Superstar Sleeze

Lol...at least someone still clued him in that they won't be main eventing so he could save some face. Rough week for Foley.

Good job fxnj pointing out the female Kobashi fan in the front row. I watched this late last night and did not see it. Going back and watching the last three minutes or so was great, The joy ofo Kobashi hitting a desperation lariat, the urging for him to avoid the TD '91 and how scared she is when Misawa hits and finally that face she makes when the pinfall is counted. Pure gold. Someone should make that into a meme.

I am with Matt. Foley being considered a "creep" around women has been around for about a decade now. Ever since Melina at least, if not before. I am of the personal opinion he means well, but I can see it the other way too. That was the strangest conversation I have ever read. The way Foley reprimanded him (the guy was NOT even out of line! He did not swear. He was not angry. He just stated his case!), and then told he was going to bed. Foley acted like he knew the person personally. It was such a strange tone. There was a weird kayfabe element that Foley somehow was booking the show, but I guess that could be covered by Foley does have some stroke (been watching a lot of late 90s stuff recently) so if Foley were to present matches to a McMahon or someone else in charge he may be listened to. It was the tone that was just so strange. On top of that, it was not even a particularly scandalous or revealing conversation. It was just two smart marks arguing over booking and who to push! Just one of the smart marks happened to be Mick Foley.

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Mitsuharu Misawa AJPW 1/20/97 A lot has changed in the last 15 months, namely, Kenta Kobashi is the Triple Crown Champion having won it from Akira Taue in the middle of 1996. Misawa had dropped the title to Taue. Baba used Taue like he would a gaijin as the transitional champion between two major native stars. Kobashi main evented the October Anniversary show going to a draw with Kawada. Thus the hierarchy had become Kobashi and Kawada are equals (60 minute draws in 95 & 96) and that Misawa was superior to Kawada. Until Kobashi beats Misawa one on one in a singles match, Misawa will be considered his better. So even though Misawa is coming in the challenger, no one should mistake Kobashi for the favorite, he is the definitive underdog to Misawa The Ace. The basic narrative of the match is that Misawa is the challenger so he is going to start hot. Kobashi has learned from his mistakes of October 95 is much more focused (midsection, arm). However, each man makes pivotal mistakes in the match that create meaningful momentum shifts and lots of drama surround dueling arm psychology (Misawas elbow & Kobashis lariat have been compromised). First 15 minutes: Misawa gets off to a fast start because he is the challenger. He lands his diving elbow. Misawa is on point and wants to win back HIS titles. Misawa goes for a quick Tiger Driver. Kobashi does not let the match get away from him and scramble. He manages a DDT. Misawa powders and grabs neck. Back in and Kobashi hits some lethal spinning back chops. Brutal. He works over Misawas midsection; thats different. Punches to midsection, shoulderblocks, front suplex and ab stretch. Misawa getting an elbow here and there but Kobashi is cutting off by going to the midsection. More focused. Kobashi Irish whips Misawa, dumb move basically creating separation for Misawa. Misawa puts on brakes and elbows him. Small mistakes against Misawa matter. Misawa is able to get a surfboard. Good control, but feeds into Kobashis strength. Misawa mule kicks out once Kobashi reverses. Kobashi comes running at him with a shoulder block and elbowed out of the sky. Another dunderhead move by Kobashi this time macho pride gets the best of him. Small mistakes will cost you against Misawa. You need wrestle a nearly perfect match. Misawa karate kick and Kobashis powders. Misawa waits for him and gets butterfly suplex. Misawa in command grabs facelocks. Starts kicking Kobashi but doing more to fire him up. Great sequence where both men are unleashing strikes and it feels like a pivotal moment like whoever wins this exchange will take a big lead. Misawa wins and Kobashi ends up on the floor. At this point, Misawa is sticking to the game plan of slow & steady wins the race and after a couple Kobashi mistakes. It seems like a routine finish. Misawa goes for his diving elbow again (ruh roh say all seasoned wrestling fans), but he ends up flipping over on apron. He kicks Kobashi into guardrail and then DIVESEATS