Posted April 3, 200817 yr comment_5430389 Jumbo Tsuruta, Tenyru & Tiger Mask v. Shunji Takano, Hiro Saito & Strong Machine (04/06/86) - This was pretty damn fun. Both teams looked up for the match. I expect it from Jumbo’s team but the others haven’t really impressed me overall. Later on, the Machine team take turns working over Tenryu’s leg but Jumbo gives a lariat as Strong Machine has him in a Sharpshooter. After this point, I expected a hot stretch run of big moves and near falls but after a Jumbo lariat takes out Takano, it turns into a pier-6 brawl with everyone fighting and ending up outside. This allows Jumbo to take Takano out with the back suplex and get the pin. I have to give this a nomination because I expected absolutely nothing coming into this match. Even though they could have stretched out the end run and given me some near falls, this far exceeded my expectations. (AJC 127)
April 23, 201015 yr comment_5449889 This looked like a huge mismatch on paper, but in reality, the lesser trio took almost all of the offense. Given that, I expected Misawa to spend most of the match in peril, but he was a non-entity. I liked the work on Tenryu's leg and Saito's nasty dive that sent the back of Tenryu's head into the guardrail. Jumbo's pride got him in trouble (a growing theme, perhaps?) as he kept working near the other team's corner because he seemed unconcerned about interference. So he won the brief individual match-ups but kept succumbing to double- and triple-teams. As for the underdogs, Takano's height made his dropkicks look cool, and I've always liked SSM's second rope lariat on an opponent who has been Irish whipped into it. Of course, Jumbo finally said fuck it and murdered Takano with a lariat and backdrop suplex to end the upset bid abruptly. I like how emphatic he was in putting away lower-ranked guys. He generally did a good job of maintaining his station without making his opponents look like shit. This wasn't a high-end nomination but featured a lot of action with a crew of characetrs who won't make the set that often. So I'll go yes as well.
July 4, 201015 yr comment_5452707 Genichiro Tenryu, Tiger Mask II, & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Hiro Saito, Super Strong Machine, & Shunji Takano (4/6/86) Here is the midcarders from Choshu's Army going up against the big dogs of All-Japan and yes it is a mismatch on paper but the match itself would prove otherwise. This was a blast as it was fast paced and gave these guys a chance to shine against the top guys especially Tenryu & Jumbo as TM II wasn't much of a factor here. The ending sequence was solid with Jumbo ending the dreams of the army. Easy nomination.
