FUJIWARASMIRK

After months and months, the work is finally done.

I honestly don’t know what I expected when I undertook this project. After going through 700+ matches, I’m truthfully conflicted; on one hand, it’s very rewarding to go through an entire year of wrestling, across multiple different promotions, and from an era that I’m mostly unfamiiar with. On the other hand, going through all this footage was somewhat overwhelming for me, and I really didn’t feel much personal conection to the project on the whole. It could just be me, but this feels like a transitional year, one that’s good but not great, and more of a set-up for the 80s that we al recognize rather than something special in itself.

I came into this thing hoping to crank out an expanded version of what I came up with for the mid-year awards; the five best promotions, five best tag teams, twenty best matches, and twenty best wrestlers of the year. Unfortunately, the relative scarcity of footage, especially in the back half of the year, means that I can’t confidently go this extra length for 1980. I don’t think I could really say there were 5 pairings that consistently tagged longed enough for me to call them a viable tag team of the year candidate, and there really is nothing between July and December that has changed my mind about the top 3 promotions of the year. This is probably a failure on my part, and I apologize for my inadequency in that regard.

However, I did promise a final year-end recap, and I think I’ve got enough of a grasp on wrestling in 1980 to release something satisfactory enough. So, here are the top 10 matches and top 10 wrestlers of 1980.

MATCH OF THE YEAR:

10. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Billy Robinson (AJPW 12/11/80)

Two of the premier American-style workers of the 70s and early 80s go toe to toe here, and of course it’s awesome. It’s always special to watch two wrestlers with such a complete mastery of a style work one another, and these two mesh so well together on the mat. Bock in particular shines so bright here, zeroing in on Robinson’s arm and just goes to town on it, wrenching it with all the holds in his repertoire. Absolutely a must-watch for both fans and newcomers to these wrestlers and this style.

9. Abdullah the Butcher vs. The Sheik (AJPW 5/2/80)

Incredible sprint and brawl. This goes 3 minutes and 30 seconds bell-to-bell, with Sheik stabbing the life out of Butcher before being DQ’d. but there’s no better example of a “post-match” elevating a match like this one. Abby and Sheik spend the next several minutes brawling all over Korakeun Hall in a wild display of hatred. The crowd is rabid hot for all of this, too, transforming this into an experience that only these two could tap into again later in the year.

8. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dynamite Kid (NJPW 2/5/80)

Two of the best juniors on the planet going toe-to-toe in a great title match. DK is so explosive with his offense, puttig everything into his strikes and bombs over the course of the match, and Fujinami is an exceptional seller at this point so the two create fireworks here, helped tremendously by Kid busting Fujinami up and attacking the cut with reckless abandon. Truly a vicious performance from Billington, making Fujinami earn every inch of a terrific comeback in the last stretch. The best New Japan match of the year.

7. Tenjim Masami vs. Jackie Sato (AJW 11/27/80)

Much like Rick Martel, it is astounding how great Devil Masami already is in 1980. She really seems to already have most of what makes her so great in the next decade or so, especially her facial mannerisms, a wonderful display of pain and agony at one moment and delight and glee in another. I adore the struggle in the best of these AJW singles matches, especially with a great like Jackie Sato in there, as she’s one of the best matworkers in Japan and by extension the world. Excellent match with a real sense of grittiness and a wonderful escalation as it goes on, and only the third best Jackie Sato match of 1980.

6. Rick Martel vs. Buddy Rose (PNW 5/17/80)

5. Bob Backlund vs. Ken Patera (WWF 5/19/80)

4. Jackie Sato vs. Tomi Aoyama (AJW 1/4/80)

3. Bruno Sammartino vs. Larry Zbyszko (WWF 3/24/80)

2. Jim Breaks vs. Young David (Joint Promotions 2/23/80)

1. Rimi Yokota vs. Jackie Sato (AJW 12/16/80)

Before I began working on this year, I tentatively had this match as my MOTY for 1980. I can now say with the utmost confidence that I was right, and this match is fucking incredible. Yokota, like Masami, is advanced beyond her years here and doesn’t look out of her depth against a best in the world contender like Jackie Sato at all. The speed with which these women work, whether it’s running the ropes or in the grappling exchanges, has to be seen to be believed. Yokota can be just as vicious work a hold as Masami is, but the combination of her quickness and commitment to attacking a body part is unbelievable. Sato’s selling while in a hold is phenomenal as always as well, showing that fight to get out of the hold that I adore in mat-heavy matches like this. And, much like the Aoyama match in January, when she gets a chance to go on the offfensive for once it’s jaw dropping the level of arsenal at Sato’s disposal. The work doesn’t waver for one moment, not even in the face of a countout draw and subsequent restart. A must watch for any fan of wrestling in my opinion, and the best match of the year.

