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Post by fxnj on Feb 13, 2019 11:53:07 GMT -5
Best Steve Williams match ever? Incredibly smart offensive performance by Williams as he shuts down any momentum gained by Misawa and slowly grinds him down until busting out the Backdrop Driver. Features an all-time great selling performance by Misawa, including his iconic sell of the Backdrop Driver.
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Post by andylfc on Feb 18, 2019 18:46:17 GMT -5
Second. A great year for Williams with performances like this one against Misawa and also Kawada in the Carny Final. Misawa with sublime selling here of the first backdrop driver sending him to the outside to recover and the announcer going crazy. Closing moments are super dramatic with Williams catching Misawa with another backdrop. I'd say this gets lost in the shuffle of great All Japan matches. Very underrated.
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Post by microstatistics on Feb 18, 2019 23:44:10 GMT -5
Third. Surprised this wasn't already in the nominees section. Anyways, clever match with a distinct strategy based story and memorable moments.
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Post by shodate on Feb 25, 2019 22:51:17 GMT -5
All time classic. simple structure williams overwhelms misawa who survives and makes a comeback. williams is in deep trouble and then oberalites misawa with backdrop. great exection and great misawa elbows. deadly backdrop that ends in goat level sell as misawa falls unconcious in a visceral way and it never falls over the top its like a boxer getting caught with deathmove after that misawa perfectly mixes selling and comeback but is too fucked up as williams catches him again top 50 maybe.
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Post by dkuchler31096 on Jun 6, 2019 13:54:17 GMT -5
Simplicity at its finest. Williams is good at being the monster that gets knocked down a few times. Did I mention backdrops, yeah there are two brutal ones near the end. Misawa's selling was top notch as well. ****1/2
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Post by superstarsleeze on Jun 9, 2020 21:05:35 GMT -5
7/28/94 the day Doc shocked the World! I think this match is usually considered a second tier All Japan basically below the all the matches known just by their dates. I think most people like the Kawada/Doc Carny Finals match the most, but man this match has always hit the spot for me. I actually prefer this match to 6/3/94 and I mean it. I think they both play their characters so well. Doc is the perfect blend of power and speed that is just explosive and Misawa is trying to control him but cant. It is a great monster vs champion match with great escalation and transitions. Terrific. It will make my Top 50.
AJPW Triple Crown Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Steve Williams - 7/28/94
All Japan Match of the Year, 1994
My sleeper pick for the best All Japan match of the 90s. Incidentally this match was the subject of my first post at PWO 7.5 years ago. How time flies! Also history does render certain things murky I thought for sure it was to defend the awesome Brock Lesnar vs Triple H match from Summerslam 2012, but nope it looks like this was the match inspired me to join PWO, which I am ever grateful for. Besides the my initial viewing of wrestling and WrestleMania XIX (which brought me back into the fold permanently), I dont think there was a more important moment in my pro wrestling fandom than finding and joining Pro Wrestling Only. Thank you Loss (Charles) & Goodhelmet (Will) for founding such a badass, invaluable website.
What makes this match special in my opinion is how Dr. Death is able to combine speed, power & precision into one unique explosive package. I think what makes Williams different from Hansen is Hansen has a lot of energy, but he is not as quick to snatch someone. I think thats what it is that Doc is quick whereas Hansen is energetic. Also, Doc's amateur and athletic comes into play in how fluid, precise and coordinated his attacks are. The way he can gobble Misawa up and with one of pop of the hips turn that into a Spinebuster is crazy.
I compared this to Kobashi/Hansen and how Kobashi approach was bullheaded offense. Whereas Misawa's approach was to try to contain the explosive Doc with the facelocks. I really liked the struggle within these holds. It would be easy for this portion of the match to become boring or listless, but it never does because they are always working within the hold. They are always flexing and struggling. You can see how much strain it puts on Misawa to restrain the explosiveness of Dr. Death. On the flips side, you can see Dr. Death work hard to throw off the shackles. You see that the first time Doc is able to make a dent in Misawa is when he bullies him into the turnbuckles hard and Misawa is left clutching the back. Doc hits a great dropkick back into the turnbuckles and then a bodyslam with a HUGE running elbow and then a Cowboy Kick. I think another thing this match does exceptionally well is how they set up Doc's offense so that he looks like an absolute monster.
Twice Misawa goes for running/charging offense and twice it is converted into either a MASSIVE powerslam or spinebuter by Doc who snatches Misawa up and turns these into big time power offense. This works well with Misawa's preferred method of working which is underneath with a lot of hope spots that build to a grand finale. Now Misawa did get more offense in than just front facelocks in this front half. Anytime it did look like Doc was going to run away with the match, Misawa always had his trusty elbow. This is another thing that made Doc look like a monster was his ability to absorb these massive elbows and keep on tickin. Misawa hits his Elbow Suicida and the diving elbow from the top. In fact Misawa looks like he strung enough Elbows together to make short work of Dr. Death. However, Doc back drops out of the Tiger Driver. This is when that aforementioned Spinebuster took place. This is what makes Doc so lethal. That rare combination of size, strength, power and speed when you mix that into a concoction it becomes explosive. We are left at the 15 minutes with Dr. Death decidedly in control as he pops off a wicked belly to belly suplex. Then in a great moment that I cant believe I forgot, he does Oklahoma Stampede on the outside using the Steel Ring Post. Again working that back, so much happens in the next five minutes.
