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Post by Cap on Dec 4, 2017 20:37:29 GMT -5
Jumbo Tsuruta vs Mitsuhara Misawa (AJPW - 9/1/1990)
This will get grouped together with their earlier match and its greatness is probably somewhat dependent upon that first match, but I strongly prefer this one. This match is so sharp, has such a big and important feel to it, and tells a fascinatingly simple story. It is full of memorable spots and high emotion. I can't imagine this not being on the vast majority of lists. It is something I think of as pretty comfortably in the top half of my list and another match I will be really looking at this as an elite, top shelf match.
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Post by elliott on Dec 4, 2017 22:28:43 GMT -5
I second this nomination. Because I know lots of people will vote for it and I know I'm weird on All Japan. Maybe I'll rewatch it, but I watched it within the last year and it might not make my top 350 let alone my top 100. Its Jumbo vs Misawa. I get it, but its just not something that excites me. Runs and hides.
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Post by fxnj on Jan 5, 2018 22:39:45 GMT -5
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Post by bossrock on Jan 15, 2018 15:30:47 GMT -5
I'd argue this is the best Jumbo-Misawa singles match. Whereas the first match showed Misawa more as an opportunistic hotshot, he comes across much more as Jumbo's equal here. Jumbo tries with all his might to pound Misawa and get it through his head that HE'S the ace, but Misawa just will not. Go. Away. Not my favorite match from either guy, but has an outside chance of making my list.
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Post by shrike02 on Jan 15, 2018 16:05:48 GMT -5
By default this is going to make my list somewhere between 10-30. Outstanding performance by both as Jumbo is just going all-out to show he's still the ace and Misawa is much more capable as a true rival and heavyweight to push Jumbo to the limit.
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Post by shrike02 on Feb 21, 2018 9:44:25 GMT -5
Triple Crown #1 Contender match.
The rivalry grows! Jumbo is the old lion desperate to prove he's still the man after Misawa pulled off the stunning upset. Misawa is more assured as a true heavyweight and rival to Jumbo, who has to be cautious of Misawa's elbow strikes. Some great callback spots and some transcendent moments where Jumbo throws the kitchen sink at Misawa with a barrage of offense. The crowd is fully invested, to say the least.
5* match for me and it tells a great story.
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Post by tetsujin on Feb 22, 2018 18:54:03 GMT -5
Second. I always thought this was better than their june match, as this was the true litmus test for Misawa: luck or talent? We'll see. Jumbo was pissed off since the beggining, which is something amazing to watch because his strikes and moves and holds are really vicious, but he still tries to look as the good guy in the story. Misawa proves he's the leader of the new era with his incredible resiliance, they both looked as stars, and the crowd totally enjoyed it. One of the best matches of the year, but I'm not sure about it being on my list. Damn, 100 matches aren't enough!
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Post by bossrock on Feb 23, 2018 15:32:30 GMT -5
Third.
Definitely the best Jumbo-Misawa singles match. Whereas Misawa looked more like an opportunistic junior in the June match, he appears to be much more on Jumbo's level this time. Jumbo turns in one of his best surly performances as he just absolutely whales on this punk who just won't go away.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Jul 29, 2018 13:11:04 GMT -5
Amazing second half but I think both Jumbo/Misawa matches will fall short but could be elevated by historic importance which I'm taking into account.
Jumbo Tsuruta vs Mitsuharu Misawa - AJPW 9/1/90
Have watched this match in the past and I know it is the REMATCH~! I am twenty minutes in and I am pretty underwhelmed. Transitions have been poor and the story has just been lets hit each other really hard. The beginning was great with each blocking the other's elbow, but Jumbo sneaking in a short elbow. Short heat sequence on Misawa's abdomen with a big Misawa reaction. I thought this was going somewhere good. Liked Misawa's quick reverse crossbody headbutt and chinlock to quell Jumbo's momentum. Then match lost me. Poor transition into the surfboard test of strength. A really lazy Misawa armbar. There was a long stretch where the match did not feel like anything was being accomplished. Misawa would elbow the hell out of Jumbo and then Jumbo would elbow the hell out of Misawa. But the energy was not there. It was more of each other just taking it. Jumbo was doing a lot of holds that ultimately did not mean anything. Misawa was also hold happy. Thing that really stuck out to me was Jumbo hitting a piledriver and a butterfly suplex and Misawa just popping up, it was not a no sell, but a not sell. No selling is a form of selling that can pop the crowd. This is a not sell. It was jarring. The match finally kicked into gear when Jumbo threw Misawa's head to the ground. The Thesz Press. Now it felt like things had consequence. When Misawa elbow, JUMBO WENT BEZERK~! HERE WE FUCKING GO! Loved the play off the 6/8 finish with Misawa shifting his weight on a back drop driver and then Jumbo floating over for two.
