Waiter! Waiter! More IWE Please! Thank You :)

                         (Written by jom)

     I wonder how much we have of the IWE guys on excursion. I'd kill a man to see the Rusher Kimura USA and Canada tapes. CAGEMATCH says a Kimura/Dory Funk Jr. match from 1970 ended up on TV, so if anyone knows where that one is hit me up. 

Great Kusatsu vs. The Stomper (11/04/1979)

     The (Mongolian) Stomper makes his debut in the Kokusai zone. I deeply respect Kusatsu's commitment to getting over all the top act foreigners in late stage IWE, usually at the cost of his own credibility as a main eventer. Here he is bumping like a beast for Stomper, getting beaten down and choked out while letting Stomper get over all his bigger moves and, more importantly, his character. Kusatsu certainly isn't a weakling in this match though; he pulls off some of his usual big spots, like the always great counter cobra twist and the figure four leglock, and he even hits a massive suplex on Stomper that shakes the ring. Still, Stomper is a real animal of a worker, frantically hunting down Kusatsu and always applying the pressure. He has Yasu Fuji hovering around him as well, ready to jump in and interfere any time Kusatsu gets a little too deep in control. Grading this in the "great match" way feels almost wrong, because this match actually does exactly what it sets out to do and does so excellently. Stomper is now a credible top guy, ready to take on Rusher and Oki and whoever else he'll need to stomp all over in this tour. Good stuff and a well-done debut match.

Mike George vs. Kintaro Oki (04/26/1980)

    Good stuff. Mike George is a Mid-South guy, so I honestly assumed he would fit like a glove, and he kinda does? Maybe it's just by the nature of this match, but while he definitely works well, he's not doing as much fighting as I would've expected. This is primarily a grappling match by design though, so maybe that's not the best option for studying the Mike George capabilities. This follows a pretty basic structure of Oki dominating on the mat, George pushing back with fouling, and Oki making the big comeback with chops and headbutts. It's the time-tested formula for most IWE main eventers, and it's one I usually enjoy no matter what. This match is no exception, albeit it's certainly not trying to stand out from the pack. Oki's armwork is cool and feels very unrelenting, as he constantly hunts for grounded armlocks from any and all positions. George's fouling is more than competent, and features the first white boy cross chop I've ever seen. The Oki comeback, as always, rocks. Not a match that elicits much discussion, but a perfectly fine outing indeed.

Rusher Kimura vs. Umanosuke Ueda (04/20/1979)

    For some, this might be the most anticipated matchup of the IWE voyage. IWE's greatest hero takes on its most notorious villain with the IWA World Heavyweight championship on the line. Just for a bit of historical context, these two's first singles match came in 1976, where Ueda beat Kimura and actually won the title (a tragically lost piece of wrestling as far as I know). They'd have a rematch a month later that would end in a no contest, and then Ueda vanished from wrestling for half a year, vacating the belt before Kimura could ever win it back. Now, here we are, three years later. This match starts with the very rare appearance of Thinker Kimura, as Rusher actually tries to out-wrestle Ueda to cancel out Ueda's bullshit fouling. It's a fascinating strategy for a guy like Rusher to use. He's a wrestler who thrives off of passion, and it's almost bizarre to see him use his brain instead of his heart for his decision-making, but it's an awesome wrinkle in the match for sure. Of course, no amount of hammerlock hunting can stop Ueda from engaging in his fouling ways, complete with an infinite number of headlock punches and foreign object jabbing, and a man can only take so much. It isn't long before Kimura abandons the measured approach and lets the raging beast loose, turning the match into the frantic bloody brawl it was always meant to be. Chairs and ring bells are smashed over heads, referees are ignored, and the ring itself is torn apart. I can't imagine there was ever any doubt that the Ueda/Kimura singles would rip, but it truly passes with flying colors. The wonderful IWE violence we're all here for.

Mighty Inoue vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (11/25/1978)

    Well, hey there Jumbo. I've talked a bit about the IWE/NJPW feud of 1979 and 1980, but I've somehow yet to talk about anything fromthe IWE/AJPW feud that took place during the preceding years. This is from 1978's Japan League, where Jumbo repped Zen Nihon as he skipped the tournament blocks period and jumped straight into the single elimination stage. Inoue is a perfect dance partner for Jumbo, as Inoue pretty much fulfills the same role of revolutionary young gun. And wouldn't you know it, these two very clearly have a great match in them! This is not that match, but it's a very nice preview of what's possible for the pairing, and a very good match in its own right. The early portion is that old grappling that has become lifeblood for me, full of interesting little counters and complex entries into basic holds. Inoue is a fiend for an armlock and Tsuruta does a great job of countering with big arm drags and more subtle movements like dropping a knee on the stomach to prevent the sequence from going all the way back into an armlock. It isn't as engrossing as it certainly could be, but it's competent at worst and genuinely pretty great in a few moments. Once both men start dropping more bombs, this match moves the closest it could possibly get to greatness, with Inoue especially showing out with some truly awe-inspiring counters. Give these guys five more minutes and let them go wilder earlier into the match and you'd have yourself one of the best matches of this ilk from the 70s. As it stands, this is still a ton of fun and worth watching if you're a fan of either man.

