*UPDATED* AYUMI KURIHARA RETIRES... is it too late to catch up?

Ayumi Kurihara retires.

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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.

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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.

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Kenta Kobashi Retires...

As of the date of this writing, Kenta Kobashi has just retired.

Perhaps one of wrestling's best athletes and toughest individuals, Kenta Kobashi has carved himself out a huge chunk of the pro-wrestling world.

According to Wikipedia:

Championships and accomplishments

• All Japan Pro Wrestling

• AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Tiger Mask II / Mitsuharu Misawa (1), Johnny Ace (2) and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (1)
• AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (3 times)^[1]
• AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Mitsuharu Misawa (2), Johnny Ace (2) and Jun Akiyama (2)
• Champion Carnival (2000)
• World's Strongest Tag Determination League (1993–1995) – with Mitsuharu Misawa
• World's Strongest Tag Determination League (1998, 1999) – with Jun Akiyama
• One Night Six Man Tag Team Tournament (1999) - with Jun Akiyama & Kentaro Shiga^[22]
• January 2nd Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal (1993)^[23]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked him #4 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1996, 2000, and 2004
• PWI ranked him #33 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003^[24]

• Pro Wrestling Noah

• GHC Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[1]
• GHC Openweight Hardcore Championship (1 time)
• GHC Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Tamon Honda
• One Day Six Man Tag Team Tournament Winner (2002) - with Kenta and Kentaro Shiga^[22]

This man has faced perhaps the best of the best in this crazy world of professional wrestling, and even one particularly nasty opponent outside of the ring as well.

Kenta Kobashi combined powerful holds with deadly strikes to create an offense that was nigh-impenetrable. His toughness both in the ring and out of it was, and is something to be admired.

Not to mention the man takes one hell of a wedding picture:

I first became aware of him through playing Virtual Pro 2 on the Nintendo 64, a game that was a close cousin to the WWF Wrestlemania 2000 that we got stateside. I was struck by his moveset... deadly strikes, vicious chops, a hellacious lariat, a tough moonsault (which took a nasty toll on his knees) and suplexes that could turn your neck into an accordion.

Today I'd like to take this time to look back at his awesome career with some of my favorite matches with Kobashi. Despite my efforts, I cannot for the life of me decide which one is better than the other, so I present this in (mostly) chronological order.

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Prixel Derp Crosspost - Maki Ueda and Space Invaders!

This one is interesting, but I have the feeling that I need to explain.

In the late 70's and early 80's, women's wrestling or 女子プロレス (joshi puroresu) was HUGE in Japan, and instrumental in that popularity were the Beauty Pair. The team consisted of Jackie Sato and the above Maki Ueda.

Read On...

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