dawho5 Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 This is easily my favorite wrestling style of all, based on the maybe 20-25 matches I have seen between guys like Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi, Taue, Williams, Gordy and Hansen. I decided I would go back and watch, in chronological order, how this progressed from late 80s onward. Also, lately I've been noticing that when I take notes and write about the matches after, I tend to pick up on a lot more stuff. Not to mention that other people far more knowledgable than I can point out some things I miss. So here goes. Tenryu/Kawada vs. Hansen/Gordy 12/16/88 Kawada's tights are...zubaz, wow. Kawada is so far over his head here against the two big gaijin. Also, he's all junior-y and flippy. It's strange to watch but fun. Kawada has to work his way clear of a double gaijin beatdown, and Tenryu comes in feisty, throwing big, stiff chops. Kawada hits a nice lariat and Kawada/Tenryu hit a nifty enzuigiri/kneelkick combo. Kawada doesn't get a ton off offense, but it comes in flurries between the beatings. Hansen lariats Tenryu off the apron into the crowd and then Hansen/Gordy get to work. They take out Kawada's knee and start double teaming Tenryu for quite a few near-falls. Kawada keeps trying to grab whoever is on the apron, but gets kicked into the rail every time. And then the gaijin on the apron will get a "what are you still doing here?" look on his face before jumping down and shredding Kawada's knee again. Hansen tosses a chair at Kawada right as Gordy hits that late 80s really low lift powerbomb he used to finish. Kawada mans up and sprints into the ring for the save, which earns him more beating from Hansen. Gordy gets caught with a Tenryu inside cradle for 2, but Tenryu can't get any momentum going off of it. Tenryu puts a submission on Hansen in the ring just in time to keep Gordy from attacking Kawada outside, but this just means Tenryu is at the mercy of the 2 big gaijin for a bit more. Gordy finally really gets tired of Kawada's refusal to quit coming back and drapes his leg over the guard rail to finish it off. Tenryu hits some nice chops on Hansen, but Gordy hits a massive lariat to cover his partner. Tenryu catches fire and fights off both before landing his back elbow off the top turnbuckle, but Gordy breaks that cover up as well. Tenryu uses a very similar powerbomb to Gordy's on Hansen, but Gordy hits his own powerbomb after breaking it up, setting up the LARIATOOOOO for the win. This is an awesome match and I see where it had some influence on a later tag match. Hansen vs. Jumbo 4/16/89 Jumbo immediately starts brawling with Hansen and it seems like he surprises him with the willingness to brawl and the intensity. Much stiffer chops than Jumbo had been throwing even a month before. Jumbo takes it outside after Stan and grabs a chair, beating Hansen to that particular punch. Jumbo slams Stan, crouches down and starts hitting him. Jumbo is just mercilessly beating Hansen a la...Hansen. Hansen makes a small comeback and tries a piledriver, which sees him dumped on his back and eating more elbows from Jumbo in pseudo-mount. More brawling and Jumbo puts on an abdominal stretch, the 3rd wrestling move besides pinfalls in the match. Jumbo rolls to the floor following a lariat by Hansen and kicks out after being rolled back in. Stan with the 4th and final wrestling move of the match, a bodyslam, then gets in pseudo-mount and starts hammering away with punches. Hansen beats on jumbo a bit, they spill to the floor a few times, Hansen and Jumbo both use chairs. Jumbo gets booed a few times, once while choking a downed Hansen with a chair on the outside. Could have been "DOOOOOOOO" I guess, but it seemed like boos. Jumbo hits some Hansen-esque elbow drops and again they go to the floor. Hansen is up against the post and eating stiff elbows, Jumbo gives the Hansen lariat signal (but with his right) and lariats the post. They brawl into the crowd, nobody is bothering to listen to the ref at all, just punching and kicking each other over and over again. Draw is called but they keep throwing whatever will reach, Gordy and Yatsu have to come out and peel them off of each other. This to me had a lot of significance. Up to this point, Jumbo had tried to use a lot of technique and outwrestle Stan's brawling. Here, he had just had enough and was going to prove to Hansen that two could play that game. This is something I think became a big part of the AJPW style, the giving back what you get. Also, the stiffness was cranked up a few notches and there is a match that I think was heavily based off of this one later on. Jumbo vs. Tenryu 6/15/89 We start out brawling, Jumbo tries the jumping high knee, but Tenryu sidesteps and hits a German for a quick 2. Jumbo starts working in the weardown holds on Tenryu's neck, getting booed in the process. Tenryu turns things around with some chops, follows Jumbo to the floor with a cartwheel to the apron and a running apron dive!! Young, agile Tenryu is fun. Tenryu works a leg submission, alternately using Jumbo's other leg to roll him onto his shoulders and punching Jumboo right in the knee. Tenryu's chops and Jumbo's elbows are mean, and they both elbow the crap out of each other on the ground. Jumbo works a cobra clutch at least twice, I think 3 times as a weardown hold, once bending Tenryu over his knee to add to it. Tenryu powers out of a powerbomb attempt, but can't keep control as Jumbo continues beating the crap out of him. Jumbo puts on an abdominal stretch and gets booed...again. Jumbo working heel is odd, but it totally works. Jumbo starts laying a massive beatdown on Tenryu, building up the big near-falls (for the time). Tenryu gets a roll-up and reverses a backdrop by kicking off the turnbuckle and driving Jumbo down in this stretch, but it barely slows Jumbo down. Jumbo finally hits the backdrop for a massive near-fall the crowd eats up. This is partially because Tenryu kicked out at the very last possible moment. Tenryu gets another comeback attempt cut off, but it's not long before he hits the powerbomb after a short struggle for a nuclear crowd-reaction near-fall. Tenryu's not done yet, gets Jumbo up for a second powerbomb that gets the 3. Wow, yeah, so many things here that were built on for future singles matches. The strike exchanges, the fights over big moves, the way strikes became far more important to the story being told in relation to submissions, all of these things and the uses of them were really established here. The pacing of the match seemed pretty similar as well, if not the heavy use of submissions early. The buildup to the big moves and the way you could see that Jumbo was clearly in charge of things (a la Misawa in the 90s) through the way the match moved forward was good. Tenryu finding chinks in the armor in order to get to his offense (but just as often getting cut off) was something that seems pretty similar as well. Really amazing match that was far ahead of it's time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxnj Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 Have you seen Baba/Robinson and Baba/Sammartino? Despite the matches being so old, they fit right in the same group as the Jumbo/Tenryu stuff as clear forerunners to the Shitennou with slow build, intense exchanges, and big near falls. I think it's been mentioned Baba had a huge influence in laying out the big matches of both the Jumbo and Misawa eras, which would explain the similarities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawho5 Posted February 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Big thank you to fxnj for the tip. Loved the two Baba matches! Giant Baba vs. Bruno Sammartino 7/3/67 2/3 Falls First 20 minutes of the match or so is all weardown holds and none of it is boring or lacks meaning. Baba is clearly in charge from the get-go working his finesse armwork. Sammartino has some offense here, but baba's counters are more effective and he ends up really dominating the opening minutes. Bruno tends to have less graceful counters than a (surprisingly) agile and smooth Baba. Bruno starts to turn things around when he goes to the power wear-down submissions, holding onto a full nelson for a while before returning to the standing armbar/hammerlock, short arm scissors stuff Baba has been doing. This time, though, Bruno has him worn down enough to make a lot more stick and really starts pulling ahead. Baba gets a sudden rush of energy, and backdrops Bruno off of the ropes, with Bruno making a late grab at Baba's head and missing. Baba hits a big chop, drops a knee and takes fall 1. Baba has really surprising quickness for a guy his size, he's very entertaining to watch when he's younger. He goes right back to the arm, but Bruno turns that around and really starts grinding Baba down with some painful looking armwork. Baba looks to be in real trouble before he struggles to his feet and turns the armlock into a side headlock that gets a massive pop. They work the same sequence, but with Bruno putting him back on the ground, Baba coming back up and Bruno really fighting before baba can get the headlock. Great stuff there. Baba looks like he may be able to put it away with another rush on Bruno, but a second slam is countered with a nice cross-body. Baba is struggling to kick out, but it looks like all that arm work paid off as Bruno holds him down for the 3 and takes fall 2. We star fall 3 out with brawling, as Bruno is hitting closed fists and knees with baba backed against the ropes. Baba is all smiles when it breaks and starts brawling right back. Love how Baba does that. I really wish that at some point when those photographers are sticking their cameras right into the ring to get a shot, they would get it elbowed out of their hand and broken. Leave the ring to the wrestlers. There is a great double shoulderblock spot, standing 10 count with some kneeling strikes exchanged. Bruno starts stomping on baba's throat, standing on it and choking him with his knee on the ropes. Baba gets a little more vicious with his strikes in return. Bruno is working a bearhug, but Baba chops the top of his head out of it a few times. Sammartino switches it up and keeps his head under baba's arm, which has