Goody Bag 37: All Japan

AJPW World Tag Team Title Match: Genichiro Tenryu and Toshiaki Kawada v Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy: This is a tournament final for the vacant title, from AJPW Real World Tag League, December 16 1988 in Tokyo Japan. Tenryu and Gordy start, and Terry overpowers him in the early going, quickly hitting a snap suplex for two. Over to Stan, so Kawada tries a spinkick, but the Texan dodges, and thumps him in the corner. Backdrop, so Kawada tries a sunset flip, but that just ends up pissing Hansen off, and he dumps him to the outside for Gordy to run into the guardrail! Badass, I love it! Back in, Hansen bodyslams him, but Gordy runs into the spinkick that Stan avoided earlier, and Tenryu gets the tag. Terry bails before Tenryu can get hold of him, and he stalls for a minute on the outside to kill the momentum. Doesn't help him, as Tenryu vertical suplexes him for two when he gets back inside, so Gordy throws a dropkick for two. Back to Hansen to bodyslam Tenryu, and Tenryu is forced to bail, but Stan is on his tail with a chop on the outside. Back in, Stan hits a backdrop and an elbowdrop to set up a chinlock - the first time this has slowed down, like, AT ALL. And it's brief, as he passes back to Gordy to engage Tenryu in a chopfest that ends in Kawada tagging back in to unload kicks on the big man. Bodypress gets two, but the big Gordy manhandles him, and tags out. Kawada dropkicks Hansen over the top to set up a plancha, and back in, Kawada hammers him with a kick combo for two. Hansen fires back with a turnbuckle smash, and Gordy tags back in to cream Kawada with a Samoan drop for two. He gets nailed coming off the ropes, however, and Tenryu tags in for a neat tandem kick combo for two. Tenryu with a cross corner clothesline, and a swinging neckbreaker is worth two. He slaps on a headscissors, so Hansen gets pissed and comes in to break it up, allowing Gordy his own cross corner clothesline. Tag to Stan, but he charges right into a chop from Tenryu, and Kawada tags back in for corner clothesline Hansen. Popular move. He follows up by absolutely going ballistic with kick on Stan in the corner, but Gordy comes in to save before all that's left of him is a pile of jelly and mustache. He misses a charge, and Kawada hits a bridging German suplex for two, but that pisses Stan off, and he comes over to stomp the crap out of Kawada. Hansen and Gordy getting pissed and kicking the shit out of guys is like its own art form. They destroy both Tenryu and Kawada on the outside, and back in, Gordy unloads on Tenryu with mounted punches. Elbowdrop gets two, as Kawada recovers enough to go after Hansen on the apron, but that proves to be a very bad idea. They cut the ring in half on Tenryu as Kawada recovers on the outside, until poor Kawada (who the heels keep hopping out and abusing at every opportunity), finally snaps. He blitzes Gordy as Terry is powerbombing Tenryu, but Hansen kicks his ass right back to the outside before he can get too far. It does allow Tenryu a small package for two, but that's all before he eats a tandem vertical suplex for two. Kawada is just selling the hell out of the damage he's taken on the outside, but keeps tenaciously trying to go after the heels no matter what they throw at him. Meanwhile, Tenryu just won't stay down either, and he manages a pair of enzuigiri on Hansen, followed by a bodyslam to set up a flying back elbowdrop. Cover, but Gordy just casually pulls him off at two, and with Kawada still down, Tenryu has no back up. Thus, when he powerbombs Hansen, Gordy just breaks up the cover again, and then powerbombs Tenryu for good measure. Tenryu won't quit, but he's overwhelmed in what has essentially become a handicap match, and Hansen manages to put him away at 21:02 - with Kawada clawing to make the save, but ultimately unable to. This was quite the affair, with blistering action throughout, and great storytelling. The level of work here was light years ahead of most everything Stateside at the time too, so much so that it holds up very well nearly thirty years later. **** ¼

