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Post by elliott on Oct 3, 2019 14:04:30 GMT -5
Jushin Liger vs Dick Togo (NJPW Skydiving J - 6/17/96)
I can’t believe I haven’t nominated this. It has always been one of my favorite Liger matches. These two have incredible chemistry and in a perfect world, Togo and Liger would have had a host of singles matches together. What I love about Togo in this era is that he is as athletically impressive as any other junior. He gets incredible height on his dives and is just really explosive. But he’s also a fat guy and does stuff like foot stomps and just straight up standing on his opponents which is an awesome x-factor in juiors matches. Liger here is of course Liger. Fucking fantastic. All of his trademark spots like the rolling heel kicks or shotays or suplexes/bombs look incredible. His matwork is really fun including some vicious arm work. The finishing stretch is just bombs away and typically awesome. I’ve always been really high on this relative to the consensus opinion, but watching it again it feels like a top 5 90s Junior match at worst.
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Post by KB8 on Oct 4, 2019 4:34:49 GMT -5
It's been ages since I thought seriously about what a top 5 90s juniors matches of the 90s might look like, but I certainly don't think it's a wild idea that this might be in there. I know at this point I like it more than the Liger/Ohtani matches, Ohtani/Ultimo, Liger/Samurai, and no doubt a few others that are highly regarded. It's an awesome match. My favourite Liger is the one getting surly against folks stepping onto his turf and this was basically NJ/NOAH feud Liger six years earlier (it's fucking nuts that the New Japan/NOAH feud was dang near TWENTY years ago now). Togo was obviously great with all of his portly athleticism and killer high spots and riling up of the crowd, then you get the Liger comeback where he just eviscerates a motherfucker. The three powerbombs he dishes out as receipts get progressively nastier and the last one on the exposed concrete was insane. I'm not as hung up on matwork "going somewhere" the older and less pernickety I get, but I appreciate it when they'll spend time working a limb and it'll actually play a factor in who wins, so that's another tick in its favour. A real blast of a match. I might also need to start a thread about the juniors now...
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Post by bossrock on Oct 4, 2019 5:42:23 GMT -5
Third.
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Post by elliott on Feb 11, 2021 21:08:04 GMT -5
Rewatched this and I still love it. Its not really a strong candidate to make my top 100, but that's down to style preferences. This won't blow your mind, but it is definitely a great match from two great wrestlers. Liger has really withstood the 90s juniors backlash so I suspect folks would enjoy this one. Great way to kill 15 minutes.
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Post by mvz on Apr 5, 2021 6:20:44 GMT -5
These two have great chemistry. I find myself forgetting about Liger as an all time great. He feels like he’s on an island in a way. But the cool moves, the matwork, the showmanship, and the nastiness here are a testament to his greatness.
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Post by tetsujin on Apr 25, 2021 9:05:45 GMT -5
Damn what a fun, brutal match. Everything looked nasty as fuck, the crowd was on fire for every big spot, they had so much chemistry. They gave us a little bit of almost everything: OMG moments, fun taunts, armwork, heel tactics, highflying, etc, and they put all of it together in a very organic way, all that just in 15 minutes! Great, great match. Tons of fun and definitely a MOTYC.
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Post by midwesternlariart on Nov 21, 2023 6:52:11 GMT -5
Don't think I have the same feelings about this as everyone else, but I thought this was a serious heater. Dickhead Ace Jushin Liger is incredibly entertaining and I thought his "ah, okay motherfucker" reaction to Togo's stomping on his ribs (which was disgusting, by the way) was the perfect amount of piss & vinegar liger needed for this. Bending Togo's already taped up arm, yanking on it, laying it flat joint first down and stomping on it, Liger is as petty as he is measured and violent.
Togo isn't quite up there yet in terms of presence (he gets there), but it is interesting to see him bring it in a very earnest sort of way. Early Togo is a ridiculous athlete, but he's no killer. His early advantage comes from trying to stay on liger early and then closing that gap with a big dive to win an advantage. I wouldn't call Togo bright eyed here, but it is incredibly endearing to watch him follow this road map, make all the right turns, potentially catch a lucky break with the rib injury, only for Liger to erupt like a sleeping god and beat him into the ground. Liger humiliating him like that goes from bad to worse, where at the first sign of light for Togo after a successful dive, he goes for one more off the apron rana and gets absolutely massacred by TWO powerbombs on the floor (one on exposed concrete) that practically ends his night, aside from a flurry brought on by some last minute desperation cheating.
This wont make my top 100, but I'd say it's almost entirely faultless. Wrapped up in a tight 15 minutes, no time killing matwork (they do some stuff in the beginning on the mat, but I think some foreground helped Togo's early shine plus Liger's fun on the mat here), and some really crazy bombs. I think Liger sold in transition enough throughout his comeback to realistically believe that he'd overcome the work on the ribs. I think my only issue is that if you cut off the last Togo flurry, you would have a much cleaner story and a better match, but that is a small cut in am already compact match. Really terrific. ****1/3
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Post by makaiclub on Nov 21, 2023 18:54:55 GMT -5
On paper, this is the most exciting match on the card with indie legend Dick Togo against Liger at the peak of his powers. Dick Togo heels on the crowd, keeping with his M-Pro gimmick but Liger isn’t in the mood to play nice guy and basically delivers a hellacious beat down, typing Togo up like a knot, stiffing him with strikes, hitting snug power offence. It’s not a pretty sight to anyone who is averse to this type of offence. Togo can take it like a champ though. I think I would’ve quit wrestling after those powerbombs on the outside. Dick Togo had some offence, which included a low blow and a solid hope spot where he hit two diving sentons before missing a third. A few more chances occur but the winner is Liger ultimately. Awesome match. A more even bout could’ve been better but then we wouldn’t have had this wonderful Liger performance. ****
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