Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Terry Gordy (AJPW, 6/1/91)

Very solid match-up - admittedly, I haven't seen much of Gordy outside of tag matches but he looked strong. Great clobbering lariats, big elbow exchanges with Misawa, and yeah, the blood added a little something-something to the overall struggle. The fans were eating up the finishing stretch - the nearfall off of Misawa's German suplex hold was especially great. Gordy did a good job selling for Misawa's offense, and Misawa's ultimate win felt huge.

Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Yuji Nagata (ZERO1, 3/2/01)

News flash: Jun Akiyama rules. He rules now, he ruled then, and he's the standout of the inaugural ZERO1 main event. I really liked the opening between he and Yuji Nagata, but more importantly, I loved Akiyama harassing Hashimoto on the apron, only to get German suplexed from behind by Nagata. Once Hashimoto gets the tag, he batters Akiyama out of the ring and Jun's a little hesitant to return. The exchanges between those two are the most heated throughout the match. Akiyama and Nagata have fun throwing Exploders and taking each other's signature submissions. Misawa's fine here and gets in his usual spots but I would've liked to have seen his exchanges with Hashimoto be a little more...grumpy. Everyone drops some bombs toward the end but Hashimoto is more concerned with Akiyana than winning the match -- even after Misawa pins him, Hashimoto immediately goes back to attacking Akiyama before all hell breaks loose. FUN STUFF!

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW, 4/15/00)

This was such a cool match-up, almost worked like a junior heavyweight match with Ogawa forcing Misawa into his style. Ogawa's a favorite and he was able to show off here, between his slick maneuvering and cheap tactics. He gets the most out of simple holds, like the way he hangs onto a side headlock or headscissors, or how he leaps onto Misawa's back with a sleeper hold to try and wear him down. He was able to deliver some great neck-focused chains of offense to set up the backdrop hold while managing to counter a lot of Misawa's offense. Subtle selling from Misawa, who looked a little perturbed at times that he's got this little gnat constantly buzzing around his head and on occasion, he's able to pop him with a few stiff elbows before finally putting him away in the end with the tiger driver. A simple but refreshing match.

Jun Akiyama vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW, 2/27/00)

When I think of Jun Akiyama, I think of the Blue Thunder of Furikan High, Tatewaki Kuno! (if you get that reference, thumbs up). This is Akiyama's big moment in the rising sun, challenging the final boss of AJPW in Mitsuharu Misawa, and the relentlessness in which he comes at Misawa and stays on him throughout is incredible. I loved the opening stretch building to Misawa's apron elbow, with Misawa especially looking spry and energized. He's got to make sure Akiyama's ready for the challenge so he throws him a few snug love tap elbows. But Akiyama's more than ready, alluding Misawa's dive as he crashes and burns on the guardrail, setting up some extensive and aggressive neckwork. An apron kneedrop, a piledriver on the floor, a fucking Exploder '98 on the apron with a wonderful shot of Misawa's face before the execution, and some gnarly neck cranks back inside the ring. Misawa's selling is terrific here, and Akiyama doesn't let him build much momentum, dropping kicking him out of the ring and escalating the attack on the neck with a badass cradle tombstone piledriver and Exploder.

Misawa's veteran comeback toward the end begins with him busting open Akiyama's nose with a nasty knee drop to the face. Then he frog splashes him, hits a couple of German suplexes and tiger drivers, but Akiyama won't lay down, can't stay down. The fighting spirit Exploders were the perfect transition point heading into the finishing stretch, with the fans rallying behind Akiyama as he blasts Misawa with the jumping knee in the corner and follow-up Exploder. When that doesn't work, he spikes Misawa with a brainbuster and when it's still not enough, the wrist-clutch Exploder earns him his victory. Such an fantastic match, and Misawa's final epic before leaving All Japan.

Hiroshi Hase vs. Mitsuharu Misawa; Jun Akiyama vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (AJPW, 1/9/00)

Hiroshi  Hase vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW, 1/9/00)

There is a lot to love from Hiroshi Hase in this match, from his awareness to his determination. Clearly, Misawa is not as slick as Hase on the mat so he has to rely on his primary form of offense, the elbow. Knowing this, Hase takes the obvious route and proceeds to annihilate said elbow in the form of extensive armwork. He takes him down, tangles him up, and rolls all over the canvas with Misawa in tow, working the arm like a full-time job. Misawa doesn’t do much in terms of escaping or countering – he mostly lays there and takes the punishment, though at times, he seems desperate to get away. Then again, he’ll often say “fuck your armwork, Hase” and throw a couple of elbows but Hase brushes them off and takes him back down to his realm of holds. I love that Hase immediately brings the focus back to the arm following much of Misawa’s offense, first with the overshot diving body press and then off the German suplex hold. “Ask him, come on, give up!” says Hase before he dumps him with a big ole uranage and follows up with a cross armbreaker. 