AJPW Triple Crown Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta v Genichiro Tenryu: From AJPW's Super Power Series tour in Tokyo Japan on June 5 1989. Slugfest to start, with Jumbo controlling. He hits a high knee, but Tenryu shrugs it off, and drops him with a bridging German suplex for two, so Jumbo goes to a standing side-headlock. Tenryu tries to escape with chops, so Jumbo drops him with a bulldog for two, and he slaps on a cobra clutch. Tenryu fights free, so Jumbo creams him with a big boot, but Tenryu still wants to throw chops. Jumbo hammers his message home again with another big boot, and an elbowdrop follows for two. Back to the cobra clutch, but Tenryu won't give, so Jumbo lets off and starts thumping him with axehandle after axehandle. They spill to the outside, where Jumbo throws his challenger into the rail, but Tenryu manages to stun him with a clothesline, then dive off the apron with a flying shoulderblock! Back in, Tenryu shoots at the leg, and slaps on a grapevine. He holds onto that one for a while, until Jumbo manages a side suplex for two, and he goes back to the cobra clutch. Tenryu makes the ropes to facilitate an escape, so Jumbo cracks him with a high knee for two, and he unloads with some mounted punches. Powerbomb, but Tenryu counters with a backdrop, so Jumbo slaps on an abdominal stretch instead. Tenryu manages a hiptoss to escape, and he tries to hold on into an armbar, but Jumbo is in the ropes. Tenryu uses a few headbutts and a clothesline for two, but Jumbo blocks a suplex, so Tenryu softens him up with a cross corner high knee, then drops him with a side suplex. Jumbo fires back by absolutely ripping his head off with a lariat, but Tenryu is in the ropes, so no count. Jumbo responds with a clothesline for two, and a bulldog follows for two. Bodyslam sets up a 2^nd rope flying kneedrop, but Tenryu is in the ropes at two. Jumbo goes back up with another two flying kneedrops, but fucking Tenryu is in the ropes again at two. Good thing these guys didn't wrestle for WCW - matches would never end in those tiny rings. Jumbo with a Thesz-press for two, and a saito suplex follows for two. Another Thesz-press, but this time Tenryu catches him in a fluke hotshot, and quickly covers for two. Jumbo cuts that shit off with a dropkick for two, and he goes to the top for a flying high knee. He doesn't even bother covering, instead trying a cross corner high knee, but Tenryu moves, and hits an enzuigiri for two! Tenryu keeps coming with a powerbomb, but Jumbo counters with a backdrop for two. He heads up again, but Tenryu charges at him, and the champ is forced to abandon the dive. He tries a belly-to-belly suplex instead, but Tenryu topples him, and hits a bodyslam to set up the flying back elbowdrop - which misses. That allows Jumbo to cover for two, but he misses a charge, and Tenryu drills him with a clothesline. He's too dazed to cover, but manages an enzuigiri as Jumbo comes at him, and a powerbomb is worth a dramatic two! Jumbo fights another powerbomb, but ultimately can't hold him off, and Tenryu wins the title with it at 24:05. Good battle, but quite slow, and felt like it took a really long time to kick into gear. ** ¾

Jumbo Tsuruta v Mitsuharu Misawa: From AJPW's Super Power Series tour in Tokyo on June 8 1990. Jumbo knocks him around in the early going, but misses a high knee, and Misawa is able to throw a dropkick. Jumbo responds by absolutely drilling him with a big boot, then bringing the same intensity to a clothesline for two. Man. Bodyslam leads to a saito suplex, but Misawa topples him for two, and baseball slides him out of the ring. Misawa dives off the apron with a flying dropkick against the rail, but Jumbo beats the count to the apron, so Misawa knocks him back to the floor with a forearm, then dives again with a plancha! Jumbo beats the count, so Misawa welcomes him back in with some pounding, and he grabs a front-facelock. Jumbo counters to a bow-and-arrow, but Misawa reverses. Jumbo reverses back, so Misawa mulekicks him, and grabs a hammerlock. Jumbo escapes, and drills Misawa with a high knee, then slaps on an abdominal stretch. Misawa reverses, so Jumbo uses a hiptoss to dump him over the top, and he whips Misawa into the rail out there. Back in with a butterfly suplex for two, and Jumbo slaps on a chinlock. Misawa escapes, so Jumbo pop-up flapjacks him, but a second try proves to be one too many, as Misawa counters with a dropkick. Bodyslam sets up a flying dropkick for two, and a cross corner elbow leads to a gutwrench suplex. Misawa with a bodyslam to set up a flying frogsplash for two, but a bodypress ends badly when Jumbo drops back into the ropes with a hotshot for two. Piledriver gets Jumbo two, and a Thesz-press is worth two. Dropkick for two, and a big boot gets two. Jumbo keeps coming with a bodyslam, followed