[2005-07-18-NOAH-Destiny] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[dawho5]

Lots of good stuff early. Great strike exchange. Misawa being the aggressor is a fresh way to present this. Then somewhere along the way it derails and becomes a standard NOAH finishing run with Kawada and Misawa. They should have done something more off the norm of how NOAH worked for these two, but instead they seem to have just fallen back on formula.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada - Tokyo Dome 7/18/05

It is hard to declare one particular matchup or feud as my all-time favorite, but it asked to rattle a handful off, you best believe that Misawa/Kawada would be listed. It had been five years since their last match due to the All Japan/NOAH split of 2000. I could not think of a better way for them to go out then in front of 52,000 fans in the Dome. All Japan never even ran the Dome until 1998 and what was the feud that propelled them to believe they could pop a big number: Misawa/Kawada. In a full circle moment, this matchup headlined the last NOAH Dome show. Much like a big 70s/80s hard rock/heavy metal act touring on their big hits, Misawa and Kawada seek to deliver the best of Misawa/Kawada one last time. A nostalgia match really will never be an all-time classic, but when it is Misawa/Kawada you can't deny how good it makes you feel to watch them work on last time against each other.

A long staredown between the old rivals is broken by Kawada's fear of the Almighty Elbow. In a change of pace, Misawa is the early aggressor and it is Kawada trying to weather the initial storm of elbows. There is a great moment where Kawada goes bezerk after a couple elbows by slapping the shit out of Misawa and kicking him in the face. Kawada knew he could dig himself into a hole early and it was like he woke up and just freaked out. It was relaly good stuff. He goes for the piledriver on the floor, but Misawa hits a Tiger Driver on concrete. Kawada collapses on the Irish Whip. After years of dominating Misawa early and not being able to put him away, it looks Kawada is being blown out by Misawa.

Kawada's answer to Misawa's elbow has always been his feet and with some timely kicks begins to turn the tide. Misawa is looking for the Tiger Driver on the apron, but it settles for elbowing him off the apron. INCOMING! Kawada elbows Misawa out of the sky. Game-changer. Misawa misses his first big bomb and Kawada hits a powerbomb on the ramp. I didn't really care for this because the amount of walking done to get to the ramp and then Kawada having to walk Misawa back to the ring to avoid countout finish. Kawada survives an elbow war with a kick and wins a suplex struggle to be able to apply the Stretch Plum and get two. Kawada firmly in control even works in his bicycle kick counter to the German and it looks like the beginning of the match is long gone with Kawada rocking and rolling. Brainbuster gets two. Powerbomb gets two. Whiffs on the home run knee. You sense something big is coming and BANG! GANSO BOMB~! Tough to watch regardless what happened to Misawa later. You know once Misawa kicks out of the Ganso Bomb that this not going to end well for Wile E. Kawada.

Misawa-rana right out of his own pants in a funny moment. Elbows reestablish his control and Emerald Flowsion onlyu gets two. Rolling kappo kick sets up the Tiger Suplex and Tiger Driver '91. It is the merciless onslaught of elbows and eventually Kawada can no longer resist.

As a one last time, "Best of" match, this really hit the spot. You do get a curve ball early with Misawa being so domintant early and really setting the tone with his elbows and Tiger Driver. Kawada was really put on his backfoot, but made the most out of expoliting Misawa's mistake. In the story that is as old as time, Kawada try as he might could not put away the resilient Misawa even with the ultra-dangerous Ganso Bomb. Then it became 'ol reliable the best stretch in wrestling Kawada jelly leg feeding Misawa and Misawa elbowing him into obvilion. ****

[Graham Crackers]

I think my opinion lands right between dawho5 and Superstar Sleaze on this one. I liked this and I think it's better than a bunch of those lifeless late 90s matches between them. Not a great match but a lot of fun and a satisfying main event to a big show.

[Superstar Sleeze]

It would have been the perfect Misawa retirement match. It is too bad he kept going.

[cactus]

This match is basically Misawa vs Kawada on tour. Coming to your local theater! Far from their best bout, there's enough here to make it worth your time. You get some stellar strike exchanges, Kawada takes a Tiger Driver '91 and Misawa takes a Ganso Bomb. Misawa gets a win after a underwhelming elbow combo. It's fine...

★★★¼

[fxnj]

The entrances on this are so perfect. We begin with watching Kawada slowly rise up through the floor and finally make that surreal walk to the emerald ring. Follow that with Misawa's music blasting through the arena and the Dome crowd chanting his name in unison. I absolutely love that profile shot of Kawada in the ring while Misawa walks on the ramp. Then there's that nervous look on Kawada when he watches Misawa get into the ring and the amazing staredown between them to start the match. For me this match is already **** before they've even locked up.

The opening minutes are largely defined by Kawada overcoming his initial tentativeness. The tight opening lock-ups, the slow breaks, and Kawada showing his residual trauma on Misawa's elbows are perfect tension building devices leading to some snug strike exchanges. The first one, a Misawa elbow vs. Kawada chop exchange, feels a bit like a baptism by fire for Kawada with him letting himself eat Misawa's hard elbows until he's gotten over his fear and can terminate the engagement by kicking Misawa's face off. I also love the aggression Misawa shows a bit later on by fighting back on Kawada's beatdown attempt as a means of cutting off Kawada's momentum. Others have mentioned it unusual to not have Kawada in complete control of the beginning before the match slowly slips away, but I don't think it's that unheard of. 6/6/97 also features a more aggressive Misawa throughout and that's also a match that I'm way higher on than most others, so go figure. Anyway, Kawada going nuts blitzing Misawa with kicks is an awesome moment that drives home that the old Kawada is back.