Misawa’s selling of the arm, or lack thereof, didn’t necessarily bother me -- I mean, I love Misawa's stubborness to keep using the elbow, knowing he can't take Hase on the mat and coming to realize that Hase has an answer for most of his other offense. The elbows obviously don't have the same impact on Hase so he has to keep on battering him, switching to the other elbow at the end to get some good shots in, before finally downing him with the running elbow.. Sure, he could’ve done more to sell it but it’s Misawa, he’s the ace, so Hase staying in the driver’s seat for so long is more than most get. 

As Hase continues snagging the arm off of Misawa’s signature offense (tiger driver, frog splash, etc.), you finally see him start to crack with desperation. There’s a great visual of Hase almost hugging the arm, a look of real frustration on his face as he’s trying to get him to submit. But no matter what he does, Misawa’s throwing those dang elbows. So Hase himself says “fuck this armwork” and drops Misawa with a dragon suplex, back-to-back uranages and a Northern Lights suplex hold. When that doesn’t do the trick, he tries for a second Northern Lights and Misawa knees out of the attempt, throwing elbows from both sides before finally laying him out for good with the running elbow. I wasn’t a big fan of Hase’s relatively quick demise following all that dedicated work on top but again, it’s Misawa. You take what you get, and what I got was a lot of cool shit from Hase.

Jun Akiyama vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (AJPW, 1/9/00)

Really good stuff and an easy watch, with Yoshihiro Takayama firing heavy early on with his big boots, knees, and kicks. But Jun is too slick for that shit and dropkicks Takayama’s knee out from under him to set-up the limbwork portion of the match. I love Akiyama when he’s working the hell out of a body part and here, he snares Takayama on the guardrail and delivers a killer dropkick from the apron. He goes through the gamut of leg holds, from the Scorpion Deathlock to the STF to the figure-four leglock, but Takayama finds an opening to exploit Akiyama’s weakness in the taped left elbow. He ragdolls Jun with a couple of suplexes and pulls out a beautiful double arm suplex hold before going into a facelock, transitioning into the over-and-the-shoulder hold to further damage the elbow. Okay selling from Takayama, better from Akiyama, whose able to dropkick the knee again to turn the tide. I liked that he targeted the bad knee to block Takayama’s German suplex attempt and then rolled him up on the second attempt. 

Mitsuharu Miswa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW, 4/18/91)

This was a perfectly solid rematch, although I don't think it quite lives up to its predecessor due to some of the clunky transitioning throughout. I like that Misawa shows more confidence and fire with his elbows, not allowing daddy Jumbo to punk him early on, before the match settles into a slower, back-and-forth struggle to maintain control. I love a good spat and when Misawa keeps pounding on Jumbo, Jumbo's finally had it and he lays into him with hard slaps and quick knees and then that big jumping knee to hype up the crowd. Then it's back to that slower pace of Jumbo working the leg and Misawa being aggressive with his elbows. I thought Jumbo's almost haphazard way out countering Misawa's offense was pretty great. At one point, Misawa starts heating up and the crowd is buzzing loudly for him but the decision to not hit the dive onto Jumbo on the outside really killed the momentum and the buzz. Misawa's able to score a big two count off of the German suplex hold but when he can't deliver the tiger driver, Jumbo dumps him with a brutal backdrop and follows up with two more to put him away. A good match, with a few great moments, but the pacing and transitions hurt the overall quality.

Jumbo Tsuruta, Masa Fuchi & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi (AJPW, 4/20/91)

This match rules -- easily my favorite six-man tag in All Japan up until this point. Kenta Kobashi’s babyface stellar babyface in peril performance, the Taue/Kawada hate still bleeding into this match, Fuchi being a dick, and of course, the rivalry between Jumbo and Misawa continuing to unfold. Taue himself is quite the dick early on as he keeps harasses Kawada on the apron until Kawada finally kicks the shit out of him while Taue’s laid back in a cross armbreaker. Violence ensues, with Kawada pummeling Taue into the canvas with his little shitty headbutts. Jumbo and crew are such good heels here, especially Jumbo, who goes from playing to the crowd to either piledriving Kawada on the floor or just stepping on his face. Fuchi’s the dirty daddy crass technician, immediately working Kawada’s neck with the headscissors after he and Taue double teamed him with a second piledriver on the floor. Kawada’s finally able to get some revenge on Jumbo with his face kicks – I love that when Jumbo tries to hulk up, Kawada puts him right back down and continues pelting him with those shitty face kicks.