him eating knees instead. Then he goes back to the other way and baba goes right back to the chop. Meanwhile, they keep getting a little more chippy with the strikes, Bruno leading the way. Baba hits an open hand to the throat, which Bruno sells perfectly. Baba finally has to go to the ropes on a bearhug and Bruno is smelling blood. Baba is backed against the ropes and taking a beating again, but smiles and comes right back. Bruno tries a bearhug on the ground, Baba chops out and we have the bell as time expires. They shake hands after. So many things about this were awesome. The way it slowly builds up, always ramping up a little bit even if the same move/strike/hold is used is amazing and something that came into play in future matches for sure. The way they were using simple things, but went out of their way to make them look as mean and hurtful as possible was great. Baba starting out as the clear favorite and Sammartino finding a way to make himself a threat, then forcing Baba to bring his heavy hitting stuff to even things back up was incredible. The really good "sense of struggle" stuff from the 70s wrestling was here in spades too. I liked how it wasn't just "go to the ropes" when in trouble, but you were expected to try to work your way out of the hold into your offense for the most part. I am starting to think that some things got lost in the transition from young Baba to early Jumbo and had to be put back into the style. I've read about Hiroshi Hase coming over affecting Tenryu's style a lot, and I've seen the effect Hansen had on Jumbo's in-ring work. I'm starting to wonder if Baba didn't bring those two (and probably Gordy as well) in to teach his big name guys a little about the old school rugged brawling/matwork style (that Baba himself used to do so well) in order to book a match like Tenryu vs. Tsuruta. It wouldn't in any way surprise me. Giant Baba vs. Billy Robinson 7/24/76 2/3 Falls Baba is again working strong with his weardown holds in this one. Robinson settles for kicking Baba in the leg, knowing he's losing the battle on the mat. Robinson wants a gutwrench suplex, but Baba won't give it up. Robinson with some nice leg work before Baba hits a big boot and a backdrop suplex for fall 1. Baba's strikes look good, his open hand straight to the collarbone/throat is vicious looking. Robinson comes back with some big running elbows. Robinson starts working over Baba's leg again, then tries setting him up for a double-arm suplex, but Baba fights it off. Robinson isn't giving up on that suplex, but Baba just won't have it. Robinson goes back to the leg and takes fall 2 with a single leg crab. Robinson goes right back to the injured leg. Baba is threatening with overhead chops to keep Robinson off the leg, but Robinson is ready for them and tenacious on getting to the leg. Robinson is trying to go back to that single leg crab, but Baba won't let him have it and kicks him in the face, sending him to the floor. baba and Robinson brawl, Robinson for the first time with closed fists. Baba hits chops and those mean throat slaps. Robinson sets Baba's leg on the middle rope and runs into it, sending both outside. Baba tries another backdrop suplex, but Robinson kicks off the turnbuckle (I've seen that somewhere before, oh the Tenryu vs. Jumbo match) to counter. Robinson hits a sweet backdrop suplex pickup to backbreaker for a big near-fall. Robinson is looking in charge again, but Baba catches him off the ropes with a running neckbreaker drop for 3! Another awesome match, and you see some more aspects of the later AJPW style. Baba looks to be pretty in charge for 80% plus of this match, with Robinson doing great work from below. Even when Robinson is working on him, Baba always seems to be looking for his openings pretty calmly and finding them before he's in too much trouble. This is something Misawa really took and ran with. Where Jumbo was really more of a "get fired up" guy, who would have massive, impactful comebacks, Baba and Misawa worked them as gradual, never panicking or getting too excited. The sense of struggle was also a big part of this match, which I think is something that is missing from a lot of current wrestling. The way striking and rope-running was used as transitions and teases here was also a big part of later All Japan stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawho5 Posted February 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi 7/01/89 Kawada's gear is just weird pre-black and gold. Both these guys are pretty good on the juniors style rope-running and slick transtitions from standing to the mat. Kobashi starts picking apart Kawada's leg early. He has a really good legdrop from the start it looks like. Kawada gives the match a sense of struggle when working from below, always trying to find a way to kick at Kobashi during the submissions. Kobashi is really good at switching up submissions and stomping the leg in between transitions. Kawada gets to his feet and completely no-sells the leg, kicking Kobashi a few times with no visible effects before Kobashi grabs a kick and goes right back to work on the leg. Kawada gets back in control, in no way sells the leg again (having a hard time believing it myself), hits a nice plancha on Kobashi. They run a NJ juniors-esque finishing sequence featuring stuff that you almost have to see to believe. Kawada uses a bow & arrow hold, hits a massive standing senton, and a fisherman's suplex on Kobashi. Kobashi uses a blockbuster hold and German with seriously amazing bridges. Kawada rolls through a Kobashi second rope twisting cross-body that came off a Kawada corner whip somewhere in there. Kawada hits a nasty lariat and follows with a dragon suplex for the win. You can see that these two are very good at the in-ring stuff physically at this point. Almost everything is well-executed with a lot of things you don't see from them later on. They are missing some big elements of what made their later work great at this point though. A lot of what they did seemed to just be almost spot-fu towards the end. Tiger Mask 2 vs. Kenta Kobashi 3/6/90 Kobashi hits some seriously awesome armdrags early on. He is in control early, but Misawa hits this really sweet lucha-style second rope backwards jumping headbutt. Kobashi falls waaaay too early on a Misawa shoulder neckbreaker. Misawa works over the neck some, Kobashi hits some nice Kawada-esque corner kicks before Misawa hits a crossbody and works the neck some more. Misawa's matwork is really not that great. He just puts the hold on and...leaves it there. That is really highlighted by what happened in the previous match and later in this one. Kobashi has a nice kneelkick. Kobashi gets control and works over Misawa's leg on the mat with a variety of holds and kicks. Kobashi is really, really great and dynamic on the mat. It's a shame that the style moved away from mat stuff because Kobashi was awesome at it. Kobashi sends Misawa to the floor and hits a massive plancha from the top turnbuckle. Kobashi goes back to the legwork in the ring and puts on a cloverleaf that makes Dean Malenko's look second rate. They fight over a Kobashi figure four (Misawa holding the leg up0, but Kobashi gets it anyway. Misawa is even a little lacking working from below on the mat. He doesn't do enough once the hold is on. Misawa hits a nice running plancha off his over the ropes fake, then sells the leg outside and in the ring. Kobashi gets back in control and hits a sweet backdrop suplex for a nearfall. He follows with a Canadian backbreaker and drops Misawa down off of that to set up a big moonsault nearfall. Misawa hits a German with a nice bridge after some back switches for a nearfall. At this point the leg is forgotten. Kobashi backdrops a TD attempt, but is stifled by Misawa dropkicking him in the hamstring on a missile dropkick attempt (which looked nasty). Misawa counters a backdrop suplex with a crossbody for a near-fall, follows with a Tigerdriver for the 3. This was again, shades of things to come. Both had some really nice moments, but the match played away from Misawa's strengths by being so mat-based. The finishing sequence was nice, but Misawa needed a little more of it I thought. The methodical, never-say-die Misawa comeback was here in very early form. Both of these matches are examples, to me, of 3 great workers cutting their teeth. The quality of the work is really good, but it's not up to the huge standards they later set for themselves. I really enjoy getting to see some of the stuff (some of it really, really awesome stuff that any pro wrestler would be happy to have in their arsenal) that ended up on the cutting room floor in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawho5 Posted February 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Tiger Mask 2/Kawada vs. Yatsu/Fuyuki 5/14/90 This is joined in progress with Yatsu headbutting TM2 in the corner. A lot. Kawada distracts Yatsu and TM2 kneelkicks him in the back of the head. Kawada unties the mask and, surprise of surprises, it's Misawa under there!! The crowd chants. Misawa hops to the floor and kicks the crap out of Yatsu and Fuyuki. Kawada joins in the fun. Kawada hits a nice missile dropkick back in the ring. Kawada hits a late 80s low lift powerbomb on Yatsu, who kicks out and sells it like death for 5 minutes or more. Fuyuki hits a nice spinkick on Miawa. Kawada and Misawa work decent together on teamwork stuff, Kawada with one of his sweet kneelkicks. Yatsu breaks up a nearfall, but he gets tagged in to eat a dropkick by misawa before...tagging right back out and never coming back into the match. Kawada hits a suplex to set up the frog splash for a nearfall. Misawa with the German for the win. Looked to me like Yatsu/Fuyuki were given the job of putting Misawa/Kawada over in the big reveal match and helping build Misawa up for the match that comes next. Neither Kawada nor Misawa was in any real danger of losing here. They both looked good coming out of the match, so it served it's purpose. Misawa vs. Tsuruta 6/8/90 Wow, the crowd is hot for this one. Misawa is in very familiar gear and has Kawada and Kobashi as seconds. Both Misawa and Jumbo get chants coming out. Jumbo has a very clear power advantage and is in no way bashful about