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Post by elliott on Dec 7, 2017 1:23:22 GMT -5
Jushin Liger vs Naoki Sano (IWGP Jr Title - NJPW - 1/31/1990)
Excluding lucha matches, this is the best Juniors/Light Heavyweight/Cruiserweight match ever. You get great high spots and dives sure. But this is ALL about BLOOD and VIOLENCE. This is one of those matches I've loved since I first saw it and still love it nearly two decades later. Incredible.
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Post by Cap on Dec 7, 2017 19:22:02 GMT -5
Second
Big time Second
This is a great one. It really stands out among Japanese Junior matches to me. The high end Jr. stuff from the 90s is all stuff I really will need to sort through and see where I have each one, but this is such a brilliant match. it is visceral and compelling from start to finish. I'd be shocked if it didn't make my list. It feels timeless.
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Post by stunninggrover on Jan 6, 2018 1:07:02 GMT -5
One of the best Japanese junior heavyweight matches ever. Arguably the best Liger match ever (which says a lot). Definitely the best Sano match ever. Great drama, intensity and blood.
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Post by tetsujin on Aug 23, 2018 19:20:00 GMT -5
My big problem with this match is how repetitive it becomes. You have everything you could ask for in an all-time classic: Sano's great arsenal, Liger's awesome selling, the blood, credible transitions, the crowd, the title on the line... But Liger just resists too much. There are so many failed pinfall attempts that Sano's offense became nothing, and only for Liger to win after a few couple of bombs. I will nominate this 'cause I wanna see where this ranks compared to their 1989 masterspiece, but for me there's no chance in hell to make my list. Still a very good match, but not great... even if it had all the ingredients to be great, and that actually hurts me even more.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Feb 3, 2019 21:10:02 GMT -5
The asswhuppin' to end all asswhuppin's. Sano beats Liger like Liger fucked his girlfriend. This is brutal. The crazy thing is I think it goes too long and it goes so overboard that it is hard to believe in Liger's comeback. I used to LOVE this match now I just love this match. Get it? Outside the Top 100 for sure, thought this would make it.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Naoki Sano vs Jushin "Thunder" Liger - NJPW 1/31/90
How much a difference a couple years makes! I thought this would be a mortal lock for my top 100, but watching it back I dont think it has a chance. Their 1989 match trumps this one for me and will most likely make it. That is NOT an indictment on this match, but rather how many other AMAZING matches there are in the history of pro wrestling.
Lets talk about the greatness of this match first and that this is a heroic match. Sano beats the holy hell out of Liger. A beating that is reserved only for the dude who bangs your girlfriend. There is a part in the match where Liger's mask is ripped and he is just a bloody pulp on the mat it is just so moving. The hero is totally down for the count. Sano is the exact man you want to deliver this beating. He has a wide, wide arsenal of moves. I thought Liger's first hope spot was really well done. The hurricanana into an insane somersault dive was crazy. He went all out in that dive. Sano hit that railing hard. I LOVED Sano raking Liger's eyes in the Surfboard to break. Then Liger cant really hit his hope spots anymore. He misses the Kappo Kick. That is ol reliable. Like Misawa's elbow that always gets Liger out of trouble. He gets a rana again, but this time he is sent sailing over the top rope high into the air on the floor. Then he gets smarter. He starts shifting his weight on suplexes. Sano has tuckered himself out. He hit a lot of moves, but couldnt put Liger away and now his energy is sapped. He is prone to Liger being able to make these reverses the superplex one was great. Sano's last big nearfall is the Tiger Suplex and for this one is not a kickout, but Liger sticking his foot out. Sano calls for the ending and Liger looks destroyed thats when he reverses on the back suplex and hits his own German Suplex! Somehow someway Liger through his resilience has evened the playing field, but when looked dead in the water many times. Sano goes for a rana, but Liger plants him with a powerbomb. TOMBSTONE->SHOOTING STAR PRESS! AWESOME FINISH!
So what's my complaint, the heat segments(s) were way too long and had very little struggle. They went to it way too early in my opinion. Liger smacks the taste out of Sano's mouth and starts the match red hot. Sano BULLIES him to the outside. Nails a piledriver on the floor and whips him hard into the railing. I am totally fine with Sano kicking ass that early. But to do the mask ripping and bust him open within 5 minutes thats tough to recover from. It is going to require Liger to die a lot. I dont know how many resurrections I can believe in. Liger did the right thing in selling it like death. Sano brutalized him. I think there is time and place for that, they just did way too early. Pretty much every suplex, piledriver, and kick you can think of Sano hit on Liger. The moves were cool, but when you are doing Boston Crabs and just giving up on it thats no fun. It didnt feel like Sano was trying to finish the match nor do you believe he will because this is a fairy tale match and you know the hero has to make his comeback. I think if you put the mask ripping and blood at lets say 7 minutes to the finish this match really becomes a classic.
Sano beats Liger to a bloody pulp but cant put away the Beast God. Liger looks like he has dead at times and has trouble hitting his trusty Kappo Kick, but through a couple timely suplex reversals and a lucky positioning on a Tiger Suplex, he is able to outlast Sano, who is exhausted from the punishment he dished out. Powerbomb->Tombstone->Shooting Star Press is up there for one of the best finish stretches of all time. Classic heroic comeback match, but falls short of being considered one of the greatest matches ever. ****1/2
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Post by Cap on Aug 22, 2019 13:47:22 GMT -5
I was inspired to return to this instead of working by my recent dive into some Sano shoot matches. This made my list last year and I feared it would be a casualty of me watching more wrestling since and getting turned onto some more high end stuff. I think that will likely wind up happening. I love this match and think it is a beautiful performance from both men, but I agree it feels like it goes just a touch to long and it sort of loses a little momentum for me. That said, it would still probably comfortably make my top 200. ****3/4
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