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Post by elliott on Dec 3, 2017 17:38:17 GMT -5
Jumbo Tsuruta vs Genichiro Tenryu (Triple Crown Title – AJPW 6/5/1989) I think this is the best Native vs Native All Japan match. Just a classic, universally beloved match. Not much I can say that hasn’t been said before. It’s Jumbo vs Tenryu.
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Post by Cap on Dec 3, 2017 20:44:33 GMT -5
Second
Yep, this one seems pretty self explanatory to me. It is on my short list of tip top tier matches, one of maybe 10 matches that have any chance to unseat my current number one. It is perfectly executed, the drama unfold beautifully, and both men are at their absolute best. I would say this also gets some bonus points for me because it signals a bit of a transition into the 90s and a subsequent change of pace. Maybe it is just in my head, but so much of what comes after this feels like it is operating with a different bar set. I will be interested to see how people see this match compared to some of the other universally beloved classics, particularly when it comes to how matches resonate within wrestling more broadly. I am really looking forward to rewatching this alongside some other classics.
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Post by tetsujin on Jan 5, 2018 12:43:21 GMT -5
Third!
Watched this last week. One of the best matches of the 80s and maybe best Jumbo's performance ever; him working the crowd here is just something else. A great story about the Ace being jealous of his former partner.
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Post by gordi on Jan 8, 2018 12:56:41 GMT -5
Lock for my top 10. Storytelling, character work, anger and violence, crowd work... and a truly influential match as well. I love long matches where the time flies by, and older matches that absolutely hold up to modern viewing. The very definition of a classic match.
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Post by shrike02 on Jan 8, 2018 14:12:09 GMT -5
If I were to fill out my preliminary top 10, this would make top 5 easily. Fantastic climax to a truly long-term story of rivalry simmering until ... this match happens. And it is a glorious sight to behold.
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Post by stunninggrover on Feb 19, 2018 19:19:02 GMT -5
AJPW @ Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan. AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. Even though Giant Baba was the innovator of the King’s Road style, Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu really shaped the mold of what a King’s Road style match would become. They paved the way for what wrestlers like Misawa and Kawada would accomplish in the 1990s. Tsuruta defended the prestigious Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against Tenryu.
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Post by KB8 on Apr 17, 2018 14:32:36 GMT -5
I watched this again and it's very likely top 5. I need to re-watch a few of the heavy hitters from the 90s, but I think it might be my highest ranked All Japan match. tl;dr review from a couple years ago:
So I am not the first person on this here internet to write words about this wrestling match. If you've read a write-up for it in the past then there's a pretty good chance you'll have read something about it being the bridge between the mid-80s Choshu-inspired-all-action bouts and the kind of matches the Pillars would go on to have in the 90s, with the build and extended finishing runs and all that good stuff. I've seen this a handful of times since I started dabbling in the Japanese pro-wrestling, but this time it resonated with me more than ever before. God damn what a fucking peach of a match it is, and this time more than ever before it really did feel like these guys went out and reinvented a style. Shit, maybe they created a new one. First stretch is a massive departure from the early 80s All Japan house style. I got pretty burned out going through the first half of the AJ 80s set, and I was super glad when Choshu showed up to give it some life. This had none of that drab early 80s matwork. It had both guys going right at it from the very start, and any time they did slow things down for a little bit you had them adding nasty touches to simple holds, like Jumbo clubbing Tenryu in the ribs during an abdominal stretch or Tenryu punching Jumbo's kneecap during a leglock. But forget that because those "downtime" moments were few and far between. You can clearly see where Misawa and Kawada and the rest learned how to do strike exchanges. You can clearly see where they learned how to tease throwing out big bombs early and really milk them throughout the match, building more and more anticipation as they went. You can clearly see where they learned how to pace and structure an extended finishing run. All of those things were in this match and they were all done so, so well. This might also be one of the three best performances of Tsuruta's career. Tenryu was awesome in his underdog-esque role - which is sort of novel, considering who he is - but Jumbo just carried himself like he was The Man. He looked every bit the ace of the company that he was. In the early exchanges Tenryu will chop him and punt him in the kidneys and generally do Tenryu things, but this is still Jumbo's house and he comes back with even more vim and vigour than we're used to. He puts that little extra into his big boots, clubs Tenryu's shoulderblades a little harder than usual. He's not quite struggling to hold onto his place the same way he would be against Misawa a year later, but Tenryu's more primed to usurp him now than Misawa would be in 1990. Whichever way you look at it, Jumbo has to dig as deep as he's ever had to before and you can see it in the way he conducts himself from start to finish. Last seven/eight minutes are really incredible. The build, the way every nearfall feels huge, the struggle over everything, the callbacks, the off-the-charts heat, the subtle little touches: all of it. It's amazing. There was one bit where Jumbo pulls down his kneepad for a big home run high knee only to miss, then afterwards Tenryu pulls his own kneepad down. He doesn't really do anything that would make you think he pulled it down for a reason, but it came across as such a cool "well, if the ace is doing it then there must be something to it" moment. From the micro to the macro, this whole thing was just a transcendent piece of the pro-wrestling.
