AJPW 03/09/85: Tiger Mask (Misawa) vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi
This is a pretty damn wild match for 1985. I mean wild as in it's fast
paced, high energy action from start to finish - something that wasn't
very common back then. A really enjoyable sprint'ish bout with good
atmosphere to boot. ***
AJPW 05/21/93: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Stan Hansen
The beginning scene of Hansen rushing to brawl with Misawa during the
introductions while the streamers are still flowing to the ring is
pretty epic. Everything that follows is absolutely great, too - Hansen
is looking to gain control right from the get go indeed, but Misawa
finds ways to escape & lash out hard hitting and vicious offense of
his own, which then forces Hansen to go & figure out a new strategy,
and that he sure does by attacking Misawa's elbow arm. Hansen's work
over the arm is brutal; he puts it in holds, he stands over it, he sends
it to the post - all very compelling & violent Hansen-like stuff.
Misawa has a real mountain to climb now, and I love how the first few
comeback attempts he gets in, Hansen is there quickly to shut them off -
it makes Misawa's eventual BIG comeback that much more amazing. That
finishing elbow was absolutely sick, too. Great match. ****
AJPW 07/18/04: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Satoshi Kojima
In short: Misawa's elbows rule, Kojima's lariats rule, this match rules.
Plenty of elbows & lariats indeed in this one, with both main
weapons of the wrestlers coming majorly into play in the finishing
stretch, which was just tremendous. The Emerald Flowsion kickout felt
pretty damn big, as the crowd erupted for it. Sure there were a few
rough spots in the thing, but overall I had a lot of fun with it. The
whole dynamic of Misawa, THE KING, returning to All Japan to take on
Kojima was very interesting & it played out in very compelling
fashion inside the ring. ***1/2
Forever
No comments:
Post a Comment