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[1990-12-07-AJPW-Real World Tag League] Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue


Loss

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  • 3 months later...

I love how into this the crowd is. I've seen this match many times before, and my favorite part has always been the payback spots on Jumbo. It's been fun to watch Misawa and Kawada evolve into this very confident team that knows who they are. All I could think the whole time was how far everyone involved has come this year, and that made the match seem better than it ever has before. It's a feel good sprint with great action and story.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Kawada vs. Taue takes center stage here in a great little preview of what's to come between the two in '91. Kawada was still quite junior-y at the start of the year but is now pretty firmly entrenched as Misawa's #2. Misawa, Kobashi, and Kawada were all nowhere near ready to be promotional anchors at the start of the year and here they are at the end being their familiar '90s selves. I'm surprised at how hard the Misawa group was pushed in 1990--I guess they needed it, but it seems like most of the big matches against Tsuruta's team end with the young guys victorious.

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Man Jumbo was a bastard in this. I loved the elbow he gave Misawa at the end when Misawa did a running charge at him on the apron. This was his fuck you that he was not going to be caught off guard. I also liked him directing Taue to do his dive tot he outside on Kawada. Great sprint match with a molten crowd and Kawada picks up a big win for his team and has solidified himself as a player. Great match.

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Great match and culimination of the rise of Misawa/Kawada in 1990. Kawada and Taue served as the workhorses, but Jumbo and Misawa made the match with their attempts to one up each other from the apron. As much as we've praised the young guys for how far they advanced this year, Jumbo also deserves credit for stepping up his game as the guy clinging to the crown. He delivered some awesome moments, both in selling and in cleaning house when he got pissed. I might have to put this one ahead of the 11/1/90 NJPW tag as well, because it delivered just as much action and heat with more character payoff.

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Seen this but didn’t remember liking it as much. They really drew me towards the end. Misawa has really come on strong during the year. I felt some of his performances under the Mask earlier were kind of listless. Now he’s full of fire. Kawada has improved also and Jumbo is the perfect foil to try block each of their rises. Crowd was really into it.

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  • 2 years later...

This wasn't quite the classic that the September match was, but it still packed plenty of action, plus the two teams were much more familiar with each other, which raised the hatred level quite a few notches. Misawa and Kawada take much of the offense and deliver sound thrashings to both Jumbo and Taue, who absorb their thrashing but still have enough guts to hang tough. Then we have the rapid-fire finish, where both teams empty their respective bags of tricks but can't quite get the winning fall until Kawada's German suplex on Taue wraps things up for the youngsters.

 

If this had gone longer or had slightly more offense from Jumbo and Taue, we might have been looking at even a better match than 9/30. But we can't quite have everything, as both teams have to have something left for the rest of their Tag League bouts. Given that restriction, this match was as good as possible, and just misses joining 9/30 in my Japanese top three for the year.

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  • 1 year later...

#322 - placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-350-301/2/

 

I went through the 1990s last year, but I couldn't remember anything about this match. So, I decided to give it another watch today. I love how fired up Jumbo was when he got tagged in, delivers a sweet lariat to Kawada, then an elbow to Misawa on the apron. I've said this in another thread somewhere before, but Jumbo is one of my favorite hot tags in history. I loved when Kawada had Taue in the Sharpshooter, and Jumbo comes in to break it up, but Kawada decides to nail him with a lariat instead of taking another kick. Then, Misawa gets to nail Jumbo on the outside. Again, I feel like Jumbo steals the show after he is eventually tagged in after Taue was worked over for a while. He's throwing out some brutal blows to Kawada and Misawa. Misawa does a fantastic job bumping for him. Once it gets back to Kawada and Taue in the ring, their chemistry is just off the charts. They really get at each other, and it's a great moment in the match. There were some down spots mixed in with the greatness, but overall I'd say this is a great match. These matches are all so great, so when you watch them all together, you may not appreciate each one as much as when you come back and revisit them in a vacuum. But, to that point, I think watching them all together allows you become more invested in the storyline and performances. So, I guess I'm trying to say coming back to some of these individually is really worth it.

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  • 5 months later...

Got interrupted re-watched the whole thing.

 

Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 12/7/90

 

First Ten Minutes: I feel like Misawa & Kawada always come off heelish in 1990, but are still wicked over. They are the original anti-heros. Japanese crowds tend to root for whoever is getting beaten up so there were plenty of Taue chants. Interesting to see Taue do well against Misawa until Kawada kicked him in the back early while running the ropes. Taue tagged out and Jumbo just steamrolled Kawada and elbowed Misawa off the apron. Crowd popped huge for that! This was pretty much who could beat up the junior member of the team more. At the end of the first ten minutes that was Taue who seemed to hurt his knee on a kneelift (which he may have hurt early running into the buckles). Kawada was just merciless with the leg holds on Taue. In a fracas, Misawa hit a massive diving elbow to Jumbo (great save by Misawa as Jumbo was out of position so he hit a baseball slide and re-established the setup it was noticeable but a logical save). So Jumbo is out holding his head, which was pretty much his 1990 and Taue's knee is fucked. How will they come back? Or will Misawa & Kawada cement their rise?

