NWA World Heavyweight Championship 2/3 Falls: Ric Flair(c) vs Genichiro Tenryu
AJPW September 12, 1984 Mito Civic Gym, Ibaraki, Japan
When "The Iron Horse" Lou Gehrig sat on the Yankees bench as the first inning of a May 2, 1939 clash between New York and the Detroit Tigers got underway, it was carved in stone that no one would ever approach his streak of 2,130 consecutive games played. If you thought otherwise, chances were you were informed that the very idea was bolderdash and poppycock mixed with good ol' steaming bullshit. Fast forward to September 19, 1998 and the impossible became a reality as Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles surpassed Mr. Gehrig, proving that the word "never" doesn't apply to some. It is because of these rare, fascinating moments that I refuse to imply that there will be another Ric Flair. That being said, for someone to approach the all-around package for as long as he did and around as many different cities, federations, and personalities for just as long, this man or woman will have to be a wrestling mutant the likes of which could only be created in a lab. Ric Flair. The Nature Boy. The 60 Minute Man. What's causing all this? This 5 part WrestleQuest Spotlight is here to dig into some of the stuff not known by many, but should be given a chance by all.
And if you don't like it, here is The Man himself.
Genichiro Tenryu is another wrestler where a case can be made for the best ever. A spotlight on this sumo-turned-wrestler is definitely happening, so we will instead focus on the time frame of September 1984 as opposed to his bio. Tenryu was a hot up and comer who was endorsed by the great Jumbo Tsuruta and had recently won the NWA United National Title. This two out of three falls contest is for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which was won for the third time by Ric Flair after defeating Kerry Von Erich in Japan just six months prior. The belt Tenryu holds became one third of what is now the AJPW Triple Crown Championship while the NWA World strap has enjoyed a lineage as broken as any of Gehrig or Ripken's bats.
For those about to bleed, we salute you!
The traditional flower girls are out as my soul suddenly cries out for Kevin Owens to run in and start launching them like thorned spears around the arena. Tenryu strolls out to the ring with what appears to be half the All-Japan roster while The Nature Boy struts in alone like only a powder blue robed sequined gunslinger can. The only cat I can pick out of Tenryu's group is Rikidozan's son, Mimota, and damned if he didn't look 60 back then too. If anyone here is new, no worries, we will cover the magic that was Rikidozan and Lou Thesz in time. Nice pop for both introductions and a respectful handshake shows us that we are in for the calm, collected version of Flair this evening. My heart of hearts is praying for a wide-eyed, chop war where chest meat flies into the third row, but that's just me.
Seriously, Tenryu's crew rolls DEEP.
Great mat wrestling to start sees neither man have a clear advantage until Flair gets trapped in a standing armbar. Some quality shoulder tackles are fired off until Tenryu decides he has had enough of this running shit and tries to body slam Ric through the mat. That was one of those classic "I give less than a shit once I release you" type of Bruiser Brody slams. Tenryu cranks the neck and it is immediately clear the difference between a headlock of then and the nice power naps called headlocks now. Both of these men are constantly moving, grunting, and fighting for position in this headlock and bless them for it. Flair manages to back him into the corner for a clean break, giving the champ a chance to trick the challenger into a test of strength. Sure enough, Flair uses that position to ease him towards the turnbuckles and we know what comes next. The famous chops are fired off and suddenly we see Flair's face go to one of confidence to OH SHIT as Tenryu returns fire with some bullwhip chops of his own. Sumo style palm rush by Tenryu and we are back to him cranking the piss out of Flair in a headlock for a near fall. Crowd were ready to lose their shit for a minute, as was I. Flair manages to slip out and the action is taken back to the corner and while the rest of the world was thinking chops, Flair zigged and went for the standby of fists right to the mush. Tenryu just won't go down, so Flair drops the running knee to the skull. That fucking kept him down, if only for a two count. Flair works some amateur style mecanics and a butterfly suplex for more near falls. A big elbow drop from Flair misses and now Tenryu gives a few chops back as Flair bails to collect himself. Back inside as Flair hits another wicked chop and the CHOP FEST commences! It's short and ends in a stalemate, but you take what you can get. A miscommunication on a suplex causes both men to hit the reset button and stand there for an awkward moment. This is followed up with another strange spot where a criss-cross seemed to go awry as either this is part of the psychology or this shit is going off the rails a bit. Luckily, both combatants brought those handy knife edged chops with them, so they just go into the CHOP FEST I've been clamoring for! The cringe inducers are heavily induced until Tenryu goes into a deep sleeperhold. Flair seems to be going nighty night, but when Tenryu brings the sleeper to the ground, Flair puts his foot on the rope forcing the break. That was a brilliant spot. Another "to hell with you" body slam is followed by an elbow that misses, but Flair is too woozy to capitalize. Sensing this, Tenryu hits two enzuigiris in a row, followed by a piledriver, giving him the first fall at 13:44.
