AJ Selection #201 taped 11/29/89 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
'89 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh
'89 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat
'89 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen
AJ Selection #202
10/1/89 Naha Shimin Taiikukan: Doug Furnas vs. Shinichi Nakano
1/2/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Super Heavykyu Battle Royal
12/4/89 Sendai Miyagi-ken Sports Center
'89 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Terry Gordy & Bill Irwin
'89 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Nasty Boys
1/2/90 Tokyo: Genichiro Tenryu & Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Isao Takagi & Jumbo Tsuruta & Great Kabuki
1/3/90 Tokyo: Genichro Tenryu vs. Ivan Koloff
1/20/90 Nagano: Isao Takagi & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada
1/24/90 Iwate: Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Isao Takagi & Great Kabuki
1/28/90 Tokyo Kenta Kobashi 7 Match Trial #7th: Abdullah the Butcher vs. Kenta Kobashi
AJ Selection #203
1/3/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Shinshun Battle Royal
12/6/89 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
'89 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Terry Gordy & Bill Irwin vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh
'89 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Doug Furnas & Danny Kroffat 17:48. Unfortunately, these aren't the British Bulldogs we're used to seeing. Dynamite has lost considerable muscle mass and seems to have aged 5 years since his last All Japan tour a few months ago. Meanwhile, Davey has now reached the super roidy threshold where you begin to wonder if he can touch his arms to his side. The match starts out really well with a series of spots where athleticism trumps power, but Dynamite begins to fall apart 4 1/2 minutes in, reinjuring his back. Davey slowed the match down after this, unsure how much more his partner could offer. Dynamite was back in briefly 2 minutes later, but seemed very stiff, and Davey began incorporating his full arsenal of WWF preening and posing. Dynamite came in blazing, but seemed to injure his arm lariating Kroffat, as if his whole right side had gone numb. Dynamite was ever the trooper, but was literally crumbling before our eyes. Can-Am did a good job of keeping it entertaining, but weren't exactly sure what they should and shouldn't do given Dynamite wasn't Dynamite and Davey, after a certain point, just seemed to be looking for excuses to do as little as possible. Dynamite lost Kroffat in midair, not having the strength or flexibility to complete his avalanche style suplex. The ref just got Dynamite out of the ring after this, leading to an impromptu finish where Furnas came in with a diving body attack, but Davey shifted his weight for the victory. **1/2
'89 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki
AJ Selection #204
10/28/89 Sagamihara Shi Sogo Taiikukan: Doug Furnas & Danny Kroffat vs. Masa Fuchi & Kenta Kobashi
12/6/89 Tokyo Nippon Budokan '89 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen
AJ Selection #206
1/20/90 Ueda Shimin Taiikukan: The Great Kabuki vs. Rip Rodgers
1/2/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Kenta Kobashi
1/3/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Tiger Mask & Masa Fuchi
1/3/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shunji Takano vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Randy Rose & Steve Gatorwolf
AJ Selection #208
1/11/90 Toyohashi Shi Taiikukan: Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shunji Takano vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Ivan Koloff
1/14/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers
1/11/90 Toyohashi Shi Taiikukan: Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask & The Great Kabuki vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki
AJ Selection #207
1/2/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota vs. Haruka Eigen & Mokoshi Okuma & Masa Fuchi
1/3/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
The Great Kabuki vs. Kenta Kobashi
Asia Tag Title Match: Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki vs. Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers 16:02. These teams didn't have their chemistry and timing quite down yet, but it was still a nice showcase for the Fantastics act with the chain wrestling, clever setups, constant teamwork. Fantastics keep everyone on their toes and are always tons of fun. Rodgers was excellent as usual, and the teams began to find their groove in the second half of this junior style tag. They are definitely capable of a lot better, but I'm just happy to see Rogers and Kawada in the same ring. ***1/2
AJ Selection #205
1/2/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Tiger Mask & Shinichi Nakano vs. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith
1/11/90 Nagoya Tsuyuhashi Shi Taiikukan: Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Akira Taue & Isao Takagi
1/2/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta & The Great Kabuki & Isao Takagi vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki
AJ Selection #209
1/14/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Kenta Kobashi vs. Randy Rose
1/20/90 Ueda Shimin Taiikukan: Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shinichi Nakano vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Randy Rose
1/25/90 Koriyama Central Hall: Tiger Mask & Isao Takagi vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Randy Rose
1/14/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Samson Fuyuki
AJ Selection #210
1/24/90 Tono Citizen Gym: Mighty Inoue & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers
1/14/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura & The Great Kabuki vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Ivan Koloff & Rip Rodgers
1/20/90 Ueda Shimin Taiikukan: Jumbo Tsuruta & Isao Takagi vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada
AJ Selection #211 taped 1/20/90 Ueda Shimin Taiikukan
Tiger Mask & Kenta Kobashi vs. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith 13:01. Incredibly disappointing match dominated by a Bulldog team that didn't want to do anything. Dynamite showed no explosion, in fact he was totally subdued, pretty much just relying on his brawling. Davey had no flexibility, and was just looking to showcase his power. Really, only Tiger tried to do anything in the first 12 minutes, but the scenario was Bulldogs totally dominated with Tiger & Kobashi getting an occasional athletic counter, so it was hard for the natives to get anything going. Kobashi finally kicked it into high gear for the finishing segment, but that was just a minute long. **
1/24/90 Tooya Shinmin Center Taiikukan
Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada vs. The Great Kabuki & Isao Takagi
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Randy Rose
AJ Selection #212 taped 1/24/90 Tooya Shinmin Center Taiikukan
Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Tiger Mask & Shinichi Nakano
Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shinichi Nakano
Jumbo Tsuruta & The Great Kabuki & Mighty Inoue vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki
Discs 1 & 2
Intro from Genichiro Tenryu
10/15/76: Press conference with Genichiro Tenryu and Giant Baba
12/9/76: Knot cutting ceremony
3/20/77: Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. The Mafia. 4:11 shown
6/11/77: Genichiro Tenryu & Giant Baba vs. Mario Milano & Mexico Grande 12:04
12/2/77: Genichiro Tenryu & Rocky Hata vs. Dory Funk & Terry Funk 4:59 shown
7/30/81: Genichiro Tenryu & Billy Robinson vs. Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta 7:43 shown
10/6/81: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ric Flair 2:40 1st fall, 1:32 2nd fall, 2:00 3rd fall
2/4/82: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Mil Mascaras 3:00 shown
4/16/82: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 5:53 shown
3/1/83: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Umanosuke Ueda 5:01 shown
2/23/84: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ricky Steamboat 5:12 shown
2/5/85: Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Riki Choshu & Masa Saito 5:13 shown
3/9/85: Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Road Warriors 11:29 shown
6/21/85: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu 19:01 shown
4/26/86: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ted DiBiase 15:21 shown
6/12/86: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Super Strong Machine 4:10
9/3/86: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu 19:59 shown
Discs 3 & 4
2/5/87: Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yoshiaki Yatsu 17:02 shown
6/8/87: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Hiroshi Wajima & Takashi Ishikawa 12:16 shown
6/11/87: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask 7:02 shown
8/21/87: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & The Great Kabuki 7:40 shown
4/15/88: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Bruiser Brody 30:00 shown
6/4/88: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu 5:47 shown
7/27/88: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Stan Stan Hansen 14:34 shown
6/5/89: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 24:04 shown
7/11/89: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu 21:28 shown
8/19/89: Genichiro Tenryu & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Kenta Kobashi 3:36 shown
Disc 5 & 6
11/29/89: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura 20:22 shown
12/6/89: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu 28:56
1/26/90: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Isao Takagi 5:40 shown
4/19/90: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 12:34
1/28/01: Genichiro Tenryu & Hiroshi Hase vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Toshiaki Kawada 23:48
1/8/05: Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Takeshi Rikio 6:24 shown
4/24/05: Genichiro Tenryu & Jun Akiyama vs. Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki 5:30 shown
7/18/05: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Yoshinari Ogawa 10:24 shown
10/8/05: Genichiro Tenryu vs. KENTA 11:37 shown
11/5/05: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Mitsuharu Misawa 14:25 shown
Discs 7 & 8
2/10/90: Genichiro Tenryu & Tiger Mask vs. Riki Choshu & George Takano 19:00 shown
10/23/92: Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura 8:51 shown
11/23/92: Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa & Koki Kitahara vs. Shiro Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura & Aoyagi 4:46 shown
12/14/94: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shiro Koshinaka 20:43 shown
1/4/93: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu 18:15 shown
2/5/93: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Keiji Muto & Akira Nogami 6:56 shown
3/23/93: Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu 4:26
4/6/93: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu 14:51 shown
5/3/93: Genichiro Tenryu & Riki Choshu vs. Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami 19:23 shown
7/14/93: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Masa Chono 10:44 shown
8/3/93: Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Tatsumi Fujinami 5:37 shown
Discs 9 & 10
8/8/93: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shinya Hashimoto 21:25 shown
9/23/93: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Hiroshi Hase 8:54
12/10/93: Genichiro Tenryu & Super Strong Machine vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Tatsutoshi Goto 5:27 shown
1/4/94: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Antonio Inoki 13:56
4/29/96: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami 9:16 shown
7/15/98: Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan 15:01 shown
8/1/98: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shinya Hashimoto 13:12 shown
5/3/99: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Keiji Muto 25:36 shown
6/8/99: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shinya Hashimoto 14:10 shown
10/11/99: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Kensuke Sasaki 13:36 shown
