1990s All Japan

[jdw]

In the grand scheme of things, 5/94 was a leap forward. Since the tag titles had been unified, not of the matches had gone 40. The time progression was:

 

13:48 - 06/10/88 Tsuruta & Yatsu vs Road Warriors
18:37 - 07/16/88 Tsuruta & Yatsu vs Hansen & Gordy
29:51 - 08/29/88 Tsuruta & Yatsu vs Tenryu & Hara
31:57 - 07/19/90 Gordy & Williams vs Tsuruta & Kabuki
40:25 - 05/21/94 Misawa & Kobashi vs Kawada & Taue

 

There hadn't been an tag title bout with either of those belts to go that long since the Funks and Baba & Jumbo went 48:01 back on 04/24/81, and they needed a 10 minute "overtime" period to get there. Before that, the last one was in 1976 (Red Bastien & Al Hayes of all people).

 

In turn, the following year these two teams had three matches together that went a combined 162:37, and contained just one pinfall.

 

So it's a match that in terms of AJPW in the 90s breaks through a major wall is less a precursor to El Super Clasico, but to what became the more common tag style of the rest of the decade.

 

It also never really was just a tease to El Clasico on 06/03/94. Kobashi's first big pin on Taue, much like his first pin of Kawada back on 12/03/93, aren't tossed away in light fashion and instead play a major role in charting his growth across 1993-94.

[dawho5]

Oh wow, I missed that part of it. I hadn't even looked at it from that angle, but yeah I hadn't seen Kobashi pin Taue to that point. And yes, in 93-94, Kobashi really did come into his own. His intensity, the emotion he started bringing into the matches, the stiffer chops. It seemed to me like that was when he really started to come together. That's why I'm not just taking notes and being happy with that. This sort of outside input when I miss things helps me more than just doing that ever could. Thanks to all who have contributed on that.

 

Misawa vs. Williams 7/28/94 for the Triple Crown

 

Three things stand out to me about the early build of the match. Misawa's elbows beat any strike Williams is going to throw. Williams is capable of manhandling Misawa with his brute power. Misawa has to be careful not to get too aggressive with his rope-running and high flying or Williams is going to catch him and throw him halfway across the ring/drive him to the mat. Williams hits a brutal looking Oklahoma stampede on the floor using the ringpost twice before dumping Misawa. Misawa grabs the ropes on an Oklahoma stampede. Williams teases the backdrop, Misawa scrambles to get out, but Williams keeps the momentum. Williams hits a brutal tope through the ropes. Misawa counters the next backdrop attempt with a side legsweep and works up to a tigerdriver nearfall. Williams ducks a rolling elbow and hits the backdrop driver! Misawa sells it like he just got shot. Misawa is on the floor, gets rolled in and still barely gets the shoulder up. He elbows his way out of another backdrop attempt and both are down. Williams is smelling blood now, another attempt at the backdrop before settling for the Oklahoma stampede for a nearfall. Misawa lands an elbow, but he's dead on his feet and Williams hits a second backdrop driver for the win.

 

They really put Williams' backdrop over here. Misawa selling it like he did means it's over once he hits it from now on. Also, Williams is a beast and I love him as a monster gaijin. This match did put him over the top, after watching the CC match with Hansen and the Finals of the CC.

 

Hansen vs. Akiyama 9/24/94

 

Akiyama ambushes Hansen before the bell and takes it to him for a short time. Then he misses a plancha. Once again, down and out on the floor with Hansen is a very bad place to be. Hansen uses his floor tactics to brutalize the youngster before beating the piss out of him for a while in the ring. Akiyama hits a really nice northern lights suplex for a nearfall. His elbows and jump knees look great. But, we all know where this one is going. Hansen has to fight a little bit, but he hits the lariat for 3. In Akiyama's favor, he did take the lariat pretty well. I was considering skipping this match, but I always liked Akiyama and it's interesting to see where he is in relation to different people when the match is on a disc I have.

 

Kawada vs. Williams 10/22/94 for the Triple Crown

 

Kawada starts the match out trying to wrestle Williams in what looks like pseudo-amateur style wrestling. He's not doing too badly, but decides instead to start beating the crap out of Williams leg after a while. This is going pretty well for him when he transitions a STF into a ground headlock and has to fight off a backdrop attempt when Williams stands up. Williams dumps Kawada upper back/neck first with a released tiger suplex. Kawada tries the fighting spirit nosell, but instead falls through the ropes to the floor. Williams starts working over Kawada's upper back and neck heavily. For quite a while. Kawada tries brawling his way to a comeback, but Williams hits a brutal dropkick followed by one of the best corner dropkicks I have ever seen. Kawada's leg work pays off as Williams knee gives out right before he can slam Kawada down to finish the Oklahoma stampede. Kawada takes control, can't get Williams up for the powerbomb so settles for his high angle backdrop for a nearfall. Williams suffers through two stretch plums before rolling to the floor. Williams counters a second powerbomb attempt with a spinebuster to go back on offense. He hits the backdrop driver (or dangerous backdrop if I'm following the announcer, I thought Kawada's was called that?) and Kawada scrambles to reach the floor as Williams sells the leg. Much like the last match, Kawada gets tossed back in and still barely gets the shoulder up. Kawada turns things around with a beautiful abisegiri and barely hits the powerbomb on Williams for a nearfall. Williams backdrops Kawada out of another attempt and attempts another backdrop driver/dangerous backdrop. Kawada gets a few of his big kicks blocked, but Williams is too loopy to do anything. Gamengiri! Enzuilariat! Gamengiri! And that gets the 3!

 

I admit it, I'm a Kawada mark. I liked a lot about this match. Kawada going right after Williams with Williams' own strength seemed like a nice, ballsy way of attacking the match. Williams strikes were looked at as relatively equal, which is a step up from previous matches. Williams still has the massive power advantage, which forces Kawada to chop him down by the left leg. When the match gets past the first two stages, we come to the question of whether Kawada can powerbomb Williams. It takes a lot of work, but he eventually does, which gets a seriously huge reaction from the crowd. Williams continuously looking for his backdrop and the FEAR it inspires in both Misawa and Kawada is freaking awesome. I'd say 93 and 94 were both great years. Kawada, Kobashi, Taue and Williams have all made strides from where they were in 92. It makes things a lot more fun when you have six guys up at the top who can go.

[Loss]

All of this is a really good read and I appreciate you posting it. I also wanted to point out the Match Discussion Archive section. We have singular threads for most of the matches discussed here, and you can see what others have said about what you have watched.

[dawho5]

Holy Demon Army vs. Misawa/Kobashi 11/25/94 Real World Tag League

 

I had my suspicions going into this about how it would end. It's JIP and Taue is taking offense from both members of the other team. He turns things around and now it's Kobashi's turn. Kobashi has great exchanges with Taue early in this match. Kobashi tags to Misawa, who starts out hot but ends up getting the same treatment as Taue and Kobashi did before him. JIP probably cut an early Kawada mini in-peril segment after the fairly even opening stretch. That seems to be a pretty common theme in the last few tags. Misawa gets control back with a second rope back elbow and tags Kobashi. He has some really intense exchanges with both Kawada and Taue, leading to another short Kobashi-in-peril segment. Misawa gets tagged and comes in on fire. Kawada and Misawa have a short elbow contest when Kawada breaks up a submission, but Misawa is fired up and gets the best of both Taue and Kawada. Kawada gets his own version of the Misawa "fighting off tw guys" segment following that. Finishing sequence starts with Taue and Kawada isolating Misawa and using the now obligatory stretch plum/abdominal stretch spot. Misawa turns things around on Taue and tags. Taue and Kobashi have another great exchange. Taue is head and shoulders above anyone else I've seen at selling those Kobashi rapid corner chops. Taue is now being isolated and another of the small things he does is highlighted. He is seriously amazing at those last possible instant kickouts. A double tag sets up Misawa vs. Kawada. Kawada ducks part 2 of the spinkick, but Misawa is able to rana out of the powerbomb for a nearfall. Kobashi is tagged and hits a moonsault for a nearfall. You'd think he'd learn to not try so many, but he never seems to. Taue nodowas him off the top of the second attempt, then drags Kawada into the cover for 2. At some point in here, the faces get their obligatory double submission spot as well. Misawa breaks up the cover on a nodowa/powerbomb combo. Misawa gets a great nearfall on Taue off a missile dropkick. Kawada is tagged and hits two quick dangerous backdrops, but Kobashi breaks up the cover just before time runs out.