showing it. Misawa has speed and elbows, but the speed is quickly shown as a double-edged sword as he runs into a big boot after a dropkick. Jumbo follows with a huge lariat for an early 2, making quite the statement in the process. Jumbo is in charge, but he tried the backdrop suplex too early and gets a Misawa crossbody as punishment for the mistake. Two count and Misawa is kicking Jumbo outside, hits an apron missile dropkick after faking him out. A running elbow sends Jumbo over the guard rail. Misawa elbows Jumbo off the apron and hits a running plancha. Misawa is really trying to press the advantage here, makes sense after eating that lariat. Misawa tries a front facelock to wear Jumbo down, but Jumbo is soon out and gets Misawa in a standing surfboard. Misawa reverses, then uses Jumbo's momentum to stop his reversal back into the original predicament. Jumbo reverses, Misawa hits a backwards dropkick and then puts on a hammerlock. Jumbo makes the ropes, but Misawa slaps him across the face on the break! Another slap and you can see Jumbo getting angry. Jumbo starts to beat Misawa down, puts on an abdominal stretch, but Misawa reverse. Jumbo powers out and tosses Misawa to the floor before whipping him into the rail. Misawa makes a comeback, hits a missile dropkick for 2 and follows with a gutwrench suplex. After a slam, Misawa goes up top for a frog splash nearfall. Jumbo catches Misawa mid cross-body and drops him throat-first across the ropes for a nearfall. The speed again proves to be a double-edged sword. Jumbo hits a series of nasty stuff for nearfalls. Jumbo takes off the kneepad after climbing the ropes! Misawa cuts him off, but Jumbo just knees him in the face as he's climbing, knees him again as he gets up and slams him before climbing again. Misawa gets to the top with Jumbo this time, but ends up back on the mat, and stans up into a padless top rope jump knee for a big nearfall! Jumbo hits a MASSIVE powerbomb for a nearfall that the crowd eats up. Misawa finesses out of a double arm suplex with a backslide for 2. Misawa hits a big elbow to keep Jumbo down, Jumbo rolls to the floor and eats a sweet top rope plancha halfway across the ring from Misawa! They extend this already good finishing rush with a series of counter sequences and big move teases, Jumbo hitting some seriously vicious lariats, and increasingly loud pops for a Misawa German and Tigerdriver attempt (which goes nowhere). This was an amazing match with incredible heat and really well-done all-around. Jumbo as the powerhouse who refuses to let the youngster get the better of him is great. Misawa as the upstart speedster who just won't stay down and capitalizes on every mistake as fully as he can is spot on. The ratcheting up of the intensity by both as the match went on works so well. Misawa and Jumbo both show disbelief after the finish, which makes perfect sense. I can see where Misawa was a made man after this match, as he endures a beating and a half from Jumbo to squeak out a win. Kobashi vs. Kawada 6/30/90 Kawada has kick pads now. And he has more of the later core Kawada style going on here. Both guys got streamers before the match, that was cool. Kobashi hits a lefty lariat early. Kawada misses a plancha and Kobashi kneelkicks him over the guardrail. Kobashi dropkicks Kawada off the apron and hits a big plancha. Kobashi is working over Kawada's neck back in the ring, Kawada tries different counters but none of them stick. Kawada starts slapping Kobashi in the corner and they brawl to the mat, where they brawl some more. It goes to the corner, where Kawada hits his second rope head kick on Kobashi. Kawada steps on Kobashi's head to get a sharpshooter, then kicks him outside off the rope break. He drags Kobashi over to the gym floor outside the railing and bodyslams him out there. They brawl a bit more in the ring and Kawada misses a second rope knee drop as Kobashi moves. Kobashi blocks a kneelkick and goes into his sweet cloverleaf. Kobashi again works over the leg, his single leg crabs are really nice. Kawada turns over a figure four, but Kobashi goes right back into the leg work with a stretch muffler after a rope break. Kawada hits an enzuigiri coming off the ground, then a nice abisegiri before selling the leg a bit. Then he forgets about it for a while, as he hits a nice lariat for 2. A little rope-running leads to Kobashi backdropping Kawada to the floor and kawada going facefirst into the rail. Ouch. Another Kobashi plancha follows, and Kobashi hits a gutwrench powerbomb in the ring for a near-fall. Kawada is back to selling the leg, floats over on a suplex and gets a bodyscissors sleeper that forces Kobashi to the ropes. Kobashi goes outside and Kawada hits a springboard tope con hilo. That was unexpected and nice. Kawada is moving a bit slow in the ring after that, may be leg selling. Kobashi counters out of powerbombs a few different ways. They do a nice run to the finish with a Kawada crucifix roll-up in there somewhere. Some good counters, especially in the intricate finish counter sequence. Again, it was kinda juniory, but less spotty than a year earlier. Kobashi's leg work was a treat in both matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawho5 Posted February 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Hansen vs. Misawa 7/27/90 A month and a half after his big Jumbo match, Misawa is rewarded by having to face Stan Hansen. Sounds like a pretty crappy reward. Misawa isn't taking any chances. He immediately lariats Hansen out of the ring and goes to work on him with the bullrope. He drops that and then starts in with a chair before heading back into the ring and really attacking Hansen's left arm. Misawa is so much better at limb work when he's not in the Tiger Mask costume, no idea why. He's working different holds, following Stan outside and not letting up for an instant on the arm even on the outside. Back in the ring, he's switching up holds and stomping, kicking, elbowing away at the arm. It's like a more focused-attack version of Jumbo vs. Hansen from '89. Hansen keeps trying to brawl his way out, but Misawa is tenacious. Hansen finally brawls his way out of the arm holds and starts punishing Misawa, but he eats a dropkick that ends him outside. Hansen is smart enough to avoid the dive, but Misawa sets him up for a frog splash nearfall inside the ring and hits an enzuigiri that has Stan bailing to the floor again. Misawa misses a dive completely, but Stan's chairshots whiff also as Misawa is smart enough to get the fuck out of Dodge and roll into the ring. Stan starts kicking the crap out of Misawa in the ring and gets a few near-falls, but Misawa ducks a lariat and hits a nice spinkick, following with a senton for a nearfall. Hansen tosses Misawa off the top, hits a mean shoulderblock and follows with the big lariat for the win. Really good match with Misawa showing a lot of presence of mind and fire all at the same time. He knows he's overmatched in a lot of ways, so he tries from the start to tilt things in his favor and keep them there. Hansen is just too much in the end, though, wily enough to avoid enough Misawa high risk stuff and with good enough offense to make up the difference. Misawa looked great in the loss, which, to me, was one of the purposes of the match. Edit: It later occurs to me that Hansen very much had the Misawa "extended comeback" offense going on in spades here. He would get in good shots between Misawa armwork, but Misawa would doggedly get back to it through strikes from Hansen. Hansen never panicked, just kept getting the shots he could in as he went. Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi vs. Tsuruta/Fuchi/Taue 10/19/90 Everybody has their familiar gear here, and Taue vs. Kobashi is heated and intense off the bat. Taue cheapshots Kawada off the apron in an eerily similar spot. The youngsters triple team Taue a bit, then we get the Misawa vs. Jumbo face-off you know the crowd was waiting for. Jumbo really puts over Misawa's elbows before going to work with body elbows of his own. Misawa is the first in a revolving door of mini young guy-in-peril segments that ends when they get a few shots in on Taue, tag, then start to get triple teamed by the more experienced team. Jumbo has a nice single leg crab on Kobashi, and younerg Fuchi has a pretty good dropkick. Taue vs. Kawada always gets a nice pop from the crowd. Taue reverses Kawada's slam on the un-padded floor spot and slams Kawada to start Kawada's mini turn as face in peril. Fuchi uses a nice single leg crab on Kawada. Kawada is animated in his comeback (of course on Taue), drags Taue out to the unpadded floor and suplexes him before kicking him in the back a few times. Kobashi saves Taue the trouble of noselling and rolls him back into the ring. Taue's back gets worked over by the young team, but he hits a nice DDT before selling his back and tagging to Jumbo. Jumbo lariats the crap out of Kobashi, but Kobashi kicks out with no help. Kobashi goes into the full FIP routine now (good casting, by the way) and there is one point where Fuchi is grabbing Kobashi's leg to keep him from crawling while casually tagging in Jumbo, very entertaining. Kobashi eats another lariat and kicks out. Kobashi comes back on...I bet you can't guess. Oh yeah, it's Taue. He tags to the best possible teammate in that situation, Kawada. Kawada and Taue beat the shit out of each other and I love it as much as the crowd does. Taue tags in Tsuruta, but Kawada is fired up and just starts elbowing him as if Taue had never left. Jumbo hits some knees, Kawada ducks a lariat and hits the sweetest running kneelkick of all time. Misawa is tagged in and immediately starts elbowing Jumbo. Jumbo fights back, but gets slammed and eats a Misawa elbow smash from the top as he stands. Jumbo again fights back and tags out, but Misawa DOES NOT CARE! He follows Jumbo out and starts brawling with him on the outside, but Taue (now the legal man) takes advantage of Misawa's distraction and hits a running plancha! Back in the ring, we start the short finishing sequence with Kobashi eating more big stuff from Jumbo and still kicking out! The finish is good and works with what came before it, but was in no way what the match was about. There were three main things