Dusty Rhodes & Playboy Buddy Rose vs. Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami (and other Dream Matches!)

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week, I was given an incredible video of DUSTY RHODES in Japan! zbinks shared this great set of matches, including bouts against Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan and Antonio Inoki, but I wanted to lead with the ones I found most interesting- Dusty vs. Inoki! How does the big “relatable babyface” underdog work against the Ace of a company, when he can’t rely on the fans liking him? Come see! And five days later, there’s the truly wild mish-mash of Dusty Rhodes & BUDDY ROSE teaming up against Inoki and his #2 guy, Tatsumi Fujinami! And then more “white guys in Japan as the odd men out” as the New Blackjacks debut in All Japan… against babyface duo Kenta Kobashi and Johnny Ace!

My look at the PWI #500 guys continues, first with the late Chip Fairway (#500 in 1998) taking on Race Steele in a “wait, these guys are actually trained!” match at a Brian Pillman Memorial Show in 2000! Both are Les Thatcher guys and are actually capable, if not that good. And then it’s a true dumpster match, as the Voodoo Kin Mafia, Road Dogg & Billy Gunn themselves, bring their act on the road, slumming it in Maryland Championship Wrestling against the Ghetto Mafia! Can they build an entire match around being lazy and cutting promos (their only real skill)? Come see!

ANTONIO INOKI vs. DUSTY RHODES:
(New Japan Pro Wrestling, Jan. 1st 1984)
* Oh yes, zbinks shared a video of DUSTY RHODES IN JAPAN. Dusty actually did a few tours in New Japan from 1980-84, wrestling Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan and others, but this is his only solo match against Antonio Inoki. This video has all sorts of unique matches on it because of that. Dusty at this point is merely kinda doughy but not porcine like he’d later become. Inoki is the Ace, and Bad News Allen (a legit judoka and Inoki enemy) is staring at the Ace on the floor. Gee I wonder how this is gonna end?

They wrestle simply to start, a headlock going nowhere, then a double-wristlock. Dusty overpowers him but gets surprised with a dropkick and sells. Dusty uses his famous speed to catch him with an armdrag and works the arm, Inoki using a brief “I-no-ki!” chant to counter to a jujigatame. Dusty takes it like a resthold, leaning up after exactly a minute, then getting out 30 seconds later, hitting two Dusty Elbows (Inoki bends over off the first and takes one to the neck), then an elbowdrop, but Inoki quickly turns a headlock to a hammerlock. Dusty throws some shots off a break and bails to draw heat/be a lazybones, but Inoki throws some corner shots himself. Dusty goes to the eyes and sits on his leg, then throws on the figure-four to draw another chant for the Ace. Inoki sells it JUST enough, pushing up Dusty’s leg so his shin isn’t pressured, then finally both hit the ropes. Inoki throws on a top wristlock for a second but pops off his Enzuigiri (his finisher, of sorts), Dusty immediately hitting the floor to recover. Back in, Inoki pounces on him, Dusty bouncing and flopping around off of punches ending up in a Flair-like state, draped up in the corner, then takes a weak back body drop bump for two and both alternate working the neck. Dusty dumps him and tries a suplex, but ends up in a crab- the two slug it out until both get bumped to the floor, Dusty refusing to let Inoki back in and they fight to a Double Count-Out at (13:45). They fight in the ring again, but Dusty dumps him and Bad News Allen immediately attacks, whipping Inoki around ringside and kicking his ass.

Well that was a bore, haha. A very lazy style of “back and forth” match, mostly sitting in holds with nobody really trying to win or even hitting anything that looked like they wanted to end it. They kept it VERY simple, probably due to unfamiliarity (not that Dusty was a particularly versatile wrestler, especially when he couldn’t rely on babyface comebacks), mostly sitting in a handful of basic holds until it was done.

