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[1989-06-05-AJPW] Genichiro Tenryu vs Jumbo Tsuruta


GOTNW

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This match rules. Yes, it has lots of awesome action, yes the crowd heat is insane but my biggest takeaway from it was how great the transitions were. It seemed like every time there was even the slightest opening for a counter they'd take advantage of it, I could easily see this as being the greatest "learned psychology" match ever. Stars; all five of them.

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  • 8 months later...

Making my way through 80's AJ, and I was pretty excited to arrive at this one today. I know it has been talked about plenty of times, and I've seen it before myself. I already thought of this match as an all-time ***** classic. I must say, watching the build to this has me more invested and/or connected to the match than previous viewings. I really liked how Jumbo played to the crowd during this. Right off the bat, he's complaining about Tenryu pulling his hair, then he points out the crowd like "didn't you see that?" And, as mentioned of above, the counters are great. Tenryu counters a knee from Jumbo, so Jumbo hits him with a big boot and points out to the crowd like "Hey, did you see what I just did!?" Jumbo's demeanor in this match is just great. The crowd and the moment really add to it. I definitely still think this is a classic, and still ***** for me. However, odd as it may sound to some, for me there are a few matches better than this one from All Japan in the 80's. Obviously, I think it is a classic, or I wouldn't give 5*. It's great seeing it now after watching everything building up to it chronologically.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 8 months later...

What a rollercoaster ride of match. Just epic. Tsuruta's heelwork is so simple yet effectively, just constant aggressive beat downs of Tenryu throughout the match establishing himself as the obstacle for the underdog to overcome and boy do the crowd get massively behind Tenryu. His overness is infectious. The finishing stretch (which is like the last ten minutes) is amazing there must have been 6 or 7 moments where I could completely buy were the finish of the match, yet it never loses momentum or feels excessive. Tenyru turning Tsuruta's lariat attempt into a diving neck onto the ropes is such a nice callback to the Hansen/Tsuruta match. GOTNW's right to call this an incredible match for 'learned psychology'.

 

***** behind just Flair vs. Steamboat at Chi Town Rumble for me in 1989, and not by much.

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  • 6 months later...

Molten crowd + jerkface Jumbo + tenacious Tenryu = one of the greatest matches of the 1980's. Tenryu is ambitious righ tout of the gate, ducking the jumping knee and delivering the German suplex hold for two. Then Jumbo takes over, pounding away, putting the big boots to Tenryu and picking up some heat from the crowd. Tenryu's able to knock Jumbo out of the ring with a lariat and follows up with some nasty forearms, kicks, chops, before Jumbo suplexes him down and settles back into a headlock like a true fucking heel. Then he really starts ramping up his offense, building to the backdrop. He hits the jumping knee, a jumbo-sized lariat, a diving knee drop and he keeps dropping the knees but can't pin Tenryu down, even after a backdrop. The fans are lapping up these two counts like warm milk. The counterwork is really excellent from both dudes but especially Tenryu, as he hotshots Jumbo onto the ropes, sidesteps the corner jumping knee (sans kneepad) to hit an enziguri, and hooking the leg to prevent the suplex attempt. The whole finishing stretch is awesome, and when Tenryu finally hits the powerbomb for a nearfall, the place explodes. He's able to deliver the second powerbomb for the win but what a mountain to overcome in Jumbo.

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  • GSR changed the title to [1989-06-05-AJPW] Genichiro Tenryu vs Jumbo Tsuruta
  • 10 months later...
  • 11 months later...

An absolute masterclass on how to wrestle as a heel by Jumbo. He stiffs Tenryu and takes a few liberties here and there, but it's never over the top. It's always subtle and feeds fuel to Tenryu's comeback. Tenryu sneaks in a quick German for a two count early into this, but it's mostly Jumbo taking control after that.  Watching the faces in the crowd looking more and more shocked every time Tenryu kicked out made me realise I was watching something truly special. This blew me away when I watched it for the first time and it gets even better with age. This is where King's Road began. 

★★★★★

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  • 8 months later...
  • 6 months later...

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Jumbo Tsuruta vs Genichiro Tenryu - AJPW 6/5/89

Here it is, baby! After all these years, I am finally reviewing Jumbo vs Tenryu the Match! I have seen this match at least two or three times, but it has easily been ten years if not more. When I did watch it, I barely knew what I was doing. I just knew it was a famously great match. I reckon this is the most famous 80s All Japan match. Theres an outside shot that Funk vs Hansen or Funks vs Hansen/Gordy is more famous, but thats it. On top of that, not only is it famous, it is supposed to be one of the greatest matches of all time. Lets get a little context out of the Jumbo formed the Triple Crown in April of the year when he walked in as the International Heavyweight Champion and walked out with Stan Hansen's PWF and United National Championships. I will go back and watch that match after this. We are in the Budokan!

In the early part of the match, my main takeaway is Jumbo is playing not to lose and Tenryu is playing to win. Jumbo seems unnerved by the slightest big of Tenryu offense and is retaliating with a lot of hold specifically the Cobra Clutch. It feels like he is trying to contain Tenryu and sap his energy. Jumbo does try to hit bombs but they are pretty much always well-scouted. The first instance is the very high first highspot of the match when Tenryu evades the world-renowned Jumbo High Knee and executes a bridging German for two. Jumbo's response clamp on a side headlock. When Jumbo did go for the High Knee again, Tenryu caught the leg and slashed him with a Chop. Jumbo hit the big boot. Cobra Clutch and lots of hard, stiff clubbering. Tenryu via scouting was forcing Jumbo to go to fundamentals. Tenryu proves he is the smarter competitor when he gets back to the ring first and smashes Jumbo with a lariat as he is trying to re-enter the ring. Tenryu had grabbed the high ground. Tenryu goes flying over the top rope like he is Misawa and leaps off the apron wiping Jumbo out. There have been elements of the 90s All Japan taking root in the 80s and you see that here with the complicated missed Second High Knee and the way the dive off the apron was presented. It is very interesting that it is minimalist Tenryu driving the match in that direction while Jumbo is working a more holds-based style. Tenryu drops into a legbar smart for him to recuperate. Then Tenryu gets into a full mount and reigns down the HEAVY forearms. Great ground & pound. It is only a well-timed Belly To Belly suplex, the first executed Jumbo highspot that reverses the advantage. Furthermore, the belly to belly suplex is not a common Jumbo spot. Jumbo goes back to the Cobra Clutch and then finally hits on his patented High Knee for two. By having to EARN that High Knee it made the spot and the nearfall so much bigger!  One of my favorites spots in All Japan is the attempted Powerbomb. Here Jumbo was more likely going for a Piledriver but the though is the same. The crouch position, trying to hoist, the two men struggling against each other. So good. Jumbo settles for hard, stiff clubbering and an Abdominal Stretch. I didnt love the Tenryu hiptoss counter into an armbar and a short Tenryu control of strikes. Tenryu hits a Mack Truck Lariat for two, he's always good for one of those. Jumbo POPS him good with an Elbow. Tenryu's sell of this is so good. You know Jumbo caught him good. Jumbo is thinking Dangerous  Back Drop Driver but Tenryu holds onto the ropes. Jumbo hits the High Knee in the corner and then tries for the Big Move again only for Tenryu kick off the ropes, shift his weight and have Jumbo absorb a lot of the blow on his head & neck. Good double KO Spot. JUMBO DEATH LARIAT! Loved Tenryu's reaction to roll to the ropes immediately even though it happened middle of the ring. Jumbo caught up to him but it was too late, the ropes break the pinfall. Great details match. 

Now we get to the Jumbo "pouring it on" portion of the match. I did think they went a little overboard here too. It was interesting at first it was a ton of feet on the ropes demonstrating Tenryu's intelligence. Jumbo learned to too, he tried to bundle both legs at one point only for Tenryu to fight through and get to the ropes. What was odd to me was as they escalated, they left that and started going to kick outs. Jumbo executes the Thesz Press without being hotshotted which popped me. That the first kickout and then he finally nailed the Dangerous Back Drop Driver and kick out. I didnt think the heat segment went as overboard as say Brock vs Roman I at the 2015 Mania but I would have liked more hope spots and struggle. I did however love the transition(s)! First Tenryu, hotshots Jumbo on the second Thesz Press! Hell Yeah! Second, Jumbo's High Knee in the corner eats the buckle and Tenryu nails an Enziguiri. He's on the comeback trail! Small Package! 1-2-NO! Tenryu attempted powerbomb gets great heat. Jumbo backdrops into a pin cover for two. The crowd is red hot. Jumbo starts repeating moves like the Top Rope High Knee, Tenryu closes the gap and Jumbo misses. Jumbo tries the Belly To Belly again, but Tenryu BACK HEEL TRIP! Popped me. Tenryu tries for his patented Reverse Top Rope Elbow but misses. It was Jumbo's turn to have it scouted. Jumbo telegraphs the Death Lariat and Tenryu uses the momentum to drive Jumbo's head into top rope. ENZIZGUIRI! POWERBOMB! 1-2-NO! NUCLEAR HEAT! POWERBOMB 1-2-3! CROWD GOES WILD!

One thing I didnt mention was that Jumbo got a considerable amount of heat in the match. It can be hard to make out the difference between Tsuruta and Tenryu chants. I thought I heard some Tsuruta chants but this was definitely a pro-Tenryu crowd. I am surprised. I always thought Tenryu/Revolution were heels but watching all the footage it is clear they are the fan favorites. Also interesting that before the match Jumbo attempts to shake Tenryu's hand but Tenryu looks like he says Fuck You, but it was probably something else. Then Jumbo came over to shake his hand while Tenryu was slumped down in the corner, but Tenryu didnt again. Very Stone Cold vibes there. I have been debating between ****3/4 and *****. There are some things that keep this out of contention for my top 25 of all time, but I see it around #50. I am going with this as the tiebreaker. Once Jumbo started dropping bombs I noticed a teenage boy and girl in the front row were very committed to Tenryu winning. The girl's reaction to Jumbo's kickout was perfect. She was trying to take a picture right at right time with the old Kodak camera. She thought Tenryu won and she got wicked excited only to have her hopes dashed. Unfortunately during the actual pinfall, we miss her reaction, but we see the boy's and he is JUBLIANT! How can I deny a match that stirred such great emotion, *****. 

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