There comes a point in a wrestling fan's life where he just needs a break from the seemingly endless onslaught of Warlord, Akeem and Brutus Beefcake. What better way then to partake in a Best of Japan 2000s poll now I can just watch endless chopfests and people getting dropped on their heads. :)
Puroresu in the 2000s is an interesting beast where a lot of the 90s stars persisted and actually persisted in doing some of the more dangerous elements that they doing in the 90s. It seemed very hard for new stars to breakthrough in the past decade. I am resurrecting the 2 Out Of 3 Falls concept to break down the matches that are considered some of the best. We begin by looking at New Japan and All Japan post-NOAH departure. New Japan was getting behind pushing shoot workers because Antonio Inoki, a pioneer of MMA, was a fan of wrestlers with legitimate credentials. All Japan was just scraping to survive as they were left with just two native wrestlers on their roster: Toshiaki Kawada and Masa Fuchi. They were able to bring in Genichiro Tenryu as a quick shot in the arm, before bringing in Keiji Mutoh & Co,. departing from a New Japan no longer friendly to the style of a traditional pro wrestler. Even though Inoki had begun pushing shoot-style workers as early as 1997 with Naoya Ogawa, in the year 2000 he pushed Kensuke Sasaki to being the Ace of New Japan.
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| Kensuke Sasaki: 2013 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame Inductee |
Much like Jun Akiyama, Sasaki is a bit younger than his more famous 90s counterparts, the Three Musketeers. Hashimoto would leave New Japan to found Zero-One; the aforementioned Mutoh salvaged the fledgling All Japan; Chono took a backseat during this decade. Sasaki, much like his mentor Riki Choshu, is a powerhouse Japanese wrestler with a rockstar, badass look. Seriously, one of the best Japanese mullets you will ever see. He is often derided for his tendency to have hos matches devolve into macho pissing contests where two wrestlers will stand middle of the ring and just chop the shit out of each other. I defend this style below in his Kawada match, but people are correct in arguing that he does this in excess and to the detriment of the match. He was very explosive in his younger years combining speed and power, but in the 00s he seems to have adapted a brute force approach to wrestling. He is not someone you would expect to carry an opponent to a great match, but he can be carried to great matches as seen below with Tenryu and Kawada. Kawada and Tenryu are both generally considered two of the greatest wrestlers of all time thus it is not surprising that they could take Sasaki to the promised land.
Toshiaki Kawada had finally defeated his arch-nemesis, Mistuharu Misawa for the Triple Crown in 1998 and then again in 1999, but on the second occasion fractured his ulna causing him to relinquish the belts. I have not watched much post-1997 All Japan, but the feeling was the promotion was beginning to get tired with the same old matchups and with all interesting avenues explored. With the death of Giant Baba, long-time Ace of All Japan, Mitsuharu Misawa left with the vast majority of All Japan talent to form Pro-Wrestling NOAH. Kawada stayed in All Japan out of loyalty to Giant Baba's wife, but one wrestler does not make a promotion. Thus former All Japan Ace, Genichiro Tenryu was brought back after decade-long absence and it was negotiated that long-time dream feud between New Japan and All Japan be contested. Kawada worked as Tenryu's junior tag team (Footloose) in his Army against Jumbo's and as Tenryu's junior partner in 1988 Real World Tag League, which is famous for the match against Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy. Kawada shares a lot of the same traits as his mentor, Tenryu. He is a surly, contemptuous, no-nonsense bastard. In their match, you feel as if father is fighting son. In the Sasaki match, it is All Japan vs New Japan, two warriors not fighting just for their pride, but the pride of the promotions.
Mr. Puroresu, Genichiro Tenryu is such an interesting figure in puroresu. He was sort of the first freelancer out on the Puro scene. Breaking off from Baba's All Japan and stepping out of Jumbo's shadow, he promoted his own company, SWS then WAR. He wrestles everyone from Hogan, Flair, and Savage to Jumbo, Kawada, Hansen to Choshu, Hashimoto and Sasaki. He is a wrestler moreso than any other wrestler I have to love that is an acquired taste. He can off as clusmy or disinterested. However, in the Kawada match more than any one I could see the light. He was rolling his eyes as Kawada was trying to out-Tenryu him so to speak. Tenryu in the Sasaki really made Sasaki look like the next big thing in puroresu even if that did not pan out.
