(ALL JAPAN) A complete victory for Choshu! "You can't abandon your own style just to match mine."

1st April 1986

Weekly Pro (Issue No 136)

Why, Tiger? Obsessing over attacking the legs was clearly a mistake!!

Choshu Wins with Authority via Signature Neck-Breaker!

Inter-promotional Match (30-Minute Time Limit, One Fall)

"Tiger Dazzles Choshu with Three-Dimensional Offense," "A Major Step Toward Moving Up to Heavyweight"—many fans likely headed to the venue anticipating a match that would earn such headlines the following morning, praising Tiger’s valiant effort regardless of the final outcome.

Tiger has shown remarkable growth of late.

Tiger, who burst onto the scene straight out of the anime world, has gradually transcended his fictional origins through sheer ability; now ranked number three in Japan, he is poised to break new ground in the heavyweight division.

A showdown between this rising star—Tiger—and the cornerstone of Japan’s wrestling scene, Choshu, was bound to captivate the hearts of fans. However, the outcome was surprisingly anticlimactic. 

After the match, Choshu remarked in the locker room, "I wonder why he was so fixated on my legs. That isn't Tiger's style. You really have to stick to your own style..." These words seem to sum up the entire 12-minute, 25-second match.

Yes, why?

Why was Tiger so fixated on Choshu's legs? Given that this match was essentially a scenario where he was "testing himself against a senior," wouldn't it have been acceptable to simply throw himself at Choshu with reckless abandon—disregarding the outcome entirely? After all, that was precisely what the fans had been hoping for... From the early stages of the match through the middle, the moves Tiger unleashed against Choshu—a leg-stretching hold, stomps targeting the leg, a single-leg crab, a figure-four leglock, and an Achilles tendon hold—constituted a relentless assault on the lower body. However, Choshu’s toughness is extraordinary—as demonstrated by his going the full sixty-minute time limit in his previous match against Tsuruta*. How, one wonders, did Tiger perceive the fact that Choshu remained completely unfazed despite being subjected to the figure-four leg lock with such relentless persistence?

"And to think I landed such a perfect savate kick..."

Tiger muttered this while biting his lip in the dressing room, though even Choshu had acknowledged the power of the blow.

In that case, he should have sought a path to victory through aerial maneuvers from the very start. Even after the ten-minute mark, when Tiger finally managed to return to his true style, he could no longer wrest the pace of the match back from Choshu. Every major move he unleashed was anticipated by Choshu, failing to land as an effective blow.

In the closing moments, Choshu himself broke the Scorpion Deathlock he had forcefully applied; he then countered Tiger—who was finally struggling to his feet—with a picture-perfect "Riki Lariat" to secure the three-count.

However, the one saving grace was Tiger’s remark: "Now I have a clear goal." 

The lesson Tiger—who is fully committed to moving up to the heavyweight division—took away from this match was significant.

Notes

Choshu vs Tsuruta: While Choshu collapsed on the floor after the match, Tsuruta was the one who went backstage and started doing squats.