Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara & Takashi Ishikawa vs Keiji Mutoh, Akira Nogami & Shinya Hashimoto, New Japan (2/5/93)
Oh christ, this right here is
what its all about. Everyone bar Mutoh pretty much brings the hate
necessary to get over the boiling hot feud, but man oh man is the build
to Hashimoto vs Tenryu magnificent here. Both men are by far the two
best performers in the match, they only lock up a few times but
Hashimoto just beats the crap out of Tenryu with kick after kick and
Tenryu bumps and sells like a saint for everything, the moment where he
sort of stumbles into the corner reeling off of Hashimoto's onslaught
whilst trying to give a bit back only to be unable to stand straight and
have Hara and Ishikawa defend him was glorious. Their exchanges
afterwards are pretty brief but they pack so much hatred into every blow
it doesn't matter, moment where all of the New Japan team lay siege to
Tenryu's fallen body on the mat was outstanding and was only bettered by
Tenryu being a cocky prick when covering Nogami only to be caught by a
fucking tremendous kick to the chin from Hashimoto which he sells like
an absolute king collapsing into the corner whilst checking his jaw
isn't broken.
Nogami was probably the 3rd best guy in the match, chock full of furry
and a relentless babyface energy in defending his company from the
invader scum, and he has some really great exchanges against Tenryu
where Tenryu sells the audacity of Nogami to try and even touch Tenryu
so beautifully. Ishikawa and Hara were pretty much in it for sporadic
bursts of offence and to bump for the New Japan team, but Ishikawa in
particular was really violent and just comes off as this coked up psycho
ready to taste New Japan blood. Post match pull apart again builds
beautifully to Tenryu/Hashimoto with Hash having to be restrained by
guys who look terrified to be holding a 290 pound monster who's spoiling
for a fight. Still, fuck a dumb Keiji Mutoh.
Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami, New Japan (3/23/93)
Another fine continuation in
the ongoing saga here and a match which probably has me convinced this
feud can't produce anything less than a good match. Choshu and
Fujinami's interactions with Tenryu are the real highlight here, little
things like Choshu entering the ring off a tag and taking the time to
boot an already downed Tenryu on the apron even when he's not legal just
add to the bubbling hatred. Loved the opening with Fujinami taking it
to Tenryu and hitting a pretty amazing dive to the floor which had the
crowd going bonkers. The bread and butter of the match really revolves
around Ishikawa getting isolated and absorbing the onslaught of New
Japan's diamonds in the rough and making you feel Tenryu's winning
streak may be foiled by the opposition, only for him to hit a beautfiful
kick to counter a second Fujinami dive late in the match and which
served as a great callback spot to the early dive. Tenryu's selling was
again off the charts great and was typified by the moment Fujinami
caught him entering the ring to cheapshot him and reels off a string of
stiff slaps which forces Tenryu to finally collapse to the mat in agony
and looking almost like he was dribbling from his mouth.
There were also some really great subtle touches thrown in to keep the
crowd alive, Choshu only going halfway into the spinebuster in order to
stop Ishikawa having a clear way to cheapshot him was really bossy as
was Ishikawa's heat tactics in stealing the Dragon Sleeper and
Sharpshooter to further piss off the already irate New Japan fans.
Finishing stretch is pretty fucking stellar, just tease after tease with
the highlight being Fujinami countering a Tenryu lariat into an
attempted dragon suplex only for Ishikawa to counter with a lariat to
the back of the head and Tenryu to soon follow up with the devastating
powerbomb which Fujinami never recovers from, and which soon leads to
Ishikawa picking up one of the biggest wins to date in his career.
Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto, WAR (4/2/93)
Oh fucking hell, this was just
in another stratosphere of greatness, violence and grandeur of hatred.
Everyone puts in a stellar performance here, but once again its Tenryu
and Hashimoto who shine brightest. The stare off when they enter the
ring....fuck me. 6/17 cannot come soon enough in this feud. Ishikawa is
excellent as the underdog scrapping for every bit of blood that comes
his way, he just has this great ability to pick his spots and be like
that scrappy little terrier that just will not quit until he's fully
depleted his victim, his flurry of offence leading to Tenryu PASTING
Choshu into the ring post to bloody him was incredible and from there
the match just went to another level in terms of pacing and sheer
insanity. I can't even begin to describe to you just how many fucking
excellent moments we got in this match, they just created this perfect
blend of chaos and batshit insanity in everything they did, and the
continued tease to Tenryu/Hashimoto was just criminal with what they
treated us to: that fucking bump Tenryu takes off the spinning wheel
kick...just indescribeable how he flings himself at such a reckless pace
into the ropes but shit on a stick if it doesn't look incredible
everytime.
Tenryu was just a relentless prick going after Choshu's cut with
repeated punts and stomps to the wound, and the visuals of the ref
having to forcibly cling to Tenryu to get him to stop whilst he still
kicked and flung boot after boot to Choshu was just beautiful. Hashimoto
was equally destructive whenever he was in the match and they really
booked him tremendously as the shining beacon of hope New Japan had in
ending Tenryu's ever continuing rampage of destruction. Finishing
stretch is absolutely bonkers with people clobbering each other left and
right with chops, punches, slaps, lariats, suplexes and all sorts of
brutality. Hashimoto finally scoring a win for New Japan in the feud
really served as a huge moment in terms of his star rising, and not 5
seconds after the match is Tenryu slapping the piss out of him and
engaging in another pull apart fight. Ending visuals of Hashimoto and
Choshu bleeding with Tenryu looking on cocky as ever was incredible.
NEW JAPAN VS WAR - WHEN THE TIGERS BROKE FREE
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