Some of the Soviets who wrestled in NJPW in 1989 took to pro wrestling better than others. But it's the ones that didn't that are really interesting. Look at Timur Zalasov scrap in some of the weirdest, least cooperative ways possible against Kengo Kimura.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

I've watched every NJPW match I could find between 86 and May 89. This (5/25/89) is it for Inoki as a regular wrestler. He still had such a connection with the crowd. There's another world where he was part of the Musketeers' rise so much more directly (if they could rise past him). He was magic.

The Golden Series continues with guest writer @mattd-sc.bsky.social of Segunda Caida! Issue 904-Tully vs Morton, Jive Tones, WWF feuds heat up, mayhem in Evansville, MORE!

In my chronological watch of 1989 NJPW, this move by Hase in May against Liger might be the coolest move I've seen so far (and that's saying a lot given all the Soviets and their suplexes).

Start of Kobayashi/Saito vs Koshinaka/Sano from May 1989. Kobayashi and Koshinaka are always such jerks and I love them for it.

Clever finish to the 5/24/89 Choshu/Fujinami vs Vader/Bigelow that we have as a handheld.

Nature Boys doing nature boy things. The mirror spot is great.

Riki Choshu couldn't outwrestle the Soviets who came to NJPW in 1989, but he could kick the crap out of them and punch them in the face so as to leave a mark.

Some truly glorious bs between Norio Honaga and Naoki Sano in 1989 New Japan.

Iron sharpening iron. The harsh embrace of steel. A man testing himself against a locomotive that never stops. Stevens. Strong. Deadlock. segundacaida.blogspot.com/2025/11/iron...

Mansoor capturing the zeitgeist in order to get heel heat (and thankfully, immediate comeuppance for his transgressions).

A story in four parts. Doink comes to Memphis in February 1993 and completely tears apart the enhancement talent.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9DJ... Hello friends! I recorded my first ever piece of wrestling audio going over some of my thoughts on the 2025 WON HOF ballot. If anyone is interested and has the time to listen it would be greatly appreciated!🙂

Happy Halloween from the most theatrical of the Red Bull Army, Victor Zangiev (Honestly, this has nothing to do with Halloween except for that I bet Zangiev would have thrown a fun Halloween Party).

A few pages on matchmaking vs booking and the lost opportunity of not capitalizing on Statlander vs Shafir when the iron was hot.

I get a kick out of Shades-Wearing 1989 Pillman coming out with Flag-Carrying Vader in New Japan.

The greatest defensive wrestler of all time, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, with some great defense against Riki Choshu in June 1988 (and then even better offense).

Jon Moxley vs Kyle O'Reilly. What happens when the hunter becomes the hunted? When you're no longer the wolf and the wolves are at your door? When you no longer ride death but are chased by it instead? segundacaida.blogspot.com/2025/10/aew-...

Finish to a lost Super Strong Machine/George Takano vs Shiro Koshinaka/Tatsutoshi Goto tag match from April 1989. Takano was throwing those spin wheel kicks like a maniac after Maeda left the promotion but this was a particularly nasty one.

Jon Moxley vs Kyle O'Reilly. What happens when the hunter becomes the hunted? When you're no longer the wolf and the wolves are at your door? When you no longer ride death but are chased by it instead? segundacaida.blogspot.com/2025/10/aew-...

Bam Bam Bigelow and Riki Choshu were absolutely made for one another.

I know this is a blurry handheld but it's a really cool lost move by Kuniaki Kobayashi on Akira Nogami from 1989. I love the approach of this. Kobayashi was really dynamic and isn't remember enough these days.

The bravest babyface in pro wrestling today. In a world where everyone's wanted to be Stone Cold for decades, where cool faces are as big a problem as cool heels, he's willing to say "Stand up. Cheer. I can't do this alone. I need you. You matter. This matters." And so it does.

On Young Bucks vs Jurassic Express, Kyle Fletcher vs Mark Briscoe, and why, no, I can't just let people enjoy things.

The one I'd trademark if I could is... "Bumping is a truth framed by lies. Selling is a lie framed by truths."

If you want to get into lucha trios, here's the most important thing you need to know. Instead of hot tags, comebacks stem on turns of fate. Here you can see a hope spot (Mistico breaking free to do a move) and the eventual comeback set up by rudo hubris.

