Japan TV 10-23-87 Tenryu vs Hansen!

[Chitohausen]

World Wrestling Kingdom; Lou Thesz, Chairman



Airs on Saturday, October 23, 1987 on:





Taped on October 16 at the Prefectural Athletic Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan



Announcers: Kenji Wakabayashi and Takashi Yamada; Wakabayashi also performs ring announcer duties
Referees: Tiger Hattori, Joe Higuchi, and Kyohei Wada



While the opening theme plays, we see the following clip:

Tenryu looks to be getting frustrated by the fact that he can’t seem to put Inoki away. Inoki briefly turns the tables, when Tenryu sets him up for a Powerbomb, Inoki backdrops him, then falls backwards on top of Tenryu for a 2-count. Inoki is slow to get up, and Tenryu goes back on the offensive. A few moments later, Inoki again throws a hail mary, dropping Tenryu right on the back of his head with a German suplex, but Inoki is exhausted, and by the time he can find the energy to make the cover, Tenryu kicks out.

Back to their feet, Tenryu hits some chops, and Inoki fires back with a few of his own, but Tenryu then hits another Enziguri for a 2-count! The battle again moves to the floor, and again Inoki sends Tenryu shoulder-first into the ringpost, then slams Tenryu on the floor, while his Tenryu’s arm behind his back, so all of Tenryu’s weight comes down on the arm and shoulder!

Back inside, Inoki goes for the Octopus Hold, but they’re close enough to the ropes that Tenryu can reach them before Inoki can really cinch the hold in. Inoki continues the attack, but Tenryu manages to catch him with yet another Enziguri!

Inoki is stunned, and this time, Tenryu is able to hit his folding Powerbomb for the 1, 2, 3!



KENJI WAKABAYASHI and TAKASHI YAMADA open the show.


They welcome us to this week’s episode of World Wrestling Kingdom!

This week, the King’s Road League continues! Two American wrestlers, Dick Slater and Jim Neidhart will meet in a Block B match! Antonio Inoki looks to rebound from his loss last week, when he meets Dino Bravo in a Block A match! Tatsumi Fujinami meets Tiger Jeet Singh in Block B, and our feature bout will see a match from Block A, where Stan Hansen will go one on one with Genichiro Tenryu!


KING’S ROAD LEAGUE:
BLOCK B:
DICK SLATER [3 points] battles JIM NEIDHART [1 point] to a Double Count-out. There isn’t much technical wrestling here, as Slater and Neidhart seem far more interested in brawling! Eventually they make their way to the floor, and neither man can get back into the ring before referee Kyohei Wada reaches the count of 20. The match is declared a double count-out, and each man gets 1 point in the tournament, since neither man lost.


KING’S ROAD LEAGUE:
BLOCK A:
ANTONIO INOKI [2 points] defeats DINO BRAVO [0 points]. Inoki picks up his first points of the tournament when he pins the Canadian strongman after an Enziguri.



An ad airs for upcoming shows, part of the “King’s Road Series ‘87” tour. We see clips of some of the wrestlers that will be in action during the tour, as well as a list of the following shows:

Tonight, October 23 in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi prefecture!

October 24 in Himeji, Hyogo prefecture!

October 25 in Kyoto, at the Daigo Gran Dome!

October 26 in Tokushima, at the City Gymnasium!

October 27 in Kochi, at the Kochi Prefectural Gymnasium!

October 28 in Okayama, at Okayama Budokan!

October 29 in Nagoya, Aichi prefecture!

Next Saturday night, October 30, in Chiba for a TV taping!

The tour ends next Sunday night, October 31, with a TV taping in Tokyo at Nippon Budokan Hall!


KING’S ROAD LEAGUE:
BLOCK B:
TATSUMI FUJINAMI [4 points] defeats TIGER JEET SINGH [0 points]. Singh is a wildman, and takes the fight right to Fujinami, but “the Dragon” battles back. In the end, Fujinami uses the Dragon Suplex to pin Tiger for the 1, 2, 3, and pick up 2 more points in the tournament!



KING’S ROAD LEAGUE:
BLOCK A:
STAN HANSEN [6 points] defeats GENICHIRO TENRYU [4 points]. Things start off with a bang, as Hansen is introduced first, then jumps out of the ring and attacks Tenryu as he makes his way down the aisle! Hansen batters Tenryu, then sends him into the ringpost before climbing back into the ring!

Tenryu has to be helped up, and once he’s up, we can see that he’s already been busted open! The match hasn’t even officially started, and already Tenryu has blood running down his face! Hansen entertains himself by knocking some of the young boys around while the referee checks on Tenryu. Tenryu says that he’s fine, and shoves the referee aside.

As soon as Tenryu is up on his feet in the ring, Hansen attacks again, knocking Genichiro down to the mat, and kicking at the cut on Tenryu’s forehead! Hansen is relentless, he continues to kick and punch at the cut. Tenryu tries to fight Hansen off, but the big Texan continues to pummel him.

Hansen pulls Tenryu up into a sitting position, then repeatedly drives the point of his elbow right into the cut on Tenryu’s forehead! Tenryu is bleeding all over the place at this point, and the referee tries to check the cut, but Hansen shoves him aside and continues to pummel Tenryu.

