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Sankan Heavykyu Senshuken
Jiai: Steve Williams vs. Toshiaki Kawada 10/22/94 Tokyo Nippon Budokan (16,300 sellout) From AJ Williams vs. Kawada 10/22/94 Tokyo Nippon Budokan Commercial Tape |
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This is a long match that isn't nearly as spectacular as Misawa or Kobashi's stuff, resulting in this being one of the underrated and underappreciated matches for the Sankan Heavykyu Senshuken. These two don't do any dives and don't drop each other on their head 30 times.Their concussive blows and throws are really impressive, but they don't really awe you with anything flashy. What they do is beat each other up in a logical, focused manner. They get a lot out of everything they do and they (mainly Kawada) do the little things right. While the match is long, it's more quality over quantity. They do big moves, of course, but it's more that they do a lot of small moves in a way that adds to the match, so while the big moves help, they aren't the be all and end all. The match is built around those finishers, but there's a lot more to it than that, and really the match only has to rely on those moves for the close calls and eventual finish. Kawada really had his game face on. He knew the task at hand, and what it was going to take to beat Doc for the Sankan Heavykyu Senshuken just as he'd beaten him for the '94 Champion Carnival six months earlier. He always scoffs at the pretty boys and posers that put on some phony act in hopes of eliciting cheers, but today he didn't want any accolades until the job was done. Dan wrote, "You know the match is going to be killer when Kawada looks disgusted, pissed off, annoyed, and perturbed at the streamers being thrown in during the introductions. Usually he is just indifferent at this point, but this time his facial expression looked as though he was thinking,'Let's not fuck about and get this thing started so I can kick some ass." He kind of dodged the streamers as if he was worried that one would hit him in the eye, thus hampering his ability to win the match. Williams was just the opposite of Kawada. His intensity was equal to Dangerous K's and he's at least as imposing, although Doc's imposing look comes from looking mean, while Kawada's comes from looking so damn serious. The difference is that unlike the straightshooter Kawada, Williams is kind of an anti-hero. He's nasty, rough, likes to brag and taunt, and isn't afraid to break the rules when he needs to, but the fans cheers really pump him up. If they are for them then he'll use that energy to do his job in a more engaging way, but if they are against him he'll stick his tongue out or flip the fans off then work that much harder at kicking their heroes ass. Their personalities of the combatants can be summed up by one little segment early one when Kawada was in the corner. Williams tried to taunt Kawada by bumping heads with him and giving him the evil eye staredown, but Kawada wouldn't even look up into his eyes. He just pushed Williams off as if to say "get the fuck off and let's get down to business already." "The bell rings and they size each other up then hit the mat when Kawada grabs Doc's leg and Doc misses with an enzuigiri. After a good sequence of matwork, Kawada puts his game plan into effect and attacks the legs of Williams. Williams sees what's going on, so he attempts to take it back to the mat and tries to work in a cross armbreaker. He can't get it so they get back to their feet where Kawada immediately dropkicks the left knee of Williams. Kawada goes to work on the leg, kicking it and dropping his jumping knee onto it a few times," wrote Dan. Kawada's knee attack was really great because it was so focused. It also made sense because the only part of Williams' body that was obviously weak before the match was his knee, as he had it taped up. If you are going to come into a match with Kawada with a body part taped, you may as well write "kick me" on the tape because that's exactly what's going to happen. In this case, he didn't waste any time getting to it. The segment of this attack that stood out for me was when Doc escaped to the floor after a kneecap dropkick, Kawada didn't chase after him. Instead, he waited for Williams to reenter then went right over and drilled the back of the knee with a low kick as if to say, "You can take all the time you want, but it's not going to do you a bit of good." Williams was too hurt to stop Kawada from dragging him to the center of the ring by the bad leg and applying a katagyakuebigatame (1/2 crab). Williams got to the corner and pulled himself up, but couldn't stand without the aid of the, so Kawada just kicked the knee again then delivered a series of pinpoint kneedrops to the knee like only Kawada can," wrote Dan. The early portion was slow, but that's because Williams was selling like crazy. Every Kawada move was too the knee, so each was adding to the story of the match. It was so simple, yet the story was so focused that it really dragged you in. Really, it was deliberate in a good way. You basically knew where the match was going because they were wrestling so intelligently and had plotted their course in a fashion where you knew where the ship was heading, but for these reasons it