Ashura Hara vs. Gypsy Joe (11/07/1979)

    As I've mentioned a few times previously, I originally started this IWE journey privately months ago, mostly going through the IWE Chronicles DVD releases while randomly watching matches posted to the Channel 12 account that has littered my blog since turning this into a writing thing. Back then, this match comfortably sat at the top of my list as the very best of what IWE ever offered. Well, it's been a few months since then, and things have changed. I've found matches that speak to my soul just as much as Hara/Joe did. I've found others that may reach me on an even deeper level. But, here I am, months later and one fresh rewatch removed, ready to tell you that this match still hits just as hard, if not harder. This is IWE at its most cruel. More specifically, this is Gypsy Joe at his most cruel. In the Rusher Kimura cage match, I pinpointed him as a Dracula-esque blood drainer, but the Gypsy Joe here feeds more on suffering than blood. The way he tortures Hara around the ring goes beyond the scope of anything seen before, dragging him by the hair and face to throw him into the metal beams on the cage and finding all opportunities to punch him as hard as he can in the nose and jaw. Hara certainly tries to fight back, wildly throwing punches and chops into the air, but always gets cut off and dragged back into hell, convulsing as he goes. Joe's violence would be enough on its own for sure, but Hara's disgusting jerky motions and gasps for breath take his struggles and transform them from an attempt to fight back into an attempt to live. Hara really only gets his comeback through sheer force of will, picking the right moment to put everything he has into one final momentum-shifter, and it starts the most harrowing babyface revenge segment I have ever seen. Ashura Hara, after 10+ minutes of torment, gets it all back in blood by scrambling Gypsy Joe's brains into a mushy mess. I mean it when I say that I don't think it would fly nowadays, at least not in any of the major American or Japanese companies. It's scary, but it's also entirely fitting as a punishment on Joe for his abhorrent actions leading up to the comeback. This is a match of consequences, and the consequences are graver for Joe than any other man. One of the most compelling pieces of work from IWE's catalogue, and one that more than holds up as one of the best IWE matches ever.

    ...But where exactly does it land on the list??? Considering the occasion of this being the 10th IWE post so far, I thought I'd release my IWE ranking list. This list only includes matches I've covered on Dragon Screw, and I'll release a new list every now and then so the people can know what it's currently looking like. I already know of a few matches that I've already seen that'll probably make it into the top 15 once I cover them (and a few I haven't seen but have high hopes for), but I do feel pretty confident in the top 5 being pretty unshakeable. Behold!!!

    Thank you to everyone that has been tuned in for the IWE reviews so far. I'm planning to slow down the posts for the next month or so, just because I want to chill out from making blog post announcements every three or so days. That being said, I already have the lineups figured out for the next few posts, so who knows. Maybe there'll be a new one ready within two days of this. Regardless, thanks again for checking this stuff out, and go watch some IWE bro.

Various IWE Matches To Cure The Common Cold

                   (Written by jom)

     I might put out a list or something once I inevitably hit 10 IWE posts later this month. I promise you that I'm trying to think of other things to talk about on here, but I haven't pumped out articles at a rate this high since COVID. I am simply enraptured by the beauty of Ancient Pro. The IWE eagle flies over me. Who am I to ignore it?

Rusher Kimura & Great Kusatsu vs. Gypsy Joe & Killer Karl Krupp (01/05/1980)

      Pure piss & vinegar. Gypsy Joe is in one of his moods and Rusher Kimura is happy to satiate him with some of the wildest and most uncomfortable brawling I've yet seen. Like all great IWE brawls, things almost immediately break down at the bell, but what follows this time around is especially chaotic Korakuen touring, to the point that the most accurate comparison piece would probably be the Texas Death Street Fight from FMW. There's a frantic energy to all of the fighting, along with a willingness to push the stiffness to startlingly high levels. It's the kind of work that pushes all the right buttons for me and puts me into that heaven-like state. Then Killer Karl Krupp takes over and I'm brought back down to reality. Now, let me be clear. I think Killer Karl Krupp is cool! I like the claw! In fact, I really like the claw! He generally holds his own during the brawling portions and bumps huge for the babyfaces in the perfectly comedic way that works best for the IWE heroes. The issue is that Killer Karl Krupp is a claw worker, and the jump from the frantic and uncontrollable brawling at the start to extended claw sequences is absolutely felt during the match. Not that the claw work is even bad either; there's one super awesome claw struggle between Kusatsu and Krupp that had me on the edge of my seat. It's just such a tonal shift that it takes me out of the match. Speaking of Kusatsu though, this is another great performance from him. He's a fantastic FIP for guys like Kimura to run a comeback for, and he's not afraid to throw hands in that Kantaro Hoshino rabbit punch kinda way. Seeing him cold clock Joe after Joe refused to sell for him was riveting stuff. The incredibly violent brawling returns in the last five or so minutes, and the post-match brawl continues it with super sickening chairshots and garbage thrown in the ring, but that grind-to-a-halt middle portion can't be ignored. It's a great match, but more than anything else, it makes me hunger for a Joe/Kimura 1980 collision where all bets are off and they just destroy each other the whole time. Whether or not that match will come to pass on our journey remains to be seen. 

