AJPW TV August 1990 review 

 

Once again, shout out to my guy Roy Lucier for putting these on YouTube. An absolute hero.  

 

August 5, 1990 

 

This was taped at Chiba back on July 27, 1990, and it is a big one. With Terry Gordy out of the reckoning and having been stripped of his Triple Crown belt, we need a new champion. The top contenders are Stan Hansen and Mitsuharu Misawa (who was due the next shot). They’ll be fighting for the vacant title. 

 

Toshiaki Kawada vs. Steve Williams 

With Gordy out of action, Doc is left in singles. Unlike Gordy, Doc gelled nicely with the Super Generation Army was a good opponent for them. Doc has the almost perfect body for pro wrestling. He’s small enough to be mobile but big enough to be powerful. They spend a lot of the match with Doc controlling on the ground, due to his amateur background and his power. He also does a great job of shrugging off a crossbody.  

 

Kawada gets to show a lot of fire too, which is key to his progress. It’s the first time I’ve seen him really stand up to a gaijin. Doc has a great little improv in here where Kawada tries for a crucifix and fucks it up. Doc just leans on him and takes him down. Kawada also buggers up a ‘Pedigree’ style piledriver. Doc murders him with a backdrop driver and Kawada is fucking OUT here lads. Eyes rolled back into skull.  

 

Kawada, despite being clearly fucked, suddenly produces the best work of his ENTIRE LIFE. Pulling out incredible counters and intense striking. He comes off the top and Doc finishes him with a powerslam, but the crowd erupt into a “Kawada” chant. That’s how fucking important this was for Big Tosh. What a performance. Only really dragged down by a couple of messy holds in the middle. The ending rules. ***¾. 

 

Kawada has shown a clear determination to improve himself in 1990. He’s taken the Tenryu baton and run with it. While he’ll just about crack into top 10 wrestlers for 1990, it’s the last year he’ll be an also-ran.  

 

AJPW Junior Heavyweight Championship 

Masanobu Fuchi (c) vs. Pete Roberts 

Roberts is from Lancashire and the same gym that produced so many shooters in the 70s and 80s. He started his Japanese career in 1974, but I’ve not seen any tape of him since I started doing this flashback project. I have seen him before, on comps, and he’s capable. A lot of his holds will be familiar if you like Zack Sabre Jr, let’s just say that. But he doesn’t lean that far into British style and also includes popular moves in Japanese wrestling.  

 

Pete has the floatover nailed down. He pulls out a few suplexes that you don’t associate with the floatover and he floats over like a motherfucker. He’s a very tidy pro-wrestler. Fuchi spends the entire match getting his ass kicked and then wins with a butterfly suplex, against the run of play. Roberts knew his shoulders weren’t down and just slipped into the pin position like a fucking pro. I really liked his performance here and it’s a shame more his matches didn’t make tape. *** 

 

Triple Crown Championship 

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Stan Hansen 

Misawa will have to wait until 1992 before being officially crowned All Japan’s ace. This is a reminder that he’s knocking on the door. I would have preferred a tournament for the title, and I always think you’re missing a trick if you don’t capitalise on misfortune. Especially in Japan where they take this shit seriously as a sport.  

 

Anyway, Misawa knows he’s up against a bad motherfucker here, so he jumps ahead of the bell and goes after Stan with a fucking chair. He even targets the arm, which Gordy did recently, aiming to stop the lariat. After witnessing Misawa’s recent knee selling, it’s interesting to see him taking such a strong interest in body part psychology. Maybe he thought it would be unrealistic for him to go toe to toe with the big man. 

 

Misawa sure spends a lot of time on the arm. Like, we get the 10:00 call and the entire match has been Misawa working the arm. The 10:00 call must serve as the point where the match changes as Stan immediately fires up. He cannot believe this little punk has spent ten minutes taking him apart. Even after that Misawa continues to target the arm. If you spend an entire match working a body part, it had better factor into the finish.  

 

You could probably skip to the last 3:00 of this match and not miss anything. Misawa eventually takes a risk, with a pescado, and Hansen moves. Misawa eats shit into the concrete floor. As with the arm work though, it goes nowhere. Hansen hits the lariat and wins. You spent 12 minutes of a 16-minute match working the arm to stop the lariat and he just hit it anyway? What the fuck lads? You could, in theory, put this down to character building and Misawa learning from this mistake in the future. In the present he looks like a mug. Hansen doesn’t even hang around to celebrate the win.  

 

This was a disaster. Already in PR hell with belts being dropped all over the shop, they put this on for the vacant TC? At least the lariat looked good if we’re searching for positives, which BY GOD, I am. **¼ 

 

The following week is the Mitsuharu Misawa Special, which would have been better positioned if Misawa hadn’t just bottled the Triple Crown. It’s an extended interview with clips. So, we move on past that.  

 

August 26, 1990 

 

These matches are from Korakuen Hall on August 18, 1990. The first show after the three-week summer break. Everyone has been on their hols and is refreshed. I can think of a few promotions that could learn from this.  

 

Some people on this tour; Del Wilkes (the Patriot), Joe Malenko, Richard Slinger, Scotty the Body (Raven) and Rip Morgan. A massive amount of weirdly poor imports. And Joe Malenko. It doesn’t stop there. Let’s get into the card. 

