Genichiro Tenryu

[Ditch]

Ten years ago, I enjoyed Tenryu as a lumpy grumpy veteran in post-split All Japan. I'd seen some of his '80s work and thought he was good, but nowhere near the level of Japan's all-time best. Now, I see him as either #1 or #2 from Japan, and certainly a GOAT candidate.

 

THE CASE

 

-Drawing. I don't think anyone can be on the GOAT list without a lot of big draws to their name. Tenryu has been in either the #1 or #2 match for dozens upon dozens of 10,000+ attendance events, including several Tokyo Dome cards. Pre-split and post-split All Japan, New Japan, WAR, SWS, UWFi, World Japan (debut show), and his series of semi-main Budokan matches was a big part of NOAH's successful 2005.

 

-Charisma/personality. You can be great at putting a match together move-by-move, but unless you have something to make the fans care about why your match matters then those moves of little use. I don't know if Tenryu is considered a great talker, but his facial expressions and body language are easy to appreciate in any corner of the globe. Lots of wrestlers can display pain or fire; Tenryu excels at radiating contempt for his opponent.

 

-Adaptability/longevity. In '83 he gets the spotlight as Jumbo's partner, and has a few small singles title matches with the likes of Ted DiBiase. He's decent at this stage but not world-class. Then when Choshu comes to All Japan in '85, Tenryu GETS IT immediately and actually surpasses Jumbo in-ring for a bit. Tenryu carried the All Japan side of things for the first six months of the feud and pretty much established the style he'd use for the rest of his career. While sticking to that style he was still able to do good work in a variety of situations and with a variety of opponents. In '87 he strikes out on his own to feud with Jumbo, leading to a series of great singles and tag matches. Matches that served to lay the groundwork for the super-classics that Misawa & Co. did in the '90s. Tenryu showed more fire and presence, solidifying himself as a main-eventer.

 

By 1990, when he jumped to SWS, Tenryu carried himself like a company ace. This was, in turn, the absolute key to the New Japan vs WAR feud in '92-'94; Tenryu was head-and-shoulders above the rest of the WAR squad yet was so great that the feud wasn't one-sided. Despite being practically a one-man army, NJ vs WAR was the most successful (in terms of sustained intensity and quality) of any of the NJ vs ____ feuds- which is in turn what New Japan is based on. The fact that Tenryu was able to move on to UWFi and work for several months despite being almost the antithesis of shoot-style is further credit to his ability. Even with WAR slowly dying in the late '90s, Tenryu remained relevant, winning the IWGP heavyweight and tag titles. He got a really good match out of Sasaki in the main event of the January 4th 2000 Dome show, and I think Sasaki going through it was vital to his being able to turn in an even better performance in the famous match with Kawada later in the year.

 

I hope most everyone here is familiar with Tenryu's return to All Japan, why that was important, and how fun Grumpy Old Tenryu was. Not many wrestlers in their 50s are turning in MOTYCs, but Tenryu did. He led the remnants of WAR to All Japan, and AJ vs WAR was more important to post-split All Japan on a show-by-show basis than AJ vs NJ. Again, Tenryu was the only big star on his side yet he was enough to make it work. Tenryu shifted away after a couple years, and had successful runs in 2004 NJ and 2005 NOAH. And if 55 year old Tenryu hadn't done enough yet, he even managed to get some mileage in HUSTLE. He turned in a couple more good performances even in recent years, though he wrestles very rarely.

 

Tenryu returned to the ring a couple weeks ago at age 62. His career has lasted 36 years, which isn't actually that remarkable in terms of wrestling history. What is remarkable is that he had a ~20 year peak (1985-2005) with very little interrption due to injury. He didn't have to re-invent himself and he didn't get stale. The only Japanese heavyweight who could possibly match Tenryu for longevity is Baba, but with so little '60s footage available it's hard to judge Baba's early years, and time was much kinder to Tenryu. Jumbo's peak was cut short by disease; Hashimoto's by death; Kobashi's by injury; Misawa's by the toll of bumping; Kawada's by apathy.