Rusher Kimura & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Gypsy Joe & Spike Huber (06/28/1980)

     Ahaha sike bitch that match is right here! Or, at the very least, another chance at it. Once more, this starts off huge with lots of outside brawling, and while the brawl might be slightly lesser than the previous one, it features Spike Huber, who stands head and shoulders above Krupp in that department. I'm getting ahead of myself here though. First of all, who the fuck is Spike Huber? His claim to fame stateside is being the son-in-law of Dick The Bruiser, but he might be my new favorite IWE White Boy. He's just as much of a line-stepper as Joe is, throwing a bunch of awesome punches and constantly running interference. He's also got incredible facial expressions and a great mind for selling, going between overly-dramatic slow fall sells where he sticks one leg up and ridiculous flipping sells where he nearly kills himself on landing. Hamaguchi is a wonderful foil to him, able to match him in the explosive energy while also proving himself just as violent as everyone else here. He's throwing the usual dropkicks and hitting funny standing splashes, but he's also responding to Gypsy Joe's fouling by goozling him and dragging him across the ring by the neck. Kimura and Joe's contributions can go unstated entirely. Both men are arguably in their primes and they deliver violence with the same fervor as in the previously discussed January tag. Now, having said all of that... this is not the match I desired. For as chaotic as some of the outside brawling is, it's still not the primary focus. The actual in-ring work is full of slower hold-working moments and the usual momentum changes. As much as I would wish otherwise, this match is firmly committed to the IWE main event tag formula. It's through that commitment to the standards of the time that this match reminded me of something incredibly valuable: I am not the booker. For as much as I may think I know what's best, I'm just some random dude typing away on a keyboard 45 years later. I really don't know what would've sold tickets or been worthwhile for the workers, and committing myself to theoreticals is not only asking for disappointment, but also denying the true greatness of anything that goes against them. This match fucking rocks. It is the time-tested formula of IWE's most exciting period, with four guys more willing than ever to kick each other's asses and a pretty raucous crowd for a show not happening in Tokyo. It's full of pettiness and hate and builds to so many crowd-pleaser comeback moments. Hell, it even has one of the most interesting bullshit finishes I've seen come out of IWE. It is a standout piece of work in a genre of match I have come to love. So no, according to my nerd ass pussy self, this isn't the match I wanted. It turned out to be the match I needed. 

Mighty Inoue & Isamu Teranishi vs. Strong Kobayashi & Haruka Eigen (06/29/1980)

    I've been so deep in the IWE brawl tag mines that watching one of these high-octane technician tags feels like a much-needed breath of fresh air. There's an implicit story to this match of former ace Kobayashi returning to IWE after joining enemy promotion NJPW to take one of their top belts, but that barely matters at all because the IWE faithful are just happy to see the prodigal son come back home. Instead, this is relentless tag team action from bell to bell, as both teams take turns picking at limbs and testing strategies while looking for the right moves to seal the deal. The IWE duo are the most technically adept, both great at counters and picking their spots, but Teranishi has a slickness that allows him to seamlessly flow out of any situation, while Inoue is more prone to fighting his way out with the big chest chops and slaps right to the mush. Kobayashi plays his part against both perfectly, less mobile and less capable of fighting back on the mat, but also still such a fortress of a wrestler, making Inoue and Teranishi work for everything they get and withstanding so much punishment. Eigen fills the role of Kobayashi's little attack dog very well too, running interference constantly to break up submissions with headbutts and turn the match into something closer to a standing fight. These kinds of tags feel like intricately-made machines, full of little moving parts and interesting mechanisms that make the whole thing work wonderfully. This might be my favorite of the IWE tags fitting into this genre, and you really should check it out, if for no other reason than to see Mighty Inoue and Haruka Eigen working energized juniors sequences over a decade before they would become The Quintessential Old Men.

Kintaro Oki vs. Alex Smirnoff (10/11/1980)

     Yeah dude this is just fun as hell. Two of my favorite characters in IWE get to meet in a singles match and it's exactly the kind of schtick I was looking for. Smirnoff is a chain maniac, basically using it the whole time by either choking Oki with it or punching him with a chain-wrapped fist. He's a master at keeping it out of referee Thesz's line of sight, at one point shifting it to his other hand and hiding it behind the turnbuckle. Oki, meanwhile, is wonderful bumping around in his own half-mobile way, and his headbutts are as supreme as usual. The entire finish is based around Oki's unstoppable rage after finally getting his hands on the chain, and it's a ton of fun. We even get some referee Thesz shenanigans with him throwing off the shirt post-match, looking for a good ole tussle. The previously discussed Oki/Sik vs. Smirnoff/USSR tag was a wonderful setup to this encounter, because it's all the fun character-driven work turned up to eleven. Simple as that. Secretly, this is one of my favorite matches of the project yet, just because of how much fun I had with it. Wrestling is actually super easy when you aren't trying to be a high-concept loser and just give the people all they need to be happy.

