April 21, 2012

Mat Classics: Riki Choshu and Killer Khan

When I was a toddler, I liked watching baseball.  I'd sit in front of the television and say "Peechu bachu, peechu bachu" over and over, meaning "pitcher batter, pitcher batter".  That appreciation for competition still lives strong today, although my favorite "sport" now is pro wrestling.  While wrestling isn't pure competition, I think of it as being an homage to competition.  Like a novel or film will take the drama of life's experience and lay it out in such a way as to make the most interesting or moving segments all the more poignant, good pro wrestling takes the aspects of sport which are most exciting to a fan, and aims to recreate those feelings of tension, disappointment, and ecstatic release in the viewers, as if they were watching a top notch ball game.  All elements of storytelling are distilled into straight combat, adding into the mix the primal theme of survival, heightening the emotion of the viewer's experience.
Now, I guess to try and fully illustrate that point I should be posting an hour-long epic, but instead I'm going to post this 20 minute battle between Riki Choshu and Killer Khan which I think fits the bill.  It's pretty classic good guy/bad guy action, comin' atcha from August 9, 1986 (AJPW). Riki's the one in the white boots, and Khan is the one in the Mentors hood.  I'd love to see Punk and Lesnar have a match like this if Brock chases the title after he takes John Cena apart next weekend.


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