[1990-05-14-AJPW-Super Power Series] Tiger Mask & Toshiaki Kawada vs Yoshiaki Yatsu & Ricky Fuyuki

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

If Jumbo/Tenryu was the end of the 80s, this is the beginning of the 90s. This is a bit weird, because the unmasking is random and happens in the middle of the match for no apparent reason. And I have no idea how the crowd knew to do "Misawa" chants, but they did. I had always read that Misawa took off his mask and screamed "I am Misawa!", but there was nothing like that here. It was just something random that happened in the middle of the match. I guess it was the Jumbo match more than the unmasking that was Misawa's big moment.

[PeteF3]

There were "Misawa" chants during Tiger Mask vs. La Fiera way back in '83. It might have been the worst-kept secret of all-time, if it was a secret at all.

 

There's a big to-do when the mask comes off and some fiery kicks thrown by Misawa immediately afterward, but holy shit this is an ASTOUNDINGLY bad match. It can't be pinned on Yatsu & Fuyuki either, as this is probably the worst Kawada performance I've ever seen. Absolutely lethargic in everything from the pacing to the execution--there were way too many instances of someone getting his opponent down and then standing there picking his nose instead of doing something to follow up. All four men were guilty at various points, usually multiple times. I can't recall a single move other than the first few post-unmasking kicks and a few of the whipping around of TM by his mask that were done with any snap or energy to them. The SWS exodus, at this point, cannot happen a minute too soon. Apparently no one on either side of the fence is interested in making the other look good and the match results are foregone conclusions as the exiting wrestlers are jobbing out. After such a fantastic 1989 it's incredible how disappointing All-Japan has been on the yearbook to this point. Luckily the quality will shoot way up sooner rather than later. But WCW has weathered a somewhat similar left-turn to start the year in far, far better fashion.

[Bix]

How did The Footloose end up splitting, anyway?

[jdw]

The Misawa comment, if I recall correctly, was in the post match. I'll have to look it up in the JWJ - it was a Tokyo match, the author would have gone to it, and stuff that wasn't on TV may have ended up in his report.

 

And yeah... it's not a good match. But it is historic.

 

As far as the Footloose, they teamed together in the Carny series. There was a dividing line in the series where it was clear Tenryu was leaving: he stopped working tags and only worked singles matches with low ranked guys (Taue and Nakano if I recall correctly), with the exception of the singles matches with Savage and Jumbo. I want to say that started before the Dome show. Anyway, Kawada & Fuyuki paired up a good deal in the Carny, but there also was a bit of a "Revolution imploding" storyline as well where they were split from Tenryu when he went into singles.

 

Somewhat lost in time is that in this series, Fuyuki was part of Jumbo's original group opposite Misawa. Jumbo's side got crushed by SWS: Yatsu, Kabuki and Fuyuki all jump. If Tenryu jumping was a "positive", cleaning out Jumbo's side was as well.

 

John

[Childs]

I've always thought that: 1) This match was incredibly boring. 2) The unmasking of Misawa came off as the most arbitrary moment imaginable. 3) Fuyuki got fat again in a hurry.

 

Rewatching it in the context of the yearbook did nothing to change these views.

[jdw]

Well... it was hardly arbitrary. First show without Tenryu.

 

And yes... I know you mean in the context of the match.

 

John

[Childs]

Question for you, John. Was it well known to fans at the time that Tenryu was jumping to start a new promotion? Would it have been covered in the Japanese papers and such?

[jdw]

It was known before the open of this series (i.e. this card). I don't think it was reported before the prior series finished. It was more that after the news broke the people now understood why Tenryu got broken off into working singles with undercard guys.

 

John

[soup23]

Kind of shocked how bad this match was. Unmasking of Misawa I thought was a cool moment though and unconventional from almost every other unmasking I can remember.

[shoe]

Enter Misawa. Match was boring though.

[Kevin Ridge]

Match was kind of just going along until Kawada takes off Misawa’s mask which is a cool moment. I like how the fans immediately take up the Misawa chant. Japan has been lacking so far and NJPW almost non existent outside that super card. Match was really nothing outside the unmasking.

