[1990-01-31-NJPW] Jushin Liger vs Naoki Sano

[Martyn]

After watching few other matches, their match popped up randomly on youtube and I started watching without any expectations and it completely blew my mind. Great spectacle with a lot of smart action, stiffness, hot crowd and hatred. Its an one of a kind match that cannot be repeated. I'd rate it as a complete 5-star, but because of a few botches here and there it cannot recieve a full note from me.

[garretta]

Wow. From beginning to end, a total war. Someone further up who didn't care quite as much for this match as I did says that at some point it went from Liger getting out of predicaments to Sano not having enough to put Liger away. Trust me, he had enough, but Liger just would not be beaten. That's what makes this epic; Sano uses every move he knows, some more than once, and knocks Liger out at least five times by my count, but still can't beat him. Then he starts trying too hard, makes a few mistakes, and Liger's able to turn the tide and eventually get the win.

 

Of course, the feud will continue, as Liger realizes that his mask has been ripped off (all the better for Sano to bloody his face) and is so incensed that he won't even accept the belt, and slaps around a few ring boys to boot. If there was a rematch down the line, I hope we get to see it, because it ought to be another classic.

 

This is definitely my foreign Match of the Month. Does it beat Garvin/Valentine for overall honors? The WWF was in many ways my "home" promotion, and I'm a big fan of both Ronnie and Greg, so I'd say this match finishes second by a hundredth of a nose. This match was probably "better", but nostalgia also carries some weight, and that's enough to put Garvin/Valentine over the top.

[PeteF3]

Unfortunately Sano would be poached by SWS very soon after this. They wouldn't meet again until the NJPW/UWFI feud in 1995.

[DR Ackermann]

Watched this again and it was way better than I originally thought. The one thing I don't like about it is that although Liger's selling is great, once he goes back on offense he just stops and he goes full speed all the time.

[Matt D]

I haven't seen much Liger. I'm not sure I've seen any Sano. This was great. I really don't think Liger went full speed on offense either. Maybe that first comeback burst that ended with him diving all the way over the rail, but then he sold it big. Later on every time he hit something there was that sense of desperation, like Loss mentioned earlier.I'm the first guy to get frustrated at shrugged off selling and it didn't bother me here.

 

I don't have time to really write it up now but I do have some notes, likes/dislikes. The main point, which isn't really in the notes is that it was just an awesome beatdown, blood and mask ripping and bombs, just real nastiness with the best possible use of "fighting spirit."

 

-I like how definitive the early transition moves are. A pile driver on the floor SHOULD turn the match around like this.

-I like that it's not back and forth at all but just a thorough beating.

-I like that Liger gets full on comebacks instead of hope spots. The match really breathes

-I wish that Sano might have gone for the pin a little less and done damage for the sake of it a little more because Sano has SUCH big moves. More rope escapes, like at the Tiger at the end.

-On the other hand I'm glad Liger hit a bunch of stuff on Sano before winning. since it was so one sided. He had to earn the win.

-You feel so bad for Liger when he goes flying over the top towards the end.

-I like the callbacks. two superplexes (second with a reversal). Both guys hitting quebadoras. Germans. Tombstones.

-There are some spots that look sloppy and flubbed but given the selling they feel weirdly organic and work in the context of the match, as if Liger simply couldn't hit what he was trying to do because he was so beat up and thus they go around in a different circle after the attempt. Maybe I'm being too kind there.

-Not perfect but it's a pretty glorious match.

[cheapshot]

Fabulous match a total different style than I am normally used to with NJ Jr's. I really enjoyed how it started as a nasty brawl mixed with the odd highspot from Liger to try and get a bit of space between himself and Sano to recover from the beating he received.

 

The last couple of minutes, especially the Tiger Suplex kickout were great.

[drew wardlaw]

What impressed me the most about the match was how cinematic the story of the mask ripping was. It played out like a horror movie to me. Or like a Hitchcock thriller or something. Liger does a great job hiding his face and the camera work to not show it is spot on, and the first time you really glimpse his full face he looks dead. It's an unbelievable moment. There's also a great shot right after Liger's dive over the top (where you hear girls screaming) when he lands on the announce table and you see this older woman's face and she looks shocked.

