Antonio Inoki vs. Hulk Hogan

[7.0] "A tournament final between two of the most important figures in wrestling history. The match is good. The crowd is great, and both men know how to get the most out of it. The match is a bit long, sure, but there's enough here to make it well worth a watch. 3.5 stars."

[8.0] "This is such a fascinating match-up, especially in hindsight. First time seeing this and damn, Hogan makes Inoki look like a junior heavyweight with how massive he actually was. It's over 21 minutes of mat-oriented wrestling, and it's an engaging battle. Inoki bridging while having Hogan's full weight on him is impressive! Of course, the crowd is into it, and I actually dig the finish with Hogan delivering two wicked lariats, the crowd erupting and rallying behind Inoki to get back in the ring, Hogan celebrating, Inoki not getting up and Hogan getting crowned IWGP Champion. It might definitely be considered a lame finish by today's standards, but it does make sense at least, plus the drama is great. ***3/4"

[9.0] "This is clearly an match that you watch and feel...weird. My problem with Hulk Hogan in general is the fact that his style just isn't for me, which is fine. I can still watch an great match, that one as example, and feel entertained and guess that was a great wrestling match. He clearly knows ball, his performances overall laying on his style are great when it comed to expression and making the crowd give a fuck about him. However, in this match here, he wasn't being himself and that kinda sucked. He tried some sequences that wasn't smooth, he technically looked pretty ugly facing an highly technical guy. Inoki looked perfect, but he is not the main character in that ring chapter, specially when he share the ring with Hogan. That technical gap between them started to be used to create everything good we had in this match. Clearly they weren't on the same level when it comes to skill, and Hogan knowing it saw the opportunity to knock out Inoki as his only opportunity to get out of there with a W. Excellent match and I must pay respect for Hogan, he tried something "new" and played the game like it was supposed to be afterwards."

[7.0] "I wish I would have given this four stars, or an 8 on cagematch, but I just struggle with these kind of finishes. I ended up with a ***3/4 before the ref started counting Inoki out and stayed with a ***3/4 when he rang the bell. The match was great."

[10.0] "True main event feel kind of match. The crowd was completely enamoured by EVERYTHING Inoki did, those reactions were truly beautiful. And I dont blame them! This is just wonderful wrestling from two of the greatest to ever do it. Every move felt like a true effort to defeat each other. Definitely my favorite hogan match and performance from his Japan run (from what ive seen)"

[8.0] "These two are always moving, either measuring each other or actively engaging. There's a tangible realism and the weight of a truly important outcome. The crowd is losing their minds over arm work. This was a much better watch than I thought it would be going in. I've not seen much work from Inoki, and basically nothing from Hogan pre WCW, so this was a great surprise. The ending was a bit flat though."

[8.0] "[4.0*] For a lot of people this is proof that Hulk "can wrestle" in the current modern definition of that, but in my opinion, it is proof of the exact opposite, but in a good way. Let me explain: he moved extremely awkwardly throughout the whole bout, didn't know what to do on a couple of occasions and had some miscommunication issues. However, he used EVERY SINGLE "MISTAKE" in order to tell a story with Inoki, which is something beautiful and a specific talent that the new generation of wrestlers is known for lacking. In a way, Hogan's "wrestling moves" are so awkward compared to what fans think it's "right" that the only way he could have succeeded was being GREAT in everything else, and he is. His facial expressions were tremendous, he kept a look of fear and insecurity and even started crying after Inoki kicked-out of the leg drop. The psychology of this match was tremendous, him and Inoki actually used this "ability gap" in the story of the match. Antonio was doing Octopus Holds and then Hulk answered with Boston Crabs and stuff, I had a lot of fun. Actually, there was a moment when Inoki was supposed to hit an Octopus Hold in a "This Is Awesome" moment, but Hulk botched and fell to the ground. If it were some today's indy wrestler, he would have panicked. Hulk, however, made it look like he was just simply escaping the move in a more brute way, which actually gave the match more realism. Let me be clear, I absolutely don't think Hulk's a bad wrestler. I thought he was phenomenal in this match. But he was just different from the standards, especially in a Puro context. Inoki's obviously a way better and smoother technical wrestler than him, but I loved how both of them used this in their storytelling, which resulted in a fantastic overall product with a finish that symbolizes the whole match. Hulk would never beat Inoki inside the ring with his technical ability, so he just had to knock him the fuck out. I loved this shit."

[8.0] "For many people this match is a 'proof' than Hogan can wrestle, and I don't agree with that, because Hogan's work in the USA is tremendous too, this is just an example of how versatile and talented Hogan is, because even against a guy like Inoki, in other country, he managed to wrestle at a totally different style and thrived, the match is excellent. Inoki looked great here of course, his offense was very believable and it's a pretty good contrast between him and Hogan, Inoki with his manners, against Hogan's less sharpened technique, it's actually a storytelling of the match and it's a great choice. This match is good the entire time, and it's very fun to watch Hogan do some stuff that he usually don't do in America, it doesn't mean it's better, but it's definitely interesting, and he did several nice technical things here. That was the IWGP League final for the very first version of the IWGP Heavyweight title, so it's a very important and significant match. The crowd was heavily behind Inoki, but Hogan was the one victorious by KO, a very good finish in my opinion, they went to the outside and Hogan smashed Inoki's head into the ring post, and when Inoki tried to return, Hogan hit him again and knocked him out. That whole angle of Inoki getting knocked out unconscious was very well done - {****}"

[9.0] "INCREDIBLE CROWD. What it represented at the time, the stare downs, the uncertainty of the finish... Everything puts this match up there as one of the most important of the early 80s. And a great proof that if paired wisely, Hogan CAN indeed wrestle."

