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Misawa matches I enjoyed (or did not) from the 90s: Misawa vs. Hansen 7/27/90 Misawa/Kawada vs. Gordy/Williams 7/24/91 Hansen vs. Misawa 8/22/92 Misawa/Kawada vs. Williams/Gordy 1/30/93 Misawa vs. Kawada 3/27/93 Misawa/Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Taue/Ogawa 7/2/93 Misawa vs. Kawada 4/11/94 Kobashi vs. Misawa 3/26/95 Misawa vs. Akiyama 4/8/95 Misawa/Kobashi/Asako vs. Kawada/Taue/Honda 6/30/95 Misawa/Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Kikuchi/Ogawa 7/8/95 - pissed off Misawa! Kobashi vs. Misawa 10/25/95 - this one gets me because it starts the really bad trends that Misawa and Kobashi continue on and off, it was necessary when it was done because of the difference in stature between the two though Misawa vs. Kobashi 3/31/96 Williams/Ace vs. Misawa/Akiyama 6/7/96 Misawa/Akiyama vs. Williams/Ace 9/5/96 Williams/Ace vs. Misawa/Akiyama 11/16/96 Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kobashi/Patriot 11/22/96 Misawa/Akiyama vs. Williams/Ace 11/30/96 Misawa vs. Kawada 4/2/97 Akiyama vs. Misawa 5/27/97 Misawa vs. Kawada 6/6/97 - finish derails an otherwise great match Misawa/Akiyama vs. Williams/Albright 8/25/97 Misawa/Kawada/Hase vs. Kobashi/Taue/Akiyama 9/15/97 Misawa/Akiyama vs. Johnny Smith/Wolf Hawkfield 11/17/97 Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kobashi/Ace 11/23/97 RWTL Misawa vs. Akiyama 1/26/98 Kobashi/Ace/Smith vs. Misawa/Akiyama/Kea 2/14/98 Misawa/Akiyama/Asako vs. Kobashi/Omori/Ogawa 8/23/98 Holy Demon Army vs. Misawa/Shinzaki 1/15/99 Burning vs. the Untouchables (Misawa/Ogawa) 3/6/99 Vader vs. Misawa 5/2/99 - must see Kawada/Kobashi vs. Misawa/Taue 6/4/99 - must see Misawa vs. Kobashi 6/11/99 - odd match that works until they just cycle through their bobms for nearfalls Misawa vs. Takayama 9/4/99 Burning vs. the Untouchables 10/23/99 Misawa vs. Vader 10/30/99 Misawa/Ogawa vs. Vader/Smith 11/99 Burning vs. Untouchables 11/20/99 Misawa/Akiyama vs. Vader/Taue 1/17/00 Kawada/Taue/Fuchi vs. Misawa/Kobashi/Shiga 3/11/00 Kobashi vs. Misawa 4/2000 Champion Carnival

Here's my list of 90s All Japan matches that I enjoyed featuring Stan Hansen: Misawa vs. Hansen 7/27/90 Misawa/Kawada vs. Hansen/Spivey 11/16/91 Hansen vs. Taue 7/31/92 Hansen vs. Misawa 8/22/92 Hansen vs. Kobashi 4/16/93 - handheld, must see Hansen vs. Kobashi 4/10/94 Hansen vs. Taue 4/11/94 Hansen vs. Williams 4/14/94 Hansen vs. Akiyama 9/24/94 Holy Demon Army vs. Hansen/Baba 12/17/94 Kobashi/Hansen/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Ace/Omori 4/15/95 Hansen/Taue vs. Burning 12/3/99 - Hansen and Taue as huge babyfaces, love it Hansen/Kea vs. Kawada/Tenryu 7/23/00 - Hansen again as a babyface