11/1/99: Genichiro Tenryu & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Kazuhiko Fujita 9:08 shown
Discs 11 & 12
12/5/99: Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Takashi Iizuka 7:15 shown
12/10/99: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Keiji Muto 26:31
1/4/04: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Manabu Nakanishi 7:14 shown
2/15/04, IWGP Heavyweight Title Tournament 1st Round: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Masahiro Chono 6:25
2/15/04, IWGP Heavyweight Title Tournament Semifinal: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi 10:32
2/15/04, IWGP Heavyweight Title Tournament Final: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan 13:01
3/21/04: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Tadao Yasuda 6:56 shown
3/28/04: Genichiro Tenryu & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Minoru Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama 6:43 shown
5/3/04: Genichiro Tenryu & Meng vs. Dolgorsuren Sumiyabazar & Dolgorsuren Serjbudee (Blue Wolf) 4:14 shown
6/5/04: Genichiro Tenryu & Tadao Yasuda vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Osamu Nishimura 10:26 shown
8/8/04: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Yuji Nagata 11:28 shown
8/15/04: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Kensuke Sasaki 8:10 shown
8/15/04: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi 6:34 shown
10/9/04: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Katsuyori Shibata 4:45 shown
11/13/04: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Katsuyori Shibata 9:09 shown
1/25/90 Fukushima: Jumbo Tsuruta & Mighty Inoue & Great Kabuki vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada
1/28/90 Tokyo: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Isao Takagi
2/21/90 Tokyo: Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Shunji Takano
2/24/90 Aichi: Jumbo Tsuruta & Mighty Inoue & Great Kabuki vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada
3/2/90 Aichi Asia Tag Title: Samson Fuyuki & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Danny Froffat & Doug Furnas
AJ Selection #213 taped 1/28/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota vs. Haruka Eigen & Makoshi Okuma
The Great Kabuki & Mighty Inoue vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Isao Takagi
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu & Masa Fuchi vs. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith & Tiger Mask
AJ Selection #214 taped 3/24/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Tiger Mask & Tatsumi Kitahara vs. Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat
2/24/90 Ichinomiya Sangyo Taiikukan: Jumbo Tsuruta & The Great Kabuki & Mighty Inoue vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki
3/6/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Barry Windham
AJ Selection #215 taped 2/21/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Jumbo Tsuruta & Shinichi Nakano vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
3/2/90 Nagoya Tsuyuhashi Sports Center, Asia Tag Title: Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki vs. Doug Furnas & Danny Kroffat
3/6/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
AJ Selection #216 taped 3/27/90 Niigata Shi Taiikukan
Tiger Mask & Isamu Teranishi vs. Doug Furnas & Danny Kroffat
3/24/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki vs. The Great Kabuki & Mighty Inoue & Shinichi Nakano
Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
3/6/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Triple Crown: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Barry Windham
World Tag Title: Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy
3/24/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Steve Williams vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu
Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey vs. Akira Taue & Jumbo Tsuruta
AJ Selection #217 taped 1/25/90 Kooriyama Central Hall
Tiger Mask & Isao Takagi vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Randy Rose
3/27/90 Niigata Shi Taiikukan: Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Rusher Kimura & Mighty Inoue
3/24/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Steve Williams
3/6/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Tiger Mask vs. Kenta Kobashi
AJ Selection #218 taped 3/27/90 Niigata Shi Taiikukan
Shunji Takano & Shinichi Nakano vs. Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey
taped 3/31/90 Toyama Shi Taiikukan
Rusher Kimura & Isamu Teranishi vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada
Asia Tag Title Match: Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Joe Malenko & Kenta Kobashi 22:06. Malenko pretty much sat out their great 10/11/89 meeting, so this time they give him the match and have Kobashi have minimal involvement. Malenko is in top form here, really seeming to think his way through the match, counteracting his opponents strengths and proclivities with his speed, flexibility, and ability to leverage almost any situation to his advantage. Still, Furnas is such a physical specimin he can just hoist Malenko up with 1 arm, even when that arm is in a keylock! Slower pacing never leads to Can-Am's best stuff, but the sequences and counters are quite impressive. It starts off really strong, but never seems to pick up steam, and I'd even say stagnates for a few minutes because there's only so much Can-Am has to offer in Malenko's style, but then they move on to the finishing sequence and it gets really interesting again. the heat isn't even close to what it was in their first match because the fans aren't into Malenko to anywhere near the extent they are into Kobashi, but Kobashi does work most of the finishing sequence, and suddenly the heat is there. ***3/4
AJ Selection #219 taped 4/13/90 Tokyo Dome
Masa Fuchi & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jimmy Snuka & Tito Santana
3/24/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey
3/31/90 Toyama Shi Taiikukan: Jumbo Tsuruta & Shunji Takano & Akira Taue vs. Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey & David Sammartino
WWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Ted DiBiase vs. Ultimate Warrior
AJ Selection #220 taped 4/19/90 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan
Giant Baba & The Great Kabuki & Mitsuo Momota vs. Haruka Eigen & Makoshi Okuma & Masa Fuchi
taped 4/13/90 Tokyo Dome
Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs. Big Bossman
Tiger Mask (Misawa) vs. Bret Hart 20:00. You'd think Bret might be motivated to be wrestling in Japan, in front of a huge crowd, taking on another wrestler who was poised for huge success in the new decade. But Bret could still stall with the best of them. When they were on their feet, it was generally an entertaining, if somewhat basic match, but the problem is they'd set up a nice armdrag counter for Tiger then Tiger would just hold Bret's arm for the next minute. They could have condensed this into a hot 10 minute match, but at 20 there was way too much dead time. At best, it had it's moments, but neither man did anything to stake their claim among the 50 best wrestlers in the world at that time. Fans weren't that into it either. In fact, outside of booing Bret a few times for posing and stalling, they were totally dead until Bret faked a knee injury then cheap shotted Tiger when he showed concern. In his book, Bret blamed the whole thing on Mel Phillips, as if they couldn't figure out to eventually do something on their own in 20 minutes without the time keeper prodding them with the "X minutes gone by" cues. Perhaps the finish would have been better, but this just shows Bret's mentality of trying to do just enough down the stretch rather than just going out and trying to have a good match.
AJ Selection #221 taped 3/31/90 Toyama Shi Taiikukan
Tiger Mask & Shinichi Nakano vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
taped 4/13/90 Tokyo Dome
Jumbo Tsuruta & King Haku vs. Rick Martel & Curt Hennig
Stan Hansen vs. Hulk Hogan
AJ Selection #222 taped 4/17/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Doug Furnas & Danny Kroffat
Giant Baba & Andre The Giant & The Great Kabuki vs. Masa Fuchi & Shunji Takano & Shinichi Nakano
4/13/90 Tokyo Dome: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Randy Savage
Disk 1
10/9/73 Kuramae Kokugikan 2/3 Falls International Tag Title Match: The Funks vs. Giant Baba & Tomomi Tsuruta 61:00 [6:08 of 23:57, 1:39 of 17:24, 5:53 of 19:39]
5/1/76 Nippon University Public Hall, 4th Champion Carnival: Giant Baba vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 26:15
8/28/76 Nippon University Hall, 2/3 Falls UN Heavyweight Title Decision Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Jack Brisco 23:02
Disk 2
8/25/77 Denen Coliseum 2/3 Falls UN Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mil Mascaras 33:54
8/31/83 Kuramae Kokugikan, International Heavyweight Title Match: Bruiser Brody vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 21:33
2/23/84 Kuramae Kokugikan, International Heavyweight & AWA World Heavyweight Double Title Match: Nick Bockwinkle (AWA Champion) vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (International Champion) 32:00
Disk 3
3/28/76 Kuramae Kokugikan, 2/3 Falls NWA United National Title Decision Match, Jumbo Tsuruta 10 Match Trial Series #2: Rusher Kimura vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 24:54
6/11/76 Kuramae Kokugikan, 2/3 Falls NWA World Heavyweight Title Match, Jumbo Tsuruta 10 Match Trial Series #3: Terry Funk vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 27:07
Disk 4
7/17/76 Kitakyushu Mihagino Gymnasium 2/3 Falls Jumbo Tsuruta 10 Match Trial Series #4: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Bill Robinson 70:00 [1:00 of 29:05, 8:13 of 21:52, 13:41 of 19:03]
6/11/77 Setagaya Ward Gymnasium, 2/3 Falls NWA World Heavyweight Title Match, Jumbo Tsuruta 10 Match Trial Series #8: Harley Race vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 21:58
1/5/79 Kawasaki City Gymnasium, Jumbo Tsuruta 10 Match Trial Series #10: Fritz von Erich vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 10:21
Disk 5
11/4/85 Osaka Jo Hall: Riki Choshu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 60:00
Disk 6
6/10/88 Nippon Budokan International, PWF World Tag Double Title Match: The Road Warriors (International Champs) vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu (PWF Champs) 13:48
4/18/89 Ota-ku Gymnasium, International, UN, PWF Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship Unification Match: Jumbo Tsuruta (Inter champion) vs. Stan Hansen (UN, PWF champion) 17:53
4/20/89 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu 16:03
Disk 7
4/19/90 Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu 12:32
9/1/90 Nippon Budokan, Triple Crown Heavyweight Next Challenger Decision Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa 24:50
Disk 8
1/19/91 Matsumoto City Gymnasium, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 15:49
4/6/91 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, '91 Champion Carnival B Block: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Toshiaki Kawada 17:13
4/16/91 Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, '91 Champion Carnival Final: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen 12:53
Disk 9
4/18/91 Nippon Budokan, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa 23:17
10/24/91 Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Toshiaki Kawada 19:05
Disk 10
2/27/92 Matsumoto City Gymnasium, 3 Army Special Rematch: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Kenta Kobashi 21:39
3/4/92 Nippon Budokan, World Tag Title Match: Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue 31:18
3/6/99 retirement ceremony
10/28/88 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan: Tsuruta vs. Tenryu. Tremendous match. Great execution, build, excitement, drama, psychology, and heat. Excellent performance by both men. This is everything a big match should be, and more. ****3/4
4/89 Triple Crown: Tsuruta vs. Tenryu. Tsuruta drops Tenryu nastily on his shoulder and head with a powerbomb at 15:45, and Tenryu is unable to continue. This was only very good because the injury caused it to end before it got hot. The heat wasn't as good as the previous match, but the result turned the powerbomb into one of the deadliest moves in the country. ***1/2
