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Every wrestler here fit their role perfectly. The standouts were Baba with decades of skill and experience, Fuchi with smarts and skill and Tenryu, the god of grump. No one is better than Tenryu in showing strength and weakness simultaneously...other than Kawada and Terry Funk IMO. One really felt that the Triple Crown champ was on the ropes when 1000 year old Rusher Kimura was head butting him but, seamlessly, Tenryu would chop Kimura in the fucking throat and change the momentum. Brilliantly, Fuchi would storm in like Jr. Tenryu that he is and get brutal even on the bully champ. Fuyuki and Kawada were perfect lackeys in this match and kept their schtick simple. This benefitted Kawada the most. Here he looked like the Kawada who would bloom fully in late 1991 and 1992. Godbless Dangerous K. This period of wrestling is full of diamonds in the rough and this is a perfect example.

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It's been said before, but parts of AJPW felt pretty old hat by 1999. Case in point: matches like this. Misawa no sells a few moves, parts of the Kawada/Misawa sections came dangerously close to current NJPW elbowfests, and the build and sense of escalation seemed to be lacking overall. It picks up here or there, but it speak volumes to me that 2 minutes before the finish in this match Misawa and Kawada were still working fairly standard exchanges that didn't feel like they were preceded by a 20 minute match at all. It was a pretty stiff match, so even if it wasn't exciting, it was atleast painful. Shinzaki didn't really add much besides a few different moves. He threw a few uppercuts, so I guess that makes him the stand-in for Great Kabuki.

Pretty by the numbers japanese big match but not bad. Sasaki gets the advantage using his power early on, finisher on the floor, some limbwork ensues, lots of stiff shots etc. It's a formula that works and these two are good at it. Sasaki is pretty fly here hitting a big plancha to the floor and really walloping Kawada with potatoes. There is some neck work which ends up not being of much importance but leads to some fun moments. Sasaki cosplays 90s Kobashi by chopping Kawada in the neck and hitting flimsy bulldogs, it also leads to a pretty sick piledriver. Kawada was halfway into lazy mode as he had some nice transitions such as kicking Sasaki in the face when he tried his silly facebuster or slipping underneath for the cheap powerbomb, but he would also just go back on offense at other times. Kind of dumb finishing stretch, but not offensively dumb.

Back with more 1985 AJPW goodness! Let's get going with April! Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase (04/21 - aired 04/27): This from the Roy tapes as well. I needed to get some Stan Hansen in my life. This is a fine way to introduce him and Ted DiBiase into 1985. They make an excellent team (not my first time seeing them together) that has a different dynamic than the Brody or Gordy teams. Ted is more technical and has a calmer more calculated approach that makes this team more well rounded. Baba and Jumbo still team so well together with Baba coming in and making saves & giving Tsuruta breaks. Baba's tag utility is not given enough love. A great well paced and hard fought match. The finishing section is so organic and flawlessly executed. This bout probably isn't on anyone's lists but this is an example of wrestling done right. Riki Choshu/Animal Hamaguchi vs Genichiro Tenryu/Takashi Ishikawa (04/21 - aired 04/27) Here's one where I wanted to include a Riki match without Jumbo as my sample from April would be slim otherwise. Anyway super happy I watched this. It is some excellent tag wrestling. One thing I haven't mentioned is how Choshu and co. have some Steiner Bros. type tag moves off the turnbuckles. More great action here...the feud is chugging along without losing steam. Tenryu watching for a Riki sneak attack ----- Ric Flair v. Jumbo Tsuruta (NWA Title, 04/24/85): Long match like you'd expect but full of action. I am hesitant to watch Flair in Japan sometimes as there's a fear that there's going to be a lot of Figure Four work. This match we get just the right amount and have plenty of great action to fill up the majority of the title bout. I think if you were watching this live in '85, you'd rate it pretty well as it was pretty darn dramatic. Jumbo was really whooping on Flair. Of course we know Jumbo doesn't win the belt and that does hurt this a little as that glimmer of hope (what they are working to create live for fans) is lost when looking back at these big name title defenses. There's a little bit of "do I want to watch a long match that I essentially know the outcome for?" This one keeps the pace up and is intense and competitive so I was compelled to finish. This really was a great fight between two of the very best. Now for a bit of storyline : On 04/24 Ashura Hara sneak attacks Tenryu before their tag match. Riki & Animal Hamaguchi start by attacking Hara. It's confusing but I think they maybe consider him a turn coat but he shows them that he's his own man by attacking Tenryu AND walking out on them. The match continues with Motoshi Okuma as Tenryu's partner. It's more of an angle than a match. This is a really crazy booking angle for AJ! Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu vs Riki Choshu/Animal Hamaguchi (05/17 aired 05/18): Very good match but lacking the nuclear intensity but it's an enjoyable bout with a good finish which adds a new little wrinkle to the feud. Shoehi Baba/Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenryu v. Tiger Jeet Singh/Terry Gordy/Mario Milano (05/31/85): Fun match, Tenryu makes a hot tag to Baba if you can believe it Gordy is most impressive. Road Warriors v. Takashi Ishikawa & Tarzan Goto (05/31/85): Don't blink or you'll miss it!But Tarzan Goto & Ishikawa so... yay! Road Warriors v. Killer Khan/Masanobu Kurisu (06/02/85): Quick as hell...at least Khan was in for a few moments...Was going to skip these but they were so short it wasn't worth the fast forward! Dynamite Kid/Davey Boy Smith v. Tiger Mask/Magic Dragon (06/02/85): Excellent Bulldogs match! No flubs, everything was in rhythm and the moves were exciting. Tiger Mask Misawa and Magic Dragon were really good opponents for them. Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu/Animal Hamaguchi vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu/Motoshi Okuma (06/02 aired 06/22): Absolutely crazy match in K-hall. I wouldn't expect anything less. A battle with an unexpected finish plus brawling after the bell. Riki and Tenryu blasting each other in the head stuff. Great shit! Dynamite Kid/Davey Boy Smith v. Kuniaki Kobayashi/Shinichi Nakano (06/04/85): Another really good Bulldogs match! Nakano wasn't dominated like you might expect. Kuniaki's standing really made this an even match. He and Dynamite got in a flow that made me really want to see a singles match. I checked and there was one in '85 via handheld out there. Jumbo Tsuruta v. Terry Gordy (Int'l Title, 06/04/85): Great match around 20 minutes. Lots of good action. Gordy is so underrated as a AJPW wrestler. He and Jumbo are just so evenly matched in size, athleticism and style. He might be my favorite mid 80's Jumbo opponent. Dynamite Kid/Davey Boy Smith vs Tiger Mask/Toshiaki Kawada (06/05 - aired 06/15): jip but we get some replays at the end of the match showing what we missed. I wanted to find an early Kawada match and this'll do! Very fun stuff and has some really crazy Bulldog moves. You wanna see this one ----- Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Magic Dragon (Mask vs Hair) (06/05 - aired 06/15): jip, good, good stuff. If shown in full I'd bump it up I bet. This was so smart and economical. They get so much out of a simple set of moves because they were so well timed. They did the right stuff (including the finish). Giant Baba v. Rusher Kimura (PWF Title, 06/05/85): Gotta watch one or two Baba matches per post and I'm not going to pass up Baba vs Rusher. This was good stuff too! Slower paced than much of what we've seen. Some of that is age but 1985 seems to be the year in AJPW where they are more about running the ropes and quick action than the slower more technical style of old. The very distinct ups and downs of a match aren't really there in most of the wrestling. The pace is much quicker so something like this stands out. And in fact they wrestle at a quick pace with more moves than I would have thought. Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru v. Road Warriors (06/05/85): Tempted to call this a very good match. The Warriors had their selling boots on. We get a cheap finish (to protect everyone) but everything beforehand was surprisingly great. Ashura Hara v. Haru Sonada (06/21/85): Quick match but wanted to see more Hara & Magic Dragon/Sonada. If you stumble upon this, check it out Magic Dragon wrestled as Haru Sonoda afterwards until his untimely death in 1987. Kuniaki Kobayashi v. Tiger Mask (06/21/85): Oh yeah! A really awesome match..the match I knew they could have. A classic AJPW Junior match and if that's not enough Atsushi Onita comes out post match and gets into a tussle. I see this on Misawa compilations and it absolutely belongs there as an early (earliest?) classic for him. But this should also clue you into Kuniaki Kobayashi if you're not yet hip to his greatness. Jumbo Tsuruta/Takashi Ishikawa v. Yoshiaki Yatsu/Higo Hamaguchi (06/21/85): Excellent pacing, excellent action and a really smart finish. There's very little to find fault with here. Worth noting, this is perhaps the first match in the AJPW Classics tapes/TV episodes to sorta indicate there's a feud with Riki & co. They did a good job avoiding the Choshu matches... very glad that we've got the original TV episodes. Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu (06/21/85): This one I found online elsewhere pretty easily. And boy I'm glad I did! The fight was intense as could be and the older style that focuses on grinding holds and storytelling. Tenryu was aiming to injure Choshu's lariat arm whereas Riki was wearing his opponent to lock in the Sasorigatame (Scorpion Death lock). This match absolutely lays the groundwork for the classic singles matches of the 90's. We don't get a classic match because of an 80's ending but man alive this was absolutely going to be a classic and it had the vibe of an all time classic. Patient in its storytelling, physical and believable, it was a helluva match. Near classic on a technicality but this was classic puro if you dig what I'm sayin'. ----- Half way through and 1985 is awesome! And I know I'm missing really cool stuff in the interest of time & energy. As you can tell I watched quite a bit but it wasn't too far off the my plan. There were some really important inclusions like the Kawada match, getting some Stan Hansen in there and heck a Baba vs Rusher match for well roundedness etc.. I will have to stick to the plan a little better as I'm posting a bit later in the day (the next day technically) than I'd wanted. That should be a good indicator of how engrossing the year is so far. Variety of wrestlers, matches, match length and so on. Now that the weather is more comfortable it is much easier to watch chunks of wrestling. July and parts of August were just the pits. Anyhow, thanks for reading folks! Until next time, stay safe!