 

Yeah, went about the way I figured. Just not enough time for naybody to be worn down enough to get put away. They did lots of great stuff before the disappointing ending, though. Kobashi's intensity was on display in spades. Taue was really getting into it with him after that last tag match. It's not just that all four were great workers. Kobashi had great chemistry working against both Kawada and Taue for the intensity they brought to their strike exchanges. Misawa just had that "it factor" going for him. I can't really put my finger on it, but for whatever reason, despite his lacking the intensity of Kawada and Kobashi and the sheer ruthlessness of Taue, you care about what he's doing. Then when he does bring the intensity (usually directed at Kawada), it's a completely different level. Kawada also got a lot more equality with Misawa in this one, getting his own housecleaning segment to counter Misawa's. Not in the league of 6/9/95, but it says all the right things and does so well enough.

 

Holy Demon Army vs. Hansen/Baba 12/17/94 RWTL Finals

 

The Taue vs. baba stuff is actually pretty cool. Taue is as merciless as ever, and Baba doesn't seem to mind at all. Half of Kawada's offense vs. Baba is cringe-inducing in how little Kawada is putting into it. I LOVE how the crowd is shouting "HEEYAH!" along with Hansen on his elbow drops. That is so freaking awesome. Kawada and Taue target the injured ribs of Hansen for a while, I thought that was a nice touch. Taue coming in as the illegal man just to beat on Baba some more is great. Taue takes a nasty Hansen shoulder from the ring to the floor after interfering. Taue dragging Kawada on top of Hansen is awesome, even if it's just a nearfall. Kawada takes a really brutal lariat to give Hansen and Baba the win. No surprise, but he stood in there and TOOK that lariat. Not a great match, but there were certainly parts I'm glad I didn't miss by not watching it.

[dawho5]

Kobashi vs. Kawada 1/19/95 for the Triple Crown

 

Kobashi hits an early lariat during a strike sequence to gain a short advantage. He's been using it a little differently than the burning lariat for a bit, but it's starting to look good. Kawada attacks the taped leg to gain the advantage after a series of early back-and-forth exchanges to establish equality. Kobashi elbows his way out of a knee crusher and goes to work on Kawada's neck, selling the leg enough for the small portion of the match it was worked. Kobashi goes for an early sleeper and gets slammed into the corner a few times to break it. Now comes the beginning of the really fun subtext of the match. Kobashi gives the ringpost smashes right back to Kawada after he takes them. Kawada gives Kobashi his chops -> whip to the ropes -> chop right back. A throat chop allows Kawada to take control and he starts heavily working over the ribs and back before using a Kobashi style sleeper, then turning it into his scissors sleeper. There is a powerbomb wher Kawada kinda lost control and almost set Kobashi down, so they just go back to Kawada on offense. He hits the dangerous backdrop, but ends up getting dumped out of the ring on a powerbomb attempt. A lariat to Kobashi on the apron keeps Kawada in control for a bit longer, but Kawada injures his left knee kicking Kobashi out of his second rope shoulderblock. Kobashi takes full advantage (to pay back the earlier leg work and show off his awesome mat skills). He puts on a wrong leg figure four that they have this brilliant sequence of pulling themselves back and forth during. Then Kobashi takes the long term revenge and STEPS ON KAWADA'S HEAD IN A SINGLE LEG CRAB! I was marking out so much for this. Kawada kicks Kobashi in the knee to get some breathing room and does his chop/kick to the back on a seated opponent deal for the first time I've seen. YES! The short neck chops follow, and Kawada tries twice to powerbomb Kobashi to no avail. Strikes are exchanged and Kobashi hits another nice lariat to come back. He hits the SAME short neck chops that Kawada uses, then hits a powerbomb whip on Kawada. Fucking sweet revenge spot there. Kawada is on the ropes now, Kobashi hits a backdrop, but the second is countered with elbows to the head. Kobashi dropkicks Kawada to cut off any kind of comeback and eventually misses a moonsault as Kawada rolls all the way out to the floor. They exchange chops for the first time In the match, Kawada again goes to the throat chop to win. Kawada hits a powerbomb for a nearfall (Kobashi did a great job on the kickout). A dangerous backdrop follows and Kobashi rolls to get closer to the ropes. Kawada hooks the closest leg to the ropes, making Kobashi have to kick out (barely). Kobashi fights off a stretch plum, but Kawada kicks him in the bad knee and puts it on anyway. Kobashi keeps forcing Kawada to attack the knee to keep the advantage. Kobashi comes back with a running elbow, but Kawada is still fighting the backdrop tooth and nail. Kawada tries to turn it into a stretch plum, but Kobashi counters with the most massive rolling cradle ever for a nearfall. Kobashi hits a jackknife powerbomb for a nearfall, then hits the moonsault for another. Kawada moves on a second rope legdrop, but Kobashi is back up first and teasing a dragon suplex. Kawada forces the arms down, then hits the chop/abisegiri counter followed by an abisegiri nearfall (this one was great as Kobashi was leaning forward and looked like he took it back of the neck). Kawada hits the dragon suplex after Kobashi teased it twice and gets a nearfall. Kawada tries the dangerous backdrop but gets a Kobashi crossbody instead, but neither can do much after. Kobashi hits a German for a nearfall off a really nice counter sequence (50 minutes in, no less). Kawada hits two brutal release German suplexes that have Kobashi crawling around the ropes to avoid any more damage after both. Kawada catches up after the second and can't get Kobashi up with the powerbomb as time expires.

 

WOW! I knew it ended in a draw, but a lot of those nearfalls had me going anyway. After the early feeling out, both really made it look like it was a war. The throwing the same or similar spots back in the other guy's face parts were gold. They even teased a similar setup to a singles match they had in 93. In that one, Kawada was ripe for the picking but Kobashi couldn't put him away, leading to a win for Kawada. Kobashi has more in the tank this time, and even though he lets Kawada off the hook, he still ends up going the full 60. You can see the strides Kobashi has made in this match, even a year ago he wouldn't have lasted the full 60 with Kawada. Also, both guys and the crowd were HUGE in this. I've read that this is widely thought of as the best 60 minute draw ever, and now that I've seen it I understand why.

 

edit: Kawada shaking Kobashi's hand and Kobashi raising Kawada's arm after the match was pretty sweet too.

 

edit #2: These guys dragged every bit of drama out of getting to the ropes on submissions. That shit was intense.

