Japan TV 12-18-87 6-man tag tourney semi finals!
Dec 19, 2021 18:52:46 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Dec 19, 2021 18:52:46 GMT
World Wrestling Kingdom; Lou Thesz, Chairman
Airs on Saturday, December 18, 1987 on:
Taped: December 17 at the Koriyama General Gymnasium in Koriyama, Fukushima, 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:
Tiger Mask gets some offence in, but he can’t turn the tables and gain any long-lasting advantage. He gets some shots in, but Choshu quickly fights back and keeps the advantage.
It looks like Choshu is on his way to victory, and Tiger Mask realizes this. As Choshu rushes at the masked man for a Lariat, Tiger Mask ducks it, then when Choshu turns around, Tiger Mask catches him with a dropkick right on the chin! That gives Tiger Mask the break he needs, and he gets his second win as he tears into Choshu!
Now it’s Choshu who can’t seem to turn the tables, and Tiger Mask soon hits him with the Tiger Suplex ’85 for the 1, 2, 3!
KENJI WAKABAYASHI and TAKASHI YAMADA open the show.
They welcome us to this week’s episode of World Wrestling Kingdom!
This week, the Rougeau brothers, Jacques and Raymond, will be in action! We’ll also see Giant Baba and Dory Funk Jr in tag team action!
The semi finals of the World 6-man tag team titles will take place today! The first will see the Revolution Army of Genichiro Tenryu, Masa Saito Riki Choshu face the Three Muskateers, Keiji Mutoh, Masahiro Chono and Shinya Hashimoto!
Then, the People’s Army, Tatsumi Fujinami, Antonio Inoki and Tiger Mask II, will face the Outlaws, Ted Dibiase, Dick Slater and Cowboy Bob Orton Jr!
JACQUES & RAYMOND ROUGEAU beat MIGHTY INOUE & HIROSHI WAJIMA. The Rougeau brothers pick up the win in an action-packed match, when Raymond holds Inoue in a Bearhug, while Jacques delivers a diving clothesline off the top rope! Raymond then pins Inoue for the 1, 2, 3!
An ad airs for the upcoming “New Year All Star Wars!” tour, that will begin on January 2 and run until January 28!
The first part of the tour will hit these venues:
January 2, 1988 the tour kicks off with a TV taping at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall!
January 3, 1988 we’re back at Korakuen Hall for another TV taping!
January 5, 1988 in Matsuyama, Ehime at the Ehime Prefectural Museum!
January 6, 1988 in Oita at the Town Gymnasium!
January 7, 1988 in Ako, Hyogo at the Citizen Gymnasium!
January 8, 1988 in Osaka at the Prefectural Gymnasium!
January 9, 1988 in Minokamo, Gifu at the City Gymnasium!
January 11, 1988 in Toyohashi, Aichi at the City Gymnasium!
January 13, 1988 in Numazu, Shizuoka at the City Gymnasium!
GIANT BABA & DORY FUNK JR beat ASHURA HARA & GORO TSURUMI. Baba and Dory are both considered legends in Japan, and despite both men getting long in the tooth, they make an impressive team! They get the win here, when Baba catches Tsurumi coming off the ropes with a big boot to the jaw for the 1, 2, 3!
After the match, Dory Funk Jr gets on the house mic and talks about facing Stan Hansen for the World heavyweight title on next week’s program. He says that he’s a former World’s champion, and he would like to hold the title one more time before he calls it a career!
We go to pre-recorded comments from WWK World heavyweight champion Stan Hansen. Hansen says that he respects Dory Funk Jr, after all, Dory was involved in training him back in the early 70s. But, this World title means more to him than any respect he might have for Dory, and says that if he has to cripple Funk in order to retain this title, then that’s what he’ll do!
WORLD 6-MAN TAG TEAM TITLE TOURNAMENT:
SEMI FINAL MATCH:
THE REVOLUTION ARMY: GENICHIRO TENRYU & RIKI CHOSHU & MASA SAITO defeat THE THREE MUSKATEERS: KEIJI MUTOH & MASAHIRO CHONO & SHINYA HASHIMOTO. This is a fast-paced, hard-hitting match! Both teams enjoy the advantage at various points in the match, but in the end, it’s the Revolution Army that moves on to the finals, when Tenryu pins Chono with a Folding Powerbomb!
After the match All-Asia heavyweight champion Genichiro Tenryu takes the house mic, and talks about defending his title against Tiger Mask II at the big year end show on December 27 at Osaka-jō Hall! He says that Tiger Mask is a talented young wrestler, but he doesn’t have what it takes to beat him and take this belt!
Wakabayashi and Yamada discuss the December 27 show at Osaka-jō Hall. Wakabayashi says that for those fans around Japan that can’t make it to Osaka for the show, several of the matches will air on the New Year’s Day edition of World Wrestling Kingdom TV!
Not only will Genichiro Tenryu defend the All-Asia heavyweight title on that card against Tiger Mask II, but the main event will feature a Title vs Title match! The winner of next week’s Stan Hansen vs Dory Funk Jr match, will defend the World heavyweight title on December 27 against International heavyweight champion Tatsumi Fujinami!
WORLD 6-MAN TAG TEAM TITLE TOURNAMENT:
SEMI FINAL MATCH:
THE PEOPLE’S ARMY: TATSUMI FUJINAMI & ANTONIO INOKI & TIGER MASK II defeat THE OUTLAWS: TED DIBIASE & DICK SLATER & BOB ORTON JR. The action goes back and forth in this one, and the match really could go either way! In the end, it’s the People’s Army that advances though, when Fujinami pins Bob Orton after a Dragon Suplex!
After the match, Tatsumi Fujinami takes the house mic and says that he has a Title vs Title match coming up on December 27, against either Stan Hansen or Dory Funk Jr, and he wants the fans to come out and support him. Both Hansen and Funk are legends in this sport, and he knows he’ll have his work cut out for him, but with the fans behind him, he’s confident that he’ll prevail!
Tiger Mask II then takes the mic and talks about facing Genichiro Tenryu for the All-Asia heavyweight title on December 27. He says that Tenryu and the rest of the Revolution Army laid him out in the middle of the ring a few weeks ago. Since then, he’s beaten Ashura Hara, Masa Saito and Riki Choshu! He says that he, Fujinami and Inoki will beat the Revolution Army next week in the finals of the World 6-man tag team title tournament, and then on December 27, he’ll take the All-Asia title from Tenryu!
Wakabayashi and Yamada wrap things up, and hype next week’s show, which will feature the finals of the World 6-man tag team title tournament between the Revolution Army and the People’s Army, as well as Stan Hansen making his first defence of the World heavyweight title against the legendary Dory Funk Jr!
Credits Roll
© 1987, World Wrestling Kingdom
Working on it now.