Ricky Steamboat vs. The Sheik

[4.0] "Fun little brawl, but as a match I wouldn't say this was anything exceptionally great or spectacular. Two stars for me. **"

[3.0] "Im surprised that this was the path taken by the rematch since it felt more like a first chapter than a follow up to a wild, hammer wielding DQ. Everything made sense with Steamboat dominating as long as it was a fair match until Sheik couldnt take any more and went to the spike. I suppose the reasoning from Sheik was that he couldnt hang in a brawl so he might as well try wrestling, but all it meant in practice was that they took longer to get to the same result and therefore the whole thing had less energy. Had Sheik been more expressive with his frustration at getting outwrestled it might have clicked more, but Sheik just being sad in a headlock didnt build to him snapping; he just went to the spike because thats what Sheik does. I preferred the fire and energy of the first match and while this one eventually got there, I wish it would have done it quicker and with the urgency that the first match demanded. *1/2"

[8.0] "Not quite as epic in its BS awesomeness as the 1980 match, but still a ton of fun. Steamboat was a great opponent for Sheik, young, good looking, clean cut, against this cheating prick old man. It's a great dynamic. I loved this."

[7.0] "Short with a non-finish but it's a Sheik match. He tries grappling with Steamboat after Ricky comes out fast and furious to begin with but The Sheik shortly realizes he's not going to beat Steamboat that way so it devolves into a stabbing brawl with Sheik's pencil. Ricky does a wild babyface routine here where he sells like he's being murdered and attacks like he's going to murder the Sheik. Ends with a DQ when Sheik attacks Joe Haguchi and when he does that the crowd seems to get a lot more frightened of The Sheik. Very well done."

[8.0] "This was great. It's a little match of Steamboat outwrestling Sheik, who looks pretty damn good in there, before Sheik has enough and it devolves into chaos. The crowd is absolutely eletric the entire time and the post match brawl is pretty good, great fire from Steamboat and awesome visuals."

[5.0] "This is the last match of the Sheik's penultimate tour for AJPW, as the 1981 RWTL will be his swan song for the company. This isn't a major match, but I thought it was a blast to see fired-up Steamboat work against one of the definitive gaijin heels of this era of All Japan. Sheik stalls and plays the hits, sure, but Steamboat's energy gives this life. **1/2"