[dawho5]

Holy Demon Army vs. Misawa/Kobashi 1/24/95 for the World Tag Titles

 

So we start out with the same pairing as last match, and they get into it right away. Really intense exchange with Kawada coming out a bit better. Both tag at the same time and Misawa busts out the lucha libre on Taue, who seems a little thrown off. Kawada hits probably his biggest sounding spinkick yet on Kobashi. This is a long match so I'm gonna go pretty sparse on play by play. Taue and Kobashi have little in-peril segments at first, then Kawada followed by Misawa have more extended segments where the other team is beating them down. Kawada's left leg is still a target and Misawa goes for it really early. The beginning of Misawa's beatdown has Taue holding off both members of the opposing team for a few minutes after Kawada tags him. Also, some nice revenge for the earlier trouble Misawa gave him. Taue starts getting into it with Kobashi after Kobashi breaks up a submission on Misawa. Right away he gives him a "I'll deal with you later" look, but Taue gets tired of Kobashi's planned interference pretty quickly after that. Kobashi takes the tag from Misawa and really brings the fire attacking taue, even using Taue's dickish abdominal stretch variation on him. Now it's Kobashi's turn to get pissedabout Kawada interfering. Taue has another mini in-peril segment and eventually gets the tag after an intense exchange with Kobashi. Kawada and Kobashi both get fired up, but a throat chop puts Kobashi down. Kawada wins a suplex fight with Kobashi for once. He starts kicking at Kobashi's leg and avoids the dropkick aimed at his own leg before Kawada and Taue really start working over Kobashi's leg. Taue is such a vicious fucker, he always tries to make every submission he does the most evil thing it can be. Taue stomps on Kobashi's face while Kawada has him in a figure 4, so Misawa decides he's had enough and starts stomping the shit out of Kawada's face. Kobashi looks like he's gonna make the tag when Kawada drags him backwards. Misawa and Kawada get into it with Misawa ending up on the floor after a gamengiri. Misawa eats a Kawada lariat as he gets to the apron just as Kobashi backdrops Taue out of a powerbomb and stumbles towards his corner. The heels continue their working over of Kobashi, switching up to the neck/upper back. Misawa gets back into the ring only to have another exchange with Kawada that leaves him on the floor. kawada powerbombs Kobashi in the ring, says "fuck the cover" and goes outside to powerbomb Misawa on the floor. The cover on Kobashi after Kawada comes back in results in one of those ridiculously close nearfalls. Kobashi does an awesome job of stalling the heels, but falls victim to a dangerous backdrop, then a powerbomb. Misawa is just in time with the breakup of the cover. Misawa has to fight his way past Taue to break up a stretch plum. Misawa is now officially on fire. He takes a closed fist from Kawada and doesn't care, knocking him down with an elbow. After he is tagged, Misawa starts unloading on Kawada with grounded elbows, then has to fight off both heels. He looks like he's going to be overwhelmed for a bit, but he comes roaring back with a few rolling elbows. Kawada evades a plancha from Kobashi while Taue is locked in the stepover facelock, but Misawa has that covered and hits the dive on Kawada before resuming his submission on Taue. The faces hit a lot of their late match offense, Taue and Kawada have their hope spots. The highlight is when Misawa hits an unbelievable top turnbuckle rolling elbow on Kawada that Taue breaks up the cover after. Taue knocks Misawa out of tigerdriver position just before time expires.

 

Two 60 minute draws in one day. And for Kawada and Kobashi, 2 in five days. Yikes. Lots of awesome stuff here, I tried to include most of it above. The Kobashi extended in-peril sequence and Misawa one man army comeback were incredible. The Kawada vs. Misawa exchanges were awesome. Kobashi's exchanges with either of the other team members were awesome. Taue's small version of the Misawa one on two dominance was pretty sweet too. It didn't seem like it ever dragged, which is pretty amazing for a 60 minute match.

[dawho5]

Hansen vs. Kawada 3/4/95 for the TC

 

Going in I was excited. This match promises to have an actual pinfall to end it. After 2 hours of not seeing one, I kinda miss them. Don't get me wrong, I think the 60 minute draws are great wrestling matches, just...don't need every match to be that long or not have a real ending. Speaking of not needing matches to be long, Kawada vs. Hansen on 2/28/93 clocked in around 24 minutes and is still one of the most brutally stiff, violent wrestling matches in terms of striking I have ever seen. Unfortunately, this match suffered from the booking trend in 95 of longer matches. Hansen starts out hot with his shoulderblock to the floor, which I had no problem with. Hansen gets one leg submission in, gets kicked in the head to end it and never goes back to it. Kawada works a leg for a few minutes then just goes back to brawling. Hansen gets one of the few nearfalls in the match the crowd cares about with a powerbomb hold after a gigantic powerbomb whip. Seriously, for all but I think 3 of the pin attempts (one being the lariat at the end), the crowd didn't count along or react other than polite applause. How Hansen and Kawada didn't HEAR what was happening (or in this case what wasn't) and do something different is beyond me. Kawada hits a gamengiri, ducks a lariat and hits another gamengiri for a nearfall. I think this was the other nearfall with any kind of crowd, and it makes sense given it takes a sequence from 2/28/93 (gamengiri/lariat, the one Hansen ends up on the floor after) and builds on it. My feeling is that referencing that match within this one is a mistake. Kawada has a nice corner beatdown. Hansen gets the lariat kicked and Kawada works on the left arm for a little bit. Then he goes into a stretch plum, which is one of his two (yes, 2) true threats to win the match. And counting this stretch plum is a bit of a stretch, but damn. Hansen counters a suplex with his snap suplex that he already did thrice. Kawada makes the arm work count by forcing Hansen to block on that side with his kicks. Hansen hits a weak lariat, then an elbow drop for a (sort of) nearfall. The big lariat comes next, Hansen sells the arm and covers for the win. It was a nice lariat, I'll give it that.

 

Okay, so. I have no problem with Kawada jobbing the TC to Hansen. What I have problems with are many of the "how" aspects of it. Why extend the match beyond 30 minutes when you know damn well a 20 minute sprint with them beating the holy hell out of one another would do? Why have the aborted, pointless leg work? Why keep working the match the crowd doesn't seem to care much about when it's pretty obvious? Why did the champ have only two meaningful nearfalls in a 30 minute match and not truly come close to winning? They teased Kawada powerbomb and backdrop a few times each, but no payoff late. Both these guys are in my top 5 all time, but this match was really disappointing in the execution. I imagine some of that falls on the booking and other parts on the workers.

[dawho5]

Oh, and while I'm here. I can't find Taue vs. Kawada 4/8/95 on youtube. Is it linked off of some other match, or just not on there? if this goes against that copyrighted footage thingy, go ahead and delete it.

[dawho5]

Kobashi vs. Misawa 3/26/95

 

Kobashi is sprinting to try to put Misawa away early on. He hits an early neckbreaker drop for a nearfall and keeps working over the neck of Misawa. Misawa gets a short control segment after a monkey flip where he hits that awesome spinning plancha he does. Kobashi blocks a rolling elbow and hits one of his own. Misawa hits a rolling elbow to even the score on that count. Kobashi starts a run of nearfalls with a big lariat. He hits a sweet german suplex hold in that run. They go through a pretty intricate counter sequence before Misawa catches Kobashi coming off the ropes with a sleeper that turns into a stepover facelock. A tigerdriver is teased, and Misawa gets too ambitious with a second rope back elbow. Kobashi turns that into a release German that flips Misawa over. Kobashi hits a moonsault for a nearfall, but Misawa keeps rolling away from a second attempt. Kobashi catches a spinkick and turns it into a powerbomb/backdrop hybrid looking thing. Misawa comes back with strikes, finishing with a rolling elbow. Tiger suplex for a nearfall, frog splash to pay back the moonsault for a nearfall. Kobashi kicks out of the tigerdriver to a huge reaction. Tiger suplex '85 puts Kobashi away.