Strong Kobayashi vs. Billy Robinson (05/14/1970)

    True Ancient Pro right here. Also incredibly incomplete Ancient Pro! This is five minutes of clips from a nearly 25-minute match. Just by the nature of its presentation, it's kind of hard to gauge the actual quality of the whole thing, and that also gives me a little less to talk about compared to usual. Still, there's a lot of awesome stuff to take in here. Wrestling like this just doesn't exist anymore. Strong Kobayashi and Billy Robinson put each other through the work in ways that have been lost to time, ranging from bridging headscissors struggles to monkey flip waistlock counters. Certainly, most of the IWE I've watched up to this point has felt foreign to the wrestling of the modern day scene, but this is the first match to feel truly alien in both presentation and execution. And that sucks! I really do enjoy these super old school grappling affairs where both guys put on weird holds and torture each other circus tent style. This match also works as a wonderful example of the value of building to the bombs, as seeing Billy Robinson pull off his vicious backbreaker after assumedly 20 minutes of grinding Kobayashi down with mean holds hits a lot different than him just hitting it in the first five minutes next to a bunch of other bombs. It's major credit to them that even with how clipped this is, the wear and tear of the match still comes through. This is definitely worth a watch beyond just the historical footage aspect, especially for anyone that enjoys seeing a guy work a god damn hold.

IWE Matches That Soothe My Troubled Soul

                  (Written by jom)

     Have you guys seen that photo of Rusher Kimura with his massive collection of Louis bags? If not, here it is. You should check it out.

Kintaro Oki vs. Umanosuke Ueda (10/04/1980)

      Considering everything else I've discussed up to this point, this is the most obvious great match ever. Ueda and Oki go out and beat each other around Omihachiman Athletic Park for fifteen minutes and all is right in the world. In a way, it's almost hard to find worthwhile words for this match, because it really just gives you everything you would expect. Oki hits as hard as he ever did and rampages Ueda into walls and ring posts with his signature pissed-off fire. Ueda finds any and all opportunities to slap on cobra claws and utilize Foreign Objects, all while begging off and bumping huge for Oki's moments of rage. They tear down the building and drag anyone not quick enough into the onslaught, including the commentator who gets bumped hard and taken out in the latter half of the match. I will at least admit that, for as great as this is, it also never really goes beyond "great". I can't really explain why, either. I think it generally did a good job of delivering on the promise of Ueda & Oki in a singles match, but I also think it may have had more juice worth squeezing out. The violence was big, but it could've been even bigger with a little more time or a little more violence. This kind of argument isn't worth much salt, though. The match is great, and the match makes me happy in the exact right way this match should. No use in expending any energy on what-ifs when what we got is sick as fuck. 

Mile Zrno & Charly Verhulst vs. Ashura Hara & Jiro Inazuma (05/09/1979)

    More Zrno goodness, and more Zrno goodness with Hara! Both men have brought their friends with them, and what an assortment of compatriots. Charly Verhulst is another guy I've never heard of before, and you can tell he's from the Zrno sphere of pro wrestling just from how he moves in the ring. He's certainly not as quick and enduring as Zrno, but he's holds his own on the ground and knows how to throw uppercuts with the best of them. Jiro Inazuma, meanwhile, is a man I know much about, and a man I've somehow not included in any of these IWE write-ups until now. I wouldn't call this match the best showcase of his abilities, but he gets his moments to shine, throwing wild uppercuts at Verhulst and pulling off beautiful headscissors takedowns on Zrno. Of course, Zrno and Hara are the stars of the show, and they give us a lot more of the action they rocked Korakuen Hall with a few days prior. Zrno's such a tenacious worker, outright refusing to give up holds unless he has a very clear reason to do so (be that rope break or better vantage point). Hara, meanwhile, is one of the best at taking advantages of those little pockets of opportunity found between Zrno's barrages. This match also has both men laying in the strikes even harder than before, with Zrno's uppercuts landing flush on the jaw, and Hara's dropkick nearly detaching Znro's head from his body. Ignoring the sadly weird and sloppy finishing stretch between Inazuma and Zrno, this is more prime pro wrestling, and a fitting lower-key sequel to the borderline classic earlier in the tour.

Kintaro Oki & Kim Duk vs. Great Kusatsu & Animal Hamaguchi (11/28/1978)

     I simply cannot get enough of Oki going beast mode. This is one of the more tweener Oki performances of his IWE appearances, taking on the definitive babyface duo of Hamaguchi and Kusatsu with loyal goon Duk by his side. Tragically, this is also clipped to high heaven, seemingly less by the TV station and more by footage degradation, but what we get is very cool. This is the best Kusatsu has ever looked, as he locks on quick and flashy holds and gets a few chances to go toe-for-toe against the Koreans with standing strikes. Most of his striking is just perfectly fine, but he does turn it up out of nowhere in the latter half of the match, throwing hellacious jabs and uppercuts at Duk. I'm sure Kusatsu got more of an opportunity to show his stuff in the handful of cage matches I just haven't gotten around to checking out yet, but for a guy that's always come off as good enough, he certainly feels like a lot more coming out of this one. Hamaguchi mostly does what Hamaguchi does, bumping around well and pulling off one of his awesome airplane spins, but never doing too much of note. The Korean duo here stand out the most, especially Oki with his usual Oki headbutts and meanness, but Duk shows his own viciousness with some nice knees to the temple and an awesome Canadian backbreaker. Maybe if we had the full 18 minute version of this match it'd be something outright great. As it stands, we only have 6 minutes, but those six minutes are fun and worth a look. 