Jumbo tossing him out repeatedly and whacking him with a chair was great. They were really hitting each other hard. This is the match that established the Misawa Elbow as The MISAWA ELBOW~! You can see how much he relies on it and never gives up on it. He was really bashing Jumbo and he eventually does make in roads with it. Jumbo resorts to primal counters like nasty headbutts. I loved Jumbo's dropkick with the explosive extension at the end. Misawa-rana out of the powerbomb is that debut or was he doing that as Tiger Mask II? Misawa is unrelenting with that HUGE elbows. This is classic Misawa. Loved the German. Jumbo gets him with a supeplex and then a Back Drop Driver. Kick out, damn I bit hard on that! Classic All Japan is here. Huge Misawa elbow to the side of the face. Loved the finish. It was who could pull the trigger first with Jumbo hitting the lariat before Misawa could hit the elbow and Jumbo wins with a back drop driver!
JIP to Jumbo losing his mind and going to town on Misawa and this is ***** easy. What is interesting is that while this firmly confirms Jumbo as the Ace with the clean victory with his finish. Misawa did kick out of one Back Drop Driver and really had Jumbo reeling. This was not a dominating Jumbo victory. Jumbo had to be resilient. It was a great fight. The thought first half meandered a lot and drops this out of greatest match of all time discussion, but still a classic. I think I prefer 6/8 for the entirety of it and the cool finish. This had the better finish run. ****1/2
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Post by superstarsleeze on Jul 29, 2018 18:22:29 GMT -5
Note to moderators there are two threads for this match.
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Post by KB8 on Jan 26, 2019 11:48:57 GMT -5
Yeah, this is the business. I think if you'd asked me ten years ago where I'd rank this I'd probably have gone somewhere around the top 20. I guess it's a decent barometer of where I'm at with the pro-wrestling these days because it probably wouldn't be within a hundred spots of that now, but even still it's a cracking match. Ageing star trying to hold onto his place in the world is one of my favourite stories in wrestling and this is mostly an awesome telling of that story. Misawa's already beaten Jumbo once. Jumbo's been blitzed by those elbows and still hasn't quite figured out what to do with all that cruiserweight offence. So he either comes up with some answers or he'll be handing over the reins long before he's ready to.
Like the June match I thought the first few minutes were shit hot. Misawa throws his first elbow but Jumbo knows all too well what to expect and gets a block. Jumbo then tries his own and Misawa has that scouted...so Jumbo just knees him in the guts. Last time he couldn't deal with Misawa flying around, so this time he won't let him get the chance. The knees to the body and the clubbering looked good too, so that was a bonus. I thought the middle part meandered a bit, much like in the first match. They worked a few holds and it wasn't as if they sat in them for minutes at a time, but it didn't feel like there was a great deal of urgency to them either. A headscissors, an abdominal stretch, Jumbo wearing Misawa down without it ever really grabbing me. There were a few cool moments sprinkled in, though. They play off the finish to the first match with the roles reversed, this time Jumbo flipping the pin attempt for a nearfall. Misawa had some of that flying to fall back on as well, like his Super Astro headbutt off the turnbuckle, and those elbows were always useful in a pinch. He came across as more of a heavyweight this time, whereas before it was a bit closer to cruiserweight stepping up a division. Then Misawa drills Jumbo in the ear one time too many and Jumbo goes apeshit. He didn't survive two years of Tenryu chopping him in the throat only to have his brains scrambled by the new kid's elbows. The new kid had even been Jumbo's understudy for chrissakes! He just batters Misawa all over the place, slams him over a table, hits him with a chair, dismissively chucks him through the ropes when Misawa makes it back in. The crowd can boo if they want but Jumbo's had enough and it's time for this foolishness to end. Everything that comes after this is pretty tremendous. Jumbo walked that line between desperation and frustration and his progressive selling for Misawa's elbows was amazing. The moment he snapped again and started throwing headbutts was doubly amazing, like a man who'd exhausted all other options and been driven to near frenzy. I loved the spot where Misawa tried the same leap off the turnbuckle from earlier only for Jumbo to finally have it scouted and drive him to the mat. Of course that little glimmer of hope is squashed not long after as Misawa catches him AGAIN coming off the top. It's like whack-a-mole where every time you get rid of one problem another one pops up. Misawa combining his two biggest weapons and hitting an elbow off the top rope was awesome, but I guess it was fitting that he went to the well once too often and it ultimately cost him. He had his own little glimmer after kicking out of the first backdrop, but Jumbo catching him with the lariat as he fires up for another elbow was a fitting way to shut him down for good.
