Japan TV 9-25-87 Hansen/Dibiase vs Yatsu/Tiger Mask II
Oct 6, 2021 14:16:26 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Oct 6, 2021 14:16:26 GMT
World Wrestling Kingdom; Seiji Sakaguchi, president
Airs on Saturday, September 25, 1987 on:
Taped on September 14 at the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Announcers: Kenji Wakabayashi and Takashi Yamada; Wakabayashi also performs ring announcer duties
Referees: Tiger Hattori, Joe Higuchi, and Kyohei Wada
While the opening theme plays, we see the following clip:
A few minutes in, Baba catches Choshu coming off the ropes with the big boot to the jaw! Choshu crumples to the mat, and Baba covers him, with Tenryu just making the save at the last second! Baba then tears into Tenryu with chops and forearm shots. Choshu recovers, and helps Tenryu get the upper hand, and they double-team Baba until Inoki comes in. For the next few minutes, all four wrestlers battle in the ring, before Tiger Hattori finally manages to get order restored.
As the match progresses, Tenryu and Choshu gain a clear advantage, and in the end, Tenryu pins Inoki with a folding Powerbomb!
KENJI WAKABAYASHI and TAKASHI YAMADA open the show.
They welcome us to this week’s episode of World Wrestling Kingdom!
This week’s feature bout will see a tag team match featuring Tiger Mask II and former Olympian Yoshiaki Yatsu squaring off with the gaijin duo of Stan Hansen and Ted Dibiase!
DYNAMITE KID defeats KEIICHI YAMADA. Yamada, one of the young lions here in World Wrestling Kingdom, is still in the early stages of his career, however he’s been improving with each and every match. Dynamite is a wily veteran, and he uses his experience to draw Yamada into making mistakes early, which DK is then quick to capitalize on!
Late in the match, Yamada gets some offence in, but it’s not enough to turn the tide of the match, and Dynamite Kid gets the win soon after, hitting the snap suplex, followed by the diving headbutt from the top rope for the 1, 2, 3!
TATSUMI FUJINAMI defeats TIGER JEET SINGH. Singh is a wildman, as he makes his way to the ring, he chases fans, swinging his sword around! Tiger attacks Fujinami before the bell, and batters Tatsumi, using the handle of his sword! Tiger then pulls off the shirt he wore to the ring, and uses it to choke Fujinami!
The referee finally separates the two, and the bell sounds to officially start the match. Tiger continues to pummel Fujinami, kicking and stomping him, until Fujinami grabs Tiger’s leg, and pulls it out from under him. Fujinami goes on the offensive, hitting Tiger with forearms and elbows!
Fujinami methodically wears Singh down over the next few minutes, but Tiger rakes the eyes to stop Fujinami in his tracks! Singh goes back on the offensive, but it’s short-lived, as he attempts to whip Fujinami into the ropes, Tatsumi reverses it, and as Singh rebounds off the ropes, Fujinami hits him with a standing dropkick!
Fujinami gets the win soon after, hitting Singh with the Dragon Suplex for the 1, 2, 3!
Wakabayashi and Yamada talk about the King’s Road League tournament that will start on October 2 at Korakuen Hall. The tournament will run until October 31 at Nippon Budokan, where the wrestler with the most points in Block A will face the wrestler with the most points in Block B to determine the WWK World champion! If two wrestlers in the same block are tied in points at the end, whichever wrestler won the match between them will move on to the final. If the match between them was a draw, then they’ll wrestle each other again in a semi final to determine who will advance.
The following wrestlers will take part in the tournament:
BLOCK A:
GENICHIRO TENRYU!
ANTONIO INOKI!
ASHURA HARA!
STAN HANSEN!
SCOTT HALL!
DINO BRAVO!
BLOCK B:
TATSUMI FUJINAMI!
RIKI CHOSHU!
YOSHIAKI YATSU!
TIGER JEET SINGH!
DICK SLATER!
JIM NEIDHART!
Before the next match, we go to the dressing room area, where Tatsumi Fujinami has approached Antonio Inoki, his mentor, and offered his help, should Inoki need it, against Genichiro Tenryu and Riki Choshu.
ANTONIO INOKI defeats DICK SLATER. Slater shows off his mat wrestling skills here, as he goes hold for hold with Inoki early on, giving the legend all he can handle. Slater controls most of the early going, and it looks like he may be on his way to victory, but Inoki gradually turns the tables, finally hitting Slater with an Enziguri that knocks Slater senseless. Moments later, Inoki applies his Octopus Hold for the submission victory.
An ad airs for upcoming shows in the next tour, “King’s Road Series ‘87”. We see clips of some of the wrestlers that will be in action during the tour, as well as a list of the following shows:
October 2 the tour kicks off at the Ota Ward Gymnasium in Tokyo, for a TV taping!
October 3 in Komoro, Nagano prefecture!
October 4 in Isesaki, Gumna prefecture!
October 5 in Kashima, Ibaraki prefecture at the Kashima Municipal Gymnasium!
October 6 in Tokyo at Korakuen Hall for a TV taping!
October 8 in Shiogama, Miyagi prefecture!
October 9 in Morioka, Iwate prefecture!
