Posted July 19, 201015 yr comment_5453285 DVD #5 2/20/88 (taped 2/20/88 ) Tiger Mask/Shinnichi Nakano vs. Joe/Dean Malenko (11:36 complete) - Lots of slick matwork in this one with the Malenkos leading the way and Nakano and Misawa doing a fine job of keeping up. I liked the way Joe needed only the slightest opening to hit a gorgeous German suplex and pin Nakano. But they never really made the transition from slick exhibition to hardfought contest. We've already nominated stuff in which the Malenkos looked just as smooth but had to fight harder. Great Kabuki/Takashi Ishikawa vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Samson Fuyuki (15:27 complete) - Kabuki and Ishikawa targeted Fuyuki's leg early. When Tenryu finally tagged in, he went after Ishikawa with a series of vicious, vicious forearms. Damn, he was a mean fucker. Fuyuki blew off the legwork more than I'd have liked, but he hit some nice high-flying offense for near falls. I liked the way Kabuki sneaked in a superkick to set up a flash pin by Ishikawa while the ref was distracted with Tenryu. Let's see, surly Tenryu + blood + babyface Kabuki + nifty ending. Sounds like a nomination to me. Stan Hansen/Terry Gordy vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Yoshiaki Yatsu (6:37 complete) - Hansen swarmed Jumbo at the bell and Jumbo came up with half his face covered in blood. Great opening, and Yatsu kicked it to the next level when he took the hot tag, nailing Gordy with three straight dropkicks right above the ear and running over to smack Hansen on the apron. When Jumbo recovered, he leveled Gordy with a couple of high knees and also caught Stan with a big old smack on the apron. Jumbo and Hansen spilled outside, and Gordy recovered enough to catch Yatsu with a sudden powerbomb for the win. I know this was short but it was pretty great while it lasted. I'm going to toss this on the block, because we really don't have a great match between these two teams. 2/29/88 (taped 2/29/88 ) Tiger Mask/Masa Fuchi vs. Joe/Dean Malenko (7:35 complete) - Nice mix of mat stuff from the Malenkos and higher impact stuff from Fuchi and Misawa. Joe Malenko again won with a pretty suplex out of nowhere. They needed a little more time to build drama around the spots. Genichiro Tenryu/Ashura Hara vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu/John Tenta (12:20 complete) - Tenryu was the meanest fucker on the block (well, aside from Hansen anyway) so I appreciated Yatsu and Tenta just beating the fuck out of him for the first five minutes. The highlight was Tenta bulling into him on the apron and sending him crashing down into the guardrail. Your Hara/Tenryu retaliation was just as badass with Hara headbutting Tenta in the nose and both of them kicking him in the spine and kidneys. Then Tenta got out of trouble with a fucking dropkick! Seriously, that dude was awesome in All-Japan. They went back and forth for a few more minutes until Tenryu finished Tenta with a vertical suplex. This match ruled from beginning to end. Hara and Tenryu came off as the most vicious pricks in the world, Yatsu brought great fire and Tenta looked like a world-class big man. Nomination. Stan Hansen/Terry Gordy vs. Great Kabuki/Jumbo Tsuruta (11:19 complete) - Jumbo seized the initiative this time around, pummeling Hansen's lariat arm before Stan could get to him. With Hansen wounded, Gordy worked most of the match. Jumbo hit him with one of the greatest short-arm lariats I've ever seen. I also liked a little moment when Kabuki was taking punishment and seemed to counter his way out with a superkick only for Hansen to grab him with a big paw and fling him back to the ground. The end was spectacular. Kabuki rocked Hansen with an uppercut, but Stan kept coming. So Kabuki stunned him again with a superkick out of the corner. Kabuki came charging out to follow up, and Hansen about decapitated him with a classic lariat. Fuck yeah. I was on the fence about nominating this one but that pushed it over.