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSONU1F9Uuc Ah yes, the infamous "worst Fujiwara match ever", so bad that it apparently made Phil Schneider loathe Fujiwara for years. I had a really hard time imagining a scenario where these two would have a shitty match honestly. I mean I could easily imagine it being disappointing or dull, but actively bad? No way. Let's see what he had to say about it: Ok. So: "Fujiwara no sells almost everything" "gets kicked in the head, starres at Kawada" "no sells German suplex" hey! I'm the one guy that likes Tatsuhito Takaiwa! I have a thing for wrestlers with recklessly dangerous offence. It adds to their aura I guess. "takes a ton of the match with JYD headbutts" "shitty Choshu finish" Ok. Let's break down the match now. Match starts with Fujiwara playing with the streamers. This is pretty much where I stopped buying this as a potentially bad match. They grapple a little bit. Kawada gets on top to establish dominance and they slap each other around. Re-start. More grappling. Fujiwara grabs a neat wristlock, Kawada gets out, grabs a Sleeper and Fujiwara's selling goes from his usual dismissal of the peril of the hold he is in to selling as he fails to get out of the move. Kawada hits a great looking knee drop. This is pretty good so far. Fujiwara is clearly rocked after the big knee drop. This is what is known in professional wrestling as "selling". He gets up and Kawada starts kicking his head in, Fujiwara quickly fires back with punches and great looking headbutts. Fujiwara grabs a Sleeper, Kawada pushes him back in the corner for the break. Fujiwara breaks it with a big slap and Kawada goes after Fujiwara. Fujiwara moves back to the other corner as Kawada is going after him (you could understand this as either him selling the threat of Kawada or as defensive positioning). Kawada kicks him a bit after which Fujiwara makes awesome "fuck you" facial expressions, grabs Kawada by the throat and shoves him into the other corner and starts rocking Kawada with punches and headbutts. First Fujiwara Armbar tease. Fujiwara transitions into a "regular" Armbar instead. Kawada gets out and start kicking Fujiwara in the back with his signature kicks. Fujiwara gets up and goes back into the corner. Kawada starts kicking him again and right as Fujiwara is about to fight back like he did earlier in the match Kawada rocks him with a big chop that Fujiwara sells the shit out of. Another big chop and Fujiwara falls down. Kawada starts stomping Fujiwara's head but Fujiwara counters it by grabbing his leg. It is a theme in Fujiwara matches (especially against kickers) that he will counter their kicks by grabbing their leg often, I remember that making the 1989 UWF match vs. Maeda especially gratifying as Maeda just shitbeat him to hell. That was also played up in the Super Tiger matches and the Hashimoto matches etc. Fujiwara stretches Kawada a little and hits him with a nasty headbutt to the back of the head. They headbutt each other for a bit and Kawada does his awesome staggering selling after headbutting Fujiwara. IDK much about JYD but these dueling headbutts are clearly making real contact. Fujiwara controls the match for a little bit but does nothing of note before Kawada takes over and slams Fujiwara's head into the ringpost. Come on, you're not going to throw "no selling" at that? That's an awesome signature Fujiwara spot, even if it is tehnically no selling. Fujiwara hits a few more headbutts but Kawada hits a huge slap to fight back (Fujiwara is "selling" again). Slap-off! Those are fun! Big Spin Kick from Kawada knocks Fujiwara down. More "selling". Stretch Plum. Ok Fujiwara is totally guilty of no selling here. He kicks-out at 1 and starts headbuttings Kawada as soon as he gets up. I don't really care for the big boot/headbutt battle BUT! They start slapping the taste out of each others mouth again! He does pop up again after the controversial German but at that point I'm fine with it as Kawada quickly cutting off Fujiwara's futile attempt to fight back fits into the narrative to the match and worked for me. Come on. That's not even top 20 for worst Choshu finishes. It's not even a bad Choshu finish. I mean surely everyone watching Fujiwara's pro style matches has grown accustomed to him doing Choshu finishes but come on. His late kick-out was pretty weak and he continued to lay on the mat after doing so. I was expecting he was going to instantly pop up and put Kawada into a Wakigatame or something. So there you have it. I don't think this was complete shit. Disappointing for a Fujiwara-Kawada match? Sure. But perfectly solid.

