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[1990-09-29-AJPW-Summer Action Series II] Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace


Loss

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  • 2 months later...

The plucky Kobashi takes a lot of abuse from Misawa and Kawada, including a vertical suplex from the apron to the floor. Misawa and Kawada are really working like a confident team at this point. This is the most surly I've seen Kawada so far in 1990, toying with Kobashi by bootscraping his face, and cheapshotting him when a knee to the back when he's running the ropes. He seems to have found himself. All of this serves to get Kobashi over in a big way with the crowd, and Ace actually delivers on the hot tag. Both Kawada and Kobashi had grown as workers even since the end of June, and Ace at this point works hard and doesn't look out of place at at all, even if he is clearly the lesser worker of the four. This was an excellent match, even with Kobashi messing up the finish, and it was the best of the Kobashi/Ace tags so far.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Actually the finish seemed to be messed up by all four guys, which is probably a record in its own way especially for guys and a promotion of this caliber. Everything up to that was pretty much gold. Lots of new offense here from the Misawa/Kawada team, including the sick suplex to the floor and the legdrop/senton combo that I don't think I've seen since. This is the first true appearance of '90s Kawada, right down to the yellow & black tights to go along with the surly attitude.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Kawada has his tights and all is right in the world. Fuck this aggression was really missing from some later All Japan 90's stuff. Everyone here looked so raw but polished at the same time. Kobashi takes a hell of a beating and sells it for what its worth. It still alarms me to see Kawada/Misawa tag together. Finish knocks this down slightly but this was still pretty great overall.

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I watched this with the Kobashi/Tiger Mask and Kobashi/Kawada singles matches firmly in mind. And what struck me was how, only a few months later, all three were so much closer to the guys we remember from the '90s as a whole. That's not to say they were all there. But there was an evolutionary leap over the course of this year, for Misawa and Kawada especially. Overall, a very exciting second-tier match that would've stood out more during the promotion's fallow period early in the year.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Kawada is finally wearing his black/yellow tights. Ace and Kobashi working well together with the tag moves. Kobashi takes the beating including suplex off the apron to the floor, brianbuster and German suplex that he kicks out. Ace and Kobashi are doing a better job as a team compared to Misawa/Kawada. I thought Kobashi broke up the pinfall at the end so finish seemed off. Good match from what was shown.

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  • 2 weeks later...

JIP but I don't think it was material. Ace wasn't up to much at this stage. This was mainly about Kawada vs Kobashi. Their interactions were terrific with the youngster taking a good ass kicking. It would've been better but went on a little too long and was fading fast.

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  • 2 years later...

Two things stand out about this match for me:

 

1. The frightful beating that Kobashi took. The suplex off the apron to the floor was bad enough, but what about Kawada executing a picture-perfect running powerslam on the floor? I've never seen it done like that before, and Kobashi's lucky he wasn't legitimately hurt. That he was able to get back in the ring afterward and finish the match shows just how tough he is, both kayfabe-wise and in real life.

 

2. Misawa and Kawada's teamwork. I saw Kevin's comment that Ace and Kenta were the better team, but I disagree. If Misawa and Kawada were wrestling in America, they would have been hailed as revolutionary with the kinds of double teams they busted out. Not just one, but four or five over the course of the bout. I'm sure they'll get better from here, and that's scary, because they already look like one of the top working tag teams in the world. If they'd been teaming a little more regularly. I'd call them the second-best team I've seen this year behind the MX.

 

What we saw here was great, and I have no doubt the full bout would have been a serious contender for my Japan "ballot". Hope to see more from these teams in the future!

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  • 1 year later...

I've liked the progression of tag matches between Kobashi and Ace. Kind of a cool little trilogy to watch. Anyway, Kawada is now officially Kawada, and he seems like just the tights have made him better. I'm seeing s lot of the viciousness I'm familiar with. Misawa actually stands out the least to me here, because I was pretty impressed by Johnny Ace. He was clearly the worst man in the ring, but he really worked hard and those to the occasion I thought. He had some good dropkicks and a nice hot tag. This didn't feel like a big time match, but was super hot and a good match.

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  • 10 months later...

This match to me served two purposes.

 

1. Keep building Kobashi up as a plucky kid full of fighting spirit.

 

2. Introduce us to the real Toshiaki Kawada, you know the surly bastard who likes to kick people in the face and just generally be a dick. Love watching that guy.

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  • 2 months later...

Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace - AJPW 9/29/90

 

Kawada in the Black & Yellow! All is right with the world.

 

Fun Fact: Ive have never seen a Johnny Ace match before. I will give him an A+ for effort. It is like he knows what a pro wrestler should act like and does it, but he comes off corny and goofy. The crowd actually laughs at him for loud he is. I think he was going for Bruiser Brody with the hussing, but his croaking voice just sounds like he is breathing out sawdust. His reaction to getting the hot tag was hilarious. There is a fine line between him and Rick Martel. He just looked silly. The Doomsday Devices was bitchin! They all fucked up the finish so I wont blame him. He looked competent, but he in with three of the best.

 

Oh my god, it is September of 1990 but mid-90s All Japan is already here. The urgency and the fire was off the charts. The way Kobashi was trying to prove himself and then the beating he took. I loved how he would slap Kawada and that would just fire him up. The intensity was off the charts. I loved the amount of physical contact. They were always pressing and suffocating each other. There was very little time not in contact. They were just attacking. Kobashi goes flying out to Kawada and then Kawada sends him to the railing and slams him hard into the floor. The back work on Kobashi was great! Misawa dishing it out like he was a heel was cool. Huge Kobashi chants. Yep it might as well be 1995. Kawada with those nasty kicks in the corner. TOSHIAKI MUTHAFUCKIN KAWADA IS HERE!!!

 

Why love All Japan? Kawada goes for powerbomb, Kobashi blocks. Immediately goes for hot tag smart. He avoids the death knell needs to get out of there. Ace dropkicks Kawada but he goes into Misawa so Misawa tags in eats a dropkick. That is a great logical way to get the next dude to feed. Misawa overwhelms Ace with elbows. Misawa is still the man, but Ace is firing back. There is a struggle to the slugfest. So Ace tags out because Kobashi always bites off more than he can chew. Kawada buries the knee to the back. HUGE REACTION! It was such an awesome sequence.

 

Kawada desperately trying to powerbomb Kobashi and failing all three times is All Japan Pro Wrestling. I liked Kobashi/Ace's finish stretch nearfalls. It felt like they could pull off the major upset. Misawa/Kawada were a well-oiled machine, but yeah everyone botched the finish. I thought it was a draw. Ace was horrible getting position. Misawa covers, but Kawada does not block Kobashi, so Kobashi breaks it up but Misawa/Kawada was supposed to go over there. Werid.

 

Everything before that was gold. Loved it. Kawada vs Kobashi was amazing. ***3/4

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  • GSR changed the title to [1990-09-29-AJPW-Summer Action Series II] Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace

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