Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Johnny Ace (AJPW 2/28/1998)
Jan 17, 2024 17:13:53 GMT -5
Post by fxnj on Jan 17, 2024 17:13:53 GMT -5
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Having only seen the JIP version prior, being able to watch the first 10 minutes of this is a real revelation. The JIP version cut in right to when they started trading bombs with Ace dominating, which always made it seem kind of ridiculous to me as Ace seems exactly the type of opponent that Misawa should run right through. The full version completely recontextualizes things by showing how initially Misawa actually was running through Ace, and we got some rare TC match comedy with Ace trying to psyche himself up ala Kobashi but getting instantly knocked down by a Misawa elbow. Even still, the cracks in Misawa's defenses become visible right from the start when Ace does some serious damage with a throat chop to Misawa's injured neck. Ace stays persistent with keeping after it, even while having quite a bit of set-backs and that's more or less how we get to the post-JIP section.
The match works a lot better taking it less as about showing Ace can main event and more about how Misawa's body is starting to betray him. Not only is his neck a weak point, but he struggles to pull off the same sort of tricks that would usually win him matches. Ace is actually a great guy for this sort of match since he's low enough on the hierarchy that it feels like he normally shouldn't be pushing Misawa this hard, but he's been around long enough that you can still buy him cutting off Misawa's signature moves. The gnarliest spot of the match might actually be before the JIP when Misawa attempts his elbow suicida but eats a kick to the jaw while he's mid-air. Besides that, Ace looks to take some inspiration from DDP in finding all kinds of crazy ways to work in his Ace Cutter, the highlight being when he hits it while Misawa is mid-air off a flapjack.
As you'd expect from a Misawa match from this period, Misawa's facial selling is excellent and he takes some wince-inducing neck bumps. He gets a cut over his eyelid which further enhances thing by giving us some cool visuals of blood running down over his eye. There's also some interesting points where Misawa breaks from his usual stoicism and goes crazy unloading on Ace, the most memorable being after the aforementioned throat chop in the match's beginning. You get the sense that it's less out of desperation and more frustration with himself from having such difficulty with a lower ranked opponent. The stretch run felt pretty exciting to me for how neither guy really seemed to be fully in control. Before I'd always thought it devaluing of the Tiger Driver 91 for Misawa to have to pull it out here, but this time it made sense to show how he's becoming more beatable even if he got the win. This somewhat inadvertently foreshadows the Kawada Dome show match, where Misawa is even more banged up and Kawada is far more apt than Ace in taking advantage of that fact.
Having only seen the JIP version prior, being able to watch the first 10 minutes of this is a real revelation. The JIP version cut in right to when they started trading bombs with Ace dominating, which always made it seem kind of ridiculous to me as Ace seems exactly the type of opponent that Misawa should run right through. The full version completely recontextualizes things by showing how initially Misawa actually was running through Ace, and we got some rare TC match comedy with Ace trying to psyche himself up ala Kobashi but getting instantly knocked down by a Misawa elbow. Even still, the cracks in Misawa's defenses become visible right from the start when Ace does some serious damage with a throat chop to Misawa's injured neck. Ace stays persistent with keeping after it, even while having quite a bit of set-backs and that's more or less how we get to the post-JIP section.
The match works a lot better taking it less as about showing Ace can main event and more about how Misawa's body is starting to betray him. Not only is his neck a weak point, but he struggles to pull off the same sort of tricks that would usually win him matches. Ace is actually a great guy for this sort of match since he's low enough on the hierarchy that it feels like he normally shouldn't be pushing Misawa this hard, but he's been around long enough that you can still buy him cutting off Misawa's signature moves. The gnarliest spot of the match might actually be before the JIP when Misawa attempts his elbow suicida but eats a kick to the jaw while he's mid-air. Besides that, Ace looks to take some inspiration from DDP in finding all kinds of crazy ways to work in his Ace Cutter, the highlight being when he hits it while Misawa is mid-air off a flapjack.
As you'd expect from a Misawa match from this period, Misawa's facial selling is excellent and he takes some wince-inducing neck bumps. He gets a cut over his eyelid which further enhances thing by giving us some cool visuals of blood running down over his eye. There's also some interesting points where Misawa breaks from his usual stoicism and goes crazy unloading on Ace, the most memorable being after the aforementioned throat chop in the match's beginning. You get the sense that it's less out of desperation and more frustration with himself from having such difficulty with a lower ranked opponent. The stretch run felt pretty exciting to me for how neither guy really seemed to be fully in control. Before I'd always thought it devaluing of the Tiger Driver 91 for Misawa to have to pull it out here, but this time it made sense to show how he's becoming more beatable even if he got the win. This somewhat inadvertently foreshadows the Kawada Dome show match, where Misawa is even more banged up and Kawada is far more apt than Ace in taking advantage of that fact.