Rusher Kimura vs. Professor Tanaka (11/30/1978)

     Another IWE post means another Rusher Kimura singles match. Kimura singles matches are closer to being comfort food to me than anything else, usually simple and repetitive in their structure and narrative but full of the necessary heart and spirit to keep me enjoying the action no matter how many of them I watch. This match is, undeniably, par for the course for Kimura singles matches. As usual, he's placed across the ring from a big bad foreigner, this one being Professor Tanaka, a guy that looks so intimidating that he had an entire second career as a character actor for bodyguard and sumo roles in B-flicks. I guess you could say there's an extra layer here with Tanaka's existence as a gimmick Japanese man, but IWE puts less than zero effort into making that part of the match's story, and I personally feel no interesting in dwelling on it beyond this mention here. He's good in the role of intimidator + brutalizer, letting his general presence do a lot of the heavy lifting while pulling out some nice holds or quick jabs every now and then to keep the action from stalling out. Kimura matches up with him well too, as he's just as good at wrenching himself out of submissions and crumpling from Tanaka's cheap shots. Inevitably, Kimura fights back hard enough to require Tanaka to rely on a Foreign Object, and that leads to a bloody Kimura's final stand. I could've pulled out a piece of paper and mapped out this match's entire structure within 10 seconds of the bell ringing. I promise you, if you know the Kimura formula, you know what will happen here, and neither man does much of anything to divert expectations. Having said that, I love the formula, and I have no issue with them sticking to the usual script. Maybe not much for the average fan, but for the real Rusherholics, this is more of the good stuff.

Cage Death: Ashura Hara & Mighty Inoue vs. Terry Lathan & Paul Ellering (05/16/1981)

    Astonishing. I can't believe I missed this match when I went on my journey through the IWE Chronicles DVD set. This is the first time I've ever seen it and I'm completely blown away. I'll just come out and say it now: this is a strong contender for the best cage match IWE ever put on, at the very least among the matches we have on tape. This is Hara at his most emotionally-driven and Inoue at his most fiery and unrelenting, complimented by two white dudes willing to throw endless punches to the face and cheat to high heaven. Paul Ellering looks like a cartoon parody of a professional wrestler, complete with action figure-like body shape and the world's worst hairline. He throws bizarre punches that are as good as they are weird, and he more than makes up for any strange movements with just how much of a presence he has in the ring. Terry Lathan, meanwhile, feels like the biggest non-Japanese discovery of the whole project, a 'Bama boy with a propensity for biting at wounds and bumping like a madman. While Ellering does a damn good job of being Ellering, Lathan acts as the workhorse here, doing most of the big bumping during the babyface comebacks while also pushing the level of violence with his viciousness. They're a fantastic duo, one that matches up perfectly with two of IWE's best in their most prime forms. Hara really feels like the next guy up with his beautiful punching comeback and his massive superplex, but he really excels on defense as he stumbles around from Lathan's punches. It's a nice preview of Hara's work a decade later as he starts to figure out that signature Hara selling style that would put him head and shoulders above practically every other wrestler ever. Inoue, meanwhile, is fully realized. His pissed off and reckless comeback work in this match is the best I've ever seen from him, even greater than the comeback in the Ueda tag discussed last week. He's a punching and stabbing machine, throwing the ref around whenever he tries to get involved and refusing to let up on his assailants. This is spectacular, one of the last great matches from the final months of IWE, and a potential contender for IWE's best match ever.

Assorted IWE Matches That Tickle My Fancy

                 (Written by jom)

     IWE back-to-back?? Yeah bitch!!! The thunk of Kintaro Oki headbutts call to me like a siren's song. I also genuinely cannot find it in myself to write about anything else because IWE is one of the only things in wrestling that interests me currently. I could power through an article written about a random schmuck working in basements, but I don't really want to. All I want to do is put more words to the page about why Rusher Kimura was one of the best top guys in the history of Japanese wrestling, or why Mighty Inoue should've gotten a top heavyweight run in AJPW regardless of his actual size. As always, here are five matches from the IWE archives, some of which I already adore while others I fully intend to adore. IWE is not a perfect place, but the shape of its spirit fits perfectly into my soul.

Gypsy Joe vs. Kintaro Oki (07/01/1980)

      A tragically clipped affair. The version we currently possess has nearly 10 minutes cut off from the start, which I can only assume mostly consisted of Gypsy Joe beating Oki's ass. We come in with Oki firmly in control and never see anything else, but this functions well as an Oki agenda piece. He's such a physical wrestler, an early template of the nasty stiff brawlers that would become more prevalent in the late 80s and early 90s. The influence on a guy like Fujiwara is blatantly apparent, down to the similar headbutt form, but to call him a prototype of Fujiwara would be an insult to both. Oki, for as talented at matworking as he was (just see the Bock match from the last post for proof of that), cared much more about the striking and bigger drama more often than not. He spends this whole match throwing chops at the throat and turning his own brain into mush with the nastiest headbutts of the era. Joe, for his part, is as receptive as he should be, taking said headbutts by wandering into the crowd like he's forgotten where he is, tumbling over tables and the like. It breaks my heart that we have none of his work on offense, but it's cool to see him doing everything he can to get over Oki's headbutt as a weapon of mass destruction. Nothing vital, but if you want to see Kintaro Oki beating ass, it's a good six minutes of that. 

