Superstar Sleeze

I found myself at first disagreeing with my initial review on rewatch but coming around it. I was too harsh. Yes this is probably the most forgettable of their matches. The beginning 20 minutes or so is very routine Misawa and routine Kobashi. This is their fall out of bed Match. One point I missed was how Kobashi had to earn the Half Nelson Suplex on the floor with leg drops to the neck on the railing. How after he showed great urgency and focus in trying to chop off Misawa’s neck with all the chops. I think the transitions were all really well done. I didn’t see the Clash of Titans but once I read my review I get it. There was a lot of charging headlong with reckless abandon in this match. The offensive fireworks was cool as was Kobashi surviving and getting offense but ultimately succumbing. I still think it’s the least of all their matches but I was being a bit harsh before. ****1/4

This match is fucking choice! Best heat segment in tag match ever I think! Akiyama's back selling is so damn good. Kawada is incredible! That Cowboy Kick is insane. It is almost never a hot nearfall and it was here.The AXE KICK TO THE BACK AND THEN THE POWERBOMB! The raucous start to the whole match which sets up Akiyama as injured but a gamer. This match never lets up. Having seen and reviewed a lot of All Japan recently this is still ***** BABY and one of the most underrated matches of all time!

Best of All Japan '95-'95 Part II Ahhhhhh, the greatness of All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1995 & 1996. Almost two months ago, I devoted an entire blog to the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever pitting Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue aka 6/9/95 so obviously that took top honors. There are still a ton of amazing matches that are contenders for the Top Matches to ever take place. It is a honor to give fresh, brand new insight on All Japan match because they are so well-characterized and deeply analyzed. I think I accomplished that on both 12/6/96 (Misawa/Akiyama vs Kawada/Taue) and 7/24/95 (Misawa vs Kawada IV), the latter, which I have boldly proclaimed is better than 6/3/94 (Misawa vs Kawada III). Finally I unveil my favorite moment to ever happen in any pro wrestling match! There is a lot of ground covered in this volume of Pro Wrestling Love! Click the link & check it & see! https://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2020/07/pro-wrestling-love-vol-63-best-of-all.html

Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue - AJPW 12/6/96 Of all the uber famous All Japan matches, you know the ones only known by the Date, this is the one I have seen the least. I think I have only seen it twice and have no recollection of it and I also dont know what the hook of the match is. First Half: After about 5 minutes, I said out loud to myself "Absolutely genius". This is the best tag team match ever from strategic and mechanics point of view. 6/9/95 is all heart & soul that will win the day, BUT this is thinking man's wrestling at its finest. I will do my best to distill down all the great moments. Misawa & Akiyama are a much better TEAM than Misawa & Kobashi, which was a unit of two great singles wrestlers. I noticed this immediately during 5/23/96 and they showed that again. Akiyama stands up to bully Kawada and knocks him down with a Jumping High Knee. How does he press his advantage? He tags! Genius! This allows the double team to consolidate the advantage. Akiyama, wise beyond his years, knocks Taue off the apron enabling Misawa to wipe out Kawada with Elbow Suicida. Miswa scores a Tiger Driver and nearfall. Where does it all start? A timely Akiyama tag. He was not tired. He landed just one blow. Most people would continue on offense, but thats dumb. It is tag TEAM wrestling. Use that man advantage consolidate the lead. Not to be outdone, Taue steps up to bat. On the attempted Second Tiger Driver, Taue wisely comes to Kawada's aid and attacks Misawa from behind, which exposes a mistake by Misawa to have his back to the enemy corner. Kawada bowls him over and what does he do? He tags out! Expert move. Great sequence from Taue and Misawa ending with Taue planting Misawa with the DDT and a Powerbomb, NOT Dynamic for a nearfall. Where does this all begin? A deft, timely save from Taue at peak danger converting defense into offense. Taue is setting up for perhaps the Super NODOWA when Akiyama showing his youth is NOT wasted on the young and saves Miswa who us his high position to Elbow Drop Taue and tag out. Perfect match thus far. Akiyama gets a Dragon Leg Screw on Taue?!? Kawada senses the danger and interferes. Taue lingers a bit longer than expected but hits the Nodowa and tags out. 5 minutes folks. That was 5 glorious fucking minutes. The next 5 minutes centers around Kawada/Taue in cruise control doing what they do best just generally pummeling and grinding Akiyama down. There is not much in the way of transitions or excitement. It is a comedown from the frenetic first five minutes. After all that fast break, uptempo offense, the experienced Holy Demon Army slows the pace down and exerts their advantage. Weakest point of the match thus far was Akiyama's easy escape to tag out Misawa. Just a simple back suplex. C'mon. There were not even that many teases. The next 5 minutes revs things back up. Misawa and Kawada have one of their classic fiery exchanges, which ends with a Kawada Jumping High Kick. What does Kawada do after being in a grueling strike exchange with the greatest striker in pro wrestling history? HE FUCKING TAGS! Because that's what you should! This match is so pleasing to my brain. Taue comes in and is just a massive dick. His offense consists of stepping on Misawa's face, javelin-spearing Misawa's face into the top turnbuckle, stepping on Misawa's face and then trying to end the match with NODOWA OFF THE APRON~! MISAWA CLEANS HIS FUCKING CLOCK WITH A MASSIVE ELBOW! Holy shit! This was not one of those let me pepper you with Elbows. This was the Sweet Home Alabama Elbow! WOW! MY jaw hurt! Misawa tags out to Akiyama who comes off the top and knocks Taue down. Akiyama has a sleeper/smother/choke on Taue similar to what Kawada was doing to him during his heat segment. Nice little revenge spot. Definitely living up to the hype thus far. Second Half: Fuck Man! This match is really fucking good. Akiyama and Misawa run through a beautiful sequence of double teams set up by frequent tags. Chicken Soup for a Tag Team fan's soul. Misawa hit a missile dropkick and a flying bodypress. Misawa has looked really good in this match. For the second time, it is a Tiger Driver attempt that does the Super Generation Army in. Kawada TRUCKS Misawa with a Lariat and then dumps Akiyama ass over tea kettle to the outside. Taue tags out and now it is Kawada & Taue that show off their double team ability. Nice Kneedrop/Top Rope Taue Elbow. I like the way the heels are paying back that babyfaces in a way that makes them look insecure. Like they are copycats but also smart strategy. Then something very peculiar happens. Misawa snaps off the Misawa-Rana on the Powerbomb. He does NOT tag out. At first, I am pissed. They have wrestled this match immaculately how dare he play Hero-Ball now! That's when it hit me. If this leads him down a road where they lose because he decided to play Hero-Ball and got so obsessed with winning and beating Kawada then this deserves the ***** rating. Lo & behold that's exactly what happens as Akiyama would never be the legal man again. After all these smart and timely tags, Misawa decides it is time to go Iso and he fucks his team. He did not trust Akiyama with the Ball even though Akiyama won the Tag Team Titles back in May. Misawa was going to do this on his own. Granted, he got a lot closer than almost anyone else would because he is the kayfabe SIngles GOAT BUT this is not singles wrestling; this is TAG TEAM wrestling. The number one complaint I have seen about this match is that Kawada looks like a chump because Misawa smokes him and basically has him beat. That is the point. In 6/9/95, Kawada sold his soul to beat Misawa. In 7/24/95, Misawa exacts his revenge and vanquishes him. In 12/6/96, Misawa becomes Kawada. He is the one who becomes obsessed and consumed with beating Kawada on his own to the detriment. The Misawa made two big miscalculations: 1. Akiyama couldn't handle the ball down the stretch 2. Akira Taue goes off in Game 7 of the Finals! Taue is a world-beating, game-changing force of nature. Do Not Fuck With Him. Akira Taue has many great performances but offensively this may be his best. He looks the greatest fucking wrestler ever. Once he hits the Baba Neckbreaker Drop and pretty much renders Akiyama useless for the rest of the match with the NODOWA OF DOOM OFF THE APRON, the Holy Demon Army has this on lock. Taue never lets up. The ever-loyal henchman bows out gracefully so that Kawada can get his second pinfall victory over Misawa and collectively the First Real World Tag League Victory for Kawada & Taue! A long time coming! All four men played their roles well. I expected this match to be about Akiyama, but it is really not. He is a great rookie, but I dont think a mature 1996 Kobashi would have succumbed so easily. That why Akiyama was perfect. Misawa underestimated his help. The genius of this match is how well the fundamental tag team strategy was executed for the first 20 minutes and when Misawa deviated from that and played Hero-Ball is ultimately what cost them the match. Taue was such a game-changer and looked awesome. Kawada just needed to be Kawada excellent ragdoll, jelly leg selling and when he needed to be vicious down the stretch the mean streak came out. 6/9/95 still wins the day because of the emotion and the amazing story. This is 6/9/95 inverted in such a way that Kawada's victory and Taue storming around the ring is feel-good, but I dont hate Misawa or Akiyama so it is not as emotionally stirring. Logically excellent match. Between the '95 Carny Final, Misawa/Kawada '95, 12/3,93, Doc vs Misawa '94, and Hansen vs Kobashi, how the hell am I supposed to rank these! They are all amazing! Really blew me away! *****