The young guns control for a while, isolating Taue, with Misawa launching Kobashi with a top rope plancha onto Taue outside the ring. Fuchi spoils the fun by getting the tag and immediately starts destroying Kobashi’s knee with great stomps and a knee crusher onto a chair. Terrific selling from Kobashi as he desperately tries to fight back but his knee is fucked and Fuchi takes advantage of it, using an STF and then just rolling back and cranking on the leg. Loved the look of intensity on Jumbo’s face as he’s wrenching on the single leg crab. They milk the teased tag outs by Kobashi with the crowd wanting nothing more than Kobashi to get the hell out of there but Jumbo and crew are absolute bullies, especially Fuchi, who ties Kobashi’s knee in the ropes and cheapshots him with punches. Kawada at one point enters the ring and kicks Jumbo, trying to help Kobashi out, but it ain’t happening. Kobashi FINALLY tags in Kawada, and while he and Misawa go at it with Fuchi, Fuchi’s such a badass that he fights off both and puts Misawa on the rocks against Jumbo. The final fews minutes of the match are incredible, with terrific nearfalls, a super hot crowd, and a hell of a pin break up by Kawada after the chokeslam from Taue. Once the ring has been cleared, Misawa’s up and he’s able to pick up the win with the tiger suplex hold. Fantastic!

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Takeshi Morishima (NOAH, 3/5/06)

I'm back from my honeymoon and back to revisiting Pro Wrestling NOAH, in all its glory. Baby Huey is such a loveable hangry mess here and old man Misawa bumps like crazy for him, making the clobberin’ slop look like absolute barbarism. When Misawa pops him in the schnozz with an elbow, Morishima snaps, lobbing elbows and rocking him with back-to-back-to-back lariats. Look, finesse isn’t a part of Morishima’s repertoire but that’s part of the charm, as he’s vicious with his clubbing forearms in the corner and flattens Misawa with a nasty lariat on the outside, just dominating the legend. Misawa gets a little reprieve with some snug elbows and a big tope suicida through the ropes but the big baby takes over again on offense, powerbombing Misawa. Knowing Misawa’s fate, this is a cringeworthy match for sure, considering the amount of physical abuse both guys endure, and at times, it’s hard to watch Morishima continually fold him up with backdrops and a gnarly uranage. And of course, Misawa tiger driving Morishima’s big ass off the fucking ring apron. Morishima’s nose is a bloody mess but that doesn’t deter Misawa from elbowing the shit out of him in the corner and on the ground, the ref hopelessly trying to intervene only to get shoved back. At one point, Morishima challenges Misawa to fire off more elbows, which isn’t the smartest idea, and after running and rolling and more grounded elbows, Misawa puts him away with one final lunging elbow shot. Brutal warfare.

Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (AJPW, 1/27/91) + BONUS TAG!

Although these early All Japan six-mans can become a little hard to distinguish from one another, the formula works so well and the characters play their roles engagingly. Once again, the seasoned dad wrestler Jumbo Tsuruta showed terrific resilience against that fiery shitkicker Toshiaki Kawada, who pesters him throughout. I mean, the opening exchange sees Kawada bump like hell off a kitchen sink knee -- Jumbo hits him so hard he hurts himself. At one point, Kawada keeps peppering Jumbo with his shitty face kicks and Jumbo snaps, unloading a barrage of big daddy elbows on him and continuing the punishment on the floor with chairshots. Fuchi's the prematurely old dick head, Misawa the young hero, Kikuchi the underdog, and Taue does what Taue can to ensure his team comes away victorious, getting shit from the fans for breaking up puns but ultimately scoring the pinfall with the powerbomb. To quote all the cool little Twitter owls, this was a HOOT!

Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW, 2/23/91)

This match was clipped to the end of the six-man and what we get is a doozy. The heat between Kawada and Taue is sizzlin'. The match cuts in with Taue delivering one hell of a shoulderblock to Kikuchi before we get to the bloodshed. Once again, Taue with his fresh haircut, is being nastier than usually, busting open Kawada or tossing Kikuchi out of the ring onto Kawada. The fans are way into Kawada's general pissy-ness as he and Taue just slap each other silly heading into the finishing run, and they bite onto most of the nearfalls before Kawada finally puts Ogawa away with the powerbomb.

Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue (AJPW, 12/7/90)

Misawa wants Jumbo, wants him real bad, but first, he and Kawada have to deal with Taue and his incredible hair. When Misawa gets his hands on Jumbo, he uses his youthful speed to his advantage, overwhelming the veteran before tagging in Kawada. The pissed off Jumbo takes it out on Kawada with some nasty kitchen sink knees but Misawa’s able to temporarily extract Jumbo from the tag equation after blasting him with a big running elbow from the apron. With Jumbo out, Taue ain’t got nobody as Misawa and Kawada take turns bullying. Jumbo emerges to break up a hold but Kawada starts attacking him to jeers from the All Japan fans. Kawada’s the biggest shithead in this match and it’s awesome. Loved his climbing corner kick to Taue’s face – such a jerk. When Jumbo finally gets the tag, he gives it to both punks and damn near decapitates Misawa with a jumbo-sized lariat. Again, Kawada keeps spoiling Jumbo’s offense but Taue gets his revenge, hitting a dive to the outside and bodyslamming Kawada on the floor. His offense never looks that great but he’s such a loveable underdog. In fact, Jumbo comes in and tries to help him out by elbowing Misawa and backdropping Kawada but it’s still not enough to get Taue the pinfall. The final minute or so of the match is built around Kawada’s powerbomb and it’s fantastic, as both sides are scrambling, the crowd is losing it, I’m losing it, and finally, Taue loses it via Kawada’s powerbomb.

Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata (NOAH, 2/17/02)

This was the very first Pro Wrestling NOAH match I was exposed to when I was beginning my journey into Japanese puroresu in 2001-2002. I had seen three of the four guys on a “Best of Japan” DVD-R, which invigorated in me a new love of professional wrestling, so NOAH was the next logical step to follow their progression on the modern graps landscape. On re-watch, this match is still a total blast of testosterone-fired aggression. Kobashi is specially lit, as is the crowd, and when he’s in there against Nagata, the fans really lap it up. Nagata keeps spurring him on with cheeky slaps to the face until Kobashi wrecks him with chops and smacks in the corner. Akiyama’s the consummate technician in there with his swank takedowns and counters, and of course, Misawa’s in there to throw elbows and tiger drive someone. The first tiger driver attempt on Akiyama is countered with an Exploder but he’s able to hit it on Nagata. This turns into quite the suplex party, with Kobashi throwing out the half nelson and sleeper varieties. Loved Kobashi’s selling off the one count Exploder as he’s hanging onto the ropes, trying to swat at Akiyama with chops before Akiyama hits him with another Exploder and puts him away with the wrist-clutch variation for the big win.

Jumbo Tsuruta, Masanobu Fuchi & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi (AJPW, 10/19/90)

Masanobu Fuchi is such a surly fucker in this, between his chair jab and dirty, nose-busting stomps to the face. Of course, the bloodied Kenta Kobashi plays a terrific face in peril but the underlying narrative of the match is that the young lads can't quite catch a break. Sure, they get a little revenge here and there, like Kawada suplexing Taue on the floor and Kobashi's moonsault press and German suplex hold to Fuchi. But even when Kawada gets that hot tag after Kobashi's beatdown, he unloads on Taue only to get shut down soon thereafter. The crowd turns molten when Misawa gets the tag and starts elbowing Jumbo in the corner, taking the fight to the outside but getting taken out by an awkward Taue plancha. Daddy Jumbo eventually gets the kids reined and I love that final interaction with Misawa, stopping Misawa's attempt to save Kobashi from the powerbomb with an elbow to the face. Kobashi tries one last comeback effort but the thorn in his side, Fuchi, cuts him off up top, allowing Jumbo to the super backdrop and a regular one to put Kobashi away. As always, this is the good stuff.

Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 9/30/90)

When a match goes to a draw, whether it's half an hour, the fully sixty, or somewhere in between, there's often an issue of keeping the furnace burning. This match keeps it lit and while there are the inevitable moments of downtime, they are few and far between. All four guys bring something unique to the party and perhaps best of all, buckets of hate. Terrific brawling in and out of the ring and a crowd that stays hot until the end, buying into all the big two counts in the final few minutes. The animosity between Misawa and Jumbo is still very strong here as Misawa gets in some flippant slaps prior to their initial lock up and keeps antagonizing him throughout. I loved the interactions between Misawa and Taue, with Taue's bandaged forehead getting re-opened. He plays to the sympathy of the fans so well here, as Misawa and Kawada keep riling him up with shitty kicks to the head. Kawada, of course, as the gap-toothed rowdy bully the bloodied Taue and pissing off Jumbo -- loved Kawada exploding with elbows on Jumbo before Jumbo tosses him out of the ring. In the back half of the match, the bombs start falling and there's some cool spots, including Kawada hitting a proto-Stylin' DDT on Jumbo and then a sweet atomic drop > jumping high kee > backdrop double team by Taue and Jumbo on Misawa. Misawa especially delivers some beautiful offense, including the German and tiger suplex, and an awesomely executed tiger driver. Taue and Kawada have a pretty great shotei exchange, with Kawada getting the upper hand, and in the end, he comes off the top rope with the knee drop just as the time limit expires. If you like pissy tag team wrestling sustained over the course of 45:00, this is the match for you.

Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW, 9/1/90)

This is a match that truly clicks into place after trying to find the right pieces, and when it clicks, it’s awesome…and at this point in time, a little disheartening, as you watch Misawa at the birth of his stardom and Jumbo besieged by it, struggling to hold onto his place at the top of the mountain…and now they’re both gone. I like that Misawa thinks he’s not just some young boy Jumbo can bully around, blocking the elbow on the ropes and avoiding the jumping knee. But then he gets caught and put in his place. Jumbo relies on experience and his tried-and-true ways of dealing with the opposition – the clubbing offense, the wear-down holds, the occasional bombs but mostly reserving his energy. On the other hand, Misawa’s spry and hasty, trying to catch Jumbo off guard with kicks or a crossbody.

But Jumbo figures it out and there’s a great counter spot to Misawa’s rounding body press out of the corner. When Misawa starts popping Jumbo with elbows, that’s when it all clicks, when Jumbo’s like “are you fucking kidding me with this horseshit?!” and unloads on him. The referee’s trying to maintain order but Jumbo’s fed up, ragdolling Misawa into guardrails and smashing him with a chair, turning the crowd against him. Misawa’s able to exact some revenge and lets loose with the elbows in the corner, stunning him with another in order to deliver the German suplex hold. In the final minutes, Jumbo’s worn out, Misawa’s huffing, and the execution isn’t quite cookie cutter as they’re just lobbing themselves at each other. Jumbo folds Misawa in half with a brutal backdrop and I like how Misawa tries to buy some time with that desperation elbow but it’s not enough to overcome the inevitable and Jumbo pins him down with the backdrop hold.

Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW, 8/18/90)

What I love about these six-mans (and most AJPW six-mans in generals) is that everyone has a role to play, and for the most part, they play it so well. Here, we've got Misawa as the crowd-favorite, Kawada as the baby-faced aggressor pissing off Jumbo, and Kikuchi taking a hell of a beating but not staying down. On the other side, Taue is the gangling bruiser, coming in off a tag and immediately lariating the shit out of Kikuchi. Fuchi is his usual grumpster self but I thought Jumbo was really awesome here, really taking a lot from the youngsters but also dishing it out in stiff fashion. Kawada isn't scared to go hard in the paint against Jumbo but he pays for it. Jumbo busts Kikuchi open with an elbow late in the match and this after nearly beheading him with a lariat but I loved Kikuchi toward the end, desperately clubbing away at Jumbo to save Misawa and his final exchange with Taue where he managed a few hot nearfalls before taking the fall. Really fun match with lots of fire throughout. 

Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW, 6/8/90)

Oh yeah, Daddy Jumbo is in full on "I'm too tired for this shit" mode and Misawa's the disrespectful teen incessantly looking to snatch away dad's pick-up truck keys. The match doesn't quite burn with the same fire as their 5/26 six-man but there's still plenty to love on. Jumbo's all over Misawa early on until he tries for the backdrop and Misawa's able to hook the leg, turning the attempt into a body press. In a true teenage maneuver, Misawa teases the plancha, only to blast Jumbo with the apron dropkick. Misawa's able to sit pretty in the driver's seat, peppering Jumbo with some snug elbow shots and mule kicking him when he tries to take the wheel. The "WTF" look on Jumbo's face when Misawa slaps him on the ropes is priceless and it seems to add a little piss to the fuel tank.

