Antonio Inoki vs. Masa Saito (NJPW - 4/27/1987)

One of my goals before the next ballot is to give Inoki another shot and to look more carefully at the contexts in which he shines, or the onctexts in which he is more suited to shine. I'll keep this one on the list.

I really didn't like him in the 5v5 elimination match from 3/26/1986. A match that I really loved otherwise got knocked down just a notch because it was so predictably Inoki in the overall psychology and I found him somewhat clunky in a sea of otherwise sharp/hard hitting wrestling. I'm going to give him a fair shake for sure. I have a hand full of matches I'd really like (re)visit.

If I could only have one Inoki match this would be the one.

Bow down before you new God Masa Saito.

Antonio Inoki vs. Masa Saito (NJPW – 4/27/1987)
Current Rank: NA
Trending: Even

I love this. I really genuinely love this. If we ever do a favorites list it might make my top 25. Inoki feels like the most Inoki here, larger than life and wrapped in a theatrical ethos that only he could create. The match is dripping in more melodrama than blood and checks a lot of boxes for me. There is a dynamic and chemistry that is reinforced by the aesthetics of the match. Inoki is a bigger dude, but Saito looks like a bully or henchman who can rip someone in half, even if that someone is the stature of Inoki. The basic outlines of the story are clear enough you can watch it in a vacuum. There is blood and cool visuals. Just everything works. I think if it weren’t’ for some lingering moments that felt more like timing issues than two wrestlers milking the moment this might very well wind up on my list. However, the highs in this are as high as anything ever to me. The moment where Inoki is just pounding away on Saito and there is blood splattered everywhere is about as good as it gets in wrestling. Tack on pulling the ropes off mid match and hand cuffing these crazy fucks together and you have an absolutely amazing match.

Maybe the absolute Inokiest Inoki spectacle of them all. Someone could comp tape all of the wild Hollywood carry on Inoki has put together and I'd pay decent money to get my hands on it. All of the invading MMA stuff, the nonsense in packed out buildings that incites near riots, the pro wrestling THEATRE, him right in the middle of it all, an evil genius or possibly an out of touch old fool. This was the sort of thing I imagine Vince would've loved to have run, but it only could've worked in Japan, and probably only with Inoki as the lodestone. The long and short of it is Masa Saito has returned to New Japan after a couple-year stint in All Japan and the AWA and the United States Correctional System. A month earlier he and Inoki wrestled to a no contest when a man dressed as a pirate handcuffed himself to Saito and a riot ensued. I have not seen the match and therefore will speak no more on the matter, but no I am not making it up. This is the return bout and this time sitting front row in the crowd is Saito's best buddy Riki Choshu, also returned after a couple years in All Japan (but not an American federal prison). Inoki is seconded by Fujinami while Saito has Hiroshi Hase in his corner. Honestly, the first half of this is decent enough but I didn't think it was particularly compelling. It's largely a squash, with Saito wearing Inoki down and putting him in the Scorpion Deathlock. Where it really picks up is when Saito gets pissed that Inoki won't submit so he just picks him up and drops him balls-first across the top rope. Twice. That's when the mayhem starts. Inoki has no interest in bruised testicles so he fucking skulls Saito with a kappo kick and starts undoing the ring bolts. He turns to the crowd like "how the fuck about it?!" and everyone goes ballistic like absolutely yes we are about it! The ref' gets on the mic and presumably says we're now having a no-rope match and so a bunch of people get up and dismantle the ring ropes, leaving only the canvas and ring posts. Inoki rams Saito's head into the post and Saito is just COVERED in blood and after a few minutes Inoki is COVERED in blood and all of it is Saito's. Hase then hands Saito a pair of handcuffs, and Saito thumps Inoki in the balls and handcuffs his wrist to Inoki's. This leads right into an amazing bit where Inoki punches and headbutts Saito to the point where the latter is dead on his feet, maybe only still upright because he's handcuffed to a conscious body. It's amazing selling from Saito and the more he refuses to go down the more unhinged Inoki becomes. The last minute is like a murder scene with Inoki driven to insanity trying to cave Saito's face in, Saito lying in a pool of his own blood, completely motionless, so Hase throws in the towel before Saito is beaten to death. Inoki is relentless and it takes Fujinami to come in and literally slap some sense into him before he stops beating on Saito, but by this point Choshu is going fucking ballistic in the crowd and people are having to hold him back from storming the ring. While this is going on there's an amazing shot of Inoki, seemingly oblivious to it all, on his knees staring at his blood-coated hands trying to come to terms with what he's just done. I'm actually imagining NXT doing something like this today with Michaels up in a crane somewhere with a megaphone shouting "WE NEED MORE ANGST!" It's sort of astounding that this never came off hokey at all and at one point was actively disturbing, when it so easily could've been Gargano/Ciampa level dumb. Fujinami and Choshu then get into it as Choshu slaps his old nemesis and by christ New Japan was a hoot. This is just spectacular pro wrestling.

This is a wonderful match. It might be one of, if not my absolute favorite finishing stretches that I have ever seen in a wrestling match. Those last 10 or so minutes are absolutely magical.