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Post by elliott on Dec 11, 2017 0:24:10 GMT -5
Antonio Inoki, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Seiji Sakaguchi, Kantaro Hoshino & Keiji Muto vs Tatsumi Fujinami, Riki Choshu, Akira Maeda, Kengo Kimura & Super Strong Machine (Elimination Match - NJPW - 8/19/1987)
So I love all of these 80s New Japan 10 man Tag & Gauntlet matches. It is very likely 4 or 5 of them will make my top 100. This is your typically awesome affair. It is a short match relative to the rest clocking in at just over 25 minutes, yet none of the eliminations feel too rushed. Sakaguchi has one of my favorite performances of the match yet he's the first guy eliminated. They work at an absolutely frenetic pace with the crowd going insane. Fujiwara is the king of teasing eliminations to the floor and he has several good ones in this. His segment trying to knock Choshu to the floor as Choshu stands on the apron was a highlight of the match. Hoshino was amazing in this running around stiffing the fuck out of everyone. And the pop when Maeda & Inoki finally match up is so insane you'd think you were watching a Carlos Colon match. The ending with Muto on his own against Choshu & Fujinami is a something I've thought was awesome in the past and somewhat of a let down at other times. It felt sort of too inevitable, but it was. Anyway. Amazing match that will almost certainly make my list.
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Post by stunninggrover on Feb 10, 2018 0:27:45 GMT -5
Seconded.
Tremendous crowd heat. One of the greatest elimination matches ever. It was interesting from start to finish. I like this one just as much as the great 1986-03-26 elimination match.
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Post by microstatistics on Mar 16, 2018 17:15:37 GMT -5
Third. Maybe my 1987 MOTY. Impossible to go wrong with an 80s New Japan Elimination match and this might be the best of them. The old dudes + young guys vs. the current stars dynamic is really interesting.
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Post by cactus on Jul 14, 2020 11:11:11 GMT -5
I always gets these NJPW 80's elimination tags mixed up. This was excellent, but I remember the UWF vs NJPW one from a year previous being even better than this.
This was all kinds of brilliance with a pace that never lets up. Think Canadian Stampede 10 man tag on crack. Everyone makes quick tags and thus the action never gets a chance to stagnate. Inoki looks like the dog's bollocks, Maeda effortlessly plays the dickhead and Mutoh is the rookie with a lot of heart. The way they got rid of Maeda and Inoki made them both look strong and left me clamouring to see them go at it again down. In the end it's down to Mutoh to try and win once the rest of his team is eliminated. With the molten crowd roaring for him, It's a star making moment for the young Mutoh.
★★★★¾
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Post by dkuchler31096 on Nov 17, 2020 16:20:35 GMT -5
This was freaking amazing and was well on its way to becoming my favorite ten man tag ever behind Canadian Stampede and then the finish happened and I was confused on how Choshu for eliminated and then Fujinami then picking up the win anyway. It was a bit lame at the end but everything leading up to it was awesome. The crowd was freaking molten, pacing incredible, work tight and stiff, everyone playing their parts efficiently. They even kept up the heat between Choshu and Inoki without them even laying a hand on each other. But the ending suffers from the same plight as the Shawn Michaels vs Mankind match did
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Post by mrjmml on Jul 29, 2023 14:03:25 GMT -5
First of all, I’m an idiot, I had access to this match since May I think but I didn’t figure out where it was until today, I feel like I’m repeating myself when reviewing New Japan’s multi-man and gauntlet matches, all of them are so good and the criticisms feel identical ( they probably are), every match is worth watching but at the same time, they never go forward, you always end those matches feeling like everything stays the same, I didn’t get that feeling here, this match is all I want out New Japan’s creative team, actual progress was made, it felt like there’s actual change in the main event scene, since Inoki took that spot it all was stale, nothing was really moving, in this match there’s a change of dynamic that will impact the promotion for years to come, Inoki was eliminated along with Akira Maeda around the halfway point which meant that the spotlight was going to be in Tatsumi Fujinami and Riki Choshu and they delivered, when all the pressure was on their shoulders they were able to perform at a very high level, seems like the future seems bright for New Japan Pro Wresting, Fujinami’s performance in particular shines the brightest, he’s a big deal, every time he entered the ring their opponents feared for their lives, that’s what happens when Antonio Inoki is willing to share the spotlight, it’s a shame that it didn’t happen more often, Riki Choshu was as amazing as usual, his intensity made him a real threat, I don’t expect less out of a wrestler as polished as Riki Choshu, he isn’t just cool, he’s dangerous and their opponent’s know it, the final stretch was out of this world, Keiji Mutoh is the only wrestler left for the babyface team and he endures all the punishment Fujinami and Riki Choshu were able to inflict upon him until he had to submit, a star-making performance for the recently retired Keiji Mutoh.
I have nothing else to say, just watch all the New Japan multi-man matches, next I’ll take a look at Fujinami’s second singles match against Inoki, the famous 8/8/88.
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