[1993-11-30-AJPW-Real World Tag League] Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Stan Hansen & Giant Baba

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Hell of a match, one that I will rank pretty highly for the year. They covered nicely for Baba. I'd be interesting in reading John's letter to the WON again to see how he broke down Baba's performance here, because while he was hardly bad, there was nothing particularly impressive that I saw, other than making it through the match without collapsing. I look at the good things in this as a credit to Misawa, Kobashi and Hansen, who manuevered their way around Baba nicely. I'd call this a great match in spite of Baba more than because of him, and that's coming from someone who likes Baba quite a bit.

[jdw]

I'd be interesting in reading John's letter to the WON again to see how he broke down Baba's performance here, because while he was hardly bad, there was nothing particularly impressive that I saw, other than making it through the match without collapsing.

Here it was:

 

BABA

 

I know that Shohei Baba can't possibly wrestle in a 30:00 long match of the year candidate. But my eyes told me that the 11/30 match with Baba & Stan Hansen vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi was tremendous. While the match wasn't quite at the level of All Japan's best singles matches of the year (Hansen vs. Kawada on 2/28 and Hansen vs. Kobashi on 7/29) or All Japan's definitive six-man tag of the year (Misawa & Kobashi & Akiyama vs. Taue & Kawada & Ogawa on 7/2), I popped more for this match than any other tag match All Japan presented during the year. Great spots, good pacing, solid psychology and an up crowd gave this match a special aura. All four deserve all the credit in the world for putting a match like this together in the midst of a clearly disappointing tag team tournament. Baba is not a good worker, but that is due more to his physical limitations rather than to any lack of effort on his part. The credibility and respect he maintains with Japanese fans added far more to this match than his physical limitations took away. Frankly he seemed as fired up in this match as I can recall in years. Enough is said about Kobashi and there is no need to repeat it. But I must say there are probably no two great workers in the business that are consistently underrated than Hansen and Misawa. Each has pushed their work and psychology up this year and I would place both solidly among the ten best male workers in the world this year.

 

John Williams

Arcadia, California

John

[Loss]

Oh, well I agree with everything in that letter. And I do agree that Baba added something to the match because he was such a star, and I'm not sure the crowd would have reacted as strongly as they did were he not there.

 

Misawa in my mind has had a slightly better year than Kobashi, although both have had great years. Misawa from what I've seen is the best wrestler in the world in '93. I know you mentioned that Kobashi might be a little short-changed through the yearbook, so perhaps that is what has happened.

[jdw]

Dave's recap at the time:

 

12/5 ALL JAPAN:

 

2. Kawada & Taue beat Akiyama & Tamon Honda. Honda is a rookie who represented Japan as a superheavyweight in the past three Olympic games. He's really green as a pro but the crowd was into him strong as an inexperienced underdog getting destroyed by Kawada. Kawada finally made him submit to the stretch plum. Only the finish aired, but it had great heat; 3. Baba & Hansen went to a 30:00 draw with Misawa & Kobashi. All four worked to the best of their ability and they went 30:00 without any restholds. Many people have raved about this match because of how over Baba was and how hard he worked. ****

[Ditch]

"in the midst of a clearly disappointing tag team tournament"

 

Context? Seems like a really good tournament to me even without the last match, and probably a step up from '92.

[jdw]

Oh, well I agree with everything in that letter. And I do agree that Baba added something to the match because he was such a star, and I'm not sure the crowd would have reacted as strongly as they did were he not there.

 

Misawa in my mind has had a slightly better year than Kobashi, although both have had great years. Misawa from what I've seen is the best wrestler in the world in '93. I know you mentioned that Kobashi might be a little short-changed through the yearbook, so perhaps that is what has happened.

