AJPW TV September 1990  

 

September 2, 1990 

 

Taped on August 21, 1990, at the Sukagawa City Gymnasium, Fukushima. We skip Baba, the Fantastics and Raven matches. These are the top four on the card. 

 

All Asia Tag Team Championship 

Can-Am Express (c) vs. Eric Embry & Richard Charland 

Embry is out here doing comedic Texas selling, ala Terry Funk, and it works. It does feel like he’s wrestling a different match to the workrate strong Can-Ams though. That is until he PILEDRIVES Kroffat off the top rope. What the fuck lads? We’re four matches off the top here. Furnas has to save because you can’t kick out of the top rope piledriver. Furnas gets the tag and starts throwing around Charland like he’s nothing. Dicky Charland was 270lbs. Can-Ams retain, but I like the piledriver spot giving the challengers hope. This was fine but heavily clipped.  

 

Akira Taue vs. Trooper 

Del Wilkes is the Trooper. You probably know him as the Patriot. He’s a vanilla worker but his AJPW run allowed him to master the basics. His only prior experience at a high level before this was in AWA. It’s clear he’s got the size and basic movement down. So much so that WWF had a look at him in 1991 and he ended up having runs in both WCW and the WWF. His story is a tragic one as at the peak of his success (feuding with Bret Hart in 1997) he suffered a triceps injury, which forced him into retirement. He developed an addiction to painkillers and died during Covid aged just 59. Taue beats him with a backdrop driver, showing how much Taue’s stock has risen since leaving Super Generation Army.  

 

Rip Morgan vs. Johnny Ace 

Welcome to Hell’s entertainment division. Rip’s been lent to AJPW from WCW in attempt to improve his in-ring. Johnny Ace sucks. If you squint, you could be fooled into thinking it’s Curt Hennig in the ring though. After watching this, it’s clear Rip would have needed a few tours here (if not years) to get his in-ring straight. He’s clumsy, slow and can only do power stuff. You could probably have hidden this away in tags if he had a good partner. Rip’s biggest flaw is his bumps though. Yeesh. They STINK. Absolutely zero snap on them. He either falls awkwardly sideways or gently bumps onto his side. They botch the finish, which about sums it up. This fucking sucked, lads. DUD 

 

Super Generation Army (Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi) vs. Tsuruta-gun (Jumbo Tsuruta, Masanobu Fuchi & Mighty Inoue) 

Probably should have saved Taue for this match. Mighty Inoue is weak. Fuchi is fine to absorb heat. You shouldn’t have two weak links in a trios team. As a result, the match lacks the raw energy of the recent Misawa-Tsuruta stuff. We go from heat on Fuchi to heat on Inoue. Things pick up when Kikuchi is isolated. He’s so good at taking an ass kicking. Although, the same issues remain. It’s a sluggish match because they’ve done the same thing three times instead of mixing it up. It didn’t even have an opening shine. 

Might as well skip ahead to 32:00 on this episode and Jumbo torturing Kikuchi. Half the match is a write-off. Kikuchi does an incredible job of both selling like he’s dead and getting last gasp kickouts and showing spirit in fighting back. His hot tag, springboard clothesline right into the tag, is instrumental in how the match is structured. Jumbo turns it around on Kenta and there’s a great bit where Misawa runs in and just slugs Jumbo with an elbow.   

 

While it is dumb they tag Kikuchi back in after that, he shows incredible fire in going after Jumbo. It’s palpable. You can sense how mad he is about the way Tsuruta-gun treated him. To show how this is a lesser match Kenta completely fucks up a save, missing a spinning heel kick so badly Fuchi refuses to consider selling it. The match gets real good in the last minute with Misawa taking it to Jumbo and removing him from the equation only for Kikuchi to get beaten by Fuchi anyway. This was nowhere near the other matches they’d been having. The structure just wasn’t there. Great finish but that’s about it. **¾ 

 

September 9, 1990 

 

These matches come from August 31, 1990, in Osaka. We have another SGA-TG trios match, without Jumbo. Tsuruta vs Kobashi. Finally, Hansen & Ace vs MVC in an all-American main event.  

 

Super Generation Army (Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi) vs. Tsuruta-gun (Akira Taue, Masanobu Fuchi & Mighty Inoue) 

No Jumbo, no party, right? Wrong! Super Generation Army are fired up as fuck here. Presumably the betrayal of Taue still stings. Misawa is appearing in blue trunks here, which is a rarity. I guess the emeralds are in the wash. He isn’t any less fired up. His elbows in this are on point and the roundhouse kick he floors Fuchi with makes me gasp. He even shrugs off Taue’s sumo palm strikes. He’s the absolute boss of this shit.  

