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[1993-04-21-AJPW-Championship Carnival] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Stan Hansen


peachchaos

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I made this topic since I just found this on YouTube and had never seen it before. It's not on Ditch's site and didn't make the 1993 Yearbook. It was also skipped over by the All Japan Excited Series podcast. It's an awesome match in my opinion, and being the final match of the CC with the names involved it seems like its been snubbed a bit.

 

Was this unavailable until recently? Has it not been looked upon favorably?

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I love the standoff in the beginning after a flurry of strikes and tussling around the ring vs. what you see commonly today after some dueling headlock takeover reversals. Real interesting story as, without seeing any of the build here from the rest of the CC, it felt like this was building to a big Misawa comeback and win. First, Misawa's hope strikes are tremendous, every transition felt organic. We get the kickout of the first powerbomb by Misawa and he starts to mount some offense. Hits the splash, Hansen wisely rolls away from another. Tiger driver is reversed, and love that Misawa pops right back up, but Hansen kicks him down until we get the big blocked lariat and now both guys are injured. Hansen can't use the arm so he goes to headbutts and nasty shoulderblocks. he finally tries the lariat again and connects but pays the price. When he does cover, Misawa is in the ropes - great sequence. My brain thought, here's the big comeback, but it's more Hansen - an incredible performance by him here - and he struggles at first to lock in the powerbomb (selling on offense like the #3 GWE) and then crushes Misawa with it and bends him over for the pin. Post match he uses streamers as a makeshift sling to hold his injured forearm. ****1/4

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  • GSR changed the title to [1993-04-21-AJPW-Championship Carnival] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Stan Hansen
  • 1 year later...

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Stan Hansen - AJPW 4/21/93 Champions Carnival Finals

In a moment where many thought the Universe would be Annihilated, Misawa's Elbow met Hansen's Lariat in a collision that many physicists speculated was the cause of blackholes in many far off galaxies. Thankfully for the human race, we could just enjoy this moment of the two unstoppable forces colliding!

Another great installment in the criminally underrated Misawa vs Hansen feud. I didnt like this quite as much as the August 1992 title switch. Misawa had his breakthrough win against Hansen on that night and it was all due to his Trusty Elbow which Hansen put over as death. Since then Misawa has beaten the top two native challengers, Kawada and Taue, but this is his first singles match against Hansen since the Triple Crown title victory. Since this is the Champions Carnival, the Triple Crown is not on the line. Can Misawa prove his is not a one punch fluke?

Hansen vs Misawa has a different feel from the rest of All Japan at the time. It is much gritter and more minimalist. There are a lot less highspots and more emphasis on strikes. I liked how chippy it was at the beginning of the match. They felt like they were fighting through each other's offense. Hansen was going for the eyes and Misawa was just trying to hammer elbows. Misawa was content to work headlocks at the beginning. Hansen was looking to dish maximum punishment using the hard parts of his body, elbow, exposed knee and cowboy kicks. Hansen gains control when he drags Misawa to the apron out of a figure-4 headlock and lunges at him with an elbow. Big Powerbomb by Hansen gives him his first nearfall. Hansen has a phenomenal dropkick in the early 90s. It carries weight and explosiveness. Hansen signals for the Lariat. Swing & a MISS! Misawa ELBOW DEATH~! Hansen goes down to a knee and a second elbow causes Hansen to collapse but kicks out this time! Huge heat on this nearfall because of what went down in August. This shows Misawa is going to have dig deeper than in August to win.  We get the frogsplash and now Misawa wants the Tiger Driver. Hansen blocks. Then in a moment when time stopped, Misawa's Elbow Collided with Hansen's Lariat sending shockwaves throughout the universe.

The selling by both men is otherworldly. I love that both took 2-3 full minutes to sell. It really put the moment as something special. Misawa was in pain and agony. Hansen was in full wounded bear selling writhing in pain on the outside. It was genius stuff. Misawa was relentless when Hansen returned to the ring. Tons of elbows to the bad arm. Then out of nowhere LARIAOTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! WOW! My eyes went wide because Hansen just gutted through it and almost decapitated Misawa. Hush fell over the crowd. Hansen could not capitalize because he was in so much pain, but when he did cover Misawa got his foot on the ropes for two. Hansen wants the powerbomb, Misawa tried to mount a comeback, but too much was taken out of him. In a fitting way, they are both on the mat and Hansen just starts kicking him in the head hard repeatedly. There was no elaborate setup to the final powerbomb. It was this small, lo-fi, gritty, minimalist sequence where Hansen just kept kicking him in the head. Second powerbomb does Misawa in who really never had a chance after the Lariat. 

I loved this match because it is really stripped down. Its a fight early. Just a lot of strikes. Misawa really only hits one signature move besides the Elbows and that is the Frogsplash. So you leave plenty in tank for the rematch. You get the Big Elbow nearfall to play off August. The Elbow/Lariat is such a cool spot. The finish was great Hansen gets the desperation lariat and grits through the pain for the win. Now Misawa vs Hansen Triple Crown rematch is inevitable and plants the seed of doubt that Misawa could be a fluke making their May rematch all the more intriguing. ****

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