WWK TV 6-11-88 The King's Road League continues!

[Chitohausen]

World Wrestling Kingdom, Lord James Blears; Chairman


Airs across Japan on Saturday, June 11, 1988 on:




Taped on May 31, 1988 at the Prefectural Gymnasium in Akita, Japan



Announcers: Kenji Wakabayashi and Kotetsu Yamamoto
Ring Announcer: Takashi Yamada
Referees: Tiger Hattori, Joe Higuchi, Kyohei Wada



KENJI WAKABAYASHI and KOTETSU YAMAMOTO open the show.


They welcome us to this week’s episode of the World Wrestling Kingdom!

We have four big matches set to take place today! Dick Slater is back, and he’ll square off with Shinichi Nakano!

Match #4 of the Best of 5 series between the Can-Am Connection and Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi will take place today! The Can-Ams are leading the series 2 matches to 1, so if they win here today, they will become the All Asia tag team champions! Misawa and Kobashi are no doubt going to look to stop that from happening!

Two more King’s Road League matches will take place today. The first will see Genichiro Tenryu face the Russian Bear, Ivan Koloff!

And, the main event will see two former World heavyweight champions square off, as former AWA champ Jumbo Tsuruta meets former NWA champ Dory Funk Jr!

We have to wonder what kind of shape Jumbo Tsuruta will be in after being POWERBOMBED on the arena floor last week by Genichiro Tenryu! That move inside the ring is enough to knock a wrestler nearly unconscious, just imagine the damage that could be done by delivering the move onto the hard, unforgiving cement floor!

Jumbo’s doctor has apparently cleared him to compete this week, but one has to wonder what kind of shape will he be in?


“DIRTY” DICK SLATER beats SHINICHI NAKANO. Slater picks up the win in this hard-fought match, when he drops Nakano with a Double-Arm Suplex for the pinfall.



Wakabayashi and Yamamoto discuss the Best of 5 Series that has been going on between the Can-Am Connection of Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat, and another young team, Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi.

VTR: Can-Ams vs Misawa/Kobashi, 5-21-88, JIP:
These two teams are pretty evenly-matched. Misawa and Kroffat are in the “big brother” role here, as they both have a few years experience on their tag team partners. Kobashi, as the most inexperienced participant in the match, spends most of his time in the ring getting worked over by the Can-Ams, but every so often, he’ll get some offence in.

In the end, while Kobashi ties up Furnas, Misawa hits Kroffat with a vicious elbow, and then connects with the Tiger Suplex ’85 for the 1, 2, 3!
END VTR

Misawa and Kobashi took the early lead in the series with that win, but the following week the two teams met again, and things didn’t go quite as planned for the young Japanese team . . .

VTR: Can-Ams vs Misawa/Kobashi, 5-28-88, JIP:
Late in the match, Kobashi is getting double-teamed by the Can-Ams, so Misawa comes in to help out his partner. The referee tries to break up the melee, and Furnas leaves the ring first. While the referee is telling Misawa to go back to his corner, with his back to the action, Kobashi rolls Kroffat up in an inside cradle. However, the referee still has his back to the action, and Furnas comes in, delivers a vicious kick to Kobashi’s head, then rolls them over, so that Kroffat now has Kobashi’s shoulders down!

Unfortunately for Kobashi and Misawa, that’s when the referee decides to turn his attention back to the action, sees Kobashi’s shoulders down, and makes the 3-count!

Kroffat and Furnas pick up the, albeit tainted, victory here, and the series is tied up at 1 win each!
END VTR

With the series tied up at one win apiece, the third match took place on last week’s show . . .

VTR: Can-Ams vs Misawa/Kobashi, 6-4-88, JIP:
The Can-Ams take the lead in this series, as they pick up the win here. The action was fast and furious, and could have gone either way, but in the end, Kenta Kobashi was counted out, after being run into the ringpost by Furnas.
END VTR

Wakabayashi says that the Can-Ams are now one win away from becoming the All Asia tag team champions, so it’s do-or-die time for Misawa and Kobashi here today!


BEST OF 5 SERIES, MATCH #4:
MITSUHARU MISAWA & KENTA KOBASHI defeat THE CAN-AM CONNECTION: DAN KROFFAT & DOUG FURNAS. Misawa, the more experienced of the two young Japanese stars, plays the “big brother” role to Kobashi in this one. Kobashi takes a tremendous amount of punishment throughout the match, with Misawa coming in to make the save. When Misawa tags in, he goes hold for hold with both Kroffat and Furnas.

Late in the match, Kobashi is back in, and he’s being pummeled by the gaijin team. The Can-Ams constantly distract the referee, allowing the non-legal man to get some shots in. At one point, Kobashi is able to make the hot tag, but thanks to Kroffat distracting the ref, he didn’t see it, and Misawa is forced back to his corner!

