Puroresu Pulse, issue 153: Misawa becomes Ace

Columns, Features

Section 1- Results

All Japan: Kondo beat Super Crazy in the finals of the junior singles tournament

HUSTLE: Magnum Tokyo beat Takada in his farewell bout. Afterwards they debuted a new top heel, an actor.

Inoki Genome: The big main event wound up being Barnett & Ogawa over Takayama & Sap, with Barnett over Sapp.

New Japan: Relevant G-1 results include Tenzan over Sugiura, Nakamura over Goto, Sugiura and Nagata, Omori over Tanahashi and Makabe, Nagata over Goto, Goto over Nakanishi, Nakanishi over Nagata, Sugiura over Nakanishi, Nagata vs Sugiura and Tanahashi vs Makabe going to a draw, Tajiri over Tanahashi, and Makabe over Tanaka. Nakamura has secured block B with a day remaining; Tenzan and Iizuka are eliminated. In block A, Tajiri, Omori and Bernard are eliminated. I have a strong feeling that Goto and Makabe will advance, and I’m leaning towards Tanaka taking block A.

NOAH: Kanemaru & Suzuki won the junior tag league. Morishima vs Sugiura never happened, as Sugiura rested an injury in order to make sure he could be ready for the G-1. KENTA beat Ishimori in a longish non-title match, which I figured they would save for a title match.

Zero-One: Sai beat Sato in the Fire Festival final.

Section 2- News

All Japan: A Kobashi vs Kojima 6-man and Hayashi vs Kondo were added to the Sumo Hall card. This marks Kobashi’s return to All Japan. Suzuki & Nosawa will defend the All Asia titles on the 22nd vs Nishimura & Soya.

Dragon Gate: Doi quickly vacated the lightweight title. On the 30th there will be two 3-way matches to set up a decision match, and whoever wins will be a first-time champ. The company is in the midst of its tag league, with the final to take place on the 26th. Team Akebono will get their trios title shot on Sunday.

DDT: Ticket sales are apparently going okay in the lower section and the expensive floor seats, but they might not do well with the upper section.

New Japan: There was a big drama involving TNA doing an unauthorized tag title switch. First NJ ignored it; then they said they wouldn’t recognize it. Now they are recognizing Magnus & Williams as the champs. There will be a Chono 25th anniversary show on 10/12 at Sumo Hall.

NOAH: For reasons that stagger the imagination, Shiozaki’s next title defense will be against Saito on 9/27 at Nippon Budokan. Morishima vs Sugiura has been rescheduled for the 29th.

Section 2a- Meltzer News

All Japan: They will run shows in Taiwan on 11/20 and 11/21.

Dragon Gate: They had a legit 9000 attendance for Kobe World Hall, another strong showing. Dave botched the monkey scandal, for instance saying that young boy Ryoma had bought it. The monkey was in the dojo long before him, and was bought by CIMA.

HUSTLE: They drew just 5000 for the Takada retirement. Not from Meltzer: there are a lot of rumors that the company is in trouble.

Misc: Steve Williams will retire at an IWA Japan show on 10/25 at Shinjuku Face. He said that Misawa’s death made him want to retire so he wouldn’t risk hurting his family. Said 8/31/93 vs Kobashi was his best match.

New Japan: Tanahashi challenged Fujinami to a match. Worth noting that Fujinami is 6-0 as an IWGP challenger.

NOAH: They won’t get help from New Japan on 9/27 because New Japan has its own show in Kobe that night.

Section 3- A dude shilling a dude disguised as another dude

Give the new guy a chance whydontcha.

Section 4- Media Corner

First, it’s worth mentioning that the site has been down a bit over the last month. My host changed things around within the server my site is on, and THEN it moved the server cross-country. When that’s through it should be stable for a while.

Best of 2000

DVDVR vote results. Of the top 11, three of those (Kobashi vs Omori and both Kobashi vs Akiyama matches) were covered in last year’s look at Kobashi’s career. Misawa vs Akiyama will be covered in the Misawa series. Kobashi vs Takayama was covered last week. I’ll cover the rest in chronological order.

Kawada & Tenryu vs Hansen & Mossman (Kea), All Japan July 23rd 2000.

This finished in 5th place and is well worth keeping in mind when best-of-the-decade voting rolls around. The top four 2000 spots were pretty much set in stone at the outset, and the fact that this nearly beat out the Kobashi vs Akiyama epic speaks to the quality of this previously overlooked gem. Lots of historical importance. For starters, this was All Japan’s first Budokan show without the NOAH crew. They needed a satisfying main event. Tenryu returned ten years after a controversial exit. Mossman/Kea got moved up from midcard prospect to future-of-the-company. Hansen, who was mere months from retirement, had one last great outing. Kawada stepped up as he needed to, showing the sort of fire that had been lacking in an injury-plagued 1999. The match itself is a heavyweight war with some great exchanges, huge bumps, and everyone comes out looking like the toughest SOBs on the planet. NOAH’s ‘all star’ debut show main event of Kobashi & Akiyama vs Misawa & Taue really paled in comparison.

2009 Ongoing

Kobashi & KENTA vs Shiozaki & Ito, NOAH August 2nd.

This took place at the 3rd annual ‘Shiodome Jamboree’, which takes place in an outdoor mall near the NTV headquarters. A unique atmosphere and ridiculously hard chopping makes this worth your while.

Section 5- Misawa’s Career, part 3 of 7

Nine matches. Don’t expect to watch them all at once. But please, do watch them all. Matches not on megaupload will be available within the next few days.