going on here. Kawada and Taue have it out for one another. There's gonna be a lot of violence going down between those two. And the crowd loves every second of it. Kobashi will not stay down. He has the FIGHTING SPIRIT! In all reality, this match was his turn to shine taking on Jumbo's biggest bombs and surviving to reach the end of the match. And somehow relegated to third tier, Misawa vs. Jumbo. This match seemed to be about putting over the other 3 of the 4 Pillars, while Misawa and Jumbo teased the fans for their next singles match. Misawa vs. Kobashi 4/5/91 (handheld) First time seeing a Japanese handheld. Not bad quality. This starts out like a NJ juniors match, Kobashi quickly gets Misawa on the floor and does a splash from turnbuckle to a prone Misawa on the floor. Then they get back in the ring and trade armwork before Kobashi starts in on Misawa's neck and has control for a while. Misawa finally gets a few counters to work, hitting a backdrop and then a nice angled side slam that hit neck/shoulders first. Misawa misses a dive, lands on his feet, but is immediately DDTed on the floor by Kobashi. Kobashi hits an apron dropkick before we head back to the ring for a short finishing sequence that sees a Kobashi tiger suplex nearfall, and Kobashi kicking out of a tigerdriver. Misawa follows that with a more angled TD, not quite a '91, for the win. Kinda short, but it played almost like a NJ juniors match for most of it, minus the extended middle section and finishing run. Misawa again had the extended comeback, always finding ways to get a little offense in where he could so he was never out of it. Kobashi continued his display of fighting spirit in kicking out of the TD. So did these guys watch a lot of early NJ juniors stuff and incorporate it into their movesets early? I know Misawa was Tiger Mask, but Kobashi and Kawada really bring the juniors style offense when they are younger. They retain parts of it, but at least 75% of it disappears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ditch Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Kawada's work in the footloose team from '88-'90, when he first got regular TV time, was very much junior-flavored. He was also small compared to Baba, Jumbo, Tenryu, Yatsu, etc, so it made sense to be more athletic in nature. He and Kobashi became power guys as they filled/roided out and moved up the card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Casebolt Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 A few months ago I was watching a bunch of '89 All Japan, and it struck me how Kawada's work was similar in tone to Daniel Bryan a few years ago, or Chris Benoit early in his WCW run. Undersized and working against more established stars, and trying to make up the lack with athleticism and aggression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Kawada's work in the footloose team from '88-'90, when he first got regular TV time, was very much junior-flavored. He was also small compared to Baba, Jumbo, Tenryu, Yatsu, etc, so it made sense to be more athletic in nature. He and Kobashi became power guys as they filled/roided out and moved up the card. How prevalent were roids among top talent in Japan? It never seemed as big an issue as in the states, or perhaps just wasn't covered as much. Nor did you have a bunch of Warlords running around drawing your attention to it. But it must've had some kind of presence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Kawada's work in the footloose team from '88-'90, when he first got regular TV time, was very much junior-flavored. He was also small compared to Baba, Jumbo, Tenryu, Yatsu, etc, so it made sense to be more athletic in nature. He and Kobashi became power guys as they filled/roided out and moved up the card. How prevalent were roids among top talent in Japan? It never seemed as big an issue as in the states, or perhaps just wasn't covered as much. Nor did you have a bunch of Warlords running around drawing your attention to it. But it must've had some kind of presence. Not sure if this helps, but here's something Meltzer said in a March 1992 Observer when everything was coming to a head in the US. DM: The steroid story in regard to the Zahorian trial received minimal coverage in Japan except in Weekly Fight which did a two-page major feature using the Observer as the main source. There has been some coverage as well, but minimal, of the claims of Billy Graham and David Shults. When I was in Japan in 1984, the wrestlers and particularly the younger ones had a very negative attitude toward steroids to the point that some refused to give Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith the credit they deserved as workers and were almost dismissed by some wrestlers even though they were over like crazy with fans because the wrestlers believed they used lots of steroids. Ditto Hulk Hogan. In 1990, it seemed pretty evident that a lot of the younger wrestlers were using them and which to me meant that attitudes had changed. The percentage of use still appears to be much lower than in this country. Promotion of the Japanese wrestlers based on physique above ability is almost non-existent. But that isn't the case with the foreigners although they favor a huge, bulky look above the sleek, bodybuilder look. I don't see evidence of promotions actually encouraging use but I don't know if it's really discouraged either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ditch Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 The sense I get is that steroid use is very common, but not in the kind of quantity per user seen in the '80s. Japan has two things to make staying in shape the right way easier: less travel time during tours and more time off the road, meaning less wear & tear on the body. That said, after '92 we get the very questionable physiques of 1997 Sasaki and post-knee injury Kobashi, not to mention a very bodybuilder/steroid focused culture in Dragon Gate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 Tenzan and Kojima were pretty obvious before/after. It was part of the business. There just weren't a lot of Warload or Chris Chavis "looks" among the natives. The look was more one of "thickening" than flat out getting ripped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawho5 Posted February 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 Yeah, Kobashi looked like the obvious steroid guy in All Japan. Kawada just got thick, Misawa stayed lean and Taue always was tall and ungainly looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 I thought Kobashi was thicker rather like Kawada rather than incredibly cut. Rewatching a lot now I have so much love for Taue. His style fit the look and was a master at so many little things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Yeah... Kobashi struck me as "thick" rather than "ripped". That doesn't mean he wasn't muscled, as he clearly was. But not like Warlord, Chris Chavis, or Luger & Sid, etc. The juiced in Japan just tended to get more of a "think" look among the natives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawk20 Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 There just weren't a lot of Warload or Chris Chavis "looks" among the natives. Freudian slip indicating your thoughts on how he was as a worker? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawho5 Posted February 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2014 Misawa vs. Tsuruta 4/18/91 Triple Crown Misawa looks a bit bigger here, but we establish pretty quickly that he is still at a big power disadvantage. Jumbo is selling Misawa's elbows huge. Then he hits some of his own and some just-as-big knees and Misawa is in trouble early. Jumbo is beating Misawa down until Misawa hits his second rope lucha headbutt. Misawa works on Jumbo's back with weardown holds, smart move as Jumbo's strikes are really taking it out of him. Jumbo starts on the beatdown again, then just slaps Misawa over and over again before sending him outside. Misawa is whipped into the rail, but rebounds and hits a charging elbow. He translates that to some elbows in the ring, which seems to be working until he switches to slaps. They slap each other a bit, then Jumbo puts a small corner beatdown on Misawa, who tries slapping his way out only to get whipped into the ropes and eat a Jumbo jumping knee. Jumbo sends Misawa outside and hits a knee crusher on the announce table before working over Misawa's knee in the ring. Jumbo puts on a STF, Misawa gets the ropes. Misawa is sent to the ropes and hits a flying elbow. Misawa sells the leg and Jumbo is again making Misawa's elbows look like gold after the fact. Misawa has a short beatdown segment, selling the leg along the way. Misawa tries a crucifix, but Jumbo catches him and does a modified Samoan drop for a nearfall. Misawa counters a backdrop suplex with a crossbody, but next time Jumbo is ready and instead drops Misawa's face into the turnbuckle as he tries that. Misawa reverses a powerbomb to go into another beatdown of Jumbo, then goes up top for a huge flying elbow smash from the top! Misawa is in control a bit longer, but Jumbo catches him rope-running and drapes him throat-first across the top rope. From there we go to the absolutely brutal finish. Really good stuff, with Misawa gaining confidence as the match went on. He starts out not doing as well toe-to-toe with Jumbo, but as he wears the bigger man down, he gets longer sections of the match where he is just elbowing, kneeing and kicking Jumbo, who has no effective response. Jumbo's offense is, of course, big, mean and really hurty looking, as always. Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi vs. Jumbo/Fuchi/Taue 4/20/91 So two days later, this happens. Taue is chosen as the guy to start for his team and the fans want Kawada in there. Kobashi ends up starting, but Taue doesn't give a shit about that and cheapshots Kawada off the apron. Kawada is pissed and has to be restrained by the ref and Kobashi. Taue lariats Kobashi, then immediately lariats Kawada off the apron. God I love Taue. Kawada is down & out for a while afterwards. Misawa and Jumbo are tagged in and Jumbo again sells the elbows big. Jumbo takes over on offense and there are some quick tags with Fuchi. Misawa tags out and Kobashi has some nice offense on Jumbo before getting his left arm worked over by all three members of the opposing team. Kawada has recovered by the time Taue is in there and Taue gets the small beginnings of a receipt. Taue and Kawada brawl while the ref tries his best to separate them and keep the other 4 from getting into it. Kawada gets the advantage and starts headbutting Taue into the ground (for at least 30 seconds). The crowd is eating this shit up. Kawada finally stands up and starts stomping on Taue's face before the ref, Kobashi and Misawa drag him off. Some sort of break happens and Kawada and co. are beating the shit out of Taue for being a complete dick. Kawada is getting chants when he's not the guy in there, crowd must like that rivalry. Kawada gets a nice pop for giving Fuchi the finger when he looks like he's coming into the ring, then tags out to Kobashi. The crowd reverses itself and starts chanting for taue towards the end of his heel-in-peril routine. Fuchi makes shit happen with a low dropkick on Kobashi while he's got an abdominal stretch on. Team Experience starts working over Kobashi's leg with a few hope spots thrown in. Fuchi is so great at being a dick in these kinds of situations. At one point he has an STF on, then lets go of the neck to delay Kobashi's grabbing the ropes, then just tags as he has to break. At some point, Jumbo seems to be trying to stomp all the way through Kobashi's leg to cut off a tag. Kobashi takes two knee crushers onto tables and one onto a chair positioned on the apron (Fuchi) during the heat segment. Or is it the second heat segment, or the real heat segment? Either way, Taue has this awesome spot where he is tagged in and does a top rope elbow drop to Kobashi's leg right into a submission. I seriously love Taue. Fuchi grabs a leg and holds on during a Kobashi hope spot, then tags in Jumbo. Kawada kicks Jumbo off of Kobashi to set up a hot tag, but no dice. Taue and Fuchi both get to torture Kobashi a bit more, but Kobashi gets the HOT (if the crowd is any indication) tag to Kawada. He smacks Fuchi around before tagging to Misawa, who ends up getting decked by Fuchi and set up for Jumbo. Misawa displays spirit (kicks out of a Jumbo powerbomb) and intelligence (Taue comes off the top with a nodowa as Jumbo does a backdrop, Misawa gets a foot on the ropes). Taue kicks out of a tigerdriver and a Kobashi moonsault! Following the moonsault, the finishing sequence gets really chaotic with break-ups and interruptions and holding back tag partners from break-ups, etc. Something they really captured on camera this match was how much the Japanese girls really were WORRIED about face-in-peril Kobashi. The dismay on some of the faces is priceless. Kobashi again comes off big for his fighting spirit. Taue vs. Kawada is advanced again. Misawa vs. Kawada is not as distant in trailing these things here as several times it seems to really take the forefront. Taue really gets put over a lot more in this one than the last. Well-worked match with an odd double heat setup, one for each team. Misawa/Kawada vs. Williams/Gordy 7/24/91 World Tag Titles Gordy sells the left arm really early on after nothing has been done to it. Injury of some sort? The gaijin start out getting the better of it, giving Misawa a bloody nose and then going to work on Kawada's arm. Gordy gets kicked in the head before going to a reverse armbar so Kawada can't kick him. Williams doesn't learn from that and instead gets kicked in the head before finding a better place to be before Kawada's arm hurts enough to stop him from kicking. Misawa is scrappy here as he sends Williams to the floor after a few elbows and bounces his head off a table. Williams hits shoulders to the gut and tags back in the ring. Misawa and Gordy brawl back and forth before Gordy tags in Williams who hits a nice floatover suplex for 2. He tags Gordy in after a few big elbows to Misawa on the ground and Gordy hits a big legdrop. Misawa is in trouble, but comes back with elbows and tags in Kawada. They start working over that left arm of Gordy for a bit. Williams breaks up a submission by Kawada and gets tagged in, Kawada is on the defensive until he gets out of the way of a Williams corner shoulderblock. Misawa is tagged in and he brawls with Williams until Gordy comes in and hits him from behind. The crowd is unhappy, even moreso as Gordy sends Misawa to the floor just as he tags in Kawada. Kawada hits a nice lariat for a nearfall as Misawa is shown nursing his knee on the floor. Kawada takes some double teaming while Misawa gets back to the apron. Misawa gets tagged in and Williams immediately grabs a leg. Misawa elbows him off, then hits his flying lariat, then sells the leg. While Williams is working on the leg, Gordy drags Kawada off the pads and piledrives him. Misawa hits an enzuigiri on Williams and crawls to his corner, reaching for the tag. Too bad Kawada is still crawling on the floor after that piledriver. Williams goes back to work on the leg while Gordy throws Kawada into the crowd and hits him with a chair. Misawa finally gets the hot tag after countering a backdrop suplex with a crossbody. Kawada hits Gordy with a powerbomb, but only gets 2. That starts the finishing sequence, with a little bit of chaos thrown into the match by Williams/Gordy breaking the tag rules frequently. This was a really fun match, with Gordy/Williams getting the better of the young natives early on with a combination of power, technique and isolation. Misawa being scrappy and not backing down from either was fun, he's starting to really get confident. Misawa/Kawada turn it around for a short while, isolating Gordy and the (seemingly injured?) arm. The gaijin then step it up about 4 notches, especially Gordy. The floor piledriver was the kick into overdrive for this match. They try to keep Kawada or Misawa away from the action long enough to put the other away, but these are two tough people. In the end, it degenerates into a scramble for whatever advantage can be gained in order to get the 3. Really starting to enjoy this. The matches keep getting better and more intense as the confidence of Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi/Taue builds. They are not quite to a Jumbo level yet, but they are definitely finding their way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 There just weren't a lot of Warload or Chris Chavis "looks" among the natives. Freudian slip indicating your thoughts on how he was as a worker? Damn... that might be my equiv of Anabolic Warrior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawho5 Posted February 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Been a bit since I put anything up, but I have been still on it. Just reached a major point in my watching, so it seemed as good a time as any. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Toshiaki Kawada 10/24/91 for the Triple Crown Kawada is out-powered from the start, so he starts trying to wear down Jumbo. Jumbo is content to try to beat the shit out of Kawada. Jumbo starts on Kawada's leg, but it doesn't last long. They brawl back and forth for a while and Kawada has finally found the confidence to go right at Jumbo. Kawada is still working the neck submissions pretty heavily late match. Kawada is desperately looking for a comeback when he runs into the big boot that leads to his doom. Jumbo lands a few of his bombs, hits the backdrop for the win. This was Kawada showing he could hang with Jumbo. He was being smart about it and using his weardown holds, but he wasn't afraid to strike with him. Which in the long run got the better of him, but it cements Kawada as a major player because he could do that for longer than most. Misawa/Kawada vs. Hansen/Spivey 11/16/91 This one was just for fun. Kawada gets the crap kicked out of him for the middle portion after eating a big piledriver on the flor from Hansen. Hansen at one point gets in the ring when Spivey has Kawada in a crab and starts stomping Kawada's head. The ref gets rid of him, but he comes right back in with a chair and pastes Kawada in the back of the head with it. Then he throws it at Misawa, nearly taking a few fingers off, which to me Misawa is legit pissed at and bounces the chair across the ring at Hansen as he leaves through the ropes. One of the rare occasions when Misawa shows a whole lot of emotion. The big chaotic ending sequence (you know it had to happen with Hansen) ends with a frog splash. Kawada vs. Kobashi 3/20/92 Champion Carnival Kobashi hits a DDT off the apron early to kickstart his offense. kawada starts working the leg, and we get the first appearance of dickishness in his single leg crab, using a knee in the back to roll Kobashi over. Kobashi goes back to work on the neck, but Kawada shifts gears upwards and starts beating the shit out of Kobashi. The ending sequence is really good, with each ramping up to their bigger stuff. Kawada hits a powerbomb on Kobashi, who kicks out to a really big pop, but the stretch plum puts him away. Hansen vs. Taue 7/31/92 for the Triple Crown Taue and Hansen have a nice brawl, with Hansen really making taue's offense look good and giving him a pretty equal amount of it. Taue could have worked his late match offense a little better, as the nodowa came a bit early. Hansen hits a big lariat for the win. Hansen vs. Misawa 8/22/92 for the Triple Crown Misawa hesitates coming off a rope break and Hansen makes him pay. Hansen is working over the left arm and trying to avoid too much striking as he is showing the elbows a lot of respect. Misawa is avoiding the big stuff, but Hansen is still in control of the match. Misawa finally gets some good offense in following a spinkick. Three things stand out to me about the finishing run. 1. Misawa tries countering a lariat with a crucifix, but Stan dumps him with a modified Samoan drop. 2. Hansen actually tries to make his armwork pay off with a jujigatame that the crowd eats up. 3. Misawa's elbows get put over massively. Misawa gets 3 after an elbow that he was laying down for a while after. Hansen actually gets up and shakes Misawa's hand. If the Jumbo match previously watched had Misawa being a made man afterward, this match established Misawa as THE man. Hansen, the