| 1 | 05.05.2025 | Headdrop | | |
| 2 | 27.04.2025 | Joeytheboy | 10.0 | |
| 3 | 25.04.2025 | dohboy1619 | 10.0 | Oh my God this is the coolest. This is the first real match I've seen of either man, so the context is a bit lost on me, but this match was so insanely good. The early technical exchanges I think really display Inoki's innovation. In 1987, Inoki's mat wrestling looks a lot like Jiu-Jitsu before even Shooto began as a promotion. Saito also does really well technically here. As someone who wrestled in highschool and grapples now, these exchanges are shockingly realistic compared to other matches I've seen. Saito's prison lock and delayed scorpion lock look really good and impactful too. Saito's dominant section of this match is great; he really lays it in and the crowd pops like crazy. When Inoki is on the outside coming in, there's this one lariat that he sold exceptionally well where his knees jolt forward and he sort of falls back over them. There's a point where Saito grabs him in the ring and he rag dolls against the ropes to really sell the damage that's been done to his leg. Then, when Inoki gets frustrated about Saito's abuse of the ropes, he just gets them taken off and they start BRAWLING. Surprisingly it's Inoki who really goes to town on Saito, seeking to prove his grit and toughness against the guy whose picture probably comes up under grit and toughness. Saito does an incredible blade job, and then, he brings in the cuffs, one cuff already on his wrist. He starts nailing Inoki with the cuffs and later PUTS THE OTHER CUFF ON INOKI AND THEY START EXCHANGING BOMBS. Saito eventually collapses and gets absolutely PUMMELED through the mat by Inoki. Saito sells by seizing after every strike. There are moments where it looks like he's trying to rally only to be quelled by Inoki's continuous barbaric strikes. Hiroshi Hase, who'd been at ringside the whole time, throws in the towel and forcefully separates Inoki from Saito. The post match angle is great, Riki Choshu is infuriated by the liberties Inoki took with Saito and charges the guardrail, Fujinami also gets involved. It's all captured with a wobbly handheld camera that adds to the ensuing chaos. Pure perfection. Perhaps the best match of the '80s, at least in Japan. |
| 4 | 17.03.2025 | Tsar Alexander | 8.0 | |
| 5 | 10.03.2025 | BQReviews | 10.0 | |
| 6 | 07.03.2025 | CLUCK | 7.0 | |
| 7 | 27.02.2025 | DangerousJ | 10.0 | |
| 8 | 23.02.2025 | BW99 | 10.0 | |
| 9 | 18.02.2025 | BH62 | | |
| 10 | 26.01.2025 | PEW565 | 9.0 | |
| 11 | 22.09.2024 | Duffa96 | 10.0 | |
| 12 | 30.06.2024 | AhmedHosssam23 | 7.0 | |
| 13 | 09.04.2024 | Tarkovsky | 10.0 | |
| 14 | 06.04.2024 | RedShow | 9.0 | |
| 15 | 04.01.2024 | RyanKras16 | 9.0 | |
| 16 | 27.12.2023 | rainmakerpunk | 10.0 | |
| 17 | 30.11.2023 | Ofir | 10.0 | |
| 18 | 06.11.2023 | AidanArcher | 10.0 | |
| 19 | 31.10.2023 | Kas | 10.0 | |
| 20 | 04.10.2023 | puroraisedme | 10.0 | |
| 21 | 07.09.2023 | texasyosh | 9.0 | |
| 22 | 05.07.2023 | Immortan Scott | 10.0 | |
| 23 | 29.05.2023 | kenniferomega | 10.0 | |
| 24 | 30.03.2023 | CFOS | 7.0 | |
| 25 | 24.02.2023 | SquilliamFancyson | 10.0 | |
| 26 | 16.01.2023 | biloxata1993 | 10.0 | Incredible and unique match which might be one of the most dramatic in history. Just one month after Wrestlemania III, it's almost hard to imagine something like this could happen in that era. |
| 27 | 05.11.2022 | GriffithWhite | 10.0 | The best match of Inoki's career simply because of the spectacle of it, a spectacle done in 80s puro feels special in a way which nothing else does. |
| 28 | 09.10.2022 | ThisIsChester | 8.0 | This match is one that really shows what Inoki is about. The wrestling is really great throughout and the ending is wild and awesome, with Inoki just beating on a handcuffed Saito. That said it also has Inoki no-selling a lot of Saito's offence and that's where you can feel the man's ego just radiating out |
| 29 | 03.03.2022 | MercDVisual | 7.0 | |
