Pro Wrestling Love vol. 64 - Best of Puroresu 2010-2014 (Hiroshi Tanhashi, Kazuchika Okada, Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama)

 Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 64:

The Best of Puroresu 2010-2014

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at http://gweproject.freeforums.net/) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This sixty-third volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the beginning of the Top 12 countdown of the best pro wrestling matches to take place in Japan between 2010-2014. I covered 2005-2009 in an earlier edition of Pro Wrestling Love. I decided to do the next five year chunk. Originally, I was thinking of covering New Japan from 2012-2016 separately as that covers the rise of Kazuchika Okada, BUT the Puroresu scene from 2010-2011 does not really have much meat on the bone to warrant its own coverage so we will look at Puroresu as a whole from 2010-2014. The last two years are very New Japan heavy as their resurgence was completed with the New Three Musketeers: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada and Shinsuke Nakamura leading the charge and also the gaijin-faction The Bullet Club renewing Western interest in the product. 2010-2011 saw FUTEN (Daisuke Ikeda's Shoot-Style Promotion) and Dick Togo's run in DDT holding down the fort while New Japan was recharging. After reigning supreme in terms of match quality in the first decade of the 21st Century, NOAH spiraled out of control due to the tragic death of Mitsuharu Misawa and the retirement of top star, Kenta Kobashi. By 2011, Jun Akiyama was the All Japan Triple Crown champion and in 2012 he officially defected with many of NOAH's top stars to All Japan. NOAH was left with KENTA as the only viable main event star. All Japan with the signings of Akiyama & Co, Masakatsu Funaki and the rise of SUWAMA & Kento Miyahara had a mini-resurgence of their own in the front half of the 2010s garnering some buzz for their matches for the first time in a decade. All Japan was still dwarfed in regards to ticket sales and critical acclaim compared to New Japan Pro Wrestling, but they offered refreshing alternative.  You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

Honorable Mentions

Takahiro Oba & Takeshi Ono vs Kengo Mashimo & Manabu Suraga - FUTEN 5/30/10

Daisuke Ikeda vs Takeshi Ono - FUTEN 9/26/10

Daisuke Ikeda & Takahiro Oba vs Makoto Hashi & Kengo Mashimo - FUTEN 10/24/10

Even though, I felt that the 2010 FUTEN matches fell more in the very good camp than the classic camp, I wanted to include them because they are considered the best of 2010 by many and they are so unique as this the last gasp of shoot-style to the best of my knowledge. For me 2008 BattlArts was a better shoot-style revival promotion. The best of these is the sub-5 minute spring between Ikeda & Ono.

Osaka Pro Wrestling Champion Dick Togo vs Billy Ken Kid - Osaka Pro 2/11/10

Dick Togo vs Hikaru Sato - DDT 11/28/10

Similar to FUTEN, Dick Togo was a star of the Puroresu scene in 2010-2011 in part because the more mainstream outlets were starting to fail (NOAH) or had not fully recovered (NJPW). Again, I found these matches to be very good than classic, but THE Dick Togo match of this era does make my countdown.

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Jun Akiyama vs Keiji Mutoh - AJPW 3/20/12

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Jun Akiyama vs Masakatsu Funaki - AJPW 8/26/12

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Masakatsu Funaki vs SUWAMA - AJPW 9/23/12

Go Shiozaki vs Suwama - AJPW 9/15/14 Royal Road Tournament

Jun Akiyama vs Kento Miyahara - AJPW 9/15/14

Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori vs. Go Shiozaki & Kento Miyahara - AJPW 12/6/14

For some reason, I cannot explain I have a soft spot for 21st Century All Japan. Once Jun Akiyama, the Prodigal Son returned home, they experienced a resurgence. By 2014, they were again making noise in hardcore fan circles and garnering votes in Match of the Year polls. The best of these was the tag team match between the 90s veterans of Akiyama & Omori vs Shiozaki & Miyahara. In addition, I highly recommend the 5 minute championship sprint between Akiyama and Funaki. 

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada - NJPW Feb 2012

IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW Dominion 2012

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada - Wrestle Kingdom VII

Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW G-1 Climax 2013

It is the Tanahashi vs Okada series, need I say more. My only tip is watch the Tombstone Piledriver. Every wrestling fan needs to see this series. 

Kensuke Sasaki vs Jun Akiyama - NOAH 4/10/10

GHC Heavyweight Champion Takahashi Sugiura vs Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 7/10/2010

Kensuke Sasaki vs Go Shiozaki NOAH 7/10/10

GHC Heavyweight Champion Takashi Sugiura vs Kensuke Sasaki - NOAH 11/14/11

Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama, Keiji Mutoh & Kensuke Sasaki vs KENTA, Go Shiozaki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Maybach Taniguchi - NOAH 5/11/13

GHC Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - NOAH 10/5/13

NOAH may have been dying a death, but it still had some great matches. The veterans, Kensuke Sasaki, Akiyama & Takayama were still heavily involved in the early part of the decade to draw. Sasaki vs Akiyama is a major pairing that no one every talks about as a dream match but it did happen once in 2010 and is worth a watch. KENTA's second best title defense was against one of my favorites, Nakajima and I thought this was better than their 2009 series. Finally, a match that every Puroresu fan should watch, Kenta Kobashi's retirement, if you dont tear up then you dont have a soul, brutha. 

Koji Kanemoto vs Fujita Jr Hayato - NJPW 5/26/11

Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Champion Kenou vs Fujita Jr Hayato - Michinoku Pro 6/3/12

Great Sasuke & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Fujita Jr Hayato & Kenou - Michinoku Pro 11/4/13

Gotta put my boy, Fujita Jr Hayato. It pains me I couldnt find room for any of these in my Top 12, but Hayato had a strong start to the beginning of the 2010s. What ended up happening to him?

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Satoshi Kojima - NJPW 8/15/10

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Toru Yano - NJPW G-1 Climax 8/3/2011

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Minoru Suzuki - NJPW G-1 Climax 8/14/11

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs Tetsuya Naito - NJPW 3/4/12

Katsuyori Shibata vs Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW G1 Climax 2013

NEVER Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs Tomoaki Honma - NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 5/3/14

AJ Styles vs Tetsuya Naito - G-1 Climax 2014

Katsuyori Shibata vs Tomoaki Honma - G-1 Climax 2014 Day 8

Kazuchika Okada vs Shinsuke Nakamura - NJPW G-1 Climax Finals 8/10/14

In the pre-Okada era, Tanahashi managed to have a great classic match with Kojima and a very fun face/heel match with Yano (which is unique in Puroresu). My last cuts were Shibata vs Ishii and Shibata vs Honma. I really liked Ishii and Honma a lot in this era and bums me out that I couldnt find them a spot, but hey it was a loaded field. Definitely check out some Ishii and Honma from this era. 

Top 12 Best Puroresu Matches 2010-2014

#12. Kenta Kobashi/Jun Akiyama vs Kensuke Sasaki & Mitsuhiro Kitamiya 

Diamond Ring 2/11/12

Perhaps the ultimate veteran/young lion vs two grumpy dicks tag match, which is among my favorite genres of pro wrestling matches. The only thing that drags it down just a bit is that Kobashi is just not a very good jerk in this match. He is just too much of a good guy. He never transitioned into that Tenryu role. On top of not being that grumpy, he clearly quite debilitated by the years of injuries and illness. Kobashi is among my favorite wrestlers so it is always nice to watch him wrestle especially in a match I have never seen before. Good thing, Akiyama wrestles for two and gives one of the most inspired grump old timer performances of all time. Kitamiya who I have never heard of meets him in one of the best fiery young lion performances of all time as he dies for our pleasure. Sasaki is a solid hot tag veteran presence for Kitamiya, but the story of the match is the Akiyama vs Kitamiya. 

Akiyama SCHOOLS Kitamiya early on. Blocking every takedown attempt with ease and transitioning into any hold he wants. It is total command and a beautiful wrestling lesson. Playful slaps from Akiyama have me smiling. Kitamiya gets more and more frustrated as he is being humiliated in the middle of the ring. He gets a bloody nose and is charging Akiyama with all he has got for a double leg takedown and Akiyama stands there like a stonewall. Kitamiya gives up on wrestling and fires off some elbows. Akiyama is like "Oh no, you didn't, bitch." and just blasts him. He throws Kitamiya's carcass to Sasaki. One of the all time great opening segments to a wrestling match ever.

Kobashi/Sasaki have their obligatory chopfest.

Sasaki forces Kobashi into his corner and Kitamiya tags himself in. Sasaki looks confused, but shrugs and says go ahead, young buck. Kitamiya unloads on Kobashi with big elbows and Kobashi just throws one high chop to the throat to stymie him, which is a Tenryu dick thing to do I will admit. Tags in Akiyama. Oh boy! He throws Kitamiya to the outside. Kitamiya runs back in and dropkicks Akiyama off the apron. Hey, maybe he can do some damage! We get some Sasaki & Akiyama and Sasaki actually hits a delayed vertical, but Kitamiya wants in and Sasaki reluctantly lets him tag in. Kitamiya reigns down the elbows and Akiyama just slaps the taste out of his mouth. He drops knees into the young lion's face watching him writhe in pain. Kobashi comes in and chop and facelock. Kobashi throws him to the outside and Akiyama just no sells everything and then overhand slaps him in the bloody nose!!! I LOVE PRO WRESTLING! He throws him into the barricade. Kitamiya tries firing up, but Akiyama just slaps him down. You gotta give the kid credit; he doesn't give up. Kobashi chop and now ab stretch. Akiyama gets a deep Boston Crab. Sasaki is really fun on the apron. KItamiya gets a running forearm to tag out to Sasaki.

Sasaki is an awesome house of fire!!! Tons of energy, chops, lariats and a big powerslam to that dick Akiyama. You really want to see Akiyama's ass handed to him and Sasaki does that. It is just like pick on someone your own size and then Sasaki comes in and brutalizes the bully. Great wrestling psychology. You can feel the urgency too. If he does not win now, then he knows there is no shot. Sasaki gets his famous armbar, but Kobashi comes in chops him hard. Akiyama is able to recover to hit a knee from the middle rope, which enough to tag out to Kobashi. Kobashi gets caught in lariat sandwich, but kicks out. Kitamiya wants in and Sasaki is spent. He makes the difficult decision to tag out. 

Kobashi side steps Kitamiya's dropkick. Sasaki bulldozes Kobashi and Akiyama comes flying in with a high knee. SPEAR TO AKIYAMA! KITAMIYA'S REVENGE!!! HE DUMPS KOBASHI ON HIS BACK! THE KID GOES WILD! He gets cocky and tries a BURNING LARIAT~! Kobashi no sells! Awesome! Spinning back chop and Akiyama comes in to hit a sliding knee to get two. KOBASHI BURNING LARIAT~! Finishes him off.

Awesome performances by Akiyama and Kitamiya. Opening segment is incredible. Akiyama is such a douche in this. Kitamiya gives the ultimate "I think I can, I think I can..." performance. I love Kitamiya's explosion at the end only succumb to Kobashi's Burning Lariat! Second best match of Japan in 2012 and a stone cold classic.

#11. Katsuyori Shibata vs Hirooki Goto - NJPW Dominion 2013

Big, dumb, hyper-masculine, testosterone-addled fun! So often spotfests seem so dainty and like a gymnastic exhibition. THIS IS A MAN'S SPOTFEST! They beat the living shit out of each other. I love Shibata. Hell, Goto was awesome in this too. Goto set the tone right out of the gate with a monster lariat as they charged each other. I loved the way Shibata stepped through that roundhouse kick. That was the most intense figure-4 ever when Goto slapped the shit out of Shibata and Shibata yelled at him. I don't care they dropped each on their head three times and each time popped up to deliver another head drop because THEY ARE MEN! That Shibata headbutt was ferocious. They rifled each other with kicks, slaps and forearms. The finish was actually really well-built. Goto basically slammed Shibata face first down on the mat, which was his big nearfall. Shibata used a desperation sleeper to get himself back in it and then with kicks and a couple Death Valley Drivers was able to use the Sleeper effectively enough to set up the Penalty Kick!

Stiffness marks rejoice and revel in this manliness! Awesome!

#10. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW 10/14/13

The series is at 2-2-1, but with Okada as champion going into the match and being 1-0-1 in the last two you can tell Tanahashi was feeling the pressure. He starts off more conservative with a headlock base. Then he even feigns a knee injury. He really milks it and even I think it is going to lead to an Okada heat segment so he had all fooled. He was prancing around doing air guitar to a big pop in the crowd and with me. He goes after the arm, but misses the somersault splash. Okada works the neck with the usual offense, the key highlights being the dropkick to the floor and the Hangmans DDT from railing. The match picks up when Tanahashi press slams him from the top. So if Tanahashi ever wrestles Flair people cant say Flair forced him to do that spot. :) 

Tanahashi needs a strike exchange, missed dropkick before he can take over with arm work. This is some vicious arm work. You can really feel the desperation in Tanahashi that he needs to win this match as he brutally attacks the arm. The transition out is pretty lame with Okada hitting his two weird suplexes that he always hits. Okada sells the arm on the Rainmaker pose. Tanahashi gets a neato pinning combination to avoid the Rainmaker. RAINMAKER~! Woah! That was early. Okada arm hurts too much ala Invasion Attack. The submission move he uses is called Red Ink, but he tries that, but cant hold due to the bad arm. Tanahashi should stick with the arm strategy in future matches. Tanahashi hits a wicked Dragon Suplex and then Sling Blade. High Fly Flow to a standing Okada, but Okada rolls to the outside, but there is no escaping Tanahashi as he hits one on the outside. I think that's the best use of the High Fly Flow to the outside I have seen. Okada nails a Tombstone on outside! BALL GAME! They really milk this spot. They really do protect the Tombstone. It comes down to Tanahashi trying to use his arm work to save the match with Okada trying to nail a Rainmaker and both of them are pretty much out of it from all the punishment. If the tombstone is not enough, Okada hits two picture perfect dropkicks, which should be enough. RAINMAKER~! Wait that was a Tanahashi Rainmaker! He gets a nearfall, here comes the High Fly Flows, but Okada got his knees up. TOMBSTONE~! BALL GAME~! RAINMAKER~!

