[2000-12-09-AJPW-Real World Tag League Final] Toshiaki Kawada & Masanobu Fuchi vs Steve Williams & Mike Rotunda

[ohtani's jacket]

This is the type of match I would usually skip but since it was the final of the Real World Tag League I felt obliged to watch it. And yes, there was an actual final in 2000. 

Kawada spent a large chunk of the opening 10 minutes working with Dr. Death and Mike Rotunda. He spent such a long time in the ring that when the Americans took over he was worn down from being on offense for so long. I'm not sure what the logic was in not tagging Fuchi. Perhaps he was trying to soften up the big foreign dudes so that Fuchi stood a chance, but you've got to trust your partner. The team had made it this far so I didn't see the point of hiding Fuchi on the apron.  In the end, the Varsity Club's power moves were too much for Fuch, but the key moment was a huge spike piledriver on the outside that left Kawada incapacitated. The match was decent considering how washed up Williams and Rotunda were. Williams, in particular, was a battered war horse and struggled to get in and out of the ring,  But the booking was odd. It wasn't a match-up that anybody wanted to see at Budokan and Wiliams and Rotunda winning didn't have much upside. The original plan was for Tenryu to tag with Onita and I guess that would have made a better final. Kawada looked pretty good in the ring continuing his second-half surge up the worker leaderboard. He's now approaching the likes of Delfin, Togo, and Ishikawa for Japanese worker of the year and there's still the big tag match to come. Stay tuned folks! 

[soup23]

Interesting match where from the semi final earlier in the night, Fuchi is wounded. As a result, Kawada takes the first 50% of the match. I think the resurgence of Doc is on the downswing as he was fine here but did look dated. Rotunda looked worse and I kind of wish Barton and Doc would have teamed up. The t-shirts and triangle new varisty club shit doesn’t help. The ending run was well done and I was surprised to see Doc/Rotunda win. RWTL final matches have a knack for being some of the better AJPW matches of the year. This was a very good match in spite of itself but certainly not a classic like in years past. ***1/2 (6.9)

[Superstar Sleeze]

Varsity Club 2000 (Dr. Death & Mike Rotundo) vs Toshiaki Kawada & Masanobu Fuchi - AJPW 12/9/00

First Real World Tag League Final Post-Split in the Budokan. Tenryu teamed up with Araya but with Tenryu winning the Triple Crown, I think it was smart to push the gaijin team to the finals as a way to keep the card balanced in the future even though this turns out to be the swan song of the gaijin in All Japan. As these two plus Barton, Steele and Hines never make to the top of the card again beside Doc’s last Triple Crown challenge in July. 
 

I enjoyed this match for its interesting structure. I don’t think it is a great match but it is still compelling & engaging throughout. Kawada and Fuchi only tag once which is an interesting wrinkle and something you don’t see enough of. 
 

Kawada has a very long shine and even though he isn’t beat Tenryu for the Triple Crown in October, he feels like the Ace. He guzzles Doc & Rotundo. He manhandles them at will. He opens with single leg takedown of the Sooner and never lets up. He lights Doc up with kicks and elbows. He outshines him on the mat. There’s a great part the second time Doc is in the match where Kawada and Rotundo have a wicked elbow exchange and then Kawada BLASTS Rotundo off the apron and then Doc. You got the feeling Kawada would not be denied. It was interesting that Doc and Rotundo were throwing a lot of different looks at Kawada and he is fighting through it all and bulldozing them. Doc lunges and bowls him over on the outside but Kawada is like fuck you and kicks his head off. 
 

What stops this match from being great is weak transitions. The transition to heat on Kawada is a vertical suplex by Doc. The way Kawada bounced was sick but still. I thought there was a straight right by Doc that would served way better to be the transition but Kawada fought through that instead. I liked Doc & Rotundo hanging up on him including the Doc-assisted Abdominal Stretch. But against Kawada’s just kinda shrugs it off starts unleashing kicks of fury. Again transition could’ve been more interesting than it is time to move onto Fuchi.

Fuchi as expected has a good start. Some double team big boots, back drop driver. Face lock and Stretch Plum At the same time. This time transition is a Rotundo lariat and it is not even a very good one lol. But he succumbs to Americans’ power offense. Oklahoma Stampede always a crowd pleaser. I loved the fire fight with Varisty Club and Kawada looks like Kawada was going to overwhelm them and then in a blink you miss it moment Doc connects with a right hand that ROCKS Kawada allows him to hit Back Drop Driver so now Fuchi is really fucked. Hart Attack. Top Rope Powerslam. Americans pouring it on. Kawada tries to save. Varsity Club Spike Piledriver on the floor to Kawada! DoctorBomb! Another top rope powerslam. Baseball slide by Kawada to save. Rotundo Samoan Drop and a Doc Back Drop Driver give Varsity Club the upset victory!

Even though I read a millions Varsity Club won RWTL I totally forgot and was shocked by the finish. Weak transitions keep this from great but I thought everyone played their part well. Kawada was the Ace asskicker but ultimately had to tag out to Fuchi who got overwhelmed. I wish transition to that was better. Doc power offense looked good. I was shocked how good Rotundo looked in multiple strike exchanges with Kawada. He looked very motivated maybe with WCW going under he knew this was his last shot. Enjoyed Kawada’s shine and the Varsity Club finish run just needed a better middle. *** 3/4