 

I can understand preferring a wrestler on a personal basis based on things like personality, a really hot 2-3 year run, a memorable feud, or a couple great matches. However, in terms of objectively weighing the GOAT durability must be a major factor. That's why I think Tenryu is clearly a top contender for the best to come from Japan.

 

-Great matches.

 

All Japan '80s:

http://board.deathvalleydriver.com/topic/5...-1980s-results/

All of the top four, and 16 of the top 29.

 

Japan in the 2000s:

http://board.deathvalleydriver.com/topic/4...y-year-results/

 

Granted, my votes are a smaller sample size, but they are an excellent representation of the best Japan produced. He had two of the top 10 and one of the top 5 in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Two more top 10 matches in 2005, and another in 2006. Plus he was consistently good on smaller-show tags through 2005, with the exception of the suck-magnet that was World Japan in 2003.

 

Tenryu in the '90s is something that is hard to fully appreciate because he was in so many places, and so much of the work was against second-tier opponents so that there weren't as many MOTYCs. But the quantity of good-to-great matches is still there, along with the accomplishment of leading the NJ vs WAR feud. I'm still finding more good Tenryu outings here and there. This is where the '80s and '00s work is so important, because Tenryu isn't a GOAT candidate if we just look at the '90s, but unlike pretty much any top '90s star his peak extends more than a couple years in either direction (let alone both directions).

 

 

I'm hosting hundreds of Tenryu matches on theditch.biz, .us and .com. You'll be hard-pressed to find a bad Tenryu outing, and more than a handful of mediocre ones. The fact that so many matches still doesn't cover every good Tenryu match is a testament to the quality of his career.

[soup23]

Definitely have came on board the Tenryu as GOAT bandwagon and fail to see him dropping out of my top 6-7 if I ever did a list.

 

Great post Ditch and he has all the attributes that you give him.

 

Maybe my favorite thing about Tenryu though is the sheer kookiness of his career.

 

This is a person from Japan that has been on a Clash and a Wrestlemania, has had extended periods in All Japan, New Japan, and NOAH in the past 20 years, and started his own company. He reminds me of some of these people in life you encounter that has a regular job but also makes moonshine in their basement, plays bass in an 80's hair band on the weekend, and has 5 patents. Tenryu is just an interesting character all around.

 

Also just noted the quote that is in your sig Ditch. My wife still mentions that every once in a while when wrestling ever comes up.

[Death From Above]

The other thing that works in Tenryu's favor is that because he worked in so many different spots (and W.A.R. was very much "Tenryu vs Insert Star We Can Get") he's a guy that crossed off the huge majority of his potential realistic dream bouts too.

 

I think Tenryu is probably the best thing about post-split All Japan, which is kind of amazing at his age. I couldn't give two shits about Taiyo Kea otherwise but watching him try and MAN UP against Tenryu is a great memory, for example.

[soup23]

Wanted to give this thread a little love to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed the SWS stuff so far. It has a different feel to it and they are trying some unique stuff. Tenryu kind of has an under the radar 1990 to me overall as I had pictured him going in as someone that was just bidding his time in All Japan before bolting. I didn't like his All Japan stuff that much but his matches vs. Savage, Takano, and the 9/9 SWS tag will all fare well on my top 100 list.

[Exposer]

I'm am one of many fans of "The grumpy, lumpy, old bastard" or whatever he's called on message boards.

[Superstar Sleeze]

I don't know if I am on board the Tenryu as a GOAT, but I would sure love to watch more to figure it out. I love Soup's discussion of being one of those guys who dabbles in a little bit of everything. I think that hurts him from being an obvious GOAT candidate and is someone just needs more investigation. I am starting the Japan 2000's poll with this review. Japan it has been far too long!