Here's my list, with negatives noted: Kawada vs. Kobashi 7/1/89 TM2 vs. Kobasi 3/6/90 Kawada vs. Kobashi 6/30/90 Misawa vs. Kobashi 4/5/91 - handheld Kawada vs. Kobashi 3/20/92 Kobashi vs. Misawa 4/12/93 Hansen vs. Kobashi 4/16/93 - handheld, must see Kawada vs. Kobashi 10/23/93 Hansen vs. Kobashi 4/10/94 Kobashi vs. Kawada 1/19/95 - first 40 minutes is incredible Kobashi vs. Misawa 3/26/95 Kawada vs. Kobashi 4/13/95 Kobashi/Hansen/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Ace/Omori 4/15/95 Kobashi vs. Ace 5/26/95 Misawa/Kobashi/Asako vs. Kawada/Taue/Honda 6/30/95 Misawa/Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Kikuchi/Ogawa 7/8/95 Kobashi vs. Taue 7/24/95 Kobashi vs. Misawa 10/25/95 - Kobashi takes a lot of bad things from this and keeps doing them Misawa vs. Kobashi 3/31/96 Kawada vs. Kobashi 5/24/96 - Kobashi repeating a nearfall so he gets a pop REALLY annoys me Taue vs. Kobashi 7/24/96 Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kobashi/Patriot 11/22/96 Kobashi vs. Akiyama 3/30/97 Holy Demon Army vs. Kobashi/Ace 5/27/97 - Kobashi overdoing fighting spirit, he gets worse though Kobashi vs. Hase 8/25/97 Misawa/Kawada/Hase vs. Kobashi/Taue/Akiyama 9/15/97 Holy Demon Army vs. Kobashi/Ace 10/11/97 Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kobashi/Ace 11/23/97 Holy Demon Army vs. Kobashi/Ace 11/27/97 Kobashi/Ace vs. Holy Demon Army 1/25/98 Kobashi/Ace/Smith vs. Misawa/Akiyama/Kea 2/14/98 Kobashi vs. Akiyama 3/98 Champion Carnival - does Kobashi really need to drop Akiyama on his head more than once in 98? Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Takayama/Kakihara 4/98? Holy Demon Army vs. Kobashi/Ace 6/5/98 Kobashi vs. Kakihara 7/15/98 Kobashi/Ace/Hase vs. Albright/Takayama/Kakihara 7/18/98 Kobashi/Kea vs. Akiyama/Hase 7/19/98 Akiyama vs. Kobashi 7/24/98 - more head drops for Akiyama this time around Kobashi/Ace vs. Taue/Honda 8/23/98 Holy Demon Army vs. Kobashi/Kea 8/29/98 Taue vs. Kobashi 9/11/98 Holy Demon Army vs. Burning 10/11/98 Burning vs. the Untouchables (Misawa/Ogawa) 3/6/99 Kobashi vs. Akiyama 3/99 CC - anyone else seeing the pattern with head drops and Akiyama? Kobashi vs. Vader 4/16/99 - must see Kawada/Kobashi vs. Misawa/Taue 6/4/99 - must see Misawa vs. Kobashi 6/11/99 - odd match that works until they just cycle through their bobms for nearfalls Burning vs. Ace/Bart Gunn 6/9/99 - Kobashi feels the need to kill Gunn with a half nelson, so very necessary No Fear vs. Kobashi/Shiga 7/4/99 Kobashi vs. Kakihara 7/16/99 Burning vs. Vader/Albright 7/23/99 Kobashi/Akiyama/Shiga vs. Ace/Barton/Mossman(Kea) 8/29/99 Kobashi/Akiyama/Shiga vs. Takayama/Omori/Fuchi 10/9/99 Burning vs. the Untouchables 10/23/99 Burning vs. No Fear 10/30/99 Burning vs. Untouchables 11/20/99 Kobashi/Akiyama/Shiga vs. Vader/Smith/Kea 11/27/99 Kawada vs. Kobashi 1/17/00 - Kobashi's selling is really weak and the match floats around between who is higher up on the card, odd match, also Kawada's return from injury Kobashi vs. Vader 2/27/00 Kawada/Taue/Fuchi vs. Misawa/Kobashi/Shiga 3/11/00 Kobashi vs. Smith 4/10/00 Kobashi vs. Misawa 4/2000 Kobashi vs. Takayama 5/26/00 Kobashi/Shiga vs. Akiyama/Kea 6/9/00 - again with the half nelsons, he killed that move so badly

Anything featuring Tenryu from the 2000s is a great one-time watch. He brings something only he can to all of the matches I watched him in during that project. He was one of the top 5 workers in Japan in the 2000s in his 50s. If that's not worth a vote somewhere in the top 100 I'm not sure what is.

I put together a list by wrestler of matches from my AJPW 90s watchings. I tried to stay away from the heavily pimped early 90s stuff and hit more the less talked-about matches and a lot of the stuff from late 90s that was actually pretty good. I have the list by wrestler with one after the other (and doubled up match listings). Would it be best to put this in the individual thread for each wrestler or have a separate thread for this kind of deal?

I'd have to watch a lot of his later WWE stuff, because his WCW and Japan juniors stuff does not age well for me. As a character he was great, but his in-ring work was not at the right level for me.

