[1997-10-21-AJPW] Toshiaki Kawada vs Yoshihiro Takayama

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Kawada does a lot to put over Takayama here, but this match is also on the bland side. It's cool for the novelty and it's well-worked, but it's not really all that dynamic until the finishing sequence, which I loved. If UWFI still existed, this would be a pretty disappointing match on that card. Not in the same league as the Albright match.

[Kevin Ridge]

I figure this is under AJPW wrestling rules so I don’t get why Takayama just backs off after hitting a knee that knocks down Kawada. Should be going in for the kill at that point. Lots of Kawada rolling out of the ring after getting hit by a strike. Way too much Takayama on the mat for my tastes. Kawada was getting barely any offense in until the last minute.

[Ditch]

Watched this like ten years ago based on Tabe's recommendation and was puzzled by it. Now I'm a Takayama fan and... I'm still puzzled. Glad I'm not alone.

[soup23]

Perplexing, plodding match. I understood the sentiment of the pray/ stalking method they were going for with Takayama after Kawada but everything felt disjointed and with no flow. At 18 minutes, this dragged a long way. A perhaps good concept on paper that didn't translate well when performed.

[PeteF3]

I...actually have a lot of thoughts about this, but I don't know if I can properly convey them. It's a very, VERY odd match and sort of an interesting one...I'm just not sure that it's "good." I get what they were trying to do--Kawada not being able to move in on the shooter Takayama and getting frustrated by the fact that Yoshihiro can keep him at bay with strikes. And Takayama heels it up some, being slow to break holds when Kawada reaches the ropes, which I liked. But this is like 90% set-up and then 10% climax when I was looking for Kawada to get his opening much earlier than he did. In fact, there are a few points where it looks like Kawada is finally going to unleash some offense and then Takayama cuts him off. Most notably when Kawada catches a kick and prepares to lariat him, but Takayama just sort of side-steps and shrugs the move off. And I seriously couldn't tell if that was by design or if Takayama was actively sandbagging him. It felt a lot like Robinson and Inoki in '75, in any case. The closing stretch is good, but as I said, the set-up takes too long for me to call this a good match even though I was sort of fascinated by it and how Kawada was finally going to break through.

 

In addition, I question the timing of working a match like this at this point. This feels like a debut bout to get over how different Takayama is and how the AJPW guys are going to have to adjust to him, rather than a match where he's already been a regular for close to a year. I'm anxious to see what if anything Dave has to say about this in the '97 Observers--I suspect that he hated it and that this may have contributed to the Takayama backlash that lasted into the early '00s. Even though there are criticisms to be made and it's not anything like a top-100 match, I still found it strangely compelling while I was watching it--it was like the criticisms didn't fully manifest until the match was over.

[PeteF3]

I'm anxious to see what if anything Dave has to say about this in the '97 Observers--I suspect that he hated it and that this may have contributed to the Takayama backlash that lasted into the early '00s. Even though there are criticisms to be made and it's not anything like a top-100 match, I still found it strangely compelling while I was watching it--it was like the criticisms didn't fully manifest until the match was over.

 

Haha, Dave gave this a DUD rating and called it the worst Kawada singles match he'd ever seen.

[Superstar Sleeze]

As I was watching I was like the guys in PWO are going to shit all over this for too many resets but glad PeteF3 liked it in his own way. This rocked!

Toshiaki Kawada vs Yoshihiro Takayama - AJPW 10/21/97

Turns out All Japan has quite a bit of depth if you go off the beaten path. Black hair Takayama is a blind spot for me even though I love blond Takayama like it is my fucking problem. 

I watched this and knew it was going to be trashed by others but I loved it. Obviously everything in moderation but if I was to chose between the extremes of perpetual motion action wrestling and wrestling with short bursts of offense and lots of resets, I would choose the latter in a heartbeat. I see people have criticized this as “no flow” and “disjointed” but I totally disagree this match had a great rhythm and told a coherent and cogent story. Your average go, go, go Match May flow but it can easily be disjointed from a narrative perspective. I like my pro wrestling to either be combatively sporting  or entertaining character driven. Rollins and Omega are very athletic but they are soulless and their matches while highly athletic are more athletic in a gymnastics or track meet sense, I prefer wrestling that sportingly resembles a shoot wrestling meet or MMA fight. This is the closest All Japan got to doing UWFi and it is a really good version.

Takayama is a fucking beast in this match. He dwarfs Kawada. He basically squashes the little dude’s ass. He just pelts with leather. BRUTAL Palm Strikes, huge kicks and real deal million dollar knee lifts. Kawada powdered after each short burst of offense. On the third beating, Kawada has a busted lip. For execution fetishists, Takayama’s strikes are a thing of beauty, grace combined with power come together to make a beautiful sound. I do have complaints. They don’t really progress the narrative and also Kawada takes way too many shots to the head. It undermines the credibility of the match and Takayama that Kawada could last so long. Kawada got his ass beat. Kawada did have some great jelly leg sells here. Then he moved into shooting for the double leg and constantly getting quashed. Takayama starting looking for Cross-Armbreakers to finish Kawada he got one on in the ropes (cheap!) and Kawada now has a bad wing. Kawada caught couple kicks but he missed a Lariat on one, got a back heel trip on the over but didn’t amount to much in guard.

The finish rocked! Kawada drills Takayama with a Dangerous Back Drop Driver from a sitting position on the mat and then a proper one. Stretch Plum for two. Takayama roared back with his famous MEATY knee lifts. EVEREST GERMAN! That was awesome. Huge stand up fight breaks out, Kawada explodes...KOPPOU KICK...KOPPOU KICK NAILS HIM...HUGE POP! The two best Jumping High Kicks Kawada ever threw... demolished him.

In spite of its flaws I still loved this. It felt electric and had a big fight feel. Takayama felt like a shoot style rockstar. Amazing strikes. Loved Kawadas reactions. The major flaw is they didn’t advance the plot. They overstayed their welcome in the “Kawada is getting his ass beat and can’t get any offense in” story. The finish was gangbusters. The Everest German and those four Kawada kicks to end popped me huge. If you Love high end 2010s Brock like I do, check this out because it fucking bangs, brutha. ****1/4