This was the best of the Forgotten Kawada TC Defenses I watched today and a borderline classic. And the reason for that is, of course, Osamu Nishimura. Nish often gets branded as a novelty worker who just does tribute matches imitating Dory Funk Jr spots, which is simply not true, as he does a bonafide job working a true Kings Road style match against Kawadas strike based style here. Not forcing him to work his trademark style at all, just building a really good match around his signature spots while educating the crowd on the importance of Backslides and Abdominal Stretches, telling a story and all while never losing his composure. The opening sees Nishimura ambushing Kawada and targeting his leg, they then proceed to work a basic exchange, Kawada goes for a cheapshot but Nish blocks him and hits back, showing he's prepared. They continue in this vein, with Kawada lacing into Nishimura with strikes only for Nishimura to fire back on him, often punching or headbutting him in the eye. This causes Kawada to actually get fired up and look like a dangerous striker against Nishimuras more toned down offense like getting punched and headbutted in the eye actually shook him after years of getting elbowed, kicked, chopped etc. There is some excellently executed legwork and a flawless build to a Figure 4 which was full of struggle and great. Kawadas selling was pretty hit and miss as per usual during this period but I actually thought it was acceptable. The finishing run was really great, well put together stuff with plenty of neat spots and I thought it was largely carried by Nishimuras amazing charisma, he is such a wrestling master with how he manages to work his stuff with so much urgency, he really yanks on Kawadas neck when he goes for a sleeper, he would also go from an Abdominal Stretch to a pin to an armbar trying to force the tap, like he was trying everything he knew to get that win. His bumping is also up there with the best of the 90s death seekers, as when he takes a back suplex his head and feet touch the ground at about the same time but he folds his neck up. I thought his performance here was close to Hondas GHC challenge in 2003. Kawada had one of his better nights on his TC run too, I really liked how he would sell Nishimuras finer strikes and really liked the Octopus Hold into Stretch Plum as a Fuck You to Nishimuras lineage. Great stuff and one of the few matches where you'll see Kawada carried.

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This is Kawada, the last remaining AJ faithfull against Zero-1 dickhead Ohtani, who really never has proved himself at that level in single competition. So at first, he really can't hang with Kawada, which is the story. When he does that boot in the face deal in the corner, my thoughts were "Hum... Kawada ain't gonna like that." Yep. Kawada gets up and slaps the shit out of Ohtani. Basically, every time Ohtani was too much of an irrespectful dickhead, Kawada would get up, walk right in his face and kick the shit out of him. Ohtani's strategy is to go after a knee, with quick dropkicks and kneebars. He also no-sells regularly Kawada's jumping kicks to the back of the head, which can be seen as annoying, but more on that later. Kawada doesn't forget to sell his knee while he goes back on offense. Some nice double boots to the face and backdrops back and forth. Ohtani basically has to go back to the knee to get an advantage up to the point they are trading bombs and Ohtani insists on not-selling those kicks to the back of the head. What a dick. At some point though, Kawada's offense gets too heavy. And while he tries to show off as the dick he is and keeps on no-selling those kicks, he finally ends up taking one too many and gets pinned after.... a kick to the back of the head. That's poetic justice. Excellent, bordering great match for Kawada's last Triple Crown win.