There are clear parallels between this and things like Hansen/Kobashi. Jumbo was probably as good in this as Hansen's best with Kobashi, but the best Hansen/Kobashi engaged me way more from start to finish. I think the biggest strengths of both matches is how the young guys came out looking great in defeat while the old dogs showed they weren't ready to step down. It's just that neither victory came decisively and you knew it wouldn't be long before those victories stopped coming altogether. I'd comfortably call this great, but I'm not sure it's what I really want to be watching at this stage in my fandom. Still an easy nomination of course.
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Post by Cap on Aug 16, 2020 9:25:21 GMT -5
From my rewatch project on 8/13/2020 Mitsuhara Misawa vs Jumbo Tsuruta (9/1/1990) Current Rank: 63 Trending: Down When I submitted my ballot last year there were two matches that felt way too high upon reflection. One of them has completely fallen off the list. The other was this match. Misawa v Jumbo is not likely to fall completely off my list, but it is likely to fall a little bit. I have always preferred this to the one where Misawa bests Jumbo earlier. I think this builds on that story really well as pissed off Jumbo comes out here and really elevates the match with his malice strikes and “fuck you, kid” attitude. It is the sort of match where the story is legible even completely out of context, but is only elevated when you know get that context. In turn, it would be disingenuous for me to call this anything but awesome. However, the devil is in the details here. Little things that don’t quite flow or work like I assume they should and the slightest lull early in the match separate this from the middle tier elite matches it sits around right now. It will likely slide a bit, but not off the list. Full Post: gweproject.freeforums.net/post/8420
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Post by makaiclub on Feb 26, 2022 16:07:20 GMT -5
A similar start to the previous match between these two. Jumbo brutalises Misawa early on before Misawa fights back and establishes himself as an equal, only in fast forward. Not that I complained. The spot where Jumbo threw Misawa to the outside and followed him, only for Misawa to roll in the ring and egg him off was good. Funny, too. The Jumbo beating down Misawa portion lost me a little, it just wasn't as engaging as when Misawa was on offence. When the two began going toe-to-toe, this got a lot better. I loved the part where the two just had a slapfest with Jumbo destroying Misawa and beating his face in with some ground and pound. The final third of the match was absolutely tremendous, more than made up for an okay one in the last match. I think overall, this was the lesser match with the previous one being having a better start and middle and a hotter crowd but this was still a pretty great match with an awesome finish. ****1/4
Won't List
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Post by [Darren] on Mar 19, 2022 20:38:30 GMT -5
This popped up as a new upload on a YT channel I follow. So I put it on. I left it off my ballot, I always had the impression this was a distant second to their June match. Boy, this blew it away. This is definitely going on the list next time. Jumbo not being ready to give up his spot just yet and show the hotshot kid to still wait his turn is something special.
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Post by puropotsy on Mar 2, 2023 19:10:23 GMT -5
Everything, especially on the closing stretch, felt like it had so much impact here. Jumbo really worked Misawa over and made him look tough as nails with everything he took. I really liked when they harkened back to the finish of the June match with roles reversed as Misawa flipped over in a back suplex and then Jumbo reversed that. I have it as their second best match that year but a close call.
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