AJPW BBanquet #89 3/11/06 KOPW taped 2/11/06 Tokyo Korakuen Hall |
Kensuke Sasaki Debut 20th Anniversary Commemorative Special Dream Tag Match: Kensuke Sasaki & Kenta Kobashi vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Katsuhiko Nakajima 26:36. Sasaki went all out to make his special match memorable, delivering an intense and brutal chopfest in the style Kobashi & Sasaki made famous. The rivals exchanged chops to warm up then shook hands and prepared to lay into the opposition. Nakajima tried to stand up to his mentor, but after a quick start, Sasaki simply countered his headlock by picking him up and tossing him. The heat here was on Tenryu vs. Kobashi, and although Tenryu tried to avoid getting sucked into a chop exchange, they were quickly going back and forth until Tenryu changed it up with a kneecap dropkick after actually getting beat bloody. Tenryu took it to the floor, and after he reentered Kobashi challenged him to come back out for more, but Tenryu held the ropes open for him only to double cross him with an elbow then follow with a tope suicida. Kobashi remembered this, dragging Tenryu to the outside as soon as he had the chance, but Nakajima interjected, giving Tenryu the opening to chair Kobashi. Tenryu's chair caught Kobashi in the mouth, perhaps knocking a tooth out, but certainly busting him up so bad streams of blood dripped down his chest. The blood added to the aura of this totally badass match. Nakajima, of course, had to do most of the work for his team. He fought valiantly, trying to use his kicks to stand up to the heavyweight legends chops, of course predominantly taking a merciless beating. Nakajima was damn good though, providing all the diversity and much of the movement, even though he generally avoided finesse to keep the match in the realm of savagery. Tenryu helped him out a couple times, but generally allowed the kid to sink or swim on his own. Tenryu was into the sadism, and when he Tenryu finally made the hot tag, he directed his gu punches at Kobashi's bloody mouth. Tenryu may have finally dropped off in singles, but his work with Kobashi has been memorable. Though not quite as outstanding as Tenryu & Akiyama vs. Kobashi & Taue from NOAH 9/18/05, Kobashi & Tenryu have again delivered one of the best tags of the year! ****
