El Canek vs. Tiger Mask

[8.0] "[3.75*] Man, I loved this match. Just an incredibly fun Lucharesu match with tons of cool stuff and great chemistry between these two legends. The final two minutes before the classic double count-out spot were AMAZING, they were moving like 2026's matches. When Tiger Mask went for the second dive but he got caught by Canek who threw him on the mat I went crazy. Super damn cool stuff, give it a watch on NJPW World if you sign the platform."

[7.0] "I really really dug this match until the finish. Great near falls before that as well. Had great potential to be four stars, thus an 8. Now ***3/4 thus a 7."

[8.0] "My favourite Tiger Mask match of 1981 ! Canek is a big bully and that's one role he is good at. They took their time to tell a great story. I love the finish and the post-match skirmish."

[7.0] "Good match. More technical than I expected, firstly it's Canek grounding Tiger Mask and working holds with clever heel work but I was most impressed by Tiger Mask working the legs in the second half of the match. Could've done with more selling on Tiger's part, as as soon as turned the tide he was sprinting around like the match had just begun. The countout finish isn't good because surely Tiger going in the ring and diving outside again should've reset the count."

[7.0] "This was better than the last match but there's something about Tiger Mask's work that I'm really not enjoying. I was also very disappointed to see El Canek try to do a fucking abdominal stretch during the post-match brawl -- there's real anger for you!"

[7.0] "The Japanese fans buy Canek as a legitimate threat to Tiger which adds a lot to this match, especially in the finishing stretch as the crowd bites on nearfalls. Both guys also want to ensure they come out of this (or any match) looking strong and I swear it helps make a lot of the spots here less cooperative and predictable. These two just bounce off each other in strange ways from beginning to end and it's a lot of fun. Towards the middle the match flounders a bit with some less than engaging holds but picks up really well as it heads towards the finish."

[6.0] "Mask comes in with Young Lions holding him up and getting flowers but Canek runs out and slams his head onto the turnbuckle when he tries to get in. Sayama shockingly actually sells the attack quite well, with Canek cocky while Mask is hunched over and clearly hurting, staying away from him for a bit when the match starts to recover. The next part is either genius or Sayama botching: he keeps trying for his hip toss counter where he lands on his feet and lands a arm drag, but he just can't do it despite trying a few times, which could have been his attempt to sell the bad arm. He does land his handspring splash and cross chop though, so maybe just a botch. Canek uses strikes and wear-down holds, including a Cobra Clutch, which was pretty cool to see. You start to see more kick-based offence from Mask here as he throws a body shot before landing one from the apron. While this looked cool, it seemed to fuck his foot here as he starts hoppling around when he gets into the ring. He seems to eventually shake this off but it does mean more sitting in holds as a result. It got the crowd going though with chants, especially when he gets stuck in a Gory Special: so it did work ultimately. Mask eventually throws out more kicks and snaps out a figure-four out of nowhere. This follows into more leg work out of a Tiger Spin into a Indian Deathlock, but the lads botch a attempt at a bow and arrow. They do manage throw out a lovely Mexican Stretch though so fair play. They pick up the pace well in the last few minutes as Sayama starts throwing out the big bombs, including a nasty Butterfly and back suplex. An attempt at a cradle pin is countered by Canek smartly back into his Cobra Clutch, which wears down Mask long enough to throw out a military press gutbuster for a near fall. He throws out a second with a elbow drop for the same result. A third? Countered, but Canek still gets a running neckbreaker for another near fall. Finish has Sayama dodge a big crossbody from Canek before going for his signature Tiger Feint, then quickly bounding off the top rope for a huge crossbody to the floor. He tries for another, but Canek catches and slams him to the mat. He can't get back in due to the lad holding onto his foot, causing a double count out. This was expected: El Canek has a rep for politicking so he certainly wasn't losing or looking bad here at all. That said, this was a solid match where the holds made sense and you can see the gears of Sayama's Tiger Mask persona working as he throws out his soon to be infamous kicks, as well as early versions of some future spots. He's great here, actually selling a fair bit and really bumping for Canek's big bombs. Canek obviously doesn't really sell a whole lot for the younger lad, but he's undeniably got his role down pat as a lucha powerhouse. Finish sucked, but I enjoyed this nonetheless."