All Japan Pro Wrestling
Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
June 8th 1990
The normally quiet Japanese crowd is red hot for this. They lock up with Tsuruta shoving Misawa off. Shoulder block takedown by Jumbo and a power slam. Misawa blocks a running knee strike, but soon gets caught with the big boot. Hard clothesline by Jumbo, for the first cover attempt of the match. Power slam by Tsuruta, but Misawa counters a back drop driver into a press. Tsuruta goes to ringside, but gets caught with a drop kick off the apron by Misawa. Tsuruta is dumped over the steel barricade. Misawa hangs out in the ring, as it takes Tsuruta several seconds to come back. Misawa dumps Tsuruta back to the floor and leaps over the ropes onto his worthy foe.
The match restarts with a headlock, and Misawa takes control. Tsuruta reverses the lock and goes to work on the wrists. It takes several seconds, but Misawa counters the hold and pulls back on Tsuruta's arms. Sadly, it's reversed again, but Misawa flips out. Misawa applies a hard hammerlock, which is broken by the ropes. Misawa slaps Tsuruta out of frustration. The match restarts again, this time with Tsuruta aggressively pounding and hitting his knee into Misawa's face. Tsuruta goes for the ever so reliable abdominal stretch. Misawa counters into an abdominal stretch of his own, but Tsuruta counters by pushing Misawa over the ropes. Misawa is then whipped into the steel barricade and effortlessly tossed back into the ring by his larger foe. Suplex and a cover by Tsuruta, and then the chinlock!
Misawa struggles with the chinlock, but fights to his feet. Jumbo sends Misawa crashing face first to the mat. Tsuruta tries the move again, but Misawa counters with a drop kick! Neat! Misawa goes high risk and connects with the missile dropkick. Cover by Misawa only gets 2. Running elbow shot by Misawa and a suplex. Spin kick by Misawa and a power slam. Misawa goes high risk and connects with a frog splash! Cover only gets 2. Tsuruta then catches Misawa in his arms and drops him onto the ropes in a sickening fashion! Tsuruta is done playing games and angrily stomps and hits a pile driver! Cover gets 2. Lou Thesz press by Tsuruta gets a cover for 2. Hard drop kick by Tsuruta gets another cover for 2. Misawa won't stay down!
Tsuruta connects with a big boot and goes for the cover yet again. Tsuruta goes high risk, Misawa cuts him off, but Tsuruta still gets his knee to the face of Misawa. Tsuruta continues to dominate, as he gets a power slam and goes high risk again. Misawa chases him to the top and attempts a superplex. Tsuruta knocks him back down to the mat and hits a missile drop kick! Misawa is barely able to kick out of the following cover. Misawa blocks a power bomb, but only temporarily, as Tsuruta gets the bomb and almost wins with the cover. Loud "Misawa" chant from the fans in attendance. Tsuruta goes for a tiger driver, but Misawa counters into a backslide pin attempt. Tsuruta kicks out and knocks Misawa down with his fist, before collapsing himself.
Misawa baseball slides Tsuruta to the floor and hits a HUGE flying crossbody off the top turnbuckle onto Tsuruta on the outside! DAMN! The distance that Misawa got right there was incredible! Both men struggle back into the ring, where Misawa hits some jumping kick thrusts to the head. Tsuruta blocks a back suplex, but Misawa bridges him into a pinning predicament. Tsuruta kicks out! Hard spin kick by Misawa, who then goes high risk again. Misawa goes for the frog splash, but Tsuruta gets his knees up! Tsuruta goes for the cover, but Misawa kicked out! Powerslam by Tsuruta, followed by the Boston crab! Misawa gets the rope break. Hard clothesline by Tsuruta, with another cover attempt for 2. Another hard clothesline gets another 2 count for Tsuruta. Misawa is a mad man!
