Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask is one of those early 1980s rivalries that get a lot of love. Their one-on-one battles took place across three years and seven matches.
One of their matches—the August 1982 bout in WWE—was the first exposure of this rivalry in the West since the tape trade wasn’t as vast as it would be in the late 90s and 00s.
These matches served as the blueprint for early 90s high-flying before lucha would influence things for the rest of the 90s. What else stood about these matches?
Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask: Chemistry 101
Chemistry in a match or when working with others on a project is something that just is. Either it’s a bad match, a golden duo, or the group or partner is simply functional enough.
In the case of Dynamite Kid and Tiger Mask, this was a golden pair. They worked well against each other to they could’ve been career rivals if they remained with New Japan.
You had the Dynamite Kid who was a crisp mat technician and also very agile. By 80s high-flying standards, he was good. The man could do whatever you needed.
He could give you a slow-paced mat match but when he added some zip to the match, scientific wrestling seemed like it had flavor and didn’t drag on.
Tiger Mask—Satoru Sayama—started out as a blank slate in the New Japan style of that time. Being a junior heavyweight, he had an excursion to England and Mexico early on.
It was after returning, donning the mask, and having the hopes of New Japan’s junior heavyweight division placed on him that he became a wrestler worth noticing.
He mixed the high-flying of Mexico, the chain wrestling and mat work of England, and his own martial arts background into an exciting style.
The two of them first locked up in April 1981 and while it would be lying to say “Each encounter was better than the last,” all of them were at least really good matches.
The Influence
Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask influenced generations of wrestlers debuting after their prime. Tiger Mask was one of the influences of Japan’s lucharesu style.
Meanwhile, Tom Billington’s influence can be seen in the styles of Bryan Danielson, Chris Benoit, and others who took to his fast-paced approach to mat wrestling.
An interesting thing is how many wrestlers had to discover these styles. The vast majority of wrestlers were fans like many of us and searched for matches and tapes.
Just like in music, you can see where wrestlers are influenced by the style of another wrestler before becoming the influence themselves.
Besides these two, there was Rey Mysterio whose matches in the late 90s were an influence on someone like Red—who became an influence to high-flyers of the 2010s.
The Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask matches have that same impact and benefited from being cards where their match pace and style really stood out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CMvmS9xZmw
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