 

I don't think the outcome was ever in any doubt. Kobashi's early sprint and Kawada in 92/93-esque false finishing runs were pretty good. This seemed like an effort to make Kobashi seem like a real threat in the near future to Misawa. Kobashi had lots of early offense and Misawa had to rely on his extended comeback to get the win.

 

Misawa vs. Kawada 4/6/95 Champions Carnival

 

So yeah, watching the match did not think that Misawa got his orbital bone shattered. Then again, if it had been a kayfabe injury Kawada would have gone after it like a heartless bastard. Misawa is a crazy fucker, but you have to love him for it. After the injury, Misawa almost kills himself on a plancha that goes almost completely vertical, luckily Kawada was on point and caught him. Kawada takes it easy early with lots of neck submissions instead of the normal offense. They do have a nice sequence where Misawa rolls Kawada out of a stretch plum, Kawada does the same out of the SOFL, then Kawada has a short control segment which includes the stretch plum, and (did you guess what happens next?) Misawa works the stepover facelock into his short control segment. Don't know if that was part of the original layout, but either way it was pretty nice. The finishing sequence was still absolutely incredible. The tiger suplex nearfall right near the end of the match was holy motherfucking shit HUGE MASSIVE and GODDAMN PERFECT! Kawada timed that so well...that to me rivaled any nearfall I've ever seen for the sheer closeness of timing. They end with Kawada trying to get a dangerous backdrop that would have been a good bet to put Misawa away as time expires. Not the best match they ever had, but you compare it to anything outside Misawa/kawada matches and I'd say it holds up pretty well. And you know what, go watch the finishing run. You throw an ending on that involving a pinfall and I'd say it ranks above 7/29/93. Oh, and you also need to see that tiger suplex nearfall. I think half the crowd was pretty sure it had just ended too.

[dawho5]

Kawada vs. Akiyama 3/21/95 Champions Carnival

 

Akiyama jumps Kawada during intros and hits not one but two dives. Kawada turns things around and puts a pretty severe beating on Akiyama. Akiyama hits a couple of nice nearfalls before Kawada revisits 1992 and hits his sweet kneelkick to go into his closing stretch. a stretch plum puts Akiyama away. Fun match with Akiyama playing the spunky youngster to Kawada's grumpy ass-kicker.

 

Taue vs. Kobashi 3/21/95 Champions Carnival

 

They start with a nice, heated exchange, then go into some slower paced stuff, then bring things up a bit from the earlier exchange with a bit more intensity. Kobashi takes control and works over the upper back/neck. Taue tries for a comeback and hits a legdrop, but we all know there's gonna be a revenge legdrop. And boy is it a nice one. Kobashi is in control a bit longer and hits a brutal sounding chop to the back of Taue's neck. They have another really nice exchange, this one quite a bit more heated than the first 2. Kobashi starts trying to steal Taue's strikes and non-lifting nodowa. Taue starts hitting Kobashi style chops and jumping knees! Kobashi makes a mistake and goes low with a dropkick, which is answered in kind to Kobashi's bad leg by Taue. They go through a sequence of corner stuff that elaves both down. Taue gets control after a nifty counter sequence and gets a few nearfalls (also, hits nodowa #1). Kobashi gets a few nearfalls and misses the moonsault. Then he makes the real mistake and chases Taue out to the floor. Taue ends up in the ring first and greets Kobashi on his way back in with a nodowa off the apron. That changes things a lot, Kobashi is selling that like death (and he should). Kobashi fights back, but eats nodowa #2 and immediately rolls to the floor. Where he is powerbombed. Tough day to be Kobashi. Kobashi keeps fighting back and gets a big slap to the face from taue for all his fighting spirit. Nodowa #3 is kicked out of, but the BIG sitdown powerbomb that follows it is not. Taue helps Kobashi up after the match, what a nice guy. Kobashi was pushing really hard to get a singles win on Taue. So hard that he got himself into more trouble than he could get out of. Even so, he never gave up even when he was clearly out of the match.

[dawho5]

Misawa vs. Akiyama 95 Champions Carnival

 

Pretty similar to the Kawada match in a lot of respects. Akiyama doesn't ambush Misawa, but ends up getting a couple of nice early opportunities. Akiyama uses a lot of elbows, don't know if that was just Akiyama or if he was going after Misawa's eye. Given his babyface nature in AJ, probably the first. Misawa, of course, dominates Akiyama when he gets the elbows on him. Akiyama has a nice blue thunder bomb to counter a Misawa second rope back elbow. This leads to an exploder nearfall. Misawa hits probably the sweetest jumping elbow drop I've ever seen to the back of Akiyama's neck. Akiyama uses a northern lights suplex to counter a tigerdriver. Then he kicks out of a tigerdriver. Misawa busts out a kneeling figure four, slaps on a double chickenwing without releasing it and stands up for the lucha submission tapout. Holy crap...did I really just see that? Misawa has offense that is seriously awesome that doesn't get used enough. Akiyama looked good for being Akiyama here. Misawa still had little trouble getting the win.

 

Kawada vs. Taue 4/8/95 Champions Carnival

 

They start off by quickly setting the tone. Even though they are tag partners, there will be no mercy shown. Taue catches Kawada with an early nodowa, and Kawada hits the floor. Taue teases a dive, but Kawada is too aware. Taue has little trouble winning the ensuing strike exchange with an enzuigiri. Kawada is selling the back of his head (as he should be), and Taue goes to work on the neck/back of the head of Kawada. Kawada gets himself back in it and ups the ante by putting on his patented head-stepping crab and forcing Taue's legs apart into an odd sort of splits just for good measure. He follows with his sadistic surfboard variation and rolls it into a lucha-flavored pinfall attempt. Taue takes Kawada's dickish behavior and gives him back a bit more, using the guillotine whip on the railing, then twice in the ring. It's a bit excessive, but it makes sense with the escalation that's going on. There is a series of nearfalls by Kawada as they go into the finishing run, followed by a powerbomb and backdrop tease, then a really nice strike exchange with Taue finally getting the advantage after a few choke tosses and a big slap across the face. Kawada bails to the floor only to get DDTed after Taue peels away the top layer of mats. Taue gets a few nearfalls after what looks like a blown nodowa spot. Kawada wins a short chop exchange with a gamengiri to turn things around. Big powerbomb nearfall for Kawada, but Taue hits the floor after a gamengiri. Kawada apparently didn't see that Kobashi match and goes out on the apron to kick Taue as he gets back in the ring. taue weathers the storm and punches Kawada right in the face before hitting the apron nodowa. Kawada smartly rolls all the way across the ring to the floor on the other side, forcing Taue to toss him back in again. The nearfall is close anyway, so Taue hits a nodowa with Kawada seated on the top turnbuckle. Kawada is able to counter a nodowa with an enzuilariat, but Taue is smelling blood. A legdrop by Taue leads to the sitdown powerbomb for the 3.

 

This was awesome. The escalation reaches it's high point right about the time you realize Kawada is going to lose. Then it's just Kawada fighting with everything he has to try and slow down the inevitable as Taue patiently works towards finishing him off.

 

 

[dawho5]

Loving this 95 Champions Carnival. I really enjoy how the matches are wrestled with a lot more urgency than the 60 minute title matches. I'm starting to with they had kept the singles matches around 30-35 at max and been able to have 25 minute sprints in the CC matches. I do love how the strategies being used are different in the singles matches because of the time limit though.

