Japan TV 2-26-88 Hansen/Brody vs Fujinami/Misawa!
Feb 27, 2022 18:55:43 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Feb 27, 2022 18:55:43 GMT
World Wrestling Kingdom; Lou Thesz, Chairman
Airs on Saturday, February 26, 1988 on:
Taped: February 20 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announcers: Kenji Wakabayashi and Kotetsu Yamamoto
Ring Announcer: Takashi Yamada
Referees: Tiger Hattori, Joe Higuchi, and Kyohei Wada
KENJI WAKABAYASHI and KOTETSU YAMAMOTO open the show.
They welcome us to this week’s edition of World Wrestling Kingdom!
We’ve got a big show lined up today. Young lions Shinya Hashimoto and Toshiaki Kawada team up to face Shiro Koshinaka and Masahiro Chono!
The Rougeau brothers are back for another tour, and they’ll meet Keiichi Yamada and Yoshiaki Yatsu on today’s program!
Antonio Inoki and Dory Funk Jr square off with Genichiro Tenryu and Masa Saito of the Revolution Army!
And, our feature bout, Bruiser Brody makes his return to Japan, teaming with Stan Hansen to face Tatsumi Fujinami and Mitsuharu Misawa!
SHINYA HASHIMOTO & TOSHIAKI KAWADA defeat SHIRO KOSHINAKA & MASAHIRO CHONO. Three of the top young wrestlers in Japan take part in this match. Hashimoto and Kawada wrestle a very physical, hard-hitting style, with plenty of vicious strikes, while Koshinaka and Chono wrestle a more technical, mat-based style. Early on, Koshinaka makes the mistake of trying to match Hashimoto’s style, and takes a beating as a result! Chono tags in and takes Hash to the mat, where they trade holds. When Kawada comes in, he unleashes some brutal kicks that leave Chono on the mat. As Chono gets to his knees, struggling to get to his feet, Kawada delivers a devastating roundhouse kick to Chono’s head, knocking him senseless and Kawada then covers him for the 1, 2, 3!
JACQUES & RAYMOND ROUGEAU defeat KEIICHI YAMADA & YOSHIAKI YATSU. The French Canadian brothers are back for another tour, and they face off with former Olympic wrestler Yatsu and young lion Yamada here. The action goes back and forth, but after about 12 minutes of action, the Rougeaus get the win when Raymond locks Yamada in a Boston Crab, with Jacques then coming off the top rope with a kneedrop to the back of Yamada’s head. Raymond then covers Yamada for the 1, 2, 3 while Jacques keeps Yatsu from breaking up the count!
A video airs, showing the Original Tiger Mask in action!
Wakabayashi and Yamamoto discuss Tiger Mask’s career, saying he’s wrestled all over the world, including some of the most famous venues, like Madison Square Garden in New York City, and Arena Mexico in Mexico City!
On March 11 at the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium, the original Tiger Mask will wrestle his retirement match, against one of his greatest rivals, Black Tiger!
THE REVOLUTION ARMY: GENICHIRO TENRYU & MASA SAITO (w/ Riki Choshu) defeat ANTONIO INOKI & DORY FUNK JR. Tenryu is at his arrogant best here, slapping Inoki across the face as the referee is going over the instructions with both teams in the middle of the ring! This fires Inoki up, and he grabs Tenryu and starts brawling with him! Saito jumps Inoki from behind, but Dory is right there to pull him off of Inoki, and we’ve got all four men brawling in the ring to start!
Things calm down, and Saito and Dory are removed from the ring. Inoki is PISSED, and takes the fight to Tenryu, dominating the early going. He tags out to Dory, and Funk picks up where Inoki left off, working over Tenryu on the mat. Dory looks for the Funk Spinning Toehold early, but Tenryu kicks him off, sending Funk into the Revolution Army’s corner. Saito holds Dory in the corner, while Tenryu gets some shots in, then Saito tags in, and pummels Funk.
Funk turns the tables briefly, but Saito quickly takes over again, forcing Funk back into his and Tenryu’s corner, followed by more double-teaming! Tenryu tags in and continues to work over Funk, taking him to the mat and putting the boots to him. Slowly, Dory again fights back and turns the tide of the match. He goes for a Figure-4 leglock, but Saito is in right away to break that up by dropping an elbow on Funk. Saito and Tenryu double-team him, but Inoki is in, and all four men brawl in the ring again!
Inoki is forced out of the ring, but while that is going on, Tenryu and Saito take the opportunity to double-team Funk. Dory, however, turns it around, and slams their heads together, but when he goes for a Bulldog headlock on Saito, Masa shoves him off . . . and right into a Lariat from Tenryu!
That might have been it, but Inoki is back in to break up the pin attempt! However, while Tenryu and Inoki brawl, Saito drives Funk into the mat with the Saito Suplex, and covers him for the 1, 2, 3!
After the match, Riki Choshu joins his stablemates in the ring.
Tenryu takes the house mic and says that the Revolution Army is unstoppable! He says that they are growing, and calls the newest members to join them in the ring.
Shinya Hashimoto and Toshiaki Kawada who were at ringside for the bout, climb into the ring and join Tenryu, Choshu and Saito!