They meander a bit, throwing suplexes and squatting piledrivers, but the longer the match goes on, the clearer it becomes that Misawa ain't laying down easy. This is especially evident after Jumbo powerbombs Misawa as dad's getting a little frustrated that Misawa's staying up past his bedtime. The finishing stretch heats up as Jumbo delivers two back-to-back lariat-ohs and blocks the Tiger Driver. He's able to stop Misawa's turning body press with an elbow to the head but misses the follow-up dropkick, bouncing off the ropes in an awesome moment, which allows Misawa to score the miracle pinfall. A great match-up from top to bottom, although the midsection is a little long-winded and it could've used a few more pissy interactions to really solidify this as an all-time classic.

Jumbo Tsuruta, Masanobu Fuchi & Great Kabuki vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Akira Taue & Kenta Kobashi (AJPW, 5/26/90)

And so it begins...again. The "Golden Age of AJPW" and my introduction to Japanese 'pure wrestle' 15+ years ago.  I watched WWF as a kid in the early 90', rooting for Tatanka with my dad and Max Moon because he looked like Mega Man. At the very same time, unbeknownst to 8-year old me, Misawa, Kobashi, Kawada, and Taue were shaking the pillars of heaven over in Japan. I stopped watching WWF when Tatanka joined the Million Dollar Corporation and grew out of wrestling. It wasn't until I was a freshman in college that I found myself watching a handful of borrowed DVD-R's. Over the course of "Best of Japan" volumes one through four, I re-discovered my love of pro-wrestling and discovered a newfound appreciation for the beauty and chaos in it .

A lot of this stuff, I haven't revisited since college, and some of it, including this match, I've yet to witness. As expected, this was a total blast, with everyone playing their respective roles so well. On team Jumbo, you had the cantankerous Captain Tsuruta himself, Grampa Fuchi destroying limbs, and crazy Uncle Kabuki doing...uh, a little bit of everything. On the other side, the young gate-rattlers: the babyface fire of young Kobashi, the "too cool for school" 'tude of middle child Misawa, and the gangly big brother power of Taue. When Kobashi comes in, he's red-hot, blasting Fuchi with a beautiful top rope dropkick and getting antsy Jumbo. Jumbo lays him out with the jumping knee and takes out all the kids on the apron, pissing off middle child Misawa, who wants in there so bad and when he does, he gets lariated the fuck down. The stern dad vs. disrespectful teen dynamic between Misawa and Jumbo was terrific, and even when they were quarreling somewhere the ring, I liked that the other guys were still trying to wrestle the match.

Kobashi's arm gets bullied for awhile, with Fuchi being especially relentless and awesome, targeting arms and legs both, wrecking Kenta's knee on the timekeeper's table. Love Jumbo waving off Kobashi's dropkick to pummel him with knees and boots. Misawa and Taue take over after teaming up on Tsuruta with a double dropkick. Misawa gets to show off his Tiger Mask offense with Taue knocking bodies around. Kobashi gets a little revenge on gramps the end, picking up a great nearfall off a German suplex hold on Fuchi. When Misawa tries to finish Fuchi off with the Tiger Driver, Jumbo creams him with a lariat. But, alas, youth prevails and Misawa's able to pin Fuchi with the tiger suplex hold. A great start to what is perhaps the greatest decade in Japanese pro-wrestling.

But the 1980's were pretty great.

KENTA & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki (NOAH, 12/4/05)

I guess this is where the “heat” between Shibata and Shiozaki took root. Shibata kicks the crap out of Shiozaki to open this match and calls out Misawa like a badass. Hell of a way to start the match. Similar to the previous KENTA & Shibata tag match, this was pandering at times but felt more consistent from bell to bell. Misawa took some major bumps (Jesus, that springboard Doomsday Device) and the interactions between he and Shibata felt unique but it’s a lot of Shiozaki getting dominated – those alternating kicks against the kicks looked painful.  Shiozaki doesn’t look bad in there and he’s always been a good seller. Love Misawa snapping on KENTA when he comes at him with those disrespectful shit kicks in the corner. The story here is Shibata REALLY wants to put Misawa to sleep and defeat him. He dangerously backdrops Misawa on his head after a sleeper hold and slaps it right back on, tiring him out for the PK. Shiozaki breaks it up and immediately pays for it. Misawa/Shiozaki rally back with a tiger driver into the German suplex combo and there’s a great moment where Shibata is fighting against a German but Shiozaki delivers it anyway. That KENTA save from across the ring after the moonsault was awesome. In the end, Shiozaki survives the PK but not a few brutal kicks to the head. Another good to great tag match with plenty of fun moments.