All in all, I was impressed by all three matches. I have them all huddled around the **** mark if I was throwing out star ratings as I do need to in these types of polls. Spoiler alert: Misawa vs Akiyama 2/00 has surpassed these hitting a different level. These are great matches and MOTYC, but I do not think any would be a Match of the Decade Candidate. However, it is still early on in the process. Rankings of these three matches are at the bottom.
FIGHT!
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| Mr. Puroresu: Grumpy & Lumpy |
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Kensuke Sasaki - 01/04/00
Kensuke Sasaki has a nice slab of symphonic metal as his entrance theme and a bitchin' mullet. Tenryu looks extra lumpy at this point. This match reminds me of how the simplicity of New Japan can be just as beautiful as All Japan's complexity. This match is structured to make Sasaki to look like the conquering hero against the gritty veteran proving himself at every turn as surpassing Tenryu. The match proves that anything Tenryu can do; Sasaki can do better. It really makes Sasaki look like an ace of a promotion.
They do not waste time going into the chopfest. This match reminds me of Valentine/Garvin at first as it seems like they are just stiffing each other for the hell of it. However, this match transcends inane strikes by developing into a well-woven story with a beginning, middle and end. The beginning is a battle of two bulls seeing who can inflict more damage on the other. Tenryu is the first to throw a closed fist in the corner. Sasaki says "Two can play at that game" and levels Tenryu with a wicked closed fist. Even though this match utilizes the closed fist more than any other puro match I have seen; the closed fist still seems really special as they sell it as a big deal. The way Tenryu transitions into his heat segment on Sasaki is be means of the closed fist. Before we get to there, I just wanted to mention that after Tenryu fells Sasaki with a huge chop that Sasaki actually wins a struggle for a vertical suplex. These are the little battles that Sasaki wins before ultimately winning the whole match.
The second act is Tenryu's heat segment, which is concise and is focused on making Sasaki look vulnerable, but resilient. His chops to the throat area look vicious. Sasaki gets a hope spot in sumo slap battle, but Tenryu wins that with his enziguri. He does a super German suplex and follows up with his falling elbow drop from the top rope for 2. He does a powerbomb only gets two. Then he hits Sasaki's Northern Lights Bomb but he cant hold Sasaki down. He goes for the kill by a top rope Frankensteiner, but instead Sasaki powerbombs him in a pretty impressive spot. Then Sasaki shows him how it is done by doing his own top rope Frankensteiner. I fuckin' loved that exchange.
Sasaki is looking for the kill, but Tenryu still has some fire left in the belly and they exchange strikes. Tenryu hits his enziguri again, but this time Sasaki hits his Northern Lights Bomb. Then goes for the second one to polish off Tenryu to win his second IWGP Championship and prove he is King of the Hill.
This match never overstays its welcome clocking in just under 15 minutes and in this "less is more" attitude pervading the internet I feel like this one could do well. They sets this up as a Clash of Titans that Sasaki is looking to prove himself against the Elder Statesman. He wins small battles and displays Fighting Spirit in the face of the deluge of Tenryu's offense. The finish was definitive that Sasaki was the better wrestler in that match and he felt like that night as the Ace of New Japan. There are some issues with no-selling on Sasaki's part and I think they could have done so much interesting stuff with the holds. Those are just some nitpicky stuff. This is a great first match to start off the project.
REWATCH THOUGHTS:
I would imagine most people would disagree with me, but I actually enjoyed this more than Hashimoto/Ogawa tag. Hashimoto/Ogawa is an amazing spectacle with a lot of twists and turns, but I think Ogawa and Murakami have produced better matches this decade (Kawada and Nagata). That tag ultimately feels incomplete, but will still make my top 30, this match will be in a similar ballpark, but slightly higher. I just loved the Clash of the Titans, tit for tat one upmanship of the match. Sasaki just looked like he was not going to be denied. You got the feeling from Tenryu from the get go when he pushed the ref down that he was going to go for broke because he knew Sasaki was here to play. Sasaki did not let the veteran champion or the opponent get to him. You want to punch me in the face, well muthaufcka, I have got no problem with that.This is the match Kobashi/Akiyama wished they had. Every spot felt huge and critical to the course of the match and building the star of Sasaki. Probably the second best Sasaki match of the decade behind the Kawada Dome match. He should have NEVER cut the Mullet. ****1/2
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| You can only watch Japanese men wrestle for so long... |
Genichiro Tenryu vs Toshiaki Kawada - Vacant All Japan Triple Crown 10/28/00
This is probably the closest classic father vs son match we will ever get to see (sorry, David Flair). A lot of time has passed since Tenryu left in 1990 leaving Kawada leaderless in his war against Jumbo Tsuruta. Yet both men are in their classic yellow and black outfits ready to wage over the vacant Triple Crown. Kawada reminds me very much of myself in my teen years when I would play my father in tennis. I never just wanted to win. I had to win the "right" way by out-muscling him with raw power. Kawada just keeps coming at Tenryu with strike after strike looking to bludgeon his father-figure into submission. My father much like Tenryu was a lot wiser and was going to take his time let me make mistakes and find ways to win. Tenryu and my dad both hit hard back. Kawada and I both learned the hard way that tunnel vision is the enemy of success.