big, scary foreign brawler, didn't want to brawl with Misawa. And Misawa stood up to him in every strike exchange, in the end actually knocking Hansen out with a regular elbow. This is freaking huge and a great example of how good booking can put even a simple move over. Misawa vs. Kawada 10/21/92 for the Triple Crown Kawada immediately counters a headlock into a Dangerous Backdroppppehhh! Misawa is up pretty quickly and threatening with an elbow. Kawada works over the left arm too. Must have been some kind of minor injury or in-ring working of said arm in some unseen match. They go back and forth, Kawada gets the advantage, but Misawa rolls to the floor to shake it off. Kawada looks to get the momentum back on his side, but it goes back to a back and forth battle. kawada is rushing to put Misawa away, hits a powerbomb after an enzuilariat, but it's way too early for that. Kawada gets a few more nearfalls before Misawa turns things around with a German and evens the finisher count up with a tigerdriver that Kawada kicks out of. Kawada threatens with a dragon suplex a bit later, but Misawa really kicks into gear after that, finally putting Kawada away with a tiger suplex. The crowd for this match really wanted it to be closer than it was. To me, it was booked to make Kawada look like a credible threat to Misawa and not a whole lot more. He wasn't overly close to winning before Misawa put the hurting on him with a big sequence to end things. The backdrop and powerbomb came way too early to truly be threats to Misawa, and besides the stretch plum, that's what Kawada was going to try to finish him off with. The other aspect of this match that was interesting was Kawada's early aggression against his then tag partner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawho5 Posted February 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Misawa/Kawada vs. Williams/Gordy 1/30/93 Misawa and Kawada have a little tension between them now. They are, however, on a lot more equal terms with Williams and Gordy. Both have an advantage when striking to offset the power advantage the gaijin bring. Gordy gets isolated first, but the gaijin isolate Kawada not too long after. Misawa tries to even things up, but he's ganged up on while Kawada recovers. Kawada and Misawa have a nice double submission spot during the back and forth finishing run. Chaos ensues and this time the gaijin come out on top. Kawada vs. Hansen 2/28/93 Okay, this match is quickly becoming one of my all time favorites. The Hansen dive to the outside is sick and wrong in all the right ways. Kawada is checking the back of his head after it gets bounced off the guard rail. Hansen's selling of the stretch plum is fucking top notch. That powerbomb is just evil. I think Hansen ends up on the floor after his lariat because he's loopy from the gamengiri he just took. The brutal finish is followed by Hansen staggering away from the ring looking like he just got the shit kicked out of him, which he did despite winning. This match really put Kawada over as a dangerous striker because he could brawl with Hansen and be on pretty even terms for most of the match. Kawada vs. Misawa 3/27/93 Champion Carnival Misawa hits a really early tigerdriver, could have something to do with that really early dangerous backdrop from the last match. Both are really looking to be in charge early in this match. Misawa is a lot more aggressive this time around, using foot chokes on Kawada and returning the stiff kicks to the back as Kawada is on the ground. Kawada hits a few early powerbombs for nearfalls and looks really frustrated. They slap each other around before a THIRD powerbomb nearfall. They are really killing the effectiveness of the powerbomb here while Kawada is trying to put Misawa away within the 30 minute time limit. Misawa's elbows are really great as weardown offense between the beating he's taking. Finally Misawa starts his late match offense with a tigerdriver nearfall, followed by a really big elbow suicida. We all know who wins, and it looks like Kawada just burned himself out trying to powerbomb Misawa into oblivion. This match was brutally stiff and Kawada's selling is starting to pick up. Kawada somehow seemed less credible as a threat with more offense. Didn't care much for that. Misawa vs. Hansen 3/30/93 Champion Carnival? Hansen again goes for weardown holds on Misawa, which Misawa is willing to reciprocate. Hansen takes a cameraman out seemingly on purpose when they are outside the ring as he falls. I've noticed in a few matches that Hansen and Williams like to aim at tiny Japanese cameramen when they go sprawling. They go back and forth on weardown holds, Hansen takes over with some apron legwork. Brawling ensues after a Misawa counter suplex. Misawa hits a callback to his 92 win over Hansen with an elbow nearfall that they make look eerily similar up to the kickout. This time, Hansen wetahers Misawa's offense before hitting the enzui lariat for a nearfall and a lariat for the win. Similar to the Kawada finish but the lariats are reversed. Kobashi vs. Misawa 4/12/93 Champions Carnival This one is JIP, Kobashi is fighting off Misawa bombs. Misawa hits a nice elbow on a second rope Kobashi shoulder attempt. Kobashi kicks out of a couple of tigerdrivers before going down to the tiger suplex. Kobashi's chops are not up to snuff yet, but he's still being put over as a guy who's hard to put away. Kawada vs. Taue 4/13/93 Champion Carnival This is also JIP. Boo. Kawada backdrops Taue out of a powerbomb attempt, but ends up taking one anyway after they go through some learned counters. I like how even Taue's counters work towards the nodowa. Taue starts to look really tired, like gassed kind of tired. Could be him selling Kawada's ooffense, could be him gassed, don't know. At one point, it almost looks like Fuchi is coaching a (admittedly brilliantly timed) nodowa kickout by Kawada at ringside. Kawada is setting up the powerbomb as they come to the time limit. Wish I had more to go on here. Looks like they wanted to make Taue look equal to Kawada. Kobashi vs. Kawada 4/14/93 Champion Carnival Once again, JIP. This match isn't bad, but nor is it great. If I had more of it to watch I might have more to say about it. They seem to be doing the same thing with Kawada/Kobashi as they tried to do with Kawada/Taue. Sick of JIP. Hansen vs. Kobashi 4/16/93 Champions Carnival handheld Kobashi's speed is really played up here, and he is in control for the early part of the match. Hansen brawls his way back into it after having his left arm worked. Kobashi gets a few good nearfalls before Hansen hits one of my favorite lariats I've seen him do. He catches Kobashi coming off the top with a shoulder with the lariat and it looks pretty mean even from a not all that close fancam. If this had been a TV taping that lariat would be the stuff of legend. This is worth watching just for the finish. Hansen vs. Misawa 4/21/93 Champions Carnival Finals They brawl for the early part of this match, with Hansen getting the better of it. There is a cool spot midmatch wherean elbow meets a lariat and it sucks for both. Misawa takes advantage and starts working over the arm (elbow >forearm, makes sense). Hansen eventually makes his comeback and hits the lariat, but Misawa gets a foot on the ropes. A Hansen powerbomb finishes him off. Holy Demon Army vs. Miracle Violence Connection 5/20/93 World Tag Titles Gordy and Williams isolate Taue early, then Kawada and Taue isolate Williams, who becomes the beastly-powerful heel-in-peril. They look like they are going into an early finishing sequence, but it ends up with Kawada getting the shit kicked out of him by Gordy and Williams for a while. Williams and Gordy look like they have Taue where they want him with Kawada recovering on the apron after the tag, but the natives hit that sweet backdrop/nodowa combo for the win. The beginning of this match was all about Kawada and Taue standing up to the more powerful gaijin and showing they were equals. The second half was them overcoming adversity to beat an obviously dominant gaijin tag team who had turned it up a notch. Williams was big in this one. Hansen vs. Misawa 5/21/93 for the Triple Crown Hansen attacks Misawa during intros. Misawa goes to weardown holds, then they brawl back and forth. Hansen is surprisingly agile when he wants to be, but it never in any way looks graceful. Hansen starts working over Misawa's elbow arm outside. Then he yells at the ref to get Misawa in the ring after laying him out. God I love that. Hansen keeps working the elbow arm and forcing Misawa to rely on kicks. Misawa misses a few high risk elbows that hurt him more as Hansen just gets out of the way. Misawa inexplicably goes for a top rope elbow drop with the right elbow. he never uses that move, why NOW of all times? A rolling elbow KOs Hansen for the win, and another post match handshake from Hansen follows. This seemed like a weird Hansen on the opposite end of his own shenanigans match. I've seen more than a few matches where his arm got worked heavily only to hit the lariat anyway for the win. Now it happened to him, some kind of karma there. Misawa/Kobashi vs. Holy Demon Army 6/1/93 It's hard not to be excited to watch these four in the ring. Kobashi is starting to show the fire and the big chops. Sweet. Misawa and Kawada are starting to do the learned counters. Sweeter. Kobashi has a brief face in peril segment. Kobashi uses his rolling cradle to counter a stretch plum. This goes back and forth for a long while, with Kobashi's tendency to abuse the moonsault catching up with him as Misawa is down and out on the floor. Taue hits a super nodowa, Misawa gets in to break it up but is dumped back to the floor. A few moves later Kawada powerbombs Kobashi for the win. Great fucking match! Not up to later standards, but the best they've done so far. Misawa/Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Taue/Ogawa 7/2/93 Misawa and Kawada have a great, intense learned counter sequence early. Seriously awesome stuff. Misawa going all lucha libre on Ogawa is pretty surreal. Ogawa's facial expressions while selling are pretty damn good. Kawada and Misawa have a nice strike exchange with Kawada ending it by kicking Misawa while the ref is