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Post by jetlag on Nov 25, 2018 18:19:42 GMT -5
Genichiro Tenryu & Masao Orihara vs. Great Kabuki & Koki Kitahara, WAR 7/14/92
tl;dr probably the greatest match to come out of WAR, if that means something to you. Brutal to the max, no downtime, classic underdog story, Tenryu is in a frenzy etc.
Do yourself a favour and make it a priority to watch this match asap. Literally one of the most awesome brutal spectacles I've ever seen. It starts out with Tenryu chopping Kabuki in the throat in the middle of an exchange, leaving him suffocating on his back, which sets the tone nicely. The early Orihara sections were pretty fun, as every couple minutes he would try something stupid and get punished swiftly. Kabuki & Kitahara end up putting a massive assbeating on him. Kitahara looks like such a killer in this match, just walloping everyone with kicks left and right and dealing them kicks to the eye and the skull, and Kabuki looks great aswell, dishing out extra mean punches and kicks. It also helps that you can really whip Orihara around, he would eat a neckbreaker and his head would just bounce off the mat. Oriharas initial comeback was pretty much perfect as he ditches his junior offense and just tees off with reckless kicks. Later he would hit these great looking dives. His springboard crossbody is an example of a perfectly timed highspot. Tenryu wasn't in the match a ton but he would occasionally walk in and remind you who he his. Earlier Kabuki had blindsided him so, after he Orihara hit a dive and left Kabuki prone outside Tenryu would casually stroll over and clock him with a chair. It's these kind of moments that help make this sort of match so much more intense. Tenryu going mad with the pre-PRIDE soccer kicks, not letting off and leaving Kitahara bloodied is why he's Top 5 all time. Note how he would also put over his opponents, with Kitahara almost KO'ing him and Kabuki pretty much beating him silly with the punches and super kicks. What a fucking match, I wouldn't be shocked if this ends up in my All Time Top 10 as far as tags go.
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Post by fxnj on Feb 10, 2019 0:58:08 GMT -5
Seconded. Everybody should watch this. Just nonstop violence and one of the stiffest matches I've ever seen. Kabuki gives by far the performance of his career stiffing the fuck out of Orihara. It wouldn't be hyperbole at all that this Kabuki wouldn't feel out of place main eventing in AJPW. The crowd is visibly shocked at the brutality transpiring in the ring, which definitely adds to the spectacle. Not a match to sleep on.
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Post by bossrock on Feb 10, 2019 19:43:07 GMT -5
Does anyone know where I can find this?
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Post by kas on Feb 10, 2019 20:05:24 GMT -5
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Post by shodate on Feb 11, 2019 9:51:09 GMT -5
Thirded. All time stiff tag with some of the most brutal strikes in history. Kabuki outta all people brings a carrer performance and hits futen level shots easily. This match makes you believe he should havd been close to top in ajpw . Orihara takes a epic beating. Kitahara ups level to do shots the will furcture bones. Tenryu is his usual godly self just stepping in and stomping noses to draw blood or chop a guy in throat so hard that their venis cough blood or ko with illegal punches while not giving a fuck 4 and 3/4 stars.
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Post by bossrock on Feb 13, 2019 0:14:13 GMT -5
Thanks! Indeed a great match. Incredibly violent yet straightforward in its delivery. Sometimes less is truly more. |
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Post by superstarsleeze on Feb 16, 2019 13:06:54 GMT -5
Genichiro Tenryu & Orihara vs Great Kabuki & Kitahara - WAR 7/14/92
I just watched my friend s unleash an 11-1 drubbing in Rocket League and I don't think that was as bad as how Kabuki & Kitahara massacred him. Tenryu and Kabuki have a great exchange early each leaving the other gasping for breathe after thrusts to the throat. Once I saw how young & skinny Orihara was I knew exactly what this match was going to be like. This is one of my favorite genres of puroresu: Ace & young lion vs two dick heels. Kitahara tries to kick Orihars's head off and then Kabuki comes in and just stiffs the fuck out of him. Kabuki' powerbomb draws Tenryu on the save. Orihara makes a comeback with kicks to the head. Tenryu gets hot tag but it is attacked at the pass. The heels do a number of Tenryu but he makes a comeback and I'm surprised tags Orihara back in. Orihara hits a moonsault from the top to the floor! His big spot! Tenryu whacks somebody with a chair. Tenryu was really into bootlace kicks. He was just stiffing the hell out of the opposing team and he busts up Kitahara's nose. This is brutal. ORIHARA GETS GANSO BOMBED! Tenryu tries to save with kicks but I feel like he just gives up and realizes it is a lost cause. Kabuki hits a bunch of powebombs to win. Brutal, stiff asskicking and a welcomed addition to a great genre of tag wrestling. ***3/4
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Post by mvz on Oct 9, 2021 19:41:59 GMT -5
Each man had his moments to shine, but this never really came together for me. Wondering if there is more context about the start of WAR that might make me appreciate this. I can’t say I think this is much of a contender.
