GOATC

NJPW 1983/8/4

WWF International Heavyweight Championship: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu ©

This is one of my favorite matches ever, one of the best matches of all time. These two had a rich feud in the ’83, I believe this is their fourth match out of the four or maybe even five they had, I’ve seen those from 4/3 (great shit) and 4/21(good shit), and well, this one of course. The thing I adored about this rivalry is how they incorporated countouts in the matches, they turned it into a vital piece of storytelling, that’s how you advance an angle, and the fact that the title could change hands by countout and DQ most certainly helped, you don’t feel cheated one percent that way. Choshu and Fujinami are among the greatest wrestlers ever, two guys who impeccably represented their era where less was more and where you had to get the most out of simplistic offense, and these two geniuses were the masters of the art. Pacing, rhythm, dynamics, milking, timing, selling, the crowd, electric aura, this is one of those moments in pro-wrestling when a match gets shapes of a lifeform, it feels so organic and… alive. A perfect match.

*****