 

Taue vs. Misawa 4/12/95 Champions Carnival

 

Taue takes control early by going to Misawa's injured eye. Misawa turns things around with elbows then hits one of his nice dive sequences. He has a nice run with an early tigerdriver as part of it. Taue backdrops Misawa out of a sleeper to go back on offense. Taue has a nice floor segment with no guillotine whip to the guard rail. He saves that for the turnbuckle in the ring to take advantage of the eye. Misawa hits a German off a nice counter sequence to go back on offense. Taue backs Misawa into a corner on a tigerdriver tease, then throws him down face-first when Misawa tries a second rope elbow. A bulldog follows, leading to a few Misawa nearfalls. Misawa reverses a nodowa with a DDT that Taue makes look really painful. They exchange nearfalls leading to Misawa rolling to the floor. Taue tries to set up the apron nodxowa but getsx knocxkedx offx thex apron after an extended fight over it. He lariats Misawa's legs out from under him and just hits the nodowa on the floor instead. Misawa is (of course) the first to kick out of the sitdown powerbomb. Taue kicks out of a tigerdriver right before time limit.

 

Great stuff with Taue attacking the eye when he really needed to stop Misawa and Misawa fighting off the apron nodowa to keep from being run over late match.

 

Kawada vs. Kobashi 4/13/95 Champions Carnival

 

This played kind of like a condensed version of their 60 minute draw for me. I thought it was a quite a bit better match in 30 minutes than the 60 minute version. The early exchanges were as intense as ever and awesome. The dueling legwork (even structured very very similarly) was great. The extended finishing sequence begins with Kawada failing to nosell a Kobashi powerbomb and looking really in trouble. Kawada hits a dangerous backdrop (quite the transition there) to turn things around. A ridiculously good kickout by Kobashi on a throwing powerbomb follows. Kobashi hits a stretch bomb, Kawada has amazing kickouts on a moonsault and a neckbreaker drop. Kawada is threatening the dangerous backdrop (after already hitting one) and Kobashi is stalling as time runs out.

 

So much stuff they did worked better in this match. Probably because they had 30 minutes less to fill. They still did the awesome submission battle, this time with a surfboard that Kobashi put an exclamation point on. The strike exchanges were intense and there were even a few where none of the strikes hit. The Kobashi stalling at the end fit, as time was under 1 minute and he was on the verge of losing. Great match, but I've come to expect that of these two.

[dawho5]

Kobashi/Hansen/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Ace/Omori 4/15/95

 

They start out with the standard going through the teams tags, then Hansen starts getting worked over for a short time by the opposing team. Omori takes over on that duty, which makes sense. They tease Akiyama giving up the momentum, but it ends up being Kobashi instead. He gets his leg worked over after getting it caught in the ropes. Kobashi makes his comeback the usual way (Kawada goes for a knee crusher, Kobashi elbows out, I think there's maybe one time previous to this Kobashi hasn't gotten out of legwork in this exact way). Hansen and Kawada have a nice exchange after Hansen clears the ring. Hansen hits a nice powerbomb on Kawada, but Ace and Omori finally double team him, allowing Kawada to tag Ace. Ace has a bit of a roll going until he goes up top and is stopped by Akiyama. Then we go to the finishing sequence with everybody but Hansen and Kawada getting big nearfalls. Kobashi wins with the orange crush bomb.

 

Fun tag, really nice exchanges with Kawada vs. Kobashi and Hansen. Looked like Kawada and Hansen were given their time to shine, but it was more about the other 4.

 

Misawa vs. Taue 4/15/95 Champions Carnival Finals

 

Taue starts off in true Taue fashion, going right after the injured eye. Misawa is ready for it, but Taue knows Misawa's counters. Misawa goes for his flying lariat off the ropes and gets thrown face-first into the mat. Taue keeps going after the eye whenever Misawa shows any signs of fighting back. Hell, he uses submissions purely for the fact that they end up with his forearm across the left eye. Misawa ranas out of a powerbomb and hits some elbows to come back in a big way. Misawa's dives and top rope moves are incredible. I think MAYBE just him and Hijo del Santo are the two guys I've sen who never need to adjust their balance or pause when the other guy is ready to take the move. They are always ready and waiting to launch the instant it becomes viable, and that makes the high flying stuff so much easier to watch. Taue sells a rolling elbow like he just got KOed, then rolls to the floor after the nearfall. Misawa teases a tiger suplex, but Taue starts raking the eyes, then rakes his boot across the left eye once Misawa is on the mat. Taue dropkicks Misawa to the floor. I think I know where this is going. Misawa fights off the apron nodowa and hits a frog splash for a nearfall in the ring. The German and tiger nearfalls that follow really get the crowd riled up. Misawa floats over on a Taue attempt to suplex him to the floor, but that leaves him...on the apron. Taue hits an overhead chop to the eye. I think it's time, but wait, Misawa is still holding onto the top rope. Taue isn't having it and tears Misawa's arm down to hit the floor nodowa! Now he just has to get him in the ring to put him away. Taue has him too close to the ropes and Misawa is hanging on for dear life. An elbow gives Misawa time to go back to the floor. Taue gets him back in the ring for a massive German suplex whip nearfall. Misawa isn't giving up the nodowa, so Taue DDTs him, then hits the Dynamic Bomb for a nearfall. The crowd is eating this shit up. Misawa's elbows are getting less effective so he hits a rolling elbow before bailing to the floor again. Taue wants the nodowa off the top turnbuckle, but Misawa armdrags him. Taue backdrops Misawa out of a tigerdriver, btu Misawa still has a rolling elbow for him. Misawa hits a German suplex whip for a nearfall, then a tigerdriver for a nearfall and the crowd is going insane. Taue starts clawing at Misawa's eyes! Misawa this vicious elbows in return! Taue barely kicks out of a tiger suplex, so Misawa does it again and gets the 3!

 

Holy shit! That match was off the charts good. The drama of it all was amazing. Was Misawa's eye going to hold out against the all-out assault from Taue? Could Taue hit his new big stuff on Misawa? Once he did, could Misawa come back from it? Or was Taue finally going to put him away? Everything was played out so well. Loved this.

[dawho5]

Kobashi vs. Ace 5/26/95

 

Kobashi's leg is heavily taped after that 6 man tag. They go through a really good Ace shoulderblock, Kobashi nosell sequence, then Ace hits a back elbow to put him on his ass. Theres a bit more exchanged and they do the dueling dropkick spot. Ace counters a suplex with one of his own. Kobashi goes back on offense and gets his suplex back immediately. Ace hits a floor DDT, Kobashi ducks the lariat follow and hits a backdrop on the floor. Ace starts hitting low dropkicks and working Kobashi's injured leg. Kobashi gets back in control with a nice lariat. Ace counters a sleeper with an Ace crusher. Kobashi gets his sleeper back. Ace counters a Kobashi apron suplex attempt with an Ace crusher across the top rope. He follows with a missile dropkick nearfall the crowd really likes. The crowd gets even more excited for the Ace moonsault and guillotine Ace crusher nearfalls. Kobashi counters a gutwrench pickup with a slick senton type move. Kobashi gets a nearfall off a tiger suplex, but Ace cuts off the moonsault by going to the leg. Kobashi stays on offense and gets a jackknife powerbomb nearfall. A powerbomb and moonsault nearfall follow (and the crowd loved both), but the bell rings and we have a time limit draw.

 

Odd to see Kobashi in the senior role in this kind of match. Ace got put over big by hanging with Kobashi for the 30 minute draw. He had some good exchanges with Kobashi, too. Hell, Ace even threw some pretty good looking high kicks. Ace not going to the leg until he was in trouble right before the finishing sequence was a nice touch too.