This is the inferior version of the Invasion Attack match. It is a better template than they were using before, but the problem here was it was lacking the transitions of Invasion Attack and the drama. Instead they substituted bomb throwing. Here it felt my turn, your turn. Invasion Attack Okada's control was tenuous due to a bad wing, but Tanahashi could never really overcome the hole he was put in by the DDT on the apron and then subsequent headrops. Here, it was Tanahashi worked the arm really well and Okada sold, but then lets do bomb throwing. It sounds like I am being harsh, but I do think this is their second best match together because it is just plain more exciting than the previous ones and did think selling was great. I thought selling down the stretch was awesome. 

#9. GHC Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs Takahashi Sugiura - NOAH 5/12/13

Now this is more my style. Sugiura's pint-sized Stan Hansen act is great. These are two asskickers to the max. I liked that they keep the fighting spirit bullshit to a minimum and they just there to dish out pain. Sugiura is the first one to establish control with a side headlock. So simple, so effective and they show you can do a lot with it. Sugiura is a tenacious pitbull holding onto it. Once KENTA gets free, they just start rifling each other with kicks. KENTA's were brutal. Sugiura DROPPED him where he was standing with one of the most vicious slaps I have ever seen. The women in the front row eyes popped for that. Sugiura's front facelock is the stuff that would make a 1992 All Japan announcer cream his pants. :P  

KENTA struggles to the floor but Sugiura hits a neckbreaker off the apron and a brainbuster in the ring. He is rocking it. I didnt love KENTA's first comeback. He hit a dainty forearm and then a flying clothesline (the flying clothesline rarely ever looks good) and went into the STF. I was happy Sugura re-asserted dominance with a kneelift. Then it became all about the abdomen. Hanging him out to the dry on the top rope, SPEAR, front suplex. He was crushing it. He even did Big E's spear through the ropes to the floor which is insane. Sugiura is feeling it tonight. They brawl on the outside. KENTA saves himself by winning a suplex struggle and suplexing him in the crowd. Double Stomp from the riser to the floor. Then in a spot that popped me huge a Double Stomp from the top rope INTO THE CROWD! That was wicked! Sugiura milks the countout tease. This match is rocking. 

KENTA is flying a million miles per hour kicking Sugiura ass all over the place. Big dropkicks and kicks abound. Too early for Go 2 Sleep settles for STF. Scary lack of heat for the submission. He nails a Tiger Suplex out of this. Sugiura hits a Frankensteiner from out of nowhere which I totally loved as a sudden transition. Then he goes for an anklelock. It all rushes back to me I knew there was something I didnt like about Sugiura, he wrestles like Angle down the stretch a ton of anklelocks and Olympic Slams. It breaks down into a fucking stiffest. This was glorious. They were slapping the shit out of each other. Both of them were giving as good as they got but as KENTA dove for a takedown Sugiura rocked his shit with an uppercut knee. Wow! In the corner at one point, Sugiura was just cracking with slaps and then a barrage of vicious elbows. KENTA is dead. He is fucking dead. Wow! That was amazing. Olympic Slam and nothing doing. You see they went too far now. They killed the babyface and now his comeback is incredulous. Sugiura starts smacking him around and KENTA just wakes up and tries to submit him. Ugh.

They are slapping each other. Fatigue and pain has set in. This is so badass. They start roaring against each other. Through the onslaught, KENTA fights through and hits GO 2 SLEEP! 1-2-NO! Sugiura comes up swinging. This time is CLOSED FISTS! He is throwing lefts and rights and holy shit! KENTA FIRES BACK WITH HIS OWN FISTS OF FURY! Forget what I said. THESE MEN WERE BORN TO BE ALIVE! HOLY SHIT THAT WAS JERRY LAWLER LEVEL EPIC! GO 2 SLEEP ON EXPOSED KNEE! 1-2-NO! What the fuck that should have been the finish. KENTA pummels Sugiura into submissions with wicked slaps it is brutal. Go 2 Sleep! Academic!

It has its flaws but fuck this was a WAR~! KENTA earned his man stripes tonight as he went toe to toe with one of the toughest asskickers of all time. Took a lickin and he kept on tickin and he beat Sugiura at his own game standing and banging. Awesome asskicker of a match, the closed fist sequence is an all-timer! 

#8. AJPW Triple Crown Champion SUWAMA vs Jun Akiyama - AJPW 10/23/11

The Prodigal Son Returns! Still announced from NOAH, this would be the beginning of Akiyama's full-time return and ultimate rise to power unseating Keiji "Pro Wrestling Love" Mutoh. I consider myself a Suwama fan. He feels like a raw bone power house that belongs in Mid-South. He is a hoss. I think it is easy to underestimate him in this match but this is far from a carryjob as he brings it as much as Akiyama in the best match of his career and what could prove to be the best non-New Japan match of the front of half of this decade. 

The story of the match is of course Akiyama, the Fifth Pillar, returning home and even though he is not the champion he is the favorite, I think Suwama is different than any opponent he has faced. Kobashi is strong as an ox, but Suwama is so one-dimensional and it is all about power with him. There are times when I don't think Akiyama is prepared for every counter to be a power move. On top of that Suwama has youth on his side and he is in his prime at this point. He has been a main eventer for at least three years now and is not afraid of the spotlight and it shows. He does not prove himself to Akiyama. He is equal from the beginning and that's what the test of strength shows. Akiyama gets a drop toehold on the outside into the railing shades of the Misawa 2000 classic to open up a lead on Suwama's neck. Suwama is great at selling this and what I love about Akiyama is even though we are 5 minutes into a 30 minute match none of his covers feel perfunctory. You feel that as he is attacking the neck that he could get a fall this early because of his urgency. As he tries to create some speed to strike Suwama's neck he leaves himself open to his power counter a big time overhead belly to belly that rocks him and sends him to the floor. That's when the match shifts into next gear. Suwama throws Akiyama around at will outside focusing on the back. Akiyama does a magnificent job selling the back. Suwama is destroying it with slams and a Boston Crab. Akiyama cant run the ropes, cant counter Suwama his back is in a bad way. There is a great spot where Akiyama gets a knee and tries to get up top so he can get some momentum to turn the tide, but his back is so bad that he cant capitalize and Suwama hits a big time superplex. It all comes to a head on the apron. If Akiyama cant come up with something here then his return will be a disappointment. He manages to hit an Exploder off the apron and salvage the match. Suwama is in a lot of pain. Akiyama slowly works himself back up using his patented Akiyama offense knees, elbow to the back of the neck, Exploder and the Guillotine Choke. Suwama strength and energy sapped. Akiyama looks to go airborne, but Suwama swats him out of the sky with a monster lariat. Now Suwama returns on offense and it is big time suplexes that's in order for Akiyama, but Suwama is clearly hurt from the Exploder and Choke. They do a big suplex barrage, which I don't care for, but it is obligatory in the style to sort of the level the playing field. Suwama hits a HUGE dropkick to send Akiyama to floor and then hurls his body through the ropes out on the floor onto Akiyama. This would be the biggest win of Suwama's career and he is pulling out all the stops. Akiyama back in the ring looks like he can barley stand or run the ropes. Suwama needs that powerbomb for the win. Akiyama struggles and struggles to avoid it locking on a choke, but Suwama does what Suwama does best he powers out with a back drop. That's difference between Suwama and his other opponents the reliance on power to solve his problems. It is barrage of suplexes, German and Backdrop Driver. Akiyama is putting up token resistance, but Suwama is irresistible even throwing out a frogsplash. Suwama calls for it and nails a MASSIVE POWERBOMB! Only gets two! Honestly, I was rooting for him. I knew right there it was over for him. Even though he kicked Akiyama's ass if he was not going to put him away there he was not going to do it.

Yep, just as he went for the back drop driver here comes Akiyama's resistance and he shifts his weight. As they struggle with strikes Akiyama hits a lucky knee that connects with Suwama's head and knocks him out. Great glassy eyed sell from Suwama. The selling has been off the charts great in this match. Akiyama hits a barrage of knees and the crowd comes alive. Exploder->1 count yep Suwama is dead in the water. Exploders and Wrist-Clutch Exploder only gets two!??!!? Oh cmon! New crazy Michinoku Driver wins the match for Jun Akiyama.

Guess what this would be Jun Akiyama's FIRST Triple Crown Championship. I had sneaky suspicion he never won pre-split and so this makes it extra special. Definitely way too much excess down the stretch. Suwama murdered Akiyama and could not get the job done annoys me because it makes Suwama look like a choke. The lucky knee was a great transition. Then again way too many knees and Exploders. Enough complaining, this fucking ruled. Great, great selling by both men. Loved the control segments. Suwama's power game was great. Akiyama's offense was brilliant. The transitions were incredible and so well-timed and made so much sense. Like I said may be the best non-New Japan match of this front half of the 2010s in Japan. Not talked about enough! Watch this match! 

#7. AJPW Triple Crown Champion SUWAMA vs Masakatsu Funaki - AJPW 10/24/10

Puroresu Match of the Year, 2010

FINALLY! This was uploaded in all its reigning glory I have probably been on the lookout for this for 5-6 year. This was even better than I expected. Table throws, furious strike exchanges and BLOOD~! Curious though we only get 21 minutes of a 29 minute match a little less than 75%. It feels complete so I am going to rate, but I wish we had it in its entirety. 

SUWAMA maybe the most underrated wrestler ever because he has been stuck in 21st Century All Japan his whole career, but the dude is a beast and if you like power wrestler like me you ought to check him out. Funaki is a shoot-style beast and together have a crazy sexy beast match that is probably my worldwide 2010 match of the year. In the buildup to this match Funaki was Knocking Fools Out with his kicks to the head including SUWAMA. That's how you build up a challenger. 

Pretty much an excellent shooter vs pro wrestler match. Funaki is better at strikes (kicks and open hand slaps) & submissions. SUWAMA has raw bone power and relentless heart. SUWAMA rocks the double hand chops, meaty lariats and brutal throws. Offensively, this is a dream match. 

Funaki catches him with a kick to the head that more spooks SUWAWA than anything else as he powders. This plays off Funaki's lethal kicks and his KO power. It plants that seed this match can be over at any second and SUWAMA needs to be cautious. The thing that is not SUWAMA's game plan. He is never cautious. He is always moving forward and is a bull, just lowers his head and runs into the fray. 

They do some great wrestling. I love how Funaki quashes SUWAMA's fireman's carry attempt and they both grapple really well. Upon standup, Funaki starts lighting SUWAMA up with kicks but just one might Double Chop fells Funaki. They do a great job establishing Funaki's technical advantage, but SUWAMA's strength is the great equalizer. On the outside Funaki again laces into him with kicks and SUWAMA just HURLS THE TABLE AT HIM! YES!

SUWAMA has the high ground back in the ring and scores with the Double Chop sending Funaki flying. SUWAMA sticks his leg through the ropes and Funaki gabs a kneebar. Funaki's other main weapon besides Knocking People The Fuck OUT is his heel hook. Funaki just settles into a rhythm of kicks and I could watch him kick forever. I love SUWAMA he is always moving forward and he is always trying to get back on offense. He is selling, but he keeps struggling and keeps fighting. Hell Yeah! Funaki is maneuvering into submissions like the heel hook and cross armbreaker, but SUWAMA is using his guts and power to fight out.  He starts catching those kicks and thats when he starts throwing Funaki around. At first those throws just get Funaki off balance, but eventually they will make in roads. Suplexes allow for resets they dont always cause damage. It breaks Funaki's rhythm but he gets back up. The first one that does real damage is the slam on the Triangle Choke pickup. It is all power with SUWAMA hurling his body with a shouldertackle off the apron and huge Mack Truck Lariats. Funaki for his part just starts throwing hands with reckless abandon. Funaki's hands were flying and a lesser man would be knocked out. These were stiff, brutal shots to the head. At one point in the corner I thought he fucking KO'd SUWAMA with an illegal closed fist. SUWAMA comes up with BLOOD! Holy shit! Funaki just comes flying in with a flying knee to the head. This is so fucking awesome! 

SUWAMA is out on his feet. He has nothing behind anything and Funaki is picking him apart. Funaki goes for the Back Drop Driver, but SUWAMA reverses and DEMOLISHES HIM! MASSIVE DROPKICK! THE BEST DOUBLE UNDERHOOK SUPLEX YOU WILL EVER SEE! Funaki tries fighting back, flying knee in the corner, but SUWAMA catches and muscles him into the BIGGEST RUNNING LIGER BOMB EVER! THAT WAS AWESOME! SUWAMA BLASTS WITH A SPINNING LARIAT! THIS IS SICK! SUWAMA wants his Last Ride Powerbomb. Funaki has one last gasp HUGE STRIKES TO THE HEAD! How the hell is SUWAMA not out...Funaki is teeing off...DOUBLE KO KICK AND SUWAMA OBLITERATES HIM WITH A LARIAT! Two massive Takayama style Germans and a THUNDEROUS POWERBOMB FOR THE EMPHATIC VICTORY! 

