[1994-11-25-AJPW-Real World Tag League] Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Kevin Ridge]

Some AJPW fan cam. Misawa hits forearms shots and Kawada responds with a turnbuckle repeated head smash on Misawa? That seems bizarre for AJPW. We go right into official video for match which is nice. Good action throughout. Very close kickout by Taue on Kobash's powerbomb. Really picks up towards the end. Kawada taking it to Misawa with the backdrops but the 30 minute time limit runs out. Pretty good match but the draw felt expected.

[jdw]

Looks like Will took the tv version of the match which was JIP and spliced from the fan cam the part the was missing from tv. Very cool... totally awesome, Will! Of their circulating 8 (of 9) matches, this has been the least talked about / famous, and probably isn't going to change. But presenting it in a fresh, complete form... awesome.

 

Now we can only hope the 1995 tag league (as opposed to Final) match turns up on fan cam at some point. Might have to mention it to Dan to ask about in some of his trading friends in Japan. Getting all nine of them would be something of a holy grail, even if the last one is only in fan cam version.

 

John

[Loss]

Another great match between these teams. It's probably below all of them except 1/95, but that's some pretty steep competition. What is gained from the early footage is a few Misawa/Kawada exchanges. At one point, Misawa is teasing a tope outside but thinks better of it when Kawada just stands there and looks at him. Of course, the finish is once again about Kawada trying to get that win over Misawa and not quite pulling it off, with Kobashi saving in the last second of the match. Misawa and Kawada do the Tenryu spot where Kawada grabs the arm, chops Misawa, and Misawa takes a flat back bump for every chop as they go in a circle, but after all these matches, I have no idea what that is called. Still, they do it 11 times, which is pretty impressive. I'm glad to have now seen all of the matches between these teams that are available.

[Exposer]

Once again, a great match between these teams. It's all about Kawada trying to get the big win over Misawa as always with Kobashi saving Misawa in the end to make this match a draw. I thought Misawa may have been the best guy in this but all four of them bring it every time.

[soup23]

Would only put this ahead of the 1995 Final Tag League match which shows how great the feud is. This was a great match and felt like a good showcase match for Taue which has been a rarity in 1994. He was dominating the attack on Kobashi and took the punishment for his team. Also to see how much more Kawada is protected now that he is triple crown champ.

[WingedEagle]

Just saw this for the first time. While inferior to all of their big matches as noted above, it was fun and unique to see them in this setting without the same stakes and work without some of the crazy bumps that became part of the protocol for this feud. Loved the Kawada/Misawa interactions here as even though Kawada is the champion you can tell how important it is for him to get that elusive fall over Misawa.

[Ditch]

Now that I think about it, there are precious few Misawa/Kawada tags where Kawada is the champ. Good catch!

[PeteF3]

Not at the level of their other bouts but a fine match nevertheless. I think I pegged this as a draw from the start, not because they were killing time but just because it's the only result that makes booking sense at this point. All four guys are established as equals (well, Misawa's still the top dog, but you know what I mean) to a degree probably greater than even their May match. Everyone gets a chance to shine and everyone seems in danger of losing at some point. Kawada and Taue bust out a new powerbomb/chokeslam combo that would have killed Kobashi dead, but Misawa makes the save. Kawada escaping from a Kobashi full nelson to save Taue, who's busy working an intricate reversal sequence with Misawa, leading to another counter-and-counter sequence between Kawada and Misawa, was just a gorgeous piece of wrestling. Kawada goes nuts with backdrops at the very end getting over how meaningful it'd be to pin Misawa, but the time runs out. Pretty amazing that these guys can put on a match this good and have it be the "least" of the series.

[Zenjo]

Seamlessly transitioned from fan-cam to TV taping. Will's editing is awesome. My favourite part was at the beginning when they established the rivalry. It may have been a bit by the numbers and one of the lesser encounters in the series. But hey, it's half an hour of quality wrestling. Always felt like a draw except for one moment when Taue was dangerously late kicking out of a cover.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Holy Demon Army - AJPW 11/25/94

Couldnt find the complete version so just watching the JIP pro shot version (sounds like I am missing about 8 minutes) doesnt sound like I am missing much. 

The match has definitely been the Four Corners in First Gear, but their first gear is better than most in overdrive. Structurally this is similar to most Four Corners matches. Lots of Holy Demon Army working on top in short face in peril segments where hot tags are very short lead to another face in peril segment. I thought two things stand out. There are some new moves you dont see too often (Taue headutts, top rope elbow drop and tope, Misawa double underhood suplex and Kawada's short-arm knife-edge chops in repeated succession) and the other is there is decided uptick in heat when Kawada gets in there with Misawa. Kawada is the Triple Crown Champion by virtue of beating Dr. Death in October but he has not gotten the monkey off his back of beating Misawa. So when he gets in there with Misawa, he is much more urgent and really bring his A-Game. Compared to when Kobashi is in there, he is much more willing to play with his food. In the fourth face in peril (second with Misawa), I liked how Misawa missed both his Spinning Clothesline and his Elbow, it was an interesting wrinkle. The latter almost resulted in the Nodowa/Back Drop Driver combo, but Kobashi saved. Taue took care of Kobashi with a suicide dive. Then they hit the Dangerous Nodowa/Back Drop Driver for two. I think that should have been a Kobashi save to protect the move but it is ok. Here comes Kobashi on the Strech Plum so Taue slaps him in the abdominal stretch. Kobashi breaks free and saves. Misawa crushes Taue with a back elbow and tags out to Kobashi. This would be great for any other four men but for these four, it is below average but there average is so high. 

Misawa/Kobashi get their first control segment on Taue and they rattle off some hot nearfalls. Kobashi gets a Jackknife Powerbomb that was extra hot because of a dangerously late kickout, then a stereo Misawa Frogsplash/Kobashi Plancha, Misawa Facelock and Misawa Tiger Driver. We got some Greatest Hits. On the Tiger Drive, Kawada gets his shit together and saves with a Jumping High Kick. He comes in all piss & vinegar against Misawa, but Misawa blocks his Jumping High Kick. Misawa-Rana out of the Powerbomb, a spot we have not seen a lot in 93 and 94 I feel it becomes very prevalent later. and Misawa & Kobashi play pinball with him. Kobashi almost takes him out with a moonsault for a hot nearfall. On the second attempt, Taue hits a Super NODOWA~! for a hot nearfall for Holy Demon Army. They hit a Powerbomb/Nodowa combo thats their final nearfall. Kobashi sits out on a second Taue powerbomb. Kawada and Misawa together at the end. Kawada pops off two WICKED Back Drop Drivers as time expires. 

It pales in comparison to the balls out nature of their other classics and also lacks the high drama of the others. Last ten minutes of this is still red-hot plus the Kawada/Misawa interactions are great and maybe the closest Kawada ever come to pinning Misawa. I still think that Powerbomb at 5/21 if Kobashi doesnt save ranks high but two Back Drop Drivers if that is a minute earlier does Misawa survive? These are questions for the next Misawa vs Kawada match. As a huge Kobashi fanboy, I cant believe I am going to say this but I thought Kobashi was a clear #4 in this match. He took a back seat to the other three which never happens due to his oversized personality. He kinda just coasted. I thought Taue gave a great henchman performance in this. Never seen this before and I enjoyed it. ****