Ed's Kings Road Journey - Part 3: Hansen wins the gold in early 1992

Jumbo, Fuchi and Ogawa Vs Misawa, Kobashi and Kawada 10/1/92 - BABY OGAWA, I had no idea he shows up so early in AJPW. This wasn't a match Steve recommended to me, but I wanted to check it out to see Ogawa and my interest in seeing a different opponent added into this feud. Good match.

Misawa Vs Fuchi 21/1/92 - This is on the undercard of the Jumbo/Kawada show and is a little gem of a match. Before this project I had previously thought of myself as someone that didn't like Misawa and found him hard to root for because he was more stoic than Kobashi, but this project has changed my mind on this. I now think of Misawa as a GOAT tier seller and I think it suits him that he does do OTT facial expressions, a grimace across his face is enough for me to know he's in pain but about to unleash an elbow in return. In this match, Fuchi has control for at least the first half of the match, working over Misawa's left leg and Misawa does so well for the rest of the contest hobbling around and building sympathy for his comeback. And how about a word for Fuchi, he's great in this and does the little things so well - he has to destroy Misawa's leg to stand any sort of chance of going one on one with him and it's a strategy that works for a while. He doesn't just sit in the sleeper hold finish, and he doesn't just wave his hands in the air rapidly showing his struggle before slumping to sleep, this fucker tries to fight out of it first with some eye racks and some hair pulls. I so rarely see wrestlers do this when it's the most logical thing you'd do rather than sit and have your fate sealed. Misawa holds strong though for the submission. I was on the fence on whether I needed to see this, but glad I took the punt.

Jumbo Vs Kawada 21/1/92 - I preferred their 1991 match, but that doesn't mean this isn't very good either. Jumbo gives Kawada a lot and perhaps his role in Kawada's rise in the company (TC challenger to Misawa by the end of the year) isn't given anywhere near the same praise as his credit for establishing Misawa as a main player.

Jumbo, Taue and Fuchi Vs Misawa, Kobashi and Kawada 24/1/92 - Another great 6 man between these two teams, and also water is wet. This goes long, but Misawa's incredible sell job and face in peril sequence holds interest.

Jumbo Vs Hansen 28/1/92 - Hansen wins the Triple Crown title from Jumbo. This was alright, but weaker than their match in 1991 I enjoyed a lot. I'm realising now that working over Hansen's left arm was a common theme in his big singles matches.  With both men staggering about at the end of the match, Hansen absorbs a running Jumbo knee and fires off a desperation lariat to win the belts.

Kawada and Kikuchi Vs Can Ams, 22/2/92 - I have seen THE can ams match before that's coming up in a few months, but it was fun to see them in another match for a change and after watching a good 20 matches from this era, I think I needed the shake up of new wrestlers for these guys to interact with. Super good match and a breeze at 15 minutes. This is the best Kikuchi has looked so far

Jumbo Vs Kobashi 27/2/92 – I thought this was pretty disappointing given the names on show here.  Just never grabbed me.  

Ed's Kings Road Journey - Part 2: Jumbo's final year on top

In this recap of my King’s Road Journey I skim through the rest of 1991, the final year of Jumbo being the top guy in the company.

Jumbo Vs Kobashi 24/5/91 - JIP for the last 10 minutes of the match. From the looks of things, it was probably a great match where Jumbo throughout gave Kobashi enough shine to carry on getting over with these crowds. A blast to watch, and hopefully the full version of their 92 match is right up my street.

Misawa Vs Terry Gordy 1/6/91 - GREAT match, it must be the best Gordy singles match I've seen. The blood probably helps, but this was a fun heavyweight bomb throwing match. I'm not sure this facelock from Misawa is really doing it for me, I know it gives him another weapon and dynamic to his matches but I find it slows the matches down too much and isn't too believable.

Jumbo Vs Williams 20/7/91 - Another triple crown match, and eh it's the least impressive match I've seen so far since I've been watching early 90s AJPW. This didn't have the magic of William's performance against Kobashi from 93 for example.

Hansen Vs Kobashi 4/9/91 - rewatched this after first seeing it a couple of years ago to still see if it's my MOTY from AJPW with the context of seeing the other great matches of that year. It holds firm, I love this pariing and the finish of Kobashi ducking one lariat just to be hit with a discus one seconds later still pops me as much as it did the first time I saw it.

Misawa/Kawada/Kikuchi Vs Jumbo/Fuchi/Taue 15/10/91 - What the fuck did Fuchi say in his promo because this match exploded into a wild start after his mic time. Felt like the old guard (and Taue) had had enough of these young guns trying to take their spot and so there was a lot of aggression in this one. I loved the story of Misawa's nose injury, he sold it amazingly well and then Jumbo booping on the nose got a huge reaction to keep the spark in their year plus rivalry - nose selling is something we don't see a lot of these days. As the match wears on it's all about Kawada being built up ahead of his Triple Crown shot against Jumbo.

Jumbo Vs Kawada 24/10/91 - I'm not just on some biased Jumbo high here am I, Jumbo was excellent in this match right? If you're gonna have a match with a bunch of headlocks and grounding strategies, doesn't half help to add some good facial selling and Jumbo's facials are tremendous I'm quickly realising. Jumbo is very giving in how much of the match he gives to Kawada even if Kawada doesn't have many moments where it looks like he can win, he never quite lands a killer blow. I'd have this a step below the Jumbo/Misawa matches because naturally there were more nearfalls and a sense of Jumbo really can get beat in that match, but I have it above the Hansen and Williams title matches in Jumbo's 1991 run. Wouldn't mind more of this in my modern wrestling though, you don't always have to go all out with 30 minute matches and excessive finisher countouts to put on a captivating title match; sometimes playing off a hierarchy on the roster and experience vs youth can be a captivating story all the same.

