Monday, September 18, 2017

Masahito Kakihara, Hiromitsu Kanehara, Kennichi Yammamoto & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Yuji Nagata, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Shinjiro Otani & Tokimitsu Ishikawa (NJPW, 2/3/96)

They lit the furnace under the ring and boy, oh boy, did they let loose on each other here, with Takaiwa slangin’ elbows and a maskless Kendo Kashin being an especially dirty ditty, swelling up Kanehara’s eye real good with a headbutt. Being a 2/3 Falls match, the falls felt unpredictable, the first occurring early on after Takaiwa plants Sakuraba with a Death Valley Bomb and submits him with the crab hold. I thought Nagata was the standout here, as he brought awesome intensity to his interactions, dumping Yammamoto and Kakihara with suplexes and blasting Sakuraba with a sweet rolling heel kick in the corner. But as much momentum as Yuji builds, Kaki’s able to snag him with the kneebar out of nowhere to submit him and even the score…but they continue heating it up well into the third fall. Yammamoto, who looked a little rough around the edges throughout, finishes the match in beautiful fashion, delivering a perdy German suplex hold before using a kneebar takedown to submit Takaiwa. Not a very cohesive match on a whole but plenty of fiery exchanges

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