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Post by KB8 on Oct 10, 2021 6:23:56 GMT -5
There's really nothing about the context of WAR or any deep sort of backstory here that'll enhance things. I mean, Tenryu and Kabuki have some history from All Japan, but I'm not sure it enhances the experience substantially. It's fairly simplistic in that everyone just kicks lumps out each other and that's the drawing point more than anything else. I suppose WAR as a whole isn't necessarily for everyone, at least not in terms of a greatest match ever discussion, but if you love it (I love it) then this is one of the absolute peaks of the style (it's somewhere around top 20 on my list).
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Post by mvz on Oct 10, 2021 19:08:32 GMT -5
Thanks KB8, I’ll probably try another couple of matches, I like Tenryu a lot and could see this working out. I appreciate the response.
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Post by fxnj on Aug 26, 2023 23:19:32 GMT -5
This really is such a beautiful piece of wrestling. The stiffness jumped out to me on first viewing, and it still did this time around, but all 4 of these are so good at doing the little things to make the stiffness hit the way it does. Kabuki for this night in 1992 looked like a genius with how he'd sell Tenryu's gunshot throat chops perfectly in the opening. I also loved the sloppiness of an early exchange with Orihara. Kabuki going for an arm drag and just getting tackled got more of a reaction out of me than the smoothest of Steamboat armdrags. Orihara looked like he might have been secretly the best 90's junior not only his incredible bumping and selling, but also how he picked just the right moments to fight back and get the crowd in the palm of his hands. Tenryu wasn't in this match as often as Orihara, but that doesn't mean he wasn't amazing even when he wasn't the legal guy. He had tremendous presence looming over as the big man who could jump in at any time to fuck shit up, and it was an incredible moment when he busted Kitahara's nose open hard-way with the stiffest of PRIDE soccer kicks. Ditto the receipt he got later in the match when Kitahara, with a crimson mask from the earlier kicks, unloads on him with karate kicks.
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Post by elliott on Sept 10, 2023 22:07:04 GMT -5
Awesome match. This rules.
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Post by lemming on Nov 28, 2023 8:58:05 GMT -5
I voted this #27 this year.
Great tag match showcasing all 4 guys. Orihara gets to show off his high flying but also his toughness, mixing it up with the heavyweights. Kitahara and Kabuki look like total killers, wrecking the kid and going blow for blow with the boss. Tenryu gets to showcase that he is Tenryu.
There are many things one could focus on in this match, but one thing that stuck out on my last watch is the way Tenryu would break up pins attempts on his partner. He finds the most violent ways possible, like just punting them clean in the face. Orihara is getting massively beat down and it's like, if Tenryu just pulls one of his opponents off of a cover, they're just gonna beat the kid even harder and pin him again. So Tenryu instead makes a statement out of each break up - "Yeah so you cowards can hurt the little guy, huh - maybe try taking on someone your own size." Late in the match when Orihara is pretty much dead with little chance of making a tag, it actually starts to feel like a viable Tenryu strategy is "Wait for them to cover my partner then rush in and kick them to death while they're occupied." If I'd been on the opposing team, I'd have been absolutely terrified of making a cover. Sure it's the way you win a match, but it's gonna cost you.
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Post by KB8 on Nov 28, 2023 10:16:59 GMT -5
This was my #17 back in June and it's very cool that someone else had it even within 10 spots of that.
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