6/5/89 Tokyo Nippon Budokan Triple Crown: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu. Pretty much a flawless match that rates right up there with the best men's heavyweight matches of all-time if you take the time period into consideration. Both men play their roles to perfection. Great psychology, build, execution, timing, near falls, and stiffness. Really heated. Tenryu takes the TC. As far as I can tell this is the best heavyweight match of it's decade. What really makes this match special though, is that the match was so innovative. This is the series, and this match did more than their previous two in this regard, that defined the style that Jumbo, Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi, etc would go on to have so many great matches in. *****
10/11/89 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan Triple Crown: Tenryu vs. Tsuruta. Another great match, but not as action packed as in the past. Slower paced, slower building, and not as heated as their past bouts. These guys stiffed the hell out of each other though. Jumbo regained the TC. ****1/4
4/19/90 Triple Crown: Tsuruta vs. Tenryu. This was known to be their last meeting because Tenryu has already signed with SWS. It started out really hot with Tsuruta pummelling Tenryu with big spots and it was a sprint, so it stayed hot most of the way. The match didn't have the build or psychology of their previous matches, but the work was great and the match was certainly different from the other four. Tenryu left the ring quickly after Jumbo put him away and Hansen came out and destroyed the ring boys then got into a fight with Jumbo, thus taking all the focus off the departing Tenryu as the key fued was switched to Jumbo vs. Stan. ****
Disc #1 & 2
6/5/86: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu & Tiger Mask vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu & Kuniaki Kobayashi
7/31/86: Tiger Mask vs. Great Kabuki
7/3/87: Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask 13:11
7/19/87: Tiger Mask vs. Ted DiBiase 4:50
1/2/88: Tiger Mask vs. Curt Hennig 11:20
3/8/89: Tiger Mask vs. Ricky Steamboat 13:47
5/17/90: Mitsuharu Misawa/Kenta Kobashi vs. Davey Boy Smith & Johnny Smith
7/27/90: Stan Hansen vs. Mitsuharu Misawa 16:16
1/26/91: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue 7:24
Disc #3 & 4
2/26/91: Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada 21:17
4/18/91: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa 23:17
4/20/91: Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi 48:30
6/1/91: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Terry Gordy 13:08
4/2/92: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
Disc #5 & 6
6/5/92: Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi 27:12
4/21/93: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Stan Hansen 26:11
7/29/93: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada 25:53
10/22/94: Mitsuharu Misawa & Stan Hansen vs. Akira Taue & Kenta Kobashi
7/24/95: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada 24:16
Disc #7 & 8
10/25/95: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi 35:51
5/23/96: Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 27:26
6/6/97: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada 31:22
11/27/97: Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki 21:34
4/18/98: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama 22:05
3/28/99: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader 10:52
Disc #9 & 10
6/11/99: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi 43:40
7/23/99: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada 21:58
9/4/99: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Yoshihiro Takayama 18:11
9/4/99: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader 7:21
1/9/00: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Hiroshi Hase 24:42
4/15/00: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Yoshinari Ogawa 13:21
Disc 1
4/30/91 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Keiji Muto vs. Scott Norton
6/1/91 Nippon Budokan: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Terry Gordy
9/23/91 Yokohama Arena Martial Arts Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Tony Halme
3/4/92 Nippon Budokan World Tag Title Match: Terry Gody & Steve Williams vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue . Digest
4/30/92 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Masahiro Chono & Keiji Muto vs. Big Van Vader & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow
Disc 2
5/25/92 Miyagi Sports Center Asian Tag Title Match: Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
6/5/92 Nippon Budokan Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada
8/12/92 Ryogoku Kokugikan G1 Climax NWA World Heavyweight Title Final Tournament Final Masahiro Chono vs. Rick Rude. Digest
8/31/93 Toyohashi City Gymnasium Triple Crown Heavyweight Next Challenger Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Steve Williams
Disc 3
7/28/93 Nippon Budokan Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Steve Williams
8/13/95 Ryogoku Kokugikan G1 Climax A Block Match: Keiji Muto vs. Rick Flair
9/5/96 Nippon Budokan Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen
Disc 4
5/3/97 Osaka Dome: Keiji Muto & Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner vs. Masahiro Chono & Kevin Nash & Scott Hall
4/10/99 Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Keiji Muto vs. Don Frye
5/2/92 Tokyo Dome: Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama & Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Johnny Ace & Animal Warrior & Hawk Warrior
2/17/00 Hokkaido Sports Center: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Vader
2/27/00 Nippon Budokan Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Vader vs. Kenta Kobashi
Disc 5
5/26/90 Korakuen Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta & The Great Kabuki & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Akira Taue & Kenta Kobashi
6/26/90 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono
1/26/91 Korakuen Hall Akira Taue Trial #7: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue
7/18/91 Korakuen Hall: Masanobu Fuchi vs. Toshiaki Kawada
3/4/92 Nippon Budokan: Giant Baba & Andre the Giant & Dolly Funk Jr. vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
Disc 6
3/27/92 Wakayama Prefectural Gym: Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Masanobu Fuchi & Motoshi Okuma & Haruka Eigen
7/8/92 Yokohama Cultural Gym: Keiji Muto vs. Takayuki Iizuka
7/22/93 Korakuen Hall: Tatsuji Fujinami & Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono & Hiroshi Hase vs. Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka & The Great Kabuki & Masashi Aoyagi
11/4/93 Ryogoku Kokugikan SG Tag League Match: Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono vs. Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase
Disc 7
1/21/96 Korakuen Hall: Keiji Muto & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Koji Kanemoto
1/26/97 Korakuen Hall: Toshiaki Kawada & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi . Digest
7/2/97 Aomori City Gym: Shinya Hashimoto & Junji Hirata vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Kazuyuki Fujita
8/26/97 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center Kenta Kobashi vs. Hiroshi Hase
10/11/99 Aichi-ken Gym: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jinsei Shinzaki
Disc 8
5/31/99 Osaka Prefectural Gym: Masahiro Chono & Don Frye & nWo Sting vs. Keiji Muto & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima. Digest
6/4/99 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center: Mitsuharu Misawa & Akira Taue vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi
6/8/99 Nippon Budokan: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu
Disc 9
9/1/90 Nippon Budokan Triple Crown Heavyweight Title: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
9/4/91 Nippon Budokan World Tag Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue
6/26/92 Nippon Budokan IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Riki Choshu vs. Masahiro Chono
2/5/93 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center: Keiji Muto & Shinya Hashimoto & Akira Nogami vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Asura Hara & Takashi Ishikawa
Disc 10
11/24/93 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium World Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Stan Hansen & Giant Baba vs. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada. Digest
3/5/94 Nippon Budokan: Stan Hansen & Giant Baba vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi
3/16/94 Tokyo Gym: Antonio Inoki & Tadao Yasuda vs. Masahiro Chono & Osamu Kido
5/1/94 Fukuoka Dome INOKI FINAL COUNT DOWN 1st: Antonio Inoki vs. Great Muta
Disc 11
5/26/94 Tsu City Gym: Tatsuji Fujinami & Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono
6/15/94 Nippon Budokan IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Riki Choshu
10/18/96 Nippon Budokan: Akira Taue & Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama & Jumbo Tsuruta
11/2/97 Fukuoka Dome: Genichiro Tenryu & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono. Digest
9/23/99 Nippon Budokan G1 Climax Tag League Title Final Match: Keiji Muto & Scott Norton vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata . Digest
Disc 12
2/4/00 Tsukisamu Green Dome T2000 vs nWo JAPAN 4 vs 4 Single Final: Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan
2/27/00 Nippon Budokan: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama
5/26/00 Niigata City Gym Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama. Digest
6/9/00 Nippon Budokan World Tag Title Final One Night Tournament Final: Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama
5/14/90 Tokyo: Tiger Mask & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Samson Fuyuki & Yoshiaki Yatsu
5/17/90 Hiroshima Asia Tag Title: Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Davey Boy Smith & Johnny Smith
5/26/90 Tokyo: Akira Taue & Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Masanobu Fuchi & Great Kabuki
6/1/90 Sapporo: Jumbo Tsuruta & Great Kabuki vs. Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa
AJ Selection #223 taped 6/1/90 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Abdullah The Butcher & Randy Rose vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Goro Tsurumi
5/26/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Terry Gordy vs. Davey Boy Smith
4/17/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Jumbo Tsuruta & Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey
AJ Selection #224 taped 6/1/90 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Kenta Kobashi vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow
4/19/90 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan: Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey 20:53. This violent grudge brawl for gaijin #1 bragging rights is about as good a tag match as you'll ever get from four American heavyweights. Gordy & Williams were looking like the top working team they were always billed as in the US, but never seemed to live up to, and Spivey did some of the most effective wrestling of his career. They beat the hell out of each other, with Hansen bleeding from the forehead early but still using headbutts. However, they also worked actual wrestling moves in as well, building to a couple awesome spots involving the finishers. There was a great near fall where Gordy spiked Williams Oklahoma stampede, but Hansen made a diving save. Later, Hansen finally has his western lariat set up on Gordy, but Williams picks his own partner's leg as he bounces off the ropes, and Hansen goes flying over the top to the floor when Gordy avoids via tripping. Hansen is the least interesting wrestler in the match, by the way, but these sort of spots are what elevates his matches above his actual ability. ****1/4
Sankan Heavykyu Senshuken: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu
AJ #225
6/8/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Abdullah The Butcher vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
5/14/90 Tokyo Taiikukan
Yoshiaki Yatsu & Samson Fuyuki vs. Tiger Mask & Toshiaki Kawada. Kawada unmasks Tiger.
Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
NJ #829 taped 6/11/96 Hiroshima Sun Plaza
Keiji Muto vs. Tatsutoshi Goto
Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka & Akira Nogami vs. Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Hiro Saito
Best of the Super Jr. III Champion Decision Tournament Semifinal: Wild Pegasus vs. Black Tiger
Disk One AJPW:
4/22/83: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Shiro Koshinaka
8/26/84 Tiger Mask II (debut): Tiger Mask vs. La Fiera
6/21/85: Tiger Mask vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi
11/27/85: Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid
3/13/86: Tiger Mask vs. Riki Choshu
6/1/86: Tiger Mask vs. Genichiro Tenryu
3/9/88: Tiger Mask vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
5/14/90: Tiger Mask II & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Yoshikai Yatsu & Samson Fuyuki. Tiger unmasks
6/8/90: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
Disc Two:
7/24/91: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
9/4/91: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue
8/22/92: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Stan Hansen
10/21/92: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada
3/5/94: Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Giant Baba & Stan Hansen
Disc Three:
6/3/94: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada
7/28/94: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Steve Williams
4/15/95: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue
12/9/95: Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue
10/21/97: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi
Disc Four:
1/26/98: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama
5/1/98: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada
10/31/98: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi
5/2/99: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader
8/25/99: Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama
Disc Five NOAH:
8/5/00: Mitsuharu Misawa & Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama
12/23/00: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader
1/13/01: Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Alexander Otsuka
4/15/01: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Yoshihiro Takayama
4/7/02: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kodo Fuyuki
1/10/03: Mitsuharu Misawa & Masahiro Chono vs. Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue
1/10/04: Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Yuji Nagata & Hiroshi Tanahashi
Disc Six:
7/10/04: Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Keiji Mutoh & Taiyo Kea
1/8/05: Mitsuharu Misawa & Takeshi Rikio vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka
7/18/05: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada
12/10/06: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Naomichi Marufuji
11/3/07: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. KENTA
5/6/09: Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiosaki vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima
6/4/09: Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Masao Inoue vs. Bison Smith & Akitoshi Saito & Bobby Fish
6/8/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Abdullah The Butcher vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada
6/1/90 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Bam Bam Bigelow & Davey Boy Smith vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
6/5/90 Chiba Koen Taiikukan
Steve Williams vs. Stan Hansen
9/20/72 Honolulu International Center Arena
Giant Baba vs. The Sheik. Black & white footage
12/11/72 Niigata Shi Taiikukan
2/3 Falls World Heavyweight Title: Giant Baba vs. The Destroyer
5/1/76 Tokyo Nichidai Kodo, Champion Carnival: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Giant Baba. I was really surprised by this match, which showed Baba to be a much more capable singles wrestler in his heyday than I would have guessed. Baba had some athleticism in these days, and was actually making moves look good rather than, at best, weird. Jumbo was also far more athletic here, getting Baba in the side of the face with a dropkick and the chin with his jumping knee. Slow match where they worked the holds, but they did an excellent job of working in a high spot or near fall to keep you on your toes. The match didn't feel long because of how well they spaced the action out, not putting you to sleep and then finally starting to work like Leizi Muto. They picked it up so much around 12 I thought it was going to be over by 14, but they were able to take it back to the mat and calm things down, perhaps making the crowd wait to explode again but certainly not losing them by "going in reverse". They made me consider whether the lost art of knowing how to take it down isn't more important than knowing how to take it up. They made the audience believe in moves that would never beat Giant or Jumbo because they made the when and how much more important than the what. 24:56 of 26:15. ****
8/28/76 Tokyo Nichidai Kodo, 2/3 Falls UN Heavyweight Title Decision Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Jack Brisco. The first time I've seen the legendary Brisco in Japan, and he was quite a disappointment. I can see what people say about his technical ability, but his selling was so irritating. Every time he got hit in the back he would jerk his stomach out and his head back, like some kind of bobble head and waist doll, making the overselling of Terry Funk look like nothing. The first fall was pretty well ruined by this because Jumbo was on offense the whole time, and really it's hard for anything with Jumbo on offense to not be good. The second and third falls redeemed the match, as Brisco injured Jumbo's knee. Brisco won the second fall with the figure 4, refusing to release which kept the attack going strong into the third fall because it started before Jumbo had come close to recovering. Jumbo finally made a little comeback, but his jumping knee hurt him as much as Brisco. Jumbo was in top form and carried the match, with Brisco showing good focus. 11:09, 6:19, 5:34. ***1/2
2/23/84 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, International Heavyweight & AWA World Heavyweight Double Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Nick Bockwinkle. Bockwinkle worked Jumbo's arm for the first 15 minutes. Bockwinkle was never a big offensive guy, but by attacking the arm most of the match he provided the framework and let Jumbo add in the good moves. Terry Funk was the guest referee, which like every other example of an active wrestler being a ref, just detracted from the match. The bulk of the match was technical, so Funk should have had nothing to do, though he kept calling attention to himself by making rulings on the legality. To give Funk something to do, they worked in a few potential double KO's and count outs. Bockwinkle "didn't like" Funk being an active ref, and eventually shoved Jumbo from behind, knocking him into Funk and both to the floor. Joe Higuchi was a second official on the outside, and he nearly counted Jumbo out then took over in the ring because for some reason it took Funk much longer to recover than Jumbo. Funk recovered just in time to count the winning fall. Jumbo unified the titles. 32:00. ***1/2
4/16/91 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan, '91 Champion Carnvival Yushoketteisen: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen. Exciting, stiff well wrestled match with great heat. Looked like it was going to be one of their best, but was surprisingly short. Jumbo started with an inspired arm attack, but this wasn't developed nearly as well as it normally would have been because they didn't have the time. They did a great job of making their blows look vicious, throwing them in a more abrupt and jerky manner and opening their hand just before impact so it would make a louder sound. Hansen hit the western lariat before 12, but Jumbo got his foot on the ropes. He tried it again almost immediately, but Jumbo ducked into a schoolboy. I was intrigued by these two spots early, wondering where they'd go from there. Unfortunately, I was then disappointed because they went home on the next spot. It seems odd to pick this match to be short considering they were bringing the Carnival back after an 8 year absense, but maybe it would make sense to me if I was watching in context. 12:53. ***1/2
6/8/90 Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta. Misawa's first pin on Jumbo. Great match that put Misawa on the map & made him the new #2 native in the wake of Tenryu leaving for SWS.