STEEL!!! OW! That look like it hurt! Misawa comes up clutching his arm as Kobashi takes the high ground. Kobashi made some serious mistakes, but Misawa made the biggest in the first 15 minutes! Just like that the entire complexion of the match changes. Second 10 minutes: Big lariat takes Misawa off apron. Big Misawa chants. Kobashi rolls Misawa in the ring to pin him, but only gets two. Barely lifts a shoulder. In one ten minute stretch, Kobashi works like the best Taue and Misawa in one awesome package. Focused with great counterwrestling! Misawa throws a weak elbow to show his elbow is hurt. Big knee from Kobashi crashing into the bad elbow and then a dropkick too the elbow. Then just ramming the elbow into hard objects. Great armwork that is laserfocused. Misawa is throwing elbows no effect. All three of Kobashis arm submissons are well set up. First Half Nelson suplex set up by all arm work leads to an armbar with lots of heat. Then Kobashi counters an elbow into a Fujiwara armbar. When Misawa blocks a German and charges Kobashi counters that into a cross armbreaker. Misawa tries a spin kick and Kobashi catches and throws and dumps him on his head. Laserfoucsed like Taue and excellent transition of Misawas offense into arm-related offense for his own purposes like Misawa would do. FANTASTIC Kobashi control segment! Third Ten Minutes: KOBASHI goes for the kill shot: a LARIAT. Misawa gets up a lucky elbow that cripples Kobashis arm in one blow. He rolls to outside. Misawa hits a corkscrew plancha to outside that wipes up Kobashi. Misawa cant use the elbow might as well use whole body. Blocks Kobashi Lariat with double elbow. OW! Release German right on his skull! Then Tiger Driver, but in too much pain to get a proper cover. He goes up top for an elbow but Kobashi Lariats him out of the sky. Kobashi writhes in pain before covering. Kobashi selling his ass off. Powerbomb and the Orange Crush. Neither get him the duke. Kobashi is frustrated and in a lot of pain. Lariat blocked, but Misawa just rolls to outside. Kobashi stalks prey and is wounded himself. Powerbomb on apron NO MISAWA-RANA! Huge spot! Kobashi sells. Very critical stretch here. Misawa finally is able to make in roads by getting a desperation elbow to Kobashis arm that basically levels the playing field. However, Misawa is having a hard time capitalizing and when he goes for a high risk move (diving elbow from top) Kobashi makes him pay, but now he cant capitalize. It all comes down to the apron spot. Kobashi, bad arm, tries a powerbomb off the apron which would have been the home run shot, but a timely Misawa counter pretty much seals Kobashi's fate. Last 5 minutes. Misawa elbows. Shitty German due to bad arm. One Roaring Elbow, Two Roaring Elbows, Third One NO Lariaoto! Kobashin in pain. Dumps Misawa on head with headdrop German. It is on! Misawa ducks low and headbutts him in abs when he comes in charging. Roaring elbow to back of head. Tiger Suplex gets two. TIGER DRIVER 91~! ONLY GETS TWO! Kobashi chants. Kobashi clubs Misawa from knees and lunges again, but has nothing behind them. On third one, Misawa gets a Sleeper SUPLEX! AND Blowaway Elbow gives Misawa the win! Stone cold classic. Everyone and their mother knows that. Selling by both men was off the charts great. Offense was incredible. Excellent transitions between segments. Every move had consequence and everything had a purpose. Love the story of ramping up mistakes. First it is small stuff like charging at your opponent with a shoulder block then it is diving from the apron into the steel railing and then it is the hurricanarana off the apron! The dueling arm psychology was tremendous especially when you have Misawas elbow and Kobashis lariat in play. Loved the inability to follow up down the stretch due to their injuries. Basically it came down to two things, Misawa got a lucky elbow that landed in just the right place to render Kobashis arm useless. Kobashi was running away with the match. When Kobashi had re-established himself, he went for that high risk move (powerbomb off the apron) thats how you have to beat Misawa with big time high risk moves and he paid for it. The last five minutes is pretty great you have to kill me before you beat me stuff that All Japan does well. Kobashi looks great in a loss and Misawa proves that when Triple Crown is on the line he will stop at nothing to retain and he just always has a little extra. Greatest match of all time? No, I dont think so. Lock for top ten of 90s All Japan and pretty easy Top 25 match of all time. If someone has it as their greatest match of all time, I have no problem with that. *****