Before we go to the main event, Wakabayashi and Yamada talk about a big show coming up on November 7 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The World Wrestling Kingdom is calling this “Fan Appreciation night”, and though no matches have been officially signed yet, they do know that International champion Rick Martel will be on hand to defend his title, as will All-Asia champion Kintaro Ohki!
STAN HANSEN & TED DIBIASE defeat TIGER MASK II & YOSHIAKI YATSU. Tiger Mask II and Yatsu make for an extremely popular team among the Japanese fans. TM2 is only 5 or 6 years into his career, but has already made a big impression with the fans, and Yatsu is well respected as a former Olympian. Hansen and Dibiase, on the other hand, are more feared than admired by the fans, but they respect them nonetheless.
Hansen and Dibiase make a very tough team, Hansen with his straight ahead, brawling style, and Dibiase can match holds with the very best wrestlers on the mat, and brawl with them as well when he needs to.
Hansen and Yatsu start things off, with Hansen tearing into the former Olympian with clubbing blows! With Yatsu on the mat, Hansen hits a big kneedrop, and very nearly wins the match right there! Yatsu manages to get a shoulder up at the very last second, but Hansen continues to pummel him.
When Hansen tags Dibiase in, Yatsu also makes the tag, and we’re treated to fast-paced wrestling clinic with Dibiase and Tiger Mask II! Neither man can get much of an advantage, as the other seems to have a counter for everything. Tiger Mask tags Yatsu back in, and Yatsu gets the upper hand on Dibiase, taking him down to the mat and working on his arm. Dibiase turns the tables, when Yatsu applies a side headlock, Dibiase lifts him up and delivers a back suplex!
Dibiase, while holding on Yatsu, tags Hansen back in, and Hansen picks up where he left off earlier, pummeling Yatsu! Hansen focuses on Yatsu’s arm and shoulder, and a moment later when the fight moves to the floor, Hansen runs Yatsu shoulder-first into the ringpost! Back inside, he continues the assault, focused on the shoulder of the Olympian. Moments later, Yatsu rolls out to the floor trying to create some space between himself and Hansen. Unfortunately for him, Dibiase jumps down off the apron, and while Hansen distracts referee Joe Higuchi, Dibiase attacks Yatsu, wrapping his arm around the guardrail and kicking at his shoulder! Dibiase then rolls Yatsu back inside where Hansen is waiting!
For the next few minutes, Hansen and Dibiase tag in and out, keeping Yatsu in their corner, continuing to work on Yatsu’s shoulder. Yatsu tries to make a comeback, and hits Dibiase with a clothesline . . . with his injured arm, and seems to do more damage to himself than to Dibiase! Dibiase shakes it off, and continues the onslaught, until Yatsu drives his knee into Dibiase’s midsection several times, then bounces off the ropes and hits a jumping knee. This gives Yatsu the time he needs to tag Tiger Mask in, and the masked man goes right at Dibiase, putting him on the mat with a standing dropkick!
This gives TM2 and Yatsu the opportunity to take control of the match, and they spend the next few minutes tagging in and out, keeping Dibiase in their half of the ring while they work him over.
Dibiase eventually makes the tag to Hansen, who eats a dropkick from Tiger Mask as soon as he climbs into the ring! Despite that, Hansen soon turns the tables, and he and Dibiase double-team Tiger Mask until Yatsu comes in to help his tag team partner. Now we’ve got all four men in the ring together!
Joe Higuchi gets order restored, and we’re back to Dibiase and Tiger Mask II in the ring. At one point, the two men trade chops in the middle of the ring, with Dibiase getting the better of that exchange. Hansen tags in, and continues to punish TM2, until the masked man is able to tag out to Yatsu. The Olympian comes in and takes Hansen’s legs out from under him, then works him over on the mat, but when he goes for a Boston Crab, Dibiase is back in to break that up with a vicious chop to Yatsu’s chest, leaving a red welt on Yatsu’s chest!
Yatsu tags Tiger Mask in, and the masked man immediately heads to the top rope. As Hansen slowly gets back to his feet, Tiger Mask catches him with a picture-perfect Sunset Flip from the top rope! It’s a VERY close nearfall, but Hansen gets a shoulder up. Tiger Mask puts Hansen back on the mat with a dropkick, then heads to the top rope again! TM2 connects with a crossbody off the top . . . but Hansen rolls through it, and he ends up on top of Tiger Mask in a pinning predicament! Tiger Mask is caught off guard, but manages to get the shoulder up at the last second! Hansen bounces off the ropes and drops an elbow on TM, then covers him, but Yatsu breaks it up by kicking Hansen in the back of the head!
This brings Dibiase back in, and once again we’ve got all four guys in the ring! Dibiase throws Yatsu to the floor, and follows him out, while Hansen continues to pummel Tiger Mask inside the ring. Tiger Mask tries to fight back and gets in a few shots on Hansen, knocking the Texan to his knees.
Tiger Mask II then runs the ropes, but Hansen is back up, he charges forward as TM is rebounding off the ropes . . . LARIATOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Tiger Mask hits the mat like a ton of bricks, and Hansen covers him for the 1, 2, 3!!!
Wakabayashi and Yamada wrap things up, and hype next week’s show.
Credits Roll
© 1987, World Wrestling Kingdom
Working on it now.