[2007-10-08-NJPW-Explosion] Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Yuji Nagata

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwXOw0p70Lg

[dawho5]

So again, they have a great opening part of the match. This time they skip the Nagata beating and go straight to Tanahashi outwitting Nagata by suckering him into giving up his leg on the apron. And Tanahashi does really good work on the leg. Nagata comes back and progressively stops selling the leg, which works. Mainly because Tanhashi forgets about it until there are about 5 minutes left in the match. I can't imagine why since he's eating a bunch of kicks to set up big nearfalls. Nagata hits so many big nearfalls it gets past the point of ridiculous. He hits a super belly to belly after a super exploder that gets 2. Then comes the brainbuster. Then the exploder 98 that gets...ONE. Then his backdrop finisher that just looks sick here gets a big nearfall. So basically, Tanahashi takes Misawa-level punishment and is fine to keep going. Then he finally has motivation to attack the leg, which works into the finish. I hate how the conventions that developed take good 15-20 minute opening segments and trash the match just so we can have big nearfall sequences.

[Superstar Sleeze]

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW 10/08/07

Holy Clusterfuck! They essentially have two completely different matches over the course of one match. The first "match" was incredible and if they had just tacked on a 2 minute finish onto would have rivaled or exceeded their first encounter in greatness. The second match was standard 00s puroresu that is good, but overstuffed. Now the reason why I contend it is two separate matches is that if you JIP'd after Tanahashi's first comeback from neck injury, you would think that you missed maybe 5 minutes of matwork and that match was just revving up. You would never know that Nagata's knee had been worked on and that Tanahashi neck was fucked up. That is the definition of disjointed.

What a glorious beginning it was! The intense jockeying for position remains from last match, but this time there is no Nagata beatdown due to a slight. Tanahashi goes right for the legs and he flips off the fans! The new wrinkle that makes this all the more engaging is that Tanahashi is heeling it up. I think he was working a very subtle heel in the April match with the early match "insults", but it much more prominent in this bout to great effect. This pretty boy is very good at exuding that cocky aura and laying waste to the knee. This really gets the crowd behind Nagata, who was already the fan favorite in the last match. It makes perfect sense for Tanahashi to come in with a new attitude and edge. He was a young champion dethroned and he wants to prove himself. Now he has a bit of an attitude, I like that. Tanahashi goes fo his second figure-4, but a kick to the head rocks him. Nagata versus a douchey heel is Nagata at his best so I was pumped for this comeback. Great callback as an escaping Tanahashi catches Nagata's running kick attempts the Dragon Leg Screw, but Nagata chops out of it this time! Nagata with knees now and a BRAINBUSTER ON EXPOSED CONCRETE!

Tanahashi needs a count of 19 to get back in. He is really favoring the back of his neck. Ref checks on Tanahashi and Nagata pulls him off. Nagata hits a piledriver for 2. Forearm to back of neck and a Crippler's Crossface. Tanahashi si fucked. Tanahashi sweeps the leg to save himself from a roundhouse kick to head. If the match ended two minutes later with Tanahashi pulling out a desperation bomb or getting a leg submission. I would fight tooth and nail for this match to get respect it deserves as a Top 5 match of the decade. Up until this point, it was just amazing wrestling. I would argue the brainbuster on the concrete actually did a mid-match turn and made Tanahashi a very sympathetic babyface. This clawing out a victory would be great for his standing as it firmly entrenches him in the upper echelon, but leaving open rematch possibilities.

Unfortunately, the second half of the match did happen. In a vacuum, it was fine, entertaining 00s style puroresu. It is something on its own that might make the bottom 10 of a Top 100. After Tanahashi sweeps the leg, all selling is turned off and Tanahashi just runs through his standard offense. If you JIP'd to this part, you would never know they had been wrestling 15 minutes, which drives me bonkers. Basically it is a barrage of sling blades and exploders. Tanahashi does go back to the leg for a hot second with a Texas Cloverleaf, but nothing doing, which does set up the actual finish. Nagata is not able to capitalize on a back drop driver due to his knee and an onslaught of High Fly Flow wins it for Tanahashi.

As infuriating as KENTA/Nakajima was, this just seems that much more annoying. Tanahashi/Nagata were putting on a classic and then just dropped everything to do a bombfest. When two halves of a match are this irreconcilable, you can not even rate, you can only think of what may have been.