Genichiro Tenryu v Satoshi Kojima (All Japan, 7/17/02) - EPIC
This might be the most obvious example of Tenryu working modern day epic. Even seventeen years on I don't think it would feel out of place today (of course I say that as someone who pays almost no attention to current Japanese wrestling). It had everything you'd expect -- the bomb-throwing, the strike exchanges, a few too many nearfalls, some iffy transitions, a wee bit of Fighting Spirit that I could've done without, maybe five minutes more than it needed...but man was some of it tremendous. I thought the last ten minutes were the weakest as they mostly became about the nearfalls and head drops, though they were interspersed with some stellar striking and the crowd was nuclear. Kojima had already lost to Tenryu in February so this was his chance at redemption, and naturally you expect him to go all out down the stretch. The people are fully behind him as well, just going bonkers when he rips off his elbow pad for the big home run hit. The part where he eats two brainbusters and immediately sleepwalks his way into hitting a lariat is stupid and I'll probably never be into those spots, but he at least lay in a heap afterwards like he was completely spent. Even if the drama started to peter a bit by the end I was never rolling my eyes thinking they should've wrapped it up fifteen minutes ago. Still, the first two thirds were outstanding and some of the best All Japan I've seen since the NOAH exodus. Kojima is fired up from the bell and is the first to throw strikes, doing a Tenryu of his own with the punch-chop combos. Tenryu sitting down in the corner holding his jaw like "okay, I guess we're doing this already" was awesome, just as a little hint that Kojima is going to eat shit for that sooner or later. They tie up in a knucklelock, Tenryu backs him into the corner, and for a second there it looks like he's about to shred him, but then Kojima keeps his grip and forces Tenryu back into the middle of the ring. Kojima won't be taken lightly and he's not about to let Tenryu be Tenryu. Eleven thousand billion words have been written on the internet about how 90s All Japan would use the early match to establish roles and narrative points and how amazing all of it was and this was basically the exact same thing. Plus Tenryu's strikes have GRAVITY to them so every time he throws one it feels like a big deal for one reason or another. When he hits his breaking point and goes off it's incredible. He chops Kojima dead in the trachea and launches a water bottle at him - as Kojima writhes around holding his throat on the floor - and so we all know then and there that we have truly arrived at the party. I don't think Tenryu threw one single strike in this match that wasn't at least an eight out of ten. Some of the punches looked as jaw-dropping to the viewer as they did jaw-shattering to the recipient, and obviously the chops were first class. Kojima going after Tenryu's leg was a cool bit of strategy as well. It never had a real payoff as they moved past it in the final third, but it gave Kojima an out when he needed one and it added an extra layer to his offence, something that he added to his repertoire after falling short in the first match. Tenryu sold all of it nicely as well and that sometimes meant getting indignant and punching Kojima in the willy (to many boos). So I guess this was twenty minutes of excellent work with ten minutes of work that didn't always land perfect, but had enough to it that it still largely hit the mark (on a personal level anyway. It clearly landed as intended with the live crowd). I'll accept a few too many brainbusters if I'm getting elite striking, plus the build overall was really strong. Probably a top 5 Kojima match and maybe the last true singles MOTYC from Tenryu.
Complete & Accurate Tenryu
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