Japan TV 2-12-88 Inoki/Funk vs Tenryu/Choshu!
Feb 17, 2022 15:16:12 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Feb 17, 2022 15:16:12 GMT
World Wrestling Kingdom; Lou Thesz, Chairman
Airs on Saturday, February 12, 1988 on:
Taped: January 28 at the City Gymnasium in Hanamaki, Iwate, 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:
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!
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 ends, as Hash faces Brad Armstrong! Hashimoto won the first match of this series last week when he defeated Bob Orton Jr. Can he finish the series on a high note by beating Brad Armstrong today?
Mitsuharu Misawa squares off with Bob Orton Jr!
Tatsumi Fujinami will team up with youngster Keiji Mutoh against the dominant duo of Bad News Allen and Jim Neidhart!
And, the feature bout will see Genichiro Tenryu and Riki Choshu face two legends, in Antonio Inoki and Dory Funk Jr!
SHINYA HASHIMOTO 5-MATCH TRIAL SERIES
MATCH #5:
SHINYA HASHIMOTO defeats BRAD ARMSTRONG. Hashimoto ends his proving series with his second win, dropping Armstrong with a vicious DDT for the pinfall!
After the match, Hashimoto takes the house mic. He shakes Armstrong’s hand, and thanks him for taking part in the trial series to help him improve. He thanks the fans for supporting him, and says that he will continue to learn and to improve, and he hopes the fans will follow along on the journey with him!
MITSUHARU MISAWA defeats BOB ORTON JR. Misawa has been on a roll since removing his mask, and that continues here. Orton is not only as tough as they come, but there are very few wrestlers on the planet that are as technically skilled as he is.
Orton dominates the early going, keeping Misawa on the mat, and not letting him get any offence going. As the match progresses though, Misawa is able to turn the tables, and gain control of the match. In the end, Misawa stuns Orton with a vicious elbow, then hits the Tiger Suplex ’85 for good measure, and it’s enough to get the 1, 2, 3!
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! Former multiple time World Jr. Heavyweight champion Les Thornton! 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 KEIJI MUTOH & TATSUMI FUJINAMI. Fujinami takes the youngster Mutoh as his partner here. Mutoh puts up a valiant effort, but takes a lot of punishment when he’s in the ring. Several times, Fujinami has to come in to make the save. In the end, Neidhart brawls with Fujinami on the outside, to keep him occupied, while inside the ring, Allen hits Mutoh with the Enziguri for the 1, 2, 3!
We see a video package recapping the ongoing rivalry between the Revolution Army and the likes of Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami and Mitsuharu Misawa.
We see the end of the very first WWK main event, where Inoki and Fujinami defeated Giant Baba and Tenryu, with Tenryu then attacking Baba after the match. From there, we see Tenryu joined in the ring by Riki Choshu and Masa Saito, and announcing the formation of the Revolution Army.
We see Fujinami, Inoki and Misawa, as Tiger Mask II, defeat the Revolution Army in the finals of the World 6-man tag team title tournament to become the first champions.
We see clips of the Revolution Army attacking Tiger Mask II, then the final minutes of the All Asia title match on New Year’s Day, when Misawa lost to Tenryu, then unmasked afterwards.
THE REVOLUTION ARMY: GENICHIRO TENRYU & RIKI CHOSHU defeat ANTONIO INOKI & DORY FUNK JR. Inoki and Funk are both considered legends in the sport, while Tenryu and Choshu are seen by many as extremely talented, but also very brash and arrogant. Funk and Inoki’s best years may be behind them, but they can still go in the ring, and the fans in attendance and watching on NTV are treated to a hard-hitting, action-packed match!
In the end, it’s the Revolution Army that get their hands raised, when Tenryu pins Funk with the Folding Powerbomb!
After the match, Tenryu takes the house mic, and says that everyone calls Inoki and Funk legends, but he and Choshu just beat them, so that makes them legends as well! He says that wrestlers like Inoki, Funk, Fujinami and Giant Baba have had their time in the spotlight, their time has come and gone, now it’s time that the Revolution Army take their rightful place at the top of the mountain!
Wakabayashi and Yamamoto wrap things up, and hype next week’s show.
Credits Roll
© 1988, World Wrestling Kingdom
Working on it now.