 

Hansen vs. Misawa 5/26/95 for the Triple Crown

 

You know, if somebody had told me that I would watch these two matches from the same show, I would have had a pretty good idea which I would like better. I would have been dead wrong. They start out hot, brawling back and forth and the crowd is eating it up. Then they start working a submission-based match for the better part of 15 minutes. Sure, Hansen threw in his usual brawling stuff, with a good segment working the ribs/stomach of Misawa, I would guess to give the idea that he was working his breath because Misawa could go a lot longer than Hansen would want the match to be. Then he went back to the neck submissions he had been working earlier. Misawa turns it around during a chinlock and hits a series of armbreakers. There's a tease of Hansen fighting off Misawa's attempts at going to the arm, but we get a nice, long segment of Misawa working over the lariat arm. You know, if that had EVER worked in a match in the past to make Hansen not use the lariat or not get the 3 with it, I could see it. Misawa is a smart guy with an injury right in the path of said lariat. However, it has not ever worked that I've seen. Hansen will lariat the crap out of the opponent anyway, sell a bit, then get the 3. Misawa is past needing that anyway. I have trouble buying it. Hansen hits a knee that hits Misawa's bad eye (gonna say coincidence because he hit it exactly twice. Hansen is too much of a nasty, dirty bastard (in-ring persona) to NOT go after the eye if that's part of what's going on. That proves to be a tease as Misawa goes back on offense and hits 3 consecutive stepover facelocks before a nearfall. A missile dropkick misses and Hansen....does a crab hold. Misawa tries selling it like it's big after all the gut/ribs work, and the crowd obliges him with a reaction. Misawa gets to the ropes and Hansen....tries to put on another crab, this time in the center of the ring. Again, in line with earlier stuff, just HUH? Misawa rolls out early only to take a spinebuster, and a nice one at that. They go through a nice sequence of misses: missile dropkick -> elbowdrop -> plancha (ooh, ooh, guess who did what!) Hansen puts on a beatdown outside the ring, hits a powerbomb in the ring, then a dangerous backdrop (!) for a big nearfall. A powerbomb hold gets him another nearfall and it's lariat time! Misawa ducks it and works to a rolling elbow nearfall. A frog splash also gets a nice nearfall, but Hansen brawls to his big shoulderblock. Lariat is ducked, German is elbowed out of, Hansen thinks Misawa is going for a headscissors when he's trying to do a crucifix. They do the 3 count anyway. Yay?

 

Okay, I just want to say that if this match had happened in the 1988-1990 period, it would have fit right into what was going on at that time. But this was 1995. I have this feeling that, given Hansen's lack of as much control as most of Misawa's other opponents after the face injury, Hansen was told to actually stay away from the eye. And this is the match that they ended up working instead of the epic brawl that would have taken place had Misawa not injured his face. Then again, there is the very similarly worked Hansen vs. Kawada TC match that this edges out if only for crowd reception of some things. Did baba really not get that booking Hansen in this style of match was a mistake? Give him 20-25 minutes to go out there and do Stan Hansen things in the ring instead of trying to fit him into a role he did not play well enough to warrant having him play it in a match for the TRIPLE CROWN! I watched RVD vs. Kroffat before this match, guess which one I liked better.

[dawho5]

Misawa/Kobashi vs. Holy Demon Army 6/9/95 for the World Tag Titles

 

Yeah, this was okay. Or the greatest tag match ever wrestled. Not going to do any kind of review or look at stategy or anything. 99% of the people on this board have probably seen it at least once. Watching it after seeing all the stuff going in made it all the more incredible.

 

Misawa/Kobashi/Asako vs. Kawada/Taue/Honda 6/30/95

 

JIP and Kawada is tagged in vs. Kobashi. They do the spot where Kawada can't suplex Kobashi and gets suplexed after a big fight. Misawa is tagged in and the crowd is happy. Misawa gets the better of the exchange and tags Asako. Kawada gets the best of him, then puts both Kobashi and Misawa on the mat with elbows and kicks. Asako takes advantage and hits a suplex to go into the Kawada in peril segment. Kobashi has to roll out of the ring after a strike exchange, but fights out of a Taue floor nodowa. Meanwhile, in the ring Misawa and Kawada are going back and forth until Misawa hits a rolling elbow. Kobashi hits a powerbomb on the floor, leaving Taue down & out. Kawada finally tags to Honda, who has a pretty good exchange with Kobashi. Taue is tagged in, Asako breaks up the corner nodowa. taue isn't interested in taking the second rope flying shoulder, but Kobashi is just as disinterested in taking a nodowa. Kobashi tags Misawa, who has a series of erally nice exchanges with Taue. Taue tags in Kawada after a DDT. Misawa hits a powerbomb on Kawada (WHA??) for a nearfall. Asako is tagged, Honda interferes from the apron then is tagged. Misawa ends up setting Honda on top for an Asako frankensteiner. Kobashi comes in and looks like he's going to fight off a Honda German, but Kawada stops that by kicking him in the face. Kawada jumps in again and looks like he may be able to put Misawa and Kobashi down again to let his team finish, but Misawa turns the tables and clears both Kawada and Taue out of the ring. Kobashi hits the dragon suplex on Honda for the win. Always loved the chaotic 6-man Japanese tag finishes, and All Japan did them really well. Enjoyable tag for sure. Also, Asako and Honda did pretty well for being as overmatched as they were.

 

Misawa/Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Kikuchi/Ogawa 7/8/95

 

JIP, Misawa and Kawada are tagged in at the same time. Kawada goes straight to the injured eye with step kicks. What a dick. Kawada wins a strike exchange, then goes into his scissors sleeper. Only he's choking Misawa. And he refuses to let up! Misawa is out and Kobashi has to chop Kawada in the neck to keep him away. Kobashi takes on Kikuchi in the ring, then Ogawa is tagged in, then Kawada while Kobashi is looking a little tired. Kobashi comes right back to life when Kawada hits the ring, and they have one of their really intense exchanges. Misawa is up now and chomping at the bit to get in the ring with Kawada. He comes in after Kawada knocks down Kobashi to give Kobashi the window to tag, then UNLEASHES HELL on Kawada in the corner once he gets him there. Kawada is barely conscious after all those elbows. We get an extended Kawada in peril segment with a particularly awesome abdominal stretch by Kobashi. Akiyama misses a jumping knee in the corner and Kawada gives him an obligatory kick to the head while both are down before tagging. Ogawa and Kikuchi take the beginning of the Akiyama in peril segment while Kawada recovers. Right before they tag Kawada back in, they do this sweet top rope knee drop -> top rope double stomp -> top rope knee drop tag sequence. Kawada takes his time in the ring to toss some elbows at Kobashi and Misawa on the apron just because he can. Ogawa is tagged in and runs into a hiptoss off the ropes. Akiyama tags Misawa, who goes into his patented lucha-offense-on-Ogawa routine, but interference from the heel team allows Ogawa to tag Kawada. Kawada hits a lariat, then has Misawa in a stretch plum. A powerbomb is countered with heels to the face and Kobashi is tagged. Kawada avoids Kobashi's big spots before tagging out. They do the six-man chaos stuff, eventually Misawa is in the ring with Ogawa. A tigerdriver attempt is interrupted, so Misawa hits a backdrop while his teammates clear things out before Ogawa falls to the tigerdriver. The Kawada/Misawa/Kobashi stuff in this match was awesome. Misawa's fired-up revenge on Kawada was so much fun to watch. The Kawada vs. Akiyama stuff was pretty good too. I'd not seen more than 1 Kikichi match prior to this, but he's damn good. Ogawa was, well, there, as usual.

[Ditch]

I watched RVD vs. Kroffat before this match, guess which one I liked better.

It isn't even a contest.

