One Night in a Motel Room, Eyes Cast Like Steel, Tenryu Drank the Wine That They Left on His Table

Genichiro Tenryu v Terry Gordy (All Japan, 9/2/89) - GOOD

Maybe a little disappointing given who they are, but they never really went for epic. It was a wee bit more understated than that and in some ways it actually felt more like WAR Tenryu than All Japan Tenryu, where they laid it in and it was built around that laying it in more than the bomb-throwing. The powerbomb was the one bomb that was thrown and they certainly made use of it. Just after the intros while they're still in the process of clearing the streamers out the ring, Tenryu, totally unprompted, powerbombs one of Gordy's crew. I don't know who it was, but there didn't seem to be any reason for it. There was a person there to be powerbombed and so he powerbombed him and we one and all marvel at the man that is Tenryu. Gordy naturally took exception and powerbombed Tenryu right back, and Tenryu basically sold this powerbomb for the rest of the match. It was awesome, sometimes subtle, but you never got the sense he recovered from that move at any point forward. He'd try and fire back, maybe hit a lariat or a gamengiri, but then he'd grab the back of his head and sort of stumble, clearly groggy, and that would let Gordy regain the advantage. Gordy was mostly punch-kick on offence, but he threw in some big corner lariats and Tenryu sold them like the clobberings they were. Good match, but it feels like they've got something bigger in them.


Complete & Accurate Tenryu