Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama (AJPW - 2/27/2000)

This is exactly what you would expect form both of these guys. Pro wrestling of the very highest order. Reaffirms both these guys (particularly Misawa) as all time great wrestler. Expect this to be high on my final list.

This is a serious contender to Greatest Match Ever as I think this is the best match of the 2000s.

Jun Akiyama vs Mitsuharu Misawa - Budokan 2/27/00





After this match, Akiyama was paid, laid and made. This was not a passing of a torch. Akiyama was out to seize that torch on that night and Misawa was going to fight every single step of the way to keep it. The proof is in the pudding: watch Akiyama's head snap back on one of Misawa's transition elbows in the corner or the knee drop Misawa drops on Akiyama's nose that draws blood. When I saw that knee, I was like "Holy fuck, I think he just broke his nose" and when Akiyama came up then was blood. Akiyama gave as he good as he got. As soon as, he was given a weakness (Akiyama drove Misawa to the mat on an attempted reverse cross body and Misawa came up holding his neck) and he went after Misawa's neck (yes given the circumstances now that can be uncomfortable) with a tenacity rarely seen. I am a drop toehold mark. In this match, I think I saw the greatest drop toehold of all time, when Akiyama applied a drop toehold onto Misawa into the railing. Thus match developed into one of the all-time classic Misawa matches with Misawa working underneath while Akiyama strung together one of the greatest offensive runs of all time. The whole time because of the credibility of Misawa's comeback and Misawa's elbow going all the way back to 1990 you never once think he is outta of it until he is shockingly out of it.





They are a bit tentative to start and they actually dive out of the way each of the other's moves before Misawa hits a dropkick sending him out of the ring. Akiyama, knowing Misawa too well, moves out of the way so Misawa stops himself on the apron and hits his diving elbow onto Akiyama. Misawa hits some absolutely wicked elbows on Akiyama in the corner to establish him dominance as THE ACE. However, Akiyama side-stepped a Misawa reverse cross body and drove him to the mat. Misawa comes up holding his neck and the complexion of the match totally changes. Akiyama hits a jumping knee to send Misawa out to the ring. Misawa whips Akiyama into the railing, but Akiyama side-steps him and hits the most wicked drop toehold into railing. He drops Misawa onto the railing throat first and while he is hanging there he hits him with a knee from the apron. Then he hits a knee while Misawa is hanging on the apron, then a piledriver onto the floor and then a friggin' wrist-clutch exploder on the apron. This was a holy shit string of moves all focused on the neck. Akiyama wrangled him into a cool neck submission with grapevining his legs in such a way to apply pressure on Misawa's neck.





Misawa backs him into the corner and hits an absolute monster back elbow and then a springboard dropkick to face. This is a wake up call to Akiyama that there is a reason Misawa is known as one of the most resilient wrestler ever. Misawa hits his front facelock the announcer sells it like it is 1992, but it is 2000 and the crowd does not really buy it. I will say it still looks tenacious as all hell. The crowd just was not buying it as a possible finish. Akiyama dropkicks Misawa off the top rope, hits a running knee off the apron, knee to the back into railing, tombstone piledriver in the ring and finishes this run off with a huge diving elbow to Misawa's neck while he is in the ring and an Exploder. He still can only get a 2.





Misawa gets out of a neck submission to hit his spinkick and drop a nasty knee to Akiyama's nose that draws blood. Misawa's frogsplash gets 2. Misawa runs of his impressive offense: two Germans and a Tiger Driver. Misawa hits a roaring elbow, but just phases Akiyama who hits two Exploders. On the second exploder, Misawa fumbles around before falling looking oddly like arch-rival, Toshiaki Kawada. Could the Kid actually pull it off? Akiyama hits a running knee to Misawa's face and then an exploder for 2. He hits a brainbuster for two. Finally hits the mother of all wrist-clutch exploders dropping Misawa on his head to win at that point the biggest of match of his career in grandiose fashion.





This match reminds me so much of The Dark Knight in how it is perfect confluence of the superficial with meaning. What makes the Dark Knight so great is there is enough fireworks and eye candy to appeal to our audiovisual senses, but all rooted in a beautifully woven story. It appeals to pretty much facet of humanity, much like this match. You have the story of the young upstart looking to dethrone warrior-king by attacking his neck ruthlessly and violently. The old warrior-king has plenty of fight left in him, but eventually he overcome by the surmounting pain and the indefatigable resolve of the young upstart. On top of that, this is one of best offensive spectacles to ever be produced. Akiyama does a tremendous job of never letting up just zeroing in when Misawa is coming back he does not stop coming forward. Misawa is one of the ultimate underneath workers in this match he gives Akiyama even more offense than he would usual, which shows how much he trusted him at this point. After that second Exploder, when Misawa tried to get up and just fell back down you flashed back to all the times it had happened to Kawada and it was Misawa standing tall. The grand finale was a vicious head-drop wrist clutch exploder. Akiyama respected Misawa enough to know that he had to have no remorse if he wanted to take his place in the run. *****