6/1/91 Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Terry Gordy ****1/4
Motoshi Okuma vs. Mitsuo Momota 11:17
Rusher Kimura vs. Haruka Eigen 11:53
Giant Baba & Richard Slinger vs. Isamu Teranishi & Mighty Inoue 18:50
Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi 24:18
Jumbo Tsuruta & Masanobu Fuchi & The Great Kabuki vs. Akira Taue & Mitsuharu Misawa & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 25:02
8/31/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Kenta Kobashi
4/18/91 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Kenta Kobashi vs. Dan Kroffat
2/28/93 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada
1/15/91 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue
5/21/94 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, Double Tag Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue
#005
8/25/77: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mil Mascaras
2/23/84 AWA & NWA International Double Title: Nick Bockwinkel vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
#006
3/13/86: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Animal Hamiguchi
4/20/89: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu
9/1/90: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
9/16/90
Giant Baba 30th Anniversary Special documentary
9/23/90 taped 9/7/90 Fukui Shi Taiikukan
9/1/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Asia Tag Champion Decision League Match: Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton vs. Joe Malenko & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 11:05 of 16:59. This match touched on a number of styles, but certainly contained some awesome technical, stiff, intense, fast-paced, high flying junior action. The Fantastics, who were easily the best American team of their era, a time when tag wrestling meant something & specialists were a respected commodity, were at the very top of their game here, though, as usual, Rogers greatly outshined Fulton. I was more impressed with this match that last time I watched it. It actually began somewhat slowly, and was a bit rough around the edges. Kikuchi blowing a swandive spot by slipping off the top to the floor was the most obvious miscue, with Rogers giving him a piledriver on the outside for his blunder, but the sequences didn't always flow as well as you'd expect from a match with such tremendous talent. The match really took off after Rogers bodyslammed Kikuchi off the apron, and there was a lot of good planned action on the floor, including dives, suplexes, and a heated strike exchange between Malenko & Rogers. Everyone was working with a sense of urgency, with even Malenko wrestling a more modern, action oriented style, though he was also able to pull off totally shifting the contest from a junior spotfest to a "real fight", exchanging middle kicks with Rogers then taking out his leg only to have Rogers try to throw up a triangle from the bottom, leading to a series of intense punches with Malenko on top. Kikuchi was certainly the spark plug, pushing the pace, taking psycho bumps, getting huge responses from the crowd. He's so reckless it's hard to tell when he's risking injury on purpose, and when it simply comes naturally, but it makes for even wilder action. It's just a spectacular spotfest, possibly a great match in it's entirety, as you could see the Fantastics had great chemistry with Malenko on the mat, but little of that portion (if it took place) made TV, and it's also possible that the early portion was just kind of there and they saved the insanity for the 2nd half. The crowd was inarguably super into this though, really going nuts for Kikuchi, a fighter who was impossible not to love because he gave you everything he had, for better and (often for his body) for worse (hence his career sadly flaming out so early when his body betrayed him). ****
Asia Tag Champion Decision Match: Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton vs. Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace 17:19. Fantastics couldn't come close to following themselves, although it wasn't exactly their fault. Ace pretty much sunk this match singlehandedly, doing a slow, robotic heavyweight style. He started out looking semi-coordinated, and Kobashi, for whatever reason, was in no mood to bail him out. It was pretty shocking to see Kobashi so disinterested in a big match. The Fantastics were good, but they too seemed somewhat laid back, certainly compared to the hyper 9/1 match earlier in the show. They definitely should have shown that complete and edited this, as even if you cut the beginning out it wouldn't have appeared to be anything legendary. **3/4
Jumbo Tsuruta & Taue vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams 10:04 of 19:27
Dynamite Kid & Johnny Smith vs. Joe Malenko & Dean Malenko
Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace vs. Danny Spivey & Giant Kimala
Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada 45:00. Terrific draw with energetic aggressive performances all around which was notable for the early, high quality performance by Taue. Taue was still the worst in the match by far, but showed none of his typical awkwardness, and was able to hold up his end. It wasn't a great match when Taue was in, but great with Jumbo and very good with Taue. Taue had a bandage on his head which Misawa elbowed and Kawada stomped, quickly busting him open when Misawa posted him. Taue was the general whipping boy, as Kawada pretty clearly got the best of him, but it was Kawada who was trapped in the ring for the longest stretch, getting badly abused mostly by Jumbo. Misawa was very aggressive in trying to save him, but Kawada could never capitalize and make the tag. Kawada did some awesome selling as you'd expect, and later on surprised by actually hitting a moonsault attack. The match didn't have the look of a draw in that it had a quick pace from the outset and they never seemed to be killing time or holding back for the finish, they simply kicked the pace up an extra notch or two for the frantic stretch run. ****1/2
Giant Baba & Abdullah The Butcher vs. Andre The Giant & Stan Hansen
Ricky Santana & Doug Furnas vs. Masa Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa
Dynamite Kid & Johnny Smith vs. Mitsuyo Momota & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
Nitron & Butch Masters vs. Haruka Eigern & Motoshi Okuma
Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey vs. Rusher Kimura & Mighty Inoue
'90 World's Strongest Tag Decision League: Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs. Johnny Ace & Kenta Kobashi
'90 World's Strongest Tag Decision League: Giant Baba & Andre the Giant vs. Abdullah the Butcher & Kimala #2
'90 World's Strongest Tag Decision League: Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada
'90 World's Strongest Tag Decision League: Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Dick Slater & Joel Deaton
9/29/90: Joe Malenko & Dean Malenko vs. Steve Doll & Rex King
11/21/90 Osaka World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Andre The Giant vs. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy
3/5/94 Tokyo: Giant Baba & Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa
12/10/94 Tokyo World's Strongest Tag League: Giant Baba & Stan Hansen vs. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada
1/23/98 Tokyo: Giant Baba & Maunakea Mossman & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi & Masanobu Fuchi & Toshiaki Kawada
Masa Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Isamu Teranishi
Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace vs. Giant Warrior & Nitron
Abdullah the Butcher & Giant Kimala vs. Haruka Eigen & Motoshi Okuma
Dynamite Kid & Johnny Smith vs. Doug Furnas & Ricky Santana
Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs. Rusher Kimura & Mighty Inoue
Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Dick Slater & Joel Deaton
Shoehi Baba & Andre the Giant vs. Dory Funk Jr & Terry Funk. Giant Baba breaks his leg
Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue
AJPW TV 12/15/90 ’90 Sekai Saikyo Tag Decision League Match taped Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
’90 Sekai Saikyo Tag Decision League Match: Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace
’90 Sekai Saikyo Tag Decision League Match: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
Andre The Giant & Dory Funk, Jr. & Terry Funk vs. Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey & Joel Deaton
AJPW TV 12/22/90 ’90 Sekai Saikyo Tag Decision League Match taped 12/7/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
’90 Sekai Saikyo Tag Decision League Match: Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada
’90 Sekai Saikyo Tag Decision League Match: Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey
DVD #1 1977/1978
Finishes of 1977 league matches: Billy Robinson & Horst Hoffman vs. Mighty Inoue & Akihisa Takachiho, Terry & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Rocky Hata, Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba, Terry & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Billy Robinson & Horst Hoffman, Rusher Kimura & Great Kusatsu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba, Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik vs. Billy Robinson & Horst Hoffman, Terry & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba, Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs. Kintaro Oki & Kim Duk,
12/15/77 World Open Tag Title League Match: Terry & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik finals 14:40
Finishes of 1978 league matches: Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs. Billy Robinson & Wild Angus, Terry & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Nick Bockwinkle & Blackjack Lanza, Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs. Nick Bockwinkle & Blackjack Lanza, Terry & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik
12/15/78 '78 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs. Terry & Dory Funk Jr. 45:00
DVD #2 1979/1980
Finishes of 1979 league matches: Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik vs. Wahoo McDaniel & Frank Hill, Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs. Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik, Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras vs. Terry & Dory Funk Jr., Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras vs. Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik, Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba,
12/13/79 '79 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Abdullah The Butcher & The Sheik vs. Terry & Dory Funk Jr. 17:15
Finishes of 1980 league matches: Ricky Steamboat & Dick Slater vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Tor Kamata, Terry & Dory Funk Jr. vs. The Sheik & Great Mephisto, Billy Robinson & Les Thornton vs. Nick Bockwinkle & Jim Brunzell, Terry & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Nick Bockwinkle & Jim Brunzell, Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Tor Kamata, Abdullah The Butcher & Tor Kamata vs. The Sheik & Great Mephisto
12/11/80 '80 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Terry & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba 43:50
DVD #3 1981/1982/1983
Finishes of 1981 league matches: Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara, Harley Race & Larry Hennig vs. The Sheik & Mark Lewin, Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanosuke Ueda,
12/13/81 '81 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka vs. Terry & Dory Funk Jr. 21:41
Finishes of 1982 league matches: Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs. Umanosuke Ueda & Super Destroyer, Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood, Terry & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood, Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Harley Race & Dick Slater, Terry & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Harley Race & Dick Slater, Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba, Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba vs. Harley Race & Dick Slater,
12/13/82 '82 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Terry & Dory Funk Jr. 12:30
Finishes of 1983 league matches: Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Ron Fuller & Barry Windham, Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanosuke Ueda vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu, Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Goro Tsurumi & The Mongolian, Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr., Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras, Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ron Fuller & Barry Windham, Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr., Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanosuke Ueda
12/12/83 '83 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsruta & Genichiro Tenryu 17:54
DVD #4 1984/1985
Finishes of 1984 league matches: Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu, Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu
12/8/84 '84 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Terry & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen 18:42
Finishes of 1985 league matches: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Rusher Kimura & Ashura Hara, Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith, Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Nick Bockwinkle & Curt Hennig, Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Harley Race & Jesse Barr, Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Harley Race & Jesse Barr, Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu, Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr., Harley Race & Jesse Barr vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu, Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Nick Bockwinkle & Curt Hennig, Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith, Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Harley Race & Jesse Barr, Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu
12/12/85 '85 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu 30:00
DVD #5 1986/1987
Finishes of 1986 league matches: Rick Martel & Tom Zenk vs. Terry & Dory Funk Jr., Giant Baba & Tiger Mask II vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu, Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu, Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu, Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Terry & Dory Funk Jr., Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu, Terry & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu,
12/12/86 '82 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Final: Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Jumbo Tsruta & Genichiro Tenryu 8:13
Finishes of 1987 league matches: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Mark Youngblood & Chris Youngblood, Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. TNT (Savio Vega) & Abdullah The Butcher, Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Tom Zenk & The Terminator, Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy, Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara, Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu, Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima, Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. TNT & Abdullah The Butcher, Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu, Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka vs. Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima, Great Kabuki & John Tenta vs. Tom Zenk & The Terminator, TNT & Abdullah The Butcher vs. Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima, Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara,
12/11/87 '87 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka 8:46 of 16:51. No finish
DVD #6 1988/1989
Finishes of 1988 league matches: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Shunji Takano & John Tenta, Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu, Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh, Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada, Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Jerry Blackwell & Phil Hickerson, Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh
12/16/88 '88 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada 21:02
