[1990-03-02-AJPW-Excite Series] Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes. You know, Doc was originally set to face Luger at Wrestle War prior to the Sting injury. I need to go back and check WONs to see why he left. The action here is kinda bland - not bad, just bland. Doc and Gordy win the tag titles.

[PeteF3]

I'm beginning to see where Yatsu got his rep of suddenly falling off a cliff as a worker, after not really seeing it in the '80s AJPW set. I wouldn't call him horrible but he's noticeably out of shape and is pretty lethargic. The pace when Jumbo tags in is strikingly faster and more upbeat. Yatsu goes down to the Oklahoma Stampede and...how much notice did the SWS guys give, exactly? Between Tenryu eating a countout loss and Yatsu being pretty decisively beaten down here, it sure looks like they're getting jobbed out. Yatsu was a valuable utility man for both major federations in his career, but performances like this...well, as Noel Gallagher said when Bonehead left Oasis, "It's not exactly like Paul leaving the Beatles, is it?"

[soup23]

Not very inspiring action and I agree that Yatsu looks like the weak link. I'm really amazed at how tired I feel about 1990 AJPW considering the end stretch of the 80's set was amazing. Good to see Doc/Gordy get the big win though.

[Kevin Ridge]

Joe wearing all red but makes sure his belt and shoes are matching white. We only get the last few minutes but just had me thinking how Japan has been pretty quiet so far outside of the AJPW guys showing up on a NJPW show.

[Laney]

Nice ending stretch here where Doc and Gordy win the tag titles. Not the most inspiring finish, but good nonetheless. Jumbo looks lightyears ahead of Yatsu in this. Still, this was good enough that I wouldn't mind watching the whole match.

[JerryvonKramer]

I'm skipping ahead to watching NWA stuff for in between WTBBP shows, but I had to check this out in passing as a curiosity.

 

Christ, what the hell did Yatsu do between December 1989 and March 1990? It looks like he spent every last second of it eating pizzas and doing nothing else. He was positively fat and sluggish here.

[garretta]

Nice debut here for the Miracle Violence Connection, as they win the AJPW tag team championship. I was surprised that Yatsu went down clean for the Stampede, but if he was leaving the promotion, there's my explanation.

 

Looking forward to more Doc, both as a tag wrestler and a single. I liked him well enough in Wattsland, but I'm curious to see why he's a legend in Japan.

[drew wardlaw]

The first half of 1990 for All Japan is a weird time. It's kind of a lost few months in between Jumbo vs Tenryu and Jumbo vs Misawa. I did really like the short brawl Doc and Jumbo had towards the end, that was good.

[dawho5]

I was wondering if Yatsu had given his notice as well. He gets run over without getting to do much at all.

[El McKell]

I cannot think of a sloppier match that I've seen in an AJPW ring, Dr Death and Yatsu both fucking sucked here.

[Makai Club #1]

I thought this started off really well. It was lively and hard hitting with quick tags and exciting sequences but the match settled quickly after that and it lost its moment. This was an off night for Williams whose offence came off very sloppy and ugly. Gordy came off much more refined, even during the slow “work the leg”portions of the match. Yatsu has got a reputation for being a bit lethargic in this period but I think he has some bright moments in the match, such as him getting a close two count on a German suplex to Gordy but make no mistake about it, the match was best when Gordy and Jumbo were in the match. Disappointing considering the names. 

[Matt D]

I agree with you guys re: Yatsu in this match, though my big takeaway was maybe that he was trying to wrestle Doc when Doc and Gordy were much more interested in thrashing him, but there's a much stronger performance vs Williams in a singles match towards the end of the month that didn't make the set where he comes out headbutts flying and they really go at it and toss each other around, so I wouldn't write off 90 Yatsu so quickly based on this match and I don't want that to be the historical record of him here.