Hansen and Kawada vying for number 1 here, with Flair and Misawa close behind. I need to catch up on lots of territories/80s and 90s WWE/WCW stuff and lucha though. Santo could easily be up there from what I've seen.

Short run as a main eventer, but he made it into a really great run. Watching his matches from 2002-2009 I really started to love the guy. I can't say he'd be top 50, but he'd definitely have a shot at bottom half.

There's a lot of really great Akiyama matches out there, but there are a few that I think are the cream of the crop. Misawa vs. Akiyama 2/27/00 - this is the best match out of All japan since late 1998, and probably the best match of Akiyama's career Anything pitting Kawada vs. Akiyama in 1996 Akiyama vs. Ogawa 9/11/98 - yes, Yoshinari Ogawa in 1998, learn to love him the 8/98 6 man tag is an excellent lead-in Akiyama vs. Shibata 8/4/05 - beginning of the match is 100% gold, PISSED OFF Akiyama, last 7-8 minutes is forgettable Akiyama vs. Taue 1/22/06 Akiyama/Tenryu vs. Kobashi/Shiozaki 4/24/05 Akiyama/Tenryu vs. Kobashi/Taue 9/18/05 - Revolution 05 is great, wish it had lasted

Kawada is an incredible wrestler and I think he's gotta be top 5. However, most of what I've seen post-2000 involving Kawada is almost like he's a shadow of his former self. I don't know if he just lost all motivation or he felt like he didn't want to carry guys like Kojima through matches, but his work really fell off after the split. Especially his selling, it got really, really uneven and sometimes nonexistent. Even the 05 Misawa match was really, really subpar as Misawa vs. Kawada matches go on both their parts. Pre-split, he had really fun matches with guys like Albright, a pre-big break Takayama and Kakihara that were vastly different from the matches he had with the rest of the Big 5. Also, his 1996 feuding with Akiyama was easily the best yearlong watch going through All Japan after 1995. It was a huge bright spot for late 90s All Japan. Here's my 90s list for Kawada: Misawa/Kawada vs. Gordy/Williams 7/24/91 Kawada vs. Jumbo 10/24/91 Misawa/Kawada vs. Williams/Gordy 1/30/93 Misawa vs. Kawada 3/27/93 Kawada vs. Taue 4/13/93 Kawada/Taue vs. Williams/Gordy 5/20/93 Misawa/Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Taue/Ogawa 7/2/93 Kawada vs. Kobashi 10/23/93 Misawa vs. Kawada 4/11/94 Holy Demon Army vs. Hansen/Baba 12/17/94 Kawada vs. Kobashi 1/19/95 - first 40 minutes is incredible Kawada vs. Akiyama 3/21/95 Kawada vs. Kobashi 4/13/95 Kobashi/Hansen/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Ace/Omori 4/15/95 Misawa/Kobashi/Asako vs. Kawada/Taue/Honda 6/30/95 Misawa/Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Kikuchi/Ogawa 7/8/95 - Kawada pisses Misawa off with great results Taue vs. Kawada 3/31/96 Kawada vs. Kobashi 5/24/96 Kawada vs. Taue 6/7/96 - some great interaction, match gets really dull in the middle Holy Demon Army vs. Williams/Ace 11/18/96 anything involving Kawada vs. Akiyama in 1996, just watch it Misawa vs. Kawada 4/2/97 Holy Demon Army vs. Kobashi/Ace 5/27/97 Misawa vs. Kawada 6/6/97 - finish derails an otherwise great match Misawa/Kawada/Hase vs. Kobashi/Taue/Akiyama 9/15/97 Holy Demon Army vs. Kobashi/Ace 10/11/97 Holy Demon Army vs. Shinzaki/Hayabusa 11/23/97 Holy Demon Army vs. Kobashi/Ace 11/27/97 Kobashi/Ace vs. Holy Demon Army 1/25/98 Kawada vs. Akiyama 3/26/98 Holy Demon Army vs. Kobashi/Ace 6/5/98 Holy Demon Army vs. Kakihara/Takayama 7/19/98 Kawada/Omori vs. Hase/Kea 7/24/98 Holy Demon Army vs. Kobashi/Kea 8/29/98 Kawada vs. Kakihara 9/11/98 Holy Demon Army vs. Burning 10/11/98 Holy Demon Army vs. Takayama/Kakihara 10/31/98 Holy Demon Army vs. Misawa/Shinzaki 1/15/99 Hase vs. Kawada 5/2/99 - Kawada's first match back after the arm injury, ring rust kills a lot of what could have been Kawada/Kobashi vs. Misawa/Taue 6/4/99 - must see Kawada vs. Takayama 7/17/99 Kawada vs. Kobashi 1/17/00 Kawada/Taue/Fuchi vs. Misawa/Kobashi/Shiga 3/11/00 Holy Demon Army vs. Ace/Barton 6/9/00