was compelling so you didn't need any ice bergs to make you want to keep watching. I shouldn't make it sound like anything was too obvious though, of course they threw in several twists, turns, and teases and either man could have won a handful of times. "Doc rolls out to buy himself some time to stretch out and heal up the leg. Back in the ring, Doc and Kawada show how they good they are by making even the old test of strength compelling to watch as Kawada answers Doc by overturning the arms behind the back spot. Williams, however, reverses that himself and spots an opening where he lets go of Kawada's knuckles and hooks the arms behind him to deliver a Tiger Suplex that Kawada didn't see coming. Kawada sold this early devastation perfectly, as he stumbles to his feet only to sense his legs going out under him so he makes sure to fall backwards to the outside to get himself out of harms way temporarily. Kawada is simply the best seller ever. He makes the damage look so realistic," wrote Dan. Williams didn't have any great focus in his attack and at points forgot to sell the knee when he was on offense. However, Kawada did a typically awesome job of putting over Williams big suplexes. The thing that separates Kawada from most everyone else is that he even puts the rest holds over enough to make them interesting and meaningful. The other thing is that he doesn't sell like crazy, he puts the moves over to the maximum extent they can be put over without believability being lost. An example of what makes Kawada's selling so great was when Kawada knocked Williams to the floor with a punch and dropkick. Williams got up to the apron, and Kawada wasn't able to knock him off with elbows, so Williams shouldered him through the ropes. It was a simple spot, but something had to give there because Williams had no sold a series of stiff blows even though he was rather wobbly. On impact, you hear a scream like "jeahhh" come out of his mouth as he jumped back with this pained grimace on his face, grabbing his stomach on the way down. He didn't look like a ridiculous ping pong Boy Toy, he just reacted to a blow to the stomach like it was a low blow (except grabbing the stomach). The result is the viewer thinks, "now that was a shoulder!" "Kawada gets back in eventually whereupon Doc takes no mercy on him, going right after his neck. Doc hits a particularly nasty gorilla press throwing Kawada from basically the center of the ring into the ropes where he lands on his throat. This really looked hurtful as Kawada didn't land feet first and then on his throat. Williams then hits some corner lariats and delivers a sheer drop brainbuster for good measure to garner an early near fall. Williams wants to end this now, as he is trying for his Dangerous backdrop (backdrop driver). He can't get it, so he tries to throw Kawada against the ropes, but Kawada reverses it to land his spin kick to Doc's head," wrote Dan. I really loved this sequence for the urgency displayed right after Doc attempted the killer headdrop. Kawada saw himself in that position and just bolted toward the ropes, then Doc laid in a series of fast clubbing blows to Kawada's prone back to set up his next move. The surprise spin kick counter by Kawada brought the crowd into the match more. From here on out the match was much faster paced with the big spots finally being executed, but they still took the time to put over the spots and weren't afraid to try to end it with a submission. The one problem was that they left the knee story for the most part. "Kawada tries to get back into it with a few kicks, but Doc is having none of it as he dropkicks Kawada in the face twice, the final one being particularly stiff to the mush in the corner. Doc picks up Kawada and goes for the Oklahoma stampede, but after hitting the second post with it, Kawada's weight takes it's toll on Doc's bad knee and Doc falls to the mat clutching it as Kawada is spilled in the process. Kawada now takes the initiative and begins to hit Doc with his stiff kicks. He hurts Doc with his high kicks, and after a wicked lariat from Kawada, you can see that they busted Doc's face up as he is bleeding from the cheek. The tables having been turned, Kawada kicks Doc in the bad knee once again to set up his Dangerous backdrop which he hits to perfection and then goes straight into the stretch Plum in a neat sequence. Kawada stretches out Doc and gets the near fall Kawada hits a sleeper on Williams coming off the ropes and cinches it in tight, but the ref goes in there to check to see if its turned into an illegal choke. He determines that it has, so he counts Kawada, who releases it. He goes to put a sleeper back on, but Williams has taken the break opportunity to protect, so Kawada can't get it on good. I really liked this sequence. Rarely do you see refs do that anymore, but it makes it a whole lot more believable instead of having a sleeper on for a long time and the guy in it mysteriously, after being in slumberland, get his 'second wind' as if blocking blood flow and airflow only had a 'temporary' effect. Anyway, Kawada thinks the time is ripe for his power bomb so he goes for it. Doc powers out of it slamming Kawada down in a sidewalk slam. This is at the 30 minute mark, and one can sense that the big bombs are coming up