 

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Kensuke Sasaki - 01/04/00

 

Kensuke Sasaki has a nice slab of symphonic metal as his entrance theme and a bitchin' mullet. Tenryu looks extra lumpy at this point. This match reminds me of how the simplicity of New Japan can be just as beautiful as All Japan's complexity. This match is structured to make Sasaki to look like the conquering hero against the gritty veteran proving himself at every turn as surpassing Tenryu. The match proves that anything Tenryu can do; Sasaki can do better. It really makes Sasaki look like an ace of a promotion.

 

They do not waste time going into the chopfest. This match reminds me of Valentine/Garvin at first as it seems like they are just stiffing each other for the hell of it. However, this match transcends inane strikes by developing into a well-woven story with a beginning, middle and end. The beginning is a battle of two bulls seeing who can inflict more damage on the other. Tenryu is the first to throw a closed fist in the corner. Sasaki says "Two can play at that game" and levels Tenryu with a wicked closed fist. Even though this match utilizes the closed fist more than any other puro match I have seen; the closed fist still seems really special as they sell it as a big deal. The way Tenryu transitions into his heat segment on Sasaki is be means of the closed fist. Before we get to there, I just wanted to mention that after Tenryu fells Sasaki with a huge chop that Sasaki actually wins a struggle for a vertical suplex. These are the little battles that Sasaki wins before ultimately winning the whole match.

 

The second act is Tenryu's heat segment, which is concise and is focused on making Sasaki look vulnerable, but resilient. His chops to the throat area look vicious. Sasaki gets a hope spot in sumo slap battle, but Tenryu wins that with his enziguri. He does a super German suplex and follows up with his falling elbow drop from the top rope for 2. He does a powerbomb only gets two. Then he hits Sasaki's Northern Lights Bomb but he cant hold Sasaki down. He goes for the kill by a top rope Frankensteiner, but instead Sasaki powerbombs him in a pretty impressive spot. Then Sasaki shows him how it is done by doing his own top rope Frankensteiner. I fuckin' loved that exchange.

 

Sasaki is looking for the kill, but Tenryu still has some fire left in the belly and they exchange strikes. Tenryu hits his enziguri again, but this time Sasaki hits his Northern Lights Bomb. Then goes for the second one to polish off Tenryu to win his second IWGP Championship and prove he is King of the Hill. ****

 

This match never overstays its welcome clocking in just under 15 minutes and in this "less is more" attitude pervading the internet I feel like this one could do well. They sets this up as a Clash of Titans that Sasaki is looking to prove himself against the Elder Statesman. He wins small battles and displays Fighting Spirit in the face of the deluge of Tenryu's offense. The finish was definitive that Sasaki was the better wrestler in that match and he felt like that night as the Ace of New Japan. There are some issues with no-selling on Sasaki's part and I think they could have done so much interesting stuff with the holds. Those are just some nitpicky stuff. This is a great first match to start off the project.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Genichiro Tenryu vs Toshiaki Kawada - Vacant All Japan Triple Crown 10/28/00

 

This is probably the closest classic father vs son match we will ever get to see (sorry, David Flair). A lot of time has passed since Tenryu left in 1990 leaving Kawada leaderless in his war against Jumbo Tsuruta. Yet both men are in their classic yellow and black outfits ready to wage over the vacant Triple Crown. Kawada reminds me very much of myself in my teen years when I would play my father in tennis. I never just wanted to win. I had to win the "right" way by out-muscling him with raw power. Kawada just keeps coming at Tenryu with strike after strike looking to bludgeon his father-figure into submission. My father much like Tenryu was a lot wiser and was going to take his time let me make mistakes and find ways to win. Tenryu and my dad both hit hard back. Kawada and I both learned the hard way that tunnel vision is the enemy of success.

