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Kendo Kashin & Jushin
Thunder Liger & El Samurai vs. Koji Kanemoto & Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa From NJ Strong Style #98 10/1/99 G1 CLIMAX TAG LEAGUE 1st Taped 9/15/99 Kanagawa Kawasaki Shi Taiikukan (2,500) |
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This was down a notch from their typical level, but still had the same goodness we've come to expect from these guys. The main difference was the finish was angle driven so we didn't get a great explosive sequence like we normally do. The story of the match revolved around the junior title. Champion Kashin wanted to show that his opponent in the title match the next week, Takaiwa, was no match for him, so these two were at it all night. Early on Kashin tried to whip Takaiwa into his metal box, but Takaiwa reversed it causing Kashin to crash into the object. The heels dominated this match, with Otani being as punkish as ever. Of course, when he got caught in the faces corner, they showed him no mercy. Otani taunted Kashin by making the belt around my waist sign right in front of him while he was standing on Samurai. Otani and Samurai provided the best sequences in the match then Samurai made the tag to Liger, who he was closer to, much to the dismay of Kashin. Liger then caught Takaiwa with his shotei, and Samurai & Kashin took care of Koji & Otani. Liger "would have" had the pin here except his own partner, Kashin, pulled him off Takaiwa and rolled him to their corner so he could claim Liger tagged him. The idea was that Kashin wanted to beat Takaiwa himself, which he would have done had Koji not made a last second save. Liger told Kashin to hold Takaiwa so he could shotei him then turned and walked to the corner to set it up. When Liger started running at Takaiwa, Kashin let Takaiwa go and charged at Liger. Both men tried running neckbreaker drops, so there was a big collision where they took each other out. Takaiwa recovered enough to do put Kashin away with lariat. The booking of the finish was great in that it not only showed that
the challenger could beat the champion, but it provided a logical reason
for the partners, Liger & Kashin, to have a title match on the 10/11/99
Tokyo Dome show. Of course, it's only great because it's something not
often seen in Japan. 13:31
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