[Zenjo]

The shackles of the dreaded mask were finally cast off and Misawa is born. OK so I knew that was going to happen but holy crap this was a horrible match. Yatsu was unbelievably bad. Someone here described him as falling off a cliff with his ringwork, it was so sudden and dramatic. And was Fuyuki pregnant? Wow did he gain weight quick. I'd be willing to bet that he had an eating disorder. He went from being a hot young talent to a fat bum in record time. SWS was a blessing in disguise where they could offload the dead wood. 1989 AJ was so incredible yet it didn't carry over immediately into the next decade. The Tenryu vs Tsuruta feud had run it's course and the only high points of the first 5 months of the year were interpromotional matches that proved to be one offs. But with the accursed mask in the dustbin and the green tights in the the production line they could begin the new era in June.

[Cox]

I was barely paying attention to this match, checking emails and such, as this seemed like a pretty shitty match and I wasn't immediately sure why this even made the set. Then I hear the crowd chanting "MISAWA, I look up, and Tiger Mask suddenly isn't masked anymore. So I rewound, watched it, thought "Hey that was pretty cool," and went right back to checking emails. Not a good match, but hey, the unmasking was pretty cool.

[TravJ1979]

In watching the match it looks like Misawa was getting pissed off that Yatsu and Fuyuki were tugging and pulling at his mask to gain the advantage and so that was part of the reason he had Kawada take it off and he immediately starting kicking ass. So it looks like they were kind of trying to give the fans a reason.

[garretta]

I'm not the puro expert that some of you are by a longshot, but even I could tell that there was more wrong than met the eye. Thanks for the backstory, but that still doesn't completely explain how lethargic this bout is outside the few minutes right before and right after the unmasking. I've seen plenty of guys who were leaving a promotion put forth more effort on the way out than this. Outside of the crazy headbutt barrage that led up to the unmasking, Fuyuki and Yatsu did nothing, and Kawada only a tinge more. Then out of nowhere, Yatsu has to be helped to the back with a rib injury (which I guess was his excuse for leaving). Even the former partners Kawada and Fuyuki show no emotion whatsoever during their time in the ring together.

 

This was riot-inducing territory, and I wouldn't have been surprised if I'd found out that this was a desperation move in order to save all four guys from being booed out of the building for non-performance rather than a planned spot. Maybe the worst match on the Yearbook to this point, regardless of promotion.

[Loss]

Re-reading old comments, I just wanted to add that Fuyuki had kind of an underrated second career after he left All Japan. He was definitely past his peak, but he became good in a very different way. Onita-Fuyuki matches are the FMW equivalent of Choshu-Tenryu or Choshu-Hash in terms of charismatic guys doing spectacle wrestling.

[drew wardlaw]

Wow so I didn't know this was the unmasking match (I didn't read the thread beforehand). Everyone else has said it, it's not a good match. Everyone is slow and meandering and I kept watching mostly because I figured I must be missing something. Then when Kawada starts untying the tiger mask I thought something was wrong with Misawa and maybe that's why the match was so strange. But nope, this was the unmasking! Very strange way to do that.

 

This is a really interesting match to watch though, because now we've seen 3/4 of the pillars give subpar performances this year. Also, it looks like the stop gap between the big 80s feud and the big 90s feud is over.

[Codysseus]

Just watched this morning. I was actually pretty into it for the first half or so. Intensity was building pretty naturally throughout, especially when Yatsu was in, and I really liked how they kept throwing Misawa around by his mask until he got pissed and took it off. The crowd goes nuts, they brawl and a team Misawa gains control...and then it just all falls apart. So much standing around from everyone, so much wandering into the ring at strange moments. If the unmasking was followed by Misawa crushing everyone and quickly winning, this would've been *much* better. Oh well. I had fun.

[Jetlag]

This is a historic match due to Misawa unmasking but fairly dull otherwise. The unmasking is great and there is some nice chippiness and stiff blows, but the rest is just a kind of plodding match. For some reason, after Yatsu is taken out, it takes them forever to beat Fuyuki 2 on 1.

[dawho5]

Looked to me like Misawa was getting pissed off that Fuyuki and Yatsu kept using the mask to control him. The barrage of actual stiff strikes outside kind of supports that. Doesn't seem like Yatsu ever recovers in this match either, he can barely move afterwards. My guess is some shit went down with Misawa and Yatsu during this and they had to bullshit through the rest of the time without him. Kawada looks almost as tired of playing juniors Kawada as Misawa was of being under the hood.