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Back with more of Muto era AJPW! This time I'm going over 2005-2010. Well I'm actually going to sneak in a '03 & a '04 match that I found as well. This post I thought I'd change it up a bit and focus more on the Junior Heavyweight side of things.. or at least matches that included them. AJPW was never really known for their Junior division so I thought I'd check that out since there was a concerted effort by many companies to feature these guys in the 21st century. Just a guess but NOAH seemed to kick that off a little by having Kanemaru and Marufuji right out of the gate. Kendo Kashin seemed to fill that role early on but Muto probably knew he couldn't build the division on him. Kaz Hayashi will become that guy as you'll see. Anyhow, just wanted to take a different approach to this post. Let's get going! Toshiaki Kawada & Kendo Kashin vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Wataru Sakata (12/05/03): Kendo Kashin seemed to be the face of the AJ Junior division before they started pushing Kaz Hayashi and getting some of the Dragon Gate guys. I'm not going to seek Kashin out on his own but this will suffice. So the big draw is Kawada vs Hashimoto of course and it delivers on that... you know as a teaser for their 2004 singles match. But what you want to see this for is Kawada vs Wataru Sakata. Kawada whiffs on his arm hold back heel kick. He goes over Sakata's head and falls. It works a little as Kawada had been taking stiff ass leg kicks from Hash earlier. But Sakata kinda mocks Kawada for the whiff by throwing his hands up like "ha! that's what you got? it missed." But then starts nailing K with elbows and Kawada hits back (and although Kawada missed he's still in control). Sakata should start selling after like 2-3 pretty stiff elbows. Wataru Sakata decides he's Misawa and not a Zero One junior (although with some shoot background) and wants to go toe to toe. Kawada makes sure not to miss again with Sakata and if he's going to pretend his Misawa, Kawada will hit him like Misawa. It almost goes off the rails and Sakata may have tried to go into business for himself a couple times including near the finish. Kawada ends the match with a very snug looking face lock and then a rear naked choke. Very interesting stuff for sure. Kawada was a professional though and kept it on track, kept the drama on he and Hashimoto. But man he just lays into Sakata. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Genichiro Tenryu & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Kaz Hayashi, Keiji Muto & Satoshi Kojima (10/22/04): Found this one by accident but man I'm glad I did! What a line up! I always felt Kensuke Office was more NOAH oriented but they were pretty much a part of AJPW during this era. This is a real showcase for Kaz as he takes a ton of punishment from his opponents. He even makes the teenage Nakajima look fantastic. Muto and Kojima have tons of history with Tenryu and Sasaki so they are more than game to get at them. Kensuke and Muto never really in any danger whatsoever but are very good in being "Kensuke" and "Muto" which works in this setting. I'm not asking for any depth from them. You could have had just as awesome a match with Tenryu & Nakajima vs Kojima & Hayashi frankly. But I think Muto and Kensuke were a cherry on top. You can find this on your "day-to-day movement" YouTube alternative. I thought it was great! TARU/Shuji Kondo VS Satoshi Kojima/Taiji Ishimori (09/23/05): Good little tag match and a sample of the Voodoo Murders stable. Not my cup of tea but it's OK here. I wanted to give it a chance but this type of heeling is a little too American style for me. The strength in numbers, too many short cuts etc. it's too obvious and heavy handed. I got my share of it during the NWO/Corporation/Ministry era of WCW & WWF but I bet there's some quality stuff. This has some nice moments... very good TNA Impact main event for 2005 Satoshi Kojima / Kaz Hayashi VS Keiji Muto / AKIRA (06/03/05): From highs and now to some lows.This has some good moments but overall it's terribly one sided and boring. The match pretty much neutralizes Hayashi who is your explosive junior and has him in the ring to long getting his leg attacked for Kojima, your explosive heavy to really do anything too awesome. The match has no real arc either. There's a hot tag to get Kojima in and get revenge but after taking a little bit of damage he tags Kaz back in. Now we see that kind of nonsense wrestling to brush it off as "he wants to get payback too soon" but that's pretty much how the match ends up. There's no 3rd act...Muto & AKIRA are never in danger. Kojima never gets another tag to clean house for a hot final third. It's OK but you don't need to see this. Or maybe you do...??? RO&D - TAKA Michinoku/Taiyo Kea/Jamal VS Kensuke Sasaki/Akira Raijin/Katsuhiko Nakajima (12/05/05) :So just found out that Akira Raijin was Kiyoshi back in TNA and is Sushi! That's badass! This was a ton of fun. Everyone was playing their roles to perfection. Not a barn burner but surprisingly very stiff. From Jamal's tears after the match, I think it was his last match in AJPW and RO&D and he was heading to the WWE to become Umaga. This match makes me want to see more Jamal. He's got a really good energy and is booked go toe to toe with the big guys like Kensuke. This was a really fun 18 minutes. I think RO&D might be more my speed the Voodoo Murders should I revisit this time period. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Taiji Ishimori vs. AKIRA & Kaz Hayashi - (01/03/06) : Really fun tag match with just a bunch of non stop action. AKIRA who is sorta the least exciting did a good job bringing his best moves. Nakajima vs Kaz is the highlight or focus of the match. There's one little hiccup during a spot that was more confusing than anything but it can be overlooked especially since this is just meant for fun than a world title defense type thing. Satoshi Kojima vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (04/07/06): Including this one as I remembered watching a long time ago on a comp I bought. Watched it again now and it is still pretty awesome! I thought it was great (****) at the time but I think that was on stiffness alone. This is stiff as a starched shirt. Kojima isn't known for his chops like Sasaki but he should be and that one lariat!! Holy Shit! Under 10 minute Champion Carnival match...watch it if you can find it. Shuji Kondo vs Kaz Hayashi (08/27/06): This is Kaz Hayashi in top form! He and Kondo had a fireworks show for the ages here. All kinds of crazy moves, reversals and such. Great striking too! Its a great match and one I've wanted to see for years. So psyched that Gaora posted it! Highly recommend this to Jr. wrestling fans Shuji Kondo VS Chris Sabin (07/01/07): Really good match and a blast to see Sabin in AJPW. It's something I wanted to see for awhile also. Of course it's mainly spots but they've picked some good ones. Its a little rough around the edges a couple moments but they do well in either recovering or moving on. I never felt taken out of the action. In all honesty, it's all you can ask for and more considering Sabin was not an AJ regular. At about 15 minutes, this is a blast! MCMG fans need to see this. Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Silver King (03/01/08): Fast paced, hard hitting bomb fest! This was a blast and a half to watch! If anything though it's a bit too fast and doesn't necessarily develop but it's like match you'd see on like a TNA or ECW pay per view and be really hyped on the next few days. It's only around 12 minutes if you see what I mean. Search this one out! brother"YASSHI vs Shuji Kondo (02/06/09): History here is both guys are Dragon Gate alumni, kicked out, joined TARU and helped form Voodoo Murders, tag partners and probably way more but now squaring off for the last time. Saw something that he retired in February 09 so perhaps this is his retirement match (temporarily)? It's a wonderful under 10 minute match where they basically beat the crap out of each other. It's a great way to end their story if only for a few years. Kaz Hayashi vs Shuji Kondo (08/30/09): Well that was insane...a classic junior match for sure. I think it went beyond their fantastic 2006 match. I've heard others like the 2006 match more and I can see that. But really you need to see both! An absolute war with all kinds of moves, counters etc. like I expected. They easily could have rehashed their '06 fight but they pushed themselves to the limit. In fact, the reason this is superior is that it was full of surprises with many moves being counter strikes or reversals or things you rarely see from the wrestlers. I really like that kind of thing especially as we get into 2010's- present wrestling. This is out there for you to find. The video quality isn't amazing but it gets the job done & thanks go out to the uploader! Kaz Hayashi VS Keiji Muto (10/24/10): This is for the Junior belt. Kinda reminds me of when Kurt Angle wanted to win every title in TNA. To Muto's credit he looks in great shape and slimmed down from '05 and maybe that's the kayfabe reason? Anyhow we get some of the cool moments from the '05 tag match here in perhaps a call back. In any case this is a great match! Of course Muto does his same 2-3 moves over and over (dragon screw, shining wizard, low drop kicks) but Kaz has them scouted and that's what makes this exciting. Kaz might just have a chance to topple the living legend. Obviously this isn't as crazy a match as Kaz vs Kondo but it was a surprise. Certainly a late stage great match for Muto. If you noticed a few comparisons to TNA throughout, then you'll get a good impression of what AJPW feels like during the Muto era. It really does feel like Japanese TNA. Just from the few matches here, there was talent exchanged (Sabin and Akira Raijin) and I recall seeing the fake Muta for a little while. Afterwards as Wrestle-One I know they worked together as well. So for better and worse, that's probably the best way to describe Muto's AJPW to someone unfamiliar. I have a soft spot for old TNA and I'm forming one for this period of AJ as well. I'll definitely be checking out more. I hope you've enjoyed reading and watching some of the vids. Again, that's awesome that Gaora has been doing this. Hopefully I have helped spread the good word a little. This era of All Japan certainly is worth your time. Thanks for reading! Stay safe!

