Guest wolverine Report post Posted August 9, 2002 There are certain things that just don't age well. Watching Yoshinari Ogawa in the ring is one of them. Honestly, I don't know what the Hell I was thinking last year when I saw the Misawa/Ogawa vs. Kobashi/Akiyama 3/6/99 match for the first time. I actually thought it was a great match, with solid work throughout. I'll say this, there are some very good near falls towards the finish. This part was relatively well done. But after watching a great deal of AJPW during the last 365 days, this Ogawa character all of a sudden stood out so damn horribly, it was really quite embarrassing. I could care less about the politics behind him being put as Misawa's partner, the bottom line is that this guy sucked and didn't belong in this match. Like at all. Another notable element is just how fat Kobashi had gotten by this point. I was "introduced" to him in the 6/11/99 trainwreck about three years ago, so watching his '99 footage last year (when I got back into AJPW) didn't faze me at all--until I saw his early 90's stuff. The difference in appearance and work really is staggering. Which takes us to the Vader-Taue match to decide the new champion after Kawada was forced to vacate the titles due to his broken arm. I don't know how I got through this match last year. Taue wasn't exactly good (but he sure as Hell knew how to work better than Ogawa), and Vader was just Vader. I wasn't expecting Vader-Takada 8/94 or anything, but this was just shitty. I had it at * last year, this year I stopped it in the middle and went to sleep. Not a smart purchasing decision. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jubuki Report post Posted August 9, 2002 If you don't want the tape, I'll take it off your hands, haha - I need to see Vader/Taue in all its crappiness. I can only imagine how useless Taue would seem against someone who can't take any of his major offense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
