[2000-08-12-NJPW-G1 Climax] Manabu Nakanishi vs Tadao Yasuda

[Ma Stump Puller]

This was cut up to around about 7 minutes given how huge this G1 was, so televised matches were rare, full matches were even rarer.

This was a pretty fun big man v big man outing, with Yasuda playing the underdog who was pulling out the vintage Fighting Spirit to try to nab the win against a bigger, younger beast who had just ripped apart Nishimura yesterday and was raring to go here. Yasuda is so great at being able to play the bullied bigger tank who eats a ton of offense, and has to dig super deep to try to take back control with whatever stuff he can muster; he understands how to balance being dynamic (for his size) with the optimal amount of fatigue for the occasion. When Nakanishi is hitting him with stiff shit and he responds with this epic fly-swat style sumo slap to the head, it's like he's hit this amazing turning point, and the fact that he gets super fired up helps with the crowd interaction as well as they go crazy for him finally firing back. Yasuda lands his usual bombs well and seems to be edging close to a win, even stealing Nakanishi's big Torture Rack and turning it into a big Samoan Drop! The two go back and forth with neckbreakers and lariats, with Nakanishi pushing though with a beefy spear and a Torture Rack of his own for the tap-out. Simple and easy to digest, just two meaty hosses going back and forth until one wins, with the added bonus of Yasuda being a great underdog babyface. Everything you would expect and even more.