This is somewhat of a sad moment for me. The last big match (I am sure there a few more tag matches) between Jumbo and Tenryu. If you have read this far, you know of my love for both, and how the June 5th match of the previous year is in contention for greatest match of all time. Shortly after this match, Tenryu leaves (and takes some of the All Japan roster with him) to form Super World Sports. This radically changes All Japan for the next decade (for the good).
This match takes place on April 19, 1990 at the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium. Again, this one is nowhere near as epic their match from the precious year, but it is truly great and incredible in its own way. Before the match even starts, Stan Hansen attacks Tenryu on his way to the ring. The attack ends with a Hansen Lariat to Tenryu in the corner to take him out. What is important to note here is since his arrival in the early 1980's, the Hansen Lariat has been sold as death. If he hits it, no one gets up. It is the ultimate finishing move in the promotion. Now what really makes this strange is that the previous year Hansen and Tenryu were tag team partners. I don't know what caused the split, since just 9 months before Hansen was celebrating a Tenryu Triple Crown win.
Hansen does get on the mic and say since he just took Tenryu out, he should get the title match. I do not know if this is all there is to it, and Hansen wants the title shot, or there was a genuine split. But Jumbo arrives and drives Hansen off. Tenryu eventually rolls into the ring and Jumbo goes to check on him. Tenryu slaps Jumbo right to the face and then the war is on. Time has certainly not tempered the battle between these two!
As incredible as the pre match is, with Tenryu and Jumbo, you know the actual match itself will be great too. The match itself is a sprint, only going about 14 mins. The work is stiff and Jumbo wins at the end with a Backdrop Driver. Since they are only going a short distance, there are no rest spots, it is all action. I was surprised that it was so short, and also somewhat surprised at how quickly they built to the end, without a whole lot of drama.
The post match is great, as Jumbo calls out Hansen who shows up again and the two have a pull apart brawl. Hansen laying out various All Japan Young Boys has always been one of my favorite sights, and this brawl features some of that.
So this is a much watch. The match itself is fun, but the pre and post match antics make it an overall excellent experience.
This match leads to one of the most famous moments in wrestling history, which we will cover in our next post!
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