Takayama vs. Sasaki 8/3/02 - great battle of the big men, better one in 2004, works off of this Takayama vs. Sasaki 8/8/04 Sasaki vs. Kawada 4/4/01 - not my favorite, but there's lots of good stuff here Sasaki/Morishima/Nakajima vs. Tenryu/Ogawa/Kotaro Suzuki - not the greatest match you will ever see, but a different setting and a different Sasaki As for negatives: anything involving both Kobashi and Sasaki, I hope you like chops....a lot

So much to say here... As far as the positives go, Kobashi has so many. He always seemed in great shape and had the drive to keep going well past the point most would have mailed it in. Kobashi had such a diverse and impressive moveset that was always well-executed. He was pretty athletic for a guy built the way he was, even after multiple knee surgeries. His facial expressions and ability to get the crowd into the match with his own emotions was something that went above and beyond what most wrestlers could ever dream of doing. I have no issue at all saying Kenta Kobashi was one of the best and most natural babyfaces in all of wrestling anywhere. When he was in trouble, you'd hear and see fan reactions (in Japanese crowds) that were stunning. And now to my favorite part about Kenta Kobashi. He was one of the best matwork guys I've ever seen. You know how I mentioned he always had drive and had a lot in the tank? Kobashi never sat in a hold real long. He worked that hold for maybe 30 seconds to a minute and chained it into another hold that hit that same bodypart. Sometimes 3 or 4 times in sequence. And t never looked like he just had his way with the opponent, it looked like there was a struggle going on. If there is one real huge downfall to the way All Japan wrestling style evolved in the 90s it's that we never got to see Kobashi use that aspect of his skillset. As for the negatives, he has a few of those too. First and foremost is his complete lack of being able to build a match on his own. When he's in the ring with somebody he knows can structure a match well (Kawada, Taue, Takayama, Misawa, Ogawa), Kobashi's spots come where they ought to and he looks great. When he's in the ring with somebody he doesn't trust (Akiyama stands out here), Kobashi really struggles to put his spots where they need to be. He'll throw 2 or 3 half nelson suplexes at a guy who is two or three tiers below him on the card. He'll no-sell their big moves at the very wrong times. Part of the problem is he subscribes to the lazy Misawa style of match structuring after 1/97 without really being the guy to do that or truly understanding it. The constant need for attention can really take away from a match where Kobashi isn't supposed to be the center of attention. When you get to 2004 and on Kobashi, a lot of his matches revolve around him beating the shit out of people with chop variations (I maintain that the way he chops is a bit dickish and he probably should have stuck to the standard method) with little to no selling. It just underlines his lack of understanding of the basic structuring of things combined with being a glory hog. He seems to not get that he is at his best as the babyface making the impassioned comeback after taking a beating (and acting like that beating took place so the crowd can invest in it) in addition to wanting to be seen in the best light possible. It's very frustrating to watch knowing what the man is capable of. I'll try to put together a list of positive and negative matches (for me) from what I've seen that point out the things I've mentioned.

One match that shouldn't fall under the radar is the excellent 2006 2/3 falls match with Nishimura in MUGA. It's really incredible for how compact and efficient it is while still telling the story they meant to tell.

Watch as much of the Liger vs. Kikuchi series of tags as you can on this one. A few in 2002 and 2003 are incredible for the atmosphere alone. Liger brings something to these that I don't think any other junior in Japan could have.

Ohtani/Takaiwa 6/25/00 Kikuchi/Kanemaru vs. Liger/Kanemoto 1/26/03 - Kanemoto as FIP for a bit is a different twist Kanemoto vs. AKIRA 3/23/03 - not perfect, but avoids a lot of the stuff that makes 2000s wrestling hard to watch for me Nishimura vs. Kanemoto 8/8/04 This for me is one that goes against Koji Kanemoto vs. Nagata 8/12/06 - good up to the point he starts cycling through his big offense regardless of the match structure beforehand

Take a look at Fuchi/Tenryu vs. Kawada/Araya from 6/30/01 for just a great little tag match. Fuchi and Kawada add as much as the Tenryu vs. Araya matchup, which is saying a lot. Fuchi/Kawada vs. Nagata/Iizuka 12/14/00 is not as good a match, but you could make the argument that Kawada and Fuchi have to do more to make it as good as it is.