Best of All Japan Pro Wrestling 1995-96 Part 1 Can Kawada finally beat Misawa? Akira Taue becomes AKIRA FUCKING TAUE~! Who is this Jun Akiyama cat and how is he so damn good already? Johnny Ace is singing "My boyfriend's back and you're in trouble!" And it is one Last Shootout at the OK Corral between Kenta Kobashi and Stan Hansen aka the Greatest Pro Wrestling Rivalry! All this and much, much more! Click the link and check it & see! https://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2020/07/pro-wrestling-love-vol-62-best-of-all.html

I'll echo this. I just wanted their 1996 hour draw and it was good, but there were so many bad transitions and it was just workrate for the sake of workrate. These two worked much better against everyone else than each other. I think they were two workrate guys of the Pillars so when they lost a glue guy like Misawa or Taue they fed into each other's worst excesses. I need to watch Kawada vs Kobashi '98 again because that is supposedly their big match. I gave it ****1/2 which is on the low end of that match and I think at the time I was not confident in my critical abilities to go lower on such an acclaimed match. I am curious what I would think of it now. OJ, I am glad you like the '98 Misawa vs Kobashi match that one blew me away when I watched it. It is only smidge behind 1/20/97 for me. jdw & Ditch were so powerful in crafting the All Japan canon that it is not surprising to hear that if they bagged the '98 Misawa vs Kobashi that explains why it got lost in the shuffle for a while and why for a long time we believed canon ended with Kobashi vs Kawada. Im not trying to knock those guys. I am forever indebted to Ditch and jdw is such a valuable resource. I am just saying when the concentration of power in a few hands, it can skew perception. Which is not true because there is also Kobashi vs Akiyama '98, Misawa vs Akiyama '00 and Kobashi vs Takayama '00 all worthy of Top 100 Greatest Match Ever consideration.

All Japan Triple Crown Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 10/18/96 Their previous Triple Crown bout went an hour Broadway with Kawada as the defending champion in January 1995 now almost two years has passed and not much has changed except Kobashi is the Champion. It is worth mentioning that Kawada beat Kobashi in May of this year meaning that Kawada was still nominally ahead of Kobashi on the totem pole. First 15 minutes: I am missing about a minute to a minute and half, not a big deal given this is an hour Broadway. Once all the clipping is done, Kawada hits a massive Dangerous Back Drop Driver. Kobashi is on jelly legs but blocks the Jumping High Kick. He sticks around long enough to hit a Lariat and Kawada powders. We are 5 minutes into this match and they are selling like they have been wrestling for 30 minutes. This would not bode well for their typical 30-45 minute match and the prospect of 55 minutes of "epic" selling frightens me. Kobashi plays a little King of the Mountain and then slows it down with variants on the headlock. That's good. Major suplex struggle, Kobashi was nominally working over the head/neck with chops. Kawda ends up felling Kobashi with a massive overhand chop and then Jumping High Kick and that consolidates his lead. Kobashi is selling at 10 minutes like the match will end in the next 5-10 minutes, not in 50 minutes. Yeesh. Kawada kicks Kobashi in the head a lot on the outside. Credit where credit is due, Kawada kick to the head while Kobashi's head is right up next to the post was pretty sick and made Kobashi's ear bleed. Kawada starts to work submission holds like the Single Leg Crab w/ head stomp and facelocks. Too many bombs and way too much selling already. Not much of a narrative yet. Second 15 minutes: Kobashi wins control with high chops not to throat but more to the jaw. Kobashi consolidates with a Back Suplex. No Moonsault, but he does get the Powerbomb and even the Burning Lariat! Kawada kicks out! I believe that was the first ever Burning Lariat. Kobashi misses the second and Kawada nails a nasty Head Drop German Suplex. Jumping High Kick and now it is time for Kawada to run through his Greatest Hits. Back Drop Driver and some Stretch Plums. There was a particularly nasty Stretch Plum Variant that he should bust out more. Kobashi powders. Kawada bullies Kobashi in the corner with a ton of kicks. Kobashi catches a kick and Dragon Leg Screw! Thank Fucking God! This was terrible up until that point. It felt like every shitty Indy Epic from the 21st Century. Then clouds parted and the warm, life-saving sunshine of leg psychology saved me. Kobashi kicks ass working the knee and Kawada sells like a mutha. Kobashi steals Kawada's single leg crab including stomping the head. Figure-4 ends this segment and now they have something resembling a match. I have this theory around the middle of 1995 they realized two things they could no longer top themselves AND that the most over part of the match was the finish stretch. So why not start the match with THE FINISH STRETCH?!? Genius, right? NO! I covered this in my Kobashi/Taue '95 review and somewhat in my 10/15/95 tag team match and was even how the 10/25/95 Misawa/Kobashi match was laid out. but it worked in that match. This layout is essentially an inverted match structure because they eventually have to take it down a notch since they are not working a real sprint. This gives a feeling of long Falling Action which is not desirable. The leg psychology gives a feel of Rising Action and now I am a bit more excited. Third Fifteen Minutes: Well that did not last long. I feel like Meltzer would love this match. Lots of "action" and "selling". This feel very comparable to Omega/Okada I. Kobashi demolishes Kawada with a Back Drop Driver. Moonsault. Jackknife Powerbomb. We ran back through Kobashi's finish stretch. I guess Kawada's is coming up. Kawada starts chopping and hits a Jumping High Kick. Two Super Stacked Powerbombs. Kawada is not the offensive dynamo Kobashi is so he has to go back to the well to be EPIC~! Kobashi goes after the knee. Kawada cheapshot with a closed fist. There are good aspects to this match, but it just mired by so many bombs and bogged down by "epic" selling. Kawada knee gives out. Kobashi LARIATS Kawada so hard he starts selling his own arm. That was the coolest moment of this match. Greta nearfall and selling from Kobashi. Kawada nails a Koppou Kick. This match because Holy Overkill, Batman on the levels of Misawa vs Kawada '97. There are absolutely insane and gross number of head drops. I cant even remember who took the most. I think they were trading them. Kawada definitely took the last one. It was just sick and not in the good way. Last 15 Minutes: So of course, Kawada executes a Kensuke Sasaki style arm drag into a cross armbreaker. Hot nearfall one of the hotter ones of the match. Kawada tries for the Fujiwara Armbar. Kobashi comes back. Tiger Suplex! Kawada hits two big moves: Bombs Away Knee Drop and Dragon Suplex. The crowd knows they are going their distance and they are not biting anymore. Kobashi Northern Lights Suplex and Backslide. Kobashi was going for Powerbomb when time expired. "Shitty Indy Epic" is hyperbole, but it is in that style of 21st Century epic that I have seen everywhere from a random dive bar in Worcester and the Tokyo Dome. Wrestlers think just because they "sell" general attrition and fatigue that means they have "psychology" and they are not doing a spotfest. "Epic selling" is just as lazy as spotfests and spots without consequence and meaning. They just needed to go an hour. They accomplished that. This reminded me very much of Omega/Okada I. There are enough good sequences and stretches but I never want to watch this again. ***1/4

Rewatched. As I was watching, I kept feeling the match get better. By end of The Fantastic Kobashi Control Segment, I was like this is handily better than 6/3/94. I still think 6/9/95 is better because the emotion is on a whole another level. This match is very much a contender for the greatest workrate match and there is a lot of amazing competitive emotion, but it lacks that I dont know to describe it. There is just something about good vs evil that at least for me is just more moving. 6/9/95 captures that better. Even something like Misawa/Taue '95 and Misawa/Kawada '95, holds more water with me because of the heelishness of Kawada and Taue. To me this is the greatest babyface vs babyface match of all time. Misawa is out to win and is red-hot. The Misawa elbow to the railing and the lucky Elbow to the Lariat are amazing transitions. The best part is that I keep expecting for the selling to evaporate but it never does. Both men are completely committed to the narrative that this is a match about each man trying to will these trying to overcome the injuries. Kobashi control segment may be the best ever and when Misawa gets back on offense he is sublime incorporating the injury into why his offense all of sudden is not as impactful. The apron spot which would become their trademark was amazing and I love how they respect it. Yes Kobashi did get moves in after the fact but after he took the Misawa-Rana off the apron he was never the same and was never in serious contention of winning. I think I had this at #2 or #3 last year, this will drop this year, but out of Top 10, I dont know. There are so many excellent matches!