[dawho5]

Yeah. If you'd have told me that I would like an RVD match more than a Misawa vs. Hansen match, I can guarantee I wouldn't have believed you. Strange what odd/bad booking can do, no?

[Ditch]

Hansen really lost a step after the 7/29/93 classic IMO. There were still good outings, but not the sort of home runs or consistency he had previously. Both the '95 TC bouts were flat. I'm not a fan of the '96 TC match with Kobashi either, though many do enjoy it.

 

Meanwhile, Kroffat was darn consistent from '92-'95, and RVD was always much better in AJ than ECW match-for-match.

[dawho5]

I enjoyed the Hell out of Hansen in the '94 CC. The whole thing he had going with his ribs was great and he did a great job of selling that while still getting in his offense. Other than that I agree with you on anything after 7/29/93 (so far). But how long had he been wrestling at that point? Also, I think the booking had a lot to do with the two TC bouts in 95. Why did they have him in two 30+ minute matches worked in a late 80s NWA Title match style in 1995 All Japan when the crowd clearly wasn't looking for that?

[Ditch]

Yeah, definitely some weird booking. Granted, TC matches were trending long starting with 6/3/94, but fans know that Hansen isn't going to work a match like that and wouldn't be let down by "only" going 20-25.

[dawho5]

Kobashi vs. Taue 7/24/95

 

They tease the sleeper really early, but Taue does a stunner to put an end to that. Kobashi does a guillotine whip to Taue! Kobashi follows Taue to the floor, but that backfires and he eats a floor nodowa. Taue goes right to the Dynamic Bomb in the ring for an early nearfall. Huh? Kobashi rolls to the floor, Taue rolls him in and covers for a nearfall. Okay, why the nearfall after just rolling him back in? Taue hits some more offense, then teases the nodowa twice. Kobashi catches Taue with a back kick to the gut after an atomic drop, then follows with a big jumping legdrop. Kobashi starts on offense, Taue makes the mistake of going to the floor and gets powerbombed. Kobashi hits a jackknife powerbomb in the ring for a nearfall. Then after all of this they go into the usual early match stuff for a bit with a couple of sleeper teases worked in. Then Taue looks like he's setting up Kobashi for an apron nodowa, but Kobashi fights it off. Kobashi gets more offense, then goes into the MASSIVE sleeper sequence. You really have to see it to believe how into this the crowd is. He sets up Taue for the moonsault, but Taue rolls away. Kobashi isn't being denied right this minute and hits a moonsault for an insanely awesome nearfall. The kickout and crowd were soooo big. Then he inexplicably goes for a nearfall after a bulldog. A powerbomb sends Taue to the floor, where Kobashi tries to powerbomb him again after picking up the mats. Taue backdrops out to go on offense. There's the nodowa nearfall we teased earlier, and the crowd liked that too. A couple of counters later and Taue is teasing another nodowa as the bell rings. Then Kobashi fights it off and does that non-lifting nodowa toss thing afterwards..all after the bell.

 

This match was kind of strange. They started out using finishing run spots (including a dynamic bomb!), then slowed down for a short time before paying off a few teases, then went to even steven reversals before the bell. The crowd loved the late nearfall sequence, and they really bought into Kobashi being close to putting Taue away. The match worked, but some of the weirdness of it bothered me.

 

Misawa vs. Kawada 7/24/95 for the Triple Crown

 

They start with some collar and elbow tie-ups, then avoiding each other's common spots. Misawa proceeds to run headfirst into a Kawada high kick. Then Kawada hits an abisegiri right to the injured eye! Misawa starts throwing elbows, but Kawada is merciless going after the eye. Kawada hits a powerbomb on the floor before going back into the ring and hitting a gamengiri to the eye. It's still too early for the powerbomb, though and Misawa turns things around. Misawa is throwing big elbows, then a couple of German suplexes that have Kawada reeling. A tigerdriver is teased, kinda early for that but I get it. Kawada is still aware enough to roll away when Misawa goes up top. Stepover facelock for Misawa, then he's trying another German. Kawada is hanging onto the ropes, but Misawa is stubbornly refusing to give up on the German. He gets hit with a chop and an enzuilariat for that mistake, which is usually the kind of thing that happens to Kawada in these matches. Kawada has a burst of offense, including the scissors sleeper that he has to re-apply after the ref makes him break it for choking. There is a strike exchange and misawa looks like he's going back on offense until he runs right into a drop toe hold. Kawada follows with a kick to the injured eye. Kawada goes into a big nearfall sequence that has the crowd buying his chances by the end of it. There's Kawada making that mistake with the backdrop while Misawa is grabbing the ropes. Kawada starts elbowing Misawa in the eye while Misawa is on his back! Misawa hits a rolling elbow for a nearfall that the crowd doesn't really buy. Kawada hits a dangerous backdrop but can't follow it up. Misawa ducks a gamengiri and starts hitting desperate elbows and suplexes until he finally gets a 3 count. The last tiger suplex is absolutely magnificent.

 

Okay, this match rules. It's not as good as 6/3/94, but I love it anyway. Misawa is doing fine and the match looks like an upgraded version of the rivalry with the early counter sequence running a little long. The Kawada makes the statement that defines the match: "I'm gonna use the eye to beat you." And he forces Misawa into a very unfamiliar role, the guy who has to work from underneath. Misawa is busting out big moves early to try to make up the damage and making the mistakes he usually takes advantage of. Kawada is cutting off Misawa's comeback attempts (albeit using the eye as a crowbar to do so). Kawada looks like he has Misawa ready to fall, then the gamengiri misses. Misawa is on autopilot for the finish, and as soon as he has Kawada (who is exhausted from trying to put Misawa away) on the ropes he just bludgeons him into submission. I thought that Kawada came out looking pretty good with the big, believable nearfall sequence and Misawa's desperation rally-type finish.

[dawho5]

Misawa vs. Taue 9/10/95 for the Triple Crown

 

Misawa starts out hot, hitting an elbow suicida, teasing a tigerdriver, then hitting a tigerdriver for a nearfall before the 5 minute mark. Can't say I get the why of that unless they are going for "Taue is dangerous so he has to put him away early." Taue ducks a rolling elbow and this a nodowa for a nearfall to get control after going to the knee outside. Misawa makes a Taue DDT look particularly nasty. Taue hits a tope then teases the apron nodowa. Misawa fights too much and gets pushed into the guard rail from the apron. Misawa comes back in the ring with a rolling elbow followed by a German suplex hold for a nearfall. Taue attacks the knee again to slow Misawa down. There is another apron nodowa tease before a big dynamic bomb nearfall. They do the rolling elbow miss -> nodowa setup from before, but this time Misawa uses it to go back on offense after escaping the nodowa. He hits a big release German, they go back and forth and taue hits the nodowa, but it comes right after he is hit with a rolling elbow so he can't capitalize. Taue again goes to the knees, but Misawa counters the powerbomb attempt with a frankensteiner. Misawa with another nice release German suplex, taue headbutts Misawa out of some corner elbows and then hits a really nice release German (his second of the match). Misawa stands right up and hits a rolling elbow. Both are down for a while again, Misawa hits a spinning back elbow and a rolling elbow for the win.

 

I enjoyed this. Not as much as the Misawa/Kawada sprint, but still good. Taue came close to hitting the apron nodowa twice and had a late shot at a second dynamic bomb that may have done Misawa in. He kept using the knee as a way to keep Misawa off-balance and cut his offense off. Never really "worked the leg" for an extended period of time in any way. The few things he did to the eye targeted the wrong eye, I thought that was odd. Misawa again had to just bludgeon his way to a finish over a strong challenger, rather than go for his more refined offense (tigerdriver, frog splash) late. That says one of two things (or both) to me. He's taking enough of a beating that he isn't going to risk being backdropped out of the tigerdriver when he goes for it. And/or he's tired enough that the effort it's going to require for a tigerdriver is too much, so he just has to rely on his basic stuff. Either way, it puts both Taue and Kawada over in the last 2 matches.

