I think it would be fair to say that this match is not going to be for everyone. It was a spectacle, and a spectacle that only a few wrestlers and maybe one company could pull off the way they did. But I'm a sucker for a good spectacle and the involvement of Tenryu is usually a decent sign I'll enjoy something, so I kind of loved this. It starts out tentative and these two are just the best at building tension, making even a knuckle-lock feint feel important. Then Inoki does a Tenryu before Tenryu can do a Tenryu and starts throwing closed fists. I thought Tenryu was unreal here, especially with his selling. Inoki choking him out and Tenryu lying unconscious for about five minutes was obviously ridiculous, but they kept it about as compelling as you could ask for with everything surrounding it. Inoki decks the frantic ref' who's worried he has a murder on his hands, New Japan and WAR wrestlers outside the ring try to coax Tenryu back to life, then Choshu wakes him up with a slap and Tenryu staggers around ringside clueless of what's going on. He even takes a swing at one of his own wrestlers, like someone lunging at John McCarthy when they've had their lights dimmed and they instinctively grab someone after the fight is stopped. Tenryu's sell of the cross-armbreaker, his AMAZING dazed and confused look after Inoki tries to choke him to death for a second time, he was incredible. Inoki remains stoic even in the face of being chopped in the throat and his rolling koppo kick out the corner was a phenomenal spot. The Dome crowd are rocking for the last few minutes and Tenryu punting old man Inoki's head into row sixteen was truly vile. And even though we all knew Inoki would immediately dive on Tenryu after the pinfall, yer man Genichiro makes history by becoming the first - and I think only - Japanese wrestler to have pinned both Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki. Mr. Puroresu indeed!
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