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Steve Williams - AJPW 10/11/97 A very odd Triple Crown defense for two reasons: 1. It was Doc's second challenge of the year, very unusual to have a man challenge for the Triple Crown twice in a reign especially twice in a calendar year 2. It comes just ten days before Misawa's title defense at the Budokan against Kobashi. This is in Fukuoka. Usually the title defense are more spread out throughout the year and usually at least 1-2 months apart. I would love to hear the rationale behind why this match even happened? I would agree of the four big singles matches of the rivalry (1993, 1994 and 3/1/97) that this is the least. It is very Misawa by the number and follows the rhythm of that style of match. Doc gets Misawa in trouble with some leg work early. They did a lot of Greco-Roman standup grappling, but not much progressed in the first 5 minutes. I guess you could say Misawa had the nominal advantage so Doc popped him in the mouth then double legged him. From there he chop blocked him. I was excited like I was in 3/1/97 at the prospect of Misawa's leg being worked over but it was really just time filler. Misawa hit a DDT out of nowhere and he began his comeback. Elbow Suicida! Looked good. Doc planted him with a Spinebuster on the outside. The match then became about can Doc hit the move that won him the Triple Crown in 1994, the Dangerous Back Drop Driver. There were a lot of teases especially a great one on the apron that Misawa saved himself from. In the meantime, Doc ran through his usual offense, three-point stance, splash in the corner and the DoctorBomb. I thought when he finally hit the Dangerous Back Drop Driver, the steam was taken out it by Misawa bump and sell. Misawa looked to have blocked it with his arms, which is just sometimes how he takes it. He stood up and looked to not sell, but it turns out he was just doing a delayed sell, collapses through the ring ropes. He threw me, the announcer and the fans off by doing that. Poor choice in my book. Doc throws up the Diamond Cutter symbol to let us know he is down with DDP, the People's Champ (he was in a stable called the Triangle of Something with Albright and LACROSSE (I really want to see that gimmick, it is Jungle Jim Steele in a mask)). Doc gets his nearfall and it is off to the races for Misawa. Which is an odd sentence to type after someone just got nailed with the most beastly move in All Japan BUT everyone and their mother knew Misawa's comeback was imminent. Misawa just shrugs it off and ROARING ELBOW~! Doc charges into an Elbow and yep we are going home. Misawa busts out a Koppou Kick/Somersault Leg Drop thats pretty cool, so that was different. Misawa pours on the Tiger Drivers and Elbows and unlike 3/1/97 he does not need the Tiger Driver '91. Solid match and if you are a fan of Misawa you will like this. Doc looked good in this but was kind of hamstrung by the formula. He comes off as just another challenger. He is no longer special like in 1994 when he had that one big move the most Dangerous Move in Pro Wrestling, the Dangerous Back Drop Driver. The beginning was tepid and the leg work and first Misawa comeback was perfunctory. The match really began in earnest with Doc planting Misawa with a Spinebuster on the floor. It then became about each man running through their Greatest Hits with the only drama being in if the Back Drop Driver would be hit and once it was hit, it was not even sold properly and from there Misawa did not even bother with a transition, he just lazily went into Elbows. After writing all this, I have downgraded the rating in my head. It is match that is barely above average and it is only because both are so good at offense that I give it ***.

Rewatched as I plan to rank the Best All Japan Matches of 95-96. I thought this was better than I remembered. I disagree with one part of my review which is Misawa lacked killer instinct in his first finish stretch. They were putting over Kobashi's resilience. I could be wrong but I believe this was the first time someone not only survived the Misawa Comeback of Elbows, Tiger Suplexes and Tiger Drivers but launched his own offensive. This made Kobashi feel like a special challenger. A cut above Kawada even in the loss. They really go overboard in the real finish stretch to prove this BUT at least Kobashi does attempt offense and throws Misawa around a bit in his defiant last stand before succumbing to the vicious Tiger Driver ‘91. This match put Kobashi over huge as THE rival. Offensively Misawa’s rhythm section was awesome as was Kobashi’s big finish run loved the Moonsault as Misawa was getting up. Kobashi’s full court press was a theme from the opening bell to close. He was so great in this. I am upgrading to ****3/4, finish run is still too long and there were some cheap pop All Japan-isms in there. Fantastic first match!

You can find it in a Ditch, as that is where I found it.

Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Mitsuahru Misawa & Jun Akiyama - AJPW 11/29/96 DOOMSDAY NODOWA OF DEATH~! Holy Shit! I have a new favorite move that was badass. I know it is annoying nitpick, but it is kinda disappointing that it was just a transition to the heat segment and not the transition to the finish. This is their league match ahead of the finals on 12/6/96, growing up I would ignore these match and I would just skip to the Finals, with age comes wisdom and I am so glad I went back and watched this because this gangbusters. Taue and Akiyama are chippy to start. Both Taue and Kawada have no time for Akiyama's insolence. Taue bullies and pummels him in the corner at the very beginning of the match after an elbow form Akiyama. When Akiyama makes the hot tag around the 15 minute mark, Kawada takes Akiyama all full of piss 'n' vinegar scoops him up, bodyslams him and COWBOY KICK! The best part of both of these is that Akiyama's reaction is not of submission, but of ardent resistance in both cases he comes firing right back. I love when he dumps Kawada with a Northern Lights Suplex. Akiyama is not taking this lying down. It was interesting that when Misawa did come in, he chose to work on Taue's leg almost immediately. That's very rare from Misawa. He does not work limbs. It is Elbows or running through his stock spots. He hits Elbow Suicida and it is breaking loose in Sapporo (yes I looked that up )! Akiyama tries a plancha but Taue sidesteps. NODOWA ON THE FLOOR! Kawada DECKS Misawa with a Lariat simultaeneously! The complexion of the match has changed. This is when the aforementioned Doomsday Nodowa of Death comes into play. Kawada works the arm of Misawa, but Akiyama saves. Kawada Powerbomb on the floor! They go full American style face in peril with tons of hope spots for a Misawa tag. Misawa hits a lot of his trademark hope spots, catching himself on the top turnbuckle Snake Eyes, firing off an Elbow, but Taue Enziguiris. Or the classic shoot Misawa off into the buckles, catches himself, springboards back with an Elbow. Taue SMOKES Akiyama with a Boot. Another great moment is when they go for the Dangerous Back Drop Driver/Nodowa Combination, but Misawa backflips out, Elbows and Taue just ducks under and THROWS HIM DOWN WITH A NODOWA! I love Taue! Kawada gets two. A spinning back Elbow finally gives Misawa enough freedom to tag out. Honestly, I love the back end of the FIP so much and how hard Misawa had to work for the hot tag, but I didnt like how they front-loaded with a lot of big bombs. I think they could have saved the Doomsday Nodowa of Death and even the Powerbomb on the Floor for later. Akiyama vs Kawada was classic and covered the best parts above. In the high-energy fracas, thanks to Taue's big boot, Kawada DEMOLISHED him with a Dangerous Back Drop Driver! After a brief glimmer of hope, Misawa/Akiyama looked fucked. Taue lands a Powerbomb, but it is not Dynamic. There's a great moment when Kawada has Akiyama in the Stretch Plum, and Taue comes over to cut Misawa off and Misawa slingshots over and hits an Elbow and goes full ass over tea kettle because he was so committed to the spot. Once Akiyama tags out, Misawa hits a Flying Bodypress, but soon after Kawada does his Bicycle Kick out of the German and the Holy Demon Army are poised to take the lead. They are going to do a Nodowa/Powerbomb Combo, but Misawa snaps off the Misawa-Rana! They go full Budokan style finish run. ROARING ELBOWS GALORE! Tiger Suplex! Two Tiger Drivers! Wow! Incredible the only reason I imagine is not remember more is because it is overshadowed by 12/6/96 soon. This is excellent tag team wrestling. Tons of great action but driven by competition and anger. Those Akiyama exchanges were great. Loved the tension of the Misawa FIP segment. Misawa coming into bail out Akiyama was great. The finish run was them clicking on all cylinder. I love how the Holy Demon Army won control of the match twice because they were the better team. They had transformed the match into a handicap match and were forcing Misawa & Akiyama to wrestle singles. It was only when Misawa started helping Akiyama and the finish stretch that Misawa/Akiyama started wrestling as a team. Misawa came off as a stud in this match. Loved it! ****1/2

Steve Williams & Johnny Ace vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - AJPW 11/30/96 I am a bit confused why this match is even happening. These two teams went to a 30 minute draw at the beginning of the tournament. I assumed that they were tied for second place and they needed this playoff match to see who would face Holy Demon Army in the finals at the Budokan on 12/6/96. However I checked the standings and Misawa/Akiyama had one more point than Doc/Ace, maybe they had one more point b/c of this match, BUT Kobashi/Patriot were tied with Doc/Ace. I guess it is not that important, but it is unusual. I only have one Doc/Ace match left on the docket, but I am going to miss this team. It is an unheralded excellent tag team of power and aggression. Brody & Hansen have the aura, but Doc & Ace put in the work. All Japan finally realized their dream of having a match that is entirely home stretch. They accomplish this by making the match only 7 minutes. There should be more 5-10 minutes sprints in wrestling when the wrestlers just go balls out. This is a great bomb-throwing spotfest and I mean this by reverence. It is all kicked off by young upstart Akiyama dropkicking Doc from behind at the bell. Doc responds by DEMOLISHING Akiyama with a Back Drop Driver and it is off to the races. ACE CRUSHER, DOOMSDAY DEVICE, DANGEROUS NODOWA/BACKDROP ON THE FLOOR ARE ALL THROWN OUT LIKE CANDY! Misawa's Elbow heavy comeback is great, but Ace hits a powerbomb. Akiyama saves from the Dragon Suplex with a missile dropkick. Akiyama busts out a rolling Northern Lights Suplex. The Misawa German into an Akiayma German is a spot they have done before that I absolutely love just a great tag team spot. Misawa decks Doc from behind and EXPLODER~! Multiple Tiger Drivers put Ace down! Loved this! All spotfests should be this short and explosive! I would never complain. ****