 

Next is the second hour tag match of 1995. That is a day's work in and of itself, I think.

[jdw]

Hansen really lost a step after the 7/29/93 classic IMO. There were still good outings, but not the sort of home runs or consistency he had previously. Both the '95 TC bouts were flat. I'm not a fan of the '96 TC match with Kobashi either, though many do enjoy it.

 

I thought his performance in the 11/30/93 tag was an HR, and his performance against Taue in the 1994 Carny was off the charts. His work with Kobashi the night before was excellent as well. I would say he was still a top worker as late as the 1994 Carny series, but fell off after that for a variety of reasons, likely some of them his fault.

[dawho5]

Misawa/Kobashi vs. Holy Demon Army 10/15/95

 

They start out big with Misawa immediately hitting a nasty tiger suplex on Kawada about a minute in. Kawada is screwed and he knows it, so he rolls outside. The faces don't attack him, which allows him to roll back into the ring and tag Taue. Misawa tries to hit the tiger suplex on Taue, but that's not happening. Misawa tags to Kobashi after working on Taue a bit. Kobashi ends up on the floor, Taue hits a tope. Misawa wants to dive at Taue, but Kawada kicks him in the head to stop that. Taue has to fight a bit for it, but the apron nodowa is successful and Misawa is down & out on the floor. Kobashi is concerned, then just plain angry as he gets back in the ring. He takes on his two opponents admirably for a time, but then ends up taking a long beatdown at the hands of the Holy Demon Army. During which Kawada and Taue will turn their attention to Misawa and put the hurt on him while he's on the floor. Can't have him feeling ignored. Misawa finally gets back on the apron, Kobashi fights off both Kawada and Taue so he can tag. Misawa is on fire, taking apart Taue with some big nearfalls. He puts on a stepover facelock and Kobashi puts a sleeper on Kawada. Kawada is out after a good long while in that sleeper, perhaps Kobashi got some revenge for the choking out of Misawa there. Taue is now in peril for a while as Kawada is trying to shake off that sleeper outside. Kawada charges Kobashi while he's on the apron and starts going after the arm with a jujigatame while Misawa is still working over Taue. Kobashi rolls to the outside and starts selling the arm big time as Misawa comes to check on him. Kawada is nowhere in sight...oh wit, he's getting the tag from Taue. Love the distraction to get the tag. Kawada caps off a strke exchange (a very good one at that) with a gamengiri, then powerbombs Misawa for a nearfall. A second is powerbomb attempt is broken up by Kobashi, who is tagged in. Kawada goes back to the arm and we go to Kobashi in peril part 2. The heels work over the arm, with Kobashi rolling outside after some Kawada offense only to find Taue waiting for him on the floor. Tough luck there. Misawa is tagged after a Kobashi lariat, but the heels end up catching him on the top rope and do a great nodowa double team spot with Misawa on Kawada's shoulders out of the corner. Misawa counters an apron nodowa, looking ready to dive, but Kawada has an enzuilariat to stop that. Misawa frankensteiners out of a Kawada powerbomb and tags. Kobashi and Kawada decide to see who can kick the crap out of the other's limb more (Kawada's leg, Kobashi's arm). They go into a really nice finishing sequence that ends with Misawa again just trying to bludgeon his way to victory, but coming up short on time.

 

Yeah, this was a really good match. The way each team was going out of their way to take somebody on the other team out of the match worked so well. It wasn't "work over the leg" type taking them out of the match. It was "come close to killing them" All Japan style isolation. And I liked even more that it was Misawa that started it with the super early tiger suplex. Then Kawada and Tue one-upped them with Kawada kicking Misawa in the face to set up the apron nodowa. Then (I think) Kobashi choked Kawada out a la Kawada on 7/8/95 to isolate Taue. And once all that was done, Kawada gets creative with the attack on Kobashi's arm to set up the faces for another control segment. Just when it looks like Kawada and Taue have finally got Misawa and Kobashi where they want them, Misawa decides to take over the match to get his team back into it after nearfalls on Kobashi and himself. The heels get a few shots in, but a big part of the stretch run is Misawa taking over and giving Kobashi time to recover for a quick run of nearfalls before handing it back to Misawa. Then Misawa is nearly out of gas, and when Taue fights back a little too much on a tigerdriver Misawa just starts blasting him with elbows in a desperate attempt to get a 3 count in the final minute. Really good stuff, lots of drama, could have ended at any point past 30 believably, which is amazing.

[dawho5]

Kobashi vs. Misawa 10/25/95 for the Triple Crown

 

So, Kobashi hits an Orange Crush 3 minutes in. Then immediately powerbombs Misawa on the floor. Guess we're doing the Misawa extended comeback match. Kobashi hits a dragon suplex for two. Misawa looks to be coming back, but Kobashi ducks an elbow and works the right arm for the space of one submission. That's kinda odd. Misawa hits a backdrop out of a strike exchange and then starts destroying Kobashi with elbows. Kobashi sells for a very short, then comes right back and puts Misawa in a surfboard. Two problems with this. 1. Kawada took those same elbows in a tag and was "out" for about 5 minutes before he fought back again. 2. When Misawa and Kobashi struggle over a surfboard, I think of Kawada and Kobashi struggling over a surfboard and how much more they get out of it. Back to the match. Kobashi works a sleeper for a long time, then hits a half nelson suplex before re-applying the sleeper. Kobashi is killing Misawa here as far as the severity of these moves, and the crowd is starting to believe that Kobashi has a chance to put Misawa away. They don't yet, which may suggest a not so small error in how strongly Misawa was booked up to this point. Misawa elbows out of an apron backdrop attempt by Kobashi and finally goes on offense. He starts with a tigerdriver, which is probably good since he's taken about 2 matches worth of damage for most people. Misawa's offense does a number on Kobashi, and he is (if the crowd and my own reaction is not off) believably back in it after about 1/3 of the time spent on offense Kobashi has had. This with the biggest bombs Kobashi has thrown at him before he ever really started. Kobashi ducks a kick and hits a german for a nearfall to go back on offense. Oddly enough, Kobashi's biggest nearfall in the match is following a German -> Misawa elbow -> Kobashi dropkick sequence. The moonsault that came before it may or may not have been more convincing. Misawa again resorts to throwing elbows and suplexes until Kobashi is ripe for a tigerdriver 91.

 

I get why they did what they did here. Kobashi was not at the level he needed to be to really pull off a slow build to a big run of nearfalls before Misawa finally put him away. He had to do lots of damage and fast to get any credibility going. It still makes for an awkward build and a match I didn't think was particularly great. I do like the continuing theme with Misawa's big matches. Since 92 and 93, the only person who has been able to truly push him has been Hansen. And Misawa will really streamline his offense down during crunch time with Hansen. Not a lot of wasted energy trying to lift with the tigerdriver. Not taking too many risks down the stretch with his more athletic moves. Just simple, elbows, maybe throw some suplexes in there, wear him down in a way that's not leaving you too vulnerable or taking too much energy to execute. Then Kawada, Taue and Kobashi all get that same treatment in 95. It's smart booking to me for Misawa to not really be comfortable being pushed around that time, since there wasn't anybody but Hansen or Doc who could push him. And it gets over the idea that now the other 3 are actual threats to Misawa. That's not saying I don't think he could have been booked a tad less strongly throughout that time.