2/3 Falls: Ashura Hara vs. Mile Zrno (05/06/1979)

    I've never seen Mile Zrno before. I know that close friends have pushed the agenda for him for years, but he's somehow stayed outside of my radar for the eight or so years I've been in this sphere. I can't believe it's taken that long because Mile Zrno is astounding. He's probably the closest anyone from this period of wrestling has ever come to feeling like the French Catch guys of the 40s & 50s. He's a total monster in this match, working the mat with excellent execution and beating Hara down with nasty uppercuts and dropkicks. His work constantly teeters the line between beautiful and vicious, at some points pulling off the most fascinating armbar transitions you've ever seen, and at others grinding Hara into the dust with grounded elbows to the head or kicks to the face. Hara, for his part, puts in his best juniors performance I've really ever seen, showing his strength in the bombs category while also proving himself equally capable in the grappling portions. He pulls off an incredible drop toe hold counter to a single leg early on and looks like a beast wrenching hammerlocks on the ground. More than anything else though, this match really finds itself in the smallest of moments just as it does in the biggest. The moments before the takedowns or suplexes feel almost more important, as these two masters square each other up and try to bait one another into making a mistake or giving the smallest opening needed to advance. It's a clinical affair, one that even gets a massive boost in the ending portion with one of the most ahead-of-its-time finishes I have ever seen. Once again, IWE blows me away with one of its more scientific matches, reminding me that there's a lot more to International than the blood-and-guts brawling (even if I love that stuff oh so much).

Kintaro Oki & Kim Kwang Sik vs. Alex Smirnoff & The USSR (10/08/1980)

     I miss when wrestling had shit like "The USSR." I take pride in the fact that one of the bigger deal indie stars in my region is a dude named Vladimir Koloff, who spent years really milking that Cold War heel heat (even if nowadays he's more of just a generally very good worker). The USSR is actually longtime WWF jobber Charlie Fulton, dressed up in one of Smirnoff's spare singlets and wearing a black mask that just says "USSR" on the front. Not enough people talk about IWE's revolutionary and ahead-of-the-times approach to integrating political strife into wrestling storylines, because who else was booking Korean War revenge matches like this? This match is incredibly fun, and works as a pretty great display of all four men's talents. Smirnoff and USSR are great heaters for the babyface with Smirnoff doing most of the heavy-lifting. He's a wonderful scumbag, happy to interfere in the match and throw hidden closed fists or use a Foreign Object. USSR is clearly one of the least talented workers of this time period, but the bar for talent is so high at this point that he still shows an innate understanding of working that puts him head and shoulders above a lot of guys today. The Koreans are by far the stars of the show though. Kim Kwang Sik, who I didn't realize until after the match is Oki's shoot younger brother, comes off as Oki's personal Teranishi. He's an athletic specimen who flies around the ring so gracefully while also throwing headbutts with incredible viciousness. Seeing Kwang Sik work here just makes me yearn for the 80s Korean wrestling tapes that must exist in some Seoul uncle's basement. And of course my guy Oki delivers the Oki-ism in droves. Tons of headbutts, tons of personality, he's just the best. Wrap all of that together nicely with a "referee Lou Thesz antics"-colored bow and you have yourself one of the most enjoyable tags in all of my IWE viewing. It's not as serious or as climactic as some of the more flat-out great tags from the promotion, but seeing Kwang Sik use himself as a wheelbarrow to pull the Russians into Oki headbutts is an experience like no other. 

Rusher Kimura vs. Ron Bass (10/11/1980)

     I think one of the more interesting aspects of all this IWE watching has been figuring out what works best for Rusher Kimura. I've seen as many good Kimura singles matches as I've seen bad ones, and I think it has a lot to do with Kimura's status as one of the original Stoic Japanese Men. Kimura commands a presence entirely through muted emotions, chopping down opponents with a stone face and only really changing that expression in the rarest circumstances. As such, Kimura's best work in singles action almost always comes against wrestlers that pop out of the screen in big and borderline cartoonish ways, whether they be foreign monsters (the Ox Bakers of the world) or complete chickenshit heels. Ron Bass comfortably sits as one of the best of the latter category, as he puts into a wonderful cowardly performance here. His facial expressions are great, fluctuating between absolute fear of Kimura's chops and Grinch-like deviousness while plotting his fouling. He begs off like a madman and hunts for the ropes every single time Kimura puts on even the most basic hold. He is, in every single way, a coward, and his cowardice is his weapon against Kimura. Gimmick brother Don Bass (which I constantly pronounce in my head as Donbas) also does a good job of fouling it up, especially when Kimura goes outside and gets caught in a storm by the brothers. It all leads to a textbook Kimura comeback and a big finish, wrapping up nicely as an easy crowdpleaser. I have no interest in pretending that this is some life-changing piece of work, but it's a strong performance from both men that knew their roles very well. As feel-good as it ever was.

