ALL JAPAN ON NTV

January 28, 1990 (taped 1/20/90)

Abdullah The Butcher . . . shows some shocking mobility by taking actual bumps, including a monkey flip.

Kenta Kobashi . . . takes a man-sized beating from the British Bulldogs.

Isao “Arashi” Takagi . . . pays the ultimate price for daring to attack Tenryu a few weeks before.

YOSHIAKI YATSU/SHINICHI NAKANO vs. ABDULLAH THE BUTCHER/RANDY ROSE

Abby was a bump machine on this night. He takes a body slam and vertical suplex from Yatsu, and Nakano gives him a monkey flip. Yes, Abdullah the Butcher in 1990 went up and over for a monkey flip! He doesn’t do much else other than bleed (and take the winning pinfall), but his gusher gives the natives something relatively easy to do in order to look like they have a chance of winning. Rose doesn’t show nearly as much as he did the previous week with Kobashi, he’s apparently only there to give Abby time to rest. The disparity in rank between Yatsu and Nakano is obvious, with Rose going for pins on Nakano after the most rudimentary moves and spots, while he has his flying shoes on for Yatsu. And it only takes a single throat jab from Abby to stop Nakano’s dropkick and set him up for the elbow. This could probably have been a fun little tag match, if Rose had been paired up with someone who could do more in the ring.

TIGER MASK/KENTA KOBASHI vs. DYNAMITE KID/DAVEY BOY SMITH

This is watchable, but there’s virtually nothing here that separates this from any of the other Bulldogs matches shown on the tour. DK is involved more, but he doesn’t do much until the last stretch when he takes a few bumps for Kobashi. He shows up with his usual intensity and a barrage of headbutts, lariats, and forearms, but it seems like he’s primarily there just to spell out Davey, who is at least willing/able to work with them. The one really nice moment is when they tease the finish, where Kobashi loses the forearm exchange with Davey and gets picked up for the powerslam, only for Misawa to intervene and cut off DK from doing the headbutt. Kobashi recovers and gives DK a superplex and Misawa assists with a German, but Davey cuts off the moonsault with a backdrop suplex and that allows the Bulldogs to do the powerslam/headbutt combo and finish him off. Kobashi was good for selling and taking a beating, and the best exchanges were between Misawa and Davey, but they weren’t taking the match anywhere with them, it was just cute moments like Davey’s cartwheel out of the monkey flip and then posing for the crowd and turning into a spin kick, and Misawa working his way out of a legbar and doing an enzuigiri that causes Davey to do a flipping bump. It’s a fine match overall, but nowhere near the level of what one would expect between these teams.

JUMBO TSURUTA/ISAO TAKAGI vs. GENICHIRO TENRYU/TOSHIAKI KAWADA

As far as story and structure goes, this isn’t anywhere close to the Tenryu/Fuyuki tag from the previous TV show, but there’s enough stiffness and hate to still make it a fun affair. The best parts are when the top guy of each group is in there with the junior member, especially when it’s Tenryu and Arashi and Tenryu gets to avenge Arashi jumping him with the chair earlier in the month (which is recapped before the match starts). Aside from one callback to the match the week before there isn’t anything especially focused, the main objective seems to be pushing the Olympics/Revolution feud forward with a lot of stiffness. Early on when Kawada is being worked over, it looks like they’re starting to zero in on the midsection. Before they can get very far with it, Tenryu interjects himself and starts trading chops with Jumbo, and it gives Kawada time to get himself together and surprise Jumbo with a kick to the back that lets him tag out. The Jumbo/Tenryu interactions aren’t anything that hadn’t been seen in the previous trio and tag matches that were aired, there’s a lot of hate and stiffness, but not much else. The one cool moment is when Jumbo does the jumping knee, and Tenryu catches him and does an ugly hotshot (which has always been Jumbo’s Achillies heel).

The Kawada/Arashi exchanges aren’t anything special either. The sequence with Kawada going for the powerbomb and Arashi being unable to get up for it, which causes Kawada to basically faceplant him back down pretty much sums it up. For the second week in a row (as far as TV matches go, at least) Tenryu unintentionally costs his team the match. He unleashes some utterly nasty kicks to Arashi in the corner, tags in Kawada to finish him off, and then dives to the floor to brawl with Kabuki and the other seconds at ringside. Kawada does his powerbomb and Jumbo breaks up the pin and Arashi is able to tag out. Kawada does his best to hold his own, but Jumbo clocks him with a boot to the face and hits the backdrop, and Tenryu is bleeding on the floor instead of helping his partner. The actual wrestling here is far from the previous tag match between these groups, but the way that it plays out certainly furthers things along and lays the groundwork for some sort of upcoming blowoff, which makes it worthwhile.

Conclusion: There’s nothing earth shattering here, but it’s a decent enough TV show with the main event being an especially fun ride.