[JKWebb]

This was easily the match of the month for me. It's once of those matches that will really stick with me. Moments you won't forget, like the mask hanging off as Parv mentioned. That was one of the more painful looking shooting star presses I've seen. Sometimes they look pretty, but this one looked vicious. This was such a brutal match, a war, with an awesome dramatic ending to top it off. I haven't seen every Liger match, but this is currently my favorite performance I've seen from him.

 

Coming back to add that this hit #40 on this list from Loss:

 

http://placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-50-1/

[Phil Schneider]

This was the final match of their awesome late 80s early 90s triology, and it is a hell of a finish. Liger starts out the disrespect by slapping Sano in the face, but Sano takes the early lead by piledriving Liger on the floor, ripping his mask and posting him. The rest of the match is this great visual of Liger with his mask ripped off, adding a bunch more red to the iconic red and white outfit. I loved all of Liger's comebacks in this match, he would squirm out of a Sano bomb attempt and hit a crazy dive or a desperation throw, but then get overwhelmed. This was Liger trying to ride a tidal wave, rather then a back and forth battle. Sano was great in this, such a vicious prick, there is a moment where he is just pounding on Ligers bloody head that you can see the joy in his face. I also loved his intelligence, there is a moment where he charges Liger in the corner, Liger moves, so Sano backflips out, Sano knows the kappo kick is coming so he just dives on his stomach to avoid it. Finish may have felt a little abrupt, with the level of punishment, but I dig the tombstone as a death move (Sano did a great post match sell of it) and Liger breaking out his first Liger SSP to close it out was pretty cool. I have a feeling that when I revisit NJ juniors for this project, the less juniory matches will stand out, and this was a great one.

[dawho5]

I wanted to love this match. But Liger needed to have more offense sprinkled in through the beatdown. Sano was on top for way too long to not put him away if that was going to happen.

[Stiva]

Liger sets the tone by slapping Sano in the face and the pace doesn't let up for a long time. Sano is fantastic at rushing Liger; they do the out of ring danger spot and it cuts right back to Sano applying. As the match continues, Liger sells fantastically, though helped by Sano doing some fantastic mask ripping, As someone said, this doesn't feel like a tournament final, this seems like two men who are in a tournament final who just happen to fucking hate each other. Great match, great booking.

[cactus]

Even at this point in time, it's clear that Liger is something special. He starts of the match by slapping Sano and rushing him before Sano eventually gets a hold of him and starts mauling him. He rips apart Liger's mask to the point where his entire face is exposed, with the mask hanging off the rest of his body suit making a great visual. Thankfully Sano is a all-round great guy and bloodies up Liger to help him conceal his identity. What a pal.

 

Liger's hope spots in this match are a treat to watch. The handstand used to evade Sano's running attack is the main one that sticks to mind. Liger knows how to create drama during ever near-fall and Sano knows how to dish out a beating, so this winning combination allowed this match to be a hate-fueled war.

 

Best match of 1990 so far. A high end MOTYC.

 

★★★★½

[superkix]

Whether it's bashing fools with rudo chaisrshots or lapping up the babyface sympathy juice, Liger knows how to elicit emotion from the fans. Here, having only a crimson mask of blood to hide his face, Liger not only puts in one of the best performances of his career, selling Sano's asswhippin' like he's about an inch away from heaven, but he still manages to maintain that same aura and mystique that's synonymous with Jushin "Thunder" Liger. The way he's able to remain hidden from the cameras behind the tatters of his mask is some real deal in-ring awareness. If there's anything to nitpick, perhaps that it's Liger's selling, or lack thereof, when he's on the comeback, going full-speed with dives and headscissors, and ultimately, making quick work of Sano after having been beaten down for roughly 80% of the match. Sano's able to deliver about every suplex variation in the book, including his game ending tiger suplex hold, which Liger's barely able to break with a foot on the ropes. I mean, Liger asked for this ya'll....he said "fuck your handshake" before the bell and bitchslapped Sano across the face. Visually, this is an awesome but frightening match - for example, there's a moment where Sano throws Liger almost lifelessly into the corner pad, leaving a smear of Liger's blood on the white padding. Each time Liger begins to build a momentum and speed, Sano's able to cut him off. After taking out Sano on the outside with a beautiful tope con hilo, Liger hits the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to set up the Romero Special but in a terrific counter, Sano rakes the exposed eyes of Liger to escape the hold. Later on, Liger's able to take Sano down with a headscissors but when he tries to follow up the attack, Sano back bodydrops clear over the ropes to the outside! Liger can't catch a break until literally the last two minutes of the match, when he sneaks in a flurry of offense, including a German suplex hold, a Liger Bomb, and a sweet tombstone piledriver, finally pinning Sano with the the Shooting Star Press. An awesome match.

