[1997-11-27-AJPW-Real World Tag League] Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Misawa will tolerate the ropewalking from Shinzaki. I liked Kawada and Taue's approach to that better I think. I don't know if I had expectations too high or what, but I really didn't get into this much. The last few minutes of this are really great though, as Misawa and Akiyama convince the building that they're about to see an upset. But the match is in slow motion until those last five minutes. I wish I could have put this match in front of the crowd for the Kawada/Taue match. They had to work much harder to get them over here, whereas the other crowd was ready to explode for Team FMW.

[Kevin Ridge]

What was Akiyama doing during the rope walking as he just dropped down off apron so Shinzaki could go by. Misawa still managed to avoid the finish to rope walk. Credit to Sinzaki continuing to try hit the move. FMW guys actually had more of the action during the match. Last few minutes were pretty good. Really close call after the Phoenix Splash. I had to rewind there to make sure it was a two.

[soup23]

I liked this match a good bit. The opening was perfunctory and fine with all the pairings. The rope walk didn't bother me because of how Misawa blocked it. I am still really enjoy watching Akiyama grow and he mixed it up well with Hayabusa here. The end stretch was really impressive with team FMW looking to pull off the big upset and Misawa looking like a true ace. Is it a great match, no but I thought this was a really good affair that showed some depth again in All Japan.

[PeteF3]

Agree with Loss on the slow motion portion of this match--a chunk of the time, Misawa and Akiyama work this like a late-'80s WWF house show with basic clubbering offense, while the FMW team shows off all the flashy moves. But the crowd isn't into them as much as the one we saw a few days earlier. Really good finishing stretch though, with Team FMW having a golden opportunity to put Akiyama away with Misawa on the floor, but Mitsuharu having to navigate his away around the ring apron and through Shinzaki to make a fantastic save off the Phoenix Splash. He then asserts himself in taking out both opponents, allowing Akiyama (with a hope spot or two thrown in) to eventually put Hayabusa down. All in all a match on the disappointing side, but the stretch run was enough to elevate this far enough for me to call a good match.

[Zenjo]

In stark contrast to last time the crowd were as dead as a proverbial donut. The first half was surprisingly restrained. The previous all action approach worked better. The guest team ended up hitting lots of flashy high flying moves. The execution was actually better this time, but the structure wasn't as good and the magic wasn't there. I liked the ending as they teased Hayabusa pinning Akiyama. It didn't quite happen for the masked man.