If you like 1993, and like 1993 AJPW, I'd recommend getting Dan G's 1993 TV set. If you watch week in and week out: Kobashi is the better worker. I was pretty much the only one strongly singing Misawa's praise at the end of 1993, which is the reason I wanted to make the point in that letter. But Kobashi was on another level. I can't think of any Kobashi performances that stand out as clunkers like the Misawa-Hansen Carny Final and the second TC match between the two. You also had in the regular six-man tags where Kobashi was consistenly bringing it, while Misawa picked his spots. Kobashi had matches with Furnas and Patriot that didn't make the set that you'd wonder if Misawa at that point could possible have. Kobashi's singles with Taue in January is a very good match, and a good comp with the TC match at the next Budokan. I want to say that there was a Kobashi-Bossman that was watchable, and there was a good Hansen & Bossman vs Misawa & Kobashi where it was Kobashi really carrying the load for his team, especially against Bossman. Lots more.

 

I'm pretty well known as *not* being a Kobashi Fan, and I'd love to say over the course of the year that Kawada was better than Kobashi which might be reflected in a match such as 12/03/93. But he isn't. It's always struck me that the pecking order in 1993, even on re-watch, was:

 

1. Kobashi

2. Kawada

3. Misawa

3. Hansen

 

In the sense that Hansen and Misawa are closer to each other than the other two.

 

John

[jdw]

"in the midst of a clearly disappointing tag team tournament"

 

Context? Seems like a really good tournament to me even without the last match, and probably a step up from '92.

The plan was for a Big Four of Kawada & Taue, Misawa & Kobashi, Gordy & Williams and Hansen & DiBiase.

 

Gordy's brain died

DiBiase's back died

Kawada's knee blew up.

 

Half the Big Four went up in flames. And the key member of a third team looked like he might be fucked for the tourney. That's "disappointing" from what they had planned.

 

Baba "saved" the Tag League by teaming with Hansen, and pulling off at least one really good match. In turn, Bossman stepped in as a decent partner for Williams and they pulled out a pair of good matches. And Kawada has one of his greatest performances in the last match.

 

It actually turned out to be a good tag league via miracle. But it wasn't the one they had planned.

 

Also note the time when that was written: right after watching the match. Here's what had aired (and I'd watched) from the Tag League to that point:

 

11/21 ALL JAPAN:

 

1. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue beat Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas in 14:23 when Taue pinned Kroffat with the nodowa (golden arm bomber aka choke slam). Kawada's knee was blown out early in the tour so he wasn't working as top level, but they used the injury as a great heat-getting device since the Can-Ams worked it over early. This was a solid match with the pace picking up in the final minutes. The biggest pops were when Taue kicked out of a double hot shot and when Kroffat kicked out of a power bomb. ***1/4

 

2. Stan Hansen & Giant Baba beat The Patriot & The Eagle when Hansen whipped Eagle into a Baba foot to the face. Hansen lariated Eagle for the pin. Everything Baba did got a great reaction, although it's not like any of it looked good. *3/4

 

11/28 ALL JAPAN:

 

1. Dan Spivey & Johnny Ace beat Tracy Smothers & Slinger when Spivey pinned Slinger after a stuff power bomb. Only the last minute aired. Slinger was in the entire time and looked good, but the match had no heat

 

2. Misawa & Kobashi beat Williams & Bubba in 19:50. An incredible match. All action, great near falls at the end and excellent heat. Bubba, because of his unique style and the fact he works so hard and has gotten used to the style makes a good new main eventer for the group. The biggest pop was when Williams did the backdrop driver on Kobashi and Kobashi kicked out. Williams & Bubba did a double Oklahoma Stampede on Misawa but Kobashi saved him. Bubba did the Bossman slam on Misawa but Kobashi saved again. Misawa got the facelock on Bubba while Kobashi had Williams in a sleeper but Williams finally broke free and saved Bubba in what looked to be a sure finish. After several more near falls, Kobashi knocked Williams out of the ring and did a plancha dive on him while Misawa pinned Bubba with a german suplex. ****1/2

 

3. Baba & Hansen drew Taue & Kawada over 30:00. With Kawada injured, Taue worked most of the way taking punishment. The crowd was really into it at the end when Kawada was working stiff with Baba and the crowd got into Baba as a sympathetic character getting destroyed by his younger foe. Match was very entertaining because of the psychology and how it built. ***1/2

 

12/5 ALL JAPAN:

 

