WE LOVE PRO WRESTLING!

Andre the Giant and Ric Flair 

Early 1980s in Japan

WE LOVE PRO WRESTLING!

Mil Mascaras and Andre The Giant 

International Match of the Day

NWA International Tag Team Championship

All Japan Pro Wrestling

April 3rd 1985

Yamagata,  Japan

(Champions)

Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu

vs

Stan Hansen and Ron Bass

Razor and Undertaker (1990)

This past weekend 2 men were making news, first was Scott Hall with his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame as his Razor Ramon persona and then The Undertaker who made news with the end of his legendary "streak of wins" at Wrestlemania.

Here are both men in a tag team

1990 

Tokyo, Japan 

 Shinya Hasimoto and Masa Saito

vs

Scott Hall and Punisher Dice Morgan.

Match of the Day (Andre vs Stan Hansen)

May 18th 1979

Niigata, Japan

Andre the Giant

vs

Stan Hansen

(with Freddie Blassie)

NWA World Heavyweight Title November 7th 1979

November 7th 1979, Harley Race would face japanese legend and NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Giant Baba in a rematch for the NWA World Heavyweight Title.  Race lost the title 7 days earlier to Baba in Nagoya, Japan.  This time they met in Amagasaki, Japan with the belt on the line.

Harley Race would hold the belt for 302 days, from November 7th 1979 to September 4th 1980 when he again would lose the belt to Giant Baba, this time in Saga, Japan.  Baba would be World champion for 5 days this time and Race would win back the belt on September 9th in Otsu, Japan.

Match of the Night (Terry Funk vs Jumbo Tsuruta)

NWA World Heavyweight Title

June 17th 1976

Tokyo Japan

(2 out of 3 falls)

Terry Funk

NWA World Heavyweight Champion

vs

Jumbo Tsuruta

Today in Wrestling History (Stan Hansen)

Today in 1988 - Stan 'The Lariat' Hansen defeats Genichiro Tenryu to win the NWA United National Championship & the PWF World Heavyweight Championship. 

This would be the final reigns for both titles before being unified with the NWA International Heavyweight Championship and forming the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship

Today in Wrestling History (05/27/2013)

1988 - Owen Hart defeats Hiroshi Hase in Sendai, Japan to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title. 

1996 - One of the most famous moments in modern wrestling history takes place, as Scott Hall (Razor Ramon), fresh from his stint in WWF, shows up during the first-ever two hour edition of WCW Monday Nitro, entering from the crowd and informing Eric Bischoff that he was there to "declare war" on WCW. This was the beginning of what would become the New World Order. 

Match of the Night (Mil Mascaras/Dos Caras)

Mil Mascaras and Dos Caras

vs

Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta

Tokyo, Japan

1979

Match of the Night (Dynamite Kid vs Tiger Mask II)

Hokkaido - Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center

11/27/1985

Tiger Mask II (Mitsuharu Misawa) 

vs

Dynamite Kid

Tag Team Match of the Day (Road Warriors vs The Funks)

October 19th 1985

Tokyo, Japan

The Road Warriors

vs 

Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr.

(the Warriors were Gods in Japan at this time)

Match of the Day (Sammartino vs Baba 1968)

In this rare footage, WWWF Champion Bruno Sammartino ventures to Japan to face Shohei "Giant"  Baba.

August 7th 1968

Match of the Night (Young Andre the Giant)

IWE

(International Wrestling Enterprise)

Shibukawa City Gymnasium

May 2nd 1972

Japan

A 6 man take team match that included a 25 year old Andre the Giant (then billed as Monster Roussimoff)

Champion vs Champion 1985

NWA vs AWA

The first ever World Title Unification Match between the NWA and AWA World Heavyweight Singles Champions

October 21st 1985

Japan

Ric Flair

NWA World Champion

vs

Rick Martel

AWA World Champion

its so nice to see champions show class and come to the ring with no loud music or explosions and not grabbing a microphone to run his mouth for 20 minutes before the match starts.

Match of the Night

1981 

Mil Mascaras

vs 

Ricky Steamboat

Japan

Your Tag Team Match of The Day (Title Match)

AJPW Unified World Tag Team Titles

September 3rd 1993

Tokyo, Japan

Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue 

(Champions)

vs 

Stan Hansen and Ted DiBiase

Your Match of the Night

Pegasus Kid (Chris Benoit) vs Jushin Liger (8-19-90)

NWA-AWA Star Wars

In February 1985 the NWA and AWA decided to join forces to put together a Super Card for the New Jersey Meadowlands.  This was, sadly, a desperate attempt to stem the tide of the WWF and Vince McMahon who was raiding the talent and the regions of the AWA and NWA.   They went to the heart of the WWF, New York City/NJ area, to try and promote themselves as a better alternative to the "cartoonish"  style the WWF had adopted in its spread across the US.

here is that first card from 1985 with the biggest names of the NWA and AWA.  Sadly this was ignored by the US wrestling press and television.  However, Japanese fans got to see the card and all the talent on display and that is why we have the japanese commentary.

Star Wars was held 3 more times with the only card to draw more than 10,000 fans was on December 29th 1985, well below the 18,500 fans for the first show.   All in all it was a money loser for both promotions and the small crowds finally convinced them to steer clear of the New York area for good.

If you notice Sgt Slaughter winning the Battle Royal in a nod to his recent departure from the WWF, they knew he still had a huge following in the NY/NJ area.

The scheduled matches

1. Ivan & Nikita Koloff beat Steve Keirn & Jimmy Valiant when Ivan pinned Valiant.
   
2. Jimmy Garvin beat AWA World Champion Rick Martel via DQ.
   
3. AWA World Tag Champs The Road Warriors beat Jerry Lawler & Baron Von Raschke when Raschke was pinned.
   
4. NWA World Champ Ric Flair pinned Harley Race (25:00).
   
5. Sgt. Slaughter won a "tag team battle royal." Slaughter's partner, Jerry Blackwell, was injured and could not compete, forcing Slaughter to wrestle alone. Also in the match were: The Road Warriors, Ivan & Nikita Koloff, Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell, Kamala & Billy Robinson, Mark & Chris Youngblood, Jerry Lawler & Baron Von Raschke, Bob Backlund & Jimmy Valiant, Mr. Saito & Masked Superstar, Nick Bockwinkel & Dory Funk Jr., Jimmy Garvin & Larry Zbyszko, and Steve Keirn & Jerry Oski.

Doug Furnas RIP

Sadly we have lost another great former pro wrestler in Doug Furnas.  He passed on Friday March 2nd at the way too young age of 52 from heart failure.

Slam Wrestling with the story here  and also read here

Known mostly as a tag team wrestler with long time partner Phil Lafon (who sometimes wrestled under then name Dan Kroffat) in Japan, they did have a short run in the US with the WWF, WCW and ECW but no real success.  They were extremely popular and successful in Japan, winning the AJPW Tag Team titles and AJPW All Asia tag team titles on several occasions.

Here from 1989, the CanAm Express were on their way up the ladder in AJPW as they faced the legendary British Bulldogs in a great match.