[1992-02-22-AJPW-Excite Series] Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat vs Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

The Can-Ams just completely destroy Kawada and Kikuchi for a long time, and it's brutal. We're 12 minutes into the match before Kawada and Kikuchi get any momentum in their favor. The final stretch is heated as hell, and Kawada finally beats Kroffat with the stretch plum. Fun match! I don't think it compares to the Kobashi tag, but it's really good.

[glea diddy]

Having long heard of the Kobashi/Kikuchi vs Can-Ams but having never seen it im even more anxious now loss if you say that this doesnt compare to that tag. I think this was pretty great and thought each man looked real good. The Can-Ams opening offensive flurry was really impressive.

[Tim Evans]

I don't think I've seen the Kobashi match but this was amazing. Kikuchi just gets killed and at times it's hard to watch. Especially when Furnus slams him into the fans.

[silverwidow]

Wow, you guys really need to watch the Kobashi match ASAP. Super exciting work and the best crowd ever is a bonus.

[shoe]

This was a really strong match. The Can-Ams were throwing everything at Kawada and Kikuchi. This was a total battle.

[Chess Knight]

I was really, really into this. I really do like the "sportiness" of puro, but when you have two gaijins act liked dicks to get the crowd riled up and firmly behind the Asians, it adds a lot. I was smiling like a kindergarten teacher at this one woman in the crowd who was shaking her fists and clapping with joy whenever Kikuchi or Kawada would get some momentum. Kroffat looked like the best wrestler in the world.

[Kevin Ridge]

This ended up being a surprise result to me as Furnas/Kroffat just dominate the match. I figured they would put Kikuchi away eventually. They smartly take out Kawada right at the beginning of the match. He never really gets it in gear after that. Kikuchi takes an impressive beating for most of the match. Kawada finally has enough in the end and gets the submission. Good match.

[MikeCampbell]

I can't believe I'd never heard of this match until now, this was loads of fun. It really looks like Kawada and Kikuchi are finished as soon as the match starts, and even during the final stretch, Kroffat is holding his own while he's in there with Kawada, which seems odds until you remember that Kawada was still just Misawa's #2, not anywhere close to being a top level guy.

[Zenjo]

The frenzied Korakuen crowd was loving it and were the best thing about it. Having finishers at the start of the match is one of my pet hates. The gaijins had 90% of the offense as they showed off all their fancy moves. Kawada then came in at the end and won Starrcade '95 style which sucked. 3 months later they'd get this match spot on but not here.

[WingedEagle]

I cannot believe I never heard about this match, both for how awesome it was and for how it set the stage for Kobashi & Kikuchi taking on the Can-Ams in May. Kroffat lays out Kawada with a tiger driver on the floor right away, and then its time for Kikuchi to die. He eats a double backdrop suplex, a doomsday device, a nasty press slam into the crowd and tons more before Kawada gets the hot tag. The crowd is popping huge for his comeback as he trades near falls with Kroffat before the stretch plum finishes things.

 

5/25/92 is clearly ahead of this, in no small part thanks to an all time crowd, but this is no slouch and probably my favorite match through March.

 

****1/2

[PeteF3]

So odd to see Kawada and Kikuchi as a team. Kikuchi is about the purest babyface in history and Kawada is already a surly bastard despite the Misawa rivalry not even being a glimmer in its father's eye...or something. Anyway, the Can-Ams jump the natives before the match and Kawada eats a tiger driver on the floor. Now that's getting your point across early. And this match doesn't slow down from there. Kawada works FIP(!) and gets destroyed for a few minutes before making the hot tag to Kikuchi(!!) who gets in a few flashes before he too gets destroyed, but not without kicking out of everything the Can-Ams put him through. Closing stretch is just as heated as the beginning, with Furnas making one of the great last-second pin saves in wrestling history, rescuing Kroffat from a Kawada power bomb at 2.9999. Kawada locks in the Stretch Plum and this time Kikuchi is able to hold Furnas at bay long enough for Kroffat to pass out for the ref stoppage. This wasn't exactly a psychological masterpiece but who needs that when the action, intensity, and--yes--the transitions are all this good? #2 MOTY to this point behind the Jumbo/Kawada Triple Crown.

[xlynwoodx]

So I signed up because these threads disappeared recently for non-members. Might as well participate now.

 

This was my first introduction to Dan Kroffat not working under the name Phil Lafon. I had heard many good things and this did not disappoint. I loved the spot with Kikuchi just getting ragdolled while in a cobra clutch. Probably my favorite thing so far this year.

[garretta]

Maybe not the perfect tag match, but not too far from it. The Can-Ams are a wrecking crew from start to finish, even when they're on the defensive later in the bout. Kikuchi and Kawada absorb a frightful beating, but this never seems like a squash, as they get just enough offense in before the stretch run to keep their fans' hopes alive.

 

Most of the memorable spots have already been covered, but my favorite may be the best-executed Doomsday Device I've ever seen, Road Warriors included. (Hawk and Animal's version is more visually impressive, but they're usually giving it to jobbers whose only job is to fly through the air when they're breathed on.)

 

I'm kind of surprised we didn't get more of a flash finish, considering the abuse Kawada and Kikuchi took throughout the bout, but the natives needed to establish themselves as a top team for later matches in the Jumbo feud.

 

Seeing that there's a rematch excites me, especially if it's even better than this. It's just a shame we have to wait three months (in real time) to see it. This one was a blast!

[ohtani's jacket]

#324

 

This was all right. The Can-Ams threw Kawada and Kikuchi around like rag dolls to begin with, and it was a bit like video game wrestling with the classic 90s trope of hitting a finisher to start the match. I liked the heat segment where the Can-Ams were abusing Kikuchi, especially that cobra clutch where Kroffat tried to rip his heat off. You could tell Kawada was itching to get into the match, but the hot tag was a huge let down and the match wound up being a pretty cliched finisher spurt with partners saving each other and all the rest. I really wanted to see Kawada clean Kroffat's clock. I've never gotten the appeal of Kroffat, but he was a king sized dick here to an underdog whom Korakuen had a love affair with. Kawada should have gone to town. Instead, he ended up on the apron again for another hot tag (warmish, really.) Didn't like that. Kick him in the head, Kawada! Lance Storm his ass.

[JKWebb]

http://placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-350-301/2/

 

#324

 

Kawada delivered some great selling in the early going. I thought Kroffat was going to kill Kikuchi a few times! That spot where he was throwing him around like a rag doll was one of the more brutal spots I've seen in a match. I agree, Kawada could have had more fire after all that, but nonetheless this was still really good. You got some really memorable stuff in there.

[dawho5]

I was wondering if Kikuchi was going to make it through the match conscious a few times. That cobra clutch and the doomsday device were absolutely brutal. I'd agree that the hot tag is where things fall apart as Kawada does a couple of pin attempts then gets beat up some more. It's still a really good match with the multiple homicide attempts on Kikuchi, but it's not THE tag of 1992. That's almost exactly 3 months from this day.