From a purely offensive standpoint, this is why type of match. I love shoot-style for its strikes and submissions. I love pro wrestling for its power in terms of the lariat, suplexes, slams and powerbombs. This was a blend of everything I love in wrestling from an offensive standpoint. On top of that, I loved the layout. It was electric, big fight feel. Both guys never giving an inch. They both coming forward, tons of struggle and urgency. This was not two dudes playing ragdoll for the other. They coming in and trying to disrupt the other. That is what I love. There is some selling stuff and some transitions here and there that could have been improved on but fuck it this was BAD FUCKING ASS! Supercharged Big Ass Pro Wrestling!

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 63: Best of All Japan Pro Wrestling (Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 63:

The Best of All Japan Pro Wrestling 1995-1996

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at http://gweproject.freeforums.net/) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This sixty-third volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the conclusion of the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) 1995-1996. Where we left in Volume 58 was with Toshiaki Kawada as Triple Crown Champion and Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi as World Tag Team Champions after winning the Real World Tag League. No one can take away Kawada's title reign, but in terms of the kayfabe All Japan universe, there was an asterisk next to Kawada's title reign because he did not win them from Misawa. Three times he had tried and three times he failed. He won by beating Dr. Death. The storyline through 1995 is can Kawada beat Misawa. He ends up dropping the belts back to Hansen as a transitional champion so that Misawa can once again reign as the undisputed Ace of All Japan. A curious thing happens in the Misawa vs Kawada Champions Carnival match 30 seconds into what was to be a 30 minute draw, Kawada broke Misawa's orbital bone with a kick to the face. Misawa being The Fucking Man wrestled the next 29 minutes and 30 seconds with a broken eye socket. It turned out to be a happy accident because all three of the 5 star classics that come from All Japan that year are a result of Kawada & Taue targeting the bad eye of Misawa. In a lot of ways, All Japan peaked in 1995 both stylistically with 6/9/95 and in terms of booking as Misawa vanquished the challenge of Kawada again. They sort of sputtered a conclusion for the year and then reset in 1996 with a renewed emphasis on tag team wrestling. The year 1996 saw the return of Dr. Death Steve Williams reforming his team with Johnny Ace and the ascendancy of the super rookie Jun Akiyama replacing Kenta Kobashi as Misawa's junior partner. This greatly freshened up the match ups and also gave Kobashi a chance to spread his singles wings by defeating Akira Taue for his first Triple Crown. Thus we begin the transition to Misawa vs Kobashi taking center stage over Misawa vs Kawada in the later parts of the 90s, but that was covered in earlier parts of Pro Wrestling Love. You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

My Favorite Moment In Any Match Ever

Top Six Matches of All Japan Pro Wrestling 1995-96

#6. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs 

Kenta Kobashi - Anniversary Show 10/25/95

The first major Misawa vs Kobashi match for the Triple Crown takes place at the big October Anniversary show at the Budokan. This matchup would go on to main event two of the next three October Anniversary shows at the Budokan. This would only be Kobashis third title shot of his career (Doc in Sept of 94 and Kawada hour draw in Jan of 95) while Misawa was in his second reign as champion. At the time of this match Misawa and Kobashi were still the lead babyface tag team of All Japan, though by the beginning of 96, Kobashi would graduate to leading his own team while Misawa would take Akiyama under his wing.

The match is wrestled very much in the vein of two tag team partners vying for the most coveted prize in the promotion. I know some people criticize that Kobashi never fully shed his plucky underdog persona, but I think this match represents that last matchup of young Kobashi. Kobashi is always going to be a vibrant, energetic and emotional performer, but this feels like the last time he felt like a junior to the other Pillars. It was his coming of age match. The story of the match is slow and steady wins the race.

Kobashi comes out like gangbusters. He knows Misawa is coming with an elbow and throws him face first into the mat. Great spot to show Kobashis familiarity with Misawa as his tag partner. Hitting a suplex into a powerbomb where Misawa lands back first on Kobashis leg. OW! That had to hurt both of them. Misawa rolls to the outside and is selling his back. Powerbomb on the floor well thats not going to help the back. I love when a match starts off red hot like this. Kobashi as Misawas tag partner knows how damn good he is and wants a quick win. Bodyslam->Fist Pump->But Misawa rolls too far away for moonsault. BOOOOOOOOOOOO! Kobashi starts hitting leg drops to the back of the beck, but misses one from second rope. I like that as a way for Misawa to get some time to recovery.

Misawa comes in and tries to use his trusty elbow to turn the tide. Kobashi actually goes for a cross armbreaker and work over the arm. Misawa elbows Kobashis arm. Here we see the youth of Kobashi and something we will have to see if he improves upon that is his focus. He totally departs from the arm in order to go back to his comfort zone of power offense: surfboard and sleepers. It is conservative and plays to his strength. In a lot of ways the first half of the match feels like it is worked in reverse, finish run, limb psychology, opening holds. I think it tells the story of a young hotshot that is reverting back to a conservative approach. Misawa is just waiting and waiting.

Kobashi goes high risk by going to the apron and Misawa hits an elbow. From here it is pretty standard, but awesome Misawa. Elbows from all corners of the ring, Tiger Driver, flying bodypress. But we see what will plague Misawa in this match. Lack of killer instinct something he never has a problem with in the past. The first Tiger Suplex is downright gentle and more of a pinning combination. The second one he chucks Kobashi right on the back of his head. When Kobashi gets back in the ring, Misawa does not know what to do next and all of sudden Kobashi gets a drop toehold and a leg drop to the back of the neck. Misawa takes a suplex on his head and then Kobashi just hurls his body at Misawa knocking him hard back into the turnbuckles. Misawa is down in a heap clutching his neck and shoulder. Awesome, awesome selling by Misawa and the crowd picks up on that it might be the end. Kobashis finish run is awesome with powerbombs galore, moonsault and a second moonsault while Misawa is trying to get up that pops me HUGE! I love shit like that and Kobashis selling for it was great. Kobashi goes for a third powerbomb, but Misawa-rana and ROARING ELBOW~! Again, Misawa cant put Kobashi away. He is elbowing and elbowing, but Kobashi just keeps coming forward. I love how Kobashi keeps ducking into the body trying to get throws and Misawa will beat him off with elbows. One time Kobashi does upend Misawa, but it is too little too late. Eventually Misawa realizes that his tag team partner has too much heart to stay down and has to use the Tiger Driver 91 right on his freaking head to put him down.

Not a perfect match, definitely some parts that dragged, the middle of Kobashis opening control and the finish took longer than necessary. Overall, great first match in the series. Kobashi came out looking elite in the loss. Hot opening, lost the lead, but came back through guts and willpower and just came up short but it was not due lack of effort or heart. Definitely showed he needed to be more focused and disciplined and that his power and strength would not be enough to beat the Mighty Misawa alone. Misawa is living proof slow and steady wins the race. Weathers the early onslaught and sticks to the game plan. Great selling of the back and later the neck. Really great selling down the stretch to put Kobashi over as a threat. I thought his offense built appropriately from I dont want to hurt the kid to Fuck it, my titles are more important than you so I am going to drop you on your head. 

#5. AJPW Tag Team Champions Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs

 Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - Super Power Series 5/23/96

My initial impression of the Misawa & Akiyama team is that Akiyama is a much more strategic wrestler than Kobashi. He is more active in double teams, guarding Misawa's covers and wrestling a more strategically sound tag team match. Misawa & Kobashi were two great singles wrestlers that won on the sheer force that they were two greatest of all time. Akiyama being the young gun overcame his youth by wrestling more textbook. Watch the opening, he stays in the ring almost the entirety of Misawa's portion. He is helping out with double teams and guarding against Kawada. Another moment later on after Misawa face in peril and a hot tag, Misawa had returned and he was having trouble hitting a bomb on Taue originally he wanted a Tiger Driver, but that morphed into a Tiger Suplex and he still couldnt hoist him over and he called out maybe one word in Japanese  and Akiyama was on it and kicked Taue and boom Tiger Suplex. Never saw that out of Misawa/Kobashi, not trying to disparage Misawa/Kobashi who had great matches not just with Kawada/Taue, but also Doc/Ace and Baba/Hansen so they worked, but I liked how quickly the Misawa/Akiyama unit gelled.

Just some notes, I wanted to cover that I didnt in the opening paragraph. I liked how Akiyama was out to prove his mettle from the outset. He was confident and was out there to win. I love when people at least attempt or hit their finish early in this case an Exploder on Taue. It makes me believe you arent out there putting out a performance you there to win. A wrestling match doesnt have to go 30 minutes, it could be 2 minutes make me believe you want the "W" not a great match. I love how Misawa was right out there with an Elbow Suicida as soon as Taue powdered. He was on it. After the Misawa in Peril, Akiyama stood up and won control against Kawada, slaps, jumping knees even a punch. Akiyama proved he belong. He bested Taue too, great double dropkick and then it goes into the Tiger Suplex sequence I discussed. Akiyama tagged back in and was going for the Exploder. Now let's talk Holy Demon Army. 

I have been focusing on Akiyama because he is shiny & new and he is the focal point. Kawada was taking a very Misawa approach to this match. He was hanging back letting Taue eat some pretty big bombs (Exploder, Elbow Suicida, Tiger Driver and Tiger Suplex) but whenever it almost got of hand he was there. The initial shine climaxed with a Tiger Driver and I was like Kawada/Taue are due. Kawada launched his sortie and freed Taue. Kawada hits a Dangerous Back Drop Driver, pretty wicked headdrop bump from Misawa. They worked over Misawa's neck together. Kneedrops, kicks, Snake Eyes and Stretch Plum. Transitions out to the hot tag was a little weak...I think just some Misawa elbows. We covered Akiyama's hot tag which was very effective in Akiyama proving his mettle. After the Tiger Suplex when Taue was about to take a Exploder is when Kawada struck again from the apron. He broke up the attempt and more importantly took Misawa out of commission with a Jumping High Kick that led to a NODOWA~! Kawada and Taue have been licking their chops as they have played with their food as Akiyama is at their mercy. Pretty damn perfect opening.  

Damn they put Akiyama over huge! Big balls on the booking and it paid off. Akiyama takes a lickin but he keeps on tickin'. Taue Powerbombs Akiyama, but it is not Dynamic. Taue wants to finish the punk off with a Nodowa of Death. Misawa's hand is forced and he comes in, Kawada cuts him off at the pass, but he fights through it to save Akiyama and pulls him back to the sanctuary of their own corner. 

Misawa's hot tag is glorious as he lights Taue up, nice German suplex. This match is so efficient. On the Tiger Driver attempt, Kawada TRUCKS him with a Lariat. Now Kawada is in and they tease the big finish run is going to be Kawada putting his archrival away. Powerbomb. Dangerous Nodowa/Back Drop Driver Combination. Akiyama is there to save. The Second Powerbomb is thwarted by the Misawa-Rana. Blocks Jumping High Kick! ROARING ELBOW~! Kawada is out cold! This leads to the Akiyama hot tag. At first, it looks like it is going well, nice Northern Lights. German, nope, Kawada does his standard Pele kick save. Trademark Jumping High Kick...whats this Kawada has injured his ankle! Taue rushes in to try to pull him safety. Misawa intervenes and throws Taue out and SPINNING PLANCHA BY MISAWA! Crows has been whipped into a frenzy! Akiyma dragon leg screw to Kawada's bum wheel got a huge pop! Misawa hits a massive German Suplex on Kawada. Akiyama buries him with Three Exploders! Akiyama PINS KAWADA!??!? HOLY SHIT! Kobashi did NOT even do that! WOW!

Kawada was a total pro here. Selling his leg like only he can and boy oh boy did he feed Akiyama on those Exploders great job. He made Akiyama right there. So selfless, hats off to him. Akiyama is an instant overnight sensation. What a coming out party! Love the new dynamic that Akiyama brings to these tag matches, very strategic and he definitely was a new wrinkle for Kawada & Taue who are usually the ones exploiting the double teams and being the better tag wrestlers. Misawa & Akiyama immediately are amazing tag team not because they are each individually great because they really executed a smart tag strategy throughout the match. They times their double teams and saves so well. Misawa was still the leader it was his Roaring Elbow that put Kawada in a hole and it was his wise blocking of Taue that stopped Kawada from tagging out and it was his German on Kawada to set up Akiyama. Really excellent tag team wrestling! 

#4. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama

 Real World Tag League 12/6/96

Of all the uber famous All Japan matches, you know the ones only known by the Date, this is the one I have seen the least. I think I have only seen it twice and have no recollection of it and I also dont know what the hook of the match is. 

First Half: After about 5 minutes, I said out loud to myself "Absolutely genius". This is the best tag team match ever from strategic and mechanics point of view. 6/9/95 is all heart & soul that will win the day, BUT this is thinking man's wrestling at its finest. I will do my best to distill down all the great moments. Misawa & Akiyama are a much better TEAM than Misawa & Kobashi, which was a unit of two great singles wrestlers. I noticed this immediately during 5/23/96 and they showed that again.