Tenryu says that the five of them together, are the strongest in World Wrestling Kingdom and they will rule the promotion!
An ad airs for the “Hyper Battle!” series, going on now, and running until March 11! Live WWK action can be seen in the following cities as part of that tour:
Tonight, 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!
Mar 1, 1988 in Kushimoto, Wakayama at the Municipal Gymnasium!
Mar 3, 1988 in Minamiashigara, Kanagawa at the City General Gymnasium!
Mar 4, 1988 in Fukushima at the City Gymnasium!
Mar 5, 1988 in Akita at the City Gymnasium for a TV taping! This show will see Genichiro Tenryu and Riki Choshu meet Stan Hansen and Bruiser Brody!
Mar 6, 1988 in Misawa, Aomori at the City General Gymnasium!
Mar 7, 1988 in Mizusawa, Iwate at the City Cultural Gymnasium!
Mar 9, 1988 in Tokyo at Korakuen Hall for a TV taping! The main event will see Tatsumi Fujinami, Antonio Inoki and Dory Funk Jr face Genichiro Tenryu, Shinya Hashimoto and Toshiaki Kawada!
Mar 10, 1988 in Kimitsu, Chiba at the Citizen Gymnasium!
Mar 11, 1988 in Yokohama, Kanagawa at the Cultural Gymnasium for a TV taping! This show will see the original Tiger Mask’s retirement match against Black Tiger, as well as a Title vs Title match between WWK champion Stan Hansen and All Asia champion Genichiro Tenryu!
STAN HANSEN & BRUISER BRODY defeat TATSUMI FUJINAMI & MITSUHARU MISAWA. Fujinami and Hansen start. They tie up, with Hansen backing Fuji into the corner. He lands some clubbing forearms across Fuji’s chest, but Fujinami fires back with some elbow strikes of his own. They tie up again, and this time, Hansen forces Fuji back into the gaijin corner, with Brody getting some shots in while Hansen pummels Fujinami. Hansen sends Fuji into the ropes and then hits a back elbow, putting Fujinami flat on the mat.
Over the next few minutes, Fuji battles back, and gets a headlock on Brody, then tagging Misawa in. Misawa applies his own headlock, but Brody quickly shoots Misawa off into the ropes, and after rebounding off the ropes, Misawa eats a big boot from Brody!
The next few minutes see Brody and Hansen manhandle Misawa, and give him a brutal beating. Fujinami plays the “big brother” role, coming in to make the save several times when Misawa finds himself in trouble. After taking an incredible amount of punishment, Misawa is FINALLY able to make the hot tag to Fuji, and the Korakuen Hall fans go crazy as Fuji comes in and tears into Hansen, stunning the big Texan with several forearm and elbow strikes!
Fujinami has the advantage, until Hansen backs him into the gaijin corner, with Brody catching Fuji with a shot to the head from the ring apron, stunning the International champion. Hansen follows it up with a vicious knee to the face that leaves Fujinami laid out on the mat. Brody tags in, and as Fujinami gets back to his feet, Brody chops him in the throat, putting him right back down on the mat! Moments later, Fujinami is back up, but he’s shot into the ropes, and Brody nails him with a standing dropkick! Brody covers Fuji, but only gets 2!
Brody makes a mistake though, after sending Fuji into the ropes again, he telegraphs a backdrop, and Fujinami kicks him in the head! Fuji hits a gutwrench suplex, but when he goes for the cover, Brody kicks out before the referee even has a chance to count to 1! Fuji tags in Misawa, and then whip Brody into the ropes, hitting a double dropkick for a very close nearfall!
Brody turns the tables, raking Misawa’s eyes, and then hitting a running kick to the side of Misawa’s head. Hansen tags back in, and he continues to pummel Misawa, delivering elbows, kicks, and clubbing forearms! As Hansen goes to pull Misawa up off the mat, Misawa surprises him, rolling Hansen up in a small package for a very close 2-count! Hansen is really pissed off now, even more than usual, and pummels Misawa some more, before tagging Brody back in.
Hansen backs Misawa into the corner, and delivers some brutal forearms down across Misawa’s chest! Hansen then sends Misawa into the ropes and hits a back elbow. Misawa rolls to his corner, and tags in Fujinami, who goes on the offensive and actually has Hansen reeling after some elbow strikes, but Hansen tags Brody in. Brody immediately goes on the offensive, pummeling Fujinami. Moments later, Misawa tags back in, and immediately heads to the top rope, delivering a flying bodypress! Brody crashes to the mat, with Misawa on top of him in a pinning predicament, but Hansen is in with a boot to the head of Misawa to break that up!
Fujinami comes in, and goes after Hansen, while Brody puts the boots to Misawa. Hansen knocks Fujinami out of the ring, then Brody whips Misawa into the ropes . . . and Hansen runs him over with the LARIATOOOOOOO!!!! Brody is the legal man, and he bounces off the ropes, jumps up, and delivers a kneedrop to the head of Misawa for the 1, 2, 3!
Wakabayashi and Yamamoto wrap things up, and hype next week’s show.
Credits Roll
© 1988, World Wrestling Kingdom
Working on it now.