1. Williams & Bubba beat Ace & Spivey in 15:00 when Williams pinned Spivey with a Doctor bomb (gut wrench into a power bomb move that Terry Taylor developed). Match was better than it sounds on paper because of how much Williams has improved. It was also better because Ace worked most of the match for his team. ***1/4

 

2. Kawada & Taue beat Akiyama & Tamon Honda. Honda is a rookie who represented Japan as a superheavyweight in the past three Olympic games. He's really green as a pro but the crowd was into him strong as an inexperienced underdog getting destroyed by Kawada. Kawada finally made him submit to the stretch plum. Only the finish aired, but it had great heat

Some quick summary:

 

Kawada & Taue vs Kroffat & Furnas: Kawada's knee makes things very worrisome. Also, Kroffat & Furnas were having a lot of strong matches in the year (usually opposite Kobashi), and this just being "solid" really wasn't a great thing.

 

Hansen & Baba vs Patriot & Eagle: Patriot & Eagle weren't any great shakes... though Kobashi & Kikuchi had a good match with them earlier in the year that didn't make the set. This looked bad on paper, and was pretty mediocre.

 

Spivey & Ace vs Smothers & Slinger: my recollection is that this was one of the early matches where it was clear Spivey was totally shot. He had a match earlier in the year with Kobashi that wasn't bad, but Kobashi could put on the Kobashi Show and hide the fact that his opponent had nothing. This kind of showed that Spivey & Ace couldn't be counted on to have a solid match in the tourney, since Smothers had looked good on his prior trip in the year, and Slinger was a solid guy.

 

Misawa & Kobashi beat Williams & Bubba: much better than expected. There is hope...

 

Baba & Hansen drew Taue & Kawada: Dave liked this more than I did. I'm a Kawada fan, and I popped for the Baba Tag match the following week... so if this didn't make an impression on me and I haven't pimped it for the past 20 years... this isn't exactly one of those Big Four Tag League Match Ups that ends up being memorable.

 

Williams & Bubba beat Ace & Spivey: Another match that I think Dave liked more than me. Not saying it was awful, but didn't really grab me.

 

Kawada & Taue beat Akiyama & Honda: sure, only the finish. But after major play in the Tag League the prior year (replacing Jumbo), and after having a strong year in 1993, here's Jun getting thrown into a partnership with Honda that doesn't have a chance of having a good match. You wanted to see Jun do something in the Tag League, and here he was being wasted in a Finish Only match in his only match three shows into the Tag League.

 

Looking foward:

 

At the time it wasn't a given that Kawada & Taue vs Misawa & Kobashi would be "excellent" given Kawada's knee... and no one was thinking "You know, that could end up the MOTY and one of the best of all-time" because of the injury. The semifinal was Baba & Hansen vs Doc & Bossman, and that had all the chances of being not-so-good at all. We also had one more Big Four match coming up in Kawada & Taue vs Williams & Bubba, that was worrisome: Kawada brought something special out in Doc... Taue up to that point didn't always... and Taue-Bossman was worrisome.

 

So there in addition to Baba & Hansen vs Misawa & Kobashi coming up next, there were three other Big Four matches later in the series... and all had question marks.

 

That's what it looked like when popping in the match. Buzz hadn't hit yet on whether it was any good (I typically picked shows up on the Tuesday after they aired in Japan, about as fast as any gaijin in the US would see them). The final match had just happened, and I had heard nothing on it's quality.

 

So things were looking really bad.

 

And then Baba & Hansen vs Misawa & Kobashi. It was good... very good.

 

Then Kawada & Taue vs Williams & Bubba turned out to be good... very good.

 

Then the Last Match of the Year was off the hook.

 

Three out of four going way beyond what one could have expected at the time, along with the Misawa & Kobashi vs Williams & Bubba being much better than one could have expected...

 

It remains the Miracle Tag League. It went from clearly disappointing (and seemingly hoplessly doomed) to being solid enough with some memorable matches.