Several times, Hansen goes for the cover, but Tenryu always manages to get a shoulder up at the last second. Fans might not agree with Tenryu’s attitude as of late, but there’s no denying his fighting spirit! Genichiro tries to fight back, he nails Hansen with a flurry of chops, but Hansen just shakes it off, and drops Tenryu with a big forearm to the head! Again Tenryu fires off some chops, but Hansen responds with a big right hand to the face, dropping Tenryu again! Hansen drops a big elbow for a nearfall.

Hansen hits kneedrops and elbowdrops, for several close nearfalls, but he can’t put Tenryu away. Hansen sets Tenryu up for a Piledriver, but Tenryu somehow manages to block it, and backdrops Hansen to the mat instead. That took a lot out of Tenryu, and when he attempted his own Lariat, he didn’t have the power behind it that he might have otherwise had. Hansen is still stunned by the move, but he recovers quickly and delivers a vicious kick to Tenryu’s bloody head!

Hansen drops into a 3-point stance, and then delivers a big running tackle, but before he can cover Tenryu, Genichiro rolls out under the bottom rope, then drops off the ring apron to the floor. Some of the young boys help Tenryu up, but he shoves them away, even taking a swing at one of them, and quickly rolls back into the ring. Hansen picks up where he left off, pummeling Tenryu, focusing on the cut on Tenryu’s head.

Tenryu is a bloody mess at this point, but he keeps fighting! Hansen clobbers him with punches, kicks, and elbowdrops. Hansen then slams Tenryu hard to the mat, pulls down his kneepad, and hoists himself up onto the middle turnbuckle. Hansen delivers a huge kneedrop, right to the throat of Tenryu, but when he goes for the cover, somehow Genichiro manages to get a shoulder up at the last second!

Hansen throws Tenryu to the floor, then follows him out. He repeatedly whips Tenryu into the guardrail, then again sends him headfirst into the ringpost! The referee really needs to consider stopping this, as Tenryu is bleeding all over the place and has taken a crazy amount of punishment! Hansen rolls back into the ring to break the count, then right back out again, and continues the onslaught!

Finally Hansen gets back into the ring. As Tenryu slowly gets up onto the apron, Hansen charges at him and clotheslines him off the apron! Tenryu falls to the floor, and right up and over the guardrail! Hansen again goes out after him, and proceeds to batter him with a chair before tossing Tenryu back over the guardrail, and then rolling him into the ring.

Back inside, Hansen grabs Tenryu, but Genichiro fires off a kick to Hansen’s midsection, then another kick, and another! Hansen backs away, and Tenryu charges at him, and kicks him in the chest! Hansen is stunned, and Tenryu is fired up now! He keeps kicking Hansen, eventually knocking the big Texan to the mat, and Tenryu stays on him, repeatedly kicking him in the head! Tenryu is clearly exhausted, but he ignores that as he continues to pummel Hansen.

The two men exchange chops, but Hansen gets the better of that exchange, and drops Tenryu with a vicious chop, the impact echoing throughout the building! Hansen puts the boots to Tenryu, and delivers another big kneedrop for a nearfall. Hansen goes for another kneedrop, but Tenryu rolls out of the way, then fires off a couple of stiff kicks! Tenryu pulls Hansen up by his hair, and stuns the cowboy with a big right hand, then goes for a suplex. In his weakened state, Tenryu has a hard time getting Hansen up, but finally he does, and he brings Hansen down with a thunderous suplex. Tenryu doesn’t have the energy left to go for a cover, and both men lay, flat on their backs, on the mat for a moment.

Tenryu is up first, and he connects with an Enziguri for a very close nearfall! Tenryu then stomps Hansen, before heading to the middle turnbuckle for his diving reverse elbowdrop. However Hansen rolls out of the way, and Tenryu crashes to the mat. Hansen goes at Tenryu again, driving a knee into his side, sending Tenryu rolling out of the ring again. Hansen follows him out again, and batters Tenryu on the floor before rolling him back inside the ring.

Hansen continues to pummel Tenryu, repeatedly driving the point of his elbow down into the bloody forehead of Tenryu. Genichiro turns the tables in an instant, though, when Hansen pulls him up, Tenryu jumps up and hits an Enziguri! Hansen stumbles, but doesn’t go down. Tenryu connects with another Enziguri!

Tenryu sets Hansen up for the folding Powerbomb, but Hansen blocks it, and backdrops Tenryu to the mat! As Genichiro slowly gets back to his feet, Hansen charges at him . . . LARIATOOOOOOO!!!!

Tenryu crumbles to the mat, and Hansen covers him for the 1, 2, 3!!!



Before the show ends, a graphic shows up on the screen, showing the standings for the King’s Road League:

Block A:

Stan Hansen: 6 Points

Genichiro Tenryu: 4 Points

Antonio Inoki: 2 Points

Scott Hall: 2 Points

Ashura Hara: 0 Points

Dino Bravo: 0 Points

Block B:

Tatsumi Fujinami: 4 Points

Dick Slater: 3 Points

Riki Choshu: 2 Points

Yoshiaki Yatsu: 2 Points

Jim Neidhart: 1 Point

Tiger Jeet Singh: 0 Points


Wakabayashi and Yamada wrap things up, and hype next week’s show, which will feature long-time rivals Tatsumi Fujinami and Riki Choshu meeting in a tournament match!



Credits Roll


© 1987, World Wrestling Kingdom