[1986-01-28-AJPW] Tiger Mask vs The Great Kabuki

[fxnj]

Interesting match to revisit. I first watched this about 10 years ago when the Tiger Mask Misawa DVD was released. I thought the lengthy arm work was terrible and fast forwarded through much of it, but I found myself fascinated by the chaotic and bloody finishing run. It was a bit hard for me to figure out what to think overall about a match that seemingly had such a great last few minutes but such a long stretch of forgettable work before that. Now that I'm older and I'd like to think wiser, I can see that this is both far deeper and more coherent than I initially gave it credit.

The key to keep in mind throughout is that this is Tiger Mask's first big singles match as a heavyweight. Kabuki's role here is as the gatekeeper welcoming him into the division and the main point of interest is in seeing how Tiger adapts to this new opponent. Hence, the arm attack and Kabuki using his weight advantage to keep Tiger grounded. Tiger tries to get out of it by going for moves that worked for him against juniors but finds himself frustrated being unable to have much success against this larger opponent. I felt like Kabuki's motivations behind staying in the arm locks here shifted from just wearing Misawa down to actively using it as a means of disrespect, then shifting again to an almost Fuchi-esque sadism in torturing his opponent.

Yes, it does get repetitive after a while seeing them spend so much time sitting in arm locks, but I'd argue that was deliberate to make you emphasize with Misawa's frustration. Though he'd later define his run on top by his stoicism, this gives us a chance to get an earlier look at him before he was as good at keeping his emotions in check. It all boils over when, after finally escaping the hold, he throws Kabuki out of the ring and starts walloping him with a chair. Kabuki bleeds big and the crowd really gets into it as they go at it. It was also nice to see Misawa go for an early version of his great subtle arm selling and stage a comeback where he avoided doing too much with the arm Kabuki worked over, which is a thing he'd explore in his later big singles.

Seeing Misawa lying in the ring with Kabuki's blood splattered all over him is an iconic visual that I still remembered from my initial viewing, and there's also a great shot of Kabuki sitting in the ring with the faces of stunned crowd members behind him. The match peaks shortly after that with them trading shots in the ring. I loved how Kabuki kept up the disrespect with posing to the fans when he goes to the top rope. Finish is your usual 80's bullshit ending, but I felt the ensuing chaos worked well for the match they built. I'd even argue it more fitting than a clean fall would have been.

Really strong slow burn type match that felt like a key point in Misawa's evolution from junior to heavyweight ace. ***3/4