Finishes of 1989 league matches: Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki, Abdullah The Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu, Stan Hansen & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith, Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu, Stan Hansen & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Terry Gordy & Bill Irwin, Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu, Abdullah The Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh vs. Stan Hansen & Genichiro Tenryu, Abdullah The Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh vs. Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith, Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura vs. Stan Hansen & Genichiro Tenryu, Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Terry Gordy & Bill Irwin, Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki, Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith vs. Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas
12/6/89 '89 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Stan Hansen & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu 28:57
DVD #7 1990/1991
Finishes of 1990 league matches: Giant Baba & Andre the Giant vs. Dick Slater & Joel Deaton, Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey vs. Terry & Dory Funk Jr., Abdullah The Butcher & Giant Kamala vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue, Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace, Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue, Giant Baba & Andre the Giant vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams, Giant Baba & Andre the Giant vs. Skywalker Nitron & Butch Masters, Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada, Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue, Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace, Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada, Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada
12/7/90 '90 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs. Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey 29:59
Finishes of 1991 league matches: Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs. Dory Funk Jr. & Al Perez, Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Dynamite Kid & Johnny Smith, Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey, Giant Baba & Andre the Giant vs. Rusher Kimura & Mighty Inoue, Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue, Giant Baba & Andre the Giant vs. Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey, Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue, Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey, Dynamite Kid & Johnny Smith vs. Johnny Ace & Sonny Beach, Abdullah The Butcher & Giant Kamala vs. Giant Baba & Andre the Giant, Stan Hansen & Dan Spivey vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue
12/6/91 '91 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs. Mitsuhara Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada 25:24
DVD #8 1992/1993
Finishes of 1992 league matches: Giant Baba & Kenta Kobashi vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Giant Kamala, Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Dan Spivey & Kendall Windham, Akira Taue & Jun Akiyama vs. Dory Funk Jr. & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Joel Deaton & Billy Black, Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas, Giant Baba & Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen & Johnny Ace, Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Akira Taue & Jun Akiyama, Giant Baba & Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada, Giant Baba & Kenta Kobashi vs. Akira Taue & Jun Akiyama, Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams, Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Th The Patriot & The Eagle, Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Stan Hansen & Johnny Ace, Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. The Patriot & The Eagle, Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Stan Hansen & Johnny Ace
12/4/92 '92 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Mitsuhara Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue & Jun Akiyama 23:52
Finishes of 1993 league matches: Steve Williams & Big Bubba vs. The Patriot & The Eagle, Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Dan Spivey & Johnny Ace, Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas, Giant Baba & Stan Hansen vs. The Patriot & The Eagle, Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Steve Williams & Big Bubba, Giant Baba & Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue, Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Giant Baba & Stan Hansen, Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. The Patriot & The Eagle, Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Steve Williams & Big Bubba, Giant Baba & Stan Hansen vs. Steve Williams & Big Bubba
12/3/93 '93 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Mitsuhara Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 23:34
DVD #9 1994/1995
Finishes of 1994 league matches: Giant Baba & Stan Hansen vs. The Eagle & The Falcon, Mitsuhara Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas, Dan Spivey & Jim Steele vs. Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori, Giant Baba & Stan Hansen vs. Mitsuhara Misawa & Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuhara Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Steve Williams & Johnny Ace
12/10/94 '94 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Match: Giant Baba & Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 26:30
Finishes of 1995 league matches: Stan Hansen/Gary Albright vs. Dan Kroffat/Doug Furnas, Misawa/Kobashi vs. Rob Van Dam/Johnny Smith, Kawada/Taue vs. Johnny Ace/Patriot
12/9/95 '95 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Final: Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 24:04
DVD #10 1996/1997
Finishes of 1996 league matches: Kobashi/Patriot vs. Hansen/Omori, Kawada/Taue vs. Kamala/Izumida, Misawa/Akiyama vs. Steve Williams/Johnny Ace, Hansen/Omori vs. Sabu/Albright, Kawada/Taue vs. Williams/Ace, Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kobashi/Patriot, Hansen/Omori vs. Kamala/Izumida, Albright/Sabu vs. Kobashi/Patriot, Kawada/Taue vs. Akiyama/Misawa, Hansen/Omori vs. Sabu/Albright, Kawada/Taue vs. Izumida/Kamala, Misawa/Akiyama vs. Williams/Ace,
12/6/96 '96 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Final: Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama 31:37
Finishes of 1997 league matches: Izumida/Kamala vs. Hayabusa/Jinsei Shinzaki, Williams/Albright vs. Omori/Honda, Kobashi/Ace vs. Windham/Bradshaw, Misawa/Akiyama vs. Wolf Hawkfield/Johnny Smith, Kawada/Taue vs. Hansen/Duncum Jr., Omori/Honda vs. Hayabusa/Shinzaki, Hansen/Duncum vs. Windham/Bradshaw, Williams/Albright vs. Hawkfield/Smith, Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kamala/Izumida, Williams/Albright vs. Windham/Bradshaw, Kawada/Taue vs. Hayabusa/Shinzaki, Misawa/Akiyama vs. Ace/Kobashi, Kawada/Taue vs. Ace/Kobashi, Misawa/Akiyama vs. Hayabusa/Shinzaki
12/5/97 '97 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Final: Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama 30:52
DVD #11 1998/1999
Finishes of 1998 league matches: Kawada/Taue vs. Headhunters, Misawa/Ogawa vs. Vader/Hansen, Johnny Ace/Bart Gunn vs. Takayama/Omori, Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Headhunters, Misawa/Ogawa vs. Ace/Gunn, Akiyama/Kobashi vs. Vader/Hansen, Takayama/Omori vs. Kamala/Albright, Kawada/Taue vs. Ace/Gunn, Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Misawa/Ogawa, Vader/Hansen vs. Ace/Gunn, Misawa/Ogawa vs. Headhunters, Kawada/Taue vs. Kobashi/Akiyama, Misawa/Ogawa vs. Omori/Takayama, Hansen/Vader vs. Headhunters, Ace/Gunn vs. Kobashi/Akiyama
12/5/98 '98 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Final: Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Vader & Stan Hansen 19:03
Finishes of 1999 league matches: Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Honda/Masao Inoue, Taue/Hansen vs. Albright/Hawkfield, Misawa/Ogawa vs. Smith/Vader, Misawa/Ogawa vs. Kobashi/Akiyama, Misawa/Ogawa vs. Honda/Inoue, Hansen/Taue vs. Omori/Takayama, Misawa/Ogawa vs. Omori/Takayama, Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Taue/Hansen, Albright/Hawkfield vs. Kobashi/Akiyama, Taue/Hansen vs. Vader/Smith
12/3/99 '99 World's Strongest Tag Decision League Final: Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Stan Hansen & Akira Taue 20:15
Mighty Inoue vs. Rex King
Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota vs. Motoshi Okuma & Haruka Eigen
Kenta Kobashi vs. Cactus Jack
Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat vs. Johnny Smith & Richard Slinger
Dan Spivey vs. Terminator Hoss
Masa Fuchi vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa
Andre the Giant & Dory Funk Jr. & Dynamite Kid vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams & Steve Doll
Champion Carnival Final: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen 12:53
4/20/91 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Masanobu Fuchi
10/21/92 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada
5/2/99 Tokyo Dome, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Vader vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
4/18/91 Tokyo Nippon Budokan Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa 23:17. A really nice match, but as the rubber match in a program that was absolutely on fire week in and week out in tags, I was expecting a whole lot more, especially with Misawa now firmly established as the #2 wrestler in the promotion. The live show 15,960, which was the promotions all-time record at Budokan at the time. The crowd absolutely did their job, with incredible heat during the pre and post match, and lots of Misawa chants throughout, but it didn't have the sustained heat during the match that their 1990 matches did, and that falls squarely on the shoulders of the wrestlers. This match should have showed that Misawa was Jumbo's peer, but while it was even enough early on, one could never shake the feeling that Jumbo was in total control and dictating everything in his methodical pace. Misawa getting the best of Jumbo from time to time may have shown some semblance of advancement if you wanted to reach, but as a whole the match seemed a big step back because he was just treading Jumbo's water, if not struggling to keep his head above. There were explosive moments throughout to keep the intensity and pop the crowd, and good rivalry moments, but for the most part they saved all the action for the final third, which was great. The match didn't tell much of a story, and if it had a story, it was the wrong one. It doesn't take much to see this as extremely defeatist for Misawa, as what thin story there was centered on him countering the backdrop that always thwarts his hopes, and, if we want to really stretch things, maybe getting lucky again as he did on 6/8/90. There were huge pops for Misawa shifting his weight to counter the backdrop by landing on top, but then Jumbo immediately squashed his hopes by hitting a backdrop into the turnbuckle that wasn't put over like it should have been. Misawa's best chance, perhaps, was turning a powerbomb into a huracanrana, which tells you all you need to know about his chances of winning this match, and especially of supplanting Jumbo any time soon. Jumbo finally hit the backdrop, but was too shaken up to cover. Misawa fired back with an elbow, but Jumbo hit a second backdrop and still couldn't cover. This time Misawa was too groggy to offer any counter fire, leaving him prone to be polished off by the third backdrop. This would have been a nice finish for Jumbo vs. Kobashi, as Kobashi had done nothing in singles to establish himself as a threat to defeat Jumbo, but for Misawa to never have Jumbo in trouble just didn't make sense. ****
10/24/91 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Toshiaki Kawada 19:02. There are far more exciting matches, but I can't think of another match that better exemplifies the beauty of simplicity. Kawada's first TC shot was everything the 4/18/91 Jumbo vs. Misawa wasn't. I criticized the Misawa match because Misawa never established any identity and simply allowed Jumbo to dictate, but Kawada succeeded in making the match all about him. Kawada may not have been the better fighter, but he wanted it more, and by forcing Jumbo to engage in a battle of wills, he had a chance because he could match Jumbo's persistence. It was a total story match almost in the vein of the early wrestler vs. striker MMA matches in that it was Kawada's control vs. Jumbo's damage, Kawada's quantity over Jumbo's quality. Kawada knew he was overmatched and couldn't just slug it out with Jumbo, so he struck only when there was little chance of return fire or he absolutely had to. His goal was to win as many minutes as posible, and that meant seizing a position where he was the only one inflicting punishment. Kawada started out as basically as possible, holding onto a headlock at all costs. When Jumbo threw him off to the floor, Kawada got right back in and reestablished control with another headlock. He progressed to the cobra twist, and a series of ground submissions. Once in a while Jumbo was able to hit a big counter, but for the most part Jumbo was only scoring during the brief portions he was able to get free and keep Kawada from grabbing him. You'd have been right not to give Kawada a snowballs chance in hell coming into the match, but as he won minute after minute, at some point his good fortune was difficult to discount. The growing urgency was coming from Jumbo, as he had to make the most of his chances at distance, to get a big blow or suplex in before Kawada outsmarted or outmaneuvered him. It may not have been Kawada's most interesting match, but it was an riveting one because there was a method to his madness, and it was something different, something unique. The crowd was really into the match, so that made up for the overabundance of submission holds, and helped the urgency and intensity of what normally would be meaningless rest or weardown holds to come across. Both men did a great job of acting, which added so much to the heat between them as well as making the match seem more credible. Kawada did some excellent counters to regain control, and the crowd was really into this, wanting to believe he had a chance and popping big anytime they got the illusion Kawada might win. Of course, Kawada didn't win, but no more could have credibly have been done to make people believe he should have. ****1/2
7/24/91 Ishikawa-ken Double Tag Titles: Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada. Well booked match with strong psychology. The place went nuts when Misawa & Kawada took the titles. ****
9/4/91 Tokyo Nippon Budokan Double Tag Titles: Misawa & Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue. Taue was nothing special, but the other three were great. Misawa became the first native to beat Jumbo with a submission hold, the facelock. ****1/4
12/6/89 Tokyo Nippon Budokan '89 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen. The match was excellent when it was Jumbo vs. Tenryu, but Yatsu really dragged down the quality, heat, and intensity. Hansen bled. ***1/4
12/6/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan '90 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams. Brawl. Lots of kicking and punching, but no real bumping or sequences. Fans didn't really get into it until the end. **
12/6/91 Tokyo Nippon Budokan '91 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leaguesen: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams. It had the heat, intensity (particularly from Kawada), stiffness, and precise execution, but there wasn't any great storyline, psychology, or sequences. The basis of the match was Kawada would be in most of the time getting beat on then Misawa would come in for 2 minutes and totally dominate. Eventually Misawa got stuff powerbombed on the floor, so Kawada had to try to take on both opponents. ****1/4
Satoru Asako vs. Scott Armstong. Clip of 10:46
Fantastics (Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton) vs. Osamu Teranishi & Masao Inoue Digest of 12:47. Good match. Fantastics were great, doing all kinds of double teaming. The building was rocking.
