[1992-10-17-AJPW-October Giant Series] Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Jumbo's last chronological match on any yearbooks. There's a feeling of unspoken finality in the post-match celebration, which is likely a case of me reading too much into things, but the post-match stuff goes a little longer than normal. Taue, like in most matches during these few weeks, is put in a position to be the workhorse for his team and look strong with the finish, this time getting the pin over Kikuchi. There are better six-mans, but this is another very good one. End of an era.

[Tim Evans]

Good match for Jumbo to go out on before he went to Comedy match heaven.

[shoe]

This was a good solid 6 man. I thought the start was super hot, it slowed down, then built to a solid stretch run. Jumbo's throw on Kikuchi was all kinds of awesome. Lately Taue has had a spark and working his ass off.

[Kevin Ridge]

Didn't realize when watching this was Jumbo's last appearance. He had such a strong start to the year. Taue again looked pretty good. Nothing too special but a good match. Worthy to be included on yearbook for Jumbo's finale.

[PeteF3]

Oh, so THIS is Jumbo's last appearance. Not much to say about this--Jumbo actually doesn't do a whole lot, as Taue and the juniors get most of the face time. There's a budding Taue/Kobashi rivalry apparent here that I'm anxious to see continue, and Taue gets another win--not as big as pinning Gordy, but he quickly shuts Kikuchi down without any kind of teased comeback or struggle. Fare thee well, Jumbo. But I'm excited as I head into the AJPW stuff that I haven't seen a lot of, with new match-ups and rivalries.

[WingedEagle]

The crowd is super hot from the intros, with a completely different kind of electricicty when Jumbo tags in to face Misawa. I thought Taue was less prominent here than was typical for him this year. This feels subpar for a 1992 AJPW 6 man, which means its still superior to your run of the mill elsewhere, but falls far below expectations. Definitely the Kikuchi show as he sells a ton for Jumbo & Taue before hot tagging Misawa. Ogawa then gets to throw some offense on Misawa & Kobashi, who's out there with an incredibly awful looking bruise the back of his thigh.

 

***3/4

[jdw]

Last appearance on the sets. His last appearance as a "comparative" wrestler was in the series finale at Budokan. His tv matches from the series (match dates, not tv dates):

 

Oct-02-1992 Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa vs Stan Hansen & Johnny Ace & Pete Roberts
Oct-07-1992 Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs Terry Gordy & Steve Williams (World Tag Titles)
Oct-11-1992 Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr. & Jumbo Tsuruta vs Terry Gordy & Steve Williams & Richard Slinger
Oct-17-1992 Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
Oct-21-1992 Andre The Giant & Jumbo Tsuruta & Terry Gordy vs Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr., & Stan Hansen

 

It's kind of nice that luck would have 10/07/92 & 10/17/92 matches got booked onto tv tapings. One last title match, and one last Jumbo & Co vs Misawa & Co match.

[garretta]

I thought this was a perfectly decent sendoff for Jumbo. He got a few sequences with Misawa, including throwing him to the outside at the very end, and he got to abuse Kikuchi one last time as well. I agree with Show about Jumbo's javelin job on Kikuchi; considering what kind of strength that takes, you'd never have guessed that Jumbo was sick with hepatitis.

 

The only thing wrong was that I think Jumbo should have been the one to pin Kikuchi, even if Taue was the one to finish him off. I think they had hope for Jumbo to return at some point, though, so maybe they didn't want to do something that definitive.

 

Turning to the future of the armies, Taue's more than ready to lead what was Jumbo's faction. Ogawa could be his number two in time, but not quite yet. For now, I think that's still Fuchi, with Ogawa as number three. On Misawa's side, Kawada's still two for the moment, but Kobashi should definitely claim that spot when he (Kawada) switches. I'm not sure about Kikuchi, though; this feud's been used to elevate everyone on Misawa's side except him. I guess he'll be number three by default, but he hasn't done anything to actually earn that spot. I'm not even sure he can beat old Rusher Kimura straight up, let alone Ogawa or Taue. It'll be interesting to see what twists and turns the sides make, and how differently they'll be configured a year from now.

 

I'll miss Jumbo, but All-Japan needs to be freshened a bit going into 1993. Kawada's turn should help when it gets here, and I'm sure Misawa will have plenty of challengers to keep him busy, both native and gaijin. Despite the sadness of Jumbo's departure, things are still looking up on the whole.

[dawho5]

I enjoyed the opening a lot with Kikuchi showing some good offense beyond just the elbows.  Sadly he is almost to the point to completely out of the main event picture.  As is Ogawa, who has started to look better.  Taue continues to shine and I love it.  Kobashi is great and getting better, which is no surprise as 1993 is almost upon us.  Misawa is good here, especially in that opening exchange with Jumbo.

I thought it was a good sendoff for Jumbo.  He wasn't a huge part of the match but got in all of the signature Jumbo stuff without anything feeling shoehorned in.  Admittedly you might want something more spectacular, but I'm not sure he was up to a big singles match in the condition he was in.