ALL JAPAN ON NTV

February 12, 1990 (taped 1/28/90)

Kenta Kobashi . . . throws pretty much everything he has (which isn’t much at this point in time) at Abdullah the Butcher.

Genichiro Tenryu . . . decides that he’s finally taken enough guff from Isao Takagi and shuts him up permanently.

Tiger Mask . . . finds himself on the opposite side of his usual partner, but unfortunately he isn’t able to do much to take advantage of the situation.

TOSHIAKI KAWADA/SAMSON FUYUKI vs. GREAT KABUKI/MIGHTY INOUE

Hardly any of this is shown, and from the little that we do get to see, it’s hard to even be mildly inspired. The clip starts with Inoue working a chickenwing on Kawada and then Kabuki working a legbar on Fuyuki, with both of the young guys selling rather well. They work at something of a fast pace, although nowhere near what Footloose did with Fulton and Rogers. The only real story to the match is that Inoue’s neck is taped up, and when Kawada connects an axe kick Inoue sells like he’s about to die. A minute later when Inoue wants to tag out, Fuyuki runs in and hits a nasty lariat to the back of the neck which drops Inoue and causes Kabuki to run in and start throttling Fuyuki. And that leaves Inoue as easy prey for Kawada to finish off after a running lariat. One would assume that Kawada and Fuyuki singled out Inoue’s neck somewhere in the first fourteen minutes to move the story along, which sounds like it’d have been fun to watch, especially if they let out their inner Tenryu and got really nasty with it. But, we just get a watchable clip, with a fun enough finish.

ABDULLAH THE BUTCHER vs. KENTA KOBASHI

Talk about two guys at opposite ends of the workrate spectrum. This actually isn’t too bad. Abby is willing to stooge for Kobashi’s spunky young lion offense, and he even takes a couple of bumps, including a backdrop suplex, to give the kid a little bit of rub. Of course, this is still 1990 so Kobashi dies after the throat jab and waddling elbow drop.

Before the next match, we’re shown a nice video recap of the Tenryu/Takagi feud, starting with Takagi attacking Tenryu on 1/3 and then some clips of their various interactions from in the ring throughout the tour.

GENICHIRO TENRYU vs. ISAO TAKAGI

Despite being more than thirty years old, this is something that some modern bookers and promoters can learn a few things from. Namely the idea that not every feud needs to be stretched out over a period of months and culminate in a match that goes upwards of thirty minutes. No, this isn’t a wrestling classic, there’s only maybe six wrestling moves in the whole match, but it’s not meant to be. Tenryu and Arashi want to beat the piss out of each other, and they’re both willing to throw a lot of slaps, chops and lariats in order to do so. The opening sequence is something of a sprint, and when Arashi hits the ropes for a running lariat damn if it doesn’t look like DK in his prime is headed straight for Tenryu. One would think Tenryu would have this well at hand, and for the most part he does, but when he gives Arashi even the smallest opening, he pays for it. A minute or so in, he gives a clean break at the ropes, and Arashi pastes him with a slap and fires back. That’s the only time he makes that particular mistake. When Arashi is on the mat and the ref is trying to back Tenryu up he complies, but not before trying to leave the toe of his boot buried in Arashi’s eye. Tenryu even gets to avenge the chair attack on 1/3 when he sends Arashi outside and starts pasting him with a chair.

But, when it seems like Tenryu has made his point, Arashi takes an opening to counter a forearm into a belly to belly and then starts dropping headbutts on Tenryu. Tenryu takes everything Arashi throws at him, but while he can hurt and stun Tenryu, it’s just not enough to finish him off. Tenryu fires back with some chops and kicks and takes the first opportunity to take Arashi down and cinch up a Scorpion for a submission. Their respective reactions afterwards perfectly sum up their positions in the company; Tenryu is satisfied but still walks off knowing that he had to go out and fight for that one, while Arashi is beside himself. If you’re looking for deep storytelling and complex sequences, then this won’t do a whole lot for you, but it scores major points for being a hateful brawl with pretty much no downtime, and it’s probably the best thing Arashi has ever done. ***

JUMBO TSURUTA/YOSHIAKI YATSU/MASANOBU FUCHI vs. TIGER MASK/DYNAMITE KID/DAVEY BOY SMITH

This is just as underwhelming as the other Bulldogs matches on this tour have been. DK is too broken down to do much, even his superplex to Fuchi toward the end looks pretty bad, and Davey doesn’t seem to have anything to do that isn’t a power spot (Davey powering out of Fuchi’s short arm scissors and holding him up for a TM dropkick was probably the best spot of the match). That leaves Misawa to carry the load, which is watchable but that’s about it. Misawa has a nice sequence with Jumbo just before the match starts winding down and the work is fine, but there’s nothing to suggest that Jumbo is in there with his heir apparent. It’s also nice to see Yatsu get a bit rough, and Fuchi makes a fine whipping boy for the former juniors. So, this isn’t anything awful, but it’s devoid of anything to really stand out either. The only real story bit (at least from what’s shown) is when Davey hits the powerslam and DK climbs up for the headbutt, which has been the standard finish for their matches, but Jumbo and Yatsu pull him away and DK crashes and burns. That leads to Misawa and Davey getting involved and everyone having a scrum that ends with Davey pinning Fuchi. It’s not a surprise that we don’t see much from Jumbo in a meaningless trios match like this, but this was a prime opportunity for Misawa to step up his game in a different role, but it was either clipped away or just never happened.

Conclusion: The Tenryu/Takagi match is the best thing to see here by a wide margin, even if it’s more fun than good.