 

Inoue works as a tremendous foil here. Eager to take a hiding but also there with a swift counter when required. It’s a strong performance from him. Misawa flattens Fuchi with a crossbody for the pin and it looks like he’s dead. He’s just lying there twitching. ***¼. This was solid and fiery. Some great performances in this. Inoue and Kikuchi in particular.  

 

Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 

This is only their second singles match (of four, I think). It’s the last time that Kenta will come in as a substantial underdog. His rise, combined with Tsuruta’s fall, means they’ll be on more equal footing the next time. This is important as Misawa vs Tsuruta II is coming up and Misawa has sent his most trusted deputy in to fuck the big man up. Tsuruta vs Misawa is literally tomorrow night.  

 

Kobashi aims to control here and prevent Jumbo from pounding him. Which means a lot of headlocks. This swiftly turns around into Kenta surviving a beating from the big man. Jumbo in 1990 was different sauce. He’s so big but he’s so quick with it. He’s SUDDEN. When that much weight comes barrelling at you at that speed, you’re getting bowled over. Which makes it look realistic, which is what you want.  

 

Kobashi throws himself at Jumbo, knowing he’ll catch him and also knowing it’ll make the match look better. Jumbo does a nice subtle sell after catching Kenta on the floor. He’s hurt his leg and Kobashi goes after it. What’s really telling is Kenta slapping a hurt Tsuruta while he’s in the hold. There’s no sign of him being intimidated, despite Jumbo being an intimidating figure.  

 

An issue I have with limb work is that 90% of it goes nowhere. So, we eat up a huge chunk of time working Tsuruta’s leg here only for him to not bother selling it. It’s just Jumbo either, it’s a common flaw. I’d rather we just didn’t bother doing the limb work in the first place and killing all that time. However, Kenta does vary his offence and looks to attack Jumbo at different angles and approaches. From the moonsault to the spin kicks to the striking. He keeps Jumbo unbalanced because when they go toe to toe, in 1990, there’s only one winner. 

 

It’s something I’ve criticised Kobashi for. His character wants to go toe to toe with everyone. It’s why he loses so often. He shows more smarts here by not doing that. Backdrop driver still puts him away, but Jumbo had to work hard for this win, 24 hours before facing Misawa. *** 

 

There’s a news segment on here and when translating Stan Hansen and Doc promos, they do the accent and it’s hilarious. With Hansen the translator puts on a very deep voice too. It’s so good.  

 

Stan Hansen & Johnny Ace vs. Miracle Violence Connection 

There’s a lot of clubberin’ going on here, as you can imagine. Ace didn’t get the memo. Gordy looks a little sluggish here, having missed a month’s action with *checks notes* death. It’s a miracle Gordy is even alive, let alone working matches. I can’t stress enough how much Ace sucks here. His running stomp is an embarrassment to pro-wrestling. Why bounce off the ropes to stomp on someone?  

 

Meanwhile you’ve got Gordy and Hansen swinging at each other with big ham hock punches. The two don’t belong in the same match. For those who think the Ace Crusher was some hot innovation, let me clear it up. The Ace Crusher sucked. When it got turned into other moves; Diamond Cutter/Stunner etc. It was hugely improved. Doc picks Ace off for the pin here and we’ll call it a day. Ace dragged this down, and he was in it way too much. **½  

 

September 16, 1990 

 

From Gifu on August 29, 1990. Hopes are not high for this card. BUT I’m still doing it because Scotty the Body is in the main event. I can’t not watch Raven in the main event for All Japan.  

 

Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace vs. Fantastics 

The All-Asia tag belts are vacant, and this is a tournament match in the league. It’ll be the final too in about three weeks. The match is decent because three of the wrestlers in it are really good. However, occasionally Johnny Ace gets in there and just chinlocks it to death. What’s your fucking problem, Johnny? He tries a slingshot into the corner and his positioning is so far out it just looks stupid. Tommy has to jump sideways out of it.  