by a flying high knee for two. Powerbomb gets two, as poor Jumbo is just throwing everything at the guy, and not able to put it away. Butterfly suplex, but Misawa counters with a backslide for two, so Jumbo bails. Misawa is on him with a baseball slide, and he dives with a flying bodypress on him out there! Back in, Misawa tries a German suplex, but Jumbo blocks, so Misawa tries a rollup instead - only getting two. Spinkick sets up a flying splash, but Jumbo lifts his knees to block, and hooks the leg for two. Jumbo with a bodyslam and a Boston crab, but Misawa has the ropes to escape. Jumbo takes out his frustrations on him with a lariat for two, and then goes to the well a second time, again for two. Jumbo with a cross corner clothesline, but an attempt at a side suplex is blocked when Misawa pushes off the ropes with his feet to drive back into Jumbo. Misawa with a bridging German suplex for two, but Jumbo counters the tiger driver with a backdrop for two. High knee allows Jumbo to take control again, so Misawa tries a springboard dive, but gets swatted out of the air. Unfortunately for Jumbo, he hurts his elbow in the process, and that allows Misawa to recover enough to dodge a charge. Side suplex, but Jumbo topples him for two - only for Misawa to then roll it through for the pin at 24:06! Neat finish there! The match was good stuff, but felt like it could have shed about a third of its length, and we wouldn't have missed it. *** ¼


#1 Contender's Match: Jumbo Tsuruta v Mitsuharu Misawa: From AJPW's Summer Action Series tour in Tokyo on September 1 1990. Criss cross ends in Jumbo blasting him with a knee, and he follows up by continuing to pound the midsection to keep Misawa short on breath. Jumbo is relentless, but Misawa manages to springboard off the middle rope to block him down, and he adds a senton splash for two. Chinlock, but Jumbo escapes, and tries a standing bow-and-arrow. They trade reversals, ending in Misawa mulekicking him, and he snapmares Jumbo down to try another bow-and-arrow, this one on the mat. Jumbo dumps him to the outside to escape, but Misawa quickly rolls back in, and puts distance between them to stall the momentum. It works, as Misawa is able to hammer him in the corner, but Jumbo pops off a high knee for two. Bodyslam sets up a Boston crab, but Misawa is in the ropes, so Jumbo goes to an abdominal stretch next. He hooks it into a cradle for two, then holds onto that on the mat, to look for a submission, but Misawa won't give. Jumbo responds with a toehold instead, but Misawa is in the ropes again, so Tsuruta drills him with forearms, and delivers a swinging neckbreaker for two. Misawa fights back with a turnbuckle smash, and he snapmares Jumbo over for a headscissors, but Jumbo escapes. The camera angle on that escape was funny, making it look like Misawa was giving birth to Jumbo... out of his ass. Misawa with a kick combo for two, so Jumbo pops off some forearm smashes for two, and drops him with a piledriver for two. Butterfly suplex gets two, so Misawa throws a bodypress for two, and uses a spinkick. Springboard, but Jumbo dodges for two, and a Thesz-press follows for two. Side suplex, but Misawa topples him for two, so Jumbo rolls through for two. Nice callback to the June match. That leads to them slugging it out, and that decidedly goes Jumbo's way, with Misawa ending up on the outside. Jumbo follows to send him into the rail out there, and they spill into the crowd, where Jumbo uses a chair. Misawa beats the count in, so Jumbo acts like a total dick, and tosses his worn ass right back out! Ha! Misawa fights to make it back, and dives at Jumbo with a flying bodypress, then throws HIS ass out of the ring for a plancha! Back in, Misawa uses a bodyslam and a flying shoulderblock for two, and he goes to town on Jumbo in the corner. That leads to another slugfest, and Jumbo gets the better of it again, this time hitting a dropkick for two. Powerslam gets two, but a powerbomb is countered with a rana into a cradle for two. Bridging German suplex gets Misawa two, but Misawa botches a victory roll, and Jumbo covers him for two. Nicely save on the botch, total pros. Jumbo with a high knee and a vertical superplex, but the side suplex is only worth two! Undeterred, Jumbo keeps coming, so Misawa swipes at his eyes to buy time, but Jumbo digs in with a lariat, and a bridging side suplex finishes at 24:50. Another one that was good, but felt like it went on for too long. ** ½