Tsuruta clotheslines Misawa into the corner. Back suplex by Tsuruta and both men are having trouble getting up. Misawa hits the German suplex into a pinning predicament and Tsuruta barely kicks out! Misawa goes for the tiger driver again, but Tsuruta counters into a back drop pinning predicament. Tsuruta whips Misawa off the ropes and into his knee. Misawa is whipped into the corner, but he leaps off the turnbuckles and into Tsuruta's head. Tsuruta charges at Misawa, who blocks, and Tsuruta hits the ropes in awkward fashion! DAMN! Misawa counters the suplex, but his power bomb is countered into a press! Misawa counters into a pin of his own and wins! Holy crap, what a finish! Misawa beat the legendary Tsuruta at 24:25! The torch has been passed! This match had the "big match" feel all over it, and provided lots of innovative action and drama. You need to watch this (if you haven't already), ****3/4.
Winner: Mitsuharu Misawa
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Monday, August 13, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Old School Gold
Stan Hansen vs. Andre The Giant
September 23rd, 1981
Taped in Japan
Andre is already on the assault before the bell even rings! Hansen clubs himself outo f the corner with some forearm shots, but Andre uses his gigantic boot to save himself. Andre goes for the bear hug in the early going, and Hansen clubs away with forearms out of desperation. Hansen goes for the face, but Andre keeps the hold locked on. Wow, a bear hug spot that I don't hate, amazing. Hansen finally breaks out, but Andre clutches him from behind, and they fall into the ropes. Hansen continues his assault, but Andre wrenches him by the wrist, taking him down to the mat in the process. Andre has the arm lock in place for a few secodns, before breaking with a head lock and a stomp. Andre takes a breather, allowing Hansen to come back with some chops. Andre corners him, and shoves against him, forcing the ref to break it up. Andre whips Hansen across the ring and charges, but Hansen dodges and Andre hits the corner hard. The big man is down, so Hansen capitilizes with some stomps and nearly gets a scoop slam in! Andre capitilizes with a hammerlock. Andre talks some shit, and Hansen tries to club his way to freedom. Hansen pushes Andre into the ropes, and the ref breaks them up. Andre goes back to work on the wrist of Stan Hansen, pulling it over his shoulder. Hansen only escapes by pulling Andre's hair. Andre grabs the wrist again and this leads to a suplex! Andre almost falls on Hansen, but ultimately drags him up to hit him again. This transitions into a chin lock. Andre lets go and splashes Hansen into the ropes. Hansen gets back up and hits a huge power slam on Andre! Hansen then misses an elbow drop, but keeps control. Hansen gets Andre into a cobra clutch. It takes him a bit, but Andre powers his way out, but gets tripped into the ropes in short order. Hansen is clearly selling this as the fight of his life. They end up brawling at ringside, and some photographers get in the way of my view. Hansen slams Andre's skull into the ring apron, and flees into the ring. The bell has been rung, and it is not clear if the match is going to continue or not. Andre argues with the officials, apparently the fight at ringside was the cause (I can't really tell due to everything being in Japanese). The match then restarts at 10:42.Hansen arm drags Andre to the mat and hits some forearms to the skull. Andre is then left hanging out to dry on the ropes, making him an easy target for some more shots. Andre is pissed and strangles Hansen on the ropes and hits a terrifying chop. Andre hits a duo of head butts. Hansen blocks a shot to the turnbuckle and drives Andre's skull into the ring post instead. Hansen goes for an elbow drop, but Andre catches him and turns it into an arm lock. They get to their feet and Andre puts Hansen into a standing surfboard stretch, adding some head butts in for good measure. Andre then hits a big power slam, but then misses a splash! Hansen misses an elbow drop! Andre hits a few more head butts. Andre whips Hansen, but misses the big boot and gets hit with a lariat! This sends Andre falling over the ropes to ringside. Andre needs a minute to fix his elbow pad, but returns to the ring. He pushes the referee aside and clotheslines him! Andre continues his aggressive attack on Hansen, while other officials flood the ring to check on the ref. The bell rings at 15:04, apparently disqualifying Andre. The brawl between Hansen and Andre storms on, and it is all the officials can do to seperate them. The match was not technically great, but this was a great brawl and had an epic feel to it. Hansen was in control at parts, but always looked as if it was all he could do to keep up with the giant. There were a lot of rest holds, but they were used to advance the story of the match, not just used to allow the wrestlers to take it easier. This all adds up to make a good *** match.