Steve Williams & Johnny Ace vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - AJPW 11/16/96 Doc & Ace come into the Real World Tag League, the champions, but honestly I dont think they were the favorites. Misawa & Akiyama and the Holy Demon Army both had to my strong favorites going into it. Between 12/9/96 and 5/23/96, the Super Generation vs Holy Demon is the best feud and those are the best teams, but man Doc & Ace were awesome this year. To be third place doesn't seem good enough for such a great team, but Misawa/Akiyama and Kawada/Taue are two of the best teams ever. To me this match really telegraphed they were going the distance. It was a workmanlike approach in the front half. It was solid sporting pro wrestling how I like it. Not every match has to be the greatest ever. It was four amazing wrestlers just plying their craft and working for an advantage. Nothing stuck for the most part because all four are great tag wrestlers and followed sound tag wrestling strategy. You get in trouble, get your ass out and tag out. Akiyama hits a High Knee to get himself out of trouble with Ace and a jawbreaker to avoid Doc taking over. Very sound. There was not Hero-Ball until Akiyama broke that rule. Ace came in and ran his ass over with a wicked flying European Uppercut that would make Cesaro jealous. Ace was definitely the one showing the most personality in this match thus far. Ace consolidated and tagged out to Doc. Akiyama did the smart thing which was quickly jump on the offensive and got in his High Knee and dropkick. You gotta make the tag. Akiyama played Hero-Ball. He stayed in even though he was not fresh and Ace had just beaten him up. Doc scooped him Military Pressed Him and Snake Eyes brutha. Ace roughed him up on the outside and we got ourselves a heat segment. Great Ace Crusher on the top rope. Doc & Ace are solidly in the lead. Lets see what happens from here. I love wrestling like this. It is not going to win any Match of the Year awards, but it is so simple & elegant. It stays true to the origins of the art, just trying to win a match. I would never complain if this is the quality we saw week in and week out. Doc & Ace are great in this. Ace is on fire and brings so much energy. I love him backing Doc up so he can really nail that Flying Clothesline. I am surprised how quickly the Ace Crusher and Top Rope Oklahoma Stampede were hit. Misawa has to bail out Akiyama and finally on the save before the Dangerous Back Drop Driver/Nodowa, Akiyama makes the tag. Misawa takes no prisoners and wrecks Ace's day. Huge Elbow Suicida! Ace is really good at selling. I am looking forward to checking out the Ace/Kobashi team. Akiyama comes back in and redeems himself. High energy Elbows and a Northern Lights Suplex. Tags Misawa back in and the good guys have consolidated their advantage. Misawa is thinking Tiger Driver, nope Tiger Suplex?!? Doc saves and Ace plants him with the DDT and now Doc starts in on Misawa. Nice powerslam. Doc wants to end this with a Dangerous Back Drop Driver but Akiyama saves and Misawa tags out. Instead. Doc drills Akiyama with the Dangerous Back Drop Driver and now Akiyama is fucked. Ace hits the Rocker Dropper Misawa saves. DOC DEMOLISHES MISAWA! The Dangerous Back Drop Driver is way too dangerous but that was a 9.9 on the Danger Scale. Misawa was super close to landing on his head. It is how Misawa takes the bump. He back flips so he tends to land on the front of his head and arms to brace it, but he under-rotated and he almost piledrove himself. Nasty. DOOMSDAY DEVICE~! Fucking love that they use that move. Misawa somehow saves. Ace goes for the Kobashi moonsault, but crashes & burns. Misawa kicks off the apron to drive Doc's head into the railing to stop the Back Drop Driver on the floor. Akiyama sit outs on a Powerbomb...EXPLODER~! Tag to Misawa! Frogsplash! Tiger Suplex! Tiger Suplex! No! No! No! Time Limit Expires. I wish they did a Doc vs Akiyama singles feud similar to Kobashi vs Hansen. It would have been good for Akiyama. I am not saying it would be as good as Kobashi vs Hansen as that was amazing, but I think Akiyama and Doc had good chemistry and it would good learning for Akiyama. They accelerated Akiyama's growth as he became a Triple Crown challenger in 1997 only one year after playing with the big boys. I guess Kobashi did get his first Triple Crown shot in 1994, but it seem like they rocketed Akiyama up there. All four were great, I thought my boy Johnny Ace stood out here as a big offensive dynamo with a lot of personality. Really good meat & potatoes wrestling with some All Japan fireworks in the last 5 minutes. ****1/4

Watching this based on FXNJ voting this in his Top 100 Jun Akiyama vs Hiroshi Hase - AJPW 5/1/98 It is pretty ballsy to wrestle a completely different style on the biggest show of a promotion's history. This is New Japan through and through. The best possible New Japan style matwork at the beginning. I love how tentative they are at the beginning, even cautious about interlacing fingers. They were jumping to takedown attempts, they are working psychological aspect of amateur wrestling. The actual wrestling was amazing. Makes me want to see Fujiwara vs Hase, which has to have happened at some point given their overlap in New Japan, right? Some really beautiful transitions on the mat that feel really organic. Hase busts out the inverted Figure-4 and slaps Akiyama, very New Japan. Akiyama does really well on the mat, definitely better than Misawa or Taue would, probably better than Kawada and Kobashi. This is a very Hase-style match. After Hase works the leg some including a Mutoh style Indian Deathlock with a Bridge into Facelock. A nice little firefight of slaps and chops breaks out. Hase wins this and executes his famous Giant Swing which is always a crowd-pleaser. 15 minutes through and I can say if you love 90s New Japan Strong Style and Hase's work in general, you will really love this as this is probably the best possible version of that style so far. I picked a very funny place to pause because the match took a very abrupt turn when I resumed. Hase and Akiyama both have the Exploder and the Northern Lights Suplex in common. After a very matwork-heavy start, each one just busts out two Exploders and they just go crazy. The Dome loves it! Hase kicks the knee and Akiyama returns with a dropkick to the knee. Akiyama works the leg. Two Figure-4s. The second one sees a Push-Up battle in the Figure-4 which I find amusing. Akiyama willing relinquishing the hold I do not find amusing. What I find even less amusing is that Hase went to the Keiji Mutoh School of Selling and just casually stops selling as Akiyama kicks the knee. It would be one thing if he hulked up. He just treated Akiyama's kicks like they were not even happening. Hase gets a Northern Lights Suplex but cant hold the bridge because of his knee and the second one he holds, but kick out. The Dragon Suplex is Hase' big nearfall. Akiyama at least has the decency to bellow when he stops selling Hase's kicks and he does a real Hulk Up. Double Arm DDT and ONE Exploder win the day! I liked the economy of the finish and the first 15 minutes was breezy and different. Once they traded Exploders they lost me and the legwork was very by the book and Hase was not committed to selling. Theres too much good to call it bad, but disappointing does ring true. ***1/2

Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Kenta Kobashi & The Patriot - AJPW 11/22/96 I will reiterate my desire that I wish Kobashi's partner until teaming up with Akiyama in 1998 was Hansen. It was probably hard to justify Kobashi/Hansen finishing in 4th even with a stacked tag division of Misawa/Akiyama, Doc/Ace and the Holy Demon Army, but still even if they jobbed a lot those matches would be great. Second time, I am watching The Patriot and I like him. He is not as much of a revelation as Johnny Ace, who is legitimately great, but Patriot is competent and is very animated. He is pumped about shouldertackling Misawa at the beginning and he is pissed when he did not get the pinfall on Akiyama. The first half of this is pretty bland and tepid. I would say it was noteworthy as this was the first time Kobashi and Akiyama squared off in any meaningful manner. Even though Kobashi is the Triple Crown Champion coming into this, it is Akiyama who wins their first battle with a Fireman's Carry and then a high knee brings in Misawa. Misawa's hits a hellacious Senton on Kobashi. Just full body weight flush on the chest. Kobashi does make his comeback against Akiyama and puts him in his place with Chops. Patriot squanders an advantage for his team twice, but surprisingly also wins the advantage twice. It finally sticks with Akiyama who he plants with an Alabama Slamma for two. Kobashi comes in and consolidates their advantage. The Patriot even busts out the Torture Rack, which being a Luger mark totally popped me. The Torture Rack is a great finish someone should bring that back. Now that we are in the home stretch lets see if business picks up. This match makes you believe Uncle Slam is the most vicious move in the history of pro wrestling. If Patriot could have just hit it, Misawa & Akiyama had no prayer. Three times he tried and three times he failed. Akiyama escapes the first one and tags Misawa to end his heat segment. Patriot actually powerslams Misawa to quash the hot tag and tag out to Kobashi. Misawa/Kobashi work the best sequence of the match. Beautiful missed strike exchange that showed will to win and scouting that Kobashi won with a pair of DDTs. Again Kobashi had Misawa scouted and won with a Half Nelson Suplex. The Patriot Top Rope Shouldertackle into a Kobashi powerbomb was a pretty cool double team move. Misawa's spinkick to escape was a bit too ordinary for me. Akiyama fares well against Kobashi for a bit before a Neckbreaker Drop and a tag out. With both Junior partners in there, you can smell the finish. Akiyama escapes Uncle Slam, but not the Powerbomb...good nearfall. When Patriot goes for Uncle Slam again, Misawa hits a missile dropkick to his back! Great spot! I missed Akiyama's comeback was not just fire up in a Powerbomb, too my turn, your turn. Akiyama hits a Northern Lights Suplex. Misawa/Akiyama go all crazy double teams with rolling Germans and a Northern Lights into a Flying Bodypress. It takes two Exploders to put The Patriot down because this is All Japan. Patriot hits lighter and is a bit clunkier than Johnny Ace, but I like his raw enthusiasm. Fun finishing stretch, good use of Patriot so that Kobashi was not overexposed (Kobashi didnt hit his big spots meaning shit was not kicked out of and Patriot ate the fall). You could say The Patriot earned his stars & stripes in this match. Misawa & Akiyama are a really great team. Well Kobashi & Patriot, we hardly knew 'ya! Next up Kobashi & Ace! ***1/2

