Jumbo Tsuruta vs Ric Flair (AJPW 1982-06-08)

[Mr61929480]

Two greats in wrestling,awesome

[yourcrapsweak1]

this is such a great match, and the thing is that it's SO BASIC! wrestlers now a days think they have to do triple backflips and run spot after spot to get a match and themselves over, but this is as basic a match as it can get and it's fucking beautiful! this is wrestling!

[Seanatonin]

Ric Flair vs. his Japanese counterpart

[Wurzelknecht]

@Seanatonin couldn't say it any better. To me these two (well, and maybe Steamboat too) tie for the position of Best Wrestler of the 80s.

[mike2tosu]

sweet match, what you would expect from two of the greatest

[dewert2]

this seriously funny esp 3:25. tsuruta is like ric take a seat here while i scratch my nose. seriously lame

[iconoclasm12345]

double pin? ugh stupid finish. jumbo tsuruta should ahve won, then put over flair in a match in the usa

[mushikingryan]

For the people complaining about the finish, TONS of '80s title matches in Japan had screwy finishes to keep both guys strong. This would change in the '90s when Baba thankfully went the all-clean-finishes route, but as far as title matches in the '80s, if both guys were superstars, chances are there would be a count-out, double-pin, cheap DQ, etc finish. The Flair/Jumbo match in '81 had a ref bump at the end, for example. Classic matches/screwy finishes.

[eslubin]

@mushikingryan yeah clean finishes. and the box office went down every year in the 90s. anyone who is in it for the result, doesn't understand what makes pro wrestling

[mushikingryan]

@eslubin All Japan was on fire in the '90s. They sold out the Budokan about 95% of the time, running it five-seven times a year in the Misawa era. I'd argue some of the fans were in fact "in it for the result." I can't tell if you're trolling here, but if you are, say something funny next time.

[neokoiwa]

子供の頃、父親と見に行きました。うん十年ぶりに見て感動です。­ダブルフォール、この試合で初めて知りました。

[blacksdocrack]

good match, real intense. but that finish pissed me off. like...what?

[iconoclasm12345]

lousy ending, weak finish. it totally looked like tsuruta pinned flair? other than that, good stuffs.

[kingp05]

Ric Flair now theirs a "True Worlds Wrestling Champion"

[GohModley]

Great stuff

[CanadianCrippler1993]

The longest Match in Wrestlinghistory was 5 hours and 30 Minutes long...

[MeThinks995]

is the match on youtube?

[xXDirtySecretsXx]

holy crap

who vs who?

[outlawtorndoa]

good match

to bad the ending seem botched

[PVTdinotacular]

Too bad he died... I knew him when I was 9 years old. He used to live 1 mile away from me in 2000 before he died.

[ajax420336]

@PVTdinotacular Ric Flair isn't dead, you moron.

[PVTdinotacular]

@ajax420336

I was talking about Jumbo, not Ric.

[kevinhardy]

sweet match

[mathias1211]

I always wondered why Flair wore his knee pads so low and in an interview he said it was because he had small calfs but why would he even wear them at all if not to support and protect his knees? Ive seen many do the same like Cody Rhodes FLAIR IS THE TRUE LEGEND OF WRESTLING

[sd187]

great match. did flair ever wrestle stan hansen? can't find it anywhere.

[azrielseclements]

Who here thinks that Hulk Hogan would have survived 30 minutes against Tsuruta or Baba back in the '80s?

[exe2517]

Tsuruta always was very stiff, he once knocked out Tenryu with a Powerbomb, but you have to consider that Hogan did very good matches in New Japan (where wrestlers do also a stiff style) and also had that good brawl at the Tokyo Dome against Stan Hansen

[NYCPulpHero]

hes right.. Hogan in Japan wrestled MUCH better and didnt have to pander to the fans

[tremendous112233]

Jumbo & Tenryu were in an intensive fued from 1987 to 1990 after forming a tag team for a few years. Tenryu brought fresh air, a stiff style, to AJPW back then especially against Jumbo & Wajima, so Jumbo tuned himself to the stiffness to compete against Tenryu, which i'm sure gave Jumbo the credit he deserved in the ring. Jumbo once said, " When i saw Tenryu's face after the nasty Powerbomb, he foamed at the mouth." Its awesome!!!

