Kawada/Taue vs Misawa/Akiyama (AJPW - 12/6/1996)

Seconded. I've never seen this as the obvious GME like several people I have a ton of respect for do. It is a classic match but it never stood out like 6/9/95 or DreamRush 92 or Queendom 94 or 1/86 even. Great match. MOTYC. Something I'll consider, but it didn't make my rough draft for transparency.

Excellent match but not a classic.

From an action/workrate standpoint this is as good as it gets. How they managed to cut that kind of pace while still sold everything for extended periods of time is insane. Also Misawa's performance is out of this world great. He wrestled with even more authority than usual and his selling and display of vulnerability during the 2 on 1 were outstanding. Akiyama's growth was also really good in how he was able to go toe and toe with his opponents and didn't need Misawa to bail him out. Also HDA redeeming their previous tag league failures was also great. Still this match makes Kawada look like a complete chump. He loses almost every exchange against Misawa, has to be repeatedly saved and needs Taue to essentially serve the win on a silver platter for him to take it home. There is a difference between having trouble against Misawa (great post by dawho5 btw) and not being able to hold up your end against him at all. It made Taue look like a worldbeater, which is fine, but Kawada was just kind of there for the ride. I don't think it was the best payoff to a year of matches between the two teams and to the Kawada's year of hell booking.

Just watched this again and it will be top 5 at worst. Not sure if it has quite the same level of drama 6/9/95 has, but it's a wonderful, 30+ minute story with absolutely no downtime. Jun continuing to prove himself as Kawada and Taue's near equals and their frustration boiling over into the apron chokeslam. Misawa's next level resiliency in a 2-on-1 situation. Kawada's desperation in putting Misawa away. Taue's clean-up hitter offense. Jun's largely futile attempts to protect Misawa being an excellent yet ironic role reversal of the May match.


I sort of understand this perspective as Misawa DID get the better of Kawada in most exchanges. But I really felt like that worked into the overall narrative. And I don't think it made Kawada look like a chump as much as it was a "No matter how good you are, there's always someone better" situation. You could see Kawada's disbelief in the fact that he STILL can't beat this guy and Taue's almost "Well, looks like I gotta step in again." Kawada has pretty much resigned himself to taking any victory he can over Misawa and while he comes off as a bit sympathetic in that regard, he's still an asshole at the end of the day. And this match did a tremendous job of making you feel somewhat happy that Taue and Kawada finally got the win while at the same time going "Geez, what jerks!"

An absolute classic in every sense of the word.

If I may, let me try to help out on the storytelling aspect since I see that has been a common complaint. Bossrock applauded "Misawa's next-level resiliency" and I disagree he should be chastised! He was being a selfish prick and this was Hero-Ball at its worst. For the first 20 minutes watch this match for when they tag. They always tag wisely and timely. It is not when they are tired per se sometimes it is just to press an advantage. Akiyama knocks Kawada down initially, he tags. Taue saves Kawada, Kawada tags. They are using tags to prevent runs and control segments, really well in this match. 20 minutes of this.

Kawada trucks Misawa illegally on a Tiger Driver attempt. Taue tags. Holy Demon Army consolidates the advantage with a double team combination. Kawada seeing that they were in the driver's seat goes for his trademark Powerbomb, a possible finisher. Misawa-Rana! If Misawa followed the structure of the match, he would have tagged out. He stays in. And he keeps staying in. To the point, where this becomes Hero-Ball. It is late in the game, he is going Iso and he is going to win the match on his own and prove that he can beat Kawada. At first, it pissed me off because I am like they are ruining the narrative that I was creating until I realized. If the Hero-Ball costs Misawa/Akiyama the match THEN it validates my narrative that good tag team wrestling does win the day and once Misawa starting wrestling like a single instead of team he cost his team a match. Lo & Behold, Akiyama never was the legal man again. He never made a tag. Hero-Ball cost them the match.

Granted, Misawa got damn close because Misawa is the kayfabe singles GOAT, but this is TAG TEAM wrestling. What he didnt account for was game-changing, world-beating force of nature Akira Taue going off in Game 7 of the Finals and steamrolling his tag partner and running his ass down. Taue serves Misawa up for Kawada.

Misawa's hubris got the best of him. That's the story.

There's so much to unpack here. Taue is here to be the brains to Kawada's brawn. He needs to keep Kawada's temper in check, much like in the 6/9/95 tag. Akiyama is lacking in experience, but he has a lot of heart and is a much better tag partner than Kobashi ever was to Misawa. Some of the head drops here were nasty, especially the spike Backdrop Drivers that Misawa ate. The strike exchanges between Kawada and Misawa show us that their epic rivalry is far from over. Akiyama and Misawa isolate Kawada and it's all up for Taue to save the day. He gets the tag and takes out Akiyama with a brutal chokeslam to the floor, and it's not long before the Holy Demon Army scores the victory by pinning Misawa. This was probably my favorite AJPW King's Road match, behind the 6/9/95 tag of course! ★★★★★

I’ve heard this called the greatest match off all time and it isn’t too too far off for me. The starring stretch for Misawa and Taue built around the chokeslam from the apron and the dive was killer for me. And then the finishing stretch with Misawa taking out Misawa was great stuff.