Jackie Fulton vs. Mighty Inoue. Clip of 10:09
Johnny Ace & Richard Slinger vs. Youngbloods Digest of 13:06. Average
Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota vs. Masa Fuchi & Motoshi Okuma & Haruka Eigen 17:34. Terribly boring, but the fans liked it. Considerably better than todays comedy matches because the old codgers were a bit more spy back then.
Billy Black vs. Yoshinari Ogawa 9:15. Fair match. Had less heat than anything on the show so far. Black did some nice spots, but his execution was less than perfect.
Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue 22:21. Smart, heated rivalry match. It wasn't so much what they did, but when they did it, as they knew how to keep the crowd involved, and Jumbo got great effect out of everything. |The theme was Kobashi & Kikuchi trading cheapshots back and forth with Jumbo. Kobashi & Kikuchi got off to a hot start with Kenta press slamming Kobashi over the top onto Taue on the floor, and generally controlled the match, for once. Taue was very ordinary, but he was mainly beat on, and the real focus was on the others attacking each other when they weren't the legal man, so he was pretty much an afterthought. Jumbo tried to run interference for Taue, but Kobashi & Kikuchi would follow him back to his corner and attack him. Things quickly escalated, to the point where you'd get spots such as Kikuchi giving Taue (legal man) a running elbow in the corner then sprinting to the other corner and elbowing Jumbo off the apron. Kikuchi kept provoking Jumbo, but faired pretty well here, not getting Kikuchi'd too badly. He was the best worker in the match, but not as over as his partner, or able to get as much out of everything he did as Jumbo. All three were excellent in their own, and in fact many ways, though. Jumbo & Taue tended to methodically pick the opposition apart, but even when they did the same things, Jumbo seemed malicious and nasty, provoking strong reactions, while Taue seemed as though he was just going through the motions even though the effort was there. ****
Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Stan Hansen & Joel Deaton . Good match, but nothing spectacular. Deaton was much better with Misawa than Kawada. Kawada was really stiff here, kicking the oppositions knees out. ***
AJ TV 1/19/92 taped 1/10 & 1/15 & 1/2
Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi
Kenta Kobashi vs. Billy Black
Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Masa Fuchi
AJ TV 1/26/92 taped 1/21
Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Masa Fuchi
Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Toshiaki Kawada
AJ TV 2/2/92 taped ? & 1/24/92
Stan Hansen vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi. Great match
NJ TV 2/8/92 taped 2/4
Riki Choshu & Keiji Muto & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Scott Norton & Rambo
AJ TV 2/9/92 taped 1/28
Triple Crown: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Stan Hansen. Hansen wins title.
NJ TV 2/15/92 taped 2/8 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Michiyoshi Ohara vs. Akitoshi Saito
IWGP Jr. Title: Norio Honaga vs. Jushin Thunder Liger. Liger wins title
NJ TV 2/22/92 taped 2/10
IWGP Jr. & WCW World Light Heavyweight Double Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid. Excellent match
Riki Choshu & Masa Saito & Kengo Kimura vs. Masa Chono & Shinya Hashimoto & Akira Nogami
Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Akitoshi Saito & Shigeichi Tachigi
IWGP Tag Titles: Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. Scott Norton & Brad Armstrong
AJ TV 2/23/92 taped 2/22
Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat. Great match
Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen & Ace
AJ TV 2/23/92 taped 2/22
Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat. Great match
Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen & Ace
Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams & Richard Slinger
NJ TV 2/22/92 '92 Fighting Spirit taped 2/10 Nagoya Rainbow Hall
IWGP Jr. & WCW World Light Heavyweight Double Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid. Excellent match
AJ TV 7/12/92 '92 Summer Action Series taped 7/5 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Asia Tag Titles: Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Masa Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa
Akira Taue & Rusher Kimura vs. Stan Hansen & Billy Black
Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. The Patriot & Richard Slinger
Satoru Asako vs. Dean Malenko. 0:47 shown
Isamu Teranishi vs. Joe Malenko. 0:47 shown
Mitsuo Momota & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. The State Police (Lt. Buddy Lee Parker & Sgt. James R. Wright). 1:41 shown
Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura vs. Makoshi Okuma & Haruka Eigen. 8:26 shown
Dory Funk Jr. & Kenta Kobashi vs. Steve Williams & Fire Cat (Brady Boone). Firecat hardly got to do any flying and didn't look that great because his bumps were too exaggerated for AJ. Kobashi, Funk, & Williams were all solid. Funk is obviously repetitive, but he does what he does well and it still enabled him to fight a good match. They had a lot of patience, but weren't always on the same page. ***
Andre The Giant & Mighty Inoue vs. Terry Gordy & Richard Slinger. Inoue was still pretty good, but with Andre being awful and Slinger never having shown me anything this obviously wasn't going to be good. The match was alright when Andre wasn't in, which luckily was most of the match. *1/2
Stan Hansen & Johnny Ace vs. Doug Furnas & Danny Kroffat. Solid match that build into a good one. There was a nice near fall where Hansen turned Furnas' Frankensteiner into a powerbomb. The match was pretty dramatic after this, but unfortunately the match was too short and didn't last much beyond this point. The finish was clever though. Furnas put on a good show here, surprisingly being more impressive than Kroffat, although everyone was at least pretty good. ***1/4
Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 26:54. Kikuchi & Kawada brought the best out of Jumbo, the trio giving noteworthy performances in this typically excellent entry into the Misawa's team vs. Jumbo's team series. Those two were so excited to take it to Jumbo that he had to keep putting them in their place. Kikuchi really got no respect here, with Fuchi even standing on his face, but he drew a lot of anger because he kept coming no matter how much punishment you dished out. A typical sequence would have Kikuchi hit Jumbo with a leg lariat, but Jumbo keep his balance and pounce on Kikuchi with a series of furious stomps before Kikuchi could get back up. There was nice offense from Misawa's team in the beginning and the end, but the bulk of the match was a brief sequence where they injured Misawa's knee but he escaped and a lengthy sequence where Kikuchi was mercilessly mauled. The match was always good, but when someone they got fired up or pissed it would really erupt. Jumbo & Kawada were very intense, and Kikuchi simply didn't understand that sometimes you are better off staying down. Misawa & Taue spent most of the match on the apron, which wasn't a bad thing since the other options on their team were better. Kawada was great when he was in, but outside of very early on and his hot tag, there wasn't enough of him, and the match was truly made by Jumbo & Kikuchi. The match got really dramatic after 20 minutes with the performers making you believe they were driven to and desperate for the win. Kikuchi was actually rewarded in this one, pushing Taue during a hot stretch run and reversing Fuchi's cradle for the flash pin. ****
NJ TV 3/7/92 taped 3/1 Yokohama
IWGP Tag Titles: Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. Big Van Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow. Vader & Bigelow win titles.
AJ TV 3/8/92 taped 3/4 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Triple Crown: Stan Hansen vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
World Tag Titles: Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue. Jumbo & Taue win titles.