[stiffbiffwhitman]

AWESOME MATCH!

[RevDarkehorse]

Back in the day, Flair could go for an hour and appear to not even break a sweat. He did this on almost a nightly basis.

[comeonwheels]

Excellent match!

And I would like to say to you jackoffs talking crap about Flair's physique in this video. I'd bet dollars to donuts that back here or even now hes in FAR better physical condition than any one of you. You would keel over trying to make it 15 minutes in a ring let alone 33.

[tow74]

fuck you for stealing my "bet you dollars to donuts" idiom you jerk. And yes, flair did look like shit here. So what, in most of '82 he looked fit as hell. Why can't you accept reality you fan blinded fuck you.

[comeonwheels]

I had no clue you invented "dollars to donuts". I hope you're getting royalties from it. And as far as "looking like shit" goes. He looks like someone who hasn't been in a gym or on any kind of diet for a bit. Kind of like he'd been traveling the globe wrestling for his world championship a few days a week. I know most of you idiots get salty when you don't have some ultra fit guy with great abs to vent your repressed homosexuality over. And for that, I'm sorry.

[TheoUnit798]

Classic, people are so uncomfortable with their sexuality these days, and yet they worry about a wrestlers physique. Also your point is true, how many NWA champs had good physique's up until the late 80's? Dory Funk didn't, Jack Brisco didn't, Giant Baba didn't, Terry Funk didn't, Harley Race and Dusty Rhodes definitely didn't, and nor did Ric Flair. Probably because they were defending their title sometimes upto 6 days a week. Good point!

[mathias1211]

Yeah but they still had better physique´s then the average american maybe not Dusty

[TheoUnit798]

I think they stopped worrying about it so much when Dory Funk came to be champ though. The guys before him like Kiniski, Thesz, Szabo, Rogers, Yvon Robert, etc. all had really powerful and toned physiques.

[mathias1211]

yeah i dont think that flair had that terrible physique here

[aj31313]

to the physique issue:

would you rather watch Cena and Batista?

[TheoUnit798]

I think you totally missed my point, I'm saying the physique really dosen't matter. Flair never looked great, Dory never looked great, Race never looked great. My fav guys definitely don't have the best physiques, my favourites are guys like Flair, Race, Brody, Vader, Hansen, Kobashi, Kawada, Hart, Dynamite Kid, Ray Stevens, Hashimoto, Gordy etc. I could go on, some had great physiques some didn't, it really didn't matter to me. To answer your question... no.

[aj31313]

Cool Theo . I was just making a point. Look at the late 80's. A lot of great bodies. Ultimate Warrior, Road Warriors,Tony Atlas(jeez), Rocky Johnson, Steamboat, Savage, Snuka, Orndorf, Bulldog, Beefcake ....

Some (most) could wrestle others well...

ps. i've seen Vader do a moonsault. Holy s**t!!

[NYCPulpHero]

FUCK the wwe!

[HowTingz]

@NYCPulpHero

FUCK YOU FOR EVEN MENTIONING THAT PROMOTION WHILE PEOPLE LIKE ME ARE JUST TRYING TO ENJOY A GREAT MATCH AND FORGET ABOUT IT!!!!

GOD IT'S JUST LIKE TRYING TO LISTEN TO SOME GOOD ROCK MUSIC AND CONSTANTLY HAVING TO SEE SOME "FUCK JUSTIN BEIBER" SHIT.

WE GET IT YOU HATE THE PROMOTION SO STOP FUCKING TALKING ABOUT IT!!

[NYCPulpHero]

@HowTingz *sigh* dork. I havent even come back here in a long time. wtf is wrong with you?

