Posted July 7, 201015 yr comment_5452824 DVD #19 9/5/87 1. Toshiaki Kawada/Ashura Hara vs. Kabuki/Haru Sonada (5:21 shown) - Bland match considering it featured Kawada, Hara and babyface Kabuki. 2. Hiroshi Wajima/Takashi Ishikawa vs. Giant Baba/Tiger Mask (15:38 shown) - This was better than expected. Misawa and Ishikawa worked a fun mini-match of high flying one-upsmanship. Ishikawa got to suplex Baba! And the crowd was actually excited to see Baba vs. Wajima, despite their slow-motion grappling. Baba was actually the weak link here, flashing some sort of passive grin as Wajima kicked his ass against the ropes. Anyway, this was more surprisingly decent than actually good. 3. Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Stan Hansen (9:16 shown) - Hansen came out trying to bully Yatsu, but Yatsu turned the tables on him, busting him open with two belt shots and dominating for most of the match. Yatsu cut off three or four Hansen rallies and looked really solid on offense. Even at the end, he managed to duck the lariat and bull Hansen into the corner, where he got himself disqualified by refusing to quit stomping Stan. I dug the role reversal and the blood, but I think it needed a more significant Stan comeback to pull a nomination. 9/12/87 1. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (21:30 complete) - Yeah, this was pretty great. I loved all the blocked moves in the first few minutes. Jumbo unleashed absolute hell on Tenryu after Tenryu pissed him off by using the high knee. His dive from the second turnbuckle to the floor really helped set the match apart as something special. I dug Tenryu pulling the turnbuckle pad down so Jumbo would hurt his knee charging into the corner. It almost felt like a WWE main event moment, and Jumbo did a great job dragging his leg around as he tried desperately to put Tenryu away. The finish was great too, with crippled Jumbo trying to fight his way back into the ring and Tenryu gradually knocking him out on the apron with a lariat sandwiched by multiple enzuigiris. This was a hell of a way to kick off their singles series, and it's kind of cool that they managed to outdo themselves several times. 2. Genichiro Tenryu/Ashura Hara vs. Stan Hansen/Joel Deaton (10:22 shown) - Reviewed on Classics.