I'm doing a mixed up March type thing so I'll be getting back to JWP 1991 next week. For this week, I wanted to follow up on another little project Muto's AJPW. This covers 2001-2011. As you may know, I did a look at AJPW in 2011 sometime ago and was really impressed. It's not the Baba era but has its charm and quality wrestling. That along with post Muto AJPW made me question my preconceived notions about the 2000's All Japan. Generally speaking, I think most people skip over it entirely except for a couple matches like Hashimoto vs Kawada in 2004. I guess I'm speaking for myself...until now. So I have a very cherry picked list to see if there's something there that I'm missing. Make no mistake, the majority of the under card matches are crappy looking... heck even upper card matches don't look great either. 2001-2004 which I'm glancing at this post is really asking for cherry picking. The company at this point really looked to be relying on the draws of Kawada, Muto and guys he brought with him like Kojima and Kaz Hayashi as well as Tenryu and the big beefy guys he brought with him (who we won't see any of here). Then of course inter promo stuff with Zero One (essentially Muto working with other NJ defectors Hashimoto & Otani). Other than that the rest of roster were journey men wrestlers from the US & Japan, friends of Muto like AKIRA, and guys past their prime like John Tenta, Mike Rotundo and in some ways Dr. Death Steve Williams. Anyhow, I'm trying to use the Gaora YouTube page as much as I can but not everything I am looking for is on there. I'll share the links for Gaora where I can so you can enjoy as well. Let's go! Toshiaki Kawada vs. Keiji Muto (04/14/2001): This was a great match that built off of Kawada attacking Muto's neck and Muto going after K's knees and arm. They didn't do anything earth-shattering but dammit it worked. This was a keep it simple stupid big match. If you're watching this in comparison to AJPW from a year earlier then I can see being let down. But in 2023, this stands on its own two feet. There's a great story, excellent selling, and explosive, meaningful action. Honestly, I really dug the neck out of this match. It was so easy to watch. A very good beginning! Genichiro Tenryu vs. Keiji Mutoh (06/08/2001) Absolutely great match that played to both guys' strengths and weaknesses. Choice highspots, surprises and competitive spirit - it again was simple but effective heavyweight big match wrestling. I think this may have been better than the Kawada match above due to the familiarity between Tenryu & Muto. Keiji Mutoh vs. Toshiaki Kawada (02/24/2002) What makes this match work as it goes on it Muto's legitimate knee problems. So we've got two guys with leg problems (and are getting older). That said, they are more familiar now and go for a more complex match and it works fantastically. They go for it and it is a classic! It's not as brutally stiff at every turn from Kawada but it shows that he's way more than stiff kicks and chops. Muto does his thing kinda like Flair but like Flair if given an excellent opponent, you get an excellent match. That's been the case so far but here they go that extra mile. Both put on an excellent performance. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Satoshi Kojima (07/17/2002) : This is one that's gotten talk in the past. A battle between youth and age. Fire vs experience. I loved it! I'm A fan of both guys so watching them go toe to toe for a half hour or so was a real treat. The fans were loving this as well. Nowadays or in the last decade you'd see stuff like this but it would be about machismo and/or hulking up but here they really sold the toll the fight was having on them. Again, Tenryu had his leg kicked in and can't bounce back from that. Kojima has been in some tough fights but these big time matches against living legends is how he's going to get him name in the record books. He's got to get chopped, punched, kicked, dropped on his head...and still get up and get angry. With all of that baked in along with WAR style that Tenryu brings and demands of his opponents, this is a classic match to me. Taiyo Kea & Satoshi Kojima vs Masato Tanaka & Shinjiro Otani (12/06/02): RWTL final match I believe. It's a really good match but I'm not too strong on the outcome. I think Kea got hurt legitimately during the early portions and it was almost a 2 on one fight. I don't think they were going for this as the story or as some homage to the 1988 RWTL final. Because the outcome didn't really make 100% sense however I do think the closing portion was extremely badass. I mean Kojima vs Tanaka is worth your time and its only about 20 minutes long as Gaora shows a bunch of pre and post match fluff. Toshiaki Kawada & Masanobu Fuchi vs Keiji Muto & Satoshi Kojima (04/12/03): Kawada's return match after the 02/2002 match above. His knee got injured again then. So you know that's fair game in this matchup. The fans even boo Muto when he goes after it. But this is not the story of the match as they don't really belabor that point. This is a nice change of pace. The knee is bugging him but not taking him out completely so you're rooting for him to stay in the fight. You're really