[bjohns1975]

Are you kidding me? I love Flair's body.

[bjohns1975]

dumbass

[Lovelygal71]

@bjohns1975 Me too. :D

[antiembishop07]

fuckin aye!

[rextony22]

wow a long match.

[RevDarkehorse]

Not really, rextony, back in the day it was nothing to see a match go one hour.

[DiamondJoeQuimby]

Flair made reference to this match a couple times during future promos... think he said something to the effect of wrestling for 60 mins in the Tokyo Dome vs. Tsuruta.

Flair didn't really sell the on-the-floor piledriver but Jumbo wasn't selling any of his stiff knife-edge chops for the entire 30 mins either.

other than the hokey ending i really liked this match a lot.

[habyss]

Do Japanese fans know it's fake?

[soln4suh]

wasn't jumbo tsuruta AWA champion at some point?

[driflyer13]

Yeah. Rick Martel beat him for ther title in '84 or '85

[TFag67]

I've never understood why the the wrestler who administors the figure four leg lock is meant to feel so much pain as soon as the recipient reverses it. Anatomically it makes no sense. Great match though. Steve Austin is right, WWE should really be doing so much more with the Flair retirement angle.

[IHeartOverTheTop]

It turns the hold into a version of the Indian Death Lock, crushing the calf muscle of man who applied the figure 4.

[halfmanhalfmetal]

Wow! Flair had saggy skin even back in 82!

[candylauu]

wow they weren't that violent back then

[JohnnieWalnuts]

Cool Video!

[binsuma]

draw ,double pin fall.

this was rare case of legendary title match.

[KingPyroManiac]

25 years ago and flair still looks like hes 80 lmao! u gotta love flair tho....hes seen it all the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s he has his name all over every era.....

[geldofpunk]

Oh never mind. I guess it was rules a no contest. What a lackluster ending to a great match.

[geldofpunk]

At 30:40 the ref clearly counts three, yet the match isn't over. I wish I knew Japanese so I could understood what happened there.

[zoltanstar]

it was a double pin - the match was a draw.

[Murphdogg4]

Why doesn't TNA see that this kind of wrestling is the alternative fans are looking for? Instead they are like diet WWE.

[vidmaker8294]

LOL @ Diet WWE. Oh, yea, TNA Sucks! When will they Learn? We don't want the HardCore crap like 10,000 Tacks, Barbwire Matches, House of Fun? You think 3,000 is a Fun wrestling match? My point is: WE JUST WANT A FREAKING REGULAR WRESTLING MATCH!

[Sargebri]

Its interesting to look at this due to the fact that Flair doesn't go into his usual routine of going for the ropes for leverage. They pretty much booked this to be a very clean match and it definitely was a wrestling clinic. Young wrestlers should watch this video over and over in order to learn.

[ComradeCanadia]

I think Flair wrestles primarily as a tutor. Go out with a young guy, and show him how to wow a crowd, time comebacks, and polish up. It's why his feuds and partnerships are usually with up and comers, rather than established legends.

[ggggwwwwdddd]

I think that Flair is in need of money cause he was spending it so much when he made it or just doesn't want to leave the spotlight. I thought he should have become an announcer a long time ago.

[limpdog20]

Great match wasn't keen on the finish. It's difficult differentiating between the Flair of the 80's and 90's when he was a great wrestler. With the Flair of today where he is a complete shadow of his former self and looks terrible. What does everyone else think?

[frrrrrunkis]

I would have loved to see Flair vs. Misawa with both men in their prime. Hey, a mark can dream, right? lol

[guysolbgmn]

thats flair in the early 80's. I remember the article about the match in a wrestling magazine.

[patrickthadude]

flair actually looked better from 89-94 when he was in his early 40s. weird i know.

[thebigandgreat1]

whats so bad about being in good shape in your early 40's? I didnt realize that was a weird thing!

[fuel20]

I think he's getting at, is that you should look in better shape in your 20's and 30's. Like 99% of the rest of wreslters.

