[1993-01-30-AJPW-New Year's Giant Series] Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs Steve Williams & Terry Gordy

[Loss]

Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi defend the AJPW World Tag Team titles.   Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Tremendous long match with a nice slow build. It's really structured more like a long singles match than a long tag match, and what I mean by that is that they go feeling out -> matwork -> momentum shift -> comeback -> finish teases. Usually, the "feeling out" stuff doesn't happen this way in tag matches. I thought this was great. Misawa is the savior of his team early on, but ends up taking the fall, as Doc pins him in the end. Not as flashy as the Kobashi/Kikuchi vs Akiyama/Ogawa match, but while both are great, I think I prefer this one.

[benj]

Four guys beating the shit out of each other, working a physical match and making me believe it is a competition.

 

Current #1.

[Matt Franklin]

Outstanding match. I thought everyone looked good, and as Loss said the match logically progressed from one point to the other. Finishing run was very heated and well done, though the crowd didn't seem to buy the Oklahoma Stampede as a finish. Overall, incredible match and easily top 3 for the month.

[Zenjo]

Overall a reasonably good match, but it's disappointing compared to what I was hoping for. The first 20m were slow at times and didn't really go anywhere. It did pick up a bit after that, but nothing special by AJ standards of the time.

[Kevin Ridge]

Oh no! Not Williams and Gordy again. Mercy! I'd be curious to read the thoughts of the 90-91 one crew on this one. Granted Misawa/Kawada get a bit more action in but it is still Williams/Gordy controlling early in the match. Facelock!!! Felt like the same old crap from 90-91.

[PeteF3]

Doc & Gordy have stepped up their game considerably--they had the great matches with Jumbo & Taue and another really good one here. They actually work some new holds and do some interesting stuff in them instead of deciding to slap on a half crab and stand there. Plus there's a neat build-up to Kawada being beaten down and taking the fall, before he makes a comeback and hot tag only for Misawa to promptly get cut off. Doc ends up pinning Misawa to win the tag titles. I'm guessing the Misawa/Kawada split was already planned by this point so you have to get the belts off of them. That said, Misawa does the job here and then does two more jobs in the Carny--one to Gordy and one to Stan. I get setting up title matches, but I think three prominent pinfall losses by your Triple Crown champion in 5 months is too many.

 

I'm going to go against the grain here somewhat: I think the Clash tag title bout is the month's #1 match.

[WingedEagle]

Really long peril section for Kawada here before Misawa in with an awesome comeback on Gordy including the elbow suicida, a flying elbow and tiger driver. Kudos to him & Misawa as they made this fun despite Williams & Gordy trying to make this a slow, sluggish affair. It dragged quite a bit at times but the champs sold well enough and showed enough fire to keep it well above average. Really surprised that Misawa took the fall here. Were they already looking to keep Kawada strong before splitting him off?

 

***3/4

[soup23]

Really great match. This felt more grounded at times but the first twenty minutes was really solid table setting work with nasty looking submissions mixed up with strikes and hate. Misawa looks firmly like the guy now so him taking a loss feels like a big upset and a pivotal moment in Doc's career. This is essentially the end of the road for Kawada/Misawa and we have a new era beginning. (****1/4)

[garretta]

A big win for the MVC. They've really been looking good as a team lately, much better than they did in WCW. It's amazing that Watts knew what both of these guys were capable of from their days in Mid-South and still managed to make them such a bore stateside.

 

Did All-Japan follow the tradition of making someone who pins a singles champion in a tag match the number one contender for the title of the guy they pinned? I know they didn't have nearly as many championship matches as most American promotions, but I would think that Doc got something other than the tag belts for pinning Misawa clean as a sheet.

 

It's rare that a double submission finish is teased but not delivered. The saves on pins and submissions were brilliantly timed here, but none more so than that one by Bamm Bamm. It's a shame that his OD is coming so soon; he still had plenty left in the tank here.

 

Compared to some of the other finishers in ALPW at this time, the Oklahoma Stampede does seem rather tame. I'm sure the fans will accept it as Doc continues to get big wins using it.

 

Does anyone know if there was an angle connected with Kawada's turn, or did he just start going against Misawa one day for no discernible reason? He looks angry before this match, but that's hardly anything new for him.

[Childs]

There wasn't an American-style angle, no. But Misawa and Kawada established a more contentious tone when they met in the '93 Carnival (3/27). Then Taue and Kawada showed respect for one another at the end of their Carny match. And that was that.

[garretta]

Thanks, Childs!

