Winter Face, Ice Cold, Lock Your Windows, Still Tenryu Comes in when the Wind Blows

Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta v Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shinichi Nakano (All Japan, 1/17/87) - GOOD

This is a pretty easy formula to nail. Yatsu and Nakano are severely outmatched, but Yatsu tries hard and Nakano tries harder and who knows, maybe that'll be enough. Maybe Jumbo or Tenryu or even both are having an off-night. Maybe a quick roll-up or cradle is there to be had, a bulldog that lands right on the money, a surprise suplex that keeps one of them down for three. Nakano was intent on proving a point from the start and cleaned out Jumbo with a scorcher of a dropkick, then later dragged Tenryu to the floor and tried to kick him over the barricade. Tenryu was actually pretty forgiving even in the face of such disrespect, but Jumbo was very not and tried to take Nakano's head off more than once. In fact he and Tenryu hit a double lariat that basically landed straight across Nakano's face. When Nakano hit his second dropkick Jumbo was practically unfazed, taking it like it was a mere gust of wind, so on Nakano's third attempt he went up and hit it off the top rope. It caught Jumbo on the button, even busting his lip open. It sent Jumbo off the fucking rails and he absolutely wiped the floor with the wee fella. It's pretty hard to go wrong with something like this. 

Genichiro Tenryu v Yutaka Yoshie (New Japan, 8/9/04) - GOOD

Tenryu working five-minute G1 Climax matches in the early-mid 2000s is always going to be a treat. The five-minute match in general is something I appreciate a lot more the older and more restless I get. You could tell Tenryu was in the mood from the bell, intimating that while Yoshie may be a big portly boy it was Tenryu who'd been the sumo wrestler. Tenryu wasn't necessarily in full prick mode here, but Yoshie started using some of that portliness to his advantage and from there Tenryu realised the power of pro wrestling would see him through, not his sumo past. And by that I mean he started punching Yoshie in the jaw and fucking melted him with a kick to the face and of course it was fantastic. Yoshie would not be deterred, however, and I guess Tenryu never accounted for the fact that he may end up getting back-handered in the face multiple times. I also did not expect the match to end like it did but I'll be fucked if that top rope splash didn't look devastating. 

Complete & Accurate Tenryu