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Post by Cap on Apr 17, 2018 14:56:36 GMT -5
I wont be terribly surprised if this winds up my highest rated AJPW match. As much as I love some of the 90s stuff and am maybe even abnormally high on the Kobashi/Misawa pairing (despite its excess) and the Kobashi Hansen pairing, a lot of that stuff might actually bleed together some what and make it harder for me to pick a true stand out that belongs at the top. This is one of the few matches that has a shot to really be in the top tier. This one gets some bonus points for really setting the tone for what would ultimately become one of the most important times/places in wrestling. Its subtle and nuanced. There really is nothing wasted here.
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Post by [Darren] on Nov 18, 2021 18:10:59 GMT -5
This was just re uploaded on a YouTube channel I follow today. So, I put it on. It sounds like this match has fallen out of favor with a lot of folks. I almost put this at #1 a while back. I’m interested to see what it is that folks are seeing or not seeing here that is causing this to drop amongst several people.
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Post by Grimmas on Nov 18, 2021 18:27:46 GMT -5
I had it 11th in 2015 and I haven't watched it since. When putting together this list I literally couldn't remember a single thing about it. Therefore it's off the list.
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Post by Cap on Nov 18, 2021 23:19:31 GMT -5
coming up to this soon on my final rewatch (top 30). I'll be a bit shocked if it falls off my list.
I also think a lot of matches like this, matches that are truly canonical, often don't get discussed much because 1) its been happening for years and even if you weren't a part of those convos it feels needless and 2) they are so generally accepted as elite. However, the problem with being a stock great (even if you deserve it) is that you will inevitably fade too into the background. If this is really falling out of favor I suspect it is only until people notice and start going to bat for it again.
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Post by cactus on Nov 19, 2021 6:00:32 GMT -5
An absolute masterclass on how to wrestle as a heel by Jumbo. He stiffs Tenryu and takes a few liberties here and there, but it's never over the top. It's always subtle and feeds fuel to Tenryu's comeback. Tenryu sneaks in a quick German for a two-count early into this, but it's mostly Jumbo taking control after that. Watching the faces in the crowd looking more and more shocked every time Tenryu kicked out made me realize I was watching something truly special. This blew me away when I watched it for the first time and it gets even better with age. This is where King's Road began. ★★★★★
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Post by puropotsy on Jun 10, 2023 14:08:43 GMT -5
Classic match and classic title change. I love the Thesz Press into a Hot Shot. The pace built throughout with a sensibly intense exchange of near-falls toward the end. I used to think this was the greatest match of all time and it is still high on my list.
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Post by elliott on Jun 10, 2023 14:28:03 GMT -5
Classic match and classic title change. I love the Thesz Press into a Hot Shot. The pace built throughout with a sensibly intense exchange of near-falls toward the end. I used to think this was the greatest match of all time and it is still high on my list. The Jumbo Killer. Funk used it in the 1976 title match to lead to a victory over Jumbo. The Misawa match isn't quite a hot shot, but Jumbo gets caught up in the ropes and moments later Misawa is pinning him.
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