Akiyama stands up to bully Kawada and knocks him down with a Jumping High Knee. How does he press his advantage? He tags! Genius! This allows the double team to consolidate the advantage. Akiyama, wise beyond his years, knocks Taue off the apron enabling Misawa to wipe out Kawada with Elbow Suicida. Miswa scores a Tiger Driver and nearfall. Where does it all start? A timely Akiyama tag. He was not tired. He landed just one blow. Most people would continue on offense, but thats dumb. It is tag TEAM wrestling. Use that man advantage consolidate the lead. 

Not to be outdone, Taue steps up to bat. On the attempted Second Tiger Driver, Taue wisely comes to Kawada's aid and attacks Misawa from behind, which exposes a mistake by Misawa to have his back to the enemy corner. Kawada bowls him over and what does he do? He tags out! Expert move. Great sequence from Taue and Misawa ending with Taue planting Misawa with the DDT and a Powerbomb, NOT Dynamic for a nearfall. Where does this all begin? A deft, timely save from Taue at peak danger converting defense into offense. Taue is setting up for perhaps the Super NODOWA when Akiyama showing his youth is NOT wasted on the young and saves Miswa who us his high position to Elbow Drop Taue and tag out. Perfect match thus far. Akiyama gets a Dragon Leg Screw on Taue?!? Kawada senses the danger and interferes. Taue lingers a bit longer than expected but hits the Nodowa and tags out. 5 minutes folks. That was 5 glorious fucking minutes. 

The next 5 minutes centers around Kawada/Taue in cruise control doing what they do best just generally pummeling and grinding Akiyama down. There is not much in the way of transitions or excitement. It is a comedown from the frenetic first five minutes. After all that fast break, uptempo offense, the experienced Holy Demon Army slows the pace down and exerts their advantage. Weakest point of the match thus far was Akiyama's easy escape to tag out Misawa. Just a simple back suplex. C'mon. There were not even that many teases. 

The next 5 minutes revs things back up. Misawa and Kawada have one of their classic fiery exchanges, which ends with a Kawada Jumping High Kick. What does Kawada do after being in a grueling strike exchange with the greatest striker in pro wrestling history? HE FUCKING TAGS! Because that's what you should! This match is so pleasing to my brain.  Taue comes in and is just a massive dick. His offense consists of stepping on Misawa's face, javelin-spearing Misawa's face into the  top turnbuckle, stepping on Misawa's face and then trying to end the match with NODOWA OFF THE APRON~! MISAWA CLEANS HIS FUCKING CLOCK WITH A MASSIVE ELBOW! Holy shit! This was not one of those let me pepper you with Elbows. This was the Sweet Home Alabama Elbow! WOW! MY jaw hurt! Misawa tags out to Akiyama who comes off the top and knocks Taue down. Akiyama has a sleeper/smother/choke on Taue similar to what Kawada was doing to him during his heat segment. Nice little revenge spot. Definitely living up to the hype thus far. 

Second Half: Fuck Man! This match is really fucking good. Akiyama and Misawa run through a beautiful sequence of double teams set up by frequent tags. Chicken Soup for a Tag Team fan's soul. Misawa hit a missile dropkick and a flying bodypress. Misawa has looked really good in this match. For the second time, it is a Tiger Driver attempt that does the Super Generation Army in. Kawada TRUCKS Misawa with a Lariat and then dumps Akiyama ass over tea kettle to the outside. Taue tags out and now it is Kawada & Taue that show off their double team ability. Nice Kneedrop/Top Rope Taue Elbow. I like the way the heels are paying back that babyfaces in a way that makes them look insecure. Like they are copycats but also smart strategy. 

Then something very peculiar happens. Misawa snaps off the Misawa-Rana on the Powerbomb. He does NOT tag out. At first,  I am pissed. They have wrestled this match immaculately how dare he play Hero-Ball now! That's when it hit me. If this leads him down a road where they lose because he decided to play Hero-Ball and got so obsessed with winning and beating Kawada then this deserves the ***** rating. Lo & behold that's exactly what happens as Akiyama would never be the legal man again. After all these smart and timely tags, Misawa decides it is time to go Iso and he fucks his team. He did not trust Akiyama with the Ball even though Akiyama won the Tag Team Titles back in May. Misawa was going to do this on his own. Granted, he got a lot closer than almost anyone else would because he is the kayfabe SIngles GOAT BUT this is not singles wrestling; this is TAG TEAM wrestling.

The number one complaint I have seen about this match is that Kawada looks like a chump because Misawa smokes him and basically has him beat. That is the point. In 6/9/95, Kawada sold his soul to beat Misawa. In 7/24/95, Misawa exacts his revenge and vanquishes him. In 12/6/96, Misawa becomes Kawada. He is the one who becomes obsessed and consumed with beating Kawada on his own to the detriment. The Misawa made two big miscalculations: 1. Akiyama couldn't handle the ball down the stretch 2. Akira Taue goes off in Game 7 of the Finals! Taue is a world-beating, game-changing force of nature. Do Not Fuck With Him.

Akira Taue has many great performances but offensively this may be his best. He looks the greatest fucking wrestler ever. Once he hits the Baba Neckbreaker Drop and pretty much renders Akiyama useless for the rest of the match with the NODOWA OF DOOM OFF THE APRON, the Holy Demon Army has this on lock. Taue never lets up. The ever-loyal henchman bows out gracefully so that Kawada can get his second pinfall victory over Misawa and collectively the First Real World Tag League Victory for Kawada & Taue! A long time coming!

All four men played their roles well. I expected this match to be about Akiyama, but it is really not. He is a great rookie, but I dont think a mature 1996 Kobashi would have succumbed so easily. That why Akiyama was perfect. Misawa underestimated his help. The genius of this match is how well the fundamental tag team strategy was executed for the first 20 minutes and when Misawa deviated from that and played Hero-Ball is ultimately what cost them the match. Taue was such a game-changer and looked awesome. Kawada just needed to be Kawada excellent ragdoll, jelly leg selling and when he needed to be vicious down the stretch the mean streak came out. 6/9/95 still wins the day because of the emotion and the amazing story. This is 6/9/95 inverted in such a way that Kawada's victory and Taue storming around the ring is feel-good, but I dont hate Misawa or Akiyama so it is not as emotionally stirring. Logically excellent match. Between the '95 Carny Final, Misawa/Kawada '95, 12/3,93, Doc vs Misawa '94, and Hansen vs Kobashi, how the hell am I supposed to rank these! They are all amazing! Really blew me away!

#3. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada

 Summer Action Series 7/24/95

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 7/24/95

Based on the first ten minutes, I think this is on pace to be better than 6/3/94. There's really not much need to review. It is self-evident once you watch it. They do an excellent scouting routine early and they are working a ferocious clip. No one is fucking around. I liked Misawa blocking the Jumping High Kick to the face. You see on one of the German reversals that Misawa clutches his face and not soon after Kawada CRUSHES his face with a big boot. KOPPOU KICK~! I popped huge for that. This match is built around Kawada breaking Misawa's face in the Carny about 4 months prior. Kawada is merciless attacking the face. I love how he is elbowing the neck and then all of sudden changes gears and goes high. There are some fucking great Kawada Kicks where he really rears back and rifles Misawa in the face. Misawa sold this onslaught well. I would say Misawa feels more in danger of losing than any other Singles match (even moreso than the Doc loss). Kawada is relentless. Just when I think they may be going over board with Misawa taking too much of an asskicking, he blocks some kicks with his elbows and then starts firing back. I love how Misawa has to earn that comeback. there is a lot of tussling before Misawa SMOKES him with the Roaring Elbow. Misawa always has a puncher's chance and Kawada sold this blow wickedly. Lots of classic Kawada selling: Cant run the ropes, stumbling & fumbling until he falls on his ass, great stuff. Misawa is folding him in half with German. But cant land the Tiger Driver. Misawa went from looking he was getting blown out to routing Kawada. The Elbow bails him out again. As the ten minutes come to a close, they do Misawa's Facelock, the Facelock does not have the heat of 1992 and it is a dead in the water move...come to think of the match has not had much heat, but it more minimalist, body part focused. They transition to Kawada by doing one of All Japan's favorite transitions one guy holds onto the ropes for dear life to avoid the Suplex and then lets go and SMOKES the other guy in the face with a strike. Kawada hits two MEATY Lariats after this that are just wicked to take command. 

Yeah this is better than 6/3/94, there are so many nice little touches from Kawada that make this stand out from a traditional King's Road match. In one case, it is how the ref sells it. Kawada guzzles Misawa up quickly and goes for a chinlock/sleeper, but the ref urgently breaks it up and freaks out. Making you believe Kawada was choking Misawa. The crowd booed. It was all thanks to the ref. Kudos to him. Another bout of frustration saw Kawada mount Misawa and just rain down punches on his face. I wish we got a better camera angle on that, but it was things like that made this so much more heated. 6/3/94 was the ultimate King's Road match, this feels more personal and like there is more hatred in it. I LOVED the droptoehold and RIFLE KICK to the bad eye that was sick. The twin DANGERRRRROUSSSSSSSSSSSSS Back Drop Drivers was a great climax to that. I liked Kawada going for the Powerbomb, being thwarted and going for Stretch Plum instead. Two great Powerbombs ensued look at the drive in his legs on the second one. I loved how when Misawa ever connected with any offense, Kawada would either kick him in the face or drop him on his head. It just looked like Misawa had no prayer. I should mention those two heated moments, the choke and full mount punches came after especially frustrating nearfalls(two Dangerous Back Drop Driver and two powerbombs). You could see the momentum start to shift to Misawa as Kawada was running out of gas and Misawa's elbows were really starting to land. Kawada whiffing on the Jumping High Kick was the first signal to me that the end of was nigh for the challenger. Misawa OBLITERATES him with an Elbow and just goes Full Head Drop Mode with devastating German and Tiger Suplexes. Kawada comes up swinging with two big closed fists as he makes his Last Stand. Misawa headbutts the abdomen! I love it! Elbow and ROARING ELBOW~! Kawada is fucked. It takes two more massive Tiger Suplexes but it is all over for Kawada. 

6/3/94 with the Tiger Driver '91 finish did not give them much room to grow outside of a Kawada victory here. I think that's one of the main reasons 6/3/94 is more fondly remembered is the finish is more epic.  Baba's booking in 6/9/95 really heeled Kawada in my eyes. He went from competitive archrival of Misawa to fucking asshole consumed by jealousy stopping at nothing to win. You dont want Kawada to win this match because he is a prick. Misawa needed to win this match because of that. I wonder if Kawada winning at 6/3/94 and Misawa winning the comeback match in 95 which then causes Kawada to lose his mind and go full heel trying to injure Misawa in their '96 match would have been the best arc. Baba's booking has been analyzed to death regardless 6/3/94 and 7/24/95 are fucking amazing. I am more confident in who I am as a reviewer to say this is the better than 6/3/94. To me 6/3/94 is the ultimate workrate wet dream match. There is so much more to wrestling than workrate and I think this match does a better job capturing the personal animosity between these two and just how unhinged Kawada had become. *****

#2. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue - Champions Carnival 4/15/95

There are two sleeper picks for best 90s All Japan matches of all time, this and the Doc/Misawa title change. In a world where the canon is so explicit: 7/29/93 (Kobashi/Hansen), 12/3/93, 5/21/94, 6/3/94, 6/9/95, 12/6/96 and 1/20/97, these two Misawa/Doc and Misawa/Taue stand in defiance as possible challengers to the throne. I know most people give this ***** and Loss ranking this as #14 in his best matches of the 90s is a huge win for the match. I don't know where I will rank it, but this is my favorite match of the bunch. 2012 Martin Take it Away!

I am just going to get this out of the way. This is one of the greatest matches of all time and in top 10 of the greatest All Japan matches of all time. Full Stop. Don’t pass Go and collect $200, sit your ass down and watch this match. I was skeptical of the rep this match has because I did not think Taue as a singles competitor could deliver that time of performance. Who am I to doubt Akira Taue? (2020 Martin: Jeez dont have to get hot about it. I think most people think this match is awesome. Don't worry a lot of people underrate Taue at the beginning, as long as you have seen the light, all is forgiven.)

 

The match begins with a series of counters to put over their familiarity with each other. Taue side-steps a Misawa flying lariat and drives him into the ground sending Misawa to the outside. (2020 Martin: The scouting here was really choice. Taue evading Elbows. Misawa catching himself on Snake eyes and armdragging out of NODOWA. Misawa takes more damage because he misses two flying moves and hits the mat hard. Also on the leaping lariat, Taue drove his face into the mat, it looked like it bothered Misawa's injured eye) All of sudden, we get Air Taue as he dives onto Misawa on the outside and Misawa chants begin in earnest. I loved this because it established that with both men so familiar with each other that they would have to wrestle outside their moveset to keep their opponent off-balance. (2020 Martin: Air Taue was a good way for Taue to get the first offensive move of the match)

 

The hook of the match is Taue aggressively attacking the injured eye of Misawa (remember Misawa legitimately broke his orbital bone in match with Kawada earlier). Taue utilized this tactic to cut off Misawa offensive flurries and to setup his own offense. A good example of this is when Misawa slides over the back of Taue on a suplex attempt only to receive a stiff elbow to his eye. (2020 Martin: Lets break this down further, Misawa tries to trap Taue in a facelock shortly after Air Taue, but Taue grabs at the eyes and Mares him over. The attack on the eyes are the beginning was not overt but if you watch closely Misawa was wincing and touching his eye. We get Dragon Sleepers but they are not around the neck but around the eyes and nose. Taue had a game plan. As for the stiff back elbow that I did mention it is genius because it plays into the scouting aspect of the match. How many times have seen Misawa use the slide down the back on a suplex to start his Comeback, here Taue has it scouted and stiffs him right in teh injured eye. This is when Misawa really starts selling.) Misawa for his part puts on a offense clinic of his own.

