Goody Bag 55: Tokyo Story

 

AJPW Triple Crown Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta v Mitsuharu Misawa: From AJPW TV on April 18 1991 in Tokyo Japan. Jumbo abuses him with chops to start, but that just pisses Misawa off, and he loses his shit. Jumbo ends up on the outside, but Misawa drags him right back in, and throws a forearm for two. Jumbo is rattled now, so Misawa tries for a takedown, but the champion is in the ropes. Jumbo fires off a knee to cut Misawa's offense off, and he works the midsection. Cross corner whip, but Misawa springboards back at him with a headbutt, and a dropkick knocks Jumbo back to the outside. I know this is hardly news, but Misawa's execution is just unbelievable. Misawa whips him into the guardrail out there, and he snapmares the champ into a mat-based abdominal stretch as they come back inside. Crucifix cradle gets him two, so he tries a bow-and-arrow next, but Jumbo reverses, and they end up in the ropes. Misawa takes him back down for a Boston crab, but Jumbo nears the ropes, so Misawa lets off. He goes for a kneebreaker, but Jumbo throws elbows to block, and he dumps his challenger to the outside to pay him back with a whip into the rail - only for it to backfire when Misawa rebounds at him with a thunderous forearm. Back in, Misawa keeps unloading, but he summons a second wind from Jumbo, and gets pounded into the corner. Misawa refuses to die either, however, and we have a slugfest - won by Jumbo with a high knee. Jumbo with a bodyslam to set up a Boston crab of his own, but Misawa gets the ropes. Jumbo dumps him to the outside to drop knee-first across a table, and Misawa milks the count, with Jumbo giving him plenty of space. Back in, Jumbo zeros right in on the leg, and takes the challenger down for a grapevine. Another bodyslam sets up an STF, but another high knee misses, allowing Misawa to hit a jumping forearm. The criss cross takes its toll on Misawa's knee, however, and he's slow to follow up. He manages a jumping headbutt for two, and he kicks at Jumbo with his good leg for two. Jumbo tries a cross corner whip in desperation, but the high knee in misses. That allows Misawa to try a crucifix, but Jumbo counters with a Samoan drop for two, and he pounds on the challenger with a series of short-clotheslines for two. Saito suplex, but Misawa topples him for two, so Jumbo pounds him again, and suplexes him into the turnbuckles for daring to block the earlier one. I like it. It only gets two, so Jumbo tries a powerbomb, but Misawa counters with a rana into a cradle for two. Not quite a rana, but basically. Misawa with a series of enzuigiris to send Jumbo running for the hills, and I'll bet he's regretting not finishing Misawa off when he had the chance earlier. Misawa with another enzuigiri as the staggered champion comes back inside, and a flying headbutt is worth two. Suplex, but Jumbo slips free, so Misawa just drops him with a DDT for two instead. Jumbo's doing a great job of selling the fatigue. Misawa with a bodyslam to set up a flying frogsplash for two, but a criss cross ends in Jumbo dumping him across the top rope for two. Big punch, but Misawa counters with a bridging German suplex for two, as the referee stops to very obviously give them instructions. Misawa tries the tiger driver, but Jumbo counters with a backdrop driver for two, followed by a clothesline for two. Saito suplex knocks Misawa silly, but he's in the ropes, so no cover. Jumbo responds with another saito suplex, but Misawa is still coming. Third saito finishes, however, at 23:28. This was a hell of a deal here, with both guys throwing bombs at each other, and making it a war. *** ½

 