 

John

[MJH]

Kobashi was always the day-in/day-out best of the three. Well, certainly by 1993 and for the rest of the decade. "Lazy" Kobashi performances are few and far between at any point, even on the handheld house-show footage or low-end comm releases where vs. the likes of Izumida he's working much harder than Misawa and Kawada would've dreamed of.

 

1993 is pretty much the peak of that. On the January tour alone you have him taking a powerbomb on bare concrete to set up his singles match with Taue which is just a set-up match for Misawa, and leading the tag that was Akiyama's first great match.

 

Does anyone think Kawada or Misawa are going all-out with Stan on a house show, even at Korakuen, after working the other two all within 4 days? Even the biggest Kobashi detractors (John's hardly that I would say) never faulted him for effort.

[MJH]

Oh, yeah, and this match is remarkable. More remarkable than genuinely great, I think, I wouldn't go so far as to call it a MOTYC, but just so much fun. John's post in the Hansen thread argued for it perfectly.

[jdw]

I think in 1993 they still were all working "hard" even on the non-TV cards relative to say other promotion where folks could sleepwalk through stuff (or be zonked out of their minds). Kobashi just worked "harder".

 

There's a ying/yang there: Kobashi was always willing to eat up tons of time/stuff in matches, and the "junior" partner in a six-man (Jun, Kikuchi, Asako) was also expected to eat up a lot of space allowing the Big Dog to pick his spots. So of course Kobashi is going to come fashier: he's flashier to beging with, and everyone lets him do his thing, and let him have as much time as he wants. There's some irony there when Kobashi & Jun teamed together later in the decade: rather than being the Sr partner and let Jun shine (like Misawa did with Jun), we still had the Kobashi Show. He kind of knew only one way to work.

 

In turn, Misawa had been the Sr Partner all the way back to 1990. In the midcards, he frankly was often the Sr guy of midcarders... so he had years of working that way, picking his spots, doing his heated moments, and checking back out. He was good at it in 1993, especially with Kawada opposite of him. I don't think he was as strong early in the year with Taue opposite him in the first two series... not horrible, but the Buzz that was there for Misawa-Jumbo and would be with Misawa-Kawada just wasn't there with the Misawa-Taue when Jumbo went out. One of the reasons it was kind of obvious Kawada needed to switch sides.

 

In 1996 once paired with Jun, Misawa was really good in the Sr. Role. Pretty much the perfect young guy as his junior partner: could hold up his end, but not as overwhelming as Kobashi so you were really able to pick up on what Misawa was doing to highlight the match.

 

To a degree that was also the problem with Misawa & Kawada: Kawada is such a powerful, compelling figure on his own that he drew a lot of our attention... at a time when Misawa was also getting over at the Top Rival to Jumbo. You kind of wanted to see Kawada (and Kobashi... and even Kikuchi) in there in tags and six-mans opposite of Grumpy Jumbo as much as Misawa. And pretty much always wanted to see Kawada in there with Taue in those matches more than Misawa-Taue.

 

Okay... I'm rambling around in circles. 1993 AJPW does that to me.

 

John

[Ditch]

That 'disappointing' comment does make a lot more sense coming before the 12/1 and 12/3 Kawada/Taue bouts.

[jdw]

I always enjoyed getting items into the WON before Dave watched matches. I always wish he hadn't sat on my 6/3/94 letter for several until after he got the tape and recapped it. I thought my rambling did a much better job on the match.

 

John

[jasch]

I thought that this match was very good. What made it for me was one point when Baba tagged in, and it was kind of clumsy and awkward and the crowd was respectful, but not really into it. But, once the crowd started buying into the idea that Baba might take the loss, the crowd heat took the match up quite a bit, and from that point it was borderline great.

[jdw]

When in the match was that?

 

The crowd was heated when it picked up on TV (about 8 or so minutes into the 30:00 draw), Baba tagged in about five seconds after the JIP, and hit a swinging neckbreaker and a pile driver that the fans enjoyed before tagging back out to Hansen. All within a minute. Stan hit a cool dropkick, then stretched Kobashi out when Kenta blocked a power bomb attempt... and then Stan tagged Baba in for the Big Boot and the Russian Leg Sweep (Baba's finisher), that Misawa had to save Kobashi from getting pinned with. A pair of excellent Hansen backdrops, then Hansen runs into Kobashi's boot before letting a bit of hubris get to him: should have tagged out but went to the top like a spunky dumb kid would (Spunky Kobashi was a great character).