Brock is easy Top 50 and I would probably have him in my Top 25, maybe even my Top 10. The Brock Backlash is so bizarre. Best match with Daniel Bryan since his comeback, best match of Finn Balor's life, Match of the Year with AJ Styles, made Goldberg interesting. There is NO ONE better at selling in the 2010s. He is the God King of Selling. He is the second best bumper in WWE after AJ. He is a freak athlete. He understands pro wrestling psychology better than 99% of pro wrestlers. He knows how to vacillate from being vulnerable and dominant without losing credibility in either. The fact that LOLBrock dOes 2 many sUpLeXes is such a lame complaint. I would love someone actually try to criticize his psychology. No one is perfect, but when you watch his matches from a plot and character perspective, he is the most consistent WWE wrestler of the 2010s. Brock Rocks!

Steve Williams & Johnny Ace vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue - AJPW 11/22/96 A rare meeting between these two teams even though both had existed since 1994. It is ostensibly heel vs heel, but I would imagine Holy Demon Army are the de facto babyfaces and I accurately predicted Kawada would play Ricky Morton. Doc & Ace are coming into this match as the reigning World Tag Team Champions having defeated Misawa/Akiyama for the titles and defended against Kobashi & Patriot. I dont believe these two teams have met. All four wrestlers are great tag wrestlers and really understand tag psychology. Notice how quickly an opponent makes a tag when they are in there with a fresh man. Taue quickly hits an enziguiri to tag out to Kawada for instance. They dont want to be caught with a fresh man. Twice I thought the Doc/Ace unit was going into peril, but Doc bullied his way out of a front facelock and Ace miraculously whipped Kawada into the railing and suplexed him. This actually started the first heat segment proper because Doc just suffocated Kawada and did not let him make the tag to Taue. Ace was such a great partner running across to Ace Crusher Taue on the ring rope, double teaming Kawada on the outside and running interference to keep Doc in control of the Single Leg Crab. They begin working Kawada's knee, which makes me very happy that I will get some sublime Kawada selling. And I did, but it did not last as long as I wanted. Doc comes right in and snatches that ankle and wraps the knee around the post. Dropkick to the knee by Ace. Kawada sells so well especially running from corner to corner on Ace's Lariat spots. I cant blame Ace when you got someone the caliber of Kawada on the ropes, you should go for your kill shot. He announces his intentions for the Ace Crusher (I love his commitment to yelling it out), but Kawada breaks free and Spinning Heel Kick tags to Taue. I didnt know I needed a Taue Hot Tag in my life but holy shit was it glorious. Taue Hot Tag Edition is my new favorite thing. He mowed down Doc & Ace and it was glorious. The match is totally worth it for Taue's hot tag. He was motoring. I think my favorite parts was the Samoan Drop on Ace and after Doc bowls both of them off the apron, Taue keeps his poise, NODOWAS Ace on the floor and turns around and decks a charging Doc! I was like Taue is the fucking man! We need more Hot Tag Taue! All good things must come to an end and Ace DDTs Taue. Taue hits the ropes like he is fucking a lithe cruiserweight and smokes Doc with a Big Boot and then somersaults for the tag to Kawada. I love this Taue. Kawada is still ginger on his leg. Doc gobbles him up for dinner with a powerslam and then a Spinebuster. Top Rope Oklahoma Stampede. Things dont look good for Kawada. DOOMSDAY DEVICE~! I love that as their big highspot! Taue saves! Great nearfall. TAUE NODOWAS ACE! But he gets Spinebustered. Kawada has powdered after taking four huge moves. You really believe that the Holy Demon Army is fucked. Crowd is firmly behind Kawada. Doc hits his top rope shoulder tackle and Kawada still kicks out. I think it is time for a Dangerous Back Drop Driver or Doctor Bomb. Doc misses the Splash in the corner and Kawada hits a massive release German. Looks like Doc is fucked now. Doc is deadweight selling. Dangerous Back Drop Driver/NODOWA COMBO! 1-2-NO! Kawada Mack Truck Lariat for two! Crowd is wicked hot! They tease the Dr. Death Back Drop Driver, which Kawada sells his fear so well, Enziguiri and Powerbomb 1-2-NO! That nearfall gets huge heat. I would have ended it there. Koppou Kick! JUMPING HIGH KICK 1-2-3! Huge win for the Holy Demon Army! Even if they dont win the Tournament, I feel like they deserve a title shot by virtue of beating the champs. At only 20 minutes, it is short by All Japan standards, I think they could have done more, but I really loved this. Kawada & Taue get to show their range by working 100% babyface. Kawada is a great Ricky Morton that could have lasted another 5 minutes easy and who the fuck knew Taue was such an awesome hot tag. Doc & Ace have been a revelation since I first started watching them. Really amazing heel tag team and it is a shame their run ends in January of 1997. This was really cool. ****

