[1983-11-29-AJPW] Dory Funk Jr. & Giant Baba vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu

[fxnj]

Match barely crosses the "good" threshold for me, so I can't recommend it as being worth its 45 minute runtime, but it's still an interesting look at all 4 involved at this point of time. The pace/style/quality is heavily dictated by whether Dory or Baba is in the ring. I feel Dory's performance here gives a lot of ammo to his detractors. He tries to pull off his old stoic master character and it doesn't really work. Reasons being 1. the matwork he does is incredibly basic and grinds the match to a halt 2. Jumbo kinda sorta not really makes things work by channeling some of his young Jumbo mannerisms but Dory has no chemistry at all with Tenryu on the mat, and the crowd only really comes alive when he busts out the spinning toehold. Things are much better when Baba is in. He uses his size well but still keeps a solid pace whenever he's in there and mixes it up with some strikes as well as eating some power moves from Jumbo. He also has some entertaining facials and the crowd is clearly aware of his history with Jumbo, reacting well to all their stuff. Tenryu channels jealous little bro energy with subtly disrespecting Baba whenever he gets a chance. Match picks up a little in its last 10 minutes mainly because Dory finally comes alive with some nice European uppercuts and does some neat fake-outs/counters. Still, not exactly a great stretch run with not much in the way of credible near falls and no one looking in any danger when the bell rings.