Liger/Samurai v Pegasus/Ishizawa

[Loss]

Jushin Liger & El Samurai v Wild Pegasus & Tokimitsu Ishizawa - 03/09/96

 

What this match lacks most of all is an interesting beginning. The first half of this match was largely useless and is sort of a snoozefest, which is strange considering the participants. The second half of this match sees them pull together something a little stronger, but the greatness is really only in spurts; it's not consistent. Liger and Samurai are definitely the most established and most over team, and Benoit and Ishizawa do little to challenge that, ignoring the crowd and not really putting sympathy on their opponents. Liger and Samurai dominating Ishizawa for such a long stretch makes sense in terms of hierarchy, but it contradicts the idea of the match having any real suspense. When they finally attempt to give their opponents some credibility, it's a little too late for it to salvage the match, although it does at least create an exciting finish, and the double TKO leading to both making tags is exactly what the match needed at that point in time. The problem was that the work preceding it was shockingly ordinary for these guys, and this isn't anywhere near the best matches to take place that year.