Tiger Jeet Singh vs Mr Gannosuke
Odd to see how thin Gannosuke was before he bulked up in later years. This is also the most entertaining thing about this match, which is otherwise appalling. This is supposed to be a chain match, but Singh assaults Gannosuke with his sword before the match and embarks upon one of those dull brawls where Singh walks Gannosuke around and throws him into things and hitting him with the occasional chair. This drags on for minutes before Singh decides to choke Gannosuke with the chain. He lets go, then chokes Gannosuke on a barbed wire board for the submission win. Gannosuke’s post-match vomit is the only entertaining thing here.
Terry Funk vs Leatherface
I quite like the fact we get a pre-match promo from Leatherface, the psychotic killer from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre…being very polite and respectful towards Funk. It’s another chain match and the match is far better than the opener, but the way it’s laid out makes no sense. Within a minute of the bell ringing, Leatherface has hit a moonsault on Funk. 30 seconds later, he throws Funk from the ring onto a barbed wire board and, boom, the big spot of the match is gone. This is something to build towards, and it’s done in less than 90 seconds. That said, the rest of the match is still more enjoyable than the Jeet Singh debacle. There are some odd moments (Leatherface attacks Funk with a chainsaw, drawing no blood), but there is still fun to be had. Leatherface takes a nasty bump onto a table as Funk prevents a top rope splash by simply pulling him to the floor by the chain and both men climbing a chainlink fence to fight at the top is odd, but enjoyable. Back inside, Funk wraps his left hand with the chain and punches Leatherface out for the 3 count.
Cactus Jack vs Terry Gordy
The first match thus far that actually tries to build around the gimmick, in this case a big tray full of tacks in the middle of the ring. We actually get Gordy teasing putting Jack in the tacks, first with a hiptoss from the corner that narrowly misses, then with a bulldog attempt that Jack blocks. Jack blocks several more attempts to throw him in the tacks, but isn’t able to avoid getting thrown from the top rope to the floor in a nasty bump. Outside the ring, Gordy piledrives Jack through a table, then inside finally gets Jack onto the tacks, first stamping his face into the tray, then throwing him down with a nasty looking powerbomb. A 2nd on the mat gets a two. Jack rebounds by throwing a handful of tacks into Gordy’s face and hitting the double-arm DDT onto the tacks for the win.
Shoji Nakamaki vs Hiroshi Ono
Essentially, both are pretty ordinary looking guys in t-shirt and jeans. They seem a bit less ordinary moments later when they both no-sell being hit with a barbed wire bat. Nakamaki whacks Ono headfirst on a table and then proceeds to walk him around the stadium for a bit until they reach another ring. Ono rebounds with a few wrestling moves, nailing a side Russian legsweep and a shit uranage. A top rope clothesline gets two. Nakamaki ducks a clothesline and nails a big one of his own. He then casually walks Ono to another ring, before the two fight over the tray of tacks. Nakamaki tries a bulldog, but Ono blocks and hits to belly-to-back suplexes onto the tacks, leaving a circle of tacks sticking out of Nakamaki’s head. Ono tries a third, but Nakamaki lands on top of him then powerbombs him onto the tacks for a two. What we would now call a Skull Crushing Finale onto the tacks earns Nakamaki the win. Oddly entertaining.
Takashi Okano vs. Flying Kid Ichihara
This is for Ichihara’s WWA Light Heavyweight title. It’s also pretty heavily clipped, as I think the full match goes 13 minutes, whilst it barely goes 3 here. Not that I’m complaining, as this is pretty pedestrian. Not bad, just a touch bland, though Ichihara looks pretty smooth, hitting a nice moonsault press and dropping Okano on his head with a belly-to-back suplex. Okano doesn’t get much offence, making it even more surprising when he rolls through a rana for the win.
The Iceman vs. Kamikaze
You know when you see a local indy show, and a chubby guy is wearing a mask in an attempt to convince you he’s a highflier? Well that’s Iceman here, whose paunch is noticeable through his bodysuit, In fact, with his long hair sticking out, he looks like John Zandig filming a remake of the video for “I Found Out” by the Pigeon Detectives. He’s not very good either, whiffing an armdrag over the top early doors and hitting a clumsy pescado. This is another clipped match, but we get to see some decent offence from Kamikaze, who hits a nice tope. Iceman misses an appalling looking knee drop from the top, but bumbles his way into a reverse pin to win.