 

The whole opening (in JIP) Kobashi In Peril sequence is quality stuff, right down to Kobashi's counter to avoid the Lariat, and Misawa waking up to Elbow the fucking out of Baba (which Baba sells great by just crumples).

 

Even better? It's another false comeback as Kobashi gets prideful again and tries to take it to Stan, only to get clocked again. Sure enough it's Misawa and the Trusty Elbows that finally turns things around, and Kobashi finally sees the light to tagged out and let his senior got to work.

 

The first 6:30 of the JIP are really good stuff, and it's not like what follows doesn't top it.

 

I suspect if one tried to block out a match like this between the Fantastics and the Midnight Express with all their hot moves and signature spots subbed in for what these four guys do, we'd probably realize:

 

* the Fans & MX didn't have as much Cool Stuff

 

* the Fans & MX probably didn't do as much Stuff I mean... just in the first few minutes of the JIP, we have *Baba* using the Rolling Neckbreaker, a pile driver, the Big Boot and the Russian Leg Sweep.

 

Set aside our "Moves!" aversion and we see that these are things Baba has used for decades by that point and are among his signature spots with His Fans similar to Lawler "Pulling Down The Strap" or "Using The Illegal Pile Driver" are to His Fans and... well, he (and the rest of them) are packing a lot of shit into the 22 or so minutes of TV that we've got, while also working out some good All Japan peril segments where folks could be in trouble of losing.

 

Okay... it's 1993 All Japan and I'm rambling again.

 

John

[jasch]

Maybe it was more that I had never seen the match before, thought that Kobashi & Misawa won from the match listing, and as the match went on talked myself into the fact that Baba might take the pin and figured the crowed was pumped for the same reason as me. I forgot about the point system for the tag tourney until the bell rang and it ended in a draw. Shows what I know.

[Childs]

This was great, probably the best "late Baba" match. Hansen worked his ass off, handling 90 percent of the offense and the selling for his side. I loved this one sequence where Baba whipped Kobashi into a would-be lariat only for Kobashi to drill Hansen with a dropkick. Kobashi being Kobashi, he tried to take the fight to Hansen instead of tagging out. He got cut off with a nasty shot to the back of the head for his hubris. I also liked that Misawa didn't hesitate to blast Baba with an elbow if that's what the moment retired. Finally, it was neat how everyone gave it their all, and Baba was left as the freshest guy in the match when the bell rang. Was this the best tag league ever? Had to be right there.

[stunning_grover]

Great match! Everyone was terrific, but I think Kobashi was the man of the match. The crowd going nuts for Hansen shaking hands with both Misawa and Kobashi after the match was awesome too.

[Kevin Ridge]

I just don't see this match being better if DiBiase was involved. We would have seen more of a split in the time in the ring with Hansen. With Baba in place, Stan gets most of the ring time. The crowd love Baba which adds to the match whenever he is in there. He wasn't lighting up in the ring but he didn't have to with Hansen, Misawa and Kobashi involved.

[PeteF3]

The crowd was mostly quiet and respectful for the first big Baba/Hansen tag, but here they're way into it. I don't care about airdates or how widespread results were--I prefer to think of the fans seeing Baba & Hansen take the Holy Demon Army to the limit with Baba in position to win at the bell, and realizing that the Old Guys are for real. That raises the stakes for this match. Baba's strikes are what they are and he can't bump like the other AJPW guys, but damned if he doesn't attempt everything that he's capable of--offensively and defensively. Seeing Kobashi and Misawa execute even their mid-level moves, much less the Kobashi moonsault, is a big deal just because it's Baba. Kobashi works a tremendous FIP segment but the Misawa/Hansen interactions are another highlight. Not really a true MOTY but definitely one of the most fun matches of the year to watch.

