[1990-07-19-AJPW-Summer Action Series] Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Great Kabuki

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes of okay action sees Doc kick out of a backdrop driver from Jumbo once, but fall prey to the second one. Jumbo and Kabuki win the tag titles.

[Ditch]

Strange bit of booking here. Why knock the MVC off after a couple months for the sake of pushing a newly-minted team with Kabuki? Heck, MVC even got to beat the Baba/Jumbo superteam in May. Give 'em more than 4 months with the belts...

[jdw]

Put over Kabuki as Jumbo's new partner. The titles bounced around *all* the time back in that period:

 

1988: unification + 5 additional changes from 6/10 - 12/16

1989: 5 title changes

1990: 1 change already

1991: 4 title changes

 

It didn't calm down until 1992, where there were only 2. In 1990 there probably would have been another one before the Tag League and then another one with the Tag League winner for a total of 4.

 

Best example:

 

07/11/89 Hansen & Tenryu over Jumbo & Yatsu

07/22/89 Jumbo & Yatsu over Hansen & Tenryu

 

Hansen & Tenryu were the new super team, and they got 11 days with the belt.

 

John

[Ditch]

Come to think of it, the TC was all over the place for the first couple years as well. 6 title changes and two decision matches between April '89 and January '91.

[jdw]

Yep. Some of that changes of plans / shit happening. Whatever the plans were for the belt at the start of 1990 went out the window when Tenryu left. Gordy's OD caused more issues. We finally got to stability when Jumbo won it in 1/91. We would have gotten another round of stability in 1993 when Jumbo took it off Misawa, and since Jumbo went out it was Misawa who kept it for the long run.

 

It might be seen as a shift in how Baba thought about the belts, but it was more of a return to how the belts were treated prior to the mid-80s / late 80s.

 

John

[Loss]

Jumbo was supposed to beat Misawa for the TC in '93? Interesting. I don't think I'd heard that before, but it makes sense.

[WingedEagle]

Do we know any more about plans for the TC post '93? Fascinating to think about what that would've led to, but man would we have missed out on so much.

[jdw]

Taue got what would have been Jumbo's challenge: 2/93. Jumbo would have gotten the belt back. I've written about it a number of times, including here... probably even in the 1993 thread on the match.

 

John

[Loss]

Nope, not a word. At least not in that thread.

[PeteF3]

Kabuki surprises me by still being in AJPW, then we get OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE in a '90s All-Japan match from Stan Hansen, and then he and Jumbo win the Tag Titles, too? What year is this??

[soup23]

This didn't excite me much and seems to be going backwards given Kabuki a belt at this point of time.

[Kevin Ridge]

I thought Kabuki left with Tenryu. Jumbo all over Williams and Gordy for a bit. Williams gets Gordy in the Oklahoma Stampede but Hansen! trips him up on the outside. Interference in AJPW? Big moment as it allows Jumbo to comeback and win with the backdrop.

[garretta]

interesting that Stan screwing over his newest enemies (Doc and Bamm Bamm) allows an old enemy (Jumbo) to win the tag titles. I'd like to see this match in full at some point, as what we saw didn't look bad at all.

[drew wardlaw]

Hmm not a lot here to grab on to, but Jumbo and Kabuki (!) win the tag titles, and Stan Hansen is out to screw over MVC.

[GSR]

Last five minutes or so of action, and an Oklahoma Stampede on Kabuki but Jumbo is in there to break up the pin. Gordy goes to work on him until he’s able to get in a shot of his own to drop ‘Bam Bam’ and make the tag to Tsuruta. A pair of jumping knees, followed by a clothesline to both, but the MVC fight back and get a two count after a double shoulder block. Gordy with a powerbomb on Jumbo, and this time its Kabuki who is in to break things up. Oklahoma Stampede attempt on Tsuruta, but Stan Hansen has come out to ringside and hooks Williams’ leg as Jumbo falls on top for a near fall. Doc is distracted by Hansen and a knee to the back followed by a backdrop driver for another two count. Jumbo then evades a football charge, a second backdrop driver on Williams and this time it’s enough to get the win and become the All Japan World Tag Team champions.

 

I’m not an All Japan fan, but it was clear that someone didn’t belong in this match!

[dawho5]

Seems to me this was more about furthering the rivalry between MVC and Hansen than anything else. If you really wanted to put over Jumbo and Kabuki, Hansen wouldn't have been there interfering.