This starts off a lot more tentative than Tenryu and Sasaki as there is a great amount of respect between these two veterans. Eventually fires off the first salvo, a series of three wicked kicks to Tenryu back. Tenryu shakes it off and unphased just looks at Kawada as if to say, "Is that all you got, little man?". In that moment, I finally got Tenryu. Ditch says above "radiates contempt", I really saw it in that moment and everything about Tenryu really clicked for me. Tenryu retaliates with a kick to back and Kawada immediately gets up and starts kicking the back of his leg in an awesome spot. Then begins the macho posturing that just works in this match. Each man takes the other's best shot. Kawada fells Tenryu with a high kick so now from the ground Tenryu kicks the back of Kawada's leg so he responds with a knee drop. Tenryu rolls outside bested by his protege. Tenryu begins firing off a closed fist and Kawada does that excellent almost fall on his ass sell. Tenryu is looking for alternate avenues already, but Kawada just keeps coming with his kicks. So then Tenryu gets a hold of that leg and just wrenches it in a dragon leg screw. Tenryu is working smart progressing from a strike battle to the ground game where he does a great job working over Kawada's legs with a variety of holds like the Figure-4 and Sharpshooter. They then do an even better struggle over the vertical suplex than in Sasaki match.
This is where the match goes off the tracks for me a bit. You have Tenryu using the fist to control and work over the legs as a neat story and natural progress from the macho posturing early. But here Kawada blows off all the leg work and just fires off kicks with both legs. The King of Leg Selling pulling that shit was weird. I felt it hurt the progression of the match. I don't mind that Kawada goes back to all the strikes because that makes sense. Kawada has tunnel vision. He never content with just winning he has to win a certain way. In this match, it is clear he is going to win by bludgeoning Tenryu with strikes. He does that and Tenryu absorbs them and hits a lariat and immediately goes for a pin. Tenryu does not give a fuck how he wins. He just wants to win. Tenryu now with his standard offense: enziguri and falling elbow, but not enough. After being with that damn closed fist for 18 minutes, Kawada gives him a Fuck You! Closed Fist. They really built that up well as Tenryu sold that incredible. Finally, Kawada looks for a win with a Stretch Plum. In 2000, nobody thought the Stretch Plum would finish a match, but you feel that Kawada offense is progressing towards a victory rather than annihilating his opponent. Kawada attempts his powerbomb hitting a wicked Kappo Kick in between two attempts. Tenryu back body drops him and hits a lariat and goes right for the pin. Again, Tenryu is looking for a victory. Tenryu attempts his powerbomb and hits a Kappo Kick of his own to set his up, father like son! Tenryu powerbomb only gets 2.
Now we hit the home stretch, Kawada rattles off two back drop drivers in quick succession. Tenryu attempts to get up but stumbles out of the ring wiping out the camera man. As he gets back on the apron, Kawada kicks him fucking flush in the face and bloodies his nose. That looked wicked. Kawada on the outside whips him in the railing and kicks him over the railing. Back inside, Kawada is not pressing his advantage instead futzes around with more strikes. He cracks off his own enziguri, but Tenryu hits a clothesline immediately. The All Japan delayed selling is a bit annoying. Tenryu on the next exchange catches with a right to the back of the head that knocks Kawada out cold. He hits a Northern Lights Bomb for his first Triple Crown since 1989.