Against Kawada and Kobashi, Misawa is more than willing to let them have their spotlight, but against Taue Misawa has more free reign to take larger chunks of the match to himself. Misawa actually taking so much offense is indicator to the viewer that his normal rope-a-dope strategy would not work here because the injury is that much of liability. Thus Misawa is looking to end this match much earlier rather rely on his normal strategy of extending his opponent and then taking advantage. This gives a different feel from normal Misawa matches as he is much more aggressive and urgent with his offense. After a flurry of spin kicks, elbows, two elbows dives and a ROARING ELBOW~!, they actually tease Taue losing by countout. (2020 Martin: I never give credit to Misawa for his kicks but he has some nice kicks especially his spin kick. There is a great moment where he has started his comeback and has Taue stunned but he does not immediately follow it up because hie eye hurts...once he gathers himself he hits the Spin Kick and then Elbow Suicida) I have to mention the normally stoic Misawa seems a bit pissed that Taue was so willing to take advantage of his injury. (2020 Martin: That Roaring Elbow was fucking HUGE! I have to say it caught me off guard because it came so early in the match. I can buy that Misawa wanted to get out of this match sooner rather than later because of his injury).

 

At around the 12:00 minute mark, all hell breaks loose as Taue claws Misawa’s eye repeatedly to stop his elbow flurries. This culminates with Taue stepping on Misawa injured eye. The Japanese crowd and announcers collectively lose their shit at the ruthlessness and audacity of Taue. I have watched a lot of Japanese wrestling and never remember a crowd actually booing a wrestler that is how heated this got. Seventeen years after the fact that spot is still fuckin sweet. (2020 Martin: I was waiting for this moment. This and when he claws at the end. I forgot how lusty those boos are. The Japanese crowd was pissed and the Japanese announcer could not believe at the shamelessness of Taue. Taue was a desperate man and desperate man do desperate things. This is the moment where Taue's strategy became overt; he was going to target the injured eye.)

 

Taue tries to negotiate his kill shot: the Nodowa off the apron to the floor, but Misawa elbows his way out of it. (2020 Martin: Before that Misawa fought to regain control only to be picked up from behind and hit with a back suplex off the apron. Never turn your back on an opponent especially one as ruthless as Taue. The tease of the Nodowa off the apron is an excellent spot). Misawa in desperation runs through more of his arsenal: spinkick, senton, frogsplash, german suplex, Tiger Driver, but can not garner the victory. Then we arrive at the spot of the match and maybe my favorite sequence in all of pro wrestling. (2020 Martin: I was thinking the same thing! TWINNING!)

Misawa floats over Taue back on a vertical suplex attempt and lands on the apron. UH OH! Taue immediately takes the edge of his hand and drives it into Misawa’s injured eye. (2020 Martin: I love how Taue holds his Chop Hand frozen to brazenly demonstrate to the world what he did. Was he proud or was he shocked? We will never know) Taue goozles him, but Misawa is clinging to the ropes for dear life, but Taue chops his hand to break his clasp. (2020 Martin: Shawn Michaels eat your heart out. This is how you do high drama!) NODOWA TO THE FLOOR!!!! (2020 Martin: The crowd, the announcer and me 25 years later collectively lose our shit). Now the entire ending is in doubt. Before, Misawa was the favorite even with eye injury because he was the ace and none of the Four Corners had beaten him. However, this is the move that killed Kobashi and Kawada dead. This is the move that signals the end is nigh! Either ending is totally satisfying to customer as Misawa will either overcome this adversity as before or Taue will prove to be the Misawa-Slayer. As a smart wrestling fan, I can predict 95% of the outcomes of all matches because I have just watched that much wrestling. Sometimes the journey is more fun than the ending. However, then there are matches like these when the irresistible force (Nodowa on the floor) and the immovable object (Misawa) meet and I don’t know who will win, but fuck it is going to be one helluva ride. (2020 Martin: I didnt think about it in this way, but it is true. If I was watching this for the first time and didnt know the outcome, I could buy into either finish. Great work!)

 

Taue runs through his offense (German, DDT, Atomic Legdrop) and punctuates this run with a DYNAMIC BOMB~! MISAWA KICKS OUT!!!! O SHIT!!!! NUCLEAR NEARFALL! Built so well in this Carnival! That was the payoff to Taue pinning Kobashi and Kawada. What a payoff! The ending is a great illustration of why Misawa one of the best ever. John Cena would have hulked up and ran through his offense to get the win, but Misawa presents his twist on the babyface comeback. (2020 Martin: 2012 Martin is wrong. Cena became the Misawa of Comebacks in WWE. More apt would have been Hogan. I am sorry for my ignorance in 2012). Misawa strikes with his elbows, but with each elbow he is falling down or powdering. He is using these desperation elbows to create breathing room for himself to recover. (2020 Martin: You nailed it, 2012 Martin) You get the feeling as a fan that he just did not stop being injured or fatigued, but that he is fighting through it. Taue is both dazed by these vicious elbows and fatigued from running through most of his offense. Taue is still able to kick out of a german suplex and a Tiger Driver. Taue, sensing that the end is near, tries one last ditch effort by clawing at the eye and the crowd is molten with heat at this. (2020 Martin: Another iconic moment in an iconic match) Misawa elbows through the claw and TWO Tiger Suplexes finish it for Misawa! Misawa perseveres and overcomes!  

One of the greatest matches I have ever seen. (2020 Martin: Damn straight!) It is one of those matches where you feel like you reached a Pro Wrestling Nirvana as a pro wrestling fan. This is one of the best individual Misawa performances I have ever seen as he puts over Taue as a force to reckoned with and himself as a resilient wrestler that overcomes adversity with his heart and elbows. Taue stepped up his game huge throughout the Carnival and there was no brighter moment than this match where he ate Misawa’s offense well and was totally ruthless against the eye. This match represents what pro wrestling should be: the simulation of human struggle. Taue is struggling to step out from Misawa’s shadow and is willing to do anything to finally end his “Reign of Terror”. (2020 Martin: I think added element of this is Taue is plagued by self-doubt. He is driven to shameless, ruthless tactics because he does not believe he can best Misawa on his own merits. He needs to exploit a weakness with illegal tactics. Clawing the eyes is illegal regardless of health. This was not merely taking advantage of an injury, this was combining cheating with kicking a man while he is down. It is offensive and should be resoundingly condemned as unsportsmanlike conduct and savory. The beauty of this is the levels. Taue does not come out attacking the eye. It is only after he struck with a vicious Roaring Elbow. It is out of survival and lack of self-confidence to get the job done that he resorts to these blatantly disgusting tactics. He is desperate because he does not believe in himself. He is shameless because he values the victory over human decency. Desperation + Shamelessness = Ruthless. This is best type of heel work.) Misawa is struggling with overcoming his broken orbital bone and an opponent willing and able to exploit it. (2020 Martin: Misawa is the valiant hero overcoming two big obstacles and ultimately triumphant. It is not his offense but rather his selling that wins him the day. His decisions to pause and and take the time and let us know his pain allows to become a part of his journey. He let us in and in doing so made us all the more invested. Vulnerability humanizes and the humanization process creates empathy & understanding. Misawa tapped into that. If Taue's performance is the greatest heel performance, then Misawa's was the greatest babyface performance) When pro wrestling is done right, I do not think there is a greater medium of entertainment. On April 15, 1995, Mitsuharu Misawa and Akira Taue did pro wrestling right. The only question is this the Greatest Match of All Time? The answer is I dont know, but it is in the Top 10 of all time. 

#1. AJPW Tag Team Champions Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs.

 Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue - Super Power Series 6/9/95

On the eve of the 25th Anniversary of the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever (I really wish Edge vs Orton was on 6/9, this comment will not age well), I am watching this match again for the first time in gosh at least ten years. I vividly remember the ending but I kinda forgot how they get there and the Kawada BLASTS Misawa off the apron and it all comes rushing back. This Misawa vs Kawada at their most heated. Kawada calmly lets Kobashi reverse his Irish Whip so that he could rule full steam ahead and nail Misawa in the bad eye. Watching all of '93, '94 and the front half of '95, I have found Kawada the hardest of the four to connect with, which is weird because when I was a teenager I was all aboard the Kawada express and that big boot teleported me back to High School watching this on Youtube. I thought that spot was so cool and at the time I didnt even know about the orbtial bone. Misawa is rightfully pissed after some selling (dont sleep on Kobashi being aghast at what happened) and demands to be tagged in. Kawada nails him with another boot, but Misawa keeps going. They do a great criss cross sequence and then Kawada nails Kobashi off the apron! Oh Hell Yeah! Corners clear and this shit is crazy. 

Things settle down and Kawada tags out to Taue. They work a short five minute heel in peril segment on Taue which I totally forgot about. Misawa looked pissed the whole time and was just ripping into Taue. Kobashi was also dishing out the leather. They work a great dive sequence. Misawa does his Tiger Mask distraction act and it is all diversion for Kobashi to nail a shouldertackle from the apron. Misawa SMOKES Kawada and then ELBOW SUICIDA! Great climax to the face shine. Kobashi misses a shoulder tackle from the middle rope perfect timing as the shine had peaked. Kawada wastes no time progressing the match to the next Act by rifling the injured leg of Kobashi with kicks (the thigh/knee was all taped up, my understanding is from a six-man tag on 4/15). 

Kobashi fights back because he is fucking Kobashi. He kicks Kawada in the face, but his bad leg is the plant leg and stumbles backwards and collapses. A great moment. I love that is a Kobashi move that actually cements Kobashi's own heat segment. Strong heat segment on Kobashi. Taue Scorpion Deathlock. I watched the 60 Minute Broadway from January which features a 19 minute heat segment on Kobashi so I was shocked how quickly this was over, but I know they come back to it. Taue goes for the Kneecrusher, but Kobashi chops his way out of trouble. Misawa dispatches Taue with Elbows but he wants his receipt on Kawada, Kawada drops down from the apron. Misawa lulls Kawada into a false sense of security and DECKS HIM! Misawa applies a Boston Crab on Taue with his back to Kawada who comes up from behind calmly and KICKS Misawa right in the bad eye. Was that an allusion to the Maeda shoot kick on Choshu?!? It feels like they are playing on shoot-y feelings in this match. All these words and we are only 15 minutes into the match! This match still does the trick. :)

The stretch after the Maeda-style shoot kick until Kobashi powders in agony is one of the best stretches in pro wrestling. Misawa had powdered after the kick to the face. Taue rolls Misawa in and tags out. Kawada kicks him in the face and Misawa bellows in pain. Kawada just pummels him in the corner, relentlessly. He throws the ref back. It is insane You get this feel he is shoot pissed off. Misawa FIRES UP! Elbows for everyone! Kawada sells so well. Taue needs to win Henchman of the Year for what he is abotu to do . Misawa is on a roll when Kawada BLASTS him with another kick to the eye. Here comes Kobashi to join the fracas. Taue eyerakes Misawa down and then dropkicks the injured leg of Kobashi to save Kawada. Henchman of the Year. Kawada stomps and stands on the injured leg. Misawa breaks free. Kawada kicks. Misawa NO SELLS! Kawada kicks! Misawa ELBOW BARRAGE~! Taue saves and THROWS MISAWA DOWN BY THE EYES! Taue sweeps Kobashi's leg and stomps the bad leg. Then in the greatest moment of the match thus far...Taue Nodowa on Misawa ON KOBASHI'S BAD LEG! HOLY SHIT! I FUCKING LOVE IT! KAWADA COMES CRASHING DOWN WITH BOTH KNEES ON KOBASHI'S BAD LEG! Three fucking glorious minutes of chaotic wrestling action. TAUE FUCKING RULES!

The heat segment on Misawa is really great. Kawada is such a fucking prick. Spinning Heel Kick! Forearm pressed against the eye or standing on it. Wicked lariat at one point! He is just out of cave in Misawa's face. Kawada hits the First Powerbomb at 20 minutes and Taue intercepts Kobashi and hits a kneecrusher. Kawada launches Misawa. 2 count. Should have been a bigger nearfall I just dont think Budokan thought this was only going 20 minutes. Great Stretch Plum on Misawa now Kobashi has recovered and attacks Kawada. Kawada clubs him with a right closed fist but they clothesline each other down. Misawa tags out to Kobashi. I thought Misawa/Kobashi were fucked. Kobashi holds his own against Kawada. Kawada sweeps the leg but tags out to Taue. Kobashi is able to actually get control of Taue and they hit a double Tiger Driver at around 25 minutes to a bigger reaction. Kobashi fist pumps but Taue breaks up the Moonsault. Here comes Misawa who is all piss 'n' vinegar. He is just fucking Taue's day up with this Elbow Onslaught. Tiger Driver for two. Kobashi detains Kawada as Misawa goes for the Facelock. I really love All Japan and think that comes through in all my reviews. I think what makes this match so special is how much hate there is in it. In 6/3/94, I saw the desire to win consume both men and the competitive spirit was very high. This is different this is anger and hate; it is translating into something really special. 

So every previous time I have watched this match, I cry at the end. I thought I was prepared. I knew what was going to happen. I just stopped crying and now I am thinking about it again. But man when they pull Kobashi off Misawa, it is too much man. Fuck Kawada and Fuck Taue! Man I cant believe the fucking bad guys won. I need to compose myself. I will finish this. But yeah this is the Greatest Match of All Time. 