[JKWebb]

#294 - placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-300-251/

 

I had a blast watching the team of Hansen and Baba today. I loved the double big boot, then Hansen throwing Kobashi into the corner for another big boot from Baba. Then, Kobashi fires up for a slap exchange with Hansen. Love it. Hansen was great here, slapping Kobashi around after he has him down on the mat. He also sells the Misawa elbows so damn well. There's one, where he falls down to the mat, raises his head up a little bit... looks like he is dying and falls back down. Great stuff. I really thought Kobashi worked his ass off too. Great FIP - all over the place and fired up when he is on offense. His moonsault looked great, and what an awesome false finish that was. Baba worked really hard, and both Misawa and Kobashi helped him in looking great. This is a really fun match. It's definitely a great match too.

[garretta]

I really liked this a lot. You don't often see four heavyeights go nonstop like this, especially in the preliminary round of a tournament.

 

I thought Baba was tremendous here. I find it hard to believe that this was nothing more than a carry job, or three guys having a great match in spite of the fourth. Sometimes greatness isn't about how many moves you can execute or how athletic you are. Even in his younger days, I'd wager that Baba didn't move as crisply as Misawa and Kobashi did here. But what he did, he made count, just as he did in this match. He made me believe that he could actually pin Kobashi or Misawa clean, and that's really what counts. I thought I saw some instances where either one of them could have pinned the old man, but took too long to cover, which added to the sense that Baba might just be able to sneak up on them and get the win before they woke up and realized how dangerous he still could be.

 

Before I interrupted my reading to make sure I got my comments down, I saw what the original plan for the tournament was. Given what the MVC was, and how rusty Teddy was in the AJPW house style, I think we actually got the better end of the deal. Bossman adapted well, and he and Doc could have been a powerhouse team if he'd stayed. As for Baba, his presence brought a whole new dynamic to this match. Who in the arena didn't leave that night thinking about dream matches like Baba/Kenta and Baba/Misawa? Okay, so they wouldn't have worked in reality due to Baba's age and limitations, but the fact that he looked good here made the idea of him taking on the young guys not quite as farfetched as it would have seemed before this bout.

 

I'll have to watch and see how Kawada's work is affected in his subsequent tournament matches by his bad knee. It's a shame he was hurt, because as great as guys like Misawa and Kobashi are, they're not the force of nature that Kawada can be if and when he gets rolling.

 

I noticed that in the match Smothers was in, his partner was in the ring the whole time, according to John's post. Tracy's looked fine in the SMW matches we have on the set before this, so was this just the way the match was booked, or did he get hurt once he got overseas?

[soup23]

What a blast as this was one that I had seen before but not for some time. The way Baba worked here felt more natural than him just sort of laughing along with himself for being in there with HDA. Here he showed some fire and the clothesline nearfall was great. Kobashi and Hansen go after each other one more time in the year and those short kicks Stan throws is great. I thought subtle Misawa here was excellent as he really shows how he thinks he is the guy now and that forearm against Baba supplants that. I thought this really set up nicely his big pin that comes in March of 1994. ****1/4

[Superstar Sleeze]

Mistuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Stan Hansen & Giant Baba  - AJPW 11/30/93

Didnt think this could live up to the hype in a zillion years, but hear I am to tell you believe the hype Giant Baba in 1993 had a damn great match. The part that really sold me was when Kobashi has this menacing look on his face that he is about to unload a Lariat onto Baba. Kobashi comes charging only to eat a BIG Chop from Baba! I popped huge! 

Baba's aura added a lot to this match and increased the novelty. Also the crowd was wicked invested into Baba. It turned Stan Hansen into a super babyface and turned Misawa into a super heel. I did seem to notice that crowd had a harder time bringing itself to boo Kobashi, but they loved booing Misawa. The match is JIP by 6 minutes or so and we are already in a Kobashi heat segment. Misawa interrupts and attacks Baba draws boos. I know it is serious that when Misawa goes into elbow Hansen during a Boston Crab it draws major boos. I was like "Ok so we are flipping everything on its head". I think Misawa was a good subtle heel, BUT Hansen really embraced his newfound babyface popularity with the crowd. He was a great cheerleader for Baba on the apron.

