Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW - 4/6/1995)

Second. Ah yes, the match where Kawada breaks Misawa's orbital bone and continues to kick him in the face for 29 more minutes from what I remember.

Btw, Kawada's first win over Misawa was in 97 in a pretty awesome 7 minute sprint after Misawa had just wrestled a 30 minute draw vs. Kobashi.

Kawada breaks Misawa's orbital bone 30 seconds into a 30 minute draw. Misawa breaks with a broken fucking face for 29 and a half minutes. Tough as nails. First 15 is a little shaky but last half is a banger.

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 4/6/95

The famous Kawada breaks Misawa's eye socket match and Misawa wrestles for another 29:30 minutes. This would lead to a great hook for the Carny Finals and the Misawa/Kawada 7/29/95 match.

I would hate this to be the first Misawa/Kawada match anyone watches. It is such a classic rivalry and this match disappoints. It disappoints because about 30 seconds into the match Kawada breaks Misawa’s orbital bone legitimately. It is off a kick that does not even look all that bad. Misawa takes an extended break in the corner. The ref checks on him. Twice the young boys try to give him an ice pack for his eye. This obviously causes Misawa immense pain and it is a real tribute to his actual toughness that he continued on for the next 29:30 of the match. It did cause him to botch a couple moves of his routine and for the match to start a bit slower, but he did find his groove eventually.

The spot of the match is Kawada actually busting out a dive onto the outside of his own, which made me go nuts. (2020 Martin: I thought the same thing. It was not very graceful but it was crazy!) Misawa blocks a piledriver on the floor delivers a Tiger Driver for the first big move of the match approximately 12 minutes into the match. (2020 Martin: Up until that point, they did seem to be buying time, the AJPW Surfboard spot and some holds. I am surprised I didnt mention how good Kawada's selling at some points. Misawa threw some fierce kicks to the core and Kawada did a great job doing doubled over selling.) Kawada still goes after the eye, which makes me cringe. (2020 Martin: Nothing has changed) As I mentioned earlier, Kawada had never pinned Misawa before. The injury forced their hand to structure a match where Kawada would be offense for a majority making it feel like Kawada would eventually get that victory. Kawada is really good at nuances like the struggle over a powerbomb. (2020 Martin: Three attempts, Misawa-rana and Misawa kicks to the head stymie the first two. I liked Misawa getting a brief run before Kawada turned to Double Stomps to earn that Powerbomb. He really launched him too. Not quite as much heat as 6/3/94 Powerbomb but this was top notch work). Kawada keeps going back to the stretch plum because of the pressure it puts on the eye.

Misawa lands a spin kick and goes through his offensive arsenal and the Tiger Suplex gets a good pop as a false finish. (2020 Martin: The key to this is that once Kawada gets the powerbomb they move to Misawa on offense which is smart. They work it as Misawa trying to avoid a suplex by clutching the top rope and when he lets go his elbow recoils and snaps back to hit Kawada. Then they work Misawa finish run. They work it so convincingly that I thought Misawa was going to stand tall when the bell rang for the draw) My second favorite spot of the match is when Kawada is clutching the ropes for dear life fending off a sleeper suplex attempt (Misawa's new favorite move as it put away Kobashi) and then fires off this nasty chop to Misawa’s throat. (2020 Martin: I dont know what your favorite spot was but that was the spot of the match, dude. Same recoil spot as Misawa's elbow earlier.). It was a perfect confluence of desperation, fatigue and dickishness. (2020 Martin: The Jumping High Kick was crucial here after the recoil spinning back chop) Kawada lands a brainbuster and a powerbomb but time expires with him desperately trying to hit a Back Drop Driver.

The general theme of Misawa/Kawada matches is Kawada getting closer and closer to pinning Misawa. In 1993, Kawada worked over Misawa’s arm to eliminate Misawa’s vaunted elbows. In 1994, Kawada worked over Misawa’s neck and was even more aggressive in his stance. In this match, he was in control of the match before time limit expiring looking that with just a minute more and a successful Back Drop Driver he would have secured his first victory over Misawa. This was a great effort from both men given the circumstances of Misawa’s unfortunate injury so early in the match. The first 15 minutes or so is pretty rough, but once Misawa finds his groove the back 15 minutes are really, really strong. It is an unfortunate injury but the silver lining is that the injury adds a ton of heat to Misawa's classic matches of '95. ****1/4