[2002-03-29-NJPW] Osamu Nishimura vs Jushin Liger

[superkix]

This was 85% Osamu schooling Liger on the mat, working the leg like a part-time job. I liked his aggressive approach at the outset, whipping it on the apron, throwing a hard elbow, kneebreaking it on the guardrail, plus his silky smooth transitions, going from a kneelock to a grounded ankle hold when Liger flips over onto his stomach. Liger tries firing back with chops and slaps but Nishimura's able to trip him up, going into the Indian deathlock, bridging back with the sickle hold, then finishing with the bow-and-arrow hold. However, Liger doesn't really sell the legwork, which is unfortunate considering Osamu's effort. In fact, he doesn't really get much offense in at all and in the end, the 15:00 time limit expires with Liger in Osamu's manjigatame. A cool story in theory that wasn't very compelling.

[KB8]

This kind of sounds a like a condensed version of their match from the previous year's G1. That one was the full half hour and got a bit long in the tooth, plus I remember it having some of the same issues around Liger selling the legwork. I actually remember thinking they might've had something great in them had they cut the length a bit. Perhaps not.