[1993-10-23-AJPW-October Giant Series] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Stan Hansen

[Superstar Sleeze]

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Stan Hansen - AJPW 10/23/93

Misawa vs Hansen was a popular main event in 1993 for All Japan. They headlined the finals of the Carnival, had a title defense in May and was the main event of the big October Anniversary Show. I think 1993 All Japan has been defined by the beginning of the legendary Four Corners of Heaven Tag Series and the incredible Hansen vs Kobashi rivalry, but in terms of main event rivalry this was the match. Not only that I think this was Stan's Swan Song as a main event singles draw. He would win the title one more time in 1995 for reasons I am not sure of, but after this, the focus began to shift to Dr. Death Steve Williams and the Four Corners of Heaven. This makes sense as Stan would turn 45 in 1994. 

Not the most enthralling first fifteen minutes to start off this main event. Misawa liberally uses his elbow at the beginning of the match to assert his dominance. Hansen powders to shake out the cobwebs. He comes back in and uses kicks and elbows to garner some control. Misawa manages to wrangle him in  a surfboard, but Hansen uses a single leg trip to get a leg lace. Misawa sells well wriggling around. Hansen leaves his arm vulnerable. Misawa grabs it and turns it into a cross armbreaker. Misawa begins working the arm, which seems interesting. He beats the arm with elbows and works armbars. He uses the over the shoulder arm breaker. Again Hansen powders and again he uses this to take control. He POPS Misawa real good with an elbow upon his reentry into the ring. There goes anything interesting. Hansen is kinda boring on top when he works a standard paced match. He has his go-to's like the exposed knee and the Cowboy Kick, but there's a lot of chinlockery. This has definitely been the most boring start to a Hansen vs Misawa match. 

Misawa starts to fire up and so Hansen gets desperate with lunging shouldertackle, a dropkick and throwing Misawa down, but Misawa wants to take over and so he does. The usual Misawa comeback sequence unfolds. No really strong transition. Hansen is kinda just standing there taking it. It is weird watching Hansen just ragdoll for Misawa. Misawa misses his diving elbow off the top. Hansen goes for a single leg crab?!! Hansen's decisions in these Misawa matches have been peculiar. He tries powerbomb, but Misawa still has too much strength. They botch a spot. Misawa I think is supposed to reverse a powerslam mid-air, but it just looks awkward Misawa gets a 2 count. Misawa dropkicks a flat-footed Hansen out of the ring. This is really weird. Misawa missed a plancha and Hansen throws him down on the floor with a powerbomb. Ok thats more like it! Hansen gets a two count. Good nearfall for Hansen. He hits his big middle rope splash for two. Ok here we go Lariat and go home. Misawa elbows out of the corner, Hansen comes back in and Misawa gets a Sunset Flip for a 3 Count ?!?! Hansen kicks out at 3 and immediately pounces on Misawa. 

Wow! What a lame finish! Especially for a Budokan Main Event?!! Hansen gave a totally soul-less performance. He lost all his uniqueness. That "think shoot, but work" mentality. The bull in the China Shop. This Stan Hansen was just mailing it in. He was flat-footed in his feeds for Misawa. Just standing waiting to be hit. He was chinlocking. He was hitting the spots but putting no personality into it. The finish was wretched. The Misawa formula is not conducive to great Hansen matches. Hansen does not do well in mid-tempo, grind it out situations. He is NOT Bret Hart. But still they had two great matches, but this match is terrible. One of the worst matches between two of the best of all-time. I think more people should watch this so they can get a reality check on Misawa & Hansen. I think we all need that sometime. Our heroes (Misawa & Hansen are both Top 5 workers of all time in my opinion) are fallible.  

 

[Makai Club #1]

So this is the infamous match (Is it famous? I’ve never heard of it before) where Dave gave it *1/2. Naturally, I was intrigued to see if two all timers, even with their well known iffy chemistry in other matches, can have a match that bad against each other. Kenji Wakabayashi calling this match like he was watching the Masters kind of says it all. For one of the most excitable commentators of all time that lives through his passion, he was in cruise volume. Anyway, enough about Wakabayashi. This was pretty awful and I think the rating is generous. The match started off nicely with a brief flurry of elbows by Misawa and Hansen scrambling to recover quickly. Misawa then began attacking the arm - a consistent story in all Hansen/Misawa matches - and grinds the match to a halt. The energy between the two instantly goes whenever they leave their feet. When Misawa is throwing elbows with Hansen selling them or doing Hansen things, the match picks up a bit. That’s all very limited to little moments that aren’t sustained well. To make things worse, the finish is so bad and looks botched. Misawa sunset keeps Hansen down for the three, Hansen kicks out at 3.1 and attacks Misawa and looks pissed at Joe Higuchi for calling it (it’s the right choice though. Hansen messed up). I imagine that this could’ve been saved with a hot closing stretch but a pin is a pin and that’s just the end of it. The crowd booed the ending but they were understanding and still cheered Misawa’s win announcement. *