Shooty! - Andre the Giant vs. Akira Maeda

NJPW, 1986
Oh, this match.

THIS MATCH.

One of my favorite acquisitions during the tape-trading, pre-YouTube days of the early 2000s!

Here, we have Akira Maeda, a pretty tough guy in his own right, trying to force a REALLY DRUNK Andre the Giant to work with him.

There are a number of things that you just DON'T DO:

- You don't piss in the wind.

- You don't tug on Superman's cape.

- You don't EVER try to get DRUNKEN ANDRE to do what he doesn't want to do!

Read More

Abby vs. Andre? Abby vs. Hogan??? ABBY???

In what can only be called a bizzare mixing of worlds for me, here we have Abdullah the Buthcer, famous for his vicious bloody matches, tieing up with two grapplers better known for their child friendly careers (at least publicly) in the WWF.



Abby vs. Andre the Giant (WWC, First Anniversary, 1983)


I'd like to find the build up to this someday. Because Andre is just letting the Butcher HAVE IT in this match from the WWC organization in Puerto Rico. Abby always had a rich history in PR, and this match is just one in a litany of legendary matches, most notably against Carlos Colon.





Abby vs. Hulk Hogan (New Japan Pro-Wrestling, World Pro-Wrestling, 1980s)


Now we have the man who would end up being the very image of kid-friendly professional wrestling in the 80's taking on the Madman from Sudan.



When I was a pro-wrestling neophite in the early 90's, I had only heard of the Butcher from the Apter mags. I never really had a chance to see him in action until the tape-trading days of the mid to late 90's. So seeing a guy with his very distinct style taking on guys I was VERY well acquainted with was hell of a trip.

Read More

Antonio Inoki's Most Interesting Matches

By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas

Antonio Inoki is rather prolific.

Before his official retirement, Antonio Inoki was an IMMENSELY popular Japanese wrestler. So popular, in fact, that he has faced almost EVERYONE in the wrestling business from his generation!

From Hulk Hogan to Ric Flair, to Vader and even Muhammad Ali, Inoki has been quite successful, pretty much fitting the 'hero' mold that Hulk Hogan did here in the US. He is so well known in Japan it's absolutely amazing. In fact, when I was teaching English in Japan, my students did this skit where "Inoki" (a student in Inoki facade, replete with the trademark oversized chin) would slap some inspiration into the attendees.

Here, in no particular order, I'd like to present the most interesting opponents (from an American perspective) that Antonio Inoki has ever had.

Read More

Andre the Giant on the David Letterman Show

While certainly David Letterman is no stranger to having guests from the pro-wrestling industry on his show (I.E. the famous Jerry Lawler - Andy Kaufman confrontation), I was surprised to see this, as I've never seen it before:

Read More