Dr. Death works a heat segment that everyone wishes they could work. It is focused, varied and energetic. Focused on the back. Slamming Misawa into turnbuckles, trying for the Oklahoma Stampede, a massive powerslam, Boston Crab, a huge Stinger Splash in the corner, Backdrop Driver teases, Suicide Dive to the floor (yes Doc did that!), top rope shoulder tackle and an explosive DoctorBomb for a red hot nearfall. It was incredible and it feels so urgent. Misawa for his part was selling well but also really struggling. He was scrambling for the ropes on the Oklahoma Stampede and the Back Drop Driver. When Doc deadlift pressed him high over his shoulders, Misawa caught the ropes before Snake Eyes and turns around SMOKED Doc with an Elbow. It was just enough to stun Dr. Death, but he started to make in-roads. Here comes the Misawa Elbow combination only for Doc to resort to a four or five loopy right closed fists to put Misawa down. Really excellent burst of energy from both men in this 5 minutes.
Dr. Death mimes the Back Drop Driver to the audience and there is a big reaction. Misawa hooks the leg and this trips Doc causing him to land hard on the back of his head and this knocks him loopy. Misawa is able to take advantage of this with his Trusty Elbow. Tiger Driver gets two. I think what makes this match work so well is because Misawa's reign was over 700 days old at this point so when you enter this portion of the match theres a certain rhythm to it. A comfort. That all will be well in the world and Misawa will reign victorious. It is the same rhythm Patriots fans feel when Tom Brady would drive down the field with two minutes left to win the game. So we get the Frogsplash 1-2-No, thats ok Senton, Frogsplash another 2 count. Everything is under control. It is time for another Tiger Driver. Doc deadweights. That's fine, Misawa will blow him away with a bunch of Elbows and we will get out of here. First elbow, Misawa winds up for the BIG ONE and Doc ducks under and in one fell swoop HOISTS MISAWA OVER FOR A DAAAAANNNNGGGGGEROUS BACK DROP DRIVER! You ever want to hear 16,000 people collectively lose their breath at once watch that spot. Brady threw an interception at the goal line and everyone is in shellshock.
Misawa's sell is terrific. The way limply collapses to the outside. Now the game is only tied so Dr. Death has to complete the drive down his field on his own. As you would expect that first Back Drop Driver was not enough. Misawa had too much time to recover. It was the beginning of the end. Misawa got token elbows to give the fans some hope and half-countered the next Back Drop Driver, but when Doc hits the Oklahoma Stampede and then a final Back Drop Driver, the historic Misawa Triple Crown reign was over. The unlikely, burly Oklahoman had unseated the Ace!
Steve Williams sure as hell picked a great time to have the match of his life. He was explosive throughout the match. He worked an excellent heat segment that was the perfect combination of focus, energy and variety. It built to a great climax with the Doctor Bomb and then Misawa's Back Drop Driver Block. It lulls you into a false sense of security. Thats what this match does so well. You believe you have seen this story before. You fully believe Misawa will comeback and win. It was actually an Elbow that did Misawa in. Throughout the match, Doc had been quickly and explosively countering Misawa and we see it here when he ducks under and in one motion drops Misawa on his head in the single greatest Back Drop Driver spot. Dont make me choose between all the classics. Just know this match is right up there with 6/3/93, 7/29/93, 12/3/93 and 5/21/94. It should be a match known by its date, 7/28/94 the day Dr. Death shocked the world!
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Post by KB8 on Jul 24, 2023 11:21:40 GMT -5
I wouldn't say the first 10 minutes of this outright bored me to tears, but it never did anything for me either. Over the last few weeks I've started watching longer matches on the exercise bike, and a good way to tell if something's engaging me is if they'll do a time elapsed announcement and something like 10 minutes have gone and it feels like I've only been on the bike for two. This time they did the five-minute check and it felt like I'd been riding for half an hour. I mean, I'm being overly critical and it wasn't terrible or anything. You could see Misawa was wary of even a hint of the Backdrop Driver straight from the start and was content to try the sleeper just for containment, they had a couple brief strike exchanges where Williams kind of nodded like he was remembering an Oklahoma frat house hazing party where someone walloped him in the face with a hoover and thus concluded that Misawa was a worthy adversary, and in general I suppose I got what they were going for with the slow build. It just it not particularly engaging so, you know, whatever. After Misawa hit the tope elbow it picked up, then picked up again after Williams hit that delayed spinebuster, and from there it built to something really good. Williams' work on the back was strong and I thought Misawa's selling was equally so, especially late on. Misawa clinging to the ropes as Williams ran him into the corner for the Oklahoma Stampede was a really cool moment. Misawa's elbow bailed him out more than once and I loved him going back to the rolling version that levelled Williams earlier, because why wouldn't you go back to what brung you to the dance? only for Williams to duck and use Misawa's momentum to essentially set up the first Backdrop Driver. They'd teased that a couple times before and once in particular the crowd about shit themselves, and Misawa's sell of it by damn near throwing himself out the ring just to delay the inevitable put the move over huge. Misawa on his last legs throwing desperation elbows was really exceptional, but you always had the sense that the first Backdrop had put him too far behind the eight ball and Williams was closing in on the second. Misawa's bump off it when it came was truly ludicrous. I don't really have any issue calling this a great match, or at least a match with two great performances, but that first stretch sort of killed me. Actually maybe it speaks to the strength of the last two thirds that they dragged me back in the way they did.
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Post by elliott on Sept 13, 2023 17:01:52 GMT -5
A top 5 90s AJPW match for me and one of the 3 best Misawa matches ever. These two have awesome chemistry.
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