| 30 | 24.11.2021 | flaeblazer | 10.0 | Antonio Inoki will reign supreme at all costs. Amazing narrative with Saito coming prepared and overpowering Inoki in his domain on the mat, and Inoki adapts by goading him into the center stage fight that he knows Saito desires. What follows is a labor of pain and probably the definitive statement of what Antonio Inoki represents. |
| 31 | 29.10.2021 | Langley01 | 7.0 | |
| 32 | 24.06.2021 | boymeetsworld | 7.0 | |
| 33 | 27.05.2021 | StrongStyle2020 | 9.0 | |
| 34 | 17.04.2021 | NotATroll | 10.0 | I think this is now one of my favourite NJPW matches ever, it went from a solid technical affair during Saito's control segment to one of the rawest matches of all time, I can't imagine how hype it must have been live seeing the ropes get taken down. |
| 35 | 22.01.2021 | Black Mass With Love | 8.0 | |
| 36 | 04.10.2020 | MagnusD | 7.0 | |
| 37 | 07.05.2020 | Crippler Crossface | 8.0 | |
| 38 | 06.05.2020 | GasheadMaggs | 8.0 | |
| 39 | 10.04.2020 | hunterp | 8.0 | |
| 40 | 15.11.2019 | Caas | 7.0 | |
| 41 | 29.05.2019 | Makai Club | 9.0 | One of the most intense, hate driven matches I've seen, and it has a whole side of awesomeness to it as well. There is basically two parts to the match. The first part was the back and forth between Saito and Inoki. Saito keeps going for the Prison Lock (when it's locked on, it looks great - really tight) and using his power to keep Inoki at bay, while Inoki keeps on the defensive and relies on his fury and superior wrestling skills. Th second part is when Inoki has enough of Saito using the ropes to his advantage and has them taken down. That's when this match reaches a whole new level as Saito gets busted open and Inoki punches the life right out of him. It was great. The heat was off the charts, along with the crowd's reaction to it all. The post match angle was done extremity well. All round excellent match with a huge big fight feel to it. Blood and a whole lot of fire. ****1/2 |
| 42 | 15.09.2018 | ih0or84 | 8.0 | Instant classic for me. Match started by clear mat wrestling but in the process have become a brutal and even dramatic, ended by Inoki locked on handcuffs pounding Saito covered all in blood. Now I need to watch thier Ganryujima deathmatch. |
| 43 | 19.12.2017 | killowenskill | 9.0 | |
| 44 | 31.05.2015 | RaviC19 | 7.0 | I gave this match *** 1/2. This turned out to be pretty brutal but Inoki's no selling throughout and a feeling that the match is quite disjointed bring this down |
| 45 | 24.12.2013 | yanus | 8.0 | The match feels very dramatic, especially after the disbanding of the ropes; the use of the handcuffs and the bloody, brutal ending are very compelling, but I really disliked the no-selling of Inoki at certain parts of the match (for instance the first Scorpion Deathlock) |
| 46 | 08.09.2011 | Kain Wolfshead | 9.0 | Da kann man nicht viel hinzufügen... Ich finde Inoki oft nicht sooo unheimlich toll im Ring, aber mit Saito hat er einen Gegner, der das vergessen macht. |
| 47 | 12.02.2010 | Fountain of Misinformation | 9.0 | Bis zur ca. 20 Minute "nur" ein sehr intensives Wrestling-Match, bis Saito immer wieder illegalerweise die Ringseile einsetzt und sich Inoki irgendwann denkt: "Fuck that bullshxx, take down the fxxxin' ropes! ", was dann auch passiert als Referee Takahashi verkündet, dass das Match ohne diese fortgeführt wird. Inoki schlägt daraufhin ohne Gnade auf den "You Can Not Kill What Doesn't Die"-Mann ein, Masa Saito bekommt von seinem Schützling Hiroshi Hase Handschellen zugesteckt und er mit Hilfe dieser Inoki an sich fesseln kann. Inoki kann dies nach einer kurzen Offensive von Saito aber zu seinem Vorteil ausnutzen und schlägt schreiend immer und immer wieder auf seinen bereits stark blutenden und am Boden liegenden Gegner ein, bis Hase in scheinbarem Einverständnis mit Choshu das Handtuch bzw. T-Shirt wirft. Die anschließende Konfrontation mit Choshu und seiner Armee beendet ein Match, bei welcher In Ring-Action und Booking-Dramaturgie eine ideale Symbiose bilden. |
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