The match's beginning is full of great sequences for in-depth analysis but, to move forward a bit, the one I want to draw attention to most, and where it really hits me that this is a Misawa vs. Kawada match comes after Kawada reaches the ropes off a Misawa RNC attempt (which, btw, is itself a pretty interesting choice given its history as a move Kawada used to use on Misawa and even legit KO'd him with it once). Misawa throws Kawada to the corner but he collapses from the residual effects of the choke in a great bit of acting, whilst a Misawa who's already breathing heavy stoically looks on. Camera gives us a nice close-up of Kawada wiping the sweat from his eyes to regain his bearings after having gingerly made his way back up, then zoom out to him immediately getting his foot up to catch a Misawa rushing towards him. Still selling some exhaustion, he manages to get his foot up again on Misawa trying the same move again, and he then quickly seizes the opportunity to do a running head kick on Misawa, who narrowly gets his hands up but can't stop it. He grabs the ropes while visibly huffing, but doesn't get much respite as Misawa takes the opportunity to get up and clock him with an elbow. Kawada has to think fast to avoid the match from slipping away and responds with a gamengiri that nails Misawa right on the chin, resulting in a double knockdown and some awesome close-ups of their faces.

I don't think I did much justice to it with words, but a sequence like that is an awesome example of just what sets these guys apart. So many neat details with such stiffness and great, believable timing, alongside a history that makes every little thing feel like some kind of callback. Calling it a "touring match" or "best of" is hardly a criticism when the base working level on their big matches is so ridiculously high. Even still, "best of" remains an incomplete description of what this match is. If this is them doing their "best of" it's them doing so while in a far more broken down state than they were when they last met, in a Dome show put on by Misawa's promotion, and 5 years removed from their last encounter with the additional history of the AJPW/NOAH split between them.

That is to say that, even granting that there's nothing new here (which I don't agree with; the spot with Kawada powerbombing Misawa outside and then having to go back and then, regardless of there not even being a championship at stake, bringing him back in to avoid a count-out is a very creative spot that says so much about their relationship, and features some amazing bit of subtle acting from Kawada as he decides to go through with carrying Misawa back), it still feels like a fresh dynamic to see them coming out as two old gunslingers and running their bodies through the ringer one last time with nothing more than pride at stake. It almost feels like they're compensating by going for the absolute sickest bumps on head drops possible, what with Misawa eating two germans while landing straight on top of his head and Kawada not rolling through at all on a Tiger Suplex. Accordingly, there's some sloppiness as well at the end between Kawada clearly letting go of a powerbomb too early and Misawa's tights coming down. It's sad and uncomfortable at times with a somberness surrounding the overall situation, both just to watch in itself and in knowing how things would end up with Misawa later. But that doesn't mean it's bad. Their feud, with its story of two high school friends torn apart as their rose up through the business, always had a sense of underlying tragedy, so this couldn't be a more appropriate last match for them. It's like watching a funeral procession building to a final burial.

The finish stretch is as definitive as it gets. Kawada fails to put away Misawa after completely emptying out his moveset, even pulling out the ganso bomb. Misawa, having survived the onslaught, is left with a Kawada who's utterly gassed out, and he pretty much goes off on Kawada at will. It's a very cool moment seeing Kawada finally kick out of the TD '91, but there's no doubt by that point that he's just delaying the inevitable. The last minute or so has always stuck with me. Kawada completely out on his feet but still unconsciously coming forward because his pride will just never allow him to back down against this man. If I had to pick one moment that perfectly encapsulated the meaning of their feud, it would be this one. ****1/2

---

The promo at the end by Kawada is very interesting. The first few times I watched this, I just believed the story Ditch wrote on his site that Kawada was challenging Misawa to another match and got in trouble for not getting clearance to cut the promo ahead of time, but there's a bit more to it. The actual thing he said during the promo is as follows

「三沢さん、あえて握手はしません。
ずるい話かもしれないけど、今日打つはずだった終止符が打てなくなりました。
三沢光晴はいつまでも、俺の一つ上の先輩の力を持っていてください」

DeepL translation for this is wonky, but Papago has a pretty good translation (with some cleanup by me)

"Misawa-san, I won't shake hands.
This may be a devious thing to say, but I couldn't finish what I was supposed to do today.
Mitsuharu Misawa, please forever hold the power of the senior who's one above me"

So, these words leave some room for interpretation. Yes, you could still take it at face value that he just let himself get caught up in the heat of the moment and got in trouble for it purely by accident. But, given how little room the match's layout leaves for an immediate rematch, I'm inclined to take it as a more deliberate shot at Misawa's booking himself go over and that he had no intention of working further. Either way, it's a very interesting way to end things and leaves us to contemplate the huge "what if" of Kawada in 2005 NOAH.