Hogan ultimately had to win the belt back. I love Luger's title victory as a hope spot in the larger story. I think a quick cutoff (Hogan victory) is way better for the narrative. WCW gets a fleeting victory but needs Sting. If Luger gets a two month reign dilutes Hogan/Sting. However the quick switch ends the slog of NWO's Reign of Terror and gives a glimmer of hope. Luger is collateral damage but serves a greater purpose. The slight change I would make in the aftermath to salvage Luger is move the Outsiders to a Luger/Giant program (get that Big Sexy/Giant program) and accelerate Scott Steiner's heel turn.

Those are such lame Mickey Mouse belts. I liked the Outsiders squash MAtch.

Notice how most of those are singles. The multi-man tags getting so heavily pimped but are empty spotfests. That's what I associate DG with. Perhaps singles is the way to go.

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi AJPW 10/25/95 The first major Misawa vs Kobashi match for the Triple Crown takes place at the big October Anniversary show at the Budokan. This matchup would go on to main event two of the next three October Anniversary shows at the Budokan. This would only be Kobashis third title shot of his career (Doc in Sept of 94 and Kawada hour draw in Jan of 95) while Misawa was in his second reign as champion. At the time of this match Misawa and Kobashi were still the lead babyface tag team of All Japan, though by the beginning of 96, Kobashi would graduate to leading his own team while Misawa would take Akiyama under his wing. The match is wrestled very much in the vein of two tag team partners vying for the most coveted prize in the promotion. I know some people criticize that Kobashi never fully shed his plucky underdog persona, but I think this match represents that last matchup of young Kobashi. Kobashi is always going to be a vibrant, energetic and emotional performer, but this feels like the last time he felt like a junior to the other Pillars. It was his coming of age match. The story of the match is slow and steady wins the race. Kobashi comes out like gangbusters. He knows Misawa is coming with an elbow and throws him face first into the mat. Great spot to show Kobashis familiarity with Misawa as his tag partner. Hitting a suplex into a powerbomb where Misawa lands back first on Kobashis leg. OW! That had to hurt both of them. Misawa rolls to the outside and is selling his back. Powerbomb on the floor well thats not going to help the back. I love when a match starts off red hot like this. Kobashi as Misawas tag partner knows how damn good he is and wants a quick win. Bodyslam->Fist Pump->But Misawa rolls too far away for moonsault. BOOOOOOOOOOOO! Kobashi starts hitting leg drops to the back of the beck, but misses one from second rope. I like that as a way for Misawa to get some time to recovery. Misawa comes in and tries to use his trusty elbow to turn the tide. Kobashi actually goes for a cross armbreaker and work over the arm. Misawa elbows Kobashis arm. Here we see the youth of Kobashi and something we will have to see if he improves upon that is his focus. He totally departs from the arm in order to go back to his comfort zone of power offense: surfboard and sleepers. It is conservative and plays to his strength. In a lot of ways the first half of the match feels like it is worked in reverse, finish run, limb psychology, opening holds. I think it tells the story of a young hotshot that is reverting back to a conservative approach. Misawa is just waiting and waiting. Kobashi goes high risk by going to the apron and Misawa hits an elbow. From here it is pretty standard, but awesome Misawa. Elbows from all corners of the ring, Tiger Driver, flying bodypress. But we see what will plague Misawa in this match. Lack of killer instinct something he never has a problem with in the past. The first Tiger Suplex is downright gentle and more of a pinning combination. The second one he chucks Kobashi right on the back of his head. When Kobashi gets back in the ring, Misawa does not know what to do next and all of sudden Kobashi gets a drop toehold and a leg drop to the back of the neck. Misawa takes a suplex on his head and then Kobashi just hurls his body at Misawa knocking him hard back into the turnbuckles. Misawa is down in a heap clutching his neck and shoulder. Awesome, awesome selling by Misawa and the crowd picks up on that it might be the end. Kobashis finish run is awesome with powerbombs galore, moonsault and a second moonsault while Misawa is trying to get up that pops me HUGE! I love shit like that and Kobashis selling for it was great. Kobashi goes for a third powerbomb, but Misawa-rana and ROARING ELBOW~! Again, Misawa cant put Kobashi away. He is elbowing and elbowing, but Kobashi just keeps coming forward. I love how Kobashi keeps ducking into the body trying to get throws and Misawa will beat him off with elbows. One time Kobashi does upend Misawa, but it is too little too late. Eventually Misawa realizes that his tag team partner has too much heart to stay down and has to use the Tiger Driver 91 right on his freaking head to put him down. Not a perfect match, definitely some parts that dragged, the middle of Kobashis opening control and the finish took longer than necessary. Overall, great first match in the series. Kobashi came out looking elite in the loss. Hot opening, lost the lead, but came back through guts and willpower and just came up short but it was not due lack of effort or heart. Definitely showed he needed to be more focused and disciplined and that his power and strength would not be enough to beat the Mighty Misawa alone. Misawa is living proof slow and steady wins the race. Weathers the early onslaught and sticks to the game plan. Great selling of the back and later the neck. Really great selling down the stretch to put Kobashi over as a threat. I thought his offense built appropriately from I dont want to hurt the kid to Fuck it, my titles are more important than you so I am going to drop you on your head. ****1/2

Weird that the first Nitro I ever saw was the apex of the promotion that I loved more than any other promotion. I still remember vividly the finish with Luger fending off the Outsiders and Macho Man, racking Hogan with a huge pop and how Randy Anderson did the double ring the bell. Such a great moment! I'm a huge Luger mark BUT Hogan definitely carried the match especially after the commercial break with hard chops and lots of good trash talk. Popped huge for the kick out out of the leg drop because I just remember the missed leg drop. Great feel good moment, so much childhood nostalgia, one of my fondest memories.

I liked this segment as a slow burn. I wish JoJo said he knew what he wanted but couldn't give it to him so this is the next best thing and Sting declines. Just that little detail would have helped a lot.

I had no idea about the fuck up and laughed pretty hard. Kudos to commentary team for putting this over as a huge defection.

This is first full length show I ever watched. I first saw wrestling the week before but the show was half over. Total sucker for Bischoff/Hogan promos. Bischoff's "I love you all" bit always cracks me up. My understanding of the Hall thing is that if Hogan beat Luger that would have been the main event instead of a Hogan/Luger rematch.

Oh definitely. I think Cena/Bryan is overrated (really should re-watch) and that Punk/Brock is a great David & Goliath match, but is missing that next level transcendent greatness. Tanahashi/Okada builds really well on the previous three matches and has really interesting, unique hooks.

