[1995-05-26-AJPW-Super Power Series] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Stan Hansen

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes. I know this match gets panned, but what's here is far from terrible. The rollup pin is pretty weak, but it's decent. Anyway, Misawa regains the Triple Crown. Love the post-match angle. Hansen was not a particularly gracious loser.

[Tim Evans]

Why does this match get panned? It didn't seem too bad as Hansen drops Misawa right on his neck with a brutal suplex. The finish was funny though. I thought they were going for a crucifix but Hansen goes forward. It also looks like Hansen had his arm up at 2.

[PeteF3]

As much as I love both of these guys I didn't need to watch them go for 25+ minutes, so good call to clip this. The closing stretch is good--Hansen busts out a dangerous backdroppah to put Misawa on the brink, but he kicks out. Then Hansen kicks out of the Elbow of Death that put him down before. They trade moves and Misawa gets in a pretty weak crucifix to regain the Triple Crown. I like the idea of a flash pin and a flash pin off the Lariat at that, but that was not executed well. Hansen goes nuts after the match, slapping Misawa and lariating every young boy that gets in his way.

[Superstar Sleeze]

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Stan Hansen vs Mitsuharu Misawa - AJPW 5/26/95

Even though I believe these two are two of the top five of all-time, they historically dont have great chemistry with each other. Stan Hansen was a transition champion getting belt off Toshiaki Kawada and back on Misawa. 

We are missing the first 3.5 minutes or so. We are already knee-deep in a Hansen control segment. He seems to be targeting the mid-section. This is what wrestling commentators would call "methodical". I dont really think this match ever gets out of this first gear. I enjoyed each control segment and thought the transitions were good. No one would exactly call this match enthralling or captivating. It is just fine. 

Misawa wrestles out of Hansen's chinlock and yanks on the arm, which Hansen sells like a million bucks. Hansen makes this with his selling. Great wounded bear selling which is a hallmark of Hansen especially in the 90s. Hansen tries to go back to the mid-section, but Misawa targets the arm and gets the upper hand with holds and strikes to the arm. Misawa starts his preliminary offense if you have seen Misawa enough you know what I mean. Misawa loses control because he goes high risk. He misses a missile dropkick and later misses another dropkick and slingshot plancha. The story of the match is when Misawa leaves his feet he loses control. If he is able to stay planted and throw the elbow, he has a fighting chance. Unlike Misawa who abandoned the arm, Hansen stays on the back with a Boston Crab and a nice Spinebuster which you dont often see from him. Hansen fights through Misawa's comeback because as I said Misawa keeps missing these high risk moves. Great shouldertackle on the floor sends Misawa careening over the guardrail. Hansen delivers two wicked powerbombs and the Dangerous Back Drop Driver! Three sick bombs as we enter the business end of the match. Hansen is calling for the Lariat, but here comes Misawa with his elbows. He nails the Top Rope Splash. It is Elbow versus Lariat. Hansen does not get all of the Lariat. Hansen goes for another swing and miss! Back Elbow, Misawa rolls through and applies a really ugly Crucifix pin to win which I am not sure if Hansen's shoulders were even down or if he wasnt in the ropes. I think the latter part was a feature not a bug as it allowed Hansen to keep his heat. He clobbers a young boy with a lariat and smokes him with a chair to remind everyone who Stan Hansen is. 

Sucky finish aside, this is a perfectly fine match that hums along but no one would call it exciting. *** 1/2