I thought Kawada's performance offensively was very genius. He told a coherent story he was going to win in a very precise manner and he never backed down from that. I really didn't like that he blew off the leg selling. Tenryu was excellent in this as the father who still has gas in the tank, who can absorb a ton of punishment and still dish it out. I would have liked his leg heat segment go even longer and then having the Fuck You! Closed Fist transition back into Kawada's offense. I feel like they did the strike exchanges a little too often. Kawada smashing Tenryu's face in really added a lot to this match putting over his strategy and Tenryu's ability to absorb his best shot. I think the booking was smart as it gave All Japan two top dogs instead of one when they would have been ultra-thin. I liked the Sasaki match a lot for its progression and I would say these two were about even. I am probably in the minority for thinking that, but I think there is a lot these two could have done to improve the match. I hate to sound so negative because this match is ridiculously good and a MOTYC for 2000. When you are ranking the best matches of the entire decade, I believe an extra fine analysis warranted. I would say without a doubt if you want to understand why Tenryu is a GOATC then watch these two matches.
REWATCH THOUGHTS:
By far one of the toughest matches to rank of the decade because there are stretches where they are wrestling at Match of the Decade quality, but there are enough mistakes to detract from the quality. It really feels like they are wrestling two classic matches in one and that takes you out of the match. Kawada is always great in these "proving himself" matches.He has spent an entire decade trying to prove he was The Man to Misawa and now Misawa is gone so everyone thinks Kawada will ascend to his rightful place until the Old Big Dog has come back to his yard and he is ready to rule again. The tentative start with the tempers flaring was awesome, awesome. There was a great urgency and struggle to their movements. Tenryu kicking from the ground, Kawada with spirited kicks. Tenryu sees that he is losing his grasp and goes for the knee. That is fine with me. Tenryu is not Misawa. He is in fact a lot older than Misawa. It makes sense his grasp on the match is tenuous at best. Yes Tenryu is Kawada's senior, but this is a match that is for the Vacant Championship, they are very much equals. My problem is that after the great leg work and those amazing punches, they reset the match to where Tenryu is The Man and that Kawada has to prove himself, but he is not selling the effects of Tenryu's beatdown. Kawada uses the closed fist to take control and it tells Tenryu that he can give as good as he gets. The finish stretch is really well done with tons of stiff shots and grit and great mirror spots. Kawada blasting Tenryu off the apron and busting up his nose is all you need to know how important this match is. My other big issue is that once Kawada gets him back in the ring he does not do much. Why is he not trying polish Tenryu off and Tenryu is able to make his comeback. The match is too disjointed to be considered a MOTYC in a loaded year or even in a weak year. This should sneak into the top half though. ****1/4
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| Dangerous K: Body On Body Action |
IWGP Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada - 10/00 Tokoyo Dome Non-Title
Even though All Japan was gutted by the formation of NOAH. The fact All Japan retained Toshiaki Kawada was enough to make the New Japan vs All Japan feel like a big deal at this October Tokyo Dome show. One thing that I picked up on rewatch was that crowd actually threw shit at Kawada during his entrance. It was that sort of visceral reaction that really sets the tone for this match. It is not about titles. It is about pride. The two biggest puroresu companies finally clashing. This is the match that should be about egos, machismo, bravado, and posturing. That what it delivers in spades a spectacle of two surrogates fighting the battle for Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba trying to win honor and glory not just for themselves but their promotion and in a lot ways their family. This match reflects that. It is not a championship match with respect. It is not violent hate-filled brawl. It is two men taking each other's best shot and seeing who stands last. With all the moving pieces, Mutoh to All Japan, Hashimoto's Zero-One and Sasaki & Kawada as freelancers we see a lot of these matches because this is how Dream Matches are performed in Japan. It is not Gaijin vs Native. It is not veteran Native vs young lion. It is two superstars clashing and it is a style that leaves a lot to be desired. It can come off as more of a ritual than a match sometimes. It is like a game of bloody kunckles, you are trying to outlast your opponent and win in a very specific fashion. It is not logical because rituals are not logical. It comes off like the old practice of dueling. It is how a man wins honor.
The match starts off with a hotly contested lock-up. Steve Austin just got finished telling me a shitty lockup is a great way to start off a shitty match. Well if the converse is true then this match is going to rock. Sasaki lands an early cheapshot with a closed fist to Kawada's head, who does that perfect jelly leg sell. He asks the ref "Did he just do that?". I absolutely love next segment as they try to grapple each other in gritty and sloppy fashion. It feels like a real fight two warriors jockeying for position. Then they kick it into the part of the match I expected. They just start chopping and slapping the shit out of each other. Kawada stands in front and literally dares him to hit him. These were monstrous chops dangerously close to the throat. Kawada ends the ritual with a closed fist, the ultimate cheap shot in Japan.