WRESTLER OF THE YEAR

Honorable Mentions:

• Jim Breaks
• Jumbo Tsuruta
• Rimi Yokota
• Tenjim Masami
• Roddy Piper
• Andre The Giant
• Mark Rocco
• Dynamite Kid

10. Bruno Sammartino

One half of the best feud of the year. Even outside of the idol-to-rival classics with Zbyszko, though, Bruno’s year is really great, with a pair of fun matches with Ken Patera to round out his year.

RECOMMENDED MATCHES:

• vs. Larry Zbyszko (WWF, 2/2)
• vs. Larry Zbyszko (WWF, 3/1)
• vs. Larry Zbyszko (WWF, 3/24)
• vs. Larry Zbyszko (WWF, 4/12)
• vs. Larry Zbyszko (WWF, 4/21)
• vs. Larry Zbyszko (WWF, 8/9)
• vs. Ken Patera (WWF, 11/8)
• vs. Ken Patera (WWF, 12/13)

9. Nick Bockwinkel

Held back by lack of AWA footage and some undesirable opponents near the beginning of the year. Bock as a pure talent is arguably the best wrestler in the entire world, an incredible technician and even more incredible asshole who had a knack of getting the best out of most everyone he worked with. The crown jewel of his case is the Robinson match in December, a savant-like performance of matwork and nastiness. I expect him to end up even higher as these years go on, but for now #9 is nothing to scoff at.

RECOMMENDED MATCHES:

• vs. Kintaro Oki (IWE, 3/31)
• w/ Bobby Heenan vs. The Crusher & Greg Gagne (AWA, 6/12)
• vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (AWA, 6/22)
• w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Super Destroyer Mark II & Greg Gagne (AWA, 10/3)
• w/ Jim Brunzell vs. Billy Robinson & Les Thornton (AJPW, 12/5)
• w/ Jim Brunzell vs. Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr. (AJPW, 12/9)
• vs. Billy Robinson (AJPW, 12/11)

8. Jackie Sato

The best joshi wrestler of the year. The only thing holding her back from a legit top 5 placement is a crippling lack of AJW footage this year, because she peaks as high as anyone in the entire world on multiple occasions. Head over heels about her ability to both mix it up on the mat and just destroy her opponents with an array of bombs when on the feet, while also being an incredible seller in the face of ruthless opponents like Masami or Black Pair. If not for the company-wide mandatory retirement rule that cut her career short in early 1981, I think we all would be including her with the likes of Aja Kong, Chigusa Nagayo and Akira Hokuto as the best joshi wrestlers ever.

RECOMMENDED MATCHES:

• vs. Tomi Aoyama (AJW, 1/4)
• vs. Monster Ripper (AJW, 3/15)
• w/ Rimi Yokota & Nancy Kumi vs. Tenjim Masami, Chabalera Romero & Moster Ripper (AJW, May)
• vs. Mami Kumano (AJW, July)
• vs. Tenjim Masami (AJW, 11/27)
• vs. Rimi Yokota (AJW, 12/16)
• vs. Nancy Kumi (AJW, 12/16)

7. Terry Funk

As the matches show, the bulk of Funk’s case comes from his All Japan work. He works Georgia for a good chunk of the year and cuts some awesome promos there, but the amount of compelling matches on tape is not abundant as we sadly don’t have much omni footage. What we do have, though, are some great, great matches from him in Japan, where he gets the best matches out of company stars like Baba and Jumbo, carries relative unknowns like Ray Candy to good matches, brawls with Abby all over the arena, and grapples with Bockwinkel and Robinson. The man really can do it all, and he’s another one where if we had more of him in tape, he could easily have jumped even higher than where he landed.