[Superstar Sleeze]

DaWho, I agree with you brutha, this is an excellent match but where it drops below that Top 100 mark is they go to the heat way too soon and languish there.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Naoki Sano vs Jushin "Thunder" Liger - NJPW 1/31/90

How much a difference a couple years makes! I thought this would be a mortal lock for my top 100, but watching it back I dont think it has a chance. Their 1989 match trumps this one for me and will most likely make it. That is NOT an indictment on this match, but rather how many other AMAZING matches there are in the history of pro wrestling. 

Lets talk about the greatness of this match first and that this is a heroic match. Sano beats the holy hell out of Liger. A beating that is reserved only for the dude who bangs your girlfriend. There is a part in the match where Liger's mask is ripped and he is just a bloody pulp on the mat it is just so moving. The hero is totally down for the count. Sano is the exact man you want to deliver this beating. He has a wide, wide arsenal of moves. I thought Liger's first hope spot was really well done. The hurricanana into an insane somersault dive was crazy. He went all out in that dive. Sano hit that railing hard. I LOVED Sano raking Liger's eyes in the Surfboard to break. Then Liger cant really hit his hope spots anymore. He misses the Kappo Kick. That is ol reliable. Like Misawa's elbow that always gets Liger out of trouble. He gets a rana again, but this time he is sent sailing over the top rope high into the air on the floor. Then he gets smarter. He starts shifting his weight on suplexes. Sano has tuckered himself out. He hit a lot of moves, but couldnt put Liger away and now his energy is sapped. He is prone to Liger being able to make these reverses the superplex one was great.  Sano's last big nearfall is the Tiger Suplex and for this one is not a kickout, but Liger sticking his foot out. Sano calls for the ending and Liger looks destroyed thats when he reverses on the back suplex and hits his own German Suplex! Somehow someway Liger through his resilience has evened the playing field, but when looked dead in the water many times. Sano goes for a rana, but Liger plants him with a powerbomb. TOMBSTONE->SHOOTING STAR PRESS! AWESOME FINISH!

So what's my complaint, the heat segments(s) were way too long and had very little struggle. They went to it way too early in my opinion. Liger smacks the taste out of Sano's mouth and starts the match red hot. Sano BULLIES him to the outside. Nails a piledriver on the floor and whips him hard into the railing. I am totally fine with Sano kicking ass that early. But to do the mask ripping and bust him open within 5 minutes thats tough to recover from. It is going to require Liger to die a lot. I dont know how many resurrections I can believe in. Liger did the right thing in selling it like death. Sano brutalized him. I think there is time and place for that, they just did way too early. Pretty much every suplex, piledriver, and kick you can think of Sano hit on Liger. The moves were cool, but when you are doing Boston Crabs and just giving up on it thats no fun. It didnt feel like Sano was trying to finish the match nor do you believe he will because this is a fairy tale match and you know the hero has to make his comeback. I think if you put the mask ripping and blood at lets say 7 minutes to the finish this match really becomes a classic.  

