AJPW - 1986 - March & April - Jumbo, Tenryu, DiBiase & more

Thanks for joining me here! Let's take another look at the wonderful footage from 1986 in AJPW!

March

Terry Gordy vs Jumbo Tsuruta (03/10) - This was very good stuff! Surprisingly not a smash mouth barn burning brawl but a scientific match between two heavyweights. So it's a slower pace but there's quality wrestling to be had. I mean Gordy eventually upper cuts Jumbo in the balls but it's scientific until then 😄 Plus we get a clean finish and a pretty cool one too!

Jumbo Tsuruta vs Animal Hamaguchi (03/13) - This was a sick match! 😋 Animal jumps Jumbo at the bell...he's crazy! There's a lil down time where Animal works the arm but after that this cooks. Animal is out ranked big time but dammit, he's fierce. He pisses the All Japan ace off. Jumbo pulls Hamaguchi up a couple times from his own pin in order to punish his foe some more. This backfires as Animal doesn't know the meaning of quit. And he's got moves and takes some crazy bumps...which makes this quite exciting. This was a very good match. If you've wanted to see an Animal Hamaguchi match, this is one to try!

Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Masa Fuchi (04/06) - Kobayashi has jumped Fuchi at the start! Fuchi doesn't stand for that an ups the ante and pulverized Kuniaki with chairs. He rams his head into the ring posts and Double K is bleeding. Masa Fuchi dominates for awhile but Kobayashi isn't a push over. This is really good stuff and really comes together in the final third. This is more brawling than the typical athletic junior style. If you're a fan of either guy, you'll enjoy this!

Shohei Baba, Ricky Fuyuki & Takashi Ishikawa vs Rusher Kimura, Ashura Hara & Goro Tsurumi (04/06) - AJPW vs IWE. Really good 6-man match. This was bordering on great when Baba & Rusher weren't in the ring. Actually Rusher was still halfway decent. Baba was still trying to be technical and it just doesn't fit the style or times. Thankfully he wasn't in that much. OK that's pretty much the ONLY downside to the match. This is mainly Hara & Goro vs Ishikawa & Fuyuki... and that's absolutely what you want!!!

Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Ted Dibiase & Ron Bass (04/19) - A really good showing from both teams. I thought it was best when it was Ted vs Tenryu. I'm looking ahead and it seems like that was on purpose. They have a big match later in April. I think they teased it well. Ron Bass is always fun as a hulking figure. I like when he fills in for Stan Hansen. Ishikawa was enjoyable although I think I like him better later in his career. He doesn't seem to have the fire in him quite yet. 

Genichiro Tenyru vs Ted Dibiase (UN Title, 04/26) - Great fierce title fight! Two of the best go at it. They really bring everything here. They're technical, they're off the ropes & the turn buckles, heck! Tenryu does a dive. This was fantastic stuff. Tenryu & Ted really gel. This lived up to expectations. This absolutely is one I'm glad was on this Samurai Classics set.

Match in HD:

Or the old footage on a CRT television!

If you're smart enough to be reading these blog entries then you know this is some great wrestling. I skipped over the famous 01/28/86 match in my first post. And honestly, that's all I thought All Japan really had to offer for this year. Boy! Was I wrong. A lot of this is available on YouTube so I strongly recommend watching what interests you. You will have a fun time. Thanks for reading 🙂

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