It's Been 6 Years

AJPW Super Power Series 1990

 (1990/6/8)

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta

While this match might not be a five star GOAT contender, it holds up tremendously due to its humungous importance and electricity that transcends your usual pro-wrestling environment. Just a timeless classic that changed everything, Budokan wanted to see Misawa win and something was in the air that night. Thankfully Baba felt it too and changed the match outcome on the fly. The rest is history. One of those matches where words cannot do it any justice.

****3/4

AJPW Champion Carnival 1995

 (1995/4/15)

Champion Carnival 1995 – FINAL: Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa

Brilliant match that is highly underrated due to Taue being the least popular among the Big Four, hell, even Jun Akiyama was more popular than him on the west. But man oh man, this fucking match truly display what Taue was all about, dude could go really hard. You know shit just got real when you see him busting out a huge dive. His gameplan is masterful here, he knows he stands no chance against Misawa in the striking or hold-for-hold department, so naturally he does everything he can to randomize his offense, and that includes some serious scraping the bottom of the barrel. Extraordinary pacing, wonderful crowd, big moves, savvy counters, grand drama, this clash is a fucking masterpiece.

*****

NOAH 2004/8/28

KENTA vs. Mitsuharu Misawa

Ah, back when KENTER was a perky Junior who looked really good and charismatic against surly heavyweights who kick his ass. This was a not a high end Junior punishment match, but it was good enough. Misawa was mauling him properly with all the elbows and KENTA’s comebacks were getting better as the time flew by. No complaints here.

***1/4