Misawa/Kawada/Kikuchi vs. Jumbo/Taue/Fuchi (AJPW 10/15/1991)

Second.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better example of a team taking sheer sadistic glee in inflicting pain on their opponents. Misawa comes in with a busted nose that Jumbo immediately targets, putting him out of commission for basically the entire match. He’d return periodically and try to assert himself, but Jumbo’s squad would cut him off every time by zeroing in on his nose. As such, this quickly becomes a de facto 3-on-2 handicap match, and there are times when it more closely resembles an enhanced interrogation session at a CIA black ops site than a wrestling match. Jumbo and company even take the opportunity to bust out some unorthodox offense like a stomach claw and a Punjabi plunge. Pointing Kawada out to the referee to prevent him from interfering while freely interfering themselves was outstanding Japanese-style heeling. This is just competitive enough to be a fully realized match rather than a glorified squash, but Misawa’s team is never a serious threat to turn the tide. One final note: the amount of heel heat Taue got was unreal. The fans would still cheer for Jumbo and Fuchi even while booing their underhanded actions, but they booed Taue’s very existence like he was Vince McMahon in 1998.