AJPW World Tag Team Title Match: Jumbo Tsuruta and Akira Taue v Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi: From AJPW TV June 5 1992 in Tokyo Japan. Taue and Kenta start, and an early criss cross goes Taue's way with a bodypress for two, allowing him to work a wristlock. Kenta reverses, so Taue starts throwing headbutts to get back to his home corner for the tag to Jumbo. Unfortunately for Jumbo, Kenta slips away, and tags out to Misawa before the champs can cut the ring in half. Jumbo pounds him into the neutral corner, and he throws a big boot, but Misawa gets mad, and dives with a 2^nd rope backelbow. Misawa unloads in the corner, but Jumbo reverses him into the ropes, and throws a knee to buy time. And that works, allowing Jumbo to pound the mid-section, and pass to Taue to help do more of the same. Taue tries a suplex, but Misawa slips free, and tags. Kenta comes in hot with a dropkick, but throwing chops earns him an eye rake, and Jumbo tags in to blast him with a big boot. Jumbo with a fiery bodyslam to set up a Boston crab, but Kenta is in the ropes before the champ can apply the hold. Jumbo responds by standing on his head, and he dumps Kenta to the outside for Taue to whip into the guardrail. Back in, the champs work Kenta over, targeting the leg. Misawa eventually gets pisses and comes in to stomp Taue while the referee is distracted, and he drags Kenta home to tag. That allows Misawa a senton splash on the stomped Taue for two, and a dropkick gets two. Misawa slaps on a half-crab, but here comes Jumbo to break it up, though Misawa seems pissy about selling for him. Tag to Kenta for a bodyslam to set up a legdrop, but Taue keeps blocking a Boston crab attempt, so Misawa dives with a slingshot splash to soften him up. That works, but Taue makes the ropes anyway. The challengers works on Taue, trying to get a submission out of him, but Jumbo makes saves at crucial moments, and that's eventually enough to steal a tag. Jumbo barrels in with a high knee on Misawa, and he ties him in a tree of woe for some abuse. Clothesline gets him two, and a DDT is worth two. Sleeper (complete with violent hair pulling), but Kenta saves to keep hope alive. Jumbo keeps pounding the shit out of Misawa, but a cross corner whip backfires when Misawa springboards with a backelbow. That allows Misawa to get to the top with a flying forearm for two, and a jumping clothesline follows leads to a headvice, but Taue saves. Misawa fights him off and goes to a chinlock, but here comes Taue again, so Kenta runs in to cut him off. He traps Taue in a chinlock to keep him away, but Jumbo makes the ropes to avoid submitting. Kenta responds by wrecking Jumbo with chops, and a DDT out of the corner gets him two. Jumping shoulderblock leads to an abdominal stretch, but Jumbo fights him off, and throws a big boot. Tag to Taue, but Kenta is ready with a pair of superkicks, and more blistering chops. Bulldog out of the corner gets two, and a powerslam is worth two. Kenta dives with a flying dropkick - punctuated with a flying splash from Misawa - for two. Flying moonsault gets two when Jumbo saves, so Misawa comes in to put Jumbo back in the chinlock. That allows Kenta to dive with another flying moonsault, but Taue dodges this time, and bails. Misawa responds by blasting him with a tope, but Jumbo prevents them from tagging, and kills Kenta with a side suplex... for two. Great near fall there. Side suplex/uranage combo looks to finish, but not Misawa saves at two. Taue stays on Kenta with a powerbomb for two while Jumbo holds Misawa in a chinlock, but Kenta manages to bridging German suplex Taue for two anyway. Misawa adds a senton splash, but Jumbo prevents a tiger driver, and Taue chokeslams Kenta to retain at 27:12. The last few minutes were awesome bossom, but it was a pretty run of the mill tag match before that. Cut about ten minutes out of this one, and you'd have a real killer match, though. ***

 

Jushin Thunder Liger v Pegasus Kid: From NJPW G1 Climax on August 12 1992 in Tokyo Japan. Feeling out process to start, until Kid gets sick of him, and cracks him with a chop before drilling him with a clothesline. Side suplex gets Kid two, so he goes to the mat with a headscissors, but Liger manages to counter to a headlock. Kid whips him into the ropes to escape, triggering a reversal sequence that ends in Liger hitting a leg lariat for two. Dropkick sends Kid to the outside, so Liger blasts him with a baseball slide, but Kid beats the count in. Liger welcomes him with a well executed snap suplex for two, and he works a chinlock, then shifts to a headscissors. Kid powers into an electric chair to escape, and a bodyslam sets up a 2^nd rope legdrop for two. Bridging German suplex gets two, so Kid chucks him with a press-slam to set up an elevated crab, but Liger escapes. Kid responds with his own thunderous snap suplex for two, but Liger tries reversing another suplex, so Kid takes his head off with a clothesline. Liger tries a headscissors, but Kid drops him onto his face to block, and Kid scales the ropes - only for Liger to bring him off the middle with an electric chair for two. Liger with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two, and a spinheel kick sends Kid back to the outside to set up a somersault plancha! Kid beats the count and goes to the top, but Liger is on him with a belly-to-belly superplex for two. Liger goes for the kill with a flying headbutt drop, but Kid dodges, and uses a bridging German suplex for two. Bridging dragon suplex is worth two, so Kid tries a tombstone, but Liger reverses for two. Another tilt-a-whirl, but Kid slips free, and hooks a backslide for two. He charges, but Liger blocks with a well placed koppou kick for two. Superplex, but Kid counters with a powerbomb off the top for the pin at 14:23. Not quite next level shit, but good shit nonetheless. ** ¾

