Japan TV 1-22-88 DK & Finlay vs Super Tiger & Fujinami!
Feb 6, 2022 18:28:03 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Feb 6, 2022 18:28:03 GMT
World Wrestling Kingdom; Lou Thesz, Chairman
Airs on Saturday, January 22, 1988 on:
Taped: January 11 at the City Gymnasium in Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan
Announcers: Kenji Wakabayashi and Kotetsu Yamamoto
Ring Announcer: Takashi Yamada
Referees: Tiger Hattori, Joe Higuchi, and Kyohei Wada
The following clip plays over the opening credits:
Dynamite Kid gets the win for his team, hitting Takano with the Diving Headbutt from the top rope for the 1, 2, 3!
After the match, Dynamite Kid gets on the house mic and says that he and Finlay have beaten Tiger two weeks in a row! He says that it doesn’t matter who Tiger gets as his partner, because the fact is, he’s washed up and he’ll never be able to beat Dynamite Kid and Fit Finlay!
DK continues, saying that Super Tiger was once a great wrestler, not as great as him of course, but still pretty great! Now, he’s just a shell of what he used to be, and Dynamite says that Super Tiger is just embarrassing himself and should retire!
Super Tiger goes after Dynamite, and the two men brawl, before their partners and several other wrestlers get in between them!
KENJI WAKABAYASHI and KOTETSU YAMAMOTO open the show.
They welcome us to this week’s edition of World Wrestling Kingdom!
This week, we’ll Brad Armstrong, one of the top junior heavyweights in wrestling today, square off with youngster Kensuke Sasaki!
Jacques and Raymond Rougeau will be here, as they face Akio Sato and Hiroshi Hase!
Bad News Allen and Jim Neidhart will face Shunji Takano and Yoshiaki Yatsu!
Mitsuharu Misawa meets Bob Orton Jr!
Last week, Dynamite Kid said that Super Tiger couldn’t beat him and Fit Finlay, no matter who he had as his partner. We’ll see if that’s true in our feature bout, as DK and Finlay meet Super Tiger and his partner . . . International champion Tatsumi Fujinami!
BRAD ARMSTRONG defeats KENSUKE SASAKI. Sasaki wrestles a power-based style, against Armstrong’s fast, high-risk style. In the end, Armstrong gets the win when he pins Sasaki with a Sunset Flip off the top rope!
JACQUES & RAYMOND ROUGEAU defeat AKIO SATO & HIROSHI HASE. The French Canadian team gets the win when Raymond locks Sato in a Boston Crab, and Jacques comes off the top rope with a kneedrop to the back of Sato’s head! Raymond then pins Sato, while Jacques makes sure Hase doesn’t break up the count.
An ad airs for the “New Year All Star Wars!” tour, which runs until January 28! Live WWK action can be seen in the following cities as part of the tour:
January 24, 1988 in Tono, Iwate at the Citizen Gymnasium!
January 25, 1988 a TV taping at Central Hall in Koriyama, Fukushima!
January 26, 1988 the first of three consecutive nights at Korakuen Hall!
January 27, 1988 a TV taping at Korakuen Hall!
January 28, 1988 the tour ends with a TV taping at Sumo Hall in Tokyo!
Wakabayashi and Yamamoto talk about the next tour, the Big Fight Series, which will run from February 21 until March 6, when World Wrestling Kingdom returns to Nippon Budokan!
We see some clips of some of the foreign talent that will be on the tour. We see clips of former International champ Rick Martel, Dino Bravo, Owen Hart, Brian Pillman and Steve Williams!
Wakabayashi says that Martel lost the International title to Tatsumi Fujinami late last year, and he’s sure that Martel will be looking to regain the belt on this tour!
BAD NEWS ALLEN & JIM NEIDHART defeat SHUNJI TAKANO & YOSHIAKI YATSU. Yatsu, the former Olympic wrestler, teams up with the big 6’7” Takano to face judokan Bad News Allen and Jim Neidhart! The match is pretty even early on, but eventually Neidhart and Allen use their willingness to brawl, and break the rules, to their advantage. They take control of the match, and Bad News nails Takano with a double leg Enziguri for the pinfall victory.
MITSUHARU MISAWA beats BOB ORTON JR. After removing himself from the Tiger Mask II gimmick, Misawa has toned down the high flying moves, and has started to focusing more on mat wrestling and striking. Orton is as technically sound as anyone in the world, and he goes hold for hold with Misawa!
The two men put on a clinic, but as the match progresses, Misawa starts to gain control. He methodically wears Orton down, focusing on Orton’s back and neck. As we near the 20-minute mark of the match, Misawa connects with the Tiger Driver for the pinfall victory!
After getting his hand raised, Misawa asks for the house mic. He says that he was unsuccessful in his challenge for the All Asia title three weeks ago, but he’s still focused on Tenryu and that title, and will continue to work hard so he can earn another shot at the belt. He says that the next time he challenges for it, he will leave as the champion!
Misawa then says that he pinned Tatsumi Fujinami in the Battle Royal two weeks ago, and he hopes to have the opportunity to challenge for Fujinami’s International title down the road as well!
We go to comments from Super Tiger and Tatsumi Fujinami in the locker room. Super Tiger says that Dynamite Kid has always liked to run his mouth, but this week, he and Fujinami are going to shut it for him!
Then we go to Dynamite Kid and Fit Finlay in the gaijin locker room. Dynamite says that he and Finlay aren’t worried. Everyone acts like Fujinami is just the greatest thing the wrestling world has ever seen, but today, he and Finlay will prove that Fuji is nothing but a washed up loser, like Super Tiger!
TATSUMI FUJINAMI & SUPER TIGER defeat DYNAMITE KID & FIT FINLAY. The match is wrestled at a junior heavyweight pace, with plenty of high-flying moves! In the end, Super Tiger pins Finlay with a Tiger Suplex!
Wakabayashi and Yamamoto wrap things up, and hype next week’s show.
Credits Roll
© 1988, World Wrestling Kingdom
Working on it now.