#211: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bryan Danielson, NJPW Toukon Series (10/24/2004).
Hello, readers!
This week, I am proud to take a look at one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson. Known for his technical proficiency, his hard hitting style, and his humbleness away from the ring, Danielson has crafted a resume that would make most men and women jealous. He’s had incredible careers in ROH, WWE and AEW, and he’s wrestled some of the very best the world of wrestling has ever seen across his career.
Danielson recently wrapped up his full time career this past October at AEW WrestleDream, dropping the AEW World Championship to Jon Moxley. So, I’d say it’s a bit overdue to take a look back through the career of a man who’s style of wrestling transcended the business around him, and made it better for the future. Not many in the American wrestling scene brought a sense of realism and legitimacy during the early to mid 2000s, but thanks to Danielson, real grappling was brought back to the forefront of wrestling.
He’s in my Top 3 Wrestlers of all time, and that’s never changed. The man is just brilliant at what he does.
Up first is a true hidden gem in Danielson’s career – his one and only singles match against Hiroshi Tanahashi, one of the all time greats from New Japan Pro Wrestling. In this bout, contested for Tanahashi’s U-30 Championship, neither man has hit their stride just yet. Danielson was actually closer to his here than Tanahashi. This was around the time Danielson was really picking up steam in Ring of Honor, while Tanahashi was still working his way up to finding himself. He wasn’t yet the Ace we all know and love, but a young Tanahashi is still better than most.
Danielson’s entrance music for this match is a cover of “Stone Cold Crazy” by Queen. That’s fucking awesome.
The U-30 Championship is a title contested between wrestlers under the age of 30. Also, Danielson here is known just as “American Dragon,” but for the sake of this review, I’m still going to call him by his name.
The bell sounds, and they lock up right away. Danielson gets Tana into the ropes and we get a clean break. The crowd is dead silent for this. You could hear a pin drop. I actually like that. Danielson takes control of the arm, and Tana reverses with a hammerlock. They transition back and forth on arm control, until Tana backs Danielson up into the corner, then hits a back elbow and a backwards dropkick to the chest.
Tana maintains control of the arm, until Danielson tries an arm drag, which Tana reverses back into arm control. Danielson flips Tana to his back, then extends the arm out. He digs his knee into the elbow. Danielson applies a standing Camel Clutch of sorts, before popping off a back slide pin for 2. He now moves to the legs, as he ties the legs up, Muta Lock style. Tana is able to slip away, and we get a clean break.
Back to their feet, they lock up, and Tana takes the side headlock. Danielson is able to slip out, and he starts to extend the right arm backwards with wrist control. He turns it into a back slide pin for a quick nearfall, as Tana slips free and backs away. Another clean break, as Tana asks for more. Tana kicks the guts, and looks for a Boston Crab. Danielson kicks him away, and Tana gets a roll up for a nearfall. Another clean break, as both men look for solid footing in this match. Danielson drops his weight across the shoulder of Tana, before going back to twisting at it. Tana transitions to tying up the legs on the mat. Danielson grabs the head and traps Tana in a side Dragon Sleeper submission. I don’t know how to describe it, but it looked painful.
Danielson transitions to a side headlock of his own, until Tana breaks free and looks for the Dragon Suplex. Danielson counters it, and Tana brings him down with a head scissors. Tana returns to the side headlock, and Danielson quickly escapes and hits a dropkick. Tana goes to the outside, and Danielson quickly meets him there with a Tope into the barricade, which harms both men. They fight on the apron for a suplex, with Tana winning out, as he suplexes Danielson to the floor below.
Tana explodes with a hard elbow to the jaw. He whips Danielson into the turnbuckle and hits a running dropkick, KENTA style, and then hits a double arm belly to belly suplex for a 2 count. Tana next applies a Half Crab submission. Danielson screams in pain, as he slowly but surely makes his way to the ropes to break the hold. Tana is quick and drops several knees to the midsection. Tana tries a quick Dragon Sleeper, and Danielson scurries to the ropes.
Danielson fires back with a middle rope diving uppercut. More uppercuts from Dragon, and he whips Tana into the turnbuckle. Diving forearm to the head, and then a Dragon Screw Legwhip to Tana! The nerve! Danielson works on the knee now, applying a version of Charlotte Flair’s Figure 8 submission that somehow looks like the most painful version of the Figure Four I’ve ever seen. Tana sells the pain exceptionally well here, as he drags his body to the ropes.
Both men are back to their feet, and throwing hard elbows to the head. Tana explodes off the ropes with a diving forearm, and two sentons, which get him a nearfall. Danielson gets Tana on the top rope, and hits a running dropkick. He grabs Tana, and connects with a top rope suplex. Danielson goes right back to the top rope, and hits the Diving Headbutt for a 2 count. Danielson looks for the Regal Suplex, and Tana counters into the Dragon Sleeper.
Tana with an Inoki Enziguri, and then we get a series of close nearfalls from both men. Running dropkick by Danielson, and he places Tana back on the top rope. He says that this is it, as he goes for a top rope back suplex, which Tana counters into a splash on the way down into a nearfall. More forearms and uppercuts are exchanged, until Tana hits another Inoki enziguri. Danielson with a quick roll up for 2.
Tana catches Danielson with the Shining Wizard, Mutoh style! Tana connects with the Dragon Suplex for the 3 to retain the U-30 Championship. This was a really fun match! This felt like one of those Japanese matches that American wrestling television would talk about during the 2000s, where the wrestling was front and center, and the crowd was “quiet and subdued.” That was a big thing for companies like WWE and TNA when talking about wrestling in Japan.
They showed great chemistry here, and displayed great limb work throughout. I appreciated the effort in selling from both men through out, and the shots they were throwing towards the end of the match definitely got stiff at some points. The only negative I have about this match is that it simply never happened again. I would love an alternate universe where these two faced off in their primes. Danielson’s strengths that were showcased in Ring of Honor were present here, but Tanahashi was still a ways away from being the Ace of New Japan. I want to see THAT Tana go against Danielson. Alas, be not sad that it only happened once – be happy that it simply happened once.