Guest Black Tiger Report post Posted January 3, 2003 I think it was because my puroresu started with New Japan juniors, but I usually have to watch a famous AJPW heavyweight match two or three times before I can fully appreciate its greatness. I have the RWTL 1996 on its way, and I've heard a lot of great things about the finals (Misawa/Akiyama vs. Holy Demon Army) and was wondering if it was possible, without giving away a whole lot, if someone could tell me some things to look for in the selling and psychology of the match. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Johnny Blaze Report post Posted January 3, 2003 I actually just finished rewatching this match after thinking about great tags. The first time I watched it I had absolutly no knowledge of the intramatch story and it blew me away. I'd recommend watching it that way first. If you listen to too much hype beforehand, you run the risk of being underwhelmed. Just watch for the interplay between Misawa and Akiyama, and enjoy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DragonflyKid Report post Posted January 3, 2003 I got this from the http://www.A1wrestling.com Purist' forum. The thread is 5 star matches