Monstah rating for 8/6/00! I gave it 4. Did you watch the 8/5/00 tag Misawa/TAUE vs Kobashi/Akiyama that sets up 8/6/00?

Lol so true. Why couldn't he watch AJPW and Crockett tapes with his girlfriend?

Bingo all about the Twitter/social media presence before debate. That's the only reason they want people to watch live. Smart booking.

Shinya Hashimoto vs Kazuo Yamazaki - NJPW G-1 Climax '98 Finals Hashimoto is going for his first ever G-1 Climax victory. NJPW booking as it has been explained to me is that Hashimoto was IWGP Champion of the 90s, Chono was the G-1 Climax winner of the Musketeers and Mutoh was sort of the gimmicky star, blood feud guy with a little of both IWGP/G-1 Climax wins in the 90s. Yamazaki is a former UWF shoot-style wrestler that I have never seen before and damn did he look good in this. Having read other reviews, Hashimoto is coming in with a bad left leg (his striking leg) from his semi-final match with Kojima. If you pay close attention to the beginning when Yamazaki gets an armbar takedown, after Hash quickly escapes he comes up favoring the leg. This led me to look up what had happened. Yamazaki like a shark smells blood and starts wailing on the leg with kicks. Hashimoto's strategy seems to be to use the overhand chop to quite literally chop Yamazaki down and then set up his kicks. Hashimoto sells really, really well. Some of the best fightinfg through the pain selling, you will ever see, Also he gradually sells more and more. As the match goes on, he is less and less likely to throw a kick. Yamazaki's offense which in I love is to lunge at the knee at every opportunity. These are not the chop blocks from behind, but from the front even leading with the head and the knee is NOT supposed to bend like that. I will say it does get a little stagnant. Hashimoto does not seem to have a strategy to win the match at first. Even though he is in control, it feels very defensive due to the bum wheel. He is fending off Yamazaki more than taking charge. Match picks up once Yamazaki gets a dragon leg screw and Hashimoto ends up on the outside and Yamazaki does a plancha to the outside. Love when people use their body as a weapon. Nice legbar by Yamazaki. Hashimoto gets the ropes. Hashimoto tries kicking Yamazaki with his bad leg (he has no other choice) and ends up back in a kneebar. I like that. There is a difference between doing something stupid and blowing off selling. Hashimoto was selling, it was just stupid, but we all do stupid things under pressure and injured. Hashimoto needs a Hail Mary at this point something targeting the head. He gets that in the form of a massive enziguiri. The move is made by Yamazaki's selling. Awesome groggy out on my feet selling by him. Slop Drop and WAIT! Whats this Hashimoto is heading to the top...A MONSTER TOP ROPE ELBOW FROM THE BIG MAN!!!! Popped huge on the airplane (watched this on a JetBlue flight, what a time to be alive!). Hashimoto unloads on him with some massive kicks and then BRINABUSTAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! HASHIMOTO WINS HIS FIRST G-1 CLIMAX!!!! Incredible, back to basics, fundamentals pro wrestling match, no frills, just kills. It is what Hasimoto & NJPW excel at. The leg injury was an awesome hook, which both wrestlers took a unique take on (no real heat segment) that really impact every moment of the match. I love matches where the wrestler in control feels really tenuous. You just knew at any time Hashimoto knee would give way and Yamazaki would take over. Submissions were hot and the headshot was a great transition to Hashimoto finish run. In a match with only two highspots they made the most of it with the top rope elbow and Brainbuster. Little stagnant in the middle and could have used one more Yamazaki nearfall to really bring it up. Killer minimalist match and one of Hashimoto's best of all time. ****1/2

Charles, Mutoh being perched on the rope annoyed the fuck out of me as well. Do something! Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - NJPW G-1 Climax 98 First Round Never seen late 90s NWO Mutoh before. Thought he gave his usual uneven performance albeit the good outweighed the bad. Tenryu was pretty awesome in this. Very dickish. Like the short stuff kick Mutohs face when he releases hold or drops down with his body weight on Mutoh's legs on a drop down. People complain about Tanahashi's strikes but at least he has good form he just doesn't hit very hard. Mutoh has atrocious form on some of these strike exchanges. Tenryu looks in common toying with Mutoh then ramping up violence. Mutoh finally uses his one big advantage speed and hits a drop kick. They end up on the outside with Tenryu using strength to win the day. He is going to something off top rope onto Mutoh laying on the floor. Mutoh stops him and SUPER ACE CRUSHER!!! This mistake by Tenryu allows Mutoh to target the leg 2001 style. Really good usual Mutoh leg offense that leads to the figure-4 and just like that Mutoh looks poised to win. At some point Mutoh just sits perched on the top rope waiting for Tenryu to get up forever. So infuriating. Really takes you out of it. Mutoh goes for his patented back handspring elbow but gets chopped in the back of the head. Great spot to get Tenryu back in it. Liked Mutoh flash Frankensteiner as a retort. Then Mutoh gets weird laying around not doing much just letting Tenryu do stuff. Tenryu selling on first Powerbomb is good. Mutoh last hope spot is a Frankensteiner out of a Powerbomb and does put up a fight before what I think is the final Powerbomb. So my video cut out on what looked like a kick out by Mutoh before the 3 but every review I have read cites a controversial finish. So I'm guessing this is it. Nowhere near their 2001 match. I thought it told a pretty good story of Tenryu being a dick and controlling match early. He makes mistake of going to top and Super Ace Crursher was a great turning point. Mutoh looked inspired to work leg. Finish felt tacked on with not much in the way of transitions or good selling. Majority was pretty great. ***1/2