17. Misawa, Kobashi & Kikuchi vs Taue, Fuchi & Ogawa, July 21st 1992.

Importance: Although Jumbo’s absence was supposed to be temporary, this marked the start of Taue’s transition from a follower to a leader. And he does an effective enough job. Misawa, meanwhile, has one of his trademark gritty “so what if I have a legit injury” performances.
Uniqueness: An injury causing a restart with a substitution isn’t something you see too often, especially in straight-laced All Japan.
Why it’s a good match: Plenty of fire, right down to Kikuchi and Ogawa going at it tooth-and-nail. The injury is handled in such a way as to add drama. This is my favorite post-Jumbo 6-man, and though I rate it higher than pretty much anyone it did come very close to reaching the top 50 in last year’s All Japan 1990s poll.

18. Misawa vs Kawada, Triple Crown, October 21st 1992.

Importance: Their first relevant singles match. A battle to determine the leader of the new generation. The start of the rivalry that defined the company. Yeah, I’d say it’s important.
Uniqueness: At this point the things we somewhat take for granted in an All Japan main event were far from standardized. Although much of the groundwork was set in the Jumbo vs Tenryu feud in the late ‘80s, the ‘epic main event’ was not the usual thing. So when Misawa and Kawada trade hot nearfalls for an extended period of time in a match around 30 minutes in length, that was raising the bar rather than following a pattern.
Why it’s a good match: Most of the first half is slow, but the second half more than makes up for it. Plenty of big moves and drama without going overboard. You get the sense that either man could win a rematch.

19. Misawa vs Kawada, Champions Carnival 1993.

Importance: This is where the feud really kicks off. Kawada left Misawa’s stable at the end of the tour and this match shows why.
Uniqueness: Very different feel than their other matches. It doesn’t have that sense of being an epic or being part of an epic series. It’s still good, just not larger-than-life.
Why it’s a good match: Look who’s in it.

20. Misawa, Kobashi & Akiyama vs Kawada, Taue & Ogawa, July 2nd 1993.

Importance: The best and most famous 6-man of the Misawa vs Kawada feud, and a match in which Misawa and Kawada start to show just how intense they can get.
Uniqueness: Misawa vs Kawada is defined by its title matches at big shows, while Jumbo vs Misawa was just as much about small show tags. Here we get a sampling of the great All Japan 6-man dynamic, with Kawada in Jumbo’s place and a young Jun Akiyama trying to hang with the best.
Why it’s a good match: Misawa and Kawada tear it up at Korakuen Hall.

21. Misawa vs Kawada, Triple Crown, July 29th 1993.

Importance: Their first title bout in the feud (they were still teaming in ’92).
Uniqueness: This feels more like a ‘proper’ Misawa vs Kawada bout, though the final minutes are full of unusual moments. Several spots in this match are returned to as the feud progresses.
Why it’s a good match: Crowd heat! Big exchanges! Nearfalls! Also, look who’s in it.

22. Misawa & Kobashi vs Kawada & Taue, tag titles, May 21st 1994.

Importance: The big lead-in to the biggest Misawa vs Kawada battle.
Uniqueness: They raise the bar on big-time tag wrestling while at the same time serving as a textbook lead-in. That’s quality work.
Why it’s a good match: Great psychology, great action, loads of drama, great great GREAT.

23. Misawa vs Kawada, Triple Crown, June 3rd 1994.

Importance: “The” Misawa vs Kawada match, and the consensus pick for Misawa’s best singles match. I lean towards this being Misawa’s best singles match performance. Oh and it comes with much more momentum behind Kawada than he had previously.
Uniqueness: Hardway blood, a match that’s longer and yet tighter than their past efforts, and a famous finish.
Why it’s a good match: To me this match represents the perfect struggle for control. The transitions between each of them going on offense adds more to the epicness of this than any number of big bumps. The effort and the selling and the intensity adds meaning when they finally do start using the big guns, since it takes so much to use them. They do the exact opposite of mindless your-move-my-move in the finishing stretch, which makes the big moves seem bigger because they’re so difficult to come back from. This match is not great because of the head drops; it’s great because while watching it you know that these are the two best professional wrestlers alive going at it for all they’re worth. Whoever wins is The Man.

24. Misawa vs Williams, Triple Crown, July 28th 1994.

Importance: Doctor Death looked good in a title match the year before, but he really elevated his game in ’94 and was now someone Baba could put the title on. With Misawa’s reign closing in on the two year mark, every defense was a potential title change.
Uniqueness: Williams wrestles a very focused match and Misawa puts it over quite well. It’s much more technical than you expect from the Oklahoma powerhouse.
Why it’s a good match: I rate this on par with the ’92 Misawa vs Kawada bout, around the 10th best Misawa singles match. Smart work in the body, and the usual “can Misawa make the comeback THIS TIME?” story is handled very well thanks to Misawa’s selling and Doc’s cut-offs.

25. Misawa & Kobashi vs Williams & Ace, Tag League 1994.

Importance: Misawa looks to be part of the winning team in the tag league for a record 3rd year in a row. It’s also a big step up in quality for a match with a ‘gaijin’ team, and Misawa vs Williams & Ace tags would be revisited several times with great results.
Uniqueness: I love the energy and heat between the teams. It feels like a feud rather than just competitive rivalry. Also, the way this plays off Williams’ big title matches with Misawa and Kobashi adds to the big match feel. You KNOW that any time Doc is in the ring it’s going to be a fight.
Why it’s a good match: Ace steps his game up tremendously, and the other three deliver as always at Budokan. I rate this one pretty high because it’s got a good pace, loads of action and plenty of ‘oh man that whole TEAM is screwed’ peril. True peril is what separates a good tag match from a great one. PERIL~

Next Time: G-1 final! More progress towards the big shows at Sumo Hall and Nippon Budokan! Possibly an interview! Definitely not a 3 week gap like this time!