Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue vs Mitsuharu Misawa/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi – August 29, 1991
This match had me googling how to make gifs out of videos on google drive using an iPhone. I’m inept, so there are no gifs here, but one day! I’ll have them somewhere.
It’s obvious on paper who’s taking the fall here, but as usual, they still put on a hell of a show. A fun game to play in this match is trying to guess how many seconds of sustained offense Kikuchi will get in each time Misawa’s able to take control of the match for his team. If he tops 30 seconds at any given point in this 20 minute match, well, I tell ya, I’d be pretty surprised. Misawa is constantly having to compensate for Kikuchi’s shortcomings. Kikuchi has such FIRE though, such a zest for failing to beat up people double his size. He’s a lovable liability and we love him for it.
Jumbo even loves it! He seems to relish abusing the poor Junior heavyweight. He’s the ultimate monster Ace. I don’t know if it’s Kikuchi’s size, his selling, or what – but Jumbo appears to lay his offense in a bit extra here. And Oh God, his Lariat.
It’s a fun match in front of a vocal crowd and everybody plays their part to a T. This was a lot of fun. I’ll think of Kikuchi trying to hip toss Jumbo Tsuruta often. ****½
Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi – September 4, 1991
What a fantastic match! Hansen starts things off before the bell rings with a Western Lariat cheap shot that really sets the tone. Luckily for Kobashi, referee Joe Higuchi refuses to start the match and count the pin right away, giving Kobashi enough time to roll to the floor and catch just enough of a breather to survive.
This all pisses a perpetually ornery Stan Hansen off, who proceeds to powerbomb Kobashi on the floor and huck a table at his head. Kobashi’s only offense for the first FIVE minutes is a desperate overhand chop to Hansen’s barrel chest, which has no effect. At the five minute mark he’s able to hit a sidekick that hurts Stan for the first time. Stan’s selling here is exceptional. He never over-does it or looks like a stooge, even when he’s trying to get away from Kobashi. There’s a wounded, but increasingly dangerous sense about him that just heightens the closer Kobashi gets to a possible upset.
Meanwhile, Kobashi’s just as brilliant. LOOK AT HIM:
Kobashi, with his utter lack of big signature singles wins at this point in his young career, is the impressionable youngster.He clings to sleeper hold not only after Hansen kicks out of a pin attempt, or after he tries to escape to the outside of the ring, but even over the guardrail into the crowd. Is it enough? Of course not and we know that Western Lariat’s going to show up again, but the way it finally ends the match is an all-timer. Just like it would be two years later. Hell of a thing! ****1/2
Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada © vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue – World Tag Team Titles – September 4, 1991
This is the one. The absolute last guy you’d expect to take the fall is the one who ends up taking it, and it’s a Big Deal. This was a landmark match in a great year for AJPW and they changed the format up a bit. Rather than Misawa looking strong in defeat, he’s the one in peril for the bulk of it.
Misawa comes into this with some sort of shoulder injury and Jumbo is quick to focus on it. Misawa needs a breather to get taped up eventually, but Kawada is able to keep things competitive long enough for Misawa to get back into the action, shedding his bandages in the process. This match answers a few questions about the champions. Can Misawa survive Tsuruta with an injured arm? Can Kawada carry his weight enough with a hobbled partner to make that happen? Can Misawa beat Jumbo again? It had been over a year since his flash victory on 6/8/1990. Since then, he’s piled up a bunch of losses, even though he’s looked like a star in the process. We know he’s legit, but we also know Jumbo is still The Ace and has put any doubts of his abilities since that one loss to rest.
Well! Misawa DOES survive, because Kawada not only holds his own, he saves Misawa and absolutely clobbers Jumbo in the back of the head with a lariat. This allows Misawa to beat Jumbo again, this time making him submit to the Faaaaaaacelock in the center of the ring. Excellent wrasslin’. ****1/2