Cage Death: Animal Hamaguchi & Mighty Inoue vs. Yasu Fuji & Umanosuke Ueda (11/14/1979)

    I would say this is probably my fifth time watching this match. My feelings on it have fluctuated a lot over the last couple of months. The initial viewing in April mostly met my expectations, albeit I didn't think it went beyond being great. The second viewing a few weeks later left me feeling about the same, albeit I did find myself appreciating the heel heat portions more. The third viewing in July marked a major turning point, as my eyes opened and I came to love it as maybe my favorite IWE match. August came around and I finally watched the full version of this match (I had only watched the clipped IWE Chronicles edition up to this point), which further cemented my feelings on this being a strong contender for #1. Now, here I am, five months removed and five watches completed, telling you that I... don't love this as much as I did after the last watch. I think there are undeniable negatives to some of this work, even if it pains me to say that. The first half of this match is good, with points that go into the territory of "very good", but it's also a little bit of a slog at times. Most of it is heel fouling which is something Ueda and Fuji excel in, but the Ueda choking clinic can make the mind wander, especially compared to how chaotic and unrelenting the second half of the match is. The complete lack of Ueda crowdbrawling also does kind of hurt the soul, even if its absence is necessary because of the stipulation. The bits of Ueda crowdbrawling we get after the match mostly make up for it, but comparing this match to the other big Ueda matches of his IWE stint makes it clear that having some crowdbrawling probably would've made that first half a little bit more energized. Having said all of that, this is still one of the best IWE matches ever. For as long as the first half can feel, it's also jam-packed with great fouling and some of Ueda's best Foreign Object usage. Yasu Fuji bites and kicks at wounds and hits a nasty piledriver while also bumping huge for the babyface comesbacks. Hamaguchi and Inoue both get chances to show that viciousness beneath the surface that has been bleeding out in all of their tags against Ueda, and Inoue once again impresses more than anyone else in the second half when he gets his hand on a buckle and goes wild. All of my complaints pretty much exist to say that this isn't the best IWE match, but it's certainly still in contention for the top 10, let alone when we just focus on the IWE cage matches. An incredibly compelling and cathartic match, even if I no longer think it's the greatest thing IWE ever offered up.

More IWE Matches That Make Me Say "Hooray!"

                (Written by jom)

     I'm starting to notice a pattern with the last few blog posts. Apologies to anyone with a natural aversion to Tarzan Goto or Rusher Kimura, but this is an itch I can't help but scratch. I swear to move onto different subjects going forward on the blog... at least regarding Goto Ippa. The IWE mind virus has completely taken over my thought process, and I can no longer go more than three days without a Rusher Kimura bloodletting performance or a Kintaro Oki headbutt festival. Expect to continue to see IWE posts until the sun dies (or until I can finally move on from IWE addiction to something more reasonable, like heroin). Once again, I've gathered together a handful of matches that I've either already seen and love, or never seen and expect to love. Because love is all you need, really. And brother, I love IWE. I hope by the end of all this, you learn to love IWE too.

Mighty Inoue & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Red Devil & Ray Candy (02/28/1981)

      Another Hamaguchi & Inoue Korakuen brawl to soothe the soul. My most pressing thought coming out of this match is that punching is a dead art form and I miss it dearly. For a lot of workers around this time, punching seemed to be a marker for whether or not you were worth a damn. Red Devil and Ray Candy throw amazing punches here, with Devil having snappier headlock punches and Candy throwing massive haymakers. Inoue and Hamaguchi tend to utilize chest chops and kicks, but I've seen both throw great punches in the past too. This isn't even much of a punch-heavy match either. I think I just needed to see punches, and this match has punches, and my thirst for fist-to-face violence has been quenched. Everything else about this match is awesome too. Ray Candy is one of the most striking big men of his era, feeling more akin to the big guys of the 90s with a great balance of hoss offense and genuinely interesting athletic moments. Candy never spends any time trying to do lucha sequences at underwater speed, but he does get a few points to showcase his capabilities as a big bumper. His bodyslams are also insane, so insane that commentary really has no idea what to call them and flips between "bodyslam" and "deadly drive" the whole match. Red Devil is fine too. He's more of a fall guy for the faces than any actual threat but he's clearly a competent worker. His main ring name is also Bill White and I definitely have two distant uncles with that same name so I felt a bit of kinship with him. Inoue and Hamaguchi almost need no explanation, as they deliver the goods as usual. Inoue is more prone to grabbing chairs and bludgeoning than ever before though, which is a really awesome trait for a babyface like him to have. Definitely not as great as the previously discussed Korakuen brawls, but a very fun match nonetheless. 

Rusher Kimura & Great Kusatsu vs. Masa Saito & Umanosuke Ueda (04/18/1979)

    It feels weird to call a match like this "another day in the office" for Ueda and co., but it really is. Ueda and Saito are here to cause trouble as usual, and trouble entails lots of fouling and weapon usage. This kind of shameless cheating is kind of a lost art in modern wrestling, at least over in Japan, and for as much as you could accuse it of being "stupid" or anything like that, it also totally ruled. Kimura and Kusatsu are very serviceable as home group heroes, working Ueda and Saito over on the mat and bringing the fight to them on occasion, but Kusatsu basically exists for Ueda to use random objects on, ranging from choking him with power cables to cracking a beer bottle over his head. Saito also partakes in the weapons fun, but his best moments actually come from his bare-handed work, throwing mean chops and choking Kusatsu and Kimura while they're down. As always, this builds to a chaotic finish, complete with interference and numerous ref bumps. If you're allergic to cool shit like that then don't tune in I guess, more for the rest of us.

