Japan TV 2-5-88 Fujinami/Inoki vs Tenryu/Choshu!
Feb 16, 2022 16:00:37 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Feb 16, 2022 16:00:37 GMT
World Wrestling Kingdom; Lou Thesz, Chairman
Airs on Saturday, February 5, 1988 on:
Taped: January 24 at the City Gymnasium in Fuji, Shizuoka, Japan
Announcers: Kenji Wakabayashi and Kotetsu Yamamoto
Ring Announcer: Takashi Yamada
Referees: Tiger Hattori, Joe Higuchi, and Kyohei Wada
The opening credits roll, over a clip from last week’s show:
Finally, with Misawa in a bad way, Tenryu wants in, and he goes to work on Misawa, but Mitsu quickly turns the tables, tearing into Tenryu with vicious knife-edged chops, and then charges at Tenryu and hits an absolutely BRUTAL elbow shot! That puts Tenryu flat on his back on the mat, and the only thing that saved a three-count was Saito breaking up the count! Tenryu tags out immediately after that, and Saito goes back on the offensive, pummeling Misawa, until Super Tiger tags in.
They continue to go back and forth, but neither team can put the other away. They reach the 20-minute time limit with a winner, and the match is declared a draw!
KENJI WAKABAYASHI and KOTETSU YAMAMOTO open the show.
They welcome us to this week’s edition of World Wrestling Kingdom!
This week, Shinya Hashimoto’s 5-match Trial Series continues as he faces Cowboy Bob Orton Jr! So far Hashimoto has lost all the trial matches, we’ll see if he can turn things around against the double-tough American!
Bad News Allen and Jim Neidhart take on Giant Baba and former sumo turned pro wrestler, Isao Takagi!
Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshiaki Yatsu team up to face Dynamite Kid and Fit Finlay!
And, our feature bout will see mentor and protégé, Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami, team up to face All Asia champion Genichiro Tenryu and Riki Choshu!
SHINYA HASHIMOTO 5-MATCH TRIAL SERIES
MATCH #4:
SHINYA HASHIMOTO defeats BOB ORTON JR. Hashimoto picks up the first win of this proving series, when, after about 10 minutes of back and forth action, he plants Orton with a DDT and gets the 1, 2, 3!
MITSUHARU MISAWA & YOSHIAKI YATSU defeat DYNAMITE KID & FIT FINLAY. Misawa and Yatsu get the win when Misawa hits Finlay with the Tiger Driver for the pinfall victory!
An ad airs for the next WWK tour, the “Hyper Battle!” series, which will kick off on February 20 and run until March 11! Live WWK action can be seen in the following cities as part of that tour:
February 20, 1988 the tour begins with a TV taping at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo!
February 21, 1988 at the City Gymnasium in Mooka, Tochigi!
February 22, 1988 in Fukaya, Saitama at the Civic Gymnasium!
February 24, 1988 at the City General Gymnasium in Matsusaka, Mie!
February 25, 1988 in Minokamo, Gifu at the City Gymnasium!
February 26, 1988 in Ritto, Shiga at the Townsman Gymnasium!
February 27, 1988 in Okazaki, Aichi at the City Gymnasium for a TV taping!
February 28, 1988 in Shingu, Wakayama at the City General Gymnasium!
Wakabayashi and Yamamoto discuss the “Hyper Battle!” series starting in February, and talk about some of the foreign wrestlers that will appear on the tour! We’ll see Jacques and Raymond Rougeau! High flying Joey Savoldi! Kelly Kiniski, the son of former NWA World heavyweight champ Gene Kiniski! “Soulman” Rocky Johnson!
And, this man . . .
BRUISER BRODY will make his return to Japan for the tour!
BAD NEWS ALLEN & JIM NEIDHART defeat GIANT BABA & ISAO TAKAGI. Baba takes on the former sumo wrestler Takagi as his partner for this match. Takagi is only a couple of years into his pro career, but he’s got a lot of heart, which he shows here! He takes the fight right to Allen and Neidhart at the beginning of the match, and that seems to catch them off guard. He takes Neidhart down to the mat, and drops knees and elbows on him, and even catches Neidhart with a standing dropkick at one point!
However, Neidhart, the wily veteran, lures the inexperienced Takagi into his corner, where he’s then double-teamed by Neidhart and Allen! They tag in and out, keeping Takagi in their corner. But Takagi keeps fighting back, and is able to make the tag to Baba, who comes in and cleans house, hitting both Neidhart and Allen with boots to the jaw that send both men rolling out under the bottom rope and to the floor.
Back inside, Baba has the advantage, until some more double-teaming turns the tables. Baba tags out to Takagi moments later, and Neidhart pummels the youngster, eventually driving him into the mat with an Oklahoma Stampede for the 1, 2, 3!
TATSUMI FUJINAMI & ANTONIO INOKI battle THE REVOLUTION ARMY: GENICHIRO TENRYU & RIKI CHOSHU to a Double Count-out. Fujinami and Inoki have had issues with Tenryu going all the way back to the very first World Wrestling Kingdom show last August. Since then, Tenryu has been joined by Choshu and Masa Saito in the Revolution Army. This match is similar to the rest of the matches when these men are involved. We see plenty of great technical wrestling, but when tempers begin to flare, the match starts to become more of a brawl!
In the end, all four men wind up out on the arena floor, and they continue to fight, completely ignoring the referee’s count. He reaches 20, and both teams have been counted out!
The two teams continue to battle around ringside, and even into the crowd, as the show comes to an end!
Wakabayashi and Yamamoto wrap things up, and hype next week’s show.
Credits Roll
© 1988, World Wrestling Kingdom
Working on it now.