[1994-10-03-WAR] Genichiro Tenryu vs Ashura Hara

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Kevin Ridge]

Really stiff action between the two as Tenryu just lays in the chops and Hara counters with the clotheslines. They go back and forth and then some dude runs down to interfere. He ends up taking a beating by both Tenryu and Hara before getting run off. Murdoch is there to help police things. Match continues. Tenryu starts unleashing his own clotheslines. Very little deviation outside the chops/clotheslines. Tenryu finishes Hara with two powerbombs. Pretty simple match but was good. Two guys just beating each other up. Big celebration for Hara after. This seems to be coming to the end of his career.

[Loss]

This is really weird. Some guy interferes and Dick Murdoch comes out of nowhere to help remove him from the premises, and Tenryu and Hara team up to take him out. Then the match resumes. This was just okay for me -- the neverending chop battles felt like the worst of 00s Kobashi, so it was hard for me to get into.

[Exposer]

This was a bizarre encounter. An intruder interrupted the match and a brawl ensued. Dick Murdoch showed up and wandered around. The match continued like nothing happened and Tenryu won with two powerbombs. Really, this wasn't all that great.

[soup23]

Disappointing match. A lot of strikes were thrown without any real substance. I have no idea who that was that interfered or why. Hara leaving out with 80's cheese music playing was a nice moment though.

[Zenjo]

You guys need to watch more Joshi. They have retirement matches and ceremonies all the time so you get used to seeing them. Here it was Hara calling it a day after 16 years as a pro. He didn't start until the age of 31, and there's no argument from me that it was time for him to move on. I won't claim to have any idea what the stuff in the middle was all about.

 

After the finish Hara gets the traditional retirement ceremony. Fellow wrestlers throw him in the air, sometimes they get dropped but not here. Then there's a few words about his career and Hara thanking the fans. Well wishers present him with flowers before he gets to go out the ring as a hero. It's always a wonderful way to end a career, going out on a big show instead of fading into obscurity. One of those little things that make Puroresu so special.

[PeteF3]

There wasn't much to this, though seeing in advance that this was Hara's retirement match explained things a little. I believe that's Dragon Master/Kendo Nagasaki interfering, and it's a convenient excuse for Tenryu and Hara to go through their old double-team spots together, albeit not very well. Kind of dippy to us, but I can understand why they did it. ("So why not have Tenryu and Hara team up and make Hara's retirement match a tag?" There is a very good answer to that question that will have to wait for another time.)