 

This starts off a lot more tentative than Tenryu and Sasaki as there is a great amount of respect between these two veterans. Eventually fires off the first salvo, a series of three wicked kicks to Tenryu back. Tenryu shakes it off and unphased just looks at Kawada as if to say, "Is that all you got, little man?". In that moment, I finally got Tenryu. Ditch says above "radiates contempt", I really saw it in that moment and everything about Tenryu really clicked for me. Tenryu retaliates with a kick to back and Kawada immediately gets up and starts kicking the back of his leg in an awesome spot. Then begins the macho posturing that just works in this match. Each man takes the other's best shot. Kawada fells Tenryu with a high kick so now from the ground Tenryu kicks the back of Kawada's leg so he responds with a knee drop. Tenryu rolls outside bested by his protege. Tenryu begins firing off a closed fist and Kawada does that excellent almost fall on his ass sell. Tenryu is looking for alternate avenues already, but Kawada just keeps coming with his kicks. So then Tenryu gets a hold of that leg and just wrenches it in a dragon leg screw. Tenryu is working smart progressing from a strike battle to the ground game where he does a great job working over Kawada's legs with a variety of holds like the Figure-4 and Sharpshooter. They then do an even better struggle over the vertical suplex than in Sasaki match.

 

This is where the match goes off the tracks for me a bit. You have Tenryu using the fist to control and work over the legs as a neat story and natural progress from the macho posturing early. But here Kawada blows off all the leg work and just fires off kicks with both legs. The King of Leg Selling pulling that shit was weird. I felt it hurt the progression of the match. I don't mind that Kawada goes back to all the strikes because that makes sense. Kawada has tunnel vision. He never content with just winning he has to win a certain way. In this match, it is clear he is going to win by bludgeoning Tenryu with strikes. He does that and Tenryu absorbs them and hits a lariat and immediately goes for a pin. Tenryu does not give a fuck how he wins. He just wants to win. Tenryu now with his standard offense: enziguri and falling elbow, but not enough. After being with that damn closed fist for 18 minutes, Kawada gives him a Fuck You! Closed Fist. They really built that up well as Tenryu sold that incredible. Finally, Kawada looks for a win with a Stretch Plum. In 2000, nobody thought the Stretch Plum would finish a match, but you feel that Kawada offense is progressing towards a victory rather than annihilating his opponent. Kawada attempts his powerbomb hitting a wicked Kappo Kick in between two attempts. Tenryu back body drops him and hits a lariat and goes right for the pin. Again, Tenryu is looking for a victory. Tenryu attempts his powerbomb and hits a Kappo Kick of his own to set his up, father like son! Tenryu powerbomb only gets 2.

 

Now we hit the home stretch, Kawada rattles off two back drop drivers in quick succession. Tenryu attempts to get up but stumbles out of the ring wiping out the camera man. As he gets back on the apron, Kawada kicks him fucking flush in the face and bloodies his nose. That looked wicked. Kawada on the outside whips him in the railing and kicks him over the railing. Back inside, Kawada is not pressing his advantage instead futzes around with more strikes. He cracks off his own enziguri, but Tenryu hits a clothesline immediately. The All Japan delayed selling is a bit annoying. Tenryu on the next exchange catches with a right to the back of the head that knocks Kawada out cold. He hits a Northern Lights Bomb for his first Triple Crown since 1989. ****

 

I thought Kawada's performance offensively was very genius. He told a coherent story he was going to win in a very precise manner and he never backed down from that. I really didn't like that he blew off the leg selling. Tenryu was excellent in this as the father who still has gas in the tank, who can absorb a ton of punishment and still dish it out. I would have liked his leg heat segment go even longer and then having the Fuck You! Closed Fist transition back into Kawada's offense. I feel like they did the strike exchanges a little too often. Kawada smashing Tenryu's face in really added a lot to this match putting over his strategy and Tenryu's ability to absorb his best shot. I think the booking was smart as it gave All Japan two top dogs instead of one when they would have been ultra-thin. I liked the Sasaki match a lot for its progression and I would say these two were about even. I am probably in the minority for thinking that, but I think there is a lot these two could have done to improve the match. I hate to sound so negative because this match is ridiculously good and a MOTYC for 2000. When you are ranking the best matches of the entire decade, I believe an extra fine analysis warranted. I would say without a doubt if you want to understand why Tenryu is a GOATC then watch these two matches.