Terry Funk vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
Round two of the tournament, and guess who does the most bumping? This makes the first Jeet Singh match look like Savage/Steamboat in comparison. The entire first 5 or so minutes consists of Singh hitting Funk with his sword outside the ring, pausing for 5 seconds, then doing it again. They finally get back into the ring, only for Singh to knock Funk off the apron into...something, as the crack camera team entirely miss the bump. Another angle eventually shows Funk lying in a tray of glass, getting hit by Singh. Finally, Funk hits a head butt for his first bit of offence and goes for the spinning toehold, only to meet Cactus Jack interference. Jack goes to hit Funk with Singh’s sword, only for Funk to duck, causing Singh to take the blow and get pinned for 3. Utter shite.
Cactus Jack vs. Shoji Nakamaki
This is the other end of the bumping scale. In his first book, Foley points out that Nakamaki was known as the “Danger Man” since, although he couldn’t wrestle, he was willing to take a lot of abuse. The result is that we get two guys trying to out bump each other. It’s close, but I’d say Nakamaki takes the worst of it, taking the nastiest bump when Jack covers his prone body with a bed of nails, then hits an elbow from the ring apron to drive the nails into the Danger Man. Jack does a similar move elsewhere in the match, hanging Nakamaki on the second rope and placing a bed of barbed wire onto his opponent, before crashing into him with a flying knee. Jack takes a fair bit of abuse too and, whilst the match is frequently sloppy (Nakamaki can’t bump very well, so sandbags Jack on occasion), it is at least enjoyable. Jack wins with the double-arm DDT onto the barbed wire.
The Headhunters vs. El Texano & Silver King
King and Texano are defending the IWA tag titles here. The Mexican team fare pretty badly early doors, getting overpowered by the huge Headhunters. The Headhunters are pretty fun to watch as big, fat highfliers, crushing El Texano with a big splash/leg drop combo. Texano and King try to use their speed to take over, both hitting topes on one Hunter, only for the other to follow with the biggest tope of them all. There is a section of control by Texano and King, but this is really all about the size and power of the Headhunters, who pick up the win and the titles with a top rope power bomb.
Dan Severn vs. Tarzan Goto
This is for Severn’s NWA title. The main theme running through this match is that both guys have a preferred environment to fight in and, if they get their opponent there, they’ll win. Hence Goto slaps Severn and goes to the outside, trying to lure Severn to brawl outside, only for Severn to sit on the ring ropes and gesture for Goto to get in the ring for a beating. Goto actually does a decent job at getting Severn onto the mat, but Severn soon reverses and takes control. They roll outside, where Goto smashes a bottle to get a weapon, which Severn blocks with a chair. They continue to brawl, decimating rows of chairs, and Goto gets the upper hand, hurling chair after chair onto a prone Severn. Goto heads back into the ring and we get the awesome site of Severn emerging from a pile of chairs, eyes full of fury and hate, ready to fuck Goto up. Goto does manages to subdue him in the ring by using a chair, but Severn takes control and locks in a rear naked choke for the tapout win. Good match.
Cactus Jack vs. Terry Funk
The tournament final is a Barbed Wire Rope, Exploding Barbed Wire Boards & Exploding Ring Time Bomb Death Match, which essentially means the ring will blow up in ten minutes. Being the best two workers in the tournament, this is pretty darn good. I especially loved the way that Funk dragged a board into the middle of the ring at the start, essentially daring Jack to come at him. They also wisely build to the board explosions, with Funk teetering over a board for ages before finally getting knocked onto it for a big pop. I also like the way that, even though the explosives on a board have been used up, they both know that whacking their opponent with a board of barbed wire looks fucking painful, with Jack covering Funk with a board and dropping an elbow being particularly painful-looking. Tiger Jeet Singh makes an unwelcome return to save Jack from a spinning toehold. Jack hits the double-arm DDT for two and hits another as the ring announcer starts a ten second countdown for the explosion. Funk is left in the ring and....some fireworks go off at the edge of the ring, to a muted response from the crowd. Funk looks rightly baffled and so him and Jack go to war for the next 3 minutes, as Cactus brings in a ladder and nails an elbow off it for two. Funk manages to topple the ladder as Jack climbs for a second time, him directly onto the barbed wire ropes. This is Funk’s last bit of energy gone though, and Jack crawls over to him for a slightly anticlimactic three count.
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