holding him back. Kobashi (of course) plays the face-in-peril. Ogawa gets beat up by Kobashi but does get a fisherman's suplex nearfall late for his trouble. Kobashi gets the win with a moonsault not too long after. This match really had one purpose. Build to the singles match between Kawada and Misawa. The other stuffm while much of it was worthwhile, was side stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawho5 Posted February 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Holy Demon Army vs. Miracle Violence Connection 7/26/93 World Tag Titles Taue and Kawada are scrappy here. They are outstriking the gaijin, who use their power advantage to take control and Taue is face-in-peril. There is a true hot tag to Kawada and he comes in kicking some ass. Taue is once again in peril as Gordy uses a nodowa for a nearfall before Williams and Gordy steal a Kawada/Taue double team spot for another. Kawada and taue turn things around and Kawada puts Gordy away with a powerbomb. This is more establishing Kawada and Taue as major players (again) than anything. Gordy and Williams seem to have that role, along with Hansen. Hansen vs. Kobashi 7/29/93 Hansen stomps a ring boy who is trying to clear streamers. Kobashi is NOT letting that go unpunished. Kobashi is seriously stomping Hansen until he runs his face into Hansen's boot in the corner, literally. That's the black eye you see during and after the match. Hansen hits a floor powerbomb to counteract all of Kobashi's offense. Kobashi's facial expressions after that are priceless. Kobashi is taking a beating from Hansen for a while, finally gets a comeback to stick and has some nice nearfalls. Kobashi gets caught with a shoulderblock, but catches Hansen with a drop toe hold on the lariat. A series of increasingly devastating leg drops onto the back of Hansen's neck ensues for a nearfall. Kobashi again gets caught setting up the moonsault, this time with the famous lariat off the turnbuckle for the win. Misawa vs. Kawada 7/29/93 for the Triple Crown This match makes me unhappy. Kawada has more than enough time on offense. he works over the right arm, which does get sold late. Kawada even hits a few dropkicks to show Misawa up. BUT. The ending is basically Misawa running over Kawada after a few powerbomb nearfalls that don't mean much. Yes, Kawada interrupts between some of the Misawa offense. But it's done in a way that makes it look like he's out on his feet and acting on instinct alone. This match actually set Kawada back in terms of where he was in relation to Misawa compared to the first two singles matches. I really don't get it. Did Kawada piss somebody off? Theres a couple of tag matches with Hansen/Dibiase vs. Taue/Kawada that also make me think he pissed somebody off. Hansen/DiBiase go over in both for the tag titles despite the fact that DiBiase gets zero reaction to 95% of his offense. I mean *crickets* kind of silence for the moves/punches and a little polite clapping on nearfalls. Only thing that gets any reaction is the powerslam. So I'm skipping those. Kawada vs. Kobashi 10/23/93 Kobashi has something to prove in this one. Kobashi works the leg, Kawada has a counter to Kobashi's rolling cradle counter to the stretch plum. The Kobashi vs. Kawada chopping contests are lots of fun. I'm glad I like them, because there are gonna be lots of them. Kobashi has a really stubborn sleeper during the finishing run, which leads to him getting dropped on his head with a dangerous backdrop. Kobashi kicks out of a powerbomb, but ends up passing out in the stretch plum a little later. Edit: Kawada went into his out-on-his-feet routine here as well. Kobashi just didn't have the firepower to put him away yet. There is a good stopping point for now. Will try to get the rest (up to 6/3/94) posted tomorrow. I find I'm enjoying the matches more as I take more general match flow notes and not going play-by-play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Farmer Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Kawada and Misawa really didn't care for eachother at one point, but I think their locker room fight took place in 92? Also that is how Baba booked, he wanted those guys to fight for their spots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawho5 Posted February 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2014 Misawa/Kobashi vs. Holy Demon Army 12/3/93 Real World Tag League Really fun tag match between four of the best ever. Kobashi is the early face-in-peril. I liked how they established early that Misawa's strikes beat Taue's and Kawada's beat Kobashi's. As the match goes on, Kobashi starts getting the better of Kawada as he is worn down, but Kawada starts with a clear advantage. Both teams get a double submission spot, with Taue's submission of choice the abdominal stretch while dickishly pushing the head down. Have I mentioned how much I love Taue? Kawada's left leg being worked is a real common thing. And he sells it great on things like not being able to powerbomb Kobashi because the leg just gives out. Misawa sets the table for a Kobashi backdrop win over Kawada. Nothing groundbreaking here, but not in any way unhappy that I watched it. Hansen vs. Kobashi 4/10/94 Champions Carnival After a methodical start, they brawl for a bit before Hansen uses outside tactics to get the advantage. Kobashi takes a powerbomb on the floor, but gets out of the way of a Hansen dive, and Hansen rams his ribs right into the guard rail. Kobashi starts working over the ribs on the left side with punches, but misses a splash from the top. Hansen is unable to really get anything going after the miss and has to settle for aborted attempts at brawling while Kobashi punches and kicks him in the ribs. Hansen regains the advantage and hits a few big nearfalls, but makes the mistake of going for a top rope splash only to run his ribs into Kobashi's knees. Kobashi takes full advantage, hitting a moonsault for a nearfall, then a moonsault for the win. Hansen vs. Taue 4/11/94 Champions Carnival Hansen is really protecting those ribs on the left side. Taue being Taue, I think we know how this is going to go. The crowd starts to get behind Hansen as desperately tries to brawl back against Taue's extremely focused assault. He will occasionally go away from the ribs or back, but the next move is always right back on target. Taue misses a top rope elbow drop and immediately sends Taue outside where he uses a chair to try to get some quick damage in. He pulls the top layer of padding and DDTs Taue after, sort of evening things up. Hansen's lariat is interrupted by a kick to the ribs from Taue, followed by a nodowa for a big nearfall. Hansen turns things around and gets a few nearfalls, but Taue ducks the lariat this time and hits a few elbows to the injured ribs before hitting a nodowa for the win. You go back a year or so and neither of these guys were gonna put Hansen away even with the rib injury. Misawa got over on Jumbo first, then cemented it with Hansen. Kawada was (for a while anyway) seen as the secondary guy to Misawa and just a step behind. Kobashi and Taue had improvements to make before they got these particular matches. Once they had these wins under their belt, you could really see a better crowd reaction and more confidence on the part of Kobashi and Taue. I feel like this is the point where they truly have become the Four Pillars. Misawa vs. Kawada 4/11/94 Champions Carnival Speaking of a certain guy always a step behind, Kawada has lots of ground to make up after 7/29/93. Kawada busts out his elbow counter to the Misawa apron elbow for the first time. An early powerbomb nearfall following two teases doesn't put Misawa away. They tease the backdrop as they go into a long finishing sequence. Misawa is taking the heat early, as usual, countering with elbows. They go into the elbow exchange for the transition and Misawa's late match offense kicks in. Kawada backs Misawa into the corner on the tigerdriver -> floatover on the backdrop -> tiger suplex sequence. Misawa backdrops a powerbomb, they tease a tigerdriver. Misawa goes all Ricky Marvin and hits a twisting plancha to the outside (markout moment). Misawa counters the backdrop with a crossbody, Kawada goes behind on a German attempt to do his own throwing German. Spinkicks are exchanged. There is a tigerdriver nearfall late, and we reach the time limit with both laying on the mat. They definitely wanted to put more evenness in this one, and it showed. Really good match with lots of learned counters in the right spots and stopping big moves done too early because of the 30 minute time limit. Hansen vs. Williams 4/14/94 Champions Carnival Williams charges Hansen (who isn't favoring the ribs) with his Stinger splash for an ambush, but Hansen is just too crafty for that. Williams eats 'buckle and ends up outside and a bit out of it. Not a great place to be with Hansen in the match. Hansen peels back the top layer of padding and DDTs Williams before beating the piss out of him on the floor and in the ring. Williams has some hope spots targeting the injured ribs, which get progressively sold more until Williams can make it stick. Williams is freakishly strong and hits a massive spinebuster on Hansen for a nearfall. hanesn's turn to try to brawl back ineffectively. Hansen grabs the corner post to stop the Oklahoma stampede. Williams hits the most massive Dr. bomb ever for a nearfall. Hansen bounces Williams off the ropes with an enzuilariat and hits him on the way back with one of his more impressive lariats. As much because Williams in no way starts falling early, just takes the impact like a fucking MAN. I was debating watching this match as it was between 2 gaijin, but it was an awesome brawl. Hansen's work in the 94 Champions Carnival with the messed up ribs is seriously awesome. Williams' beastly power is on display in spades here also. Williams vs. Kawada 4/16/94 Champions Carnival Finals This is JIP. Seriously? They aired a CC final JIP? Anyone got reasons(s) as to WHY? Williams hits a sweet tiger suplex whip off of a double chickenwing. Kawada grabs the top rope on the Oklahoma stampede. Williams improvises and puts Kawada in the corner and hits a Stinger splash to soften him up for an Oklahoma stampede nearfall. Kawada comes