Posted May 25, 201015 yr comment_5451261 1. Road Warriors & Genechiro Tenryu vs JYD, Michael Hayes & Sting - This was actually a Crockett match with the Warriors/Tenryu against the Varsity Club and JYD/Hayes/Sting doing a run-in at the end. 2. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada - They focused less on Kawada than in the Jan. match between these teams, though he still took a quality ass kicking. This one crackled with a lot more animosity. You had great shit like Tenryu stomping on Yatsu's jaw to break up a hold on Kawada only for Yatsu to respond with four brutal forearms to Kawada's jaw, talking shit to Tenryu as he landed them. Later, Jumbo got tired of beating on a limp Kawada and threw him into Tenryu for a tag. Then he mauled Tenryu before he could get into the ring and stood on his face. Jumbo and Tenryu really wanted a piece of each other in this one, and that set it apart. I can't even remember all the sequences I popped for. The last minutes featured a great run of nearfalls that foreshadowed the All-Japan epics of the '80s. Just a great fucking match and something I could see putting in the top 10. This was a Dominique-Wilkins-windmill-level slam dunk. 3. Terminator & Johnny Ace vs Tiger Mask & Great Kabuki - And you can imagine what a letdown this was after the previous tag. 4. Ricky Steamboat vs Shunji Takano - Steamboat had his newly won world title but God, the fans didn't give two shits about him. He worked really hard in the match, chopping the shit out of Takano, taking some damn hard shots in return and tossing in high-end offense like a superplex and cross-body off the top. The fans did get into Takano's nearfalls, and Steamboat's timing and selling helped make him look like a legit badass. I was honestly surprised how long and good this match turned out to be. Will, as a Steamboat mark, you should check this out. For me, it was at least a low-end nomination. 5. Abdullah the Butcher & Kamala vs Genechiro Tenryu & Toshiaka Kawada - Abby busted Kawada open, and he and Kamala spent most of the match working the cut. Tenryu eventually tagged in and rocked Abby with an enzuigiri and monkey flip. The promotion was all about clean finishes at this point but not Abby. He got it thrown out with some vintage 1983 ref abuse. I'd love to get a Kamala/Abby tag on the set and for a time, I thought this might be the right match-up. But it needed more development to earn such consideration. 6. Jumbo Tsuarta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Road Warriors - This was decent for Warriors in Japan. Hawk hit a nice diving clothesline off the apron, and they did the finish where they tossed the natives out of the ring and nailed Jumbo and Yatsu every time they tried to re-enter. No vote.