[Superstar Sleeze]

AJPW Double Cup Tag Team Champions Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs Miracle Violence Connection - AJPW 1/30/93

The last gasp of early 90s All Japan as this is Misawa & Kawada last title defense and perhaps even their last tag match as partners. Kawada and Taue would have their first tag team match against Misawa & Kobashi on 6/1/93 ushering in the Golden Age of the Four Corners of Heaven. However, before we get to that I wanted to check this out so that I can do a proper match of the year countdown for 1993 in totality. 

Very solid opening 15 minutes, lots of strong tag psychology. Gordy and Kawada start. Gordy is the bigger of the two and they establish Kawada is at a disadvantage. He hits his sudden spinning heel kick before he gets into any real trouble tagging out to Misawa. Gordy wisley tags in Doc. I love their match from 1994 and they show shades of their great chemistry in their opening contest. Everything is stiff and tight. Great elbows from both men here. Doc tags out and Misawa hits a quick suplex on Gordy before getting the fresh man. I like the psychology of not wanting to be left in there with a fresh man. Kawada takes advantage and hits a senton. Gordy powders. Misawa & Kawada earn the first advantage. Trapping Gordy with frequent tags. They focus on holds but throw in a couple slams and suplexes. Kawada gets a little cute on an Irish Whip. Gordy take advantage of the separation to use size to knock Kawada down and get Doc in there. Williams proceeds to beating the tar out of Kawada. I liked the dropping him throat first on the railing and the top rope. Solid heat segment. Not focused. Just beating him down some good holds. Kawada hits his patented Spinning Heel Kick to escape from Gordy and tag in Misawa as the 15 minutes elapses. Like I said everything has been solid but nothing has been inspiring yet. 

Business really picked up immediately in the second half. Misawa was a red hot tag. Making his presence felt and totally changing the game. Diving elbows all over the place. TIGER DRIVER! Doc bowls him out of he ring. Picks him up and slams him into the post. That was wicked! Gordy hits an Oklahoma Slam in the ring. Then Doc hits a Top Rope Oklahoma Slam! This is a way better heat segment. They really kick Misawa's ass. Doc is focused on the back and uses a Boston Crab. Gordy switches it up going for the leg and gets an STF. Gordy gets sloppy and goes for an Irish Whip. Misawa takes advantage of this separation puts on the brakes and turns around and SMOKES Gordy with an Elbow! Tag to Kawada! Kawada mows everyone down! Powerbomb! Stretch Plum! Misawa tackles Doc. This shit is hot! Gordy hits a quick DDT and gets Doc in there. Doc is a game changer. This match has definitely been a portent of things to come for him. Great spinebuster from him. Misawa dropkicking Kawada on top of Williams during the Oklahoma Stampede was the spot of the match. MVC goes for the Nodowa/BackDrop Driver combo, but Misawa stops Gordy so it is just a BackDrop Driver. Kawada goes back to his best move the Spinning Heel Kick combined with a Jumping Head Kick to get himself out of trouble and tag in Misawa. I love that as soon as Misawa comes in Misawa picks him up and throws him with a tremendous powerslam. It really makes Doc feel like a force. He snuffed out the Hot Tag that is really special. Misawa does get a German Suplex on Gordy and here is Doc to clean up the mess. Misawa wins the battle with a clothesline/Frogsplash combo. FACELOCK! STRETCH PLUM! IT IS BREAKING DOWN IN CHIBA! Gordy rakes the eyes and breaks up the Facelock. TIGER DRIVER! Gordy saves again. They do a great job protecting the Natives here. As you feel that Misawa and Kawada would have won with either the Facelock or Tiger Driver if it was not for Gordy saving. Gordy powerbombs Misawa! Misawa evades a second, but Doc clobbers him with a lariat from behind. OKLAHOMA STAMPEDE! Kawada saves, but Gordy detains Kawada and a Second Oklahoma Stampede wins the Tag Titles for the Miracle Violence Connection. 

In a way it may be surprising that Misawa gets the pinfall loss in the last match of the Misawa/Kawada pairing, but I think it is good booking as it sets Doc up as a singles challenger later in the year for Misawa. Again this match is a tale of two matches. The first half there is nothing wrong with it. These are four of the best. It is solid work, but you can really see how good these guys are in the second half. They really build the drama and the action is off the charts. Dr. Death was the MVP in my opinion. He looked so explosive and was a real game changer in there. ****

[Makai Club #1]

This was super good. It was slowly built but unlike the other slow MVC, this was still compelling and wasn’t filled with aimless amature style holds. Misawa vs Williams was set up nicely at the start before Williams pinned him for the win. The FIP section with the MVC working over Kawada was super compelling, with the offence being super snug with Kawada relying on kicks and holds to keep Gordy at bay. The finishing stretch was good with the duel facelock/stretch plum by the champions and it built well to the Oklahoma Stampede finish. ****