[1987-06-01-AJPW] Genichiro Tenryu vs Tiger Mask

Tenryu not showing up in AJPW in 1995 and working a program with Misawa might be the biggest missed opportunity of 90's AJPW. The booking was stale as fuck that year and Tenryu, who seems to have done almost nothing that year, would have been perfect to spice things up. Would have also been a great dynamic with Tenryu as the old ass kicker taking it to the resilient ace. They do have some good interactions in tags, but this and a horribly disappointing NOAH match are all we have of that dynamic in a singles match.

I had actually seen this several years ago but remembered nothing of it. I imagine someone watching this less attentively could have just written off the opening mat work as time killing before they get to The Good Shit, but I think it is actually pretty cool here how they progressively add in more grit and struggle to the holds before they go balls to the wall for the finish. As far as I can tell, this was also the first tour with Tenryu as a heel heading his stables against Jumbo's, so that also adds a little wrinkle of intrigue to those opening exchanges. I was surprised at how much Tenryu gave Misawa in the standing portion of the match and I think it shows Misawa may have already been viewed as potentially becoming a top heavyweight in a few years. Things get a bit sloppy for the finish and I could have done with a more sustained Tenryu comeback instead of him just winning with a powerbomb out of nowhere, but it's a good match overall. ***