Shinya Hashimoto vs Genichiro Tenryu - NJPW G1 Climax 98 Quarterfinals For my money the 93/94 series between these is the best thing NJPW heavies put on in the 90s. We revisit the series in 98 with the return of Tenryu to the promotion. Is WAR dead? Feels like Valentine vs Garvin, two stand up, hard noses ornery muthafuckas going blow for blow. Thought the selling is what really made this feel big. Tenryu's calm contempt vs the fiery rage of Hashimoto. Tenryu punching Hashimoto in the face anytime he was trouble was great. Really works because how sparse closed fists are in puroresu. I thought they did go back to strike exchange too often and after while it felt like the match just was not progressing. Tenryu's kappa kick changed that. Is taking a Tenryu Powerbomb the scariest thing ever? I'm surprise he did not Ganso Bomb Hashimoto. For some reason Tenryu goes up top, Hash hits a spin wheel kick as he dives. Seems weird for Tenryu to do that. Hashimoto unloads with kicks and DDTs to win. Definitely in the vain of a Greg Valentine Match intense, simple and hard hitting. Felt bigger due to the personalities involved. Selling was really good. The basic finish stretch was refreshing after watching so much AJPW. Lack of progression in first ten minutes hurt it. It is Hash vs Tenryu, it is gonna be WAR! ****1/4

Kenta Kobashi vs Hiroshi Hase - AJPW 8/26/97 Hase in All Japan! Kobashi working a Hase style match (Double Hot Take that no one has ever had )! This match made me want to watch some New Japan heavies from the 90s. Loved the contrast, Hase being a technical wizard on the mat stretching Kobashi and really working those holds well. Kobashi uses his strength at times like the chops in holds or when it is a strength move like a surfboard, but for the most part Hase is in control on the mat by keeping it to his strengths. Great example of this is Kobashi using the surfboard a hold that suits him and Hase using a drop toehold to get out showing his technical ability. Love the leg work by Hase. Hase getting into a chop battle seems like bad for business for Hase. Big knees and delayed vertical for Kobashi. Picking up steam and Hase picks the leg and ends up into a stump pulller, which my non-wrestling fan looked over to my computer at that point and just shaked his head. Bad time to look over. Hase tries to go back to the leg, but abandons it to go up top, high risk. Superplex and now Kobashi wants a Boston Crab and Hase has a nutty reversal, awesome, loving this contrast of style. Ahhhhhh Kobashi was going for a Giant Swing. Shows it is not just power but technique to do it as he does not do it well. Hase ends up doing the Giant Swing and is way better at it of course he has a lot more practice. Great dueling leg psychology develops with Hase going for the Scorpion Deathlock, but Kobashi reverses into a kneebar. Hase does some great selling but goes back for knee and gets the Deathlock and then Figure-4 and they fall out. Hase goes into a chop battle, not smart and Kobashi wins, but when he goes for Powerbomb. He collapses. Hase gets missile dropkick and figure-4 back in ropes. Kobashi tries to engage in a chop battle but Hase is wily and hotshots Kobashi and gets a Dragon Suplex. Exploder attempt, but Kobashi hits a half nelson suplex. Feels like a huge moment unlike Misawa/Kawada. Kobashi and Hase milk it and Kobashi geta great dramatic cover. Hase actually gets a ton down the stretch way more than I expected. He goes back to the knee and sets up the Exploder and gets a good nearfall. They are going longer than they need to and the heat is diminishing. Kobashi gets a Samoan Drop off the top, Hase shouldn't try to fly. Hase kinda sucking at selling down the stretch after the powerbombs by Kobashi. They do he might do an Exploder before the Burning Lariat! The first 90% of this is absolute gold. One of the best examples of a wily, technical wizard vs a powerhouse. Both are capable in each other's fields to make it work, but they make everything work around this. Hase uses scientific holds to transition out and Kobashi does his best when he can muscle and steamroll Hase. I felt the end was a bit flat because they tacked on too much of a typical AJPW finish stretch. I think the Dragon Suplex and an Exploder after the knee attack was great, but Kobashi there was a lot of superfluous minutes in there (Kobashi moonsault attempts, Hase STO). It was never excessive, just longer than it needed to be. Awesome, awesome first 90%, but last 10% kinda feels flat and just not totally in line with the uniqueness of the first 90%. Cool to see Kobashi basically wrestler a NJPW heavies match. Highly recommended to watch for uniqueness and well-done clash of styles match. ****1/4