AJPW World Tag Team Champions Steve Williams & Johnny Ace vs Kenta Kobashi & The Patriot - AJPW 10/12/96 Pretty excited to see what The Patriot bring to the table, it is so weird that in less than a year, he would main eventing in the WWF against Bret Hart. In 1996, there has been a renewed focus on the tag belts since Doc has come back and reunited his team with Ace and now Misawa has formed a new team with Akiyama to combat Kawada & Taue. However, this left Kobashi out in the cold. I was thinking how cool would it have been if Kobashi formed a tag team with his former arch-nemesis Stan Hansen after the Budokan Triple Crown defense. That would have been a hellacious tag team. Baba would shift the tag teams around in 1997 with Doc trading Ace for Albright as a tag team partner and Ace would replace Patriot as Kobashi's full-time partner. Doc is an especially frisky mood at the beginning of this match, duck walking, taunting, antagonizing the Patriot, lots of middle fingers between the Americans. Do Japanese flip each other off in the same way or did they not realize what the Americans were doing to each other. I agree with others who have watched this match that the first half is a bit slow. It is more meandering. There's not much in the way of highspots. It is very 80s WWF tag. There is a long heel in peril to start the match with Ace taking a lot of heat. They are using vertical suplexes as highspots. There is some fun character work mostly from Doc who is just being a jock shithead in the match. The best part was Doc challenging Patriot to a three-point stance shoulder tackle match. Then they shoved a bunch and Doc just teed off with rights. As for The Patriot, he is a big boy. I liked the shouldertackle off the apron and then celebrating. He is competent and hits his stuff well. I think Doc and Ace have more personality. Kobashi hits a powerbomb on Ace and then Boston Crab. Doc comes in and saves. Dr. Death becomes a one man wrecking crew, clearing out the challengers. Surprisingly, Ace does not tag out, instead Doc hits an Oklahoma Slam off the top rope and Ace covers for two. Looks like business is about to pick up. Lets see what happens in the second half. Business picked way the fuck up in the latter half and this turned into quite the humdinger of a match. Ace whipped Kobashi into a big 'ol meaty Doc Lariat on the outside and then Ace Crusher on the Top Rope! Ow! Lets go Ace! Tag out to Doc who Military Presses Kobashi and just drops him. Kobashi sells the knee. Instantaneously, Kobashi is super over. I will say Patriot by extension was over like rover. I think the fans really wanted Kobashi to win the tag belts and there were a ton of Patriot chants. Kobashi fights out of the corner beating up both Ace/Doc. Tag. Patriot hits a beautiful dropkick on Doc. Patriot needs to put some more mustard on these strikes. He is hitting light as a feather. Doc gobbles him up and Spinebusters him! Ace beats Patriot from Pillar to Post. Patriot is a pretty animated wrestler, I enjoy that. He really gets into celebrations and let people know he is trying to get up. Patriot hits a weak back suplex and tags out. Kobashi tees off on Ace. Ace is always great at eating Kobashi's offense. He always does the right amount of struggle to make Kobashi look like a Destroyer. Kobashi unleashes some wicked Spinning Back Chops to set up a big time German on Ace. Oooooo a little Kobashi/Patriot double team with a shouldertackle/suplex combo. The crowd is really, really behind Kobashi/Ace and they do a double team Powerbomb. Double shouldertackle on Doc. Some nice continuity from the Global Energy Team. Kobashi TRUCKS Ace with a lariat but Doc saves. DAAAAAAAANGGGGGEEROUSSSSSS BACK DROP DRIVER ON KOBASHI! Wicked head drop. That grinds the babyfaces momentum to a halt. Big Kobashi chants ring out, but he is out cold. Glassy eyed sell. Doc always has that one big bomb in his back pocket that can change the match on a dime. Ace is struggling after taking so much punishment but he tags out. Doc has some wide eyes but Patriot chop blocks Doc from behind on the Powerbomb attempt that was a match saver. Tag into Patriot, BIG POP! Massive Top Rope Shoulder Tackle! NODOWA~! 1-2-NO! Crowd loves the Patriot! If they broke into a U-S-A Chant I would lost my mind. Patriot POWERBOMB! 1-2-NO! Crowd loves it but the Patriot is spent. PATRIOT CHANTS! This is crazy! Patriot goes up top probably looking for the Patriot Missile, but Doc meets him and just Overhead Belly 2 Belly Suplexes from the top, insane! I sense the end is nigh for the babyfaces. Kobashi saves Patriot from the DANGEROUS Back Drop Driver, Ace comes in and ACE CRSUHER~! DOOMSDAY DEVICE~! all on Kobashi! Kobashi is toast! They have The Patriot isolated. Double team Oklahoma Stampede only gets two. More Patriot Chants! Doomsday Device??? Kobashi yanks Ace down. Victory Roll! Good nearfall for Patriot! Doc charges...Uncle Slam...NO...Doc bucks him off...MACK TRUCK LARIAT! Kobashi saves, but that would have been a great finish. Ace has Kobashi detained. DoctorBomb should have been the finish because it'd be nice to have that move actually win a match...oh well...German Suplex and Tiger Suplex put Patriot down. This being 90s All Japan it does go 2-3 moves too many, it was the Patriot, he didnt need that much protection. The last 15 minutes of this is absolute gangbusters. Doc has looked every bit as good in 1996 as he did in 1994. Confidence, power, explosiveness, charisma. First match where Ace took a back seat, he got worked on a lot. He is better as a stooge heel or working Southern Style Heat Segments on top. Kobashi was awesome especially selling. Patriot is a great offensive hoss. He has great highspots and is pretty charismatic but he is missing a lot of the connective tissue. Doc/Ace's finish run was just awesome, I am loving their use of the Doomsday Device! Cant go too high though the beginning of the match was just there. ***3/4

Haters gonna hate. This match rocks! AJPW Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Stan Hansen - AJPW 9/5/96 One last shootout at the OK Corral for The Lariat! It is fitting that Kobashi's first Triple Crown Defense is Stan Hansen's last. Hansen was the last man standing from the 80s. Make no mistake about it, he may have been in the twilight of his career but he was still dangerous. He won the Triple Crown in 1995 and was a Tag Team Champion with Albright at the beginning of the year. The Hansen/Kobashi rivalry may be the greatest rivalry in the history of pro wrestling, it takes into account age differences, cultural differences, personality differences mixes it together into an amazing pro wrestling dynamic. We charted Kobashi's growth as a wrestler through his matches with Hansen ultimately winning in 1994. The feud laid dormant until right now. Could Hansen use his psychological advantage of historically being Kobashi's bully to intimidate or had Kobashi truly gotten the monkey off his back? It is possible I am missing some matches but there has been no noteworthy matches since their 1994 Carny bout where Kobashi won. It is funny when people say there is no progression in this feud. That sometimes how psychology works especially the psychology of a bully like Hansen. He wants to you to remember those bad times to make you start doubting yourself and fall back into old habits. It is beneficial for Hansen to wrestle in that manner because he is a bully. Kobashi does not let himself be bulled but he does not have a winning record against Hansen so there has to be doubt in the fans' minds and his. Kobashi always wrestles forward. I loved the brawling start. Hansen dumping the attacking Kobashi over the top rope and they are just doing the Tasmanian Devil cloud of dust brawl. Hansen pops Kobashi good a couple times with a left. A really big closed fist wins him the advantage. He starts bullying with the Cowboy Kicks and wrestling him to the outside. Kobashi came back with body punches. AMAZING Selling by Hansen the way he doubles over and starts hollering. Kobashi is leg dropping Hansen across the ropes and railing. They trade lunging shoulder tackles at each other with Hansen getting the better of it. HANSEN TORPEDO! I love his bottom rope tope suicida he wipes Kobashi out. A memorable moment in almost all their matches is the Powerbomb on the Exposed Floor. Hansen THROWS KOBASHI DOWN! Kobashi looks like my sister when she wakes up from a nap...where the hell am I? Hansen throws hims into the ringpost gleefully. Hansen is in that comfortable, dominant position. Big middle rope reverse elbow and a suplex as Hansen is in full control at the halfway mark. Hansen is so good at using his weight and suffocating opponents with his full court press. The match was a pretty even brawl. Hansen was resorting to cheap closed fists, but Kobashi was not running away from it. It was two close-range lunging shouldertackles that changed the game. Weight and space. He used his weight and closed the gap quickly suffocating the opponent. Kobashi never had a chance against the second shouldertackle (tope suicida). Hansen with that killer instinct hits the Powerbomb to complete his advantage. Interesting he picked Kobashi up on the DDT. He wants to prove a point. They are tussling on the apron when Hansen charges for a Lariat and wraps it around the steel ringpost! OW! Here we fucking go! Hansen sells like a million bucks and for five minutes Kobashi is laser-focused on that arm. I am not going to bother recapping because people need to see this. All-star performance from both. It works on two levels. Hansen's biggest weapon has been taken away and it has ground his offensive to a halt. Kobashi who was pretty much out on his feet now can gradually work his way back into the match and gets his whips about him. I love this style because it is not a flick of the switch. The next five minutes are pivotal making you believe in the credibility of the Kobashi comeback. Of course, we need some drama so Hansen needs some desperation offense. After a cross-armbreaker, which was a great climax to the arm work, Hansen catches a charging Kobashi with a wicked right elbow. Great transition as when you are charging your are vulnerable but you also have extra momentum it is a risk/reward calculation. Hansen won out. Hansen was looking to use his right arm to beat Kobashi into submission. Kobashi looking for that extra momentum took to the air. It was a top rope neckbreaker drop and a missile dropkick that got Kobashi back into the driver's seat. Bodyslam! Fist Pump! Moonsault! 1-2-NO! Great nearfall that I agree with...there's still life in this match. Kobashi MISSES a running leg drop. Again it is a charging Kobashi telegraphing a move and this case missing it giving Hansen opening. I LOVED MIssed Moves! Wicked Hansen right backfists! Lariat signal! Crowd goes nuts. Kobashi fights off, Hansen spins around...DECKS HIM WITH A EASTERN LARIAT (Since the Western Lariat is with his Left Arm, get it? Ok maybe not my best)! 1-2-NO! Limp shoulder raise. Hansen is incredulous. It was his non-dominant arm that he hit the Lariat with. I am assuming he goes to follow-up with a Powerbomb. He doesnt. Works a Back Suplex for 2. Western Lariat misses and Kobashi cant get the load up for a back suplex. KOBASHI LARIAT! SECOND KOBASHI LARIAT! 1-2-3! The origins of the Burning Lariat! I believe this is the first match he won with a Lariat. I love the idea of him paying tribute to his greatest rival by taking the Lariat making it the Burning Lariat continuing the tradition of it being the most feared move in Japan. Tremendous match and it is official I think this is the best rivalry in the history of pro wrestling even better than Flair vs Steamboat. The beginning did meander too much for this to be a full 5 stars, but once Hansen shouldertackles this match is a stone cold instant classic. Hansen and Kobashi both were tremendous. ****3/4

