Kawada/Tenryu vs. Hansen/Mossman (AJPW - 7/23/2000)

The prodigal son returns. Misawa taking almost all of All Japan’s native roster with him to form NOAH apparently caused Hell to freeze over, as the company turned to the one wrestler Giant Baba vowed never to use again. For the main event of their first Budokan show following the mass exodus, they ran a quasi-rematch of the classic 1988 RTWL final with the future Taiyo Kea in the Terry Gordy role. Tenryu is surlier (and lumpier) than ever, and Hansen can still bring the violence despite being virtually immobile. The match consists mainly of all four guys hitting each other really hard and brawling on the outside with plenty of double-teams and run-ins. It’s also a lot more competitive than I remembered it being. My recollection was that Tenryu and Kawada beat Mossman down for the bulk of the match, but everybody spends a fair amount of time getting worked over. There’s a hilarious moment when Mossman tries to save Hansen on the outside and Tenryu simply tosses him over the guardrail like Uncle Phil tossing Jazz out of his house. There’s not much in the way of depth or structure, but it’s all action and a testament to how far stiffness and star power can take you.