[2004-08-07-NJPW-G1 Climax] Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Osamu Nishimura

[superkix]

This is neat little Nishimura formula match with Tanahashi holding his own against the veteran early on.The narrative here is the legwork, which is smartly introduced when Tanahashi gets tangled in the ropes and Osamu shoves the ref out of the way so he can attack the vulnerable leg. Tanahashi's selling is pretty great, especially when he's trying to charge Nishimura in the corner, which allows Nishimura to take him out at the knee with a dropkick. When Nishimura has him back in the figure-four, the desperate Tanahashi is grabbing onto the ref as Nishimura arches back to exert more pressure. The finish is...well, typical of Nishimura matches, seemingly coming out of thin air as Nishimura misses the diving kneedrop and Tanahashi capitalizes with a Shining Wizard and dragon suplex hold to win it.