Once Tenryu Had Mountains in the Palm of His Hand, and Rivers that Ran Through Ev'ry Day

Genichiro Tenryu v Akira Taue (All Japan, 4/16/90) - GOOD

Baby Taue stepping to the big dog! This had exactly the kind of dynamic you'd expect and it was super fun. Taue jumps him early and has a few unexpected tricks up his sleeve, with his gangly dropkick and even taking it to the floor. You know what Tenryu's going to do, and when he takes over and goes apeshit on a chippy young fella punching above his station it's never not glorious. He really mauled Taue, obviously with the Adam's apple chops and punts to the eye and kidneys, but the this time he was stomping his face into the canvas as well. There was one bit where he whipped Taue into the guardrail, but instead of following up he just dismissively headed back into the ring, allowed Taue to eventually follow, then went right back to knocking him around.


Genichiro Tenryu & Tatsumi Fujinami v Riki Choshu & Koki Kitahara (Rikidozan Festival, 6/30/96) - FUN

Pretty standard tribute show affair, with the big stars playing their hits and the support act getting to strum a few notes with the headliners. The twist with the partner mishmash did make for a cool Tenryu/Kitahara dynamic, though. Kitahara took the chance to get chippy with his boss and it led to some awesome little nasty exchanges, including Kitahara getting the mount and raining down forearms. Kitahara also absolutely fucking drilled him in the jaw with a left hook and I shit you not Tenryu's sell of it might be the best there's ever been. Then he cracked him back a minute later and I can't do justice to how good this punch was. The muted crowd meant you heard the smack loud and clear, too. Finish was a wee bit sudden, but you watch this for the greatest hits and that was what we got.


Complete & Accurate Tenryu