I got some sleep and I am back to review the last 15 minutes. Kawada drills Misawa with a Dangerous Backdrop Driver after he pulled him off the Facelock. Kobashi charges across the ring and knocks Kawada off the ring apron to stop Taue from making the tag. Kobashi scores a German for two, but cant get the moonsault but Kawada attacks the leg and chokeslams him off the top. Kawada/Kobashi struggle for control and Kobashi shifts his weight on the Backdrop Driver. I have no clue how Kobashi and Misawa are still in this match. Back suplex by Kobashi but his leg is shot. I think that thats another thing that adds so much drama to this match is that Misawa/Kobashi's "lead" or "control" is tenuous at best and it is so fragile that any moment you know they could lose control, it builds a lot of tension in the viewer. Kobashi tries for the mooonsault two more times. First time Taue detains him, but Misawa says "Fuck this" and just Crashes down with all his body weight on Kawada from the top rope. Kobashi breaks free of Taue. Tries again. Again is detained so Misawa hits a Senton on Kawada. Kobashi lands the Moonsault but lands hard on his knee and he is in a lot of pain and he cant hold Kawada down. Great job by Kobashi selling and Misawa is in full fuck you mode. Kobashi tags out. 

Misawa comes in with assured look that he is going to end Kawada. Tiger Suplex, Kawada steps into the ropes. So Misawa folds him in half with German and SLUGS Taue with an Elbow. TIGER SUPLEX~! 1-2-NO!  Big Time heat at the 35 minute mark. Taue breaks up the pin on the Tiger Driver. 

TAUE CHOPS THE EYE! NODOWA~! SUPER NODOWA...KOBASHI SAVES...KAWADA SLIDING KICK TO THE BAD LEG...SUPER NODOWA~! Taue is the game change. The Chop to the Eye is very reminiscent to the Carnival Final. Kawada Clubs Misawa with a right to the bad eye, KOPPOU KICK~! Misawa rolls to apron. Oh shit that can only mean one thing NODOWA OF DEATH! Kobashi tries to save. Kawada SWEEPS THE BAD LEG! Kawada clubs Misawa in the back and it is the NODOWA OF DEATH~! We get out first instance of Kobashi crawling to place his body over Misawa to protect his friend. Taue clubs him and pulls him off and then throws him down. It is all just entertainment, Martin, it is just entertainment. Misawa log rolls out of the ring to avoid being pinned. Kawada cant wrangle him. He gets him back in and its only 2. The crowd didnt bite on that one. Then Kobashi crawls in and holds Misawa's leg in order to avoid him being Powerbombed. What a great moment! It is getting dusty in here. I do have a dust allergy. Iconic moment the stereo NODOWA and Powerbomb.  Misawa backdrops out of the powerbomb...theres life in the Ace. Kawada is stomping mericlessly in the bad eye. Kobashi crawls and puts his body on Misawa. They yank him off and Kobashi is struggling against their will to cover Misawa again. Fuck I am crying again. How the fuck does Chad watch this every year? DANGEROUS NODOWA/Back Drop Driver COMBO on Kobashi!  ROARING ELBOW~! ON TAUE! GO MISAWA GO! KICK THEIR ASSES! Jumping High Kick by Kawada for 2! Things look bad for our heroes. Elbow to Kawada...cmon...DANGEROUS BACK DROP DRIVER! 1-2-NO! Kobashi is dead to the world. Misawa is on his own. Jumping High Kick to the bad eye! POWERBOMB~! Taue holding Kobashi back 1-2-3!

Fuck I cant believe the bad guys won. Baba, why did you have to do me dirty like that.  I like being unique and I like being original. I really want to hold up a different match and say that is the Best of All Time. But no, this is the Greatest Match of All Time and I am not even sure it is close. Three things stand out to me that take the normal All Japan epic ***** baseline to a whole new level. 1. They ratcheted up the hate to pretty much as close as they could to shoot levels. The credit here goes to Kawada and Misawa. Kawada was the instigator, but the key was Misawa sold it very subtlety but if you watch enough Misawa you know he is fucking pissed. Misawa doesnt take cheapshots to opponent on the apron, he is focused on the win. Kawada had gotten under his skin. Kawada kept it going with the Maeda Shoot Kick to Eye and pummeling him in the corner. Kawada's obsession reached a fever pitch here and Misawa played his role perfectly.  2. Akira Taue's exponential improvement during the 1995 Carnival. This match would not be as good in 1993 or 1994 because Taue needed to find himself. He is best Henchman of All Time. Loyal, despicable, shameless. He will do anything for the cause which is to ensure victory for his team. In addition, the NODOWA Of Death (off the apron) is so critical and it was developed as a game-changer during Carny '95. It was Taue's Chop to the Eye that was the Point of No Return for Misawa/Kobashi. 3. Kenta Kobashi's emotional performance. Kobashi has amazing facial expression. The beauty of Kobashi is he is such a natural, organic actor. Nothing feels wooden, forced or hollow with him like it would with Shawn Michaels let's say. You truly believe that his only instinct is to get to his friend/mentor and put his body on top to stop the beating. I am getting choked up again just thinking about it. Four men with four distinctly different performances that come together to create the Greatest Pro Wrestling Match of All Time! It is 6/9/95.

Pro Wrestling Vol. 43: Best of All Japan Pro Wrestling 1997-1999 (Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 43:

The Best of All Japan Pro Wrestling 1997-1999

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at http://gweproject.freeforums.net/) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This forty-third volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the conclusion of the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in All Japan Pro Wrestling from 1997-1999. 90s All Japan holds sacred place in the hearts of hardcore pro wrestling fans. It is usually touted as the greatest era in pro wrestling. I remember once reading one person’s comment as describing as reaching Pro Wrestling Nirvana. So while some companies need a whole decade or at least five years to pile up twelve matches worthy enough to do a blog post, 90s All Japan can do that it in three years easy. The peak is definitely the mid-90s, but the late 90s still provided some classics. From a quality standpoint, the company transitioned to being carried by the burgeoning Misawa vs Kobashi rivalry however from a business standpoint when it came time to sell out the Tokyo Dome for the first time in All Japan history (commonplace for New Japan) they relied on the ‘ol standby of Misawa vs Kawada. The tag team landscape has changed. In ’97, the teams were Misawa/Akiyama, Holy Demon Army and Kobashi/Johnny Ace. In ’98, in an effort I presume, to get Akiyama out of Misawa’s shadow, they transitioned Akiyama into a team with Kobashi called Burning while Misawa’s took on his good friend Rat Boy Yoshinari Ogawa as his tag partner. You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

Greatest Match Ever?

Top Six Matches of All Japan Pro Wrestling 1997-1999

#6. Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs Vader & Stan Hansen - RWTL 12/5/98

Big monster gaijin is exactly what has been missing from AJPW since about 1995. Vader is looked awesome here. By 2001, I thought he was showing his age, but he definitely had no trouble keeping up with the All Japan boys. Hansen has lost a step, but he brought the sadism when it is called on. Vader & Hansen felt like two big bulldozers and we were transported back in time where Kobashi was that plucky underdog babyface.

Everything in this match felt so urgent. Kobashi & Akiyama recognized they were up against an unstoppable force. They had to press any advantage given to them lest they be swallowed up whole by these two Great White Sharks. Vader initiated a test of strength against Kobashi you dont see that too often. Kobashi throws some vicious chops and Vader does not even flinch. Vader throws one haymaker and sends Kobashi flying. Kobashi tries to fight fire with fire but Vader is just Too. Much. Man. Vader & Hansen double team. Their double shoulder block looked so good. Kobashi comes charging and hits Vader from behind. I like how chippy this is. Kobashi tags out. Akiyama tries his best but ends up in the corner taking those big Vader bear paws. Akiyama gets a high knee from the middle rope and quickly tags out to Kobashi. Kobashi comes flying in, hits a couple bombs tries for the pin. Nada. Goes for suplex and Hansen hits him hard in the side. There is way more respect for Vaders size in this match (three early suplex attempts and none landed). Kobashi gets his ass kicked by Vader & Hansen. It is all simple, but wicked effective. Just using their body weight and hard parts of their body to beat him up. It is like Vader & Hansen are the best possible Demolition. Kobashi gets a quick lariat and tags out. Akiyama gets a missile dropkick. He is flying around, but ends up taking a wicked back elbow from Hansen. I am loving how the faces cant get anything started against these two monsters. Just when you think there is hope, It is extinguished by sheer brutality. Vader flying body attack on the outside. Vader misses a charge in the corner. Akiyama dropkicks the knee! Akiyama tags out. Kobashi charges at the knee! Here is their chance! Single leg crab. Hansen saves. Kobashi charges. Hansen is persistent. DDT and then Vader splash. This is so not fair! There is a real sense of injustice that after all that work to gain the advantage that not it being taken away from them. Now we enter the finish run with lots of double teams from the Big Boys. Vader splash and hard Hansen elbow on prone Kobashi. Hansen throws Akiyama into a Vader body attack and Hansen DDT on Akiyama on floor. Things do not look good for out heroes. Hansen with douchey kicks to the head. Vader body attack into Back Drop Driver and then Vader powerbomb only gets two. They set up for Vader to whip Kobashi into Hansen lariat, but Kobashi fights out and Akiyama hits a flying knee to the back. Kobashi clobbers Hansen with a clothesline for the win.

Excellent monster vs plucky underdog match. Kobashi & Akiyama wrestled with the urgency necessary to beat these monsters. Hansen & Vader really did feel like an unstoppable force. I thought the finish run was a bit overkill that all those moves should have killed Kobashi. I did like the actual finish with Akiyama hitting the knee from behind. It felt like a fun action movie finish. I thought they did a really good job making you doubt Burning would win. One of the all-time great Summer Action Blockuster matches . Definite top 5 1998 All Japan match of the year.

#5. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 6/12/98

-Kawada is the ultimate choke artist. It is a great character dynamic

-Story of the match: Kawada opens a can of whoop ass, but again comes up short

-Early: opening matwork is more perfunctory to me than NJPW heavies. Past two matches were a one hour draw, I think this was to get fans thinking this would be a one hour draw

-Kawada's selling early was phenomenal. Loved how he crumbled on chop to neck and then knee to ab

-Kobashi looked like he was going to run away with the match early but some well timed kicks to the head and LARIATO by Kawada puts Kawada in the lead.

-Kawada is so vicious and such a dick in control. Kobashi selling and fighting from underneath is his bread and butter.

-Kobashi looks to turn the tide using a bomb.

-Why do people try to German Kawada? You are just asking for a kick to the head.

-Kobashi hits a half nelson suplex first headdrop and it is 17 minutes into the match.

-Kobashi looks for the moonsault. When he pumps the fist before the moonsault always makes me mark out.

-Kawada kicks him in the head as he is jumping off. Kawada really opens up a big lead.

-I love how everything is earned. Kobashi fight back less and less as Kawada is kicking more and more ass. Initially Kawada still needs to kick him in the head to cement his lead.

-Back Drop Driver - Kawada looks to have this in the bag. Powerbombs ensue and more kicks and now the Stretch Plum. Credit to them to getting a Kobashi chant started in the Stretch Plum, which has been killed off since like 93/94.

-It is about this point where you are like is Kawada actually going to be able to put Kobashi away?

-Kobashi is such an emotional babyface. Him crawling to the ropes while Kawada kicks him in the back of the head is gripping.

- The struggle over this Kawada power bomb is pro wrestling!

-Kawada drills Kobashi in the face with his that running high kick and Kobashi's glassy eye sell is incredible

-Kawada is running out of steam. Rope a dope? Kobashi catches foot -> dragon leg screw->LARIAT. Not the best Kobashi's lariat

-Big Kobashi chants! Kobashi trying to hulk up. If I was a Kawada fan, I would be like not again at this moment.

-MOONSAULT! KICK OUT! Kawada's selling is fantastic.

-Kobashi has been using that Lariat to control the match on his comeback so Kawada is attacking like he would Misawa's arm. Kobashi blocks high kick and hits a Lariat, but cant block second high kick to head. Levels playing field.

-Kawada drops into an arm scissors in to a cross-armbreaker, big reaction. This would be a huge coup for Kawada to stave off Kobashi and his onslaught.

-Kawada is kicking him, but you can feel that he has run out of ideas and steam. Kobashi dives at him with a lariat, but it is bad arm and he is left writhing in pain. Kawada has hope, but not much left in the way of offense. He has his high kicks, but he needs Kobashi to make a mistake. KOBASHI LARIAT AGAIN!

-Kawada cant even stand as Kobashi holds him up by the hair and BURNING LARIAT~! Count to three!

This match reminds me of the Federer vs Roddick Wimbledon final that went on forever with Roddick in the Kawada role and Federer in the Kobashi role. Roddick only had his serve and he was just delaying the inevitable. He would win his serve, but he was so tired, he was barley putting a dent into Fed's service games. Federer is the superior all around player and eventually won. Kawada was delaying the inevitable. By 1995, Baba had positioned Kobashi as Kawada's equal with the one hour draw and subsequently in 1996. Misawa was the best, but these two were 2a and 2b. Here Kobashi finally begins to turn the tide. Kawada was just outgunned in this match. He had his chances and opened up a big lead, but he didn't have the firepower to put away the best offensive wrestler in history. You could go as far as to say that Kawada was so hyped for the Dome match with Misawa where he came out guns blazing that he was going to have a let down and the fact he was facing Kobashi means he couldn't afford that. Kobashi was amazing in this match from selling to offense. This did not feel quite up there with the tippy top best of All Japan, but definitely an awesome match. 

