soup23 Posted January 26, 2017 Report Share Posted January 26, 2017 I am loving this pairing right now and this match didn't disappoint for me. I think in watching all of the 2000 stuff all together they have been able to connect with me on a stiffness level while also integrating some layered storytelling that is the net result of these guys facing each other many times before. Williams and Akiyama is the most unfamiliar pairing and they start the match off well with some neat mat work with Akiyama's arm getting targeted. The match also had some extended work on Vader's leg which I thought he sold like a champ. The finishing run was dramatic as it looked like Williams was about to get Lariat'd by Kobashi and defeated when Vader on the outside holds Kenta's feet long enough for Doc to reverse the charge into a spinebuster. This sets up the finishing run culminating in Doc getting a feel good tag title run as Vader chokeslams Kobashi into oblivion for the win. Doc being seen as having to get bailed out by Vader really hit home for me in how well Vader is being presented in AJPW right now. **** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted February 2, 2017 Report Share Posted February 2, 2017 Dr. Death is having a hell of a 2000 thus far. I loved his snug matwork with Akiyama to start things off, and he doesn't look out of place in the slightest with everyone else in the match. I've enjoyed a lot of the atypical All Japan stuff thus far in 2000 (which has been most of what we watched) but this more closely resembled the classic AJPW epics and it was also pretty great. Lots of drama in the finishing run with lots of really smart, patient build before it. I love Vader and Doc isolating and practically destroying Kobashi with alternating elbow drops and splashes before Vader hits the mother of all chokeslams to win the tag titles for his team. Akiyama continues to look like maybe the best guy in the world and is starting to be positioned that way as well. He would have easily been the guy taking the fall a year earlier in a match like this, but more than that, he gets in lots of great offense on Vader. I've been critical of how Kobashi works with Vader, but here, he followed Akiyama's lead and the results were really good. The high quality Steve Williams run in 2000 was not at all something I was expecting to see and while it has come mostly in tags, it has been an awesome curveball. Maybe this is the last great King's Road tag. We'll see. ****1/2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laney Posted February 27, 2017 Report Share Posted February 27, 2017 This is a fantastic tag team match that kind of has a slow build but results in some exciting sequences in the ending portion of this match. Everyone looks great in this match. A lot of great legwork on Vader with him doing a great job of selling. Vader and Doc win, but Akiyama and Kobashi still look like strong contenders with the way they really took it to Vader here. A fun finishing sequence with Kobashi just getting decimated with double teams and then takes a brutal chokeslam. Just an overall fantastic tag match. ****1/2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Williams and Vader made for a fun hoss team. That's the kind of team you'd choose in a video game if you could. Williams was indeed good in this and Vader seemed even more surly than usual. I like to imagine it's because everything is too small for him in Japan and he gets tired of trying to squeeze into small spaces and duck whenever he enters a room. Some Japanese guys look cool with facial hair. Kobashi does not. I believe it was Howard Hawks who said a good film should have three great scenes and no bad ones. This match followed a similar formula -- three great exchanges and no bad ones. I liked the mat exchange between Williams and Akiyama, most of the power moves and the double teaming that led to the chokeslam finish. Vader was a bit slow at times but it didn't effect the match. Even the stuff I'd accuse of being "cookie cutter" in most Vader matches was well laid out in this. I don't think it was a legit classic, but one of the stronger Feb tags for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cramerjason87 Posted March 8, 2017 Report Share Posted March 8, 2017 Outstanding performance by Vader and Williams. They end this match looking unbeatable. A large portion of the match was Vader and Williams in control and it never got stale. Akiyama is such a good seller. The finishing stretch had big nearfalls and the actual finish was perfect for the match structure. By far the best tag of the year and the best men's match in Japan so far. Great match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonsault Marvin Posted March 26, 2017 Report Share Posted March 26, 2017 Kobashi gets totally destroyed. The match built well with early grappling between Akiyama and Williams and good exchanges with Kobashi and Vader, but they amped it up with the finishing stretch. Kobashi is given a sick dragon suplex from Williams and then constantly double teamed until he had nothing left. Williams continues to surprise with his comeback in 2000. Excellent match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasch Posted April 21, 2017 Report Share Posted April 21, 2017 I hope Loss is wrong, and this isn't the last great King's Road tag. This was all kinds of stiff and fantastic. I wouldn't have guessed Doc and Vader had a match like this left in them. **** 1/2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G. Badger Posted July 1, 2017 Report Share Posted July 1, 2017 A very overlooked match in a overlooked period of AJ. This is first time or place that I've seen other speak highly of it. I've had this on a Vader comp for nearly a decade so here's my take from then: Vader & Dr. Death are a hell of a team and Akiyama was ready to bring it. Kobashi dogged it a bit but, took some good shots and nice bumps so it didn't matter too much. A great tag match & really the place where Vader & Dr. Death (at this point in their careers) shine. ****1/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Evans Posted August 3, 2017 Report Share Posted August 3, 2017 God that finish was brutal. Kobashi lands right on his head. Enjoyable match for all the reasons said. Doc looked on fire and Vader was good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravJ1979 Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 I really liked this. Williams bringing it in AJ and he and Vader as a tag team could have had a good run in WCW or ECW, but money wouldn't have been there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superkix Posted December 11, 2017 Report Share Posted December 11, 2017 Love Vader preempting the match with a double bird “Fuck you!”. The first half of this match was solid enough, with Akiyama and Kobashi working over Vader’s knee. I liked when Kobashi had Vader in the half crab and Akiyama dropkicks the knee a couple times -- good subtle selling from Vader throughout. The match picks up as Akiyama gets put on the rocks and suplexed around by Vader and Williams. I thought Williams connected with some good stiff clobbering blows. The final minutes of the match heading toward the finish was full of big boy bombs, including Exploders from Akiyama, powerbombs and powerslams, and Vader hitting the Vader Bomb onto Kobashi for a terrific nearfall. That finish with Kenta getting dumped on his head with the dragon suplex and then chokeslammed was brutal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stiva Posted January 20, 2018 Report Share Posted January 20, 2018 Fantastic match that escalated in superb fashion. Doc and Vader were just all out great here, laying out a hell of an attack on Akiyama and Kobashi, while still finding that perfect balance of selling and vulnerability to make everything matter. The double bird from Vader set the scene pretty great and I loved all of the opening exchanges; Vader and Kobashi exchanging strikes in the corner, the work on the leg (complete with Akiyama hitting missile dropkicks to it while Kobashi had Vader in a half-leg crab!) and I liked how Akiyama and Doc went from trading holds in their first sequence to throwing blows in their second one with Doc catching him with an AWESOME jab. It feels like a duo that could have a great singles match in them (I don't know if it ever happened, hope so), especially since Doc, in general, looks great. Agile, hard-hitting, really motivated.The ending run is suitably chaotic with Akiyama looking amazing, just running about, throwing suplexes and knees with wild abandon until Vader and Doc neutralise him. Kobashi takes a hell of a beating, keeps getting up until finally, he drops after sustained punishment and, to make matters worse, Doc has his partner in a chickenwing, forcing him to look on as they lose the belts. Absolutely great tag with 4 great performances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbrett Posted April 22, 2018 Report Share Posted April 22, 2018 Great match, a lot of good work by everyone. Akiyama bumping like a mad man and putting Vader over Kobashi at the end was a surprise, but I guess that sets up their match on 2/27/2000. Vader looked better here than any of the other 2000 matches I have watched so far, probably because he got many breaks and Doc looked great here as well. I went in thinking this was going to be a good match but they definitely brought it to another level for this one. **** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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