This begins the Kawada heat segment, which is actually pretty restrained. He hits Sasaki hard, but there is a level of arrogance to it that Kawada is very good at projecting. Kawada fails to put him away with a back drop driver (the only head drop of the match), enziguiri or the stretch plum. This is the best selling I have seen so far from this era as they are really putting over the toll of the moves by the space between the stretch plum and this powerbomb attempt. He gets back dropped out of his powerbomb attempt. He misses a kick and Sasaki evens the match with a wicked clothesline. Sasaki begins his babyface comeback that does not feel that energetic, but more like his own heat segment. He does that weird armdrag thing I saw him do against Tenryu. Lariat only gets two. He puts Kawada in the Scorpion Deathlock twice, but can not render a submission. What may make it feel like a heat segment is that Sasaki is really selling his exhaustion and thus is not moving as fast during his comeback as you normally would see a babyface. Sasaki breaks the second Scorpion out of sheer exhaustion. That is really tremendous. Sasaki just lying face down while the ref taps him is a great visual.
They go back to the bread and butter. They just start hitting lariats on each other. Each on are on jelly legs, Kawada does this great sell where he kind of stumbles and then gets hit. It is not logical, but it is a display of honor. Sasaki crushes him with a lariat the plum of sweat off Kawada is impressive. All Japan delayed sell allows Kawada to get a big boot rendering it even once again. Double clothesline. Sasaki gains an advantage, but in his exhaustion collapses on a simple suplex attempt. Kawada takes advantage with repeated enziguiris that rock Sasaki, now Sasaki channeling Misawa swats Kawada with a lariat to the leg. As he revs up, the New Japan crowd begins to cheer and Sasaki runs straight into Kawada's enziguiri and just like that Kawada is victorious.
This is an amazing war of attrition that took me three times to get. The first time, I actually thought match was abrupt. I was not paying attention to the selling at all. I was just watching the striking and thought it was weird there were no suplexes. The second time, I thought it was underwhelming because I could not piece together the transitions and once again not to the selling. Sometimes, I get stuck in this offensive mindset. Now, I see the War of Attrition. It is not abrupt at all; the match could have ended five minutes earlier. This was a war and they were selling it that way. The battle for honor not just for yourself but for your company and how they wove that through. To me, this is your ultimate "Can I take your best shot match?". There is no weakening of a body part to avoid your opponent's best shot. In fact, they welcome his best shot. It is not smart wrestling. It is really fucking stupid wrestling. But then again Pride is a really fucking stupid thing.
REWATCH THOUGHTS:
I liked this match before, but I love it now. I like how it was not so much hatred, but pride that was at stake. In wrestling, it is all too common for things to quickly become a personal hatred, but in real life that does not necessarily. I love how wrestling is an exaggerated form of real life, but it is refreshing that these are just two badass wrestlers wrestling for pride and the pride of their company. They are going to throw some closed fists and it is going to get heated, but this is about who is the best: Kawada or Sasaki and All Japan or New Japan. They play to each other's strengths perfectly. Sasaki is that powerhouse, but he can get duped into Kawada's game and when Kawada unloads that roundhouse close fist he does not let up. My only complaint is that I just don't buy into the Stretch Plum as a finish in 2000 and if he had some other weapon to milk drama that really would have sent this to the next level. Sasaki's comeback was awesome. The crowd backs me up because they did not care for the Stretch Plum, but they were on their feet for the Scorpion Deathlock. The lariat battle was a perfect way to end a match that was all about pride. Who blinks first? Kawada with that jelly leg selling makes you believe that he won't win this one, but he has that one last gasp. Still Sasaki looks locked into win, but it is how own momentum that costs him the match. The cherry on top is that Sasaki vacates the title because he does not deserve to be champion if he is not truly the best in the world. Great booking and a great match in Japan 2000s that is more rare than it should be. Shocking this is not even my pick for best New Japan match of the year or best Kawada match of the year. If only rest of the decade was as good as 2000. ****3/4
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1. IWGP Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada - 10/00 Tokoyo Dome Non-Title
2. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Kensuke Sasaki - 01/04/00
3. Genichiro Tenryu vs Toshiaki Kawada - Vacant All Japan Triple Crown 10/28/00
Hopefully, now that I am settled down after the my vacation, I will be able to finish up the WWF's tag scene in the 80s and really start pumping out these 00s Puro blogs.