[Superstar Sleeze]

EDIT: Just noticed the double-post.

[NintendoLogic]

The funny thing about Tenryu is that objectively speaking, he's a terrible wrestler. He's not particularly known for his athleticism or matwork, and he can't even execute his own finisher properly. But he brings so many intangibles to the table that he manages to overcome all that. Like, I hate strike exchanges and fighting spirit no-selling more than just about anything, but Tenryu somehow manages to make them compelling.

 

With that said, I view him as more of an all-time top 20 guy than a serious GOAT contender. I just find him somewhat limited in singles matches unless he's in there with a superworker like Jumbo. (On that note, I don't know what to make of the fact that his best post-1989 singles match was with Keiji Mutoh of all people.) Even if you're higher on Tenryu's singles work than I am, I think most would agree that a tag setting is where he really shines.

[Childs]

I don't agree with that at all. His singles series with Hashimoto is one of my favorite things ever in wrestling. He was also damn good working singles matches against the UWFI guys, lesser NJ guys such as Koshinaka and Sasaki, a greenish Kojima, etc.

[Phil Schneider]

Yeah that is nonsense, he is great singles wrestler. One of the things that impressed me the most about watching a bunch of WAR is his ability to have compelling matches with really lower ranked guys. He did a great job of making guys like Anjo and Aoyagi look like they had a real chance to pull off a huge upset while still keeping himself strong.

[goodhelmet]

I have half of a Tenryu super set finished. I think he is now at the point where I can make a set and not worry about new MOTYCs popping up.

[NintendoLogic]

After delving a bit deeper into Tenryu's singles oeuvre, I'm still finding him to be a bit hit or miss. I think the issue is one of expectations. The way he's often described, I expect him to be a straightforward asskicker like Hansen or Vader. But he's a lot more sluggish than either of them. I'm finding that his best singles matches feature him spending the majority of the time working from underneath. When he controls a significant portion of the match, it inevitably grinds to a halt at some point.

[Ditch]

Hansen wasn't amazing every time out either. He had plenty of good matches on the '80s set, but also plenty that were merely decent, and only a couple that were great.

 

The question isn't whether Tenryu had some forgettable outings. Of course he did. Plenty of his biggest matches are ones I don't care for. The question is, who was *better*?

[jdw]

Couple of new things popped up on Dan's recent list:

 

02/19/78 Baba & Tenryu vs. Kintaro Oki & Kim Duk (15:41 shown)

01/03/80 Tenryu & Rocky Hata vs Billy Robinson & Bill Irwin (12:29 shown)

01/11/80 Baba & Tenryu vs Angelo Mosca & Jerry Novak (7:26 shown)

01/18/80 Jumbo & Tenryu vs Bill Robinson & Bill Irwin (3 falls: 12:00 shown, 6:00 shown, 2:31 shown)

 

The 1978 match is interesting because Oki & Duk are the tag champs at the time, and there are a fair number of Baba & Jumbo vs Oki & Duk matches to comp it with.

 

On the 1980 stuff, for some reason not much (if anything) from Tenryu in 1980 hit AJPW.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Genichiro Tenryu vs Satoshi Kojima - Budokan 02/24/02

 

Kojima is still wicked over with the fans. I actually listen to wrestling podcasts while listening to these puro matches, but still have the volume up high enough on the match to hear sound effects. The only chants loud to hear are the Kojima ones. I have no problem tuning out Japanese commentary completely so that undercurrent does not affect my ability to listen to the podcasts.