Sano beats Liger to a bloody pulp but cant put away the Beast God. Liger looks like he has dead at times and has trouble hitting his trusty Kappo Kick, but through a couple timely suplex reversals and a lucky positioning on a Tiger Suplex, he is able to outlast Sano, who is exhausted from the punishment he dished out. Powerbomb->Tombstone->Shooting Star Press is up there for one of the best finish stretches of all time. Classic heroic comeback match, but falls short of being considered one of the greatest matches ever. ****1/2

[Microstatistics]

The terrific finale of a fierce junior heavyweight feud. Sano offered a handshake as an olive branch at the onset, but Liger simply slapped him and launched a quick ambush. An angry Sano bloodied Liger up to gain the upper hand. He followed that up with a prolonged and malicious thrashing, with attacks on the cut and mask ripping. Liger managed intermittent urgency-fueled mini-comebacks, but Sano was one step ahead at every turn and retook charge each time. Yet he was unable to deliver the kill shot and punched himself out by the end. A terminal burst allowed a battered Liger to regain the juniors title. ****5/8

[Badlittlekitten]

That's more like it! Liger's slap wasted no time in getting me into this one. As soon as Sano started ripping at Liger's mask I remembered I'd seen this one before. Certainly one of the best NJ junior's matches I've seen with it's hate and bloody violence. Liger's last grasp shooting star press was a awesome way to finish the match. Didn't hit like a classic for me, still a bit too much switching into deflating ways to fill time. Sano wasn't always engaging on top and his punches are fairly bad. But a good match none the less and a legendary Liger performance. Looking forward to watching more Jushin Liger.

[ClassicsPuro1983]

Naoki Sano vs. Jushin Liger '31.01.1990

The climactic match of the greatest feud in IWGP junior heavyweight championship history. Awesome drama and great intensity, with good story and psychology. Sano controls 90% of the contest. The champion was tearing the Liger mask and made him bleed from the face. Just an awesome beatdown. Liger was fighting back some, but Sano kept throwing bombs at him. Liger managed to reverse a Saito suplex and then hit a bridging German for a nearfall. At the end, Liger hits a liger bomb and a tombstone and pulling out the most spectacular move a that time, the shooting star press. Liger wins his second IWGP jr. heavyweight title. (*****)

[Calvin]

This is for Sano's IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship.

Liger denies a pre-match handshake from Sano by palm thrusting him a billion times in the face, and the tone of the match is immediately established. It's going to be a fucking fight. Sano responds by tearing at Liger's mask and throwing him headfirst into the ring post, busting him open. He's a little too robotic at times with the way he works over Liger, but Sano's performance is mostly great here as he basically controls Liger for the entire match and showcases an awesome offensive arsenal of suplexes & kicks. It's really the pathos of Liger's performance here that elevates this into classic territory, though. I don't recall ever seeing him this vulnerable -- barely able to get his offense in and the majority of his mask is hanging off his face. Blood (and grainy tape footage) is the only thing that's preventing his full face from being exposed to the world. (I hardly ever take note of it, even though I should, but the camerawork here was really good and led to some awesome visuals of Liger bloodied & broken.) In the end, Liger's comeback feels palpably urgent and it's everything you want from a desperate wrestler that is a few heartbeats away from total collapse. 

****3/4

[Chess Knight]

All these years later after last watching it, it's still an excellent fight. You'll barely find a more hateful juniors match; it takes a hell of a lot to make a leg drop or a surfboard look like a spiteful move. The first thing that really struck me is how exceptionally good Liger is at using body language to convey his selling, so you see through his mask (his mask was torn for most of this but work with me, the vq doesn't allow to see his face much anyway). There's especially a lot of stumbling, keeping his head low, wobbling his arms that goes a long way in putting over what Sano was doing to him. Speaking of which, I didn't remember so much of the match being so one-sided. It's a great, great mauling from Sano; they do not waste time to get to the mask ripping and bloody faced Liger, while Sano does what he can to keep him in place. Though I'll probably never get fully used to the piledriver being so throwaway in Japanese junior matches but that's how it goes I guess. I thought Liger's big moments of hope were all outstanding. That first dive he got in, where he crawls back in the ring, struggling to capitalise while the audience chants for him was an incredible aesthetic. He about drops himself on his own face reversing suplexes mid-air as well. Want to mention there's a big boot sell from Liger in this that has to be one of the greatest sells of the move ever and it didn't even hit his face but instead the chest. Still an awesome, awesome match and a world class bloody sell from the ace.