[7.0] "A good grappling match that saw Hogan trading submissions and doing chain wrestling. It's fun to watch Hogan working a match like this because for the majority of us we only knew the ear cups and leg drops. It's a bit slow at times but that's more about how matches were at the time."

[2.0] "Weird match and extremely uninteresting and boring, there's nothing really worth to note about this match, these two here were just so uninspiring, it was just bad imo, weird ending also, just really not for me."

[9.0] "I don't know if this is me grading on a curve because it's Hulk Hogan or because it's 1983, but I enjoyed this match. The crowd was hot. I understand the complaints about the end, but an ending like this is much more common for the time. Real fun seeing Hogan mix it up a little more than usual on the mat. One of the best matches of his career."

[10.0] "Now that was a WAR! I genuinely don't understand the low rating here. This was a methodical and extremely aggressive match where every move felt like it could decide the outcome. Inoki was absolutely phenomenal, and Hogan was as good as you could ever expect someone to be when positioned as Antonio Inoki's equal, both in skill and stature. Yes, the finish was abrupt and kind of jarring, but if you're familiar with the nuances of wrestling from that era, it totally makes sense, that kind of ending was par for the course. And in this case, it worked. A phenomenal match between two legendary wrestlers who, sadly, are no longer with us (****3/4)."

[8.0] "I would give this an 8.6 on my personal rating system. It's kind of a moment in wrestling history that every wrestling fan should watch, but most don't even know it exists. These are two of the biggest stars in the history of wrestling, and Hogan beating Anoki at the time was a big deal. Also love the history of Japanese wrestling tournaments."

[10.0] "Peut-être le plus grand match de l'histoire du catch si on prend vraiment en compte le contexte, et le fait que MONSIEUR Inoki Bombaye est un grand malade protecteur du business. Aussi, dire que Hulk Hogan est un mauvais catcheur, faudra arrêter de se foutre de la gueule du monde à un moment donné. INOKI BOMBAYE"

[8.0] "Hogan and Inoki have some good chemistry and this was definitely their best match together. Very hard hitting with some good grappling. Hogan gets the win."

[7.0] "I don't like the ending to this match, I found it anticlimactic rather than "shocking." But as someone who is primarily famliar with Hogas as "The Hulkster, " it is highly entertaining to watching roll around mat wrestling on the cerulean canvas. And to see Inoki kick out of the leg drop!"

[8.0] "This is pretty high on my favorite Inoki matches. He sold for Hulk really well here, wanted to play stiff for a bit which Hogan seemed totally fine with, and had a really wild ending that shocked quite a few people. The in-ring wrestling was also super good, especially for Hogan. I really liked this."

[7.0] "[3.75*] Very interesting match, Inoki did very well in this match, his technique was incredible, he carried the match in a very good way. Hogan was a perfect heel here, his in-ring performance wasn't great, with some botches and bad executions but the pop he generated at the end was great. The crowd was going crazy screaming for Inoki, who didn't respond and Hogan wins after knocking out his opponent, good story and good match."

[8.0] "Hulk Hogan pre the meteoric rise was a really sound technician and inoki was obviously one of the best and seeing some slick technical work from both of them really works. A historic match in wrestling history that i think lands well."

[7.0] "This match is honestly one of the better Hogan performances I've seen, better than a lot of stuff he did in the WWE. Antonio also wrestled and sold a lot of Hogan's moves as well, including the clothesline that "knocked out" Inoki. The stretcher job was also really believable too. 7/10"

[7.0] "This is a classic match and I think for the most part it holds up well. The pros: The psychology was off the charts with Hogan and Inoki both trying to wear the other out with technical wrestling and shoot strikes, with some bigger spots along the way. The crowd was off the charts for this and totally invested in Inoki. The finish was clever with Hogan smashing Inoki's head into the ring post and then hitting a 2nd Axe Bomber to get the KO victory. Now the cons: The selling was as inconsistent as can be expected for a big match at the time. Inoki clearly missed a few moves, most notably the dropkick that sent Hogan out of the ring. The finish was clever, but extremely slow.. It took them like 2 minutes to declare Hogan the winner. But this is still a total classic."

[9.0] "Inoki owning Hogan on the mat was very fun to watch, and it worked well with the difference in strength between the two. Hogan's physical selling compared to his emotional selling was rather lack lustre though."

[9.0] "This was an absolute classic that's worth reading praise from all corners. It's mostly built around grappling and holds which may turn people off as Hogan "can't wrestle, right? " . Yeah, that's total bull because he does great and holds up every bit of the match as Inoki does. Both are mega stars and the crowd is absolutely rabid for both. Of course, Inoki had the edge in those reactions. The grappling was done perfectly. Inoki is the skilled one whereas Hogan is the strong one and that's how they are matched. One wrong move from Hogan can have Inoki locking on the Manji Gatame in a split second and he's wise to it and defends those attempts expertly well. And the finish with Hogan knocking Inoki to the floor with two big Axe Bombers with Inoki desperately trying to continue on but the ref having to call it was just great. And Hogan's reaction was super cool. ****1/2"

[9.0] "Inoki dunking on Hogan the whole time was wild and Hogan did a great job of selling his exasperation. Inoki's technical brilliance and presence were on full display here, he is a master of telling stories with his mat sequences and even when they're basic like they were in this match, they are enthralling. The finish was the perfect culmination as Hogan's brute strength required a significant opening as he wasn't gonna outwrestle Inoki. Amazing match."