Posted June 2, 201015 yr comment_5451518 All Japan Pro Wrestling (June 25 & July 2 1989) 1. Toshiaki Kawada & Fuyuki vs Bulldogs - Dynamite was pretty fun here, stiffing the shit out of both members of Footloose. But Davey turned in a lazy performance, lying around in leg holds whenever he tagged in. Overall, the Bulldogs treated Kawada and Fuyuki like punks and this was pretty forgettable. 2. Dan Spivey vs Genichiro Tenryu - This lacked the nastiness that distinguished their interaction in that six-man tag I loved from 5/28. Spivey probably didn't have enough stuff in his arsenal to produce great singles matches. It was fun to watch Tenryu rip up his chest and rattle his head with chops, forearms and kicks but not enough for this to deserve a second thought. 3. Jumbo Tsuruta, Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shunji Nakano vs Terry Gordy, Stan Hansen & Don Muraco - Tsuruta/Yatsu and Hansen/Gordy kicked off with some wild brawling around ringside. Jumbo's team briefly worked Stan's arm, but most of the match consisted of Hansen and Gordy beating the piss out of Nakano and Yatsu. Nakano shined in his role, surviving the punishment and firing back with flurries of dropkicks and some nifty roll-up attempts. Of course, he was in trouble when Gordy and Hansen managed to isolate him. Nakano ducked a big Gordy lariat only to run smack into a short western for the fall. By the way, Muraco didn't do a whole lot in this rare glimpse of him in All-Japan. This was an engaging enough match but given the general level of '89 All Japan, I'm going to leave it on the shelf. 4. Toshiaki Kawada & Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu - Already reviewed on Classics. 5. Joe Malenko vs Mitsuo Momota - Already reviewed on Classics. 6. Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuarta & Isao Takagi - Jumbo spent the first portion of this match gaining advantages on Hansen and Tenryu only to watch Takagi piss them away. But his lower-ranked partner got in some nifty offense later on, including a frog splash to the small of Tenryu's back. The interactions between Jumbo and Tenryu stood out most. No surprise there. But they didn't break any new ground, and I would've just about bet my life that the match would end with a western lariat on Takagi (for the record, I would've survived.) Again, the match was entertaining enough but nothing that stood out in a stacked year.
