Wow, two FtAs in two days. The world is ending! Next thing you know, the e-wrestling blog will get updated. Heh.
Anyway, this FtA is sort of inspired by the PWI 500. Looking in the top 10, there were two names which I was not familiar with at all: Hiroshi Tanahashi and Ultimo Guerrero. I wanted to get acquainted with both of them since they are among the best in the world today kayfabe-wise, and I wanted to see if both were the real deal. Since my foreign wrestling tendencies lie to the Far East more than South of the Border, I went with Tanahashi first.
This match comes from NJPW's WrestleKingdom III, where Tanahashi challenges Keiji Mutoh for the IGPW Heavyweight Championship. Dated 1/4/09, it's the second FtA to come from this calendar year. The user has disabled embedding, so you're gonna have to go to Youtube for this match:A lot of part 1 is the feeling out process. A lot of chain wrestling, a lot of counters, a lot of light submissions. Business really starts to pick up around the end of part 1, where Tanahashi takes control, but the big spot of the early match happens around 2:10 on part 2, where the legendary Mutoh hits a dragon screw on Tanahashi from off the apron. Then a minute later, he hits another dragon screw in another precarious position. Friggin' sweet.
In fact, there are a lot of dragon screws from both guys in the first half or so of the match, a lot of working the leg. Both guys are selling the leg before long, and it's a running theme in the match. It's still there even as the match progresses into the third act and the big moves are being bandied about. One thing I was sort of baffled by was how far the Shining Wizard has fallen. Mutoh breaks it out several times and it doesn't put Tanahashi away.
Anyway, despite a Botchamania moment from Mutoh towards the end, it's still a fine match, and Tanahashi shows me he has the chops to be counted among the best in the world. I'll be interested to follow him and perhaps put some more of his material right here.
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