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[1991-06-01-AJPW-Super Power Series] Steve Williams vs Toshiaki Kawada


Loss

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  • 2 months later...

I liked this way more than Loss. Hot opening as Doc tried to steamroll Kawada only for Kawada to counter and hit an early power bomb for a nearfall. Then Doc came back with an Oklahoma Stampede on the floor, which looked nasty. I could see finding Doc's offense a bit bland in the middle of the match. No doubt he got a ton better over the next two years. But I had no big issue with his performance. He sold appropriately for Kawada, who turned in another strong effort with his counter kicks, lariat to the back, etc. This was in no way on the level of their '94 stuff, but it was an entertaining match that paired well with Misawa vs. Gordy.

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I liked this a lot, too. In fact if there had been a shred of doubt over who was going over and thus was more heated, it'd probably pull ahead of Gordy/Misawa. Really liked Kawada trying to end it early with the power bomb and the payback spot with Kawada powerslamming him onto the exposed concrete. Ending was a touch anticlimactic, maybe, but Kawada losing on the AJPW equivalent to a flash pin was a nice way of making him look strong in defeat. This wasn't a total Kawada carry job either--Doc is sort of back in my good graces again.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I find myself somewhere in the middle when it came to this. Liked Kawada in it with him reversing an Oklahoma Stampede to the ringpost and powerslamming Williams on the floor. My problem with the finish is Williams hit the same move to Kawada on the floor earlier in match and it looked more devastating then. I thought it was kind of weak for Kawada to lose in the ring to that move though.

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  • 2 months later...

Plenty of bomb throwing and high impact action. Hardly any downtime although 5m was clipped. Hot crowd and a decent contest between two closely matched rivals (kayfabe). Lacked have the narrative to go higher and didn't flow at all times. They needed more experience facing each other in singles, but this was a fine way to start.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...
  • 3 months later...

I'm not sure which match some of you were watching, but I liked this just fine. The story was the same as in the Misawa/Gordy match, with the plucky native trying to overcome the monster gaijin; the only difference was that this time he absorbed too much punishment in the process and fell short. Doc was brutal here, administering the Oklahoma Stampede both inside and outside the ring, which in itself would be enough to put down almost any other human being right away. But Kawada not only recovers, he gives Doc a taste of his own medicine right on the floor in a tremendous payback spot. In the end, though, he's simply taken too much, and is beaten by a relatively harmless fallaway slam after getting caught coming off the top rope. Thus, the two-match singles series between Misawa/Kawada and the MVC ends in a 1-1 standoff.

 

I noticed Kawada used the same sleeper-type hold Misawa did against Gordy, although this version looked more like a straight-up Million Dollar Dream. Have Teddy teach you the counter to it the next time you're in the States, Doc!

 

Where was this match clipped? I'm not doubting Zenjo's word, but it must have been done more smoothly than usual, because I never noticed.

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  • 2 years later...

On rewatch (again) here's the thing. Crowd is ROLLING after that opening. Williams goes into that amateur hold he always does and the crowd immediately goes to sleep. Belly to belly kind of gets the crowd to notice after that, a second belly to belly puts them right back to sleep. Great job murdering the crowd Steve.

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  • GSR changed the title to [1991-06-01-AJPW-Super Power Series] Steve Williams vs Toshiaki Kawada

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