ALL JAPAN ON NTV

January 7, 1990 (taped 1/3/90)

Kenta Kobashi . . . refuses to let grizzled veterans beat him into submission.

The Fantastics . . . have a ringside brawl with Footloose like they think it’s still 1988 and they’re in the Greensboro Coliseum!

Genichiro Tenryu . . . shows how much of a tough bastard he is by withstanding a pre-match ambush, taking everything that Uncle Ivan throws at him, and still coming out on top.

THE GREAT KABUKI vs. KENTA KOBASHI

This is pretty much the Kobashi show, even though it probably shouldn’t have been. Aside from the dive to the floor and the diving shoulder tackle off the apron that the clip starts with, Kobashi doesn’t show much as far as offense goes. But he’s great for selling the pain that Kabuki is putting him through, and his underdog intensity as he refuses to stay down is easily the best thing here. Kabuki sharks on his arm for a bit with a Fujiwara armbar and then a short arm scissors, but he doesn’t do much to make the holds seem all that dangerous, but that’s where Kobashi’s selling comes into play. They have a couple of oddball moments, like Kabuki getting the ropes to break Kobashi’s Texas Cloverleaf and Kobashi going right back to the same hold without doing anything to further wear him down and make the submission seem more plausible. The finish is a bit out of nowhere, with Kobashi charging into an O’Connor roll complete with Kabuki lifting his own shoulder before the ref counted to three, but it had a thread of logic to it with Kobashi being tough enough to take the impact of a missed body press and then one of Kabuki’s kicks and still firing right back at him. So, it makes sense for Kabuki to simply outwrestle Kobashi rather than try to beat him into staying down.

TOSHIAKI KAWADA/SAMSON FUYUKI © vs. TOMMY ROGERS/BOBBY FULTON (All Asia Tag Team Titles)

If one is only looking at the moves that all four of them use, it’d be hard to confuse this with the matches that the Fantastics had with the Midnight Express. But the intensity isn’t all that far off from that feud. At times, this looks like it’d have been right at home in the Sam Houston Coliseum with Paul Boesch on commentary. The first big spot is a nasty looking Rocket Launcher where Rogers connects chest-to-chest with Fuyuki, and the match never wavers from there. Even something rather innocuous, like Kawada breaking up a pinfall by stomping Rogers in the back of the head, looks like it packs a little bit of extra stiffness to it. It didn’t take long at all for the match to spill to the floor with all four brawling, both Rogers and Fuyuki getting whipped into the guardrail and Fuyuki using a chair.

Outside of the apparent hate involved (at least until the match ends, and Fulton shakes hands with both men and raises Kawada’s hand), there isn’t much to the match as far as storytelling goes. Although, during the final stretch both teams wind up having a tandem spot get thwarted, and once Kawada dispatches Fulton with a sit out powerbomb, he and Fuyuki are able to finish off Rogers after Kawada levels him with a spin kick and Fuyuki does a German suplex. The Fantastics and Kawada have all done a lot better, but if someone was only familiar with Kawada and Fuyuki’s careers from the latter part of the decade and into the next one, then this would certainly be an eye opener. ***

TIGER MASK/MASANOBU FUCHI vs. DYNAMITE KID/DAVEY BOY SMITH

This doesn’t seem to exist to be anything more than a showcase for the Bulldogs, mostly for Davey to bump around Misawa and Fuchi with his press slams and suplexes. When something happens that seems like it should give the natives a chance to control things for a bit, like Misawa’s backdrop suplex to DK that sets up Fuchi’s Thesz press, DK kicks out with enough authority to give the impression that he’s a long way from being worn down enough to lose. After the backdrop, Misawa hits DK with a dropkick off the top which knocks him back into his own corner so that he can tag Davey. DK and Fuchi try to get rough with each other a couple of times, but their exchanges don’t lead to anything especially interesting, and it’s surprising to see Fuchi showing off his agility with a crucifix and a flying body press, but that’s what ultimately leads to his undoing when Davey catches him for the powerslam, and DK drops the headbutt. Like the last match with Fuyuki and Kawada, this is a good look at what Fuchi and Misawa were doing in their younger days, but that’s pretty much the only thing to take away from it.

GENICHIRO TENRYU vs. IVAN KOLOFF

As far as the actual wrestling goes, this isn’t much of a match. Uncle Ivan doesn’t do much of anything other than clubbing forearms and knee drops and Tenryu doesn’t really dig that deep into his own offense either. But the real fun is in the story. Isao Takagi (presumably on behalf of Jumbo) attacks Tenryu during his entrance and levels him in the back with a chair. Once Tenryu manages to get into the ring, Koloff pounces and goes right after Tenryu’s back with the forearms and knees as well as whipping him into the corner. Tenryu tries to fire back with his chops and take over the match, but Koloff doesn’t make it easy. The first time that he manages to stun him, Tenryu looks for either a DDT or vertical suplex and gets taken over in a Northern Lights which lets Koloff continue his onslaught. Later on, Tenryu stuns him with his enzuigiri and locks him in an Octopus hold, but even that winds up being more of a stall tactic than anything else.

The big downer for the match is that Tenryu’s eventual comeback and win looks like it comes far too easy for him. It starts with Koloff whipping him into the corner and Tenryu managing to deflect the bump, which is honestly the best thing in the match as it makes Tenryu look a little crafty and it’s a wonder that nobody else uses it. Tenryu hits another enzuigiri and a lariat, does a vertical suplex and then pins Koloff after the back elbow off the top. Granted, Koloff isn’t a top foreigner in the vein of Hansen, but the finish coming that quickly makes everything before it feel unimportant. Hell, even something small like Tenryu selling his back after the elbow drop would give some credence to Koloff wearing him out. The crowd was red hot afterwards including a chant for Takagi, but he doesn’t make another appearance, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if Tenryu is able to get some revenge.

Conclusion: The All Asia match is the best thing to see here, but the TV show as a whole is a lot of fun and it flies right by.