me. I prefer the Gauntlets, by a lot, but hey.
I think Fujiwara was the star of the match here. Everytime he was in, shit was intense. I really liked Fujinami's performance at the end too, and the finish is kinda neat for Inoki as a character, while also putting Saito over as a scumbag. Good stuff. I hated the fact that Choshu and Murdoch didn't do anything, that was 100% a waste, and guys like Sakaguchi or SSM are just there, like always in these Elimination matches. The Fujiwara and Maeda eliminations sequence was also pretty engaging, although I would've loved a more impressive Takada's performance at the final four, he didn't look as compelling. A very fun match with a couple of amazing performances in it, but nowhere near making my list for me.
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Post by mrjmml on Jul 28, 2023 14:34:07 GMT -5
Everyone of New Japan’s multi-man matches of the 1980’s are amazing, now I can say that comfortably, this match in particular didn’t have any downtime whatsoever they went straight at it for around 30 minutes, the stipulation is the same as in the New Japan vs UWF match 5v5 and if get pinned, submitted or counted out you’re eliminated like in Survivor Series, this matches are the most exciting and emotional in 80’s New Japan because they always guarantee a clear result something that didn’t happen often in singles competition, the intensity of this contest is unmatched, everyone performed their role perfectly, I don’t mind the first two eliminations of the match because everything else is so good it doesn’t even matter, if you haven’t seen the match what happened was that Dick Murdoch and Riki Choshu eliminated themselves inmediately, that was strange but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s something that tends to happen in matches of this nature, Fujinami had an absolutely flawless performance in the match, he was there from beginning to end and that was a good call by New Japan’s creatives, the way he struggles to get an advantage combined with his bloody face made for an era-defining babyface performance, he was outnumbered during the finish stretch which resulted in him losing to Masa Saito and Antonio Inoki, it looked like they listened to me, they knew that another finish where Inoki is outnumbered and prevails anyways would be predictable, it just wouldn’t be as fun as it is if that was the finish, the team formed by Antonio Inoki, Dick Murdoch, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Masa Saito & Seiji Sakaguchi won, not without a fight, it isn’t the best multi-man they had to offer but it was in the same level as any other from that era.
I’d recommend this match to everyone who liked the first two multi-man matches, I know that there was another one in August but I couldn’t find that one if anyone reading this has it please put the link to it below.
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