Quebrada #48

by Mike Lorefice


AJ Toshiaki Kawada vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
All Their Matches That Decided The Sankan Heavykyu Senshuken Commercial Tape

This would have been the tape of the century if it had the six Misawa vs. Kawada Sankan Heavykyu Senshuken matches in unedited form. Instead, the first 1hr 20 minutes of the tape documents their first 5 title matches, showing highlights of the matches and events that set up each one and then showing between 8:00 and 12:30 minutes of highlights from the match itself. The final 40 minutes has their entire 5/1/98 Tokyo Dome match, which I will review in a minute. Due to the way they chose to make the tape, focusing on Kawada and showing all the times Misawa set him back in highlight form then the entire win, leaving things with Kawada on top, this tape would more aptly be titled, "Toshiaki Kawada's Eternal Quest to Dethrone Mitsuharu Misawa As Triple Crown Champion."

This is the best AJ tape I've seen for an AJ beginner because it does an excellent job of detailing the top singles series in the promotion for the past six years. It doesn't cover their excellent Carny League bouts or the Sekai Saikyo Tag matches, but based on what the tape wants to be that footage isn't really necessary for this tape (you should definitely see them if you haven't already). Most of it is somewhat self explanatory, but they obviously aren't going to show footage of Tenryu leaving for SWS or a sick Jumbo Tsuruta, both of which in their own way greatly changed Misawa's & Kawada's careers. My advice is access JDW's Kawada bio. Aside from Misawa defeating Stan Hansen on 8/22/92 to capture the TC for the first time, which has nothing to do with Kawada, it will explain what any of the footage you might not be sure about is, as well as provide a lot more valuable information about Dangerous K.