 

Tenryu is more game than Kawada it seems to carry Kojima to a great match, but still it does not reach MOTYC levels for me. Again, I thought the beginning of the match was the best part. Tenryu was so good at looking down at Kojima. The way he brushes aside one of Kojima's chops is awesome. Then he backs Kojima against the ropes and lets Kojima cover up waiting for the chop only to look like a tool when it never comes. Then the next times he chops the bejeezus out of him in the corner. Basically, Tenryu is awesome, but we already knew that. Kojima "proves" his mettle sending Tenryu tumbling to outside with some forearms and a diving forearm. He does his somersault splash. After a chinlock, Tenryu hits his own somersault splash on Kojima. In a weird moment, Kojima heads for the hilsl, but seems to be spooked by the specter of Giant Baba at the end of the ramp. It is weird because Kojima seems like a babyface to the crowd and because puroresu does not usually that device. Tenryu wrangles him back in and just punches and chops the shit out of him. Kojima resorts to his base instincts: Ace Crusher, Ace Crusher, Ace Crusher! Ok, it was only two, but one was a shitty one off the apron. In a really cool spot, Tenryu tries to enter the ring and Kojima lariats his knee. That spot should be cribbed. Once again, the knee work does not follow to a neat conclusion. Kojima really is a shitty version of Mutoh. Tenryu regains the advantage and hits his wicked sweet spider German/back elbow combo. Tenryu goes back to head games with some playful slaps and Kojima reacts with a scoop piledriver. I love how Kojima hits this weird neckbreaker and afterwards Tenryu just punches him to get the advantage. Tenryu brainbuster leads to a double KO. Tenryu wins a chopfest to get a powerbomb, but only gets 2. Kojima lets out a roar, but then Flair Flops. Huge Kojima chants! Tenryu polishes him off with a brainbuster.

 

This was a big improvement over the Kawada match because of Tenryu's consistency. The whole match he was playing head games with Kojima about his inexperience and his inferiority. Kojima would power up, but he would never be able to sustain momentum because he lacked the experience. Why hit a weird move when you can just punch someone in the face? Kojima is a bit all over the place on offense, but is good at puro fighting spirit selling. He is a more expressive, but spottier version of Mutoh. I actually really dug the finish where he looks like he is going to do the fighting spirit hulk-up, but just collapses. It shows Kojima has a lot of heart, but does not have the brains yet. ***1/2

[Superstar Sleeze]

Genichiro Tenryu vs Satoshi Kojima - 07/17/02

 

The two trends I have noticed from my limited Kojima watching is to expect one shitty modified Ace Crusher and that the beginning of the match is always better than the end. I will say this match the the goodness lasted well into the match thus making it is his best match yet. After being dissed and dismissed by Tenryu in the February match, Kojima came out with something to prove and right off the bat gives Tenryu a taste of his own medicine: punches and chops in the corner. Tenryu gives him a Fuck You Chop that may have been a little high as Kojima gasps for breath powdering to the outside. The high chop to the throat was Tenryu's ace in the hole throughout the match when the going got rough. It is quite a trump card to have. Tenryu, who is pissed that Kojima is being a little baby about him trying to crush Kojima's larynx, throws a water bottle at him. Got to love, Mr. Puroresu!

 

Kojima's new strategy is just to kick him in the knee. Tenryu retaliates by kicking him in the head when he tries to go for a toehold following up with a high chop and kappo kick. Tenryu punches him in the face and Kojima goes back to the knee. A dragon leg screw causes Tenryu to powder. Kojima pounces on the knee, but Tenryu just overwhelms him. Tenryu hits a pretty explosive follow up chop into corner with some more punches. Tenryu lariats Kojima out and dives onto Kojima. Judging by this crowd, the chicks dig this lumpy old bastard. Tenryu has been taking Kojima to the woodshed and it seems at this point they are going to make the Fighting Spirit play to get Kojima over here.