I liked that Kobashi basically controlled the first ten minutes with his macho tactics (test of strength, strike exchanges), but that the champion ultimately got the best of him with a lariat. For the rest of the match Kawada wrestled like he was Ali, no body shots, everything was directed at Kobashi's head. This felt more American with the very extended heat segment by Kawada on Kobashi. After the powerbombs and back drop driver, you can feel Kawada running out of steam and the Kobashi train ready to pick up. Some really great selling by Kobashi just to plant a seed of doubt. I liked the desperation Kawada at the end trying to kick Kobashi's arm off, running around to escape, throwing wild kicks to head. This is the ultimate "NOT AGAIN" match. Gets the monkey off his back beating Misawa a month prior in the Dome, only to open a big lead against Kobashi here and choke. 

#4. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 7/24/98

I love that even something as well-defined as the All Japan canon can still be re-evaluated and hidden gems found. Before the release of the 98 yearbook in 2014, I had never heard this match discussed in the same breath as Kobashi/Kawada from this year or as an All Japan classic. Watching it now, I definitely it belongs in the same class as the other All Japan epics.

At the Champions Carnival 98 Akiyama developed a penchant for attacking the knees of his opponent and with Kobashi having one of his knees heavily taped, you know this will come into play as soon as the first dragon leg screw is attempted within the first five minutes. Akiyama is aggressive as fuck in this match. The beginning is pure intensity. He just elbowing through everything. Kobashi is fighting back, but Akiyama just keeps coming and coming with those vicious elbows. Kobashi tries his old tricks to slow it down like going to the test of strength, but even there Akiyama eventually gets back to the elbows. Akiyama hits a MONSTER HIGH KNEE to the side of Kobashi's head and Kobashi sells it like death. What is interesting about the beginning is that Akiyama fights so hard to get control, but then does not seem to know how to follow it up. Twice, he goes for chinlocks and both times Kobashi powers out and regains the control. The second time, Akiyama decides this is no time to fuck around and dropkicks the knee. I love the initial struggle to hit the second dragon leg screw attempt with Kobashi desperately chopping Akiyama's neck, but it is to no avail as Akiyama wrenches the knee. Kobashi's fire up after this is fucking so invigorating. I was tired going into this match from a day of hiking and swimming in Greece. Watching Kobashi fire up, fired me up! Kobashi knows his only chance to try to finish this match quickly so they trade big suplexes and then on the outside Kobashi kills Akiyama dead with a half nelson suplex. Akiyama is doing a great dead weight sell. Crisis averted. Kobashi nails a DDT, typically great Akiyama sell. Kobashi's bum wheel prevents the first powerbomb attempt, but he is fucking Kobashi so bites the bullet THROWS AKIYAMA DOWN! He cant capitalize and Akiyama rolls to the apron. Kobashi gives pursuit. Then in what appears to be the turning point of the match, Akiyama whips Kobashi off the apron by the knee. OW! Just like that Kobashi looks like dead meat. Akiyama is able to take his time stalking his prey delivering damage to the knee and while also regaining strength.

Kobashi crawling away on all fours in the ring in desperation to get away from Akiyama only to be dropkicked in the knee is why I love pro wrestling!

Great figure-4 and then Scorpion Deathlock. The transition here is pretty weak. Others have lamented the half-nelson suplex transition (could be seen as pop-up, no sell) and even the dragon leg screw (overreliance on apron spots), but to me those totally fit in the match. The first one was all about crisis management and the second one was Kobashi giving pursuit and basically falling into a trap. This one is that Akiyama basically had Kobashi dead to rights, but the ref told Akiyama to get off Kobashi, BUT he did not submit. He just wanted to check on him, which is pretty bullshit. Kobashi is able to hit a wicked, desperation lariat that knocks the wind out of Akiyama. They both sell for like a minute. Love they milked that spot.

Kobashi using the ropes to stand and hobble over and then hold himself up while violently chopping Akiyama down is why I love pro wrestling.

Kobashi definitely gives an all-time selling performance. First it is the freak out about the attempted attack, then it is the selling of the attack and finally it is fighting through the pain. I am lapping this all up. This is a great reminder why I chose him as the greatest wrestler ever. He is teeing off on Akiyama with knife edge chops to the head.

Half nelson suplex...Akiyama back kicks the bad knee!!! Fuck yeah! Akiyama lunges and chop blocks the bad knee as Kobashi is trying to get up using the ropes. He hoists Kobashi on his shoulder and drive the knee into the top turnbuckle to set up the big elbow to back of the neck for two. He signals for an Exploder, gets the first, dropkick to knee and second is unsuccessful. The Budokan is RUMBLING! It is back to the figure-4 smart strategy. Akiyama is giving an all time great offensive performance in his laser focus on the knee. This reminds me a lot of his all-time great performance in the Misawa 2000 match where he was laser focused on the neck. He give sup on figure-4, not my favorite. BRAINBUSTER!!! Only two. Yep he is cooked. He goes for the cover again. Don't like his chances. Kobashi blocks Wrist-Clutch Exploder and as he is on his way down he clubs him in the back of the head. Kobashi needs a Hail Mary. Exploder->Pop Up Lariat. Ok, that was unnecessary and worthy of lamentation. Kobashi sells the knee like a champ and "KO-BASH-I" rings throughout the Budokan. He uses the ropes to hold himself up and applies the sleeper smart move for a man with a bum wheel OH SLEEPER SUPLEX!!! LARIAOTO! 1-2-KICKOUT! BURNING LARIAT MURDERS AKIYAMA WHERE HE STANDS!

I was not really much of a fan of the Kobashi/Akiyama pairing in NOAH. The matches were epics and were great just not my favorites. Hands down the best match they have ever had in my opinion. Loved the dragon leg screw and back kick on half nelson suplex as transitions. Akiyama's offense was killer. Kobashi's selling was sublime. The issue was getting Kobashi back on offense. The ref thing was bullshit and the pop-up Lariat was All Japan excess. Enough to keep from that upper echeleon of AJPW classics, but still one of the classics and superb performance from both wrestlers. 

#3. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - RWTL 11/28/97

Holy shit! This was incredible! Like how I have never heard or seen this before, Tremendous individual performances by everybody. When Taue is the least impressive in a tag match, you know you are watching something really special. The urgency, the unique set up, the selling of Akiyama, the will to win from Misawa and the outright sadism of Kawada make this an elite AJPW tag match, which says a lot about this.

This has to be a contender for the hottest opening two minutes in pro wrestling history. Just dripping with urgency and struggle. Both teams want to land a death blow early and they are all running around. Loved the double dropkick from the babyfaces, that massive Spinning Heel Kick by Kawada that sends Misawa to the apron. Of course, the climax, Taue depth charging Akiyama through the table. I love a match where the beginning matters. This beginning sets up everything.

Misawa is left to fend for himself. This is a great heat segment on Misawa. Nice hope spot the reverse springboard headbutt but then realizes he is all alone with Akiyama still out over by the table. All by myself, don't wanna be all by myself. Good balance between Misawa showing life to stave off Holy Demon Army's big moves and Kawada & Taue kicking the shit out of him with their basic, but hard-hitting arsenal. It is basically a great Misawa extended comeback handicap style with the endgame being the hot tag. He finally tags out and Akiyama hits this massive diving elbow, but is clearly favoring his back. He tries Northern Lights but his back gives out. From there, you see some of the best back selling and back work you will ever see. It is cold and merciless as Kawada and Taue zero in on his back and just pound the shit out of it. One of the best vertical suplexes ever by Taue, Kawada stretches Akiyama and two double stomps to the back. Kawada RIFLES Akiyama's back with kicks. He sets up the stretch plum right in front of Misawa, cocky or just bad strategy. That "will he or wont he tag" is so dramatic and when Misawa gets the tag, if you don't get Misawa, this is the match to watch. He comes in just blasts muthafuckas with that elbow. You really feel that sense of pride and that sense that winning means everything to Misawa. I love how he elbows Kawada off the apron of one side of the ring and then goes flying out the other side of the ring with a diving elbow. Insane sequence in terms of electricity. Tiger Driver for Kawada. Taue saves and here come the double teams on the isolated Misawa, NODOWA~! Misawa blocks the next two and a Tiger Driver allows him to tag. Lets see what Akiyama can do. Akiyama mans up hits Northern Lights but no bridge, Exploder and Kawada stomp his bad back on the cover. OW! Akiyama hits a massive high knee which I lost my shit for. Just a great babyface spot. Exploder attempt but Taue hits a Rock Bottom Nodowa. Massive Kawada bodyslam and kicks him really fucking hard in the back. In the background, Taue hits a DDT on Misawa on the exposed concrete so now it is Akiyama by himself. Akiyama has one less gasp when he tags Kawada in the head and Kawada drops ot his knees running the ropes (great Kawada selling) Dropkick to the back of the head, German, on second one, Kawada does his reverse kick to the bad back and Taue attacks the back. Wicked lariat, how is that not the finish. FUCKING HUGE AXE KICK TO THE BACK! That Powerbomb Goddamn! How s that not the finish. Misawa has nothing left and Akiyama succumbs to the best stretch plum ever.

Everyone gives an all star performance. Best Kawada match that I have seen in forever. He has had great matches in 98-99, but not those next level performances that I remember when I ranked him #10 of all time. This was that next level extraordinary performance. Incredible sadistic, hard hitting, energetic, great selling down the stretch. One of the all time greats at working on top. Awesome selling by Akiyama. Misawa trying to dig the team out of the hole was awesome. Loved that early hook, that hot beginning and the table spot totally hook you in. Everything follows naturally and effortlessly from that. Really having trouble reasoning why this is not ***** so it is *****.

#2. Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Mitsuharu Misawa - Budokan 10/31/98

I have watched this match twice before. Once, I thought the finish was overkill. The second time, I thought the whole match was insanely great and on par with 1/20/97. Neither time, I wrote a full review, which I am regretting now because it has been years since I have seen the other Kobashi/Misawa matches and I am worried that this will lose some luster going into cold, but I really want to knock this one out before the Greatest Match Ever deadline. Doing this stream of consciousness style because it is a long match. 

The crowd is molten for this and both men are insanely over. It seems like Misawa is more over. Even though, Misawa is the challenger, he has beaten Kobashi in every championship encounter. So Kobashi still needs to prove himself to Misawa, which creates an interesting dynamic not often the champion comes in the underdog. The opening sequence is very spirited, lots of blocking and ends up with Kobashi hitting the powerslam for the first cover. Kobashi is looking good early he counters again into a hammerlock and then bars the arm. Misawa is the King of the Comeback so while a hot start is important, you need to finish. Misawa clocks him with the first elbow. Kobashi roars back with a chop when Misawa rears back for an elbow, Kobashi wisely takes a step back. They have established Kobashi is not going to back down, but he is the young, dumb kid any more he is not going to take any unnecessary headshots. 

Kobashi takes him down with a drop toehold and back to the armbar. To me this is a wise strategy. Contain Misawa and then set up your offense from there. He is not working the Emerald Elbow arm by the way. He is working the non-dominant arm. Kobashi is looking for the Crossface Chickenwing, Misawa is forced to block and this leaves him susceptible to a Russian Legsweep. I love that type of wrestling. Kobashi goes the to All Japan standby of the Surfboard spot. I love tests of strength in wrestling. They serve as mini-battles and ways for wrestlers to earn small victories on the way to the bigger victory. They are like milestones. Misawa keeps trying, but Kobashi overwhelms him the first two times. Misawa gets closer on the third time, but Misawa mule kicks. KOBASHI LUNGES AT MISAWA WITH A SHOULDER TACKLE! I love the full court press. He is not going to let Misawa breathe. 

Chop in the corner. Irish Whip but Kobashi is following close behind and slams him in the corner. He holds onto the Irish Whip into the ropes for a kneelift and then a big suplex. Kobashi is not letting Misawa have any space to create offense. Lots of body contact. Love it. Big strong chops to the back and then a facelock again sapping the energy. This is an A+ strategy from Kobashi. Misawa gets a knee to head to escape but Kobashi immediately starts chopping the neck hard. Misawa starts to GROWL which you dont hear too often and he fires off one of his trademark elbows. Kobashi wins the first Elbow vs. Chop war with a barrage of spectacular spinning back chops to the neck. Nasty. 

Amazing spot! How many times do we see Misawa use the middle turnbuckle on an Irish Whip to hit a reverse crossbody or reverse elbow. Kobashi is follwing so close behind that Kobashi shoulderblocks his back as he attempts it. Full court press! Kobashi makes what could his first mistake in a mistake-free match as he places Misawa on the top rope. Never give your opponent the high ground. Misawa knocks him off the top rope and Kobashi takes a back bump. Misawa hits his first high spot. Missile dropkick. Kobashi gets up and immediately closes the gap with a shoulderblock but this does NOT bowl Misawa over. Crucial. That missile dropkick took a bit more out of Kobashi. Misawa hits an elbow and a spin kick to send Kobashi to the floor. Misawa dropkicks Kobashi into the railing and a spinning slingshot splash to the floor wipes out Kobashi. You have to wrestle a mistake-free match against Kobashi, but Kobashi made the first mistake. Misawa flicks the sweat from his brow in characteristic Misawa fashion. I missed Misawa. Somersault plancha from the top rope onto Kobashi. I love Misawa. Spinning clothesline. Before R-Truth emulated John Cena, he emulated Misawa, fun fact. Senton gets two. Misawa is in his groove. He is hard to beat when he is in rhythm. Misawa grabs a tight chinlock. 