next," wrote Dan. I thought the powerbomb turned into a sidewalk slam spot was really impressive. It looked much better than usual because typically the person doing the move catches you so your thighs are as high as their waste. In this case, since Doc stood up out of the powerbomb, Kawada's thighs were above Doc's shoulders. I thought the tease was really good though because Kawada tried for the move twice in a row. The first time he saw that Doc wasn't budging so he kicked him in the face and then put him back into powerbomb position. This softening up led you to believe that Kawada would probably be able to do the move this time, but it was just the opposite. "Doc is desperate to make the most of this opportunity, so he hits a Tiger Suplex followed immediately by a nice Doctor bomb as the crowd really comes alive thinking this may be the end. Kawada kicks out before 3. Williams knows its time to go for the Dangerous backdrop and this time he hits it. Kawada sells it perfectly and rolls out in a last ditch effort to save himself from the pin. Williams goes out after him and picks him up and throws him back in. What is really nice here is that Kawada gives him no help at all so Williams actually has to pick him up in a powerslam position to throw him back in. I really liked that small touch by Kawada and Doc. Little things like that can really add a lot to the match," wrote Dan. I liked how this segment showed the contrast in strategies. Kawada always let Doc get up to the apron before coming in to attack the same spot, but Williams was out there immediately because he wasn't about to let a sure pin slip through his fingers. Prior to that, I thought Kawada jerking around when Doc set him up for the Dangerous backdrop was a nice touch. He couldn't get to the ropes, so he tried to sneak out or make Williams lose his balance, but it didn't work. "Williams goes straight for the pin, but Kawada had bought himself enough recovery time to kick out at the last possible moment. Kawada rolls out of the ring again to buy some more time so he can get back into the match. Williams realizes what is going on so he comes out after him, but instead of throwing him back in, he goes for a Dangerous backdrop on the outside! He gets Kawada up about half way, but Kawada has regained enough forethought to kick against the post of the ring to send him and Doc both back against the guard rail, saving himself. This was great! Back in the ring, Doc hits a powerslam on Kawada, but Williams is obviously out of ideas and tiring from his onslaught that failed to put Kawada away. Kawada goes on the offensive, recuperated enough from his quick thinking in avoiding the knockout blow. He fights back with high kicks and a stiff as hell abisegeri to the face of Williams. Williams is hurting so Kawada goes for the powerbomb and hits it after struggling for it. A nice near fall, but victory eludes Kawada. He attempts another powerbomb, but can't get it off as Williams powers out. They exchange blows after Kawada gets up with Williams getting the better of it with some stiff punches. Kawada is near the ropes and when Doc goes over to try to end it with the backdrop driver, Kawada grabs the ropes to prevent the move. Doc desperately wants to hit this to end it now so he is pulling Kawada's tights with all his might to try to get him off the ropes and into the move, but Kawada is holding on. In a great move, Kawada seizes the opportunity to use Doc's added momentum as he releases the ropes and delivers a wickedly stiff spinning chop to send Doc down to the canvas. This was such a great, dramatic spot. I really liked this spot because Williams thought he was going to outsmart Kawada, thwart his successful method of escaping the killer move, only to have his own strength be used against him when Kawada released the top rope, meaning Doc was then unknowingly pulling a spinning chop throwing Kawada right into him. "Kawada follows it up with a kick to the knee and a ganmengiri (jumping kick to the face, opposite of enzuigiri). Doc barely blocks an abisegeri and another ganmengiri in a last ditch effort, but Kawada, summoning all of his remaining spirit and energy hits a ganmengiri that sends Doc into the ropes only to bounce off and be hit by a lariat to the back of the head sending him into the ropes again only to bounce off and get nailed with a extremely stiff ganmengiri. This awesome flurry from Kawada was enough to finish Williams off and win the Triple Crown. A great finish to a great match and the announcer, Akira Fukuzawa screaming SHIN CHAMPION!!!! over and over brought a HUGE smile to this Kawada fan's face. The fans show their appreciation by running to ringside and chanting KA-WA-DA. An excellent match that had everything," wrote Dan. The post match was just a great scene with the fans jumping out of their seat and surrounding the ring while screaming at the top of their lungs and waving their firsts in the air. Kawada was "out of it," but did manage to briefly raise his arms in the air after the seconds lifted him onto their shoulders. When Kawada had the three belts in his hands, he was finally able to loosen up and begin celebrating because his mission had been accomplished. Special thanks to: Dan McGowan 37:59
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