Genichiro Tenryu & Nobukazu Hirai vs. Kaz Hayashi & Satoshi Kojima, AJPW 10/6/2002
Hirai is an ex-WAR junior with a kind of amusing scuzzy charisma. He is fun as a misplaced guy in a big main event and has some cool exchanges with Hayashi. That said, this is 1000 % the Tenryu. He looks like you'd expect a Top 5 all time wrestler to look like. Just being a wrecking ball, throwing punches, chairs, spilling water, generally treating Hayashi and Kojima like garbage, and it all ruled. This wasn't just a "Tenryu walks over and potatoes somebody" stifffest, there was plenty of fast paced, thinking heavyweight wrestling going on. Kojima and Hayashi were pretty much warm bodies here, although I guess they tried a little harder than usual here throwing punches of their, but their main job was to be there and get swatted and kicked around by Tenryu, and it was a great little match.
Also a pretty great 8 man tag. Tenryu bringing the Wrestle And Romance to AJPW ruled. The Mutoh side of the match was pretty loaded, so Team WAR did a neat job cutting off the ring and playing the numbers game to prevent Team Nu AJPW from doing their thing. Whenever Tenryu was involved the match was literally a string of great moments. Him blocking Shinzakis rope walk chop and hitting him in the throat was just badass. Then you had Tenryu carrying an Arashi in ring section by throwing objects at Mutoh. Also loved him trying to use the chair only to get bloodied himself, then losing it an beating the snot out of Kojima with blood streaming from his eye.. Match build to a series of pretty great cutoffs in the final act, including Tenryu even busting out the mist, Hirai finding a neat way to neutralize Mutoh and Team WAR overcoming the odds. Also was impressed that they were able to make that slug Arashi look like a big deal.
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