I am only 15 minutes through this, but I feel like 3/21/95, 7/24/95, 1998 and 2004 are all better matches from the Kobashi & Taue rivalry. Finished the match, second half is much better, but still the matches I listed are superior to this one, which is unfortunate because this one is the most important. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Akira Taue vs Kenta Kobashi - AJPW 7/24/96 I am a pretty big Kobashi fan and I think he's the GOAT but somehow I have never watched this match which is kinda crazy because this is first Triple Crown victory. Also, Kobashi vs Taue is my favorite Four Corners combination. I just love their dynamic because they are such opposites of each other. The Budokan is firmly behind Kobashi. I hate to admit but the first 15 minutes are pretty I dont want to say flat. There is not much struggle. They each take turns ragdolling for the other. There's no hook. They did not establish what Kobashi had to overcome. They just went to work. Kobashi chopped Taue's neck a lot and took the first control segment...delayed vertical...lots of facelocks. Taue spiced things up with a Hotshot, German Suplex combo. Kobashi powdered. AIR TAUE~! Kobashi is selling his ribs they dont really go there. Taue works a typically great control segment, Snake Eyes, Back Drop Toss, Backbreaker. Nodowa of Death? Kobashi fights it off, but catches him diving to floor and Nodowas him there. Taue is poised to take control but Kobashi shrugs off the Nodowa and hits a German, now he goes Sleeper. Kobashi hits a release powerbomb to climax this part of his control segment. I am really glad that Sleeper Neckbreaker that Kobashi does in 1996 didnt get over, it is pretty lame. Taue hits the Baba Neckbreaker Drop and a release Powerbomb of his own. The transitions are fine and the control segments are long enough that each builds momentum. I just wish they were fighting through each other more. This feels like a Bret Hart match very logical but too neat and mechanical. The hook for this match is quite obviously in retrospect the Kobashi title victory. Short of taking a literal dump in the ring, they could have done anything and as long as Kobashi got the three count that crowd would have popped like mad. That's not to say the match is bad, far from it, it is great, but not a classic, when the entire match hinges on the finish it tends to make the beginning less meaningful is all. The second half of this match picks up in a big way. The struggle and the selling get much, much better. Kobashi fights off a second powerbomb and Taue smokes him with a big boot. Kobashi sells his eye and face so well. Taue hits the big elbow drop off the top. Kobashi overdoes it a little with the glassy eye sell given that he is winning. The way he struggles for the ropes on the Nodowa attempt puts over how badass the Nodowa is. When Taue does hit it, the move becomes much bigger and the nearfall much more heat because Kobashi showed us how scared he was of this move. I liked the Kobashi transition the most here. He fights off the Nodowa of Death and as Taue falls from the apron, he immediately leg drops the back of his head. Kobashi had to fight for his life and when he saw an opening he just dove on Taue. No Hulk Up. No It is my turn. He earned it. Kobashi stole the Nodowa proving that All Japan started the finisher stealing before everyone else. Bodyslam! Fist Pump! POP! No Moonsault. Lariat. No! Nodowa! KOBASHI LUNGING LARIAT! It is very cheap All Japan, but the crowd fucking lapped it up with a spoon. Taue drops him with a closed fist a tribute to his partner and big boot. DYNAMIC BOMB~! Massive heat on that! Crowd is so pumped he kicked out. Taue wants the Tiger Suplex, but Kobashi still has the wherewithal to make it to the ropes. Taue Enziguiri and Kobashi is out like a light only the ropes save him from a three count. Taue goes for the Super Nodowa, but Kobashi holds onto the ropes. Kobashi goes back to the chops to the neck, Tornado DDT. The crowd does wild. The people in the front row are awesome, they want Kobashi to win so bad. DDT bought him time but Taue is still the one looking better. Lunging headbutts by Kobashi I love it. He is just charging headlong for the victory literally. TIGER SUPLEX~! Huge heat and a BIG turning point. Taue is fucked. Bodyslam! FIST PUMP! OH HELL YEAH! MOONSAULT! 1-2-NO! I love how Kobashi gobbles him right up and JACKKNIFE POWERBOMB! THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FINISH! So much heat. They let Taue have one Pop-up Big Boot. KOBASHI SMOKES HIM WITH A LARIAT! Cena style Top Rope Legdrop! 1-2-3 and the Budokan goes MENTAL! HUGE KOBASHI CHANTS! Kobashi is incredulous and for like 3 minutes keeps asking people if it was really a three count. I dont like when people blow off an entire half of the match and just turn it on for the finish run. Every minute should be important. I do realize the finish is more important and this was a rousing home stretch. As a huge Kobashi fan, the finish pop makes me beam with pride and it did make me a little emotional. He is so great at getting you emotionally involved. More of a great moment than anything else ****

I will always go to bat for Kobashi. I think he would have made it work as the pro wrestler with a heart three times its actual size trying to fell the shooter. Misawa is not built for this as he will go back to his formula. Kobashi could work. I see how Kawada is better suited, but I think Kobashi would have succeeded given the chance. Toshiaki Kawada vs Gary Albright - AJPW 7/26/96 The forgotten rematch! Kawada won the last match, which was a classic and since then Albright & Hansen traded the tag belts with Kawda & Taue and Albright got his one & only shot at the Triple Crown in a loss to Misawa. At this point, Albright was still being booked strong while Kawada was in the middle of a losing streak. He lost the tag belts to Misawa/Akiyama and lost to Taue. He would go on to lose a six-man where the team he captained lost to the team captained by his partner, Taue and he drew Kobashi at the October Budokan. Not the best year for Kawada in the W-L column, until the very end of the year where he turns it around. I do not think this is as good as their initial match. The heat and electricity are just not there. I think it comes from a lack of urgency and those key big fight feel moments. This is a great grappling/wrestling match, but it is not a big fight feel match. I liked how Albright was using his suplexes to keep Kawada off balance and then go to the ground with submissions. Albright was obviously suplex machine but like Severn in UFC lacked that killer finish because he was neither proficient at strikes or submissions. There was often a feel ok I have him down on the ground what's next? Kawada for his part was going with the head-hunting strategy using kicks. This worked more to piss Albright off, but like how Albright used suplexes to break Kawada's rhythm so Kawada used his kicks. When Albright got mad enough to charge in, he really let it rip. That showed the genius of Kawada's strategy. They trade armbar attempts but nothing doing. The match picks up when Kawada applies a rear naked choke which is illegal in wrestling. Great selling by Albright and the referee. Kawada SNAPS~! Cowboy Kicks Galore! Wicked Yakuza Kick in the corner! Albright gets pissed, chops exchange and then DEMOLISHES Kawada with a German. That was a death knell. Kawada got two more hope spots, but they just serves to piss off the Suplex Machine. Another wicked German then a Dragon Suplex and then a second DEVASTATING DRAGON SUPLEX! Albright was trying to choke Kawada out as a receipt in between these suplexes and his final hold I guess was declared a sleeper instead of a choke and thats how he won the match. The first match is decidedly better, but this is a great way to spend 12 minutes. Logical, strategic approach at the beginning and then a high intensity finish run. I feel that it could have used a better Kawada "nearfall" to really push this over the edge, but as is this is still a very good shoot-style meets pro wrestling match. ***3/4

As I was watching I was like the guys in PWO are going to shit all over this for too many resets but glad PeteF3 liked it in his own way. This rocked! Toshiaki Kawada vs Yoshihiro Takayama - AJPW 10/21/97 Turns out All Japan has quite a bit of depth if you go off the beaten path. Black hair Takayama is a blind spot for me even though I love blond Takayama like it is my fucking problem. I watched this and knew it was going to be trashed by others but I loved it. Obviously everything in moderation but if I was to chose between the extremes of perpetual motion action wrestling and wrestling with short bursts of offense and lots of resets, I would choose the latter in a heartbeat. I see people have criticized this as “no flow” and “disjointed” but I totally disagree this match had a great rhythm and told a coherent and cogent story. Your average go, go, go Match May flow but it can easily be disjointed from a narrative perspective. I like my pro wrestling to either be combatively sporting or entertaining character driven. Rollins and Omega are very athletic but they are soulless and their matches while highly athletic are more athletic in a gymnastics or track meet sense, I prefer wrestling that sportingly resembles a shoot wrestling meet or MMA fight. This is the closest All Japan got to doing UWFi and it is a really good version. Takayama is a fucking beast in this match. He dwarfs Kawada. He basically squashes the little dude’s ass. He just pelts with leather. BRUTAL Palm Strikes, huge kicks and real deal million dollar knee lifts. Kawada powdered after each short burst of offense. On the third beating, Kawada has a busted lip. For execution fetishists, Takayama’s strikes are a thing of beauty, grace combined with power come together to make a beautiful sound. I do have complaints. They don’t really progress the narrative and also Kawada takes way too many shots to the head. It undermines the credibility of the match and Takayama that Kawada could last so long. Kawada got his ass beat. Kawada did have some great jelly leg sells here. Then he moved into shooting for the double leg and constantly getting quashed. Takayama starting looking for Cross-Armbreakers to finish Kawada he got one on in the ropes (cheap!) and Kawada now has a bad wing. Kawada caught couple kicks but he missed a Lariat on one, got a back heel trip on the over but didn’t amount to much in guard. The finish rocked! Kawada drills Takayama with a Dangerous Back Drop Driver from a sitting position on the mat and then a proper one. Stretch Plum for two. Takayama roared back with his famous MEATY knee lifts. EVEREST GERMAN! That was awesome. Huge stand up fight breaks out, Kawada explodes...KOPPOU KICK...KOPPOU KICK NAILS HIM...HUGE POP! The two best Jumping High Kicks Kawada ever threw... demolished him. In spite of its flaws I still loved this. It felt electric and had a big fight feel. Takayama felt like a shoot style rockstar. Amazing strikes. Loved Kawadas reactions. The major flaw is they didn’t advance the plot. They overstayed their welcome in the “Kawada is getting his ass beat and can’t get any offense in” story. The finish was gangbusters. The Everest German and those four Kawada kicks to end popped me huge. If you Love high end 2010s Brock like I do, check this out because it fucking bangs, brutha. ****1/4

