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The Naito match made Taichi look like a credible Heavyweight contender in New Japan, but this one absolutely established that. Him using all the Kawada signature moves got me FIRED UP & when he hit that Ganso Bomb, this match went from very good to great. Gotta give much credit to Tana, he made Taichi look like a star by giving him much of the match. ****

Sasaki & Kawada don't do much here, and instead give their protegé's the spotlight to slap each other around and prove themselves. The youngin's did a fantastic job holding this match together, though, with their fire and selling. Sasaki vs. Kawada ruled, as expected, in their short bursts together, but the highlights of the match were the interactions between Sasaki/Taichi & Kawada/Nakajima - which was all sorts of disrespectful, stiff, and humbling as the veterans laid the smackdown on the newbies. Rating: ***½

This is it - Jushin Thunder Liger's last ever BOSJ match. I actually was really rooting for him to win the whole thing because I feel like him vs. Hiromu II at Dominion would've been absolutely incredible. But it is what it is, they made Liger lose every match in the tournament leading up to this one - and while I initially didn't agree w/ that decision, I gotta say that this match made up for it. You got the most hated, the most annoying, the slimy ol' Taichi going against the man here. Right from the get go as Liger is making his entrance, the Suzuki-gun jumps him - Taichi talks some trash & that leads to him working the heat big time on Liger. He does it so in the most dickish, heelish fashion ever & it's just fucking awesome. Kicking Liger in the head, ripping his mask, cutting his gear w/ scissors. Finally when Despy & Kanemaru get involved again out comes KUSHIDA & Taguchi who take care of them, which leads to Liger, with his gear destroyed & all making a super comeback - emotions were running wild during that one and I got them goosebumps watching him hit Taichi with his signature stuff, just completely destroying the dick that almost ruined his last ever BOSJ match. This was wonderful pro wrestling. Liger is the best. ****1/2

Had to check this out because of the potential Suzuki vs. Shibata interactions, and I sure wasn't disappointed, because I got some awesome action between those 2! It looks like they might do a singles program between them, it sure felt like it w/ Suzuki constantly targeting Shibata & staring him down + attacking him post-match. I am hyped for that. The match was super fun - you got Liger as the FIP, and he was awesome, as you'd expect. Suzuki-gun did some solid heel work over him, ripping his mask & all - but the highlight of the match was indeed the Minoru Suzuki vs. Katsuyori Shibata sequence when they were both in the ring. Their interaction did not disappoint. Awesome match. ***1/2

I imagine Taichi would be universally loved if he worked 1973 WWWF since all he does is stall and cheat. The opening was fun and Suzuki's willingness to stooge was crucial to it. Mathc lost steam in the middle with the Liger in peril section, attacking the mask might get heat but it's boring and somewhat pointless when it goes for a while as you understand they're pretending to try to take it off instead of actually trying to take it off. Finish was fun with the face team clearing the ring with lots of doulbe/triple team moves and the Funaki-Aoki finish was more dramatic than I'd expected as they set up the nearfalls very well and I bought into them. Aoki's frog splash looked amazing and got a big pop as did Suzuki's apron kneebar. ***

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