[2000-03-31-AJPW-Championship Carnival] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada - Champions Carnival '00

What struck me the most about this match was how they were still able to manage to add something to their matches even though they had been wrestling big time singles matches since 1992. This encounter would be their final encounter in All Japan and I believe their last singles match until they drew 52,000 to the Dome under the NOAH banner in 2005. This match felt a lot like Flair/Steamboat Spring Stampede '94 in that the wrestling is still great, but it just does not grab you as much as it did when it was fresh. Both matches feature enough new stuff and just plain fundamentally awesome wrestling that neither can be written off, but they pale in comparison to their past glory. Misawa and Kawada depart from their classic long build matches (even previous Carnival matches went 30 minuet Broadway) to deliver their version of a tight sprint. There is a sense of urgency that is not as present in their previous encounters to finish this match early. It stems from the fact that after wrestling each other for over a decade that they knew each other's moves so they only way to beat one another is to hit the move before the opponent knew what hit them. Kawada won the early slugfest with a back drop driver and from there on out just kept kicking Misawa in the face anytime he tried to string together a combination of offense. Misawa is able to finally get on offense because he quickly hits a Tiger Driver. I can't remember the last time Misawa quickly hit a Tiger Driver there is usually a lot of struggle before he can hit one. Same goes for his follow-up German it was explosive. Misawa crashed and burned on the frogsplash attempt. Kawada capitalizes with a quick powerbomb, but when he tries again, he can't. It is the element of surprise that is all they have. So once Misawa has time to prepare for the powerbomb he can block it or Kawada can evade the frogsplash. Misawa's roaring elbow after the stretch plum and Kawada's consequent sell are why this match-up is one of the greatest in history.

Kawada regains the advantage when he catches Misawa with a kick as he is coming down. He just unloads with everything in his strike arsenal and cant get the pin with a brainbuster. The teased the Ganso Bomb, but Misawa headscissors out, but Kawada eventually hits the powerbomb and still can't pin Misawa. Misawa's back elbow has Kawada like Oh My God. The Tiger Driver only gets two. It devolves into an elbow versus boot match and Misawa wins that with a nice elbow combination. Misawa finally hits Emerald Flowsion on Kawada to win their last contest in All Japan. The urgency of this encounter makes an interesting addition to their canon. ****

[Graham Crackers]

This is a shorter sprinty version of their match. It's good and entertaining but what makes their rivalry great is it's scope. I'd take this over a few of their late 90s matches but I don't think it's as good as their 2005 match, let alone their all time classics.

[dawho5]

I had this ranked pretty high going into rewatch, but some things came up. They do the Misawa vs. Kawada sprint variation, which is fine by me. The finishing run is pretty much the blueprint for every 2000s NOAH/AJPW/NJPW big finishing run, which is to say overdone and too many nearfalls. I understand it given Misawa's invincibility in AJPW, but it still works against the match. Kawada's sell of the rolling elbow and the back elbow were all kinds of incredible. Despite it's flaws, it's still great and I think it's better than the 2005 match by a ways. Misawa vs. Kawada by the numbers is still better than 99% of 2000s wrestling. I hate saying this, but this is one of the few truly great Kawada matches in the 2000s. It seems like he takes it a little easier on people he knows can't hang with him and the matches just don't work as well (see: Kojima). It really drives home the idea that Kobashi, Misawa, Taue and Akiyama were really something special to have in one place for so long.

[Wahoos Leg]

Both guys pulling out all the stops early, which made sense and emphasizes the importance of the tournament. A little too strikey-strikey for my tastes, but I can see it making the bottom quarter of my bracket. Preferred the Kobashi-Kawada match to this, reinforcing my belief I'm going to throw off the numbers (if I ever finish a ballot). Kawada's awesome sell of the roaring elbow is a real highlight.

[WingedEagle]

This match felt a lot like Flair/Steamboat Spring Stampede '94 in that the wrestling is still great, but it just does not grab you as much as it did when it was fresh. Both matches feature enough new stuff and just plain fundamentally awesome wrestling that neither can be written off, but they pale in comparison to their past glory.

 

Misawa vs. Kawada by the numbers is still better than 99% of 2000s wrestling.