back with his striking, but Williams hits a series of closed fists to cut him off after a stretch plum. Williams hits a gorilla press dropped into Kawada's throat across the top rope (holy shit that was nice!) for a nearfall. Kawada gets a lariat ducked and Willaims hits the backdrop driver. Jesus, Kawada is getting fucked up. He rolls outside, but Williams rolls him back in for a nearfall. Williams hits a Dr. bomb for a nearfall and Kawada looks close to being done. Kawada busts out the neck chop to abisegiri counter to a backdrop that I love to start his comeback. Kawada does some squats to get feeling back in his legs (love this). They blow a gamengiri because of miscommunication after some Kawada nearfalls so they just do the gamengiri again. That's not enough for Kawada, so he hits another one before the powerbomb for 3. A few things stood out here. Kawada plays a great face-in-peril. Kawada took a lot of stuff from Hansen, the use of kicks and elbows/punches from disadvantaged positions, the common sense counters to opponent's big moves, the sheer brutality of his striking. They were really trying to put Williams over as a monster heel who could still be beat, a la Hansen just different in style. Also, building Kawada back up before the nect TC match with Misawa was a good idea after 7/29/93. Holy Demon Army vs. Misawa/Kobashi 5/21/94 This was an awesome tag match. The best one these four have had so far. However, I'm not going to delve into the details of the match overmuch as it had only one purpose. To make me and anyone else watching NEED to see 6/3/94. Misawa vs. Kawada is teased as the opening matchup, but we get Kobashi convincing Misawa to let him go first. The crowd is so huge when they think it will be Misawa vs. Kawada. Kawada knocks Misawa off the apron with a running kick as Kobashi is inches away from tagging. Kawada kicks Misawa off the apron when he is whipped by Kobashi. Misawa is tagged and comes in on fire, destroying Kawada with elbows after a short exchange. Kawada gets dickish with his ground kicks to the back not long after an early tigerdriver nearfall. Kawada beats Misawa down in the corner, Misawa wins an elbow exchange. Kawada hits two late powerbombs that both get broken up by Kobashi. Kobashi wins with a moonsault on taue (who has several amazing kickouts late). We know Misawa can put Kawada away, but this match leaves so many questions. Could Kawada have put away Misawa with either of those late powerbombs? Will Kawada be able to get past Misawa's elbows in the singles match effectively? Can Kawada use his brutality once he does to wear Misawa down enough? Guess we'll have to wait a few weeks to find out. Kawada vs. Misawa 6/3/94 for the Triple Crown This match is THE match to watch so far. Misawa steals Kawada's earlier tactic and hits a backdrop to counter Kawada's sleeper early. He changes up the dive sequence, but still eats a Kawada elbow while airborne. They have enough back and forth to establish an even matchup before Kawada takes charge. Kawada is his usual self, then Misawa attacks the left leg. Misawa gets creative after some of the leg work, hitting a kick to the ribs before going to the legs. He teases an early tigerdriver, but that goes nowhere. They go back and forth with strikes, picking up the intensity level. Kawada almost looks like he's going into his trademark "vs. Misawa early finishing run that isn't really that close" thing. Kawada has a couple of powerbomb teases before another really intense strike exchange that leaves Misawa with a bloody ear. Misawa starts hitting his late match offense before eating a gamengiri to the chest on a diving elbow. Kawada wins a strike exchange with a big lariat. Kawada is tired of trying to fight for the powerbomb, so he hits a dangerous backdrop to set it up for a MASSIVE nearfall. Misawa hits the floor following a throwing German. Kawada sends him back in for an even bigger powerbomb nearfall. Misawa hits an elbow after a few stretch plums, leaving both down. Misawa starts his suplex sequence, hitting a throwing German and a tiger in sequence for a nearfall. Kawada isn't interested in THAT continuing, so he hits the chop/abisegiri counter before a second abisegiri that sends Misawa to the floor. They brawl a bit, Misawa hits a rolling elbow but can't get Kawada up for the tigerdriver. Misawa comes out on top of another strike exchange, then hits the tigerdriver '91 for the emphatic finish. Holy shit that match is all kinds of goodness. Kawada coming out of a strike exchange late and hitting a powerbomb for the win was in no way out of the question. Don't understand why they had to go Misawa -> Williams -> Kawada instead of doing that transfer here as it would have not been out of the context of the match at all. Misawa hitting his finishing run first and getting cut off by Kawada was a really nice change and made things way more even. Kawada's big run late was perfectly timed and that last powerbomb was probably one of the most dramatic kickouts I've ever seen from a storyline and crowd reaction perspective. Kawada finally has Misawa ready to fall, just one big move short before Misawa hits the elbow to put Kawada on his ass. The finish itself was awesome, with Kawada being right on the verge but just short of having enough of an advantage to finally hit the powerbomb or backdrop that was going to put Misawa away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted February 26, 2014 Report Share Posted February 26, 2014 Misawa/Kobashi vs. Holy Demon Army 12/3/93 Real World Tag League Really fun tag match between four of the best ever. Kobashi is the early face-in-peril. I liked how they established early that Misawa's strikes beat Taue's and Kawada's beat Kobashi's. As the match goes on, Kobashi starts getting the better of Kawada as he is worn down, but Kawada starts with a clear advantage. Both teams get a double submission spot, with Taue's submission of choice the abdominal stretch while dickishly pushing the head down. Have I mentioned how much I love Taue? Kawada's left leg being worked is a real common thing. And he sells it great on things like not being able to powerbomb Kobashi because the leg just gives out. Misawa sets the table for a Kobashi backdrop win over Kawada. Nothing groundbreaking here, but not in any way unhappy that I watched it. Kawada blew out his knee early in the RWTL. It pretty much was the story of the HDA in the league: Kawada not able to fully go, Taue having to carry things for the side, and it catching up to them in the end. Williams vs. Kawada 4/16/94 Champions Carnival FinalsThis is JIP. Seriously? They aired a CC final JIP? Anyone got reasons(s) as to WHY? It's JIP on TV because their old one hour show was cut down to 30 minutes (effectively about 22-23 minutes) early in the series (with the Kawada-Williams draw in the league portion of the Carny). The match (along with post match) was too long to fit into the show, so they JIP about 4-5 minutes. The full version is available on commercial tape, and probably youtube. Holy Demon Army vs. Misawa/Kobashi 5/21/94 This was an awesome tag match. The best one these four have had so far. However, I'm not going to delve into the details of the match overmuch as it had only one purpose. To make me and anyone else watching NEED to see 6/3/94. Misawa vs. Kawada is teased as the opening matchup, but we get Kobashi convincing Misawa to let him go first. The crowd is so huge when they think it will be Misawa vs. Kawada. Kawada knocks Misawa off the apron with a running kick as Kobashi is inches away from tagging. Kawada kicks Misawa off the apron when he is whipped by Kobashi. Misawa is tagged and comes in on fire, destroying Kawada with elbows after a short exchange. Kawada gets dickish with his ground kicks to the back not long after an early tigerdriver nearfall. Kawada beats Misawa down in the corner, Misawa wins an elbow exchange. Kawada hits two late powerbombs that both get broken up by Kobashi. Kobashi wins with a moonsault on taue (who has several amazing kickouts late). Hard to tell if you watched the TV (JIP) version of that, or the full 40+ minute version. Don't understand why they had to go Misawa -> Williams -> Kawada instead of doing that transfer here as it would have not been out of the context of the match at all. Historically, it's the Ace's job to put over the Top Gaijin. Rikidozan put over The Destroyer. Baba made O'Connor and Brazil in Japan. He put over Brody and Hansen. Jumbo put over Hansen. Jumbo put over Gordy when they were trying to elevate him, but then Terry had to go and OD. That was the point of Williams beating Misawa: it moved Doc up to the level of Hansen... which of course Doc screwed up the following March. Having Doc lift the titles from Kawada would have meant less. On the flip side, they were a year into the Misawa-Kawada rivalry. It didn't really damage it at all for Kawada to come up short here, and he got his double payoffs around it: winning Carny and then lifting the belts from Doc. It's in 1995 that they started screwing up the booking. Overall, the transition in 1993-94 from (i) Jumbo being the Ace with Misawa as his Native Rival and Hansen as the Top Gaijin to (ii) Misawa as the Ace, Kawada moving over and up to be the Native Rival, and Williams moving up into Top Gaijin level with Hansen... that was all booked pretty well. They stumbled in finding Hansen a suitable long term partner after Ted went down, but did find Doc a good fit as a partner after Gordy had the second OD and Bubba didn't last long. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawho5 Posted February 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2014 I watched the full tag match. Kobashi and Taue performed admirably, and the match was almost like a precursor to their 6/9/95 classic. Just saw it from a booking perspective of using it to tease the singles match two weeks later. The match itself was up there as far as the matches I've seen so far. I'm trying to look at the matches more in terms of the what they mean in the grand scheme of things as part of my project, rather than only as a wrestling match on that particular night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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