Misawa makes save after save for Kobashi, usually getting there in the nick of time, just a split second before the referee’s hand hits the mat for the third time!

Misawa finally gets the hot tag, and he comes in like a tornado, tearing into both Furnas and Kroffat! After sending Kroffat through the ropes with a dropkick, Misawa stuns Furnas with a vicious rolling elbow, then drives Furnas into the mat with the TIGER DRIVER for the pinfall!

Misawa and Kobashi have tied the series up again, at two wins each, and now the fifth and final match will take place at “Night of Champions” on June 15 at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo!



Before we get to the King’s Road League matches, Wakabayashi and Yamamoto talk about some league matches that took place during the past week at non-televised events.

We see short clips from the following shows:

From June 4 in Minowa, Nagano, where Steve Williams picked up two more points when he beat Abdullah the Butcher by DQ.

From June 5 in Choshi, Chiba, where Bad News Allen picked up his first two points of the tournament, defeating Abdullah the Butcher via Count-Out. The men battled on the floor, hitting each other with whatever they could get their hands on! The referee reached 19 in his count, and Allen then slammed Abby’s head into the ringpost, and rolled back into the ring, just in time to beat the count.

On June 8, WWK was in Nakano, Nagano. Steve Williams pinned Mighty Inoue after the Oklahoma Stampede, and Dory Funk Jr battled Bad News Allen to a Double Count-Out, so neither man got any points in the league.

And, June 10 in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki, Bruiser Brody pinned Bad News Allen after the jumping kneedrop off the ropes.


KING’S ROAD LEAGUE:
GENICHIRO TENRYU (11 points) beats “THE RUSSIAN BEAR” IVAN KOLOFF (2 points). Tenryu might not be the fans’ favourite wrestler right now, after the dastardly attack last week on Jumbo Tsuruta, that sent Tsuruta out on a stretcher, but he gets his fair share of cheers here against the gaijin Koloff.

After a brutal, hard-hitting match, Tenryu gets the win when he drives Koloff into the mat with the Folding Powerbomb for the 1, 2, 3!



Before we go to the final match, Wakabayashi and Yamamoto discuss the attack by Tenryu on Tsuruta last week.

VTR: Tsuruta vs Tenryu, 6-4-88, JIP:
Tsuruta catches Tenryu with the jumping knee to the face as Tenryu comes off the ropes. From there, Jumbo hoists him up and delivers the Backdrop Suplex, driving Tenryu into the mat for the 1, 2, 3!

As Tsuruta is getting his hand raised, Tenryu attacks him from behind!!!! Tenryu delivers an Enziguri that stuns Tsuruta, and Genichiro then dropkicks him, sending Jumbo tumbling through the ropes and to the floor!

Outside the ring, Tenryu slams Tsuruta head-first into the ringpost, busting him wide open . . . then delivers the Folding Powerbomb ON THE ARENA FLOOR!!!!!

The crowd in the arena is shocked, as Tsuruta is down on the floor, and he’s not moving! The referee calls for medical personnel, as Tenryu spits on Tsuruta, and heads to the locker room!

What a disgusting display by Genichiro Tenryu!!!!
END VTR


KING’S ROAD LEAGUE:
DORY FUNK JR (4 points) beats JUMBO TSURUTA (14 points). Tsuruta is clearly not 100% here, in this battle of former World champions. There’s times he seems dizzy, and just isn’t his usual self here.

Funk, despite a look of concern on his face at the beginning, knows that every match in this tournament is extremely important, and he doesn’t hold back at all. He takes advantage of every misstep by Tsuruta, and in the end, it pays off for him. Tsuruta tries to go for a Powerbomb, but as he gets Dory up, he seems to get dizzy, and stumbles backwards, falling to the mat, with Dory landing on top of him! Funk quickly hooks the leg, and gets the 1, 2, 3!

Afterwards, Funk checks on Tsuruta, helping him to his feet, and the two men shake hands.



After Funk gets his hand raised, and leaves the ring, Tsuruta takes the house mic.

Jumbo says that Tenryu tried to cripple him last week with the Powerbomb on the arena floor, but Jumbo is still here! He says that he may not have been at his best today, but he promises Tenryu that the next time they meet in the ring, he will be at 100%, and he will pay Tenryu back!


We see a graphic on the screen:

KING’S ROAD LEAGUE STANDINGS:

Jumbo Tsuruta (14 points)

Genichiro Tenryu (11 points)

Tatsumi Fujinami (11 points)

Steve Williams (10 points)

Bruiser Brody (10 points)

Dory Funk Jr (4 points)

Ivan Koloff (2 points)

Abdullah the Butcher (2 points)

Bad News Allen (2 points)

Mighty Inoue (0 points)


Wakabayashi and Yamamoto wrap things up, and hype next week’s show.


Credits Roll



© 1988, World Wrestling Kingdom