 

All Asia Tag Team Championship 

Fantastics (c) vs. Eric Embry & Richard Charland 

Eric Embry made this tour. Eric Embry! He shouldn’t exist outside of the South. It’s just wrong. And Richard Charland??? Sometimes I wonder how Japanese companies select guys for their tours. Charland is a WWF jobber, who I’ve seen wrestle maybe twice ever. He does bump around nicely for the Fantastics here. I’m a big Fantastics fan, having put them in my top five three years out of the last five. They will be continuing to work AJPW until 1996. So, they still have a shot at making the top five, although competition is much stronger this year.  

 

Embry definitely tries to work like he’s an AJPW regular here. Which means he doesn’t stand out at all. I was expecting him to be a sore thumb worker. It helps he’s working the Fantastics, who play the Southern babyface card. Charland gets pinned with the commentator going nuts. “COUNTATHREEEE, COUNTATHREEE”. Mate, it’s Richard Charland. **½ 

 

We get puro news, and you have no idea how ridiculously sounding the translation is on this. Given Japanese promotions obsession with honour and reputation, I’m surprised they have Gordy back so quickly here. He has brought dishonour by collapsing in a bar.  

 

Danny Kroffat vs. Kenta Kobashi 

Oh, FUCK YES, GIVE ME ALL THIS! Dan is in a surly fucking mood and he’s here to take it out on Kobashi. He fucking leathers Kobashi the whole match. Kenta has to fight for everything. Kroffat is out here countering Irish whips. Fuck you, bitch, you have to be prepared to die for that Irish whip. The crowd love it too. Because Kobashi eats so much abuse, they’re full on in his corner.  

 

They do have some bizarre ideas. Kobashi comes off the top looking for the missile dropkick and Kroffat blocks it with a spinning heel kick. Maybe just move out of the way? Kroffat comes off the buckles and Kenta counters him into a powerslam for the pin. The crowd goes WILD here. Kobashi is selling like he’s dead afterwards and referee is opening his eye to make sure he’s ok. Absolutely god damn sensational stuff. ***½ 

 

This was originally a tag with Johnny Ace teaming with Kobashi, but Ace’s flight was cancelled. This is an ideal situation, and he should be barred from flying.  

 

Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Masanobu Fuchi & Akira Taue 

Taue has been drafted into Tsuruta-gun after recent departures. Misawa and Jumbo are both VERY popular. The crowd is fired up before we even start because these trios matches have been getting good recently. The constant reps and familiarity is breeding sensational results. The defection of Taue comes after Misawa’s failure to capture the Triple Crown. He wants the mentorship of Jumbo. It’s the very beginning of the Pillars against the Pillars. 

Taue’s first spot is to nearly decapitate Kikuchi with a clothesline. YOU BASTARD! Jumbo is there watching on, content that he’s been able to steal one of Misawa’s young mates. Kawada tags in and he’s all TRY THAT SHIT ON ME, YOU LANKY BITCH. We are simmering! Kawada even goes after Jumbo here. That’s how you know he means business. It’s safe to say Kawada is now “over”.  

 

In spite of the presence of Jumbo, the match is mostly about Taue and what a jerk he is now. All of the Super Generation Army seem a tad miffed at him. Kikuchi is an obvious weak link for the SGA and he gets beaten up, extensively. The lariat that Jumbo clocks him with is A CRIME, SIRS. I would like to report a murder. Misawa saves and gives Taue a roundhouse that screams “FUCK YOU, TRAITOR” before teeing off on Jumbo for good measure. 

 

Misawa is clearly pissed off about recent events. Losing to Hansen, losing control of Taue and then having to stand around watching Jumbo beat the shit out of his little mate Kikuchi. Misawa has never been great at conveying emotions, but I can feel his anger flowing through every spot and BY GOD, he is better for it.  

 

This whole match is about how pissed off everyone is. The Jumbo-Misawa feud has spilled into faction warfare here. You can feel the hatred. It’s so good that I’m not even eyeballing potential slip ups. I’m too invested. As we hit the stretch it gets so heated. The crowd are into everything. The timing and coordination are perfect. The way people are in position, especially to break pins but also to stop people from breaking pins and allowing dramatic kick outs instead.  

 

IT’S SO FUCKING GOOD. Kikuchi’s dramatic kick out with everyone else being stopped from saving him before Taue eventually drops the poor little punk is so good. As is the bit just beforehand where Kikuchi gets a fluke pin and a long two count on Taue. But Taue had to win here. Or he’s jumped for nothing. Despite Misawa’s frustration and anger at the situation. God, this was beautiful pro-wrestling. 1990s All Japan was peak pro-wrestling. I don’t care what we get now, it’ll never be that good. ****½ 

 

One of the best matches of the year, so far. Even better than the trios match from earlier in the year because that felt like Misawa-Tsuruta. This feels like everyone had a role to play. The booking is starting to get deliciously deep as more people are dragged into the Misawa-Tsuruta feud. Great to see Misawa all fired up here too.  

 

The 411: 

A short month, with only two shows, but some incredible wrestling. Super Generation Army vs. Tsuruta-gun is something I’ve touched on before but this way, I get to see the whole thing develop one sexy trios match at a time. It’s fucking beautiful, boys and girls. I am INVESTED.