I feel like this would've been better in Texas. Heel Michael Hayes in Japan is still by and large the heel Michael Hayes we'd get if this was the Sportatorium, but the crowd obviously aren't as rabid and so his shtick doesn't land the same. He never really tried to rip anyone's eyes out either so that was a shame. Kabuki had been appearing in World Class for a minute by now, and even if he'd been heel the entire time you can guarantee putting him up against a Freebird would've babyface'd him quick enough. Tenryu was still a year away from being *Tenryu* so there were no instances of him looking at Steve O like he's a cockroach and kicking him in the throat.
Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen v Toshiaki Kawada & Ricky Fuyuki (All Japan, 7/16/89) - GOOD
It's always a wee bit strange watching Fuyuki and especially Kawada work as plucky underdog juniors stepping to the big dogs. Fuyuki would slowly morph into a disgusting pot-bellied shrieking goblin as the influence of WAR got its claws in him, while Kawada was only a few years away from being one of the surliest wrestlers in Japan. At this point all they could do is swarm Tenryu or Hansen and hope the numbers advantage would pay off. It really didn't, but they were gamers and they at least laid a few gloves on their opponents. There was one sequence early where Footloose were hitting enziguris, one after the other, each shot sending Tenryu into the next, Tenryu taking a swing and missing just to get hit with another enziguri. When Tenryu shut them down you half expected him to slaughter his little buddies, but he didn't and merely threw a couple chops to the throat, just enough to keep them in line. They were his men after all, part of his revolution, and I guess Tenryu realised that with leadership comes responsibility. The responsibility to not kill too many of your men, because then who are you going to lead? Hansen didn't care about any of that shit and really thumped the hell out of them. It was a nice contrast and Hansen punting people in the spine will always rule. Cool finish too.
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