 

Any time the timing or positioning is on Kobashi or either of the Fantastics, they do some fun stuff. Kobashi ends up pinning Rogers after a harsh looking legdrop. This was solid apart from Ace’s continual obsession with being shit at pro wrestling. **½ 

 

Speaking of the All-Asia straps, I suspect the Can-Am Express was going to win. Or at least factor into the final. However, they both got injured on this show. Kroffat his knee and Furnas his ankle. Both ruled out of the rest of the tour.  

 

Super Generation Army (Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi) vs. Miracle Violence Connection & Richard Slinger 

One of these things is not like the others. Slinger was a product of AJPW’s dojo. He’s Terry Gordy’s nephew, in case you wondered how he got this spot. His kicks aren’t bad, but he’ll never amount to anything special. There is a lot of talent in this match though and Doc looks up for it tonight. Gordy too. A fired up Terry Gordy is a sight to behold. MVC seem keen to put Misawa in his place. Not even Kawada, although he does get a kicking, but Misawa. They’re going high.  

 

Misawa takes it out on Slinger. Kawada leathers the poor fucker. It’s like everything that’s done to them they do to Slinger x2. They switch it around and Kikuchi gets a prolonged shoeing. A familiar one, at this point. Gordy sits way back on a Boston crab and Doc just throws him out the ring like a sack of spuds. “GET UP TOUGH GUY” screams Doc. He’s ON ONE today.  

 

The longer this goes, the better it flows. All the heat segments start to add up on Kikuchi and Slinger and when they tag in, you sense one or the other is in trouble. Slinger tags in to beat up Kikuchi but he hot tags Misawa. You can see Gordy’s panic because he dives right in there but Misawa punts him out of the ring and the Tiger Driver finishes. This was a good little match. ***½ 

 

The most impressive part of this match is it marks the first time Misawa has really looked great when he’s in with gaijin. It helped massively that MVC were fired up here and everyone was on form. It kept that pace that you normally associate with Misawa & Co when they’re facing Tsuruta-gun. 

 

Tsuruta-gun (Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Mighty Inoue) vs. Stan Hansen, Scotty the Body & Eric Embry 

Scotty the Body, for the uneducated, is Raven under an early Scotty Whatever gimmick. This is Raven’s only AJPW run. He was only on this one tour. He’s completely unrecognisable. Just a guy. If you squint, he looks a bit like 1990 Scott Steiner. He wrestles a bit like him too. His moveset feels quite generic but he looks decent. Especially considering he’s only about a year in at this point. 

 

Raven’s run here is mad, in retrospect, as he tagged against Baba and had a singles loss to Misawa. I bet he has stories. It’s a shame I didn’t know about it because I’ve spoken to Raven, and I would 100% of brought it up. A fascinating scrap here; Taue going after Hansen. He does enough damage to force a tag to Scotty. Embry was only ever on this one tour too. You have to wonder what he and Scotty got up to. Neither ever went back. Makes you think.  

 

Hansen is on ok form here. He’s looked a little rough in recent showings so it’s nice to see him more enthused. Hansen goes after Jumbo with the bull rope but while he’s doing that Inoue picks off Embry with the Samoan drop for the win.  

 

September 23, 1990 

 

Double Fantastics on this show as we head towards the All-Asia tag title tournament conclusion. Kobashi & Ace have already qualified for the final. This opening match was taped on September 1, 1990, on the Misawa-Tsuruta undercard at Budokan Hall.  

 

Fantastics vs. Joe Malenko & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 

This tournament has thrown up some odd pairings but this one works. Kikuchi gets his ass kicked and Big Joe is a technical wonder as the big brother. The Fantastics are fully invested in killing Kikuchi, including throwing him out of the ring into a flatback bump on the floor. Kikuchi is all “fuck you, I’m not selling that” and he’s back in there scrapping. The match has this vibe of the Fantastics trying to murder Kikuchi and him just persistently resisting them.  

 

Just when you think it’s going to chill out a bit Joe Malenko decides he’s a kickboxer and he’s scrapping it out with Rogers. Tommy Rogers is just fucking brilliant and anyone who thinks otherwise just hasn’t seen him. Kikuchi goes for this insane blind tag springboard and FALLS OFF ONTO HIS ASS ON THE FLOOR. Rogers, without missing a beat, follows straight out and piledrives him on the outside. They switch a botch into an amazing heat segment. With huge sympathy on Kikuchi because he nearly DIED there.  

