WWK TV 7-2-88 Hansen/Brody vs Tsuruta/Tenta!
Jul 1, 2022 18:12:04 GMT
Post by Chitohausen on Jul 1, 2022 18:12:04 GMT
World Wrestling Kingdom, Lord James Blears; Chairman
Airs across Japan on Saturday, July 2, 1988 on:
Taped on July 1, 1988 at the Citizen Gymnasium in Omiya, Saitama, 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!
Four matches will take place this week! Two up and coming wrestlers will square off as Toshiaki Kawada meets Kenta Kobashi!
The Young Gunns, Shane Douglas and Johnny Gunn are in Japan for this tour, and on today’s show they’ll meet the veteran duo of Mighty Inoue and Isamu Teranishi!
Tatsumi Fujinami teams up with former NWA World heavyweight champion Dory Funk Jr to meet the European team of Fit Finlay and Mark Rocco!
And, we’ll get our very first look at former Sumo star John Tenta, as he teams up with Jumbo Tsuruta in our feature bout against destruction personified, the monster duo of Stan Hansen and Bruiser Brody!
We see footage of John Tenta as a sumo wrestler.
We then go to Tenta in the dressing room. Tenta says that his love has always been pro wrestling, that’s why he left the world of sumo, and joined the World Wrestling Kingdom. He hopes that the Japanese fans will continue to support him, like they did when he was in sumo.
TOSHIAKI KAWADA beats KENTA KOBASHI. These two young warriors battle tooth and nail here. The momentum goes back and forth, both men get in plenty of offense, but in the end, it’s Kawada getting his hand raised after driving Kobashi into the mat with the Backdrop Suplex for the 1, 2, 3!
THE YOUNG GUNNS: SHANE DOUGLAS & JOHNNY GUNN beat MIGHTY INOUE & ISAMU TERANISHI. The young gaijin team doesn’t have the experience of their opponents, but they work extremely well together, using quick tags to keep the fresh man in the ring. In the end, Gunn hoists Inoue up in a sitting position on Gunn’s shoulders, with Douglas then hitting a dropkick off the top rope! Gunn then covers Inoue for the 1, 2, 3!
Wakabayashi and Yamamoto talk about the final match of the Best of 5 Series that took place last week between the Can-Am Connection and Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi, where the winning team would be declared the All Asia tag team champions.
VTR: Can-Ams vs Misawa/Kobashi, 6-25-88, JIP:
Kroffat goes to work on Kobashi, but Kenta battles back, connecting with a big elbow that stuns Kroffat. Kobashi then climbs up, standing on the middle turnbuckle, facing Kroffat, but out of view of the referee, Furnas clocks Kobashi in the back of the head! Kobashi stumbles, falling from the turnbuckle, and he’s met with a kick to the head from Kroffat!
Kroffat then pulls the stunned Kobashi up, turns so that they’re facing Misawa . . . and Kroffat then drives Kobashi into the mat with Misawa’s Tiger Driver!!!
Kroffat covers Kobashi, Misawa jumps into the ring, but Furnas cuts him off, stopping Misawa from breaking up the cover. Kobashi can’t kick out, and Kroffat gets the 1, 2, 3!
The Can-Am Connection have become the All Asia tag team champions!
END VTR
We go to the Can-Am Connection: Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas in the locker room. They gloat about winning the titles, saying that Misawa and Kobashi didn’t stand a chance! Kroffat says that Misawa and Kobashi can’t beat them, other teams like Kawada and Hashimoto can’t beat them, he wonders if there’s anyone in Japan who can take these belts from them?
Furnas says not only is there no team in Japan that can take these belts, he doubts there’s anyone that can even give them a tough match!
They laugh and continue to gloat, while running down all the other wrestlers in the WWK.
TATSUMI FUJINAMI & DORY FUNK JR beat FIT FINLAY & MARK ROCCO. This match goes about 15 minutes, but is edited down to just over 12 minutes for TV. Things are pretty evenly-matched here. Finlay and Rocco are both junior heavyweights, and wrestle at a quick pace. Fujinami was a top junior heavyweight for many years before moving up to the heavyweight division, but he can still wrestle that style if need be. In the end, Fujinami and Funk get the win when Fujinami hits Finlay with the Dragon Suplex for the 1, 2, 3!
Before we go to the main event, Wakabayashi and Yamamoto talk about what’s gone down recently between Jumbo Tsuruta and his former friend and tag team partner Genichiro Tenryu.
VTR: Tsuruta vs Tenryu, 6-4-88, JIP:
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!
END VTR
The two men ended up with the most points in the King’s Road League, so they met again in the finals three weeks later!
VTR: Tsuruta vs Tenryu, 6-25-88, JIP:
Tsuruta is FIRED UP after being attacked by Tenryu three weeks ago! He tears into Tenryu early, and dominates the early going. Tenryu battles back, and the momentum shifts several times. Both men hit their big moves throughout the match, but can’t put the other away!
In the end, Tenryu catches Tsuruta with three Enziguris in quick succession, then hoists Tsuruta up, and drives him into the mat with the Folding Powerbomb!
Jumbo can’t kick out, and Genichiro Tenryu gets the 3-count to win the King’s Road League, and become the inaugural King’s Crown champion!!!
END VTR
Wakabayashi says that on next week’s show, Tsuruta and Tenryu will be on opposite sides of a 6-man tag team match!
BRUISER BRODY & STAN HANSEN defeat JUMBO TSURUTA & JOHN TENTA. We see about 17 minutes of this 20+ minute match on TV. Tsuruta and Tenta are two of the few people in wrestling with the size and power to match Hansen and Brody! Despite that, the gaijins control a good chunk of the match, and they get the win when Hansen drops Tenta with a vicious Western Lariat for the 1, 2, 3!
Wakabayashi and Yamamoto wrap things up, and hype next week’s show.
Credits Roll
© 1988, World Wrestling Kingdom
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