[1994-01-14-WAR] Genichiro Tenryu vs Shiro Koshinaka

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

These two always have good matches. This is not an exception to that. Tenryu pulverizes Koshinaka with a chair at the onset, with the referee even taking some punishment! Nice mix of wrestling and brawling. Kosh juices and fights back from underneath. There is one nearfall that is insanely close, to a point half the building is convinced tnat the referee or the wrestlers made a mistake. My biggest takeaway from this -- which is probably old news to most people -- is just how many of Kawada's signature spots were lifted from Tenryu.

[jdw]

My biggest takeaway from this -- which is probably old news to most people -- is just how many of Kawada's signature spots were lifted from Tenryu.

About as many as Benoit based off Dynamite Kid. Only difference: Kawada was much more Tenryu's direct pupil as a Revolution member, while Benoit just happened to idolize Kid.

 

John

[shoe]

Again we get a good bout between the 2. Just a good stiff bout. Tenyru is a stud.

[Exposer]

I love Tenryu. He splits Koshinaka at the bell and kicks ass for the rest of the match too. The near falls are excellent and the brawling is pretty good here. It was a good start to disc two.

[soup23]

Favorite fancam match so far. One of the problems I have had with Koshinaka over the years is his selling and uninspired mat work at times. This match had neither and he really mixed up the strikes and stiffness well with Tenryu. Tenryu is great as always. Really nice, short match.

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

My first exposure to Tenryu was the 80s All Japan set. In the few matches I've seen on the 94 set so far, he seems a lot more intense.

[PeteF3]

And this feud, shortly before its apparent conclusion, starts to come full circle, as it began with the WAR guys fighting with Koshinaka's faction. Shiro should not be allowed to work any match besides a heated bloody brawl. He gets busted open with a chair before the bell rings and has to fight to survive from there. He gets in a few good near-falls, especially that bridging cradle that the crowd seemed PISSED about when the referee ruled two, but Tenryu decisively puts him away.

[garretta]

Considering the punishment he took in the early part of the match, it was a miracle that Koshinaka came back to make a fight of it, but he certainly did. My favorite move from him was the butt bump from off the top, which actually looked like it did damage to Tenryu. In the end, though, Tenryu was just too tough, as he has been for most of his opponents over the last while.

 

Tenryu gave Kosh a lot more of the match than you'd expect, since he wasn't really a top guy in New Japan at the time. Were these two friends outside the ring, or was this just a way to sow that Tenryu wasn't as unstoppable as he could sometimes seem, and that the right guy on the right day could have his number?