He has a match in 2006 vs. Osamu Nishimura that would be worth seeing just for variety. Worked as a MUGA match with Tajiri spots thrown in at what seemed like the right moment. It may have been in the What Are You Watching or Comments that Don't Warrant a Thread posts.

As Nagata matches and Tanahashi matches go, this was right up there with the best for sure. Nagata selling the knee when he countered the high fly flow was helpful for that, as that tends to be the point of Tanahashi's attacking the leg. I didn't like it as much as you did, but I would put it above all but two matches involving either of these two.

That's actually something I would really be interested in reading about.

I would think that the factors that go into a top 10 match list would be valued differently for most voters anyway. So if Bill didn't care for drawing in his vote it would hardly be an awful thing. I think one of the ideas of these kinds of projects is variety in the opinions presented rather than uniformity anyway. Wrestling is pretty subjective material.

If you don't mind, could I get in on some of that joshi action? I've always wanted to see more, but never know where to start.

Final two matches of the Starrcade set. Number 1 (not my number one, but theirs) is Vader vs. Flair from 1993. This match is controversial for the finish, but I fall on the side of it still being incredible. The reaction any time Flair starts coming back is so FUCKING INSANE! And Flair's determined comeback at the end is easily one of the best Flair performances I have seen. It's unlike anything I've seen from him and I love it for that as much as how great it was. The match that was listed at number two but is a clear number one for me is Magnum vs. Tully from 1985. There are very few matches that define an aspect of pro wrestling that I love that will always keep me watching wrestling. This match is one of them. It is brutal, violent and dark from the moment you even see Magnum for the intros. You know right then that you're watching something transcendent. The HATE on display for 100% of this match is something that just blows away any other match I've ever seen for heated rivalries. I could write about ten pages on this match, so I'll stop now.

I fail to see how this is overrated. There is so much emotion packed into this match. Yes, the finish was sloppy looking and maybe not exactly what you would want. But you know what, the last 7 or 8 minutes of the match (after the big Flair comeback started) were all ugly wrestling. Flair was determined to not lose and started laying in shots on Vader to even things up and going after the leg. Vader was trying desperately to find something that would put Flair away once he had him down before Flair caught up to him (which he was doing quickly). The finish didn't have to be picture perfect and I would argue that it would have been a sin if the figure four had gotten the victory. Flair was scrapping for every inch because Vader wasn't giving any of it up. Race was making things even more difficult. Race accidentally headbutting Vader and being shoved out by the ref was a perfect setup for exactly the finish that happened in my book. Flair had to take that opportunity to try to put Vader away by any means necessary while Vader was dazed and Race was incapacitated.

From 1986, the Road Warriors face the Midnight Express in a scaffold match. Not a huge fan of scaffold matches, but it's not a bad way to spend 15-20 minutes. Cornette at the end is...ouch. Sting vs. Hogan was alright, Sting should have been beating Hogan across the ring with Hogan hope spots though. The finish was...well, WCW's death was not too far off. Flair vs. Race from 1983 is absolutely amazing. Atmosphere is off the charts. Flair is so over, Race has so much heat just walking into the arena. Match is great, both getting busted open on the cage and beating each other senseless. Referee is trying to enforce the rules on both, so it's not one of those ref screwjobs on the face and it works. Race looks to have things wrapped up when Flair gets a big burst of adrenaline and hits the top rope crossbody for the 3! WOOOO!

You could look at something like Misawa/Kawada and the ever-evolving nature of their signature spots/reversals over time as a good example of how these kinds of things ought to be worked. It seemed like they would add layers to them as the years passed where it took longer for anything to really connect of note during their exchanges. Between those two, Akiyama, Kobashi when he didn't have to chop everyone and everything down, and Taue with his choke tosses and varying ways of cutting off strike exchanges (he tended to try to make them shorter due to his weaker strikes than the other 4), not many wrestlers really vary up how they counter off of signature spots. I also like watching an older American style match and seeing spots where multiple escapes of something as simple as a side headlock or a leg scissors are attempted and failed before the victim finally gets out, usually to be put in the same hold again and have to work on escaping a second time. I thought that put over basic holds as effective ways of wearing somebody down that were difficult to counter, as well as adding a sense of variety to the way things were done.