 

Second Ten Minutes: Seven minutes of very good Taue heat segment. Lots of varied offense from leg holds to double teams to strikes. Suplex on the outside by Kawada was nice. Frogsplash by Misawa for a nearfall. Taue was really good at selling, which not something we talk about a lot. Most of the heat was around Jumbo and his injury. Taue gets an enziguiri early into heat segment, but finds out that he has no one to tag, which is a spot I always love. Then when Jumbo has recovered to finally get in and help, Kawada hits a barrage of knees to the injured head to draw boos. Taue finally gets a back suplex outta the corner. They do the WWE spot where both men fatigued and battered tag their partners. Who will win this oncoming clash of Misawa vs Jumbo? JUMBO! JUMBO! JUMBO! He throws Misawa DOWN on his head. THEN DECKS HIM WITH A LARIAT! He smacks Kawada off the apron for good measure. He annihilates Misawa, but Kawada keeps saving. Taue sumo slaps Misawa into Kawada. Kawada gets sumo slapped to the outside. AIR TAUE~! THIS IS FIYAH~! Jumbo is PUMPED! Rips off mats and Taue slams him on concrete. Superplex by Taue! Last three minutes were hot and I mean double hot!

 

Last five minutes: Taue slows down due to constant Misawa interference. Last 90 seconds is insane. Misawa looks to destroy Taue with a Hart Attack Flying Forearm and then Jumbo but Jumbo obliterates him as he is coming with an elbow. Jumbo Backdrop Drivers Kawada to Hell. JUMBO IS A MONSTAH IN THIS! Taue only gets TWO! Taue runs into a Misawa elbow when Kawada ducks. Awesome spot! Kawada German -> 2! Misawa dropkicks Jumbo into corner. Kawada CLOBBERS Taue with a lariat. Kawada goes for powerbomb but Jumbo murders him with an elbow. Misawa takes out Jumbo with a wicked elbow to the back of the head! AWESOME KAWADA POWERBOMB 1-2-3!

 

Barnburner of a match! The last ten minutes or so is insane. Hate, energy, urgency tons of stiff shots. Just such captivating energy. Jumbo is standout in this. Selling Misawa's elbow and how he is just out to murder Misawa & Kawada with each shot. Taue was so dynamic here best selling of the match, but also bringing the offense. Misawa & Kawada were an excellent team so much offense and so hungry to win. This feud just keeps on giving an giving. ****1/2

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Fun match. Jumbo is KO'd by a trademark graceful and deadly Misawa elbow. Poor Taue gets isolated and his leg worked over. The aspiring New Generation heroes draw big time heel heat! Jumbo wastes the little dudes with fat lariats and knees! Kawada is a stiff bastard! Lots of cool little details to love here, such as Kawada attacking Jumbo's buzzing head like a mad dog when he tries for a comeback. Taue was pretty much the focus of the match and made the most of it, doing a very good job selling and busting out the sumo pummeling and awesome Taue dive in the second half. The finish was between the secondary guys and we get a nifty guessing game on whether Misawa or Jumbo will be able to seal the match while not being the legal men. Good stuff overall, neat story, some violence, cool psychological details etc.

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

Maybe I'm just a sucker for tag-matches but this was amazing. The timing was really brilliant stuff & showing Akira Taue's toughness was a great little story here too. I wasn't sure he could take all that Misawa & Kawada were dishing out. Although this was clipped a little bit on the front end since I think it was a TV episode (complete with commercials!), it didn't effect the greatness of the match. They're building off of past confrontations or adding neat twists. Kawada really comes into his own here too. I felt that in the couple months since the last match he's got his intensity dialed up. Great stuff!

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  • 1 month later...

This match reminded me how much I love 90s AJPW. Misawa and Kawada have really come into their own and you can see the greatness coming out in this match. The crowd was hot, the match had a good story, and the execution was terrific. Definateky going to be in my top ten matches of 1990.

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  • 3 months later...
Misawa wants Jumbo real bad. When Misawa gets his hands on him, he uses his youthful speed to his advantage, overwhelming the veteran before tagging in Kawada. The pissed off Jumbo takes it out on Kawada with some nasty kitchen sink knees but Misawa’s able to temporarily extract Jumbo from the tag equation after blasting him with a big running elbow from the apron. With Jumbo out, Taue ain’t got nobody as Misawa and Kawada take turns bullying. Jumbo emerges to break up a hold but Kawada starts attacking him to boos from the All Japan fans. Kawada’s the biggest shithead in this match and it’s awesome. Loved his climbing corner kick to Taue’s face – such a jerk. When Jumbo finally gets the tag, he gives it to both punks and damn near decapitates Misawa with a jumbo-sized lariat. Again, Kawada keeps spoiling Jumbo’s offense but Taue gets his revenge, hitting a dive to the outside and bodyslamming Kawada on the floor. His offense never looks that great but he’s such a loveable underdog. In fact, Jumbo comes in and tries to help him out by elbowing Misawa and backdropping Kawada but it’s still not enough to get Taue the pinfall. The final minute or so of the match is built around Kawada’s powerbomb and it’s fantastic, as both sides are scrambling, the crowd is losing it, I’m losing it, and finally, Taue loses it via Kawada’s powerbomb.

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  • GSR changed the title to [1990-12-07-AJPW-Real World Tag League] Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue

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