fxnj, I am not against the selling of the three backdrop drivers or Misawa being checked on the doctor that's not doing anything. It is that Misawa launches a comeback after being on the outside being checked on by the doctor AND on the FOURTH BACKDROP DRIVER Misawa makes a comeback. It is just that Drivers feel meaningless. In a lot of ways I feel the match and the wrestlers lose credibility. Misawa does not look as resilient as Kawada looks like a choke, but you could argue that is his gimmick. The match becomes instead of organic just wrestlers forcing more headdrops in there. There are ways they could have better transitions. Kawada kicking Misawa in the face coming off the top is a way BETTER transition than somebody getting dropped on his head and just saying well now it is my turn. Missed moves and taking advantage of high risk moves. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 6/6/97 Pretty morbid match given what happened to Misawa. Outside some BatBat maybe, this is by far the most brutal match I think I have ever watched. I had never seen this before, but I knew its rep for not being that good. Actually through the first half, even with some suspect stuff, I was a little perplexed about the criticism. Shit like Misawa hitting the Tiger Driver on the outside, doing nothing and Kawada just coming in and taking over was stupid. Pretty indefensible for two of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Once Kawada takes charge, he goes after the arm with gusto. This is totally in line with Kawada's strategy from previous battles using the cross armbreaker (it has been a while since I have watched the other matches, but I think this is a new weapon), really liked the stuff outside of the ring, railing shots and that axe kick. He goes back to the cross armbreaker, but Misawa quickly rolls through and knees him in the face brutally. Elbows and then a ridiculous Head Drop German. Like no arms to protect himself, Kawada took it right on his head. Cringe. Kawada fires up and kicks the bad arm and elbows Misawa. At least, he went after the elbow. The Kappo Kick to Misawa's neck is fucking vicious. Kawada brutalizes Misawa, we get the Misawa-rana on the powerbomb before Kawada hits the powerbomb. I would say at about this point match was salvageable and was going well (some poor transitions to get Kawada back in offense withstanding); then it went off the rails. Kawada hits a backdrop driver and Misawa rolls out leading to a powerbomb on the floor. I like the doctors checking on Misawa adds to the drama, but I don't really care for Misawa just firing up and working his way through Kawada slaps and kicking Kawada in the head. To me none of these moves and sequences have consequence. FOUR RIDICULOUS BACKDROP DRIVERS!!! Kawada gets stretch plum and an armbreaker/headscissors combo in between this. It is just ridiculous juxtaposed with all these headrops. I get that you have double up, triple up your offense in AJPW, but this is ridiculous and the fourth one has Misawa hitting a big elbow. This feels like a more violent, brutal WWE main event style match without the kickouts. So it makes it better than your WWE main event finish->kick out->lie around->finish->kick out repeat, but the flaws are so annoying. TWO TIGER SUPLEXES & THREE GERMANS (Kawada decides not take one on his head because fuck that)! Kawada collapses before the blowaway elbow. Kawada of course puts up token resistance before being demolished by elbows. No progression in the match, Kawada goes after the elbow. Once the doctors checked on Misawa, the match went way overkill. Doctor stoppage would have been interesting. Insane number of headdrops. The headrops just mean nothing now. They don't turn the tide. They don't win matches. They just pop, pop, pop the crowd. I enjoy brutal stiffness, but I like it to mean something and to be used sparingly. I hate that wrestlers put this selves through this and then I don't even enjoy it. It was not horrible, but it was not great. ***

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada - Champions Carnival '97 6/3/94 is so fucking good that I think it overshadows every other Misawa/Kawada match which is unfair because they are pretty great together. This is one of the better 30 minute draws I have ever seen. Just hard hitting, brutal, straight forward, logical well-worked match. Liked the hot start and back drop driver by Kawada. Hated that Misawa came back so quickly with elbows. That should have been treated as a game changer (it initially was with Misawa selling and rolling to outside). Misawa worked really well on top early on and he was really bringing it to Kawada. Not a side we see often from Misawa. Loved Kawada's DDT as a transition. Neck work was brutal so many sick AXE KICKS~! Great selling by Misawa. Kawada does not hit anything too big but everything is focused on the neck like that awesome brainbuster. Misawa gets an elbow in corner and weird dropkick/lariat couldn't decide what he wanted. Somersault off apron put him in control as he is clutching his shoulder and neck. Interesting it is not really an extended comeback. No real hope spots just a transition into a pure Misawa finish run. I thought the segments were really long and there was a lot of time in between moves which does telegraph the draw, but I thought at the same time I liked them letting the spots breathe and milk that war of attrition. Misawa hits a Tiger Driver and facelock so that he can regain his own strength. Not as action packed, but very hard-hitting and has more of a war of attrition feel to it. Misawa really loved the Tiger Driver in this match and gets a Tiger Suplex with about ten minutes to go. Headrop German by Kawada changes the tide in his favor for the next seven minutes or so he DESTROYS Misawa and feeds into that choke artist character that he can finish him off even though Powerbombs the hell out of him on the floor. Kawada was an offensive powerhouse in this. Loved all the Misawa ranas in the ring to get out of the floor only for Kawada to hit a MONSTER POWERBOMB in the ring and pin him same style as 5/1/98, but this time Misawa kicked out. One of those enziguiris to Misawa was vicious, hit him flush in the face! With about a minute left, Misawa hits a WICKED Spinning Back Elbow that almost made the eyes pop out of my head and then that kappo kick to Kawada was nasty, but he couldn't get the win either. Tiger Suplex, 1, 2, NO! Kawada kappo kick, 1, 2, No! Draw! It was just fun to see Kawada really unload with offense in 1997. In 98 and 99 he has been great, but this has been an elite year in terms of excellent offense and really putting together effective matches. Misawa sold the neck well. I thought this had a different feel than most of their matches. That being said it was a little too much time in between moves. It was easy for me to zone in and out and not miss anything. The action was great and neck work was superb. Kawada's finish run was tons of fun. ****