NJ TV 3/14/92 taped 3/9
Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito & Tatsu Goto vs. Riki Choshu & Takayuki Iizuka & El Samurai
IWGP Tag Titles: Big Van Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Masa Chono & Shinya Hashimoto
NJ TV 3/21/92 taped 3/11
Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Akitoshi Saito & Shigeichi Tachigi
Shinya Hashimoto & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsu Goto
AJ TV 3/22/92 taped 3/20
Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi. Excellent match
AJW TV taped 3/7/92
Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs. Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami
AJ TV 3/29 taped 3/27
'92 Champion Carnival League Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen
AJ TV taped 3/31
'92 Champion Carnival League Match: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue. Excellent match
AJ TV 4/12 taped 4/6
'92 Champion Carnival League Match: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Stan Hansen
NJ TV 4/25 taped 4/21
Riki Choshu & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito
AJ TV
Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Terry Gordy
NJ TV 5/2/92 taped 4/26
Riki Choshu & Hiroshi Hase & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito & Tatsu Goto
10/30/75 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan: Stan Hansen vs. The Destroyer. Hansen looked hilarious with his bleached mop. Pretty well wrestled. The early portion was on the mat with some good quick moves into long locks. Around 10:00 they began doing some basic suplexes. Both used the football stance shoulderblock. Destroyer tried to help Hansen up after the match, but Hansen punched him in the stomach. 12:40. **1/2
11/15/82 Chiba Kisaradzu Kuragata Sports Center: Stan Hansen vs. Ashura Hara. Hara looked something like Hase would a decade later with the long hair, mustache, and tights with yellow in the front. Hara did a few good chops after Hansen controlled him with a chinlock. This just pissed Hansen off though, and he quickly took him out with the western lariat. 2:25
9/8/83 Chiba Koen Taiikukan, PWF Heavyweight Title Match: Giant Baba vs. Stan Hansen. They understood Baba's limitations, and tried to work around them. The early portion was weak, but the last few minutes were good for what they were. It was obviously awkward, but a good effort and with Baba that goes a long way. Baba actually hit a double axehandle off the top. Hansen hit the western lariat a little before 8:00, but Baba kicked out at 2 then rolled to the floor. Hansen followed trying to post Baba, but Baba pushed him off so Hansen's lariat arm crashed the post. 9:02. **1/2
12/12/83 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, '83 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leagusen: Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu. Exciting well executed match with everyone performing to their ability. Jumbo is generally considered to have had a slight down period while adjusting to the faster paced matches of Riki Choshu, but here he was the guy that was pushing the pace and along with Tenryu he really excelled in the style. Jumbo was much more agile here than 3-4 years later, but it probably didn't make much difference since only a few of his moves like the jumping knee, Thesz press, and enzuigiri employed this ability. The jumping knee was the only one of these moves he stuck with, but that was probably more a stylistic change than anything else. Brody really executed his offense well. In essence, his move set was pretty basic and nothing special, but it didn't come off that way because he made the moves look so much more impressive than normal, mainly through his exceptional athleticism for his size. Jumbo has the best looking stomp for a different reason, the impact isn't necessarily more but his body language is so nasty and malevolent. 17:43. ****
12/6/88 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, '88 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei Leagusen: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada. Great heat because it was a big match, but more importantly because they told a great story that was designed to get the fans behind faces Tenryu & Kawada. Kawada was the youngster that didn't belong, and Hansen & Gordy were out to put him in his place. Kawada was very fiery, trying to take it to the opposition with kicks and even a pescado but his attacks were very short lived. Tenryu tried to play big brother, actually making a hot tag at 2:00, but Hansen pulled Gordy to safety on the floor. The key to the match was Hansen injuring Kawada's knee, kicking it out when Kawada had Gordy in a German suplex hold. After kicking the knee repeatedly, Hansen pushed Kawada in the back as he was going to tag Tenryu, sending Kawada through the ropes to the floor instead with Hansen following through by lariating Tenryu off the apron. Hansen proceeded to destroy Kawada on the floor while Gordy took care of Tenryu in the ring. Kawada kept coming back for more, until Hansen rendered his knee useless. Kawada was down on the floor for several minutes, meaning Tenryu had to fight most of the match 2-1, which resulted in him also getting destroyed and even busted open from Hansen's knee drops. This set Kawada up to finally save his senpai, after Gordy's powerbomb, but Hansen made him pay for it. 21:02. *****
4/17/92 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan, '92 Champion Carnival Yushoketteisen: Stan Hansen vs. Mitsuharu Misawa. Very simple all arm match, but that was its strength because everything was built around the arm with no waste and just a bunch of simple but effective stuff. Misawa even used his elbows to Hansen's lariat elbow. Sure it wasn't the most exciting or diverse match, even diverse attack, but Misawa showed tremendous focus in attacking Hansen's lariat arm for the 1st 15 minutes. They really didn't even "do less" because of the arm attack, they just saved the high spots for the final 5 minutes, which I should add had major heat. Hansen did an impressive job of acting like his arm was in great pain, especially during the offense oriented portion where he was walking around like his arm was in an invisible sling. Hansen had to strike with his right arm, and even had to resort to trying his western lariat with his right arm. It was slow and awkward because he'd never done it before. The first time Misawa was able to get his foot on the ropes. The second time he blocked it, but Hansen immediately unleashed the usual lethal left arm western lariat to a prone Misawa. This was literall the only time Hansen used the left arm in the match, but that's Hansen at his best, finding a way to pull out the one move win. He seemingly had his weapon taken away, but sucked it up and withstood the pain to himself once to get the victory. Just a great finish. 20:06 ****
Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat vs. The Master Blaster & David Eisley
Mighty Inoue vs. Satoru Asako
Giant Baba & Mitsuo Momota vs. Motoshi Okuma & Haruka Eigen
4 vs. 4 Survival Tag Match: Jumbo Tsuruta & Rusher Kimura & Masa Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
*Replica package available*
Williams vs. Hansen, Misawa vs. Gordy, Kobashi & Kawada vs. Tsuruta & Ogawa, Misawa vs. Hansen-Champion Carnival Final, Ultimo vs. Satanico, Sano vs. Chavo Guerrero, Flair vs. Tenryu, Liger vs. Honaga, 4/30/92 Best of the Super Jr. Final Liger vs. Samurai-Liger wins Super Jr. *****, Kobashi & Misawa & Kawada vs. Ogawa & Fuchi & Tsuruta, Hase & Muto vs. Vader & Bigelow, Yoshida & Takako Inoue vs. Hasegawa & Malenko-MY & TI win tag titles, Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue-great match Toyota wins IWA Title, WWWA World Single Title: Bull vs. Aja
AJ TV 2/23/92 taped 2/22
Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat. Great match
Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen & Ace
Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams & Richard Slinger
NJ TV 2/22/92 '92 Fighting Spirit taped 2/10 Nagoya Rainbow Hall
IWGP Jr. & WCW World Light Heavyweight Double Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid. Excellent match
AJ TV 7/12/92 '92 Summer Action Series taped 7/5 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Asia Tag Titles: Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Masa Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa
Akira Taue & Rusher Kimura vs. Stan Hansen & Billy Black
Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. The Patriot & Richard Slinger
Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura & Mighty Inoue vs. Masa Fuchi & Motoshi Okuma & Haruka Eigen
Mitsuharu Misawa & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa
Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen & Barry Horowitz
Misawa history interview
Baba Interview
Highlights of Mighty Inoue vs. Satoro Asako, Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Masao Inoue, Taue & Mitsuo Momota vs. Eigen & Motoshi Okuma
Jun Akiyama Debut Match: Jun Akiyama vs. Kenta Kobashi. Great debut. Smartly worked and layed out. Intense match. Jun controlled the mat, since he was a great amature wrestler, but Kobashi soon introduced him to the pro style by stiffing him. Jun took Kobashi's best chops though, and came back with Misawa elbows. Jun immediately looked like a star. ***1/2
Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta & Masa Fuchi. Kikuchi made the match by playing his typically role of the young punk who just won't back down. Baba sold for Misawa & Kawada, his headliners on the 1992 Anniversary show the next month, so he was even something of a plus. ****
20th Anniversary Party
Masao Inoue vs. Mitsuo Momoto. Highlights
Rusher Kimura & Mighty Inoue vs. Shigeo Okuma & Haruka Eigen. Highlights
Danny Spivey vs. Ryukaku Izumida. Highlights
Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat vs. Pete Roberts & Nigel Towers. Highlights
Dory Funk Jr. & Patriot vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Giant Kimala
Yoshinari Ogawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
Stan Hansen & Johnny Ace & Johnny Smith vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams & Richard Slinger
Giant Baba & Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
10/21/92 Nippon Budokan Triple Crown: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada. The main event of AJ's 20th Anniversary show, and where it all began so to speak because this was the first time Kawada challenged for Misawa's TC. Excellent performance by both men. Great match with great work and drama to go along with super heat. Less big spots and not as strong as their future matches when it came to selling and psychology, but that is not a knock since these two would go on to set the standard in selling and psychology with their matches together. Fukuzawa is a God on the play by play here, so combined with the great crowd, this match really has the feel of a special match. Full Match Review 29:50. ****1/2
12/4/92 Nippon Budokan '92 World's Strongest Tag Team League Bout: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue & Jun Akiyama 23:53. Simple old school match that was about controlling the opponent, working the holds, fighting for the escape. It was a lot better than it had the right to be given Jun had been a pro for less than 3 months, but that also limited the match considerably. Akiyama was very carryable, already a solid worker with a lot of desire, but he was lacking offense and they weren't doing anything complicated so as not to put too much pressure on (or perhaps expose) him. Taue did a nice job of providing some leadership and aid, but he wasn't exactly using his experience to providing awesome action in between the basic stuff with the rookie. Still, the storyline and psychology were good with everyone playing their roles well. This was the final match in the Tag League, and Misawa & Kawada needed a win to beat out Gordy & Williams and Hansen & Ace by 1 point. They were not going to let a rookie keep them from their glory. Jun worked most of the match, and he got elevated big time even though he did the job in the end. Misawa & Jun worked well together, but Kawada vs. Jun was the highlight, as Kawada was far less merciful. The crowd was really wanting a great match, and probably gave them more support than they deserved, though it was exciting to see a rookie competing at this level. Akiyama, of course, did the job, but Fuchi & Taue pulled him up and raised his hand because his gutsy performance hanging with the veterans was certainly worth of applause. For winning the tag league, Misawa & Kawada were awarded the Double Tag Titles that had been vacated by Jumbo & Taue. ***1/2
'94 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei League Koshikisen: Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori vs. Danny Spivey & Jim Steele
'94 Sekai Saikyo Tag Kettei League Koshikisen Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Giant Baba & Stan Hansen