Rating: ** (not actively bad but just dull)

(32:48 in the previous video)

ANTONIO INOKI & TASTUMI FUJINAMI vs. DUSTY RHODES & “PLAYBOY” BUDDY ROSE:
(New Japan Pro Wrestling, Jan. 6th 1984)
* And now five days later Inoki & Dusty meet again, this time in a tag team match where a pin-eater can take the fall! Inoki and the #2 babyface Fujinami take on Dusty and BUDDY ROSE, which is the entire lure of this set of matches for me. I mean, where else would you see four guys with careers like this intersect? Rose was an NWA & WWF job guy (he appears in both companies, racking up 200+ matches each year), and had done two NJPW tours before, usually as a job guy (but he’d beat Ryuma Go and stuff). Both Americans are pasty white guys in black trunks, while their opponents are fit, but in the same.

Buddy starts with Fujinami, telling the fans to quiet down, then trips him and cartwheels past to avoid a monkey flip, doing a dance AND pointing to his head to indicate intelligence. Dusty claps for him, but the fans don’t do much- Buddy looks hapless as Fujinami counters a wristlock with his own and bounces him around. Buddy flees Inoki in fear so in comes Dusty, who keeps missing stuff and shrinking back to avoid Inoki. Fujinami comes in and Dusty secretly tags Buddy, who scores an elbow off a double-team, then some strikes that are so snug they look like shoots but obviously aren’t. Man, that guy is GOOD. Buddy gets as small package but gets chopped- Dusty comes in & works weak arm stuff. Buddy adds some, but gets taken down by Inoki for Fujinami’s flying kneedrop to the gut. Buddy keeps using the tights (a dick heel move that seems lost on these fans), so the ref just shoves them over. Fujinami tags back in and immediately gets eyepoked so Dusty hits the Flip Flop & Fly, then Buddy comes in for a double back elbow (the ref won’t count- too cheat-y?). Buddy with a vertical suplex & kneedrop, then tosses him twice for Dusty to beat up before just putting him in Inoki’s corner for a tag. Inoki scores some big wind-up punches to the forehead, whips him to the corner, then chinlocks him and both quickly tag out. Dusty eats a dropkick from Fujinami, then Inoki, Buddy comes in and gets slammed, then Inoki moves so DUSTY elbowdrops his own partner (best reaction of the match), leading Dusty to chase him around with elbows until he’s dumped to the floor, enabling the Enzuigiri to finish Buddy at (10:08). The natives win!

NJPW matches with white guys are an interesting thing- I dunno if ’80s New Japan was always like this, but it seems like they do 40 seconds of stuff, then immediately hit a headlock and then push to the corner for a tag- nearly every transition is that way (which is probably easier to choreograph than convoluted routines and selling (and this is also easy to do without communicating). Everything is always kept VERY simple in there, with the Americans doing basic brawling and “go-behind/hammerlock” stuff versus Inoki & Fujinami doing more complicated holds or judo stuff. Buddy was doing some good heel schtick in there, but was probably viewed as a jobber and things like going for the tights aren’t as big in Japan so he wasn’t really getting any kind of a reaction. And Buddy dumping Fujinami was weird, because it led immediately to Inoki running in and doing the finish, like “Hey let’s just get out of here, alright?”

Rating: **1/2 (another pretty ordinary one, but a little more fun than the last one)

REAL WORLD TAG LEAGUE:
KENTA KOBASHI & JOHNNY ACE vs. THE NEW BLACKJACKS (Blackjack Windham & Blackjack Bradshaw):
(All Japan, Nov. 15th 1997)
* YESSSSSSSSSSSS! I knew if I looked it up I could find more of the New Blackjacks in All Japan. And it’s against ACE & KOBASHI, the upstart babyface connection. Ace was fading out a bit by this point, looking a bit flabby in the chest and with a gut. Blue trunks and yellow boots stand out, though. Kobashi’s in the usual orange. The Blackjacks are in their trademark black trunks & cowboy boots.