The sound of flesh on flesh in a Misawa match is always riveting. He hits so hard. Misawa gets his trademark front facelock and transition into a Rings of Saturn like submission. Misawa is sapping Kobashi's energy and imposing his will on Kobashi. Elbow vs Chop War is just scintillating. Kobashi glazed over, glassy eye look is great. Kobashi ends up on the outside. Misawa flips over the top rope as Kobashi evades the head on dive. Misawa goes for the elbow off the apron, anti-air dropkick to the midsection by Kobashi. HUGE! The rout was on and Kobashi just quelled Misawa's run. Kobashi starts legdropping Misawa's neck repeatedly over the railing and then over the middle rope. Misawa is left clutching it. Kobashi knows after getting his ass kicked this is his chance. He hits two successive Back Drop Drivers for two. The crowd is chanting "Misawa" loudly. Kobashi went for broke there. Targeting the neck instead of the Emerald Arm is a sign he is playing to win instead of defensively. Kobashi grabs a front chancery/front facelock which works the body part and lets Kobashi recalculate. Misawa elbow leads to an immediate head drop German. Misawa comes up swinging and Kobashi FLIES into a sleeper! Wow! That was just insane in how quick and sudden everything was. Kobashi is trying to beat the living incarnation of Die Hard basically. I love Kobashi's response to any sort of Misawa's offense is to move insanely fast into an offensive move. He is trying to snuff out a rally as soon as it starts. He is taking no chances. Kobashi goes for the Powerbomb. I think to myself this is unwise. Trying to powerbomb Misawa is like trying to powerbomb Kidman. Misawa-rana...NO...KOBASHI BLOCKS BOSTON CRAB! HOW DID I FORGET THAT SPOT! MARK OUT CITY! I AM GOING CRAZY! 

Kobashi looks to make a mistake by charging corners as this gives time for Misawa to counter. Misawa jumps into a Half Nelson Suplex, nope Misawa blocks by lunging into the turnbuckles. Kobashi is trying to recover and quash the rally. Catches the foot, Misawa nails him in the mush with the free foot. ROARING ELBOW~! Misawa nails his trademark diving elbow. Again it is such small mistakes that make the difference when you wrestle Misawa. You have to wrestle a mistake-free match. 

Misawa nails a diving elbow from the top rope.  Now Misawa is thinking finish as he attempts the Tiger Driver for the first time. Kobashi back drops out. Misawa hits a German. Kobashi, out of desperation, lunges with the shoulder tackle MISAWA SWATS HIM OUT OF THE AIR WITH AN ELBOW! MARK OUT CITY! TIGER DRIVER~! 1-2-NO! Big Flying Bodypress gets two for the Ace. They do that awful double clothesline spot. One guy comes from the top rope and the other hits one from the mat. I didnt remember that at all. That was the first bad spot of a match that has just been aces thus far. I think that's the levelling the playing field spot going into the finish run. 

Kobashi is struggling to his feet. He needs the ropes. Misawa goes for a Monkey Flip? A curious decision. Kobashi hot shots him! HALF NELSON SUPLEX~! Kobashi cant capitalize but things have swung into his favor for sure! We are at the 30 minute mark and this match has just flown by. BUCKLEBOMB~! DDT! Dragon Suplex, but Kobashi does not hold on. He crawls for the cover, but it is only two. What will it take to beat the GOAT? Roaring Elbow, no Kobashi catches him with a lariat and then a suplex-slam for two. Kobashi is beside himself. Only one place left to go: BURNING HAMMER, but MIsawa blocks. Kobashi puts him on he top turnbuckle and he has him in position, but Misawa flips out. LARIAOTOOOOOOO~! 1-2-NO! He covers again incredulously. DDT! Man did he plant him. Legdrops the back of the neck. Top Rope Legdrop On The Back Of The Neck! Still only two. Kobashi goes for another cover. He is in disbelief. He tries to wrestle himself with the Burning Lariat. MISAWA ELBOW TO THE LARIAT ARM! WOW! Spinning Back Chops to the bad neck! This is insane! Kobashi Bucklebomb again no here is the MISAWA-RANA into the buckles. That looked dangerous as fuck. Misawa powders and Kobashi is up first. That has to be depressing for the challenger. Kobashi teases the Half Nelson Suplex on the apron, but the big apron spot is TIGER DRIVER TO THE FLOOR~! THIS IS GLORIOUS DECADENT PRO WRESTLING! They do a great job milking this spot for all its worth. 

SPINNING ELBOW! Misawa just starts landing somersault legdrops to back of Kobashi's neck as a Fuck You! TIGER DRIVER '91! HE SPIKED HIM ON HIS FUCKING HEAD! 1-2-NO! KO-BASH-I! KO-BASH-I! KO-BASH-I! Misawa charges with his elbow cocked LARIAOTOOOOOOOO! Cmon Kobashi crawl! Crawl! Right hand draped over Misawa 1-2-NO! Crowd didnt bite on that. Kobashi tries to press the advantage but Misawa roars back with a barrage of elbows! 1-2-NO! WHAT THE FUCK!?! Kobashi tries to find sanctuary with the ropes, but Misawa pries him off the ropes to hit a Tiger Suplex for two! MISAWA OBLITERATES KOBASHI WITH AN 1-2 ELBOW COMBINATION!

WOW! 46 minutes of pure awesomeness! This match is like Death By Chocolate. So rich, fudgy and decadent. Dont eat it all the time, but when you do it knocks your socks off. The body of the match is so insanely good. Kobashi was just all over Misawa to start. Definition of the Full Court Press. He was sniffing out and stuffing Misawa's offense at every turn. He had so many of Misawa's trademark counters scouted. I like that tiny mistakes he did make matter so much in this match. Against anyone else, you can recover, against Misawa it can spell doom. Kobashi's big finish run was spectacular and it was really well-built to the Burning Hammer which he couldn't hit. The Tiger Driver off the apron FELT HUGE! That was the game-changer. The overkill was just after that. The Tiger Driver '91 should have been the finish and Kobashi didnt need another nearfall, but still three minutes of excess does not ruin the match, it is just a little too fudgy. I am still giving it full marks because you be hard pressed to see such a great detailed-oriented match for 40+ minutes that Kobashi scouting strategy is what I live for in wrestling, just A+ wrestling psychology. I have this #3 behind 1/20/97 and 3/1/03, but unless Flair/Steamboat pull it off during their rewatch this will be the only twosome I have with three ***** bouts. 

#1. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Mitsuharu Misawa - Osaka 1/20/97

A lot has changed in the last 15 months, namely, Kenta Kobashi is the Triple Crown Champion having won it from Akira Taue in the middle of 1996. Misawa had dropped the title to Taue. Baba used Taue like he would a gaijin as the transitional champion between two major native stars. Kobashi main evented the October Anniversary show going to a draw with Kawada. Thus the hierarchy had become Kobashi and Kawada are equals (60 minute draws in 95 & 96) and that Misawa was superior to Kawada. Until Kobashi beats Misawa one on one in a singles match, Misawa will be considered his better. So even though Misawa is coming in the challenger, no one should mistake Kobashi for the favorite, he is the definitive underdog to Misawa The Ace.

The basic narrative of the match is that Misawa is the challenger so he is going to start hot. Kobashi has learned from his mistakes of October 95 is much more focused (midsection, arm). However, each man makes pivotal mistakes in the match that create meaningful momentum shifts and lots of drama surround dueling arm psychology (Misawas elbow & Kobashis lariat have been compromised).

First 15 minutes: Misawa gets off to a fast start because he is the challenger. He lands his diving elbow. Misawa is on point and wants to win back HIS titles. Misawa goes for a quick Tiger Driver. Kobashi does not let the match get away from him and scramble. He manages a DDT. Misawa powders and grabs neck. Back in and Kobashi hits some lethal spinning back chops. Brutal. He works over Misawas midsection; thats different. Punches to midsection, shoulderblocks, front suplex and ab stretch. Misawa getting an elbow here and there but Kobashi is cutting off by going to the midsection. More focused.
Kobashi Irish whips Misawa, dumb move basically creating separation for Misawa. Misawa puts on brakes and elbows him. Small mistakes against Misawa matter. Misawa is able to get a surfboard. Good control, but feeds into Kobashis strength. Misawa mule kicks out once Kobashi reverses. Kobashi comes running at him with a shoulder block and elbowed out of the sky. Another dunderhead move by Kobashi this time macho pride gets the best of him. Small mistakes will cost you against Misawa. You need wrestle a nearly perfect match.

Misawa karate kick and Kobashis powders. Misawa waits for him and gets butterfly suplex. Misawa in command grabs facelocks. Starts kicking Kobashi but doing more to fire him up. Great sequence where both men are unleashing strikes and it feels like a pivotal moment like whoever wins this exchange will take a big lead. Misawa wins and Kobashi ends up on the floor. At this point, Misawa is sticking to the game plan of slow & steady wins the race and after a couple Kobashi mistakes. It seems like a routine finish.

Misawa goes for his diving elbow again (ruh roh say all seasoned wrestling fans), but he ends up flipping over on apron. He kicks Kobashi into guardrail and then DIVESEATS STEEL!!! OW! That look like it hurt! Misawa comes up clutching his arm as Kobashi takes the high ground. Kobashi made some serious mistakes, but Misawa made the biggest in the first 15 minutes! Just like that the entire complexion of the match changes.

Second 10 minutes: Big lariat takes Misawa off apron. Big Misawa chants. Kobashi rolls Misawa in the ring to pin him, but only gets two. Barely lifts a shoulder. In one ten minute stretch, Kobashi works like the best Taue and Misawa in one awesome package. Focused with great counterwrestling! Misawa throws a weak elbow to show his elbow is hurt. Big knee from Kobashi crashing into the bad elbow and then a dropkick too the elbow. Then just ramming the elbow into hard objects. Great armwork that is laserfocused. Misawa is throwing elbows no effect. All three of Kobashis arm submissons are well set up. First Half Nelson suplex set up by all arm work leads to an armbar with lots of heat. Then Kobashi counters an elbow into a Fujiwara armbar. When Misawa blocks a German and charges Kobashi counters that into a cross armbreaker. Misawa tries a spin kick and Kobashi catches and throws and dumps him on his head. Laserfoucsed like Taue and excellent transition of Misawas offense into arm-related offense for his own purposes like Misawa would do. FANTASTIC Kobashi control segment!

Third Ten Minutes: KOBASHI goes for the kill shot: a LARIAT. Misawa gets up a lucky elbow that cripples Kobashis arm in one blow. He rolls to outside. Misawa hits a corkscrew plancha to outside that wipes up Kobashi. Misawa cant use the elbow might as well use whole body. Blocks Kobashi Lariat with double elbow. OW! Release German right on his skull! Then Tiger Driver, but in too much pain to get a proper cover. He goes up top for an elbow but Kobashi Lariats him out of the sky. Kobashi writhes in pain before covering. Kobashi selling his ass off. Powerbomb and the Orange Crush. Neither get him the duke. Kobashi is frustrated and in a lot of pain. Lariat blocked, but Misawa just rolls to outside. Kobashi stalks prey and is wounded himself. Powerbomb on apron NO MISAWA-RANA! Huge spot! Kobashi sells. Very critical stretch here. Misawa finally is able to make in roads by getting a desperation elbow to Kobashis arm that basically levels the playing field. However, Misawa is having a hard time capitalizing and when he goes for a high risk move (diving elbow from top) Kobashi makes him pay, but now he cant capitalize. It all comes down to the apron spot. Kobashi, bad arm, tries a powerbomb off the apron which would have been the home run shot, but a timely Misawa counter pretty much seals Kobashis fate.

Last 5 minutes. Misawa elbows. Shitty German due to bad arm. One Roaring Elbow, Two Roaring Elbows, Third One NO Lariaoto! Kobashin in pain. Dumps Misawa on head with headdrop German. It is on! Misawa ducks low and headbutts him in abs when he comes in charging. Roaring elbow to back of head. Tiger Suplex gets two. TIGER DRIVER 91~! ONLY GETS TWO! Kobashi chants. Kobashi clubs Misawa from knees and lunges again, but has nothing behind them. On third one, Misawa gets a Sleeper SUPLEX! AND Blowaway Elbow gives Misawa the win!

Stone cold classic. Everyone and their mother knows that. Selling by both men was off the charts great. Offense was incredible. Excellent transitions between segments. Every move had consequence and everything had a purpose. Love the story of ramping up mistakes. First it is small stuff like charging at your opponent with a shoulder block then it is diving from the apron into the steel railing and then it is the hurricanarana off the apron! The dueling arm psychology was tremendous especially when you have Misawas elbow and Kobashis lariat in play. Loved the inability to follow up down the stretch due to their injuries. Basically it came down to two things, Misawa got a lucky elbow that landed in just the right place to render Kobashis arm useless. Kobashi was running away with the match. When Kobashi had re-established himself, he went for that high risk move (powerbomb off the apron) thats how you have to beat Misawa with big time high risk moves and he paid for it. The last five minutes is pretty great you have to kill me before you beat me stuff that All Japan does well. Kobashi looks great in a loss and Misawa proves that when Triple Crown is on the line he will stop at nothing to retain and he just always has a little extra.