(ALL JAPAN) Tiger makes a successful comeback! He defeats Kobayashi with the New Tiger Atomic Bomb to reclaim the title.

Weekly Pro

17th September 1985 (Issue No.110)

Dynamite Wars - August 31st, Ryogoku Kokugikan

"It's been a while since I last came to the venue. It's been two months and ten days since my fight with Kobayashi on June 21st. But looking back, that difficult period feels so short. If I lose today, I'll quit being Tiger Mask... I'm ready to take off my mask*." Tiger is always quiet in the waiting room and never one to boast, so it was quite surprising to see him swear to "fight with his life as a masked man on the line." 

He must have practiced to his satisfaction in order to win on this day.

But his opponent was also a champion. 

Once the match began, you would think that Kobayashi, with his longer career, would take the lead...but such expectations were blown to pieces. Even when Kobayashi unleashed a spinning kick, Tiger quickly grabbed his arm, kicked him in the leg, and counterattacked. He even countered Kobayashi's signature Tombstone Piledriver, then jumped high and slammed Kobayashi's head into the mat.

Kobayashi was shaken by Tiger's growth, as he kept attacking and attacking aggressively, and he just couldn't get into his rhythm. Even in the final stages and the resulting reversals, Tiger was completely superior. After his difficult new move, the German Suplex was broken, he finished Kobayashi off with a Tiger Suplex 85, also a move he unveiled for the first time. After the match, Kobayashi said, ""He's gotten really strong these past two months. His physique is completely different, and even his defense has become more offensive! But now we're down to one win and one loss. Hiro Saito will probably show up, and the juniors still have a long way to go". He showed even more fighting spirit despite the loss. 

Tiger, on the other hand, was beaming with joy. "But this title win might delay my move to the heavyweight division for a while...

"I really want to make my heavyweight debut". It seems Tiger's eyes are already set on something beyond his fight with Kobayashi.

Kawada, a young wrestler who served as Tiger's training partner for the past two months, said, "Tiger continued to train hard every day. Then one day he attempted the Tiger Suplex 85, which became today's finishing move, on me. At first, Tiger's arms couldn't wrap around my body completely, but after a few trials on the soft mat, he was able to land the move perfectly." Behind this victory was also the efforts of Kawada, who practiced alongside Tiger as a trusted partner. Thus, Tiger Mask has returned to fans with a brilliant display of the charms of the heavyweight and junior divisions never before seen in professional wrestling. We look forward to seeing his future successes.

Notes

Tiger: Naomichi Marufuji would use the same Kanji for his "Shin-Tora"

Take off my mask: Although Misawa may have been unhappy with being Tiger Mask II at this early stage, it is unlikely that this phrase wasn't approved by Baba first and was a spur of the moment thing.

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