Flair is one of the only guys I ever see take the piledriver with both hands planted.
Flair is still shaking cobwebs off, but Tenryu says "tough shit, bell's rung homie" and starts laying knees into him. That just wakes Nature Boy up and it must be Christmas, because CHOP FEST has continued for anyone who enjoyed the first two. Tenryu gets the best of this one and takes over with an abdominal stretch, side suplex, and a front facelock for two. Flair reverses out of that into a suplex but takes too much time on the top rope giving his first WHOO of the night, leading to the dreaded slam. I forget what WWE show it was where he finally something off of the top rope, but it was magical. Tenryu tries a boston crab and a cloverleaf to no avail, Submissions not working out for him, Tenryu hits a nice backdrop for two. Both men rise and begin another mini chop war that ends with Flair hitting the kneebreaker. I hope you kids have your writing utensils and books, because WHOOO it's time to go to school! Our teacher has Tenryu's leg and is ready to get this education started but Tenryu hits the enzuigiri out of nowhere for a two. Crowd exploded for that. Flair is first up and liked Tenryu's idea of a high backdrop so much that he thought he'd return the favor and now it's time for the figure four. Tenryu manages to block it by holding the leg straight as long as he can, but Flair slowwwwwwly brings it down and that bad boy is locked on. Poor Tenryu tries to roll around and reverse it, but Flair rolls them both right to the middle of the ring and that was all she wrote at 22:56 as we are all tied up at one fall a piece. This first fall could hold its own against anything on television today.
The suspense of whether that leg was coming down or not was pure Psych 101
To all the marbles go the winner. Flair opens up with the new game plan of "I'm just going to stalk and kick the shit out of you", which goes in his favor until a big jumping knee misses. Tenryu hits his enzuigiri, which is sold with the Flair Flop, thus making my life complete in one more tiny way. Tenryu, however, is still limping and in bad shape, so Flair is able to hit another sweet backdrop. The champ wants revenge for earlier and attempts a piledriver, but Tenryu is wise and reverses. Figure four is reversed into a small package for two as the crowd shot up like their asses had all been electrocuted. Another enzuigiri looks to end this, but Tenryu's knees are still too weak from the figure four to go for the pin on top of every enzuigiri seeming to take that much more out of him. Flair kicks out at one and the crowd is stunned. A crossbody sends both guys down somehow, so Tenryu goes for another and hits for another one count. No question that got bungled up somewhere. Now, Mr. Flair has had absolutely enough of this evening and starts blasting Tenryu's knee against the apron. Nature Boy follows that up with some sick knees to the leg and another figure four attempt that is escaped with a sense of urgency. Flair loses it, goes into berzerker mode, and just starts kicking Tenryu's leg like whatever rabid animal kicks the piss out of legs. The referee is concerned with saving a life, but is casually knocked back five feet and we get a DQ finish for the third fall at 29:33. The mauling continues until Tenryu is saved by his ample posse. I hope that set up a rematch, because that ending made Tenryu look like a total chump.
Flair was annihilating him in such a way that bringing all the back-up turned out to be a sound gameplan.
Genichiro Tenryu d. NWA Champion Ric Flair(c) 2-1 - No Title Change due to DQ
- Tenryu pinned Flair (13:44)
- Flair made Tenryu submit (22:56)
- Flair was DQed (29:33)
VERDICT:
Barring a few miscues that were pretty glaring (never repeat the spot!), this was great and told little mini stories inside it's own story. From Flair trying to hit his own piledriver in the third fall to the added wear and tear of his knee that Tenryu showed throughout, this match has aged really well. It's scary to know that both men would actually get better in years to come. Sometimes, Flair's selling of the enzuigiri was a little silly, but otherwise, he was on point and brought the best out of a young "Mr. Puroresu". Solid stuff and if you enjoy heaping helpings of chops, definitely check this out.
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