Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Isao Takagi & Jumbo Tsuruta

[9.0] "Incredibly strong tag match with layered storytelling throughout. The heat between Tenryu and Takagi jumps off the screen, as Tenryu looks to get revenge after being sneak attacked by Takagi, a lower card guy who had no business stepping to him. Kawada shines in full young lion mode, full of fire and desperation, absorbing the brunt of Jumbo's punishment and refusing to back down. His gutsy performance adds real emotional weight to the match. The finish is especially smart. Takagi escapes without taking the fall, denying Tenryu the satisfaction of payback. Instead, we're left with a blood-covered Tenryu seething in frustration, knowing the reckoning is coming. It's a powerful image and a perfect beat in an ongoing war. He's Tenryu, and you know he's going to settle this with violence. Excellent character work and long-term storytelling wrapped in a stiff, engaging match."

[7.0] "Grumpy Old Tenryu wants to first punish Takagi for a previous slight, then fight Jumbo, then kill all the non-Revolution guy at ringside. Takagi acquits himself well, Kawada is fine though not at his Young Gun Footloose best, and Jumbo is Jumbo. But this is all about Tenryu obviously losing it - he refuses to fight Jumbo to start but wants to punish Takagi, and throughout the match tortures Takagi when he can. He's like a cat playing with a mouse. He takes full seconds between kicks to Takagi's face, all while staring down at him. Jumbo finally finishes off Kawada because Tenryu is on the floor fighting the entire roster. 3.5/5"

[9.0] "AJPW matches always were special, creative, heated. Tenryu pretty much losing it towards the end of the match is soo good."

[7.0] "After Takagi attacked Tenryu before his match with Ivan Koloff, Tenryu was out for blood, blowing Jumbo off wanting Takagi instead. And when Takagi showed nothing, Tenryu turned very disrespectful. We got some great moments with Jumbo and Tenryu as well but the magic of the match was Tenryu? s disdain for everyone. As he showed in the Jan 14th tag match, Tenryu? s actions can hurt his partners and that was the same here. Tenryu got violently angry with Fuchi and everyone else on the outside and when he was too busy being the one man show, Kawada got left alone and dealt with easily by Jumbo. Tenryu? s character work is immense but I love how it had a consequence. ***1/2"

[8.0] "THE TENRYU SHOW. God what a magnificent bastard he is throughout this whole thing. He delivers a wonderfully nasty beating to Takagi, showing him no remorse whatsoever, and it's a joy to watch. His beef with the boys ringside is also great. Watching Jumbo's reactions to Tenryu kicking his teammates ass is very fun as well. It's an awesome match. Comparing it to the other Tenryu vs. Jumbo tags from around this time, I don't think it's as great overall as 1/14 w/ Misawa & Fuyuki, but it's still indeed one to watch because of the bona fide Genichiro Tenryu awesomeness."

[9.0] "This is just fantastic. You can feel the hatred between Tenyru and Takagi. After an even start Takagi really gets bullied by Kawada and Tenyru so bad you start to feel sorry for him. There is a great moment where Jumbo gets in and lays boots to Tenyru who gets so annoyed he throws a table while he is on the outside. Throughout Tenyru is being a bastard to the wrestler ringside, which eventually leads him to clocking one with a chair. This results of them all ganging up on him leaving Kawada to wrestle alone. There is an amazing visual of the match still going and what looks like a gang assault going on outside. Kawada eats the pin and we discover Tenyru is bleeding. He manages to get up and away and then LAUNCHES a table at his assailants that looked nasty as hell. I loved this"

[8.0] "I'm not quite as high on this as previous inmates, but this is a hidden gem for sure. Tenryu is sick of everyone's shit and REALLY doesn't like this Takagi fellow, and it's his performance that makes the match; we're definitely witnessing his curdling from the underdog we saw in June 1989 to the grumpy old man he would become for the last twenty-odd years of his career. Eventually Tenryu goes too far, and the ringsiders gang up on him, leaving Kawada alone. He falls to Jumbo's backdrop. ****"