Misawa and Kawada Vs Jumbo and Taue 29/11/91- This was great, and one of the best examples of working a draw but not telegraph it's coming because I was shocked when the bell rang that we were at 30 minutes already, this was breezy. Moving on from an October six man where Misawa has a possible broken nose, Misawa in November comes into this with a bruised eye and that because a focus of Jumbo and Taue's attacks. Loving these body part stories that aren't just working over an arm or leg. Jumbo fantastic again.

Misawa and Kawada Vs Gordy and Williams 6/12/91- This was the finals of the 1991 tag league.  I thought this was just ok, I can't say the pairing of Gordy and Williams did a lot for me and I only got excited towards the end. I feel like that's a team that suits shorter matches, not 25 minutes as we got here.

That's probably going to be it for my 1991 viewing:

MATCH OF THE YEAR
1) Hansen Vs Kobashi 4/9/91
2) Jumbo Vs Kawada 24/10/91
3) Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi Vs Jumbo, Fuchi and Taue 20/4/91

WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
1) Jumbo (the glue in all the six man tags, especially for his team, and his singles matches deliver)
2) Kawada (he's in pretty much every six man that bangs, the Taue feud carries my interest in the company in the first few months of the year, is great in his triple crown match, and him and Misawa look like the best team in the tag league)
3) Misawa (He has the Gordy singles match on top of his great Jumbo match too, and then all the tags)

Ed's Kings Road Journey - Part 1: Tsuruta-gun Vs Super Generation Army

Over the past few years I have been SLOWLY making my way through 1990s All Japan and documenting my thoughts in a thread over on WrestlingClique.com.  Rather than full blown reviews, my comments were more blurb forms to try and prevent this project taking too long.  2 years later I’ve only reached mid-1994 so that plan really hasn’t worked out!  Anyway, I’m still eager to carry on watching AJPW so my King’s Road Journey will continue on this blog.  However before I get back to it, I’ll be posting my old blurbs first so that everything runs chronologically.  It’s probably going to take a dozen entries before I catch up, the first of which starts now with mid 1990 to Spring '91 and the start of the 4 pillars era.

Jumbo Vs Misawa 8/6/90 – The natural starting point of this journey.  Tiger Mask II has unmasked as Mitsuharu Misawa and looks to have the rocket strapped to him to replace Tenryu as the #2 native and natural rival to Jumbo in the company.  It’s not just a significant match with Misawa getting the surprise win, but it’s a great one with both men playing their roles so well.  Particularly Jumbo who sold for Misawa tremendously well to help get him over and build his credibility. 

Jumbo Vs Misawa 1/9/90 – Following up with the June upset, we’ve got Jumbo’s revenge 3 months later.  This one is much more of a Jumbo focused match with him destroying this punk kid that handed him a shock loss.  There’s more drama in Misawa’s pin attempts this time round as he’s already proved he can beat Jumbo.  This makes for a great 1-2 punch to help establish Misawa as the young heavyweight star of the promotion.  Ironically this match makes me want to go backwards in time to enjoy peak Jumbo more so than go forward in time to the 4 Pillars era.

Kawada Vs Taue 15/1/91 – They may go on to form one of the greatest tag teams of all time, but in 1991 these two were engaged in a brutal war in AJPW.  I loved this rivalry as it offered something a little different to the Jumbo/Misawa rivalry at the top of the card.   In fact, this probably stands out as one of the more unique matches in 90s AJPW for it’s short length and it’s bloody-faced brawl style.

Jumbo Vs Hansen 18/1/91 - This was the Triple Crown title change back to Jumbo.  This might not be as spectacular as Jumbo/Misawa, but I really enjoyed seeing the change of pace to see Jumbo in there with someone that was his size, strength and experience level.  It feels like one of the last main events of it's kind where Jumbo faces a gaijin and it's not a long match filled with excess as we move closer to it being about the next generation.  Smartly worked, really good big man match with some gritty moments, the only criticism I would have is that the ending felt abrupt and flat.  

Misawa Vs Kobashi 5/4/91 - This was a handheld match from the 1991 Champions Carnival, and a really good one at that.  Short and snappy 15 minute match, started off by the numbers but then Kobashi hits a running DDT and they go off from there.  Two Tiger Drivers to win it for Misawa seems a bit excessive, but maybe that's just setting the scene for what comes later in their matches.  

Kawada Vs Taue 18/4/91 – Longer, fleshed out version of their January match for the Carnival.  Kawada wanted to powerbomb Taue on the concrete, but that backfires and he eats a Nodawa on the floor to get counted out

Jumbo Vs Misawa 18/4/91 – Might be the weakest of this trilogy but still very good.  Misawa has more confidence in this matchup now and this match has more of a back and forth, level playing field feel to things.  Jumbo kills Misawa with 3 backdrops to end this one.

Misawa, Kawada and Kobashi Vs Jumbo, Fuchi and Taue 20/4/91 - I wouldn’t be caught dead watching a 50 minute match from 2022 Japan, but this was fantastic and maybe the height of the Tsuratu-Gun Vs Super Generation Army 6 mans.  Yes you’ve got Misawa and Jumbo, but really the interesting combinations come in the form of Taue’s aggression towards Kawada, and Fuchi being a dick to Kobashi.  Great crowd, great performances, great heat and tension between the two stables.  Best trios match ever? Very likely.