RECOMMENDED MATCHES:

• vs. Ray Candy (AJPW, 3/28)
• vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW, 4/4)
• vs. Abdullah the Butcher (AJPW, 4/18)
• w/ Dick Slater vs. Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW, 5/2)
• vs. Abdullah the Butcher (AJPW, 11/1)
• w/ Dory Funk Jr. vs. Nick Bockwinkel & Jim Brunzell (AJPW, 12/9)
• w/ Dory Funk Jr. vs. Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW, 12/11)

6. Rick Martel

Martel falls just a little as the back half of his year is taken up by a WWF run that isn’t nearly as exciting as his stuff in Portland. When outside of the orbit of Buddy Rose and his armies, the flaws in Martel’s case become a little clearer, though he’s still more than capable of cranking out great performances if not great matches consistently. Still a very impressive finish for someone so young into his career, and a harbinger of things to come.

RECOMMENDED MATCHES:

• w/ Dutch Savage, Roddy Piper & Stan Stasiak vs. Butch Miller, Luke Williams, Buddy Rose & Sam Bass (PNW, 1/5)
• vs. Harley Race (PNW, 1/12)
• w/ Roddy Piper vs. Butch Miller & Luke Williams (PNW, 1/26)
• vs. Buddy Rose (PNW, 2/9)
• w/ Roddy Piper vs. Butch Miller & Luke Williams (PNW, 3/15)
• vs. Buddy Rose (PNW, 4/26)
• vs. Buddy Rose (PNW, 5/17)
• w/ Roddy Piper vs. Buddy Rose & Ed Wiskoski (PNW, 8/2)
• w/ Rick McGraw vs. Johnny Rodz & Jose Estrada (WWF, 10/11)
• w/ Tony Garea vs. The Moondogs (WWF, 12/29)

5. Ken Patera

Patera’s 1980 is so great. The first half of the year has him in a feud with WWF Heavyweight champion Bob Backlund that produces two great matches and one MOTY contender, but it’s the back half of his year that really cemented him the #5 spot for me. Another great Backlund match, one of the best Inoki matches of the year, an incredible stooging performance against Andre, some really good sqaushes on TV and a fun feud with Bruno are all highlights of the IC champion’s back half, making him take a leap from someone I was considering potentially top 25 to a wrestler I couldn’t see outside of the top 5.

RECOMMENDED MATCHES:

• vs. Bob Backlund (WWF, 1/21)
• vs. Pat Patterson (WWF, 4/21)
• vs. Bob Backlund (WWF, 5/19)
• vs. Bob Backlund (WWF, 7/26)
• vs. Antonio Inoki (NJPW, 9/30)
• vs. Andre The Giant (WWF, 10/11)
• vs. Pedro Morales (WWF, 10/20)
• vs. Bruno Sammartino (WWF, 11/8)
• vs. Bruno Sammartino (WWF, 12/13)

4. Buddy Rose

Bit of a fall for my guy here unfortunately, but not without reason. In the second half of the year, Martel goes to WWF and both Piper and the Sheepherders off to Mid-Atlantic, leaving him without four of the main faces he had standing against him in the first half. Rose being Rose, he makes do with the talent he has left as always, but I’d be lying if I said to you the great matches came as consistently as they did from January to June. Additionally, while Portland being such a footage-rich promotion is in many ways a blessing, it can also be a curse, and it definitely was for me in the sense that I became fatigued at a point. Still, everything that made Rose a BITW contender initially was still present by the end of December, and I expect he’ll be threatening for the top spot again for a few years yet.

RECOMMENDED MATCHES:

• w/ Butch Miller, Luke Williams, & Sam Bass vs. Dutch Savage, Rick Martel, Roddy Piper & Stan Stasiak (PNW, 1/5)
• vs. Stan Stasiak (PNW, 1/19)
• vs. Frank Dusel (PNW, 2/16)
• vs. Rick Martel (PNW, 4/26)
• vs. Rick Martel (PNW, 5/17)
• w/ Butch Miller & Luke Williams vs. Dutch Savage, Rick Martel & Roddy Piper (PNW, 5/24)
• vs. Butch Miller (PNW, 6/7)
• w/ Ed Wiskoski & Fidel Cortez vs. Butch Miller, Luke Williams & Jonathan Boyd (PNW, 7/19)
• w/ Ed Wiskoski vs. Rick Martel & Roddy Piper (PNW, 8/2)
• vs. Jonathan Boyd (PNW, 10/25)
• vs. Jay Youngblood (PNW, 12/27)

3. Bob Backlund

At some point the output becomes too great to deny. While he was someone I was hesitant to put as high as 5th by the end of June, I feel no such qualms to have him this high now. The thing is, I’m not sure if he’s quote unqoute better than most of the people in his best matches, and I think that there’s definitely a valid criticism in that line of thinking. However, when the number of good-to-great matches is as large as Backlund’s in 1980, at some point you have to think that he’s doing something right, you know? I’m actually very interested to see where I stand on Backlund in the years to follow, as I’m certainly higher on him now than I was when initially starting the project.