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - AJPW 9/6/97 Akiyama's first big match against Misawa for Triple Crown as his junior partner reminds me a lot of October 95 Kobashi match from booking but definitely not as much heat. Akiyama takes a cautious but assertive approach against Misawa he wins the early sequences. The best part of the first half was Akiyama hitting a ground to air drop kick on Misawa. Good impact great selling by misawa. First he tries to quickly get a tiger driver to stave off Akiyama but that gets turned into a backslide. So he goes to the corner and clutches his chest. Masterful sequence by Misawa. Misawa again goes for a Suplex this time into a leg bar. Akiyama goes for knee sets up head drop German not soon after Misawa pops up hit elbow. Here there is a little struggle on duplexes but Misawa mostly has his way with Akiyama. Flying body press and diving elbow look great but Akiyama is rag dolling. Like how Akiyama needs to hit two big strikes to take over. Head drop German gets no reaction...eek High knee...fire up...reaction...fans respond to emotion Exploder only two! Goes for super Exploder never give your opponent the High ground and Misawa beats him off and drop kick from middle rope. Akiyama hits an immediate head drop Exploder. Pretty much his strategy is to just drop Misawa on his head a lo a lot. Most head drops I've seen in this watching campaign. Misawa selling well mostly deadweight style, nice oosotigari counter on one. Piledriver!!! Lots of work on neck and head. Akiyama runs into a big back elbow and then ROARING ELBOW!!! Misawa is sweating profusely and looks like shit. Was he sick? Misawa takes about 4 minutes to demolish Akiyama with sickkkk elbows and a barrage of Tiger Drivers. Great offense but nothing that really stands out. Just kinda going through their offense. Which is great but without a hook, interesting layout kinda falls flat. Lots of head drops don't make up for it. ***1/2

Totally agree with Pete this some excellent usage of Choshu booking. Akira TAUE vs Jun Akiyama - AJPW 1/20/97 Neat upset sprint! Noting spectacular in the ring but from a booking perspective just perfection. You get the double curveball of a 5 minute match and Akiyama's win. Akiyama goes all out and has come to play. TAUE realizes he is in a fight and starts busting out his big weapons, Akiyama catches hot shot but after big kicks and a wicked German it looked like TAUE has this in order. Akiyama might have started off too hot, high risk high reward strategy and it is backfiring against him. Until TAUE gets greedy and goes for Nodowa off apron which is high risk high reward. Love Akiyama half-dive/half-collapse into Taue's midsection and rolls back into the ring. The high knee/Exploder finish was wicked hot. Crowd popped huge on surprise three and Akiyama celebrated the big victory with gusto. TAUE kicked out right after three and kept his heat. Better booking than a match but a fun watch. ***