Even though this is a 30 minute draw they NEVER telegraph it and thats another secret to this being great. I figured around the 25 minute time call they were going to a draw but I never had an inkling before that. Hansen teased his Lariat twice. Kobashi nailed his moonsault on BABA!!! Baba was hitting his Russian LegSweep, Lariat and Kick of Fear. You can usually sniff out a draw but everyone went balls to the wall and was trying to win the match. Other things that stood out to me was the Rolling Cradle by Kobashi on Baba! Loved Baba/Hansen double teams like the double chop and the Can-Can Big Boot together. During the heat segment on Baba, Hansen just comes in and THROWS KOBASHI DOWN IN A POWERBOMB!  Hansen BLASTING Kobashi with the LARIAT to the outside! Misawa held nothing back in this match. He was blasting everyone. There was a great Hansen splash from the top rope on Misawa. It felt like a very fat splash. Lots of body weight. Down the stretch you get classic Baba overhand chop to Misawa and Russian Legsweep, huge heat on the nearfall. Misawa just unleashes three brutal spinning elbows on Hansen. Misawa elbows Baba down for 2!  It was just a great bomb-throwing sprint down the last ten minutes. At end of it all, it is Baba standing tall. He knocks Kobashi down with an elbow and then Misawa with a Kick of Fear. Kobashi bumped and sold so hard for Baba. 

If you love workrate-heavy matches with a ton of drama and focus on competition this match is for you. They just let it rip.  ****1/4

[Superstar Sleeze]

Mistuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Stan Hansen & Giant Baba  - AJPW 11/30/93

Didnt think this could live up to the hype in a zillion years, but hear I am to tell you believe the hype Giant Baba in 1993 had a damn great match. The part that really sold me was when Kobashi has this menacing look on his face that he is about to unload a Lariat onto Baba. Kobashi comes charging only to eat a BIG Chop from Baba! I popped huge! 

Baba's aura added a lot to this match and increased the novelty. Also the crowd was wicked invested into Baba. It turned Stan Hansen into a super babyface and turned Misawa into a super heel. I did seem to notice that crowd had a harder time bringing itself to boo Kobashi, but they loved booing Misawa. The match is JIP by 6 minutes or so and we are already in a Kobashi heat segment. Misawa interrupts and attacks Baba draws boos. I know it is serious that when Misawa goes into elbow Hansen during a Boston Crab it draws major boos. I was like "Ok so we are flipping everything on its head". I think Misawa was a good subtle heel, BUT Hansen really embraced his newfound babyface popularity with the crowd. He was a great cheerleader for Baba on the apron.

Even though this is a 30 minute draw they NEVER telegraph it and thats another secret to this being great. I figured around the 25 minute time call they were going to a draw but I never had an inkling before that. Hansen teased his Lariat twice. Kobashi nailed his moonsault on BABA!!! Baba was hitting his Russian LegSweep, Lariat and Kick of Fear. You can usually sniff out a draw but everyone went balls to the wall and was trying to win the match. Other things that stood out to me was the Rolling Cradle by Kobashi on Baba! Loved Baba/Hansen double teams like the double chop and the Can-Can Big Boot together. During the heat segment on Baba, Hansen just comes in and THROWS KOBASHI DOWN IN A POWERBOMB!  Hansen BLASTING Kobashi with the LARIAT to the outside! Misawa held nothing back in this match. He was blasting everyone. There was a great Hansen splash from the top rope on Misawa. It felt like a very fat splash. Lots of body weight. Down the stretch you get classic Baba overhand chop to Misawa and Russian Legsweep, huge heat on the nearfall. Misawa just unleashes three brutal spinning elbows on Hansen. Misawa elbows Baba down for 2!  It was just a great bomb-throwing sprint down the last ten minutes. At end of it all, it is Baba standing tall. He knocks Kobashi down with an elbow and then Misawa with a Kick of Fear. Kobashi bumped and sold so hard for Baba. 

If you love workrate-heavy matches with a ton of drama and focus on competition this match is for you. They just let it rip.  ****1/4