[2000-04-09-Michinoku Pro-Super J Cup] Jushin Liger vs Gran Hamada

[soup23]

Two grizzled guys going in there and having a tough fought contest where they can see the end of the rainbow. The story here was told perfectly in that there may not be too many more opportunities for these guys when watching this in real time. They were stiff with each other and some of the tricks that Liger had used to gain advantage in earlier rounds certainly didn’t work on Hamada who has seen and done it all too. Liger is able to finally take advantage and advance to the finals. ***1/2

[Loss]

Fun for the crowd briefly thinking Hamada might have one more rodeo in him, but he didn't quite get there. Liger had to take a different approach than usual when he faced wrestlers who were more experienced and overwhelm Hamada with offense.

[AstroBoy]

Similar first half to this match as Teioh vs. Liger. Hamada stays ahead of him, keeps on top of him, and Liger gives him a ton in the opening portion of this. Liger takes over but this time Hamada kicks out of the Liger Bomb and surprisingly a top rope brainbuster before they go on another finishing run. Digging deeper to finish him, Liger has to unload more finishers and finally put away the vet with a palm strike. Getting the story of the dominant figure who seems unbeatable but also has to keep pushing himself to win. Sort of getting this vibe of "NBA team coasting until challenged in the 4th quarter" vibe from Liger at different moments.

 

***

[Moonsault Marvin]

Liger sold his arm to the very end. Liger is looking more vulnerable in the early goings in this string of matches than his matches earlier in the year, but he reverts to being dominant in the second half of the match. Hamada's attempt at a no-sell comeback fell flat for me. Good match.

[Robert S]

This would have worked much better for a match in an earlier round but for a semi-finale this is a bit underwhelming, not the least as there was no chance in hell for Hamada going over here. There were two people in the whole tournament who I would have believed Liger doing a job for (Sasuke and Sano) and Hamada was just not on that list and I would bet the same was true for 90% of the fans in the arena. From that point-of-view they should have switched the semi finals. I am sure that Hamada vs. CIMA would have been a match almost on the same level as Sano vs. CIMA, though CIMA beating Sano was of course a much bigger win than him beating Hamada would have been.

[Edwin]

This was pretty neat as it was bit different since its feat. two gritty vets going against each other.

 

They build to the finish well as they develop the story of giving Hamada one more run hoorah and a lot of the fans buy into it as they going bananas for the false finishes.

 

Neat little match.