 

Kikuchi busts out a bunch of desperation spots to try and get the win, including returning to the ropes. God, the balls on this guy. Kikuchi, NOT CONTENT WITH NEARLY DYING A MERE ONE TIME, decides to take a flapjack like a backdrop. He doesn’t have anywhere the required speed for the rotation on it and LANDS ON HIS FUCKING HEAD. You can smell the panic on Fulton, who thinks he’s about to go to jail. Rogers is all “I’ll just pin the silly cunt” AND HE KICKS OUT.  

 

Kikuchi’s performance here is just insane. He eats a Doomsday Device and kicks out. Eventually Rogers kills him dead with a big frogsplash but holy shit, he took a beating here. Joe Malenko strolls over afterwards, and you can see Kikuchi saying he’s alright but what an almighty shitkicking he took. Epic pro-wrestling here. It wasn’t clean or anything, but it felt clumsy in a good way. **** 

 

This is the kind of match that makes me think Fantastics might be tag team of the year for 1990. It’s the kind of match I would want to rewatch. Perhaps immediately. I already rewound a few times because Kikuchi took such insane bumps. You should probably watch this. Yeah, it’s a little rough around the edges but fuck it, it rules. Another day I could look at this and say it was botchy, but they took risks, and I respect that. Kikuchi gets a huge pop when he finally gets to his feet and both Fantastics raise his hand. What a performance lads. Holy shit. 

 

I need a break for a minute. I can’t just carry on.  

 

Fantastics vs. Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace 

Alright, we’re back and this is the All-Asia tournament final. Winner gets the belts. This is from September 7, 1990. This is my favourite Johnny Ace match so far. He sucks in it and is so much worse than everyone else BUT Jackie Fulton hates him and fucking leathers the bastard with chops and slaps. This is the first time I’ve heard a chop and thought “fuck, that’s loud”.  

 

Kobashi ends up playing big brother and he waffles the pancakes out of Fulton as a receipt. Kenta has been improving all year and he’s at the level now where I think of him as a badass. His vibe has levelled up. Even Johnny Ace has a go here, clearly miffed that Fulton stiffed him and he’s in there with the receipts. Fulton then roundhouses him in the kidneys. This is pleasingly stiff*. 

 

*Said the actress to the bishop 

 

Kobashi eventually beats Rogers with the moonsault. SHIN CHAMPION! This was well put together and oozing hatred. Even Johnny Ace was bringing it here. I’ll call it ***¾. Which is like *****¾ in Ace currency.  

 

Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Miracle Violence Connection 

This is from the same show as above. Taue going toe to toe with Gordy is something. Our baby boy’s all grown up. He’s even the hot tag in this and the sight of him marauding across the ring with those sumo slaps, pushing Gordy back into a corner, is really something. While MVC can be unpredictable they’ve been real good since Gordy nearly died. Like he needs to prove himself again. They kick ass here. Having great sequences with both Taue and Jumbo. Taue eventually eats a powerslam off Doc for the pin. Good, strong effort all around here. ***½ 

 

This might be the best AJPW TV to date. Three really good matches here and the show just flew by.  

 

September 30, 1990 

 

There’s another week? Fuck. Look, I’m tired here. This was taped YESTERDAY. What a turnaround. Hey, wait, where my god damn Misawa-Tsuruta match?  

 

Andre the Giant, Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura vs. Haruka Eigen, Motoshi Okuma & Masa Fuchi 

They wheel out a bunch of comedy wrestlers for Andre to bully. In all honesty, the way the match is booked it might as well be 3 on 1. Eigen goes to tag Okuma in and he’s all “I don’t want to”. Andre leaves his feet once, to elbow drop Okuma for the pin. Funny stuff here. Andre was a great attraction when used like this. 

 

Abdullah the Butcher & Giant Kimala II vs. Dynamite Kid & Johnny Smith 

This is the other Kamala not the one you’re thinking of. Abby has so much scar tissue that one errant punch results in him bleeding everywhere. Smith is a replacement for WWF bound Davey Boy. He’s mid. He’s 6/10. I looked up his Cagematch rating and was unsurprised to see 6.19. That’s Johnny Smith. DK has shaved his head and barely gets in the ring. Considering this is his first match, anywhere, in eight months, it’s not a surprise.  

 

Dynamite looks like he’s dropped a lot of weight. He’s worryingly skinny. Kimala II is more mobile here than I remember. He does a flying clothesline at one point. Dynamite gets bloodied, or Abby just bled on him a lot…I actually can’t tell. Abby then finishes Smith with an elbow drop. This was ok but it’s sad watching Dynamite Kid in 1990. He’s completely finished and is only here to pay bills.  

