Loss Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Talk about it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted June 17, 2019 Report Share Posted June 17, 2019 Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Toru Yano - NJPW G-1 Climax 8/3/2011 As soon as I read the description, I knew I would love this match and it did not disappoint. First off, I am a huge Tanahashi mark. Secondly, Yano was described as a dumpy, scuzzy, cheating heel that goes full rudo. I lap that shit up. Yano is an ugly muthafucka to boot. It is very rare that Tanahashi is better than his opponent in a kayfabe sense. Usually he is pitted against catch wrestlers with shoot credentials like Nagata, Nakamura or Suzuki. He overcomes the fact he is not as talented by taking out their knee and just feasting on it. This match shines a different light on Tanahashi when he is the better pure wrestler. I think this match does a great job putting Tanahashi over and thus explaining why Yano has to cheat. Because Yano cant win in a fair fight, he has to resort to hair pulling, chair throwing and ball shotting. It is glorious. The initial hair pull when Tanahashi is trying to run the ropes is so good. Where do you think you are going. Tanahashi is great at fighting back at every turn. In fact, I think the key weakness of this match is that he is too scrappy and fights back too much. He does not milk eating an exposed metal turnbuckle or the ballshot. By being too scrappy, it does undercut the heel work and does not make Tanahashi feel like he is not in too much peril. Yano does have some great cutoffs. How they set up for the ballshot using the ref is really good and they do get a ultra hot nearfall out of it. The High Fly Flow that eats knees also gets a hot nearfall. I thought the finish stretch dripped with urgency and it featured a lot of good counters. Not my turn, your turn bullshit. Tanahashi eats the chair on High Fly Flow and then chairshot to the head. BLOOD~! Awesome! Exactly what this match needed! Tanahashi kicks out! He gets a SlingBlade into a Oklahoma Side Roll, but cant finish it. Yano Powerbomb! Tanahashi has a SWOLLEN EYE! Nasty! Northern Lights Bomb finishes it for Yano. Just a great heel-driven match with lots of cheating and violence. My one complaint is that Tanahashi is a bit too plucky, but they did a great job telling the story of why Yano has to cheat. Great character work, lots of energy & effort and an entertaining story make this one of the more memorable New Japan 2010s matches. ****1/2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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