Unsurprisingly chaotic finish between Choshu's Army and Fujiwara/Kimura/Koshinaka from May 88. I love it when someone catches Koshinaka's Butt Butt and makes him pay for the indignity.

the island death match is cinema, therefore should be on letterboxd

On Orange Cassidy; symbols and conventions in pro wrestling, using the 10/1/25 Dynamite match with Kyle Fletcher as a quick case study to highlight what some are too stubborn to see.

The unfortunate finish to Kazuo Yamazaki v Akira Maeda from April 1989. Yamazaki's finally leveled up to the point where he can dodge Maeda's Spin Wheel Kick and jam his capture suplex counter with a headbutt, but in doing so, he opens himself up huge.

THREAD🤼‍♂️: The Island Death Match (10/04/87): Antonio Inoki vs Masa Saito is one of the most remarkable wrestling matches ever. It was a stunt to boost flagging ratings and runs over 90 minutes as the sun sets. I'm going to give some sense of it in 25 clips, starting with Inoki walking from his tent.

On Orange Cassidy; symbols and conventions in pro wrestling, using the 10/1/25 Dynamite match with Kyle Fletcher as a quick case study to highlight what some are too stubborn to see.

Faith, doubt, and salvation in Arena Mexico. Build, payoff, and comeuppance at the 2300 Arena. MJF vs Mistico. MJF vs Mark Briscoe. Mask. Title. Tables. Tacks. 2000+ words to cover one hell of a weekend. segundacaida.blogspot.com/2025/09/aew-...

Honestly, this is a relatively early example of this sort of "no consequence" fighting spirit strike exchange. You don't see it quite like this earlier (this is 89). And I can just imagine Lou Thesz thinking to himself "What are these idiots doing?"

Eddie Kingston comes back and runs right into a boot. The walls close in on Jon Moxley and he only has his own unyielding hypocrisy to save him. All Out 2025 Good matches to write about. Wonderful spectacles to overwrite about. Do give it a look. segundacaida.blogspot.com/2025/09/aew-...

This feels like the most iconic wrestling in the world to me. Huge stakes (semis of a one-night tournament for the IWGP title). Huge crowd. The unclean impact, the stagger sell, the crumble in the ropes, Vader raising his arm, and then Fujinami just barely hanging on and getting him over.

George Takano and Tatsutoshi Goto were having a perfectly gentlemanly tag match in 1989 when this broke out.

4/24/89. Choshu and Hashimoto meet in the first round of a one night tournament. Hash was still the underdog upstart. Believe it or not, things got chippy.

You have to love the auto translate function on YouTube.

Inoki fought Soviet Judo Olympic Champion Shota Chochishvili in a different styles fight on the April 1989 Dome show. Inoki held his own for the first round or so, but when Chochishvili shifted gears, he really shifted gears.

Covering D3AN~!! show over at Segunda Caida one a day. Maestros first, where they went above and beyond making use of the strengths of the form and their wealth of experience. segundacaida.blogspot.com/2025/09/d3an...

Here's the start of that Inoki vs Koshinaka match. You'd think this would turn the fans and get them more behind Koshinaka because there was both a weight class and a hierarchy difference and Koshinaka didn't do anything to deserve this but dare face Inoki, but nope. They loved him all the more.

God dammit, Dave. No one's done more damage to pro wrestling than you over time. Not even Russo. (Maybe the other Vince). But this is just ridiculous.

This Inoki Missile Dropkick. My god.

Riki Choshu, playing chess when everyone else was playing checkers.

In case anyone wants to see the wildly overachieving match that is Sid vs Riki Choshi, here is Sid vs Riki Choshu for you. youtu.be/gAGYCE9icDM

Hogan: Goes to Japan and does that one tricked out go behind takedown. Lawler: Goes to Japan and does an enziguri, Reinera drop, calf branding, Southeastern Lariat, and hotshot.

You know all those terrible Shawn Michaels-esque shocked faces after nearfalls? No more of those. What Hase does here slapping the mat in frustration is so, so much better.

Put these together pretty quickly, but here are my thoughts on Darby vs Claudio, RUSH/Sammy vs Outrunners, and yep, Mina vs Athena. Read, share, enjoy, tell me I'm wrong (I'm not about Darby at least, but I'm always open to pushback). segundacaida.blogspot.com/2025/09/aew-...