[1989-04-24-NJPW-Super Powers Clash] Jushin Liger vs Kuniaki Kobayashi

[ClassicsPuro1983]

Jushin Liger vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi '24.04.1989
Jushin Liger made his debut in the first Tokyo Dome show in NJPW history, after Go Nagai's anime began on TV Asahi. With remarkable expectations as he was expected to be incarnation of an imaginative super hero, but also the successor of the biggest star in the history of jr. heavyweight wrestling, Tiger Mask. In order to follow in Tiger's footsteps, he changed his style considerably, focusing on speed, and daring aerial manuevers. In the junior divisions UWF dominated era, kicks were a big part of his offense and flying was only one aspect of his well rounded game. Kobayashi was the choose opponent, again to make the link with Tiger Mask. This was a fun match, and it was interesting to see a much younger Liger work like a less savvy worker. Here, Liger was flying all over the place and working a million miles an hour. Regardless, the match wasn't awesome, but it was still good though. Liger won cleanly via a bridging suplex. (***1/4)
 

[tcg91]

Liger made his debut, in the Tokyo Dome of all places and it was the most hyped Junior Heavyweight arrival since Tiger Mask's. Historic match, but not a great one as these two didn't click, probably because Liger was so quick and tried to do so much in these 10 minutes, while Kobayashi tried to take this slowly and to make his bumps mean more. It was an enjoyable debut anyway, even though a few moves fell redundant, as the finish was good at least.
**3/4