[1991-02-26-AJPW-Excite Series] Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs Steve Williams & Terry Gordy

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

This was a really solid match, but 25 minutes was a bit too long for these guys -- not that they couldn't pull it off, but more that they didn't pull it off. The match felt like it was stuck in second gear the whole time. The crowd was waiting to go crazy, and every time they started really getting into the action, the wrestlers did something to kill the momentum. Gordy cutting off Kawada's kicks is one big example. This was a crowd that clearly wanted to see Misawa/Kawada offense and instead they got Doc and Gordy doing leg work.

 

A big turning point is Gordy moving out of the way of Misawa's dive, making him susceptible to a powerbomb on the floor, rendering him a non-factor for the rest of the match while Kawada is left to fend for himself. This match had lots of good stuff, but I really wish they had given the crowd a little more of what they wanted, which was a dominant Misawa and Kawada. Kawada does get a few kickouts after wrestling on his own for a few minutes, which makes him look like superman, but it just wasn't enough for me. I guess that's why they have rematches.

[shoe]

I liked this a little better than Loss. Though Loss arguments of the cut offs and working leg locks are valid. I liked the hard hitting nature of the match. Plus the finish added a lot if drama to the match.

[PeteF3]

I didn't think this was bad but I do think this was pretty underwhelming, and agree that things were far better when the natives were on offense. The takeout of Misawa should make for major drama, but it simply doesn't because Williams and Gordy continue to sort of go through the motions even when they have Kawada down 2-on-1, and the "can Kawada pull off the miracle?" excitement just isn't there.

[Kevin Ridge]

I'm in the same camp of Loss on this one. I needed more Misawa/Kawada kicking some ass. Alright match but I was waiting for it to get going more especially with the time it was given. Clothesline finish wasn't good enough with the slow pin fall count from Joe. They do a big sell job of Misawa having to be carried out at the end.

[Zenjo]

Hot start before settling into a slower heavyweight pace during the build. The key moment came when Misawa was ko'd by a powerbomb onto the con-crete. Despite a valiant struggle the odds were too much for Tosh. Parts of this were very good, others merely solid. The framework was there for higher but call it good overall.

[soup23]

Around the same as the general consensus on this match as well. Match was good but never really ratcheted up to an exciting finish. Misawa being laid out like that was also something weird to see.

[garretta]

This wasn't exactly Match of the Year material, but I liked the story it told, which was apparently about a thousand degrees different for me than it was for some of you. I thought that this was about Doc and Gordy being such a dominant team that not even Misawa and Kawada, two of the best native wrestlers in the promotion, can take them on without risking (and in Misawa's case, sustaining) serious injury. In that context, I'm surprised that Misawa and Kawada got as much offense as they did. Kawada's kicks and Misawa's high-flying kept the gaijin off balance for a while, but once they were figured out, they were so much toast. Misawa won't be in any shape to compete for a while, which should serve as a warning to the rest of All-Japan not to mess with these two monster Americans. Kawada didn't look too solid either at the end, come to think of it.

 

I like the teases of the Stampede, which is apparently being treated as such a killer move that even seeing Doc set up for it requires the partner of the intended victim to do whatever they can to prevent its use. Unfortunately for them, Doc's powerslam is every bit as lethal without him having to use the turnbuckles for extra leverage.

 

I liked that they showed the teams' records for the year to date underneath their names; it made the match feel like more of a sporting contest.

 

Did we need to see quite so many shots of Misawa lying unconscious at the end? Misawa was doing his best to fight off Doc and Bamm Bamm, but his efforts were being ignored in favor of showing Misawa doing absolutely nothing. A shot or two here and there plus seeing him being carried back to the locker room would have been more than sufficient.

 

Just out of curiosity in case we see them again soon, which exact belts did Doc and Bamm Bamm hold at this time?

[DR Ackermann]

They held the AJPW World tag titles which comprised of the PWF Tag titles and the NWA International Tag titles. They were unified in 1988.

[garretta]

Thanks, DR!

[dawho5]

Kawada got to look big at the end. Showing that much fight against the MVC was something not many ever got to do solo. But the MVC did their usual act in the middle of the match, which tends to make these 20+ minute matches drag.

[cactus]

Gordy and Hansen violently lariating their opponents is always going to be entertaining, but this is let down by an over reliance on holds during the first half. Things improve once Misawa is laid out with a powerbomb on the outside and Kawada has to fight off the two nasty gaijins by himself. Words cannot fathom how over Kawada was during this point in time, the crowd even chant along with his kicks much like they would with Daniel Bryan some twenty years later. Slow and dull first half, compelling and explosive conclusion. 

★★★¼