[kevinhardy]

great match

[actionfigures95]

will rarely see a match like this anymore. WAY too slow for the "ADD Generation" Now its all highspots, catch phrases and fireworks and a bunch of musclemen that dont know an armdrag from an armpit (talking mostly about WWE)

[omonteshashimoto]

Thank you for sharing this match. We can see two legends in their best moment. Young people doesn't know Jumbo Tsuruta former AWA World Champion and Ric Flair when was young.

[WZ912]

Thats Right. Jumbo beat Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World title and lost it to Rick Martel. Rick he lost it to Stan Hansen & he lost it to Bockwinkel. The cycle of life.

[Fernaboy]

Then bockwinkel Lost it to Hennig and Hennig lost it too lawler and sortof lost it to kerry von erich but retains :)

[oravattnet]

Great fight! Wrestling peaked at the 80´s. By the way, does anyone know if there is some real old school (60-70´s) DVD´s available?

[redwonder]

Thanks a lot! Great clip

[fangfan408592]

I think the date on the video may be wrong - note Flair doesn't have the title belt, and he's a little paunchy around the mid-section - this is probably May 1984, when Von Erich had just won the belt. Flair won the title back in Japan. Must have fought Jumbo before he got the belt back. Back in '82, Flair would have been wearing the tights with the butterfly, as opposed to the RF in the video.

[fangfan408592]

Ok, I was wrong about the belt, but Flair still looks physically like he did when he lost to Von Erich.

[dogfan4lyfe]

Flair looks better today than he did then. What a flabby tub of goo he was!

[actionfigures95]

gotta be kidding man! I mean MAYBE he isnt in the best shape for this match, but NOWADAYS he literally looks like a 90 year old flopping around. looks terrible. makes me cringe when i see him on TV these days.

[carfarts]

and what do u think ur fucking sorry ass will look like at his age? THE MAN worked better than any wrestler in the past as well as today though u probably like that old sob hogan HE SUCKS!! or crow magnum head cena NOT!!! FLAIR IS THE MAN THEN AND STILL IS THE MAN PAY HOMAGE YOU PUNK!!!!

[iroquoisfalls]

This was indeed a GREAT match. I haven't seen such a wrestling clinic in a long long time. It's too bad Jumbo isn't here with us today (he died in May 2000). I originally was looking for rare Flair matches on here, now i'm gonna be looking for more Jumbo Tsuruta.

[zisul]

This is a true classic wrestling match between 2 of the great LEGENDS OF WRESTLING RIC FLAIR,JUMBO TSURUTA

in a 33min match for the WORLD TITLE.I miss the days

when the traveling WORLD CHAMPION was defending the

title all over the globe.And yes! TSURUTA was the AWA

champion in the early 80's.

[WZ912]

Thats Right. Jumbo beat Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World title and lost it to Rick Martel. Rick lost it to Stan Hansen & he lost it to Bockwinkel. The cycle of life.

[widowmaker23]

was jumbo tsuruta the AWA champ at the time?

[Irash]

since wwe has rights to most of ric flairs matches bar some companies like all japan we need more of these rare classics

[Brennaf]

Superb match. Nothing better than Slic Ric and Jumbo going all out for over 30 minutes.

[Brennaf]

Excellent match. Slic Ric and Jumbo went all out in that one.

[rexcool22]

wow 33 mins man . good match.

[VolumedMusicMan]

What excellent work by both contestants. The finish was excellent. I miss the days of the touring NWA World Champion. Matches like these were constant. Todays organizations should watch and learn from these old school matches in how to captivate an audience without resorting to constant T&A and vulgar displays.

[soulfox619]

Ajpw is not scripted. this is cool

[soulfox619]

Ajpw is much better than wwe.

[DangerousK]

That's what a wrestling match is supposed to be: pure action

[taichi29]

I agree with you. Wrestling today is like watching a soap opera.

[djones7241]

ric da man

[kevinhardy]

good match