Posted May 31, 201015 yr comment_5451476 All Japan Pro Wrestling (May 21 & May 28 1989) 1. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas - This featured a typically fine offensive performance by the Can-Ams, but the Bulldogs didn't look so great. Dynamite appeared to be hurting and Davey didn't have the stamina to carry the load for 15-20 minutes. This wasn't as good as their last match, and I didn't nominate that one. 2. Dan Spivey vs Isao Takagi - Basically a squash in which Spivey didn't even look all that devastating. 3. Toshiaki Kawada & Fuyuki vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu - This was a good response to their earlier match in which Jumbo and Yatsu just mauled Footloose. They started out roughing them up again, but Kawada and Fuyuki got after Yatsu's leg and that proved to be the key twist. After they worked Yatsu over, Jumbo couldn't trust his partner to control the smaller guys when he needed a rest. So Kawada and Fuyuki were able to gang up on the big guy and throw everything they had (kicks, suplexes, chair shots) at his back. Fuyuki popped the crowd with some great roll-up near falls, and Kawada was awesome from the apron, running in to kick Yatsu in the face and even tossing a chair at him from the floor. Ultimately, Kawada overshot Jumbo on a lariat and took out his partner, leaving Jumbo the small opening he needed to catch Fuyuki with a game-ending backdrop suplex. The match was neat in that it showed how much Footloose had learned from their earlier loss. But it also showed that they couldn't afford even one slip-up against the promotion's top team. Nomination, though it wasn't super high-end stuff in the context of such a great year. 4. Dan Spivey, Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs Genichiro Tenryu, Toshiaki Kawada & Fuyuki - This match was insane. Basically, it was another high-end tag between Footloose and the Can-Ams with badass superheavy Spivey and an ornery Tenryu thrown in for fun. I mean, bodies just flew all over for the whole 20 minutes. I won't even try to describe all the great spots. I'll just say I marked out so hard that I worried about losing my footing on the treadmill. This is a darkhorse candidate for my top 30-40. 5. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu - The Bulldogs neutralized Jumbo by working over his arm, and Yatsu actually carried more of the offense for his side. I liked how the Bulldogs kept using Dynamite's head as a weapon. But that proved to be their undoing when Jumbo whipped Davey into his partner's noggin and capitalized with a quick roll-up. They picked an interesting approach that played on Jumbo's selling and resourcefulness rather than his offensive dominance. I won't go to the wall for it but found it intriguing enough that Eric should take a look.