Wow! This didnt make the yearbook! AJPW Triple Crown Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Steve Williams - AJPW 3/1/97 Up to this point, Misawa had only lost the Triple Crown twice, once to Dr. Death in July 1994 and to Akira Taue in May 1996. Due to Dr. Death's Drug Bust in 1995, he has not had a Triple Crown title bout since he lost the Titles to Kawada in October of 1994. Dr. Death spent most of 1996 earning back the trust of Baba and All Japan in the tag ranks putting on some stellar performances with Johnny Ace against Misawa/Akiyama including winning the Tag Team Titles from them. Misawa had won the Triple Crown back from Kobashi on 1/20/97 and is now looking to get his win back against the first man to ever beat for the Triple Crown, Steve Williams. This feels like a huge rematch. The funny thing is if you follow All Japan canon, you would never even know this match exists! Which is shocking to me because it is a huge rematch 2.5 years in the making and Dr. Death showed he could still go in 1996. I got high hopes for this one. They start off with some mat wrestling which is very uncharacteristic for Misawa. Then Doc demonstrates that explosiveness he is known for when he snatches Misawa and drops him with a Dangerous Back Drop Driver! That's his KO Punch! It usually spells the death knell for his opponents and it was the major turning point in the 94 match and how it has been hit 5 minutes into the match. One of the things, I have noticed in All Japan since late '95 is they like to spice things up by hitting HUGE bombs within 5 minutes. I think their idea is the finish run is the best part of the match so they are basically trying to make the entire match one big finish run. Misawa wisely powders. He catches Doc with a wicked slicing Elbow on the outside. I dont think it cut Doc, but he is acting like it did. Constantly touching the spot and asking the ref to check on him. This only serves to piss off Doc who pummels Misawa. Big German. Big Top Rope Shouldertackle. Misawa fires off an Elbow, but Doc is so explosive and cutting everything off with lunges and a full court press. Amazing floatover suplex into a cross armbreaker attempt but Misawa gets the ropes. It is time to ratchet up the offense so he goes for the Oklahoma Stampede. Misawa finds the back door. Great sequence, Misawa goes for the back slide and turns it into the Tiger Driver. Very cool. The Tiger Driver is enough to finally give Misawa a respite and the first major damage Doc has taken. Misawa lands an Elbow Suicida. Misawa is starting to roll. He is looking for a throw, Williams comes back with an interesting counter: dropkicks and one particular one lands on the knee. I was just thinking while I was watching Misawa vs Kawada 7/23/99 no one ever works Misawa's leg, I wonder what that would be like. Guess I will find out. Williams wraps it around the ring post always a good start. He works the leg well varying the holds and blows to the knee and Misawa is selling well. I love the Kneecrusher/Single Leg Crab combo. I am looking forward to seeing where this goes. I like it a lot so far. Then of course immediately after this match gets really clunky. Dr. Death is trying for one his signature bombs, DoctorBomb or BackDrop Driver, but Misawa DDTs him. Doc oversells and Misawa just tees off on Dr. Death with Elbows. Where's the struggle and where's the fights? The escalation gets weird. It is like they lose their place and dont know what to do next. There was some "a second too long" prolonged looks at each other. This was only like 2 minutes before they got their shit together and Doc exploded with a lunge and then clobbered Misawa with a right. Misawa was doing deadweight selling. I was exhorting Doc to pin but he was futzing around and did deliver the DoctorBomb for 2. Doc hits another really good uppercut at one point. On the Irish Whip, Misawa collapses and Doc dives on top and covers with great drive in his leg. Williams hits a MONSTER Snake Eyes that would have made Taue proud and immediately threw him with a German for his biggest nearfall yet. The Budokan dug that a lot. Doc goes Sleeper and into a Tiger Suplex attempt, but Misawa breaks free, back to the Sleeper, like how he gobbled him up. I liked the use of Sleeper to further sap Misawa's energy. Misawa makes the ropes and the ref backs him up. Misawa stiff back elbow and big time Elbow uppercut. You can feel the comeback. Big German by Misawa. This is a bit too easy for Misawa. Doc is really throwing himself into these Germans. MISAWA FUCKING DECKS DOC WITH AN ELBOW! That should have been the finish. HE SMOKED HIS ASS! Misawa goes for Tiger Driver but Doc sandbags and backs drops out. They get a little cute with Misawa Elbow and Doc as he falling nailing an uppercut. The playing field is levelled, you can tell the finish is coming soon. Doc lunges and bowls Misawa over. Dr. Death is selling so well, clutching his head and wobbling. Doc mounts him and reigns down punches. Misawa flips him over and ground & pounds. Stand up Misawa is rocking him. Doc snatches him up with a WICKED Belly to Belly. I loved how sudden that was! Misawa will not be denied. Brutal barrage leads to a Tiger Driver. Doc gets cocky spitting at Misawa in defiance, Misawa evades the closed fist and ROARING ELBOW~! Second Tiger Driver. TIGER DRIVER '91~! Is this a ***** classic? No. Is it as good as their amazing July 94 match? No. Does it deserved to be buried and forgotten about? Hell No. Yes there were some clunky parts and the leg work went absolutely nowhere. I think if you cut out from the 12-17 minute mark and made this a 24-25 minute match it would be much better. As is, it is still great. They play off the July 94 match immediately with the Dangerous Back Drop Driver. It is almost like they picked up where they left off. Misawa rolling out, but this time he survives. He pops him with an Elbow immediately that buys him a lot of time. Doc looked so powerful and explosive in this match. The big drawback in my mind were transitions to Misawa going on offense. They were lazy (Elbows Galore) and Doc didnt put up much of fight. It was just like ok it is Misawa's turn and I am going to be a ragdoll. The action in of itself was great. I dont mind Misawa living on Elbows and Tiger Drivers, literally his only offense. It makes sense because he was digging himself out of a hole because of the Back Drop Driver, it is just I wish it wasnt so easy. From Dr. Death KO punch to the end, this is just classic All Japan, big bomb nearfalls for Williams and then an epic Elbow/Tiger Driver barrage from Misawa. Edit this a bit and increase the struggle and this is an all-timer, as it is it is still awesome and worth watching! ****1/4

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 7/23/99 I wasn't even aware this existed until a few weeks ago. I wouldnt say I am a hardcore AJPW fan, but I consider myself pretty knowledgeable and I am surprised I never heard of this. I agree to an extent that if Baba was booking they would have waited until 2000 before another match since they did the title switch in January. I will say since Kawada had to vacate the title due to injury, it is logical to give him a title rematch sooner rather than later. I enjoyed their 98 and 99 match so I was curious to see what this was like. They dont really break any new ground. I would say they substitute some of the athletic workrate of their earlier matches with brutally stiff strikes. Both men were going head-hunting but it was Kawada that was getting the best of it trying to kick Misawa's head off. There was a nice cutoff where normally Misawa stops himself going into the buckles and turns around and smashes someone with an Elbow but Kawada cut if off with a Yakuza Kick. Misawa made his first mini-comeback, elbow immediately into Tiger Driver for nearfall and then Elbow Suicida. Awesome transition when Misawa attempts the Tiger Driver off the apron only to be thwarted and Fireman's Carry off the apron. Very nice exchange and strong transition. Kawada sticks with the kick, punch, knee Misawa in the head game plan. Misawa gets a couple licks in but Kawada stays in control. Kawada tries for Powerbomb but Misawa Elbows his way out of trouble. I got to admit there's not much in the way of highspots. They are working a strong, brutal style thats lean and compact. That Left Elbow was BRUTAL and Kawada's jelly leg sell was perfect! Misawa's comeback doesnt last long and is met a Jumping High Kick. Brainbuster and Powerbomb in short succession give Kawada a strong nearfall. Misawa pants almost come down in the Misawa-Rana. Misawa DRILLS Kawada in the back of the head with an Elbow, fixes his pants and Tiger Suplex. The home stretch is red hot. Misawa just absorbs every stiff to the head including a Closed Fist and returns fire with brutally stiff Elbows. TIGER DRIVER '91~! Misawa is poised to Elbow again, but Kawada never gets back up which is a weird, anti-climatic ending. It is a retread and I think I prefer their 2005 Dome Greatest Hits Nostalgia match to this. I do think it is better than Overkill 97 match but yeah this is the second from the bottom. I still wish 98% of wrestlers could construct such a smartly laid out match around strong, meaningful transitions and building to a home stretch. Every transitions was money and the heat was still there, but this was basically hit each other as hard you can in the head. It is a great match but not one of their classics. ****