 

Kojima takes out Tenryu's knee with a lariat on the apron. I love that spot! Here comes Kojima: plancha, somersault off the apron, dragon leg screw, figure-4, scorpion deathlock. He goes back to give Tenryu some more of his own medicine with punch/chop combination in the corner. Kojima is feeling it, but his top rope elbow only gets 2. What does Tenryu do to stymie Kojima? Chop to the throat, duh. Tenryu hit him with two sick deadwight Germans, really showed off Tenryu's power. At this point, I actually wrote "Wow 20 minutes in and no Ace Crushers yet!" in my notes. Literally a second later, Kojima floats over on a suplex attempt and hits an Ace Crusher. It was inevitable. He hits his stupid looking neckbreaker and his scoop piledriver. The best part is on the pin, Tenryu's foot looks for the rope and when he realizes he is too far he kicks out. Thats excellent ring awareness in bot a kayfabe and non-kayfabe sense! Tenryu punches Kojima and hits a brainbuster to regain advantage. He hits the Spider German, but misses back elbow. Thus Kojima hits his stupid fuckin middle rope Ace Crusher. What does Tenryu do, everybody? Chop to throat. Kojima has FIGHTING SPIRIT~! He lariats Tenryu with no padding only there is a bandage there.

 

We hit the home stretch with a chopfest. It is too bad they descended into trite 00s puro hell because they were doing so well. Tenryu hits tow brainbusters for an excellent false finish. Kojima gets his pop for a lariat false finish. Instead of just finishing it there, they dragged it out. Tenryu blocks a lariat hits two brainbusters, but Kojima does a dazed lariat that left me shakin' my head. They do a chopfest were both men sell their fatigue. Tenryu wins with a brainbuster and powerbomb combo to a lesser pop than the false finishes.

 

The finish issues is the same ones that plague the WWE today with so many false finishes that the crowd does not pop as hot for the actual finish. Plus they just dragged it out way too much at that point. Before that, the match was really good and Kojima gave his best performance yet. He had a chip on his shoulder he was going to prove hos mettle to Tenryu and used his moves against him, took out the knee and then threw the bombs. Plus he did take one helluva a beating. Tenryu was his usual steady eddy self making everything awesome around him throwing water bottles in disgust, chops to throat, deadweight Germans. It is a disjointed match, but I am a positive dude. Lets go ***3/4

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada vs Stan Hansen & Taiyo Kea - Budokan 7/23/00

 

This is the first main event at the Budokan in post-split All Japan and it is bitchin' as all hell. It is clearly not a sustainable given 3/4 of the participants' age (it is also 3/4 of the participants from that amazing 1988 Real World Tag League match) and the fact Kea never really made a mark otherwise. However, as a one-off this was really spectacular. Up front, I had never seen a Kea match, but have heard of him and of course I have the other three all in my top 20 greatest of all time.

 

Honestly, at first given how Kea moved, his posture and moves he struck me as a bigger version of Low-Ki. At first, there was something insincere about him. It felt like he was going through the motions whereas Hansen who could barely move just felt like a crazed bear that wanted murder his old rival Tenryu and Tenryu was just as incensed having seen Hansen for the first time since about 1990. Their sections together just seemed so much grittier than Kea's kick exchange with Kawada. Tenryu gets the tag and first thing he does make a beeline for Hansen, who is not even legal. Later on in the match, on the outside, Hansen is beating the pissed out of Tenryu up against the post and Hanse whacks his hand on the post. Not to be deterred, he keeps throwing hands and hits his hand again on the post and sells better than anyone else in the match. Stan Hansen is just so good. As good as Hansen was, he was so limited it was hard for him to make an impression. Tenryu on the other hand just came off as so explosive in all his exchanges with everyone. That is not usually a word I used to describe Tenryu.

 

It looks like Kawada and Tenryu are going to make short work of the injured Hansen, but Hansen is able to knee Kawada in the head. Kea hits a DDT and boots Kawada over the railing. It is time for Kawada and Kea to shine. Kawada played a great face in peril especially since it seemed like he was about to be showed up by Tenryu. Kawada works hard in this segment to make Hansen/Kea team earn it. When he gets into a slugfest with Hansen, he does his great sell of an elbow where he kinda staggers back and looks like he is about to fall on his ass. That is Kawada I know and love. Kea and Kawada have a great mat exchange over a cross armbreaker. It was really gritty and I dug Kea's slaps. Kea really proved himself to me in that sequence. For this match, he was on their level. Kea gets a TKO stunner (the Hawaii Five-O?) for 2, but Kawada hits his spinning heel kick to tag in Tenryu.