Winner by DQ: Stan Hansen
September 23rd, 1981
Taped in Japan
Andre is already on the assault before the bell even rings! Hansen clubs himself outo f the corner with some forearm shots, but Andre uses his gigantic boot to save himself. Andre goes for the bear hug in the early going, and Hansen clubs away with forearms out of desperation. Hansen goes for the face, but Andre keeps the hold locked on. Wow, a bear hug spot that I don't hate, amazing. Hansen finally breaks out, but Andre clutches him from behind, and they fall into the ropes. Hansen continues his assault, but Andre wrenches him by the wrist, taking him down to the mat in the process. Andre has the arm lock in place for a few secodns, before breaking with a head lock and a stomp. Andre takes a breather, allowing Hansen to come back with some chops. Andre corners him, and shoves against him, forcing the ref to break it up. Andre whips Hansen across the ring and charges, but Hansen dodges and Andre hits the corner hard. The big man is down, so Hansen capitilizes with some stomps and nearly gets a scoop slam in! Andre capitilizes with a hammerlock. Andre talks some shit, and Hansen tries to club his way to freedom. Hansen pushes Andre into the ropes, and the ref breaks them up. Andre goes back to work on the wrist of Stan Hansen, pulling it over his shoulder. Hansen only escapes by pulling Andre's hair. Andre grabs the wrist again and this leads to a suplex! Andre almost falls on Hansen, but ultimately drags him up to hit him again. This transitions into a chin lock. Andre lets go and splashes Hansen into the ropes. Hansen gets back up and hits a huge power slam on Andre! Hansen then misses an elbow drop, but keeps control. Hansen gets Andre into a cobra clutch. It takes him a bit, but Andre powers his way out, but gets tripped into the ropes in short order. Hansen is clearly selling this as the fight of his life. They end up brawling at ringside, and some photographers get in the way of my view. Hansen slams Andre's skull into the ring apron, and flees into the ring. The bell has been rung, and it is not clear if the match is going to continue or not. Andre argues with the officials, apparently the fight at ringside was the cause (I can't really tell due to everything being in Japanese). The match then restarts at 10:42.Hansen arm drags Andre to the mat and hits some forearms to the skull. Andre is then left hanging out to dry on the ropes, making him an easy target for some more shots. Andre is pissed and strangles Hansen on the ropes and hits a terrifying chop. Andre hits a duo of head butts. Hansen blocks a shot to the turnbuckle and drives Andre's skull into the ring post instead. Hansen goes for an elbow drop, but Andre catches him and turns it into an arm lock. They get to their feet and Andre puts Hansen into a standing surfboard stretch, adding some head butts in for good measure. Andre then hits a big power slam, but then misses a splash! Hansen misses an elbow drop! Andre hits a few more head butts. Andre whips Hansen, but misses the big boot and gets hit with a lariat! This sends Andre falling over the ropes to ringside. Andre needs a minute to fix his elbow pad, but returns to the ring. He pushes the referee aside and clotheslines him! Andre continues his aggressive attack on Hansen, while other officials flood the ring to check on the ref. The bell rings at 15:04, apparently disqualifying Andre. The brawl between Hansen and Andre storms on, and it is all the officials can do to seperate them. The match was not technically great, but this was a great brawl and had an epic feel to it. Hansen was in control at parts, but always looked as if it was all he could do to keep up with the giant. There were a lot of rest holds, but they were used to advance the story of the match, not just used to allow the wrestlers to take it easier. This all adds up to make a good *** match.
Winner by DQ: Stan Hansen
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