 

AJPW Triple Crown Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa v Toshiaki Kawada: From AJPW TV on October 21 1992 in Tokyo Japan. Kawada drops him on his head with a Saito suplex right out of the gate, and the challenger grabs an armbar. Misawa looks for counters, but gets outwrestled at every turn, as Kawada works the arm. Misawa finally gets pissed and just pounds the challenger down, and he props a dizzy Kawada up in the corner to unload uppercuts on. Misawa works a bow-and-arrow, but Kawada outwrestles him again, and gets an STF on. Misawa gets into the ropes, and he goes back to just pounding, running into Kawada with a backelbow in the corner, then using a monkeyflip to set up a Texas cloverleaf. It goes nowhere, however, and Misawa uses a backbreaker for two, then grabs a camel clutch. Misawa gives up on his holds very quickly, as opposed to Kawada - who will just ride you and ride you and ride you until you either escape, or get into the ropes. Misawa with a toehold next, but Kawada gets into the ropes. Well, at least Misawa didn't just let off that time. Misawa with a bodyslam and a vertical suplex for two, and he goes back to the bow-and-arrow. Kawada makes the ropes, so Misawa tries an Irish whip, but gets reversed, and the challenger throws a spinkick for two. Sharpshooter, but Kawada has trouble holding it, so he goes for a Mexican surfboard instead, but Misawa topples him for two. Boston, Texas, Mexico - this match is so international. Misawa bails to regroup, but Kawada is ready with a bodyslam as the champ comes back in, and a senton gets two. Kawada takes it to the mat again with a crossface, but deciding to stomp Misawa proves to be a bad call, and the champ fights him off with a dropkick. Kawada returns fire with a spinkick, but Misawa blocks a suplex, so Kawada takes him down for a fujiwara armbar - Misawa able to make the ropes to save himself. Kawada responds with chops, but Misawa barrels into him with a forearm, and he goes upstairs with a flying version. Tiger driver, but Kawada railroads him into the corner to block, and throws a clothesline to the back of the head for two. Powerbomb gets two, but Misawa blocks another attempt with a backdrop, so Kawada kicks him in the head again. Bodyslam sets up a 2^nd rope kneedrop for two, and he tries an abdominal stretch, but Misawa is in the ropes to block. Kawada responds, as Kawada is known to do, by kicking him in the head. Maybe he should just KEEP kicking him in the head? It seems to be working. Kawada tries stretching him, but Misawa falls into the ropes to save himself, and both guys tumble to the outside. Kawada hustles it back in to try and finish with a clothesline, but Misawa is up at two. Big boot, but Misawa blocks, so Kawada (say it with me) kicks him in the head for two. Reversal sequence over a German suplex ends in Misawa hitting a bridging version for two, and the tiger driver is worth two. He grabs a chinlock to wear Kawada down for two, and another one to try for the submission, but the challenger makes the ropes. Misawa responds with a bodyslam to set up a flying frogsplash for two, and Kawada wisely bails. Misawa responds with a tope, and he rolls the challenger back in to blast with a forearm for two. Again, but Kawada blocks with an enzuigiri, since there ain't no fun like head kicking fun. Dragon suplex, but Misawa blocks, so Kawada goes with a bridging German for two instead. That softens Misawa up enough that Kawada can execute the bridging dragon suplex, but it only gets two. Chinlock/bodyscissors combo looks to finish, but Misawa makes the ropes. One guess at how Kawada responds. Unfortunately for him, it fires Misawa up, and he manages a leg-feed enzuigiri. Forearm to the back of the head gets two, so Misawa tries another tiger driver, still only for two. Bridging tiger suplex gets two, so Kawada starts kicking him in the head again - multiple times this time. Misawa shrugs him off with a forearm, however, and another tiger suplex retains at 29:52. A really good match, though like many All Japan main events, it suffers from being too long for its own good. Any match where you can skip the entire first third in good conscience is only going to be good up to a certain level. *** ½