Mrs. Baba’s beloved Johnny Ace starts off with Windham, the commentator asking Mr. Baba about the guy in his All Japan debut. Baba barely gets out seeing Windham in New York in 1983 before Bradshaw’s in, immediately impressing the fans by chopping Ace in return and daring him to try harder. Ace won’t let up on him, but they start interrupting each other until Bradshaw basically swarms him and brings him down with the rainmaker for two. Commentaty BREAKS KAYFABE by bringing up Bradshaw’s Japan runs as Big John Hawk and Death Mask, then Baba starts reminiscing about fighting Blackjack Mulligan in 1975 (“it was big and strong”). Ace finally counters a whip & tags out and Kobashi gets a BIG reaction, firing off a chop but Bradshaw instantaneously smacks him with his own and I can’t tell if he’s annoying the wrestlers but no-selling and countering so fast, haha. Kenta is DEFIANT but Bradshaw totally overwhelms him with a ton of chops & kicks, then brings him down with some boots to the face. A backdrop suplex gets two, and they double-block him down and Windham gets a sleeper. He keeps putting his feet on the ropes (is that a heat spot in Japan? Nobody reacts) and keeps it on outside the ring, smashing Kobashi into the guardrail. Kobashi responds to fan clapping bit striking back with chops, but Windham just eyegouges him and they slowly work him over again. Bradshaw impresses with a delayed vertical suplex, getting two.

Bradshaw twists Kenta’s neck for a resthold & Windham throws some punches, but Kobashi gets a sleeper, only to get suplexed. He shoulda tagged out! Only has himself to blame for that one. Windham gets his own sleeper, but Kenta escapes and lands a bad backdrop suplex, Barry sandbagging him (“So Windham is really bad a throwing”: Baba). Ace comes in with a flying clothesline (landing on his feet LIKE A WUSS) and a sad roundhouse kick in the corner, then a floatover DDT gets two. Windham won’t go for a snapmare and they kick each other in the head, but Ace runs into a powerslam for two. Bradshaw comes in and wows them with two big corner lariats and a bulldog for two. Bradshaw Russian legsweeps him & gears up the LARIAT (ballsy in Stan Hansen’s promotion) but Ace catches him with the Ace Crusher, his big move… for two! They double-team him, but he meets Ace’s charge with a boot and LARIATS KOBASHI! Pumphandle slam gets two, but Kobashi dramatically counters a suplex to his own. They hit a Backdrop Suplex/Neckbreaker, broken up by Windham- Ace dumps him and deals with him outside, catches Bradshaw with an Ace Crusher over the top, causing him to turn around into KOBASHI’s Burning Lariat, and that gets the three at (10:39), Bradshaw kicking out at 3.1 haha.

Mostly a lazybones TV match, the fans’ excitement in the early going for Bradshaw’s fightiness soon giving way to “ah they’re just gonna sit in holds” as they do a buncha sleepers to kill time. They stuff both Ace AND Kobashi this way, dominating in that typical “the loser gets to do most of their shit and dominate” Japan way, before a last-ditch babyface victory. Though Bradshaw was amusing as hell, getting himself over by simply ignoring the strikes everyone else was doing and overwhelming them with his own. This is probably annoying as SHIT when you’re a wrestler but was actually working to put him over, which did make the finale better when Kobashi just plasters him with a move he himself was using.

Rating: ** (fine enough, but a whole lotta wrestling and fun only when Bradshaw looked like he was going into business for himself)

THIS WEEK’S PWI #500: CHIP FAIRWAY:
#500 appearance: 1998 (#500 in 1998, #420 in 1999, #411 in 2000)