 

Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace 

Ohhhh, it’s Pillar on Pillar violence as Kobashi teams with his All-Asia mate over his Super Generation Army pals. Kawada looks hot about it. Misawa looks like he doesn’t care. Sadly this potentially momentous clash is rather derailed by the presence of Ace. He’s clumsy and crappy and in the way. The match gets SO much better when Kobashi is in there. They do a spot where Johnny dives and Kobashi lowers the rope for him, and it still looks painfully awkward. 

 

Kenta tags in at one point and goes after Kawada with chops and slaps and Kawada gets hot about it. These two are about ready to uncork VIOLENCE. Savage, savage violence. Kobashi hits a particularly violent dive, which nearly ruins Kawada’s knees so Kawada, calmly as you like, POWERSLAMS HIM ON THE FLOOR. And then kicks his corpse as hard as he can. Kawada, you stiff little fucker. I look forward to the day where he’s like this with everyone. Not just his mates. 

I just noticed Kawada has switched to yellow and black gear! It’s all coming together, brothers and sisters. KAWADA SUPLEXES KOBASHI OFF THE APRON! Haha, oh fuck, it’s on now. WE ARE WALKING THE KING’S ROAD. Kawada then punts Kobashi in the face. Johnny Ace tries so hard to fit in here, but he just can’t do it. Kobashi comes back after a break and SLAPS Misawa in the face. Kawada then kicks him HARD in the spine when he’s running the ropes and Misawa adds in another stiff kick. Nobody hits you harder than your mates. 

 

The temperature in the building is clearly on the rise as they start running through near falls. People are eating this shit up. It’s like a message to the guys in the ring; this is what we want. STIFFER. Fuck each other up! The near falls are just the icing on the cake. Ace, the dipshit, manages to fuck the finish up. Everyone else’s precision is so perfect that him botching feels really obvious. Kenta then tries to save it so they can re-do it and the referee just counts three. Damn, that sucks. Misawa is so pissed off he just walks straight to the back. **** 

 

Imagine how good this could have been if someone other than Ace was in it and they didn’t fuck up the finish? That’s the future of All Japan. Just week after week of this. Ahhhhh. Put it in my veins. It could have been Kikuchi, but he was injured earlier in the tour.  

 

Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey 

This feels like a comedown after the last match, so Hansen has to go around crushing people with chair shots to liven things up. Taue gleefully blades from it and proceeds to empty his skull onto the canvas for the love of the biz. He looks properly fucked. Taue either does a sensational job on the selling here or he’s legitimately lightheaded because of the blood loss. Hansen does his bumps for him. He throws him around like he’s nothing.  

Jumbo finds himself effectively 2 on 1. Taue is a bloody mess on the floor while Jumbo gets his ass kicked by both gaijin. Spivey is passable here but that’s about it. Hansen is dealing with Tsuruta, his number one contender and wants to beat him up. Wear him down. When Taue comes back in, he’s got huge support, because he’s overcoming the blood loss and taking it to the champion. It’s a shame he gets paired up with Spivey so much in this match because Spivey can’t bump for shit. 

 

The finish sees Spivey distract enough for Stan to lariat the bloodied Taue for the pin. ***¼. A very good performance from Taue and Hansen was dominant as the champion. Not Tsuruta’s best performance but he did what he had to. His meek performance allowed Taue to shine. Spivey dragged this down quite a bit.  

 

The 411: 

Honestly, some of the matches this month really got my juices flowing. There’s a palpable rise in quality for the tags. You see guys who know each other well enough to tattoo each other with the strikes. And they’re only just getting started, baby! Kawada and Kobashi were particularly outstanding here, but Taue’s bloody battling and Misawa’s fluidity were both excellent too. Chuck in a classic from the Fantastics and Kikuchi attempting to kill himself and we’re onto a winner.  

 

The only sad thing about this stretch of AJPW shows is that the actual Triple Crown is so lifeless here. Hansen has it but there’s no obvious guy to beat him, other than Jumbo. So that’s the story. Misawa is still a way off and that whole run of Misawa vs his mates will have to wait. The result is corking trios and tags but underwhelming TC matches. The Gordy and Hansen reigns were both the same.  

 

Anyway, more AJPW coming your way shortly but before that…I’m going to review something that really fucking sucks. Stay tuned for Herb Abrams UWF, coming soon.