Rusher Kimura vs. Gypsy Joe (12/03/1976)

     Apologies to the people I offended by claiming that Ox Baker is the best foreigner in IWE history without even mentioning Gypsy Joe. I'm still correct, but I apologize regardless. Gypsy Joe really is one of the all time greats though, and most likely does sit as the 2nd best foreigner in the company's history, especially considering his cage matches. This is Joe only a few years away from his IWE peak, facing off against Rusher Kimura in an environment both of them love, and it plays out exactly how you'd expect, with tons of violence and hatred exactly as the doctor ordered. Joe, here in a singlet that looks more like a grandmother's swimsuit, is a complete bastard, bloodying Kimura up by trying to eat his face and smashing his skull into a million little pieces using the cage. He still "fouls" even in a no disqualification match, hiding his punches and keeping the ref from seeing his Foreign Object probably more out of instinct than anything. It's a textbook performance from Joe, which always makes me pretty happy. Kimura delivers a pretty spectacular performance of his own, though. This is a contender for Kimura's best work from beneath, as he stumbles around and cries out in pain at all of Joe's brutalizing. At one point, he even does the Funk-style wild swings, throwing reckless punches at Joe's general direction, doing anything he can to find escape the onslaught. His big comeback is full of headbutts, punches, and slams into the cage, the exact kind of comeback this type of match deserves. Would I say it's either man's best cage match? Probably not. I think it certainly sits in the upper echelon for both, though. Expectations absolutely met for one of IWE's most promising matchups. 

Ox Baker vs. Alex Smirnoff (07/10/1979)

     This is kind of a weird one. Both on paper and in practice, this match is incredibly raw. Baker and Smirnoff are two of the most brutal foreigners in late 70s IWE, and here they are taking chunks out of each other in a gory chain match. The problem is that this show has the quietest IWE crowd I have ever seen. This match is contested in near-silence. I'm not sure if the crowd pops even once. The most vocalization from the audience comes from random coughs or the rare "ooooo" from a single person. I'd go so far as to say it borders on COVID-level silence, except even those crowds were allowed to clap a few months in. Now, does that even matter? Kinda, and I think anyone who would say otherwise is a crook and a liar. Especially with a big brawl like this one, there's an expectation for vocal crowd involvement. I'm used to old ladies gasping in horror at the blood, or half-drunk salarymen yelling and punching the air during the big babyface comeback. The fact that none of that happens here is, well, bizarre. And I get it, Japanese crowds are quiet. Trust me, I need nobody to tell me that after spending years way too deep in this bullshit, and I especially don't need any rubes to tell me about how "crowds get loud when they care! just look at 90s AJPW!". It's just a fact of life that Japanese crowds are much quieter on average and basically always have been. Clearly the people here are invested, and it's more the culmination of this kind of environment being faced with a match so antithetical in spirit. It certainly does its damndest to overtake my thoughts on the match, though. Once again, the match itself is great. Obviously so. I really enjoyed my time watching Ox Baker make really old guy threats ("You need a chain upside the head Smirnoff!!") as both men punched, clawed, and bit each other's wounds, all while wildly swinging chains into each other's bodies. It's exactly what I wanted in terms of the action itself. You just need to know that there are moments of silence that truly break the brain. At the very least, it broke mine.

2/3 Falls: Kintaro Oki vs. Nick Bockwinkel (03/31/1980)

    Just for a little bit of context, I've seen this match only once before. About six months back I finally decided to start going through the "IWE Chronicles" releases, and this match was placed near the start of the very first tape. At the time, I wasn't the most engaged in watching it, and I mostly walked away thinking "that was pretty great" before moving onto other IWE work. Now, here I am six months later, firmly entrenched in the IWE mindset, and I am here to tell you that the jom of March 2025 was a FOOL. This match is outstanding, a masterful piece of work put on by two of the very best of the era. Oki and Bockwinkel play the game of inches, telling a story more focused on the little details as it builds towards the bigger conclusions. The entire first falls of this match is grappling, and excellent grappling at that; there's full effort put into the full nelson struggles and keylock maintaining to make all of it really mean something. Oki isn't someone particularly known for his grappling abilities, but he plays his part as the fortress wonderfully, putting in tight and deep holds that Bockwinkel has to find his way around. Bock is such a master when it comes to spacing out these grappling portions, slowly climbing through submissions in a way that really milks it for all it's worth while never going so slow as to lose the viewer. Both guys also counter holds with such great quickness and snappiness, making the slower building periods feel more like both men playing mind games, waiting for the exact right moment to strike. This trend continues into the second fall, albeit with a Bock more willing to push the limits of acceptability, countering holds with eye rakes and chokes which draws the ire of referee Lou Thesz. Oki, as stoic as the man always was, really does a great job of getting more emotional here, going from stone-faced to legitimately frustrated by Bock. All of this builds to the final fall, where everything explodes in the most beautiful way possible. For as extreme as all of my praise here has been, I don't truly think that I've exaggerated much if at all. This is a monumental piece of work, a strong contender for IWE's best singles match ever, and quite possibly one of the greatest matches ever flat-out. For all the Mutoha/Mumeijuku/80s NJPW/general slow-burn grappling fans out there, please do yourself a favor and watch this match. Excellent Pro Wrestling.