 

Tenryu punches Kea, enziguiri and a wicked lariat follow. O Hell Yeah! It starts to break down and Kea hits a monster German on Tenryu who was trying to hold onto the ropes to save himself. Kawada saves Tenryu from that Hawaii Five-O thingy. Melee ensues. Hansen lariats Tenryu -> Kawada jumping kick to Hansen. Kawada goes back to apron just break up Kea's pin, which was a little awkward. Kawada hits a wicked back drop driver to no pop for 2. Tenryu heads off Hansen and they brawl to outisde. Kawada goes for a running corner powerbomb, but then just decides to plant him right there. It was nasty.

 

I dug this match a lot. The fact that Tenryu had not been in All Japan since 1990 his interactions with Hansen really added to the beginning. Then Kawada/Kea kicked some ass in the middle. The finish was chaotic and entertaining. They used the headdrops to set up or be the finish of the match. I don't if there is any other Kea worth watching, but on this night he hung with best of them. ****

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Genichiro Tenryu & Masa Fuchi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Nobutaka Araya - All Japan 6/30/01

 

So what happened to this Araya guy? It sure as hell felt like a star-making performance for him in a way that he had not succeeded yet with Satoshi Kojima (he was already a relatively big star from New Japan) and Taiyo Kea. I had never heard of Araya so I read that he was a WAR stalwart before coming in post-split All Japan. Post-split All Japan is a combination of Mutoh & his crew and Tenryu & his crew since Mutoh became the president it is not surprising that Araya did not go further based on this information.

 

Fuchi and Araya started off with a pretty good mat exchange, which Fuchi seems to get the better of this. Araya backs Fuchi into his corner. I just watched the New Japan tag match with Kawada and Fuchi on the same team and actually got confused when Kawada and Fuchi were squaring off. The double writslock is a favorite these four. Kawada and Tenryu squared off to a big reaction with some chops and kicks thrown. Araya comes in and promptly gets punched in the head. Araya is bleeding. Tenryu big chop to him on the outside. Fuchi works the cut with closed fists. Tenryu comes in and just keeps punching him in the head even though Araya tries firing up. Araya is finally able to get Kawada for a not so hot tag seemed too early for me. Kawada comes in and heads are gonna roll. Kawada spinning heel kick to Tenryu and big boot to Fuchi. Fuchi punches Kawada in the head and you get that great Kawada sell. Kawada takes an enziguiri whilst in the corner with that great selling. Kawada punches Tenryu in the neck to tag in Araya. Araya and Tenryu just go at it and in a great vicious segment. Tenryu wins and Fuchi kicks him in. I am just loving these old bastards beating the piss out of this plucky undercarder and while Kawada is trying to clean up. Fuchi hits him with two back drop drivers and Tenryu hits with the running chop in the corner. Araya finally bowls Tenryu over and hot tag to Kawada.

 

Kawada kicks Tenryu's head off, but Tenryu punches him in the head. Tenryu enziguri gets Fuchi in, but Kawada jumping kick blocks Fuchi's German. Araya is just killing everything. Araya urnage on Fuchi and goes for moonsault. Fuchi dumps Araya off the top. Kawada kicks Fuchi's head off and Araya wins with the moonsault.

 

Watching the match develop, I never once expected Araya to be on the winning team, never mind getting the pinfall. I am a sucker for Japanese veterans torturing undercarders. I thought the blood added a lot to this. I loved how Araya was not somebody to take this lying down and just kept coming. I will say what keeps this from being an all-time classic is because the could have really added a lot more drama to at least one of those face in peril segments. I thought Kawada had some great moments in this, but the match was all about Araya versus the cocky Fuchi and the ornery Tenryu. It is a shame they never really capitalized on this. ****1/4