[1996-09-23-NJPW-G1 Climax] Jushin Liger vs Wild Pegasus

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Not really that good of a match, but notable for being Liger's return after having a brain tumor removed. He was gone for such a short period of time and is wrestling at his old level here, which considering the magnitude of a surgery like that is pretty impressive, benign or not.

[Zenjo]

Watchable enough fare. Take it or leave it really. It was worked as a feature bout but the fans weren't into it.

[PeteF3]

Dead crowd--I wonder if this was sort of like Sting in '90 in that fans never really got a chance to miss Liger so his return wasn't seen as a huge deal. Of course these are wholly different scenarios, a long knee injury vs. a miraculous recovery from brain surgery, but still. There are some well-done spots, but this is another match showing Benoit's major bugaboo during his career, which was a lack of passion. Maybe "passion" isn't the right word, but a lot of this feels very cold and mechanical.

[soup23]

The crowd wasn't good but that usually doesn't bother me. I enjoyed the work a good deal in this one. Benoit was mundane in his approach at times but LIger coming back so soon from the brain tumor and having a performance at this level was insanely impressive. His use of the koppo kicks especially struck out to me. ***1/4

[tim]

Alright, let's get back on the wagon.

 

I'm really surprised to see the reaction to this match because I thought it was great. Yeah, the crowd is really lame, but the action was fantastic. A different feel from a lot of juniors matches with some real aggression, especially from Benoit, a unique structure with Benoit on control in general with Liger getting spurts of offense here and there, and some cool spots you don't often see. Benoit was great in control and Liger's runs of offense were always great, I especially liked him reversing into a backslide and following up with the koppo kick. Ending run was great with Benoit upping the ante offensively but Liger staying in the game more and more, up to the end where after a great sequence of countering and dodging Liger hits his Shotei and follows up with three good looking Liger bombs in a row. Feels like to me their best match together.