-Chip Fairway was a Les Thatcher trainee who debuted in 1996, wrestling mostly in the Midwest. A soft-bodied, fairly doughy guy with a baby face and bleach-blond hair, he had a gimmick of being a “pro golfer” turned pro wrestling. He was in the Heartland Wrestling Association, teaming with Cody Hawk as “The Surf ‘N’ Turf Connection”. A LOT of his Wikipedia page features feuds with Shark Boy over the years (did Shark Boy write his page or something?). He quit pro wrestling in 2003, wrestling for only seven years- he died in his sleep in 2011 at only 38 years of age (the cause listed as “unknown”. Honestly, as a guy who won a few promotions’ top belts (low indies, but still), I’m a little surprised he only made it as far as #411 on the PWI 500 (he’s barely above SLAMMER AND JAMMER). Apologies to… whoever the hell Boris Dragoff is. Mike Shane, Rick Deezel, Rob McBride, Shorty Smalls, and others all also outranked him in 2000.

HWA HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE DECISION MATCH:
CHIP FAIRWAY vs. RACE STEELE:
(Brian Pillman Memorial Show, 2000)
* The only Fairway match I can find is this low-quality recording from the Pillman Memorial show in 2000- Fairway & Pillman were apparently friends. Fairway’s in the ECW T-Shirt of Shame, albeit sleeveless, while Steele is a roided shirtless guy in black shorts. Steele’s another Thatcher trainee, and only had a four year career. D’Lo Brown is here to give away the belt, and declares it will be a fair match.

They do basic Internationals to start, Fairway hitting a dropdown & armdrag to show he’s way more trained than the usual #500 guys. Chip gets some chops, but takes a quick press-slam and two clotheslines, but Fairway monkey-flips him, only to run into an inverted atomic drop. oof, the dreaded “goes for it too early” stall-out. Fairway bails, then gets caught in the dreaded pithold, then a hurricanrana, clothesline & dropkick, bailing again. He stalls for a full minute out there, but gets caught napping as Steele hits a damn tope suicida over the top rope! Fairway goes flying off a post-shot, but recovers and hits a back body drop on the outside. Back in, Fairway tosses Steele off the top and hits a Kentucky Jam, declaring it’s over before getting two. Another heel on the floor keeps taunting Steele (“Come on Chipper, he’s yours!”) while Fairway chokes him out- Race tries a comeback but runs into a spinebuster, and Fairway hits a slingshot moonsault (!) for two. Okay it was an ugly shoulder-first one but still. Fairway goes up again but misses a flying elbow, and Steele hits a roundhouse kick & backdrop. The outside heel gets on the apron with a weapon, D’Lo Brown grabs it and distracts the guy so Fairway collides with him, and Steele hits him off-camera for the win (10:22)- Steele wins the HWA Title! The crowd actually pops for that!

Actually a match between two trained guys! Well I’ll be damned! Like it wasn’t GOOD or anything, but it was a perfectly acceptable nothingburger indie match between guys who knew what they were doing. Execution was mostly precise, only a few moves were telegraphed, and they actually played heel/babyface a tad, though Fairway was mostly just “kinda arrogant” and the finish involved heelish comeuppance. Steele had pretty decent execution and a LOT of pharmaceuticals, but you could tell he was green. Still, not bad for being a year in.

Rating: 3/4* (miraculous compared to a lot of these sorts of matches I’ve been finding. Not GOOD or anything, but two cromulent wrestlers having a cromulent match)

THIS WEEK’S PWI #500: GHETTO MAFIA:
#500 appearance: 2-Dope (#389 in 1999, #370 in 2000, #361 in 2001, #378 in 2002, #406 in 2003, #352 in 2009), Sydeswype (#400 in 1999, #380 in 2000, #368 in 2001), Qenaan Creed (#322 in 2001, #335 in 2002, #413 in 2003, #369 in 2008, #358 in 2009)

-The Ghetto Mafia are a pair of black guys from the Northeast who mostly wrestled in Maryland Championship Wrestling, one of the bigger indies. Both are pretty big, muscular dudes and don’t really fit the “stuck in the indies for 15 years” status they have, but they were trained by Axl Rotten so who knows? Sydeswype appears to have retired in 2006, jobbing out to 2-Dope as he did so, 2-Dope getting a new partner in Qenaan Creed, another MCW regular.