RECOMMENDED MATCHES:

• vs. Bobby Duncum (WWF, 1/12)
• vs. Ken Patera (WWF, 1/21)
• vs. Antonio Inoki (CWF, 4/16)
• vs. Ken Patera (WWF, 5/19)
• w/ Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dusty Rhodes & Stan Hansen (NJPW, 5/23)
• vs. Stan Hansen (NJPW, 6/4)
• vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW, 6/5)
• vs. Ken Patera (WWF, 7/26)
• vs. Antonio Inoki (NJPW, 8/22)
• vs. Harley Race (WWF, 9/22)
• vs. Stan Hansen (WWF, 9/30)
• vs. Larry Zbyszko (WWF, 10/11)
• vs. Sgt. Slaughter (WWF, 10/20)
• vs. Larry Zbyszko (WWF, 11/8)

2. Larry Zbyszko

The other, better half of the feud of the year. Zbyszko’s year was great enough being married at the hip to Bruno in so many great matches, but he maintains the same level of quality through the whole year, especially in his matches with Backlund in the fall. Most impressive to me, though, is how he manages to get a damn good match out of Ivan Putski in August, whose year consisteted of mostly bad to average matches, dragging down even greats like Patera in his mediocrity. The fact that Larry could get this guy to something I would actually recommend people go out of their way to watch is very impressive to me and is one of the key factors in me ranking him so high.

RECOMMENDED MATCHES:

• vs. Hussein Arab (WWF, 1/12)
• vs. Bruno Sammartino (WWF, 2/2)
• vs. Bruno Sammartino (WWF, 3/3)
• vs. Bruno Sammartino (WWF, 3/24)
• vs. Bruno Sammartino (WWF, 4/12)
• vs. Bruno Sammartino (WWF, 4/21)
• vs. Dominic DeNucci (WWF, 5/19)
• vs. Bruno Sammartino (WWF, 8/9)
• vs. Ivan Putski (WWF, 8/23)
• vs. Bob Backlund (WWF, 10/11)
• vs. Bob Backlund (WWF, 11/8)

1. Tatsumi Fujinami

Not quite as dominant a year as it seemed at first, as the back half slows down from the hot start Fujinami was on in the first six months of the year. Overall, I still, went with him for wrestler of the year because I felt that, on a month by month basis, no wrestler was as reliably and consistently watchable as he was over the course of 1980. I also think that it’s more impressive that he was able to have the year he did while in a company that was mostly uninspired outside of him; three of my top five all come from the same promotion, a promotion I think is solidly the best promotion in the world at this point, so not having that advantage and still being so good goes a long way for me. He still has some really good stuff after June as well, like the September Kengo Kimura match and good showings in NJPW’s MSG tag league. Overall, the best junior in the world held on to his crown as the bets in the world, although in a tighter race than I expected.

RECOMMENDED MATCHES:

• w/ Antonio Inoki vs. Dynamite Kid & Steve Keirn (NJPW, 1/11)
• w/ Kantaro Hoshino vs. Dynamite Kid & Steve Keirn (NJPW, 1/18)
• w/ Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen & Steve Keirn (NJPW, 1/25)
• vs. Dynamite Kid (NJPW, 2/5)
• vs. Steve Keirn (NJPW, 2/8)
• vs. Ashura Hara (NJPW, 4/3)
• vs. Mike Graham (NJPW, 4/4)
• w/ Bob Backlund vs. Dusty Rhodes & Stan Hansen (NJPW, 5/23)
• vs. Antonio Inoki (NJPW, 5/30)
• vs. Bob Backlund (NJPW, 6/5)
• vs. Gestapo (NJPW, 6/20)
• vs. Kengo Kimura (NJPW, 9/25)
• vs. Tony Rocco (NJPW, 9/11)

And that’s about it for 1980 for me! As stated, I plan on tackling 1990 next, a year that seems to be much more up my wheelhouse. If you’ve read this far I appreciate you, and I hope that you look forward to more of my writings in the future!