rooting for Masa Fuchi too..don't ever count out Fuchi Dammit! Lots of great action with excellent timing and selling. This was a great match... near classic stuff to be honest. Slight joined in progress and perhaps one small clip in the Gaora footage below. Shinya Hashimoto VS Satoshi Kojima (06/13/2003): What an absolutely stiff match Hashimoto fought. You could hear his kesagiri chops! He even chopped Kojima's arm so hard you could hear it! Koji was no slouch either but man alive Hash was just laying it in. And it was a simple match that didn't have a big story within the match but was elevated by Shinya's intensity and Koji knowing he had to match it or get destroyed. It is weird seeing basically two NJ wrestlers fighting for the AJPW Triple Crown. But these two really embody the physicality of AJPW. A great match! One I don't recall hearing about. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Takao Omori (07/18/04): A really neat story match as Kawada hurts his own knee on a knee drop. What's interesting beyond that is Omori doesn't make this a Muto match and go ape shit after the leg. He instead sees it as an opportunity to beat Kawada on his own terms. Omori knows (in a way) that Kawada's kicks are hurting him with each one he throws. If Takao can punish the leg and even force Kawada to use the kicks, it will give him time find an opportunity unload his Ax Bomber lariat and Ax Guillotine Driver. This was Kawada wanting to tell a story, Omori was eager to tell that as well. Kawada sold the story just about all of the way to the end even collapsing on a kenka kick doing a back & forth segment. In some ways you couldn't tell this was 2004 or that Omori was with Zero One. It was a real turn back the clock AJ fight that built wonderfully into a nearly classic match. I've heard its better than the more talked about Misawa vs Kojima match from the same show. This has been pretty awesome so far. I do understand why people may have been disappointed at the time. It is more like NJPW of the 90's than AJPW. But that makes sense doesn't it? I would maybe say it's a bit of a hybrid. Like every promotion in the early 2000's, it was a transitional period of time. That is apparent here but the known quantities, your stars can still be depended on. Kawada, Muto, Kojima, Tenryu still bring the goods. And I'm no Muto devotee. Probably should have opened up with that but if there's any skepticism in my reviews, I wanted to say that Next time, I'll be looking at 2005-2010.

Talk about it here.

Talk about it here.

For a while, this is everything the Tenryu vs Mutoh match the year before wasn't : actual hatred and intensity, leg work that looked crisp (thank you Kawada for making it seem so) and actually meant something and better selling down the stretch. Kawada is just as terrific as always here, although the regular no-selling comebacks back and forth I know annoyed the old AJ fans back then. Mutoh is also much crisper than during the Tenryu match and demonstrates a lot more heelish attitude too, as he should because he's still the fucking outsider with a title that should not belong to him, which Kawada reminds him in spades by kicking him in the face. The leg work with kneecaps dropkicks gets much more dramatic here as Kawada refuse to let them take him down, meanwhile letting himself open to Shining Wizards, the most copied spot of 2001/2002. This leads to a moonsault when he just can't take it anymore and lays down the mat, but Mutoh hitting his knee on the way down prevents him from covering Kawada immediately. Okay, so now this whole knee business led us somewhere. Some more cool counters incoming, including an attempt at delayed selling by Mutoh who just pops back up after a backdrop driver and runs to ShiningWIzard Kawada again. Well, if Kobashi can do it, why not Mutoh ? He doesn't do it as well (and by that I mean, he just pops out barely even registering the move he just took), but whatever. You gotta wonder what the hell happened toward the end though. I vote on Mutoh trolling Kawada by not going for the powerbomb then doing a miserable failed attempt at... something. Well, he ended up on his head, so no luck for him. Well, the match is great for enough time, despite this awful botch at the end. So, quite the terrific match with its share of Mutoh goofiness which is acceptable or not depending on your personal tolerance for Mutoh goofiness. Mine is high, so I really loved most of this match. Kawada was the glue, of course.

Talk about it here.

Most overlooked match between two big names in japanese wrestling history? I never even knew this one happened. It was a pretty fun match, altough far in the shadow of their 2000 encounter. You get those two smacking and punching eachother a lot, so that is really fun of course, and also some of Crazy Tenryu with him throwing chairs and making use of the Spider Suplex etc. Unfortunately Lazy Kawada was in effect here with him ignoring some fun legwork Tenryu was doing and no selling his way back on offense later, he also seemed to have a lot of light on his enzuigiris. On the other hand, him coughing after getting chopped in the throat was a nice touch. Perfectly good match otherwise.