 

I recently watched Flair/Steamboat from Spring Stampede on the '94 Yearbook and these 2 thoughts really encapsulate this match for me. Its a sprint from these two which is nice twist, but they older, slower and the drama of the golden years isn't quite there. Despite that, they make everything they do matter and its still better than what most can pull off. Was this the first emerald frosien?

 

***3/4

[soup23]

A fantastic close to their rivalry for now. Huge bombs and worked like a sprint that never overstayed its welcome. I think this is the type of match they should have went for on 6/6/97. Misawa has quietly been awesome in 2000 which is strange to say because he is Misawa but he hasn't been all that frequent on our screen and the Hase, Akiyama and Kawada matches are all really different. This had a great stiffness level to it and the main focal point of Misawa's elbow being the great weapon again. Emerald Flowsion is presented as Misawa's best finisher currently and does the trick here. ****1/4

[Loss]

They cut quite the hellacious pace in this one. I can think of a few matches of theirs I liked less than this one for sure. At this point, there wasn't much left to add to the rivalry, and I respect that the match was worked as an acknowledgment of that, not even pretending the opposite. They just went balls to the wall for 15 minutes and let that be that, and it worked. Hot nearfalls five minutes into a Misawa-Kawada match are in their own way a special accomplishment considering how people were trained to expect draws from these two in Carnivals. I don't think the Flair-Steamboat at Spring Stampede '94 comparison works because they were out to party like it was 1989. This wasn't aiming to be 6-3-94, and it was too smart to try to do such a foolish thing, which was what makes it great. The most blunt match of their series. ****1/4

[ohtani's jacket]

This was really good. So long as you're not expecting a classic you'll enjoy this. It helped that the Hiroshima crowd was so hot. You would have thought there was more on the line than Champion Carnival points the way they rallied behind Misawa. Mind you, Misawa has spent much of 2000 with his back to the canvas so maybe they had good reason to try to will him on. There was a lot of hard hitting action and stand and deliver stuff here. Well worth your time if you're on the fence about it. Misawa continues to perplex me in 2000 with his conditioning. He didn't look quite so wretched here but he's still not the Misawa I know and recognise. I'm glad he shaved that beard. I'm not a huge fan of that look. His hair was way too poofy, though. At least you can always rely on Kawada to look the same.

[Rah]

This would be the finale to their AJPW feud and, even if that wasn’t in their minds in delivering it, they most certainly wove it into their battle here. Both being tied in number of victories within singles encounters up until this point, the match would abandon their slow and methodical pace that became synonymous with their previous encounters. The very fact that their previous Carnival Cup encounters had ended in time limit draws also drove home their need to adapt a new, more hastened approach in finally beating their opponent. The end result, thus, feels even more iconic in that this would also be the first time Misawa could ever hit his Emerald Flowsion upon Kawada.

 

This wasn’t a blow-away match by any means, and nowhere near their greatest, yet it still hails itself as a good match, nonetheless. Kawada’s selling of punches/elbows is as awesome as ever.

[Moonsault Marvin]

Great selling as usual from both Misawa and Kawada. I liked Kawada's variation in tempo from working at a deliberate pace to rushing in to get the power bomb. Perhaps a little too much fighting spirit, strike back and forth for my tastes, but it was still an excellent match. ****

[ohtani's jacket]

Great selling as usual from both Misawa and Kawada. I liked Kawada's variation in tempo from working at a deliberate pace to rushing in to get the power bomb. Perhaps a little too much fighting spirit, strike back and forth for my tastes, but it was still an excellent match. ****

 

That part where the commentator started saying "Elbow. Elbow. Elbow. Elbow." was jarring. The commentary was pretty bad in general.

[superkix]

Match was good and Kawada was great, I thought. He works mostly as the thorn in Misawa's side, continually cutting off Misawa's 80% elbow offense with gamengiri kicks to the face. Misawa's first big comeback is a fucking tiger driver. I thought Kawada's selling off the rolling elbow was incredible. Then he continues blasting Misawa with these gamengiris to the face and hits an absolutely brutal backdrop driver. I mean, 3/4's of this match was worked like a finishing stretch but it was fun. And the commentator with the "elbow" on repeat was the cherry on top.

[tbrett]

I liked the match, good not great. If these two hadn't had so many other classics under their belt this I might rank higher. It just felt like a really good TV match between the two compared to their all-time classics they have put together before.

 

***1/2