Holy Demon Army vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - AJPW RWTL Finals '97 Pretty big letdown after the awesomeness of the November match. This feels like more of your typical great AJPW tag. There is always a lot of energy and drama and cool moves, but it just felt more of run of the mill. Like I have seen this AJPW tag match before, where the last match had that awesome hook, everybody just killed it in the ring. Much slower start to this one, which is fine, the first big moment is Taue gets the NODOWA in the turnbuckles. Some good heat was built up on Misawa's neck. I love All Japan's use of the throw down as a counter to moves. Taue just throwing Misawa down disdainfully is great. TAUE PILEDRIVER! Taue gets greedy and wants the Nodowa off the apron. That's a really dangerous move for him and he ought to wait for when his prone opponent is trying to escape out there. By dragging Misawa out there, he does not know how injured Misawa is. It is a really high risk, high reward situation. Here he ends up off the apron and eating a somersault from Misawa. This allows Misawa to tag out. I wouldn't say Taue squandered the advantage completely but now with a fresh Akiyama it could be difficult. Akiyama is good firecracker; Taue one of the better tag wrestlers of all time muscles Akiyama into the corner. Brilliant tag wrestling, much smarter than the apron spot. Redeems himself. Fun little random amateur sequence with Akiyama and Kawada. I fucking love Kawada's spinning heel kick. Akiyama gets a dragon leg screw, but on suplex attempt, Taue hits the injured back and Kawada gets the bodyslam/kick combo. Taue has basically completely redeemed himself. He is did the outright cheap, dick thing and hit Akiyama in his bad back putting Holy Demon Army back in the drivers seat. Kawada does a great job collapsing on the way to tag Taue selling a SINGLE Dragon Screw Leg Whip. You respect the move and I will respect the match. Loved the massive suplex slam from Taue. Taue Scorpion Deathlock and Kawada stomps on Akiyama head before putting him in a deeeeeeeeepppppp Boston Crab. Misawa had saved on Scorpion Deathlock so Taue makes the heads up play to cut Misawa off at the pass here. Taue is wicked smart. Akiyama gets a desperation dropkick to Taue's knee and he is crawling and Kawada sprints over and stomps the back. AXE KICK~! Lord Have Mercy! Akiyama catches the foot and hits an elbow to tag out. Not the most exciting way to set up the hot tag. Misawa is awesome here. So much fire on those elbows love him catching Kawada spinning heel kick and THROWING HIM DOWN! Massive rana out of Taue powerbomb. Armdrag out of Nodowa. It is two on one, but Misawa don't give a fuck. Misawa is here to win. Misawa runs through his opening salvo of finish shit until Kawada hits that reverse kick on a German attempt. You cant German suplex Kawada. Taue hits a massive dropkick upon entering the ring and then when Misawa goes for a diving elbow, he throws him down on the mat. Taue has way more of a presence in this match. Misawa pops up and elbows Taue to tag out to AKiyama. It is transitions like that are robbing this from being an all-time great match. Akiyama's does really well with strikes, but cant do suplexes. This allows Taue to tag in Kawada. Akiyama MANS UP and hits Exploder on Kawada. Misawa & Akiyama are in the same bad spot as last time. Akiyama's back is fucked and Misawa had his one shot to win basically and blew it not hitting that German suplex on Kawada. Misawa hits a Tiger Driver on the constantly interfering Taue to give Akiyama some breathing room. Akiyama tags out. That's pretty smart. Lets see if Misawa can pull it off this time. Misawa is fired up and is barking out orders. I love this Misawa. Really cool sequence where Akiyama hits a German and then Misawa back rolls him into another German. American Alpha should do that. Taue comes in and hits a NODOWA on Misawa. That's the problem really for Misawa & Akiyama. Holy Demon Army are so good at turning tag matches in to handicap matches. Kawada tags out and Taue Nodowas Misawa into Akiyama, great spot. Akiyama act as a screen for Misawa elbow and Misawa tags out. I just don't feel like that is wise. I think Misawa should have tried to hang in there longer. Akiyama does well against Taue even hits a German and Misawa is there to cover him by firing off elbows to Kawada. Then Taue just throws Akiyama on that German. Ruh roh. Quick tag out by Taue very smart and Kawada pounces on that back with nasty knees and a wicked back drop driver. DANGEROUSSSSS! Kawada folds him in half with that powerbomb. Oh Kawada how I have missed you! Kawada hits an enziguiri on Misawa and STRETCH PLUM that's how he won the last match. Kawada lariat, Tag out, Dynamic Powerbomb, Misawa saves. I feel like Misawa is over selling. Like what he has really taken that is causing him to be so useless kayfabe. I like he flips both over on the Nodowa/Powerbomb with an armdrag/rana at the same time. ELBOWS GALORE! He is barking at Akiyama to make the tag, NODOWA ON AKIYAMA! Where the fuck is Misawa? Akiyama Exploder is last gasp, Big Time Nodowa and a BIG High Kick and Taue wins!?!?!? FInish came out of nowhere. Felt really abrupt. Where the fuck was Misawa? if I was Akiyama I get a new partner too. From a kayfabe strategy point of view, Misawa fucking blew it. Way to trigger happy to tag out to the injured Akiyama and then does not save him. Maybe Misawa was like me and was actually shocked that was the finish! Great, entertaining match, thought some transitions were weak kinda like hey this segment has gone on long enough lets go to next one. Back work was typically great and so was Akiyama's selling. Kawada was a monster again and Taue was the MVP of the match. What it came down to is there is no tag team better at turning a match into a handicap match like Holy Demon Army. They are the ultimate front-runners. They get a lead and they don't squander it. It is the exact opposite of Kawada the singles wrestler, the ultimate choke artist. By putting the team in a hole by maiming one wrestler, it makes the uninjured wrestler work doubly hard and ultimately he cant overcome both Kawada and Taue. Leaving Kawada and Taue in the winner's circle again and again. Great showcase for what makes Kawada & Taue great as a team, but leaves a lot to be desired. ****1/4