VOODOO KIN MAFIA (BG James & Kip James) vs. THE GHETTO MAFIA (2-Dope & Qenaan Creed):
(Maryland Championship Wrestling, Aggravated Assault, 21.04.2007)
* TREMENDOUSSSSSSSSS!! When looking for low-ranked PWI guys I usually just get indie vs. indie- not “Washed up Losers” vs. indie! The Ghetto Mafia are in matching black muscleshirts & sweatpants and have dreadlocks- they’re supposed to be the same height but 2-Dope looks much taller and thinner. VKM are obviously the NEW AGE OUTLAWS, slumming it after their WWF run ended and they renamed themselves in TNA, with a stupid nickname meant to “show” Vince K. McMahon or something. Kip (Billy) is still roided an in shiny blue shorts. Aaaaaaaaand naturally they come out to the NAO theme song, BG (Road Dogg) naturally does the full routine, which was HOT SHIT for like 12 months back in the Attitude Era, but as soon as it stopped getting over, he entered the “… Woozle Wuzzle?” era of his career. . A friend observes this has HUGE “Spinal Tap” energy as the pot-bellied Road Dogg does the whole “Tag team champions of the WOORRRRRRRRRRRRRLLLLD!” routine. Though extra points for looking down at his shirt to get “MCW” right as a gag. Kip asks for the camera and you hear “don’t break it” “I ain’t gonna break the damn thing, come on!”. Incredibly, this video was uploaded EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO and only had 4 Likes on YouTube.

Kip starts with 2-Dope, pushing him to the corner- god bless him, 2-Dope sells the “Suck it!” pose by falling out of the ring all pissed off and provoked. 2-Dope tries the same pose, commentary asking “are those gang signs?”, at which point Kip moons him to send the heels into hysterics, then BG gets on the mic and suggests 2-Dope has lustful feelings upon seeing his ass. Oh dear. Creed comes in but Kip is JUST doing schtick, dancing around, but Creed cheap-shots him out of a test of strength attempt, but quickly gets hiptossed all over the place, looking really energetic. And as I say that, they bail and are gone for TWO MINUTES, BG trying to start a “nah nah nah nah… (goodbye)” chant but failing. Kip now mimics PEEING on Dope and sends him into a fit, just not interested in working today. Creed catches BG with a knee and works the ankle, BG now totally harried and incapable of resistance, and a double-team has Creed drop-down and Dope hit a clothesline of the 2nd rope for two. Dope trips up BG to set up Creed’s kick from the apron, ignoring some punches, but BG counters a double-suplex with a double DDT and Kip’s in with the “hot tag”, firing off punches to both guys. 2-Dope eats the stinger splash, but before the Fameasser can hit, Creed’s in with a superkick- BG dumps him and they fight outside, Dope getting two, but when he tries an Irish whip, Kip counters with his Cobra Clutch Slam (HUGE bump by Dope on that, full credit there) for the pin at (12:55).

ohhhhh SO BAD. Like 6 straight minutes of goofy schtick and promo jokes from VKM while the heels just pouted and freaked out, looking totally ineffectual. Then the “heat segment” was on BG James, who just kinda lied there and took most of it, acting like he was gonna get pinned just by the dudes twisting his ankle some. A double-DDT sets up a quiet-ish hot tag and Kip wins handily with his secondary finisher. The Ghetto Mafia at least looked like they were working hard for their bits, with good execution and flying around to bump. They seem like weekend warriors judging by Cagematch but they’re definitely fully trained. In fact, 2-Dope may be the best wrestler with “2-Dope” in his name!

Rating: 1/4* (like barely a note for the Ghetto Mafia’s attempts to sell annoyance and bump for the veterans, but the vets were just not having any effort and spent the whole time being goofs on commentary. Which… I mean it wasn’t gonna be GOOD regardless so I guess that’s preferable than them trying to actually work hard)