Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (NJPW, 8/10/89)

This may very well be my favorite example of limb selling in a match, if anything within a junior heavyweight match, where the high spots often take priority over sustained selling. I mean, you got Jushin "Thunder" Liger wearing fucking American football shoulder pads to protect the shoulder but Naoki Sano doesn't let deter him. If anything, it's a giant target on Liger -- like, hey Sano, I'm hurt, please don't attack me here. Sano goes after the arm early on, pissing off Liger, who annihilates him with a rolling koppou kick. But when Sano gets a hold of it, he really does a number on the arm, kicking and stomping and stretching it to make Liger his (rarely seen) bitch. Liger essentially wrestles this match single-armed, the injured one hanging limp at his side. He tries to lock up but Sano overpowers him. When he tries for the surfboard, he has to switch things up to a leg scissored armbar before...well, his arm is jacked. In perhaps my favorite moment of the match, Sano whips the arm and it's sold beautifully by Liger...just the way it drags along the canvas as he crawls. Awesome.

Liger's finally able to turn the tide with a very conscientious top rope suplex to the apron and a follow-up plancha. He sidesteps Sano's dive and Sano crashes, giving Liger some much needed time to rest up. When Sano returns to the ring, he's bloodied up and Liger smells it, attacking him with boots and at one point, kicking Sano in the face. He delivers a quasi-Gotch-style piledriver and then piledrives Sano on the floor because he's Liger. Again, he uses his recovery time wisely and continues to target Sano's neck. Sano's able to snag the arm a few times with armbars but Liger's able to make it to the ropes. When Liger tries for the brainbuster, Sano again takes him down with the wakigatame, forcing Jushin back to the ropes. Assuming Liger ain't tapping, Sano hits a German suplex hold and when that doesn't do the trick, he hits a super backdrop for the win. A fantastic match and perhaps the shining example of how you can make sustained limb selling compelling from start to finish. Liger really is the best junior heavyweight.