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 & 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. 

Masanobu Fuchi vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJPW, 2/28/93)

Welcome to the original Suplex City, Kikuchi-bitch. I remember the first time I saw this match back in high school and my prayers went out to Kikuchi’s neck. Short, violent match, with Fuchi brutalizing Kikuchi with at least 10 belly-to-back suplexes. Fuchi tries to bully Kikuchi early on but Kikuchi ain’t having it and he unloads with forearms and a German suplex hold for a believable early nearfall. Great running dropkick from the apron, a series of snap suplexes and a big diving headbutt. A busted open Fuchi reels toward the ropes as Kikuchi stalks him for another German and counters the attempt with an awesome armbar takedown. At one point, he just wrenches the arm and punches Kikuchi in the trapezius. Kikichi gets in a couple of more suplex two counts before Fuchi goes to town on Kikuchi with back suplex after back suplex after back suplex. Kikuchi wants to survive, he’s trying to survive – he hooks the leg to block another attempt and grabs the ropes but Fuchi connects with an enziguri and dumps him on his head again. I loved the desperation of Kikuchi as he crawls around on the canvas, looking for a way out, but the merciless Fuchi continues to backdrop him until there’s nothing left in the tank. These two have such great in-ring chemistry and watching Fuchi's hyper-aggressive onslaught is something to behold.