Things were not yet at the level they would reach, though by the time Tiger Mask won with a German suplex, there was definitely something exciting about the two as a pairing. The tone for more heated exchanges in the future was set with Kid aiming to rip off the mask, before both men took the fight to ringside. After the early theatrics, things largely settled into a by-the-numbers Junior Heavyweight contest. It was truly as if he had never met someone with this skillset before. Acclimatisation to masked wrestling for Sayama could explain away some of the awkwardness in terms of move execution, whilst Kid’s initial response to the character had him show more fear and surprise than he usually associated with him. Not the shorn-haired savage that he was in the years to come, Kid’s main role here was to act as a foil through which the impressiveness of the Tiger Mask character could shine. Bestowed upon Satoru Sayama, the gimmick’s debut took place on the final day of Kid’s only tour of the year. Eventually, this would incorporate more regular tours for Dynamite, but at this moment it took the form of licensing the popular ‘Tiger Mask’ character from manga in order to recreate their own version. Having spent a tour largely teaming with Stan Hansen and opposing Tatsumi Fujinami, Kid returned the following year as the promotion sought to bolster their Junior Heavyweight division. This was not Kofi Kingston versus Dolph Ziggler the evolution of this feud can be viewed in relatively short order.Ī Dynamite Kid as yet untethered to Davey Boy Smith and the WWF first traveled to New Japan in 1980. With all of the matches between the two men available for viewing through online mediums, it would be churlish not to explore beyond those that made the list. From April 23, 1981, through April 21, 1983, it is possible to witness the changing and growing nature of what they brought to the squared circle. The other quirk of watching these matches through a modern lens is that six of them are on New Japan World: two of the three on the list, alongside four other contests. From a cross-section of all of 80s wrestling, that leaves them with a rate that was nearly 50% in terms of matches that made the list. The interesting thing about three of the matches ending up on the list is that the men – according to Wrestledata – only met seven times in singles competition. Whatever revisionism suggests about it for some people, it was being lauded at the time and maintains a lot of positive praise today. The Apversion even ended up hitting the list at the number two spot. However, and whilst Jeff Bowdren is only one man with no greater opinion than you or I, Tiger Mask versus Dynamite Kid in some iteration shows up on the list the same number of times as the epic trilogy between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat. Perhaps incidentally, many of that more negative criticism arrived at a time when an increasing amount of information about Kid’s true nature behind the scenes came to be understood more broadly amongst wrestling fandom, as well as wider access to wrestling from different eras and promotions than ever before. In relatively recent years, there has been somewhat of a backlash, in some places, about the series of matches between Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid. With a focus on the context in which these contests took place, take a walk back through time as we look at The Wrestling Classic. Over thirty years down the line and with the benefit of the internet and streaming services, Liam Byrne aims to take a look back at each match (where available) that made the list. In the 1989 Wrestling Observer Yearbook, Jeff Bowdren staked his claim as to the 100 greatest matches of the 80s.
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