Great Kabuki and Magic Dragon def Gypsy Joe and Goro Tsurumi
I'm surprised that Magic Dragon actually wrestled in Japan. I always thought that WCCW had just put some guy under a mask and pretended he was from Japan to make him appear more exotic at the time. Well, live and learn. I took a look at Gypsy Joe for 1984 and he was an uninspiring 5-27-6 for the year.
Very similar match to last week's match. I thought this match worked a little better because Magic Dragon added some speed and agility to it in spots. I want to call this a feud of sorts for Kabuki but these guys have been so far down the card from where he is that I don't think that's possible. Kabuki finishes them off with a fist drop off the ropes. Overall this is a nothing match. This would be like watching a squash match for a U.S. promotion.
The Japanese commercials are still on these episodes and I just saw John Travolta whoring some Japanese drink.
Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy) def Genichiro Tenryu and Takashi Ishikawa
The Freebirds toss their flowers into the crowd as soon as they receive them to the delight of the crowd. Terry Gordy is a mainstay of All Japan through the 80s and early 90s. He ends up being a 2x Triple Crown Champion and a 7x World Tag Team Champion and three tag league wins under his belt. Stan Hansen is probably one of the only more successful All Japan Gaijins.
Now I really enjoyed this match. They kept a nice pace throughout the match. Terry Gordy and Tenryu in the ring together meant good things here. Ishikawa was the fall guy and took the worst of the beating here. The Freebirds in this time period were a fun team to watch. They know how to double team and how to time hope spots for the other team and when to allow comebacks. Tenryu was a good foil for the Freebirds as he didn't allow them to bully him and he was willing to go toe to toe with Gordy in the ring. We're only two shows in but this is currently my top AJPW match for 1984 and will probably make my notable matches list. I'm sure it's going to fall off of my top match list rather quickly.
NWA International Title Match:
Jumbo Tsuruta (c) def Steve Olsonoski
Olsonoski chalked up singles victories over Ashura Hara and Masanobu Fuchi at non-televised events leading into this championship match with Tsuruta.
This was a pretty good back and forth match. This would be a perfect televised championship defense back in the States around this time. Tsuruta and Olsonoski meshed really well in this match. You never got the feeling that Tsuruta was in any threat of being beaten but that didn't detract from the match. I know Tsuruta is awesome but this match makes me want to see Olsonoski wrestle more on televison. He's a really fun worker. I will probably throw this on my notable matches list because it was a title defense and a fun overall match.
Overall Thoughts:
I thought this was a really good episode. The Freebirds vs. Tenryu/Ishikawa was a really good tag team match that's worth checking out if you can find it and the Tsuruta title defense was an energetic match that showcased both guys pretty well. I also think this was a good follow up to the first episode. That episode introduced you to the main players and this episode threw some good wrestling at you. I'm two episodes in and this has me wanting to watch more episodes.
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