Best of Japan 2000-2009: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Kensuke Sasaki, NJPW 1/4/00

2. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Kensuke Sasaki, NJPW 1/4/00

Just as the match yesterday was the Kawada show, this match was all Tenryu show. Sasaki's offense hits hard like it should but if his opponent isn't game to take all his dangerous/sloppy offense then the match will suffer. But Tenryu is a man and more than holds up his end and ends up crafting a good match. Tenryu's selling in this is epic, especially when they start throwing punches. Tenryu starts peppering Sasaki with jabs and Sasaki just starts throwing haymakers (that look like something Sasaki has never tried throwing in a worked setting before, so many of them look like they hit Tenryu flush on the jaw). The way Tenryu spends parts of the match with wobbly legs, squinted eyes as he lightly feels at his jaw, grabbing his head and neck after getting dumped on his head, are just a master class in selling. Both dudes hit hard and that's what everybody wanted to see. Even Tenryu starts shying away from Sasaki's chops by the end. I can't tell you if that was because his chest was ground lumpy meat at the point, or if he was actually beginning to realize a longer match story arc of Sasaki finally overpowering him. Tenryu is a complete lunatic in this getting brainbustered and dumped on his head with the Northern Lights Bomb. Sometimes set-up takes longer than I remembered (like Tenryu's top rope German especially) and there was more lying around than I remembered. Sasaki kinda gasses out early and often so we hit a few different breathers in the match, but both guys are at least good at making the moves look like they're doing something. But Tenryu man. That guy was the goods. His selling was epic here, but I loved his two desperation enziguiris, loved his full elbow drop to back of neck onto a kneeling Sasaki, just a great performance.


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