How many Feds were around in the 70's and 80's

[DangerousBD]

Just wondering what puro feds were around in the 70's and 80's. I am trying to get into some classic stuff, but I 'm not sure where to start.

[BENJII]

Off the top of my head, I believed the following promotions were running:

New Japan
All Japan
UWF (The original version with Maeda at the helm)
SWS (Tenryu's old promotion, before WAR)
FMW (Formed in 1989)
All Japan Women

I am pretty sure there are other companies at this time which I have forgotten.

[Hisaharu Tanabe]

[70s - early 80s]
New Japan (72-)
All Japan (72-)
IWE (66- 81)
All Japan Women's(68-)


[mid 80s - late 80s]
New Japan
All Japan
original UWF (84-86)
new UWF (88-90)
FMW(89-)
All Japan Women's
Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (86-91: splits into JWP Project and LLPW in 92)


SWS didn't start until 1990.

[BENJII]

Forgive me for my lack of Showa knowledge. I'm 18 and a student.... it must be all the essays I am doing today that's blocking my knowledge of Puroresu

[DangerousBD]

Thanks for the help guys....I have another question to ask.....

What fueds involving Inoki are worth looking into? Are there any programs that really stand out? Oh, and the same question for Maeda....

[BENJII]

Yeah I am also looking to try and get into some Maeda stuff. Although I don't know feuds, I do know some key matches to look out for for both these guys.

Basically, Maeda vs. Andre and Maeda vs. Choshu both are historic matches where Maeda loses his cool and shoots on them. Choshu ends up with a broken cheek (I believe) and Andre with a **** sore leg.

I don't want to tread on Hisa's turf. He knows a lot more about Inoki than I dare want to know. I have access to a Inoki tape with some historic matches. I can get ahold of that and tell you what stand out matches are on the tape that are worth viewing

[DangerousBD]

Thanks man, that would be great!!
About the Maeda stuff....lol those are historic cause of the shoot outcome...not particularily because of match quality.....but consider my fancy tickled......



_____________________________________
DAAANGEROSSSSS BAKU-DOROPPPPPPPPPP!!

[Hisaharu Tanabe]

In my personal opinion, Maeda didn't really have many good pro-wrestling matches. He had several "memorable" matches with the reason I don't need to explain. I can only memtion three matches I enjoyed watching:

Koshinaka & Mutoh vs. Maeda & Takada for the IWGP tag title in 87
Fujinami vs. Maeda in 85 or 86
Maeda vs. Super Strong Machine in 87

To me, his matches against Andre or Choshu weren't really enjoyable to watch. They only have historical significance. Jimmy Suzuki (Japanese photographer in the US) once told me that Maeda started the shoot-style only because he was not a good "pro-wrestler".


As for Inoki, it's a little hard to explain. If you can enjoy 70s style matches, you can probably enjoy many of his matches. I watched his match against Dory Funk Jr. for NWA title from 1969 several times at least. I also enjoyed his matches against Billy Robinson, Bob Backlund, Tiger Jeet Singh, Stan Hansen, Hiro Matsuda, Tatsumi Fujinami, and Vader. However, those people who are used to with highspot fests or fast-paced stiff-shot series, he may not be someone you can enjoy watching.

[DangerousBD]

Hmm I must say that I love most kinds of wrestling, and yes...even a particular fondness for old stuff. And because of this, I have an thirst to find some Inoki matches. The problem is, I live in Canada, so ordering is via Internet only. The thing is, I don't want to jump into buying tapes if the matches are sub-par, but from what I've heard, Inoki's stuff is excellent.........

[Hisaharu Tanabe]

There are "Best of Inoki" series that include his matches against the opponents I mentioned above. I think that's what BENJI is talking about. Good collections, IMO.

There's also another series called "Killer Inoki". I don't have it, but it's a collection of the matches where he showed how mean and dangerous he could be. I may be wrong, but I believe the series also include some of the shoot matches he was involved (or he actually caused ).

[DangerousBD]

Sounds very interesting, indeed. Thanks so much for your help Hisa san!

[lCS 39]

Originally posted by Hisaharu Tanabe


There's also another series called "Killer Inoki".  I don't have it, but it's a collection of the matches where he showed how mean and dangerous he could be. I may be wrong, but I believe the series also include some of the shoot matches he was involved (or he actually caused ).

This tape series sounds very interesting and I would like to see it, Hisa would you happen to know where I can get a hold of the tapes?

[BENJII]

The tape I've got access to is his shootfights in the 70's/80's. It was taped from Samurai TV and includes his matches with (if I can remember rightly) Williem Ruska (1976), Everett Eddie (1977) and Mr. X (1979). Those are the guys I can remember (only just). The tape also had the G1 Tag League from years ago also on it. It was an authentic taping from Samurai TV

[Hisaharu Tanabe]

Originally posted by lCS 39
This tape series sounds very interesting and I would like to see it, Hisa would you happen to know where I can get a hold of the tapes?

I don't have those tapes, but here's a catalogue of the series, courtesy of Inoki's official site:
<a href='http://www.antonio-inoki.com/contents/publish/p_video/p_video_top_e.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.antonio-inoki.com/contents/publ...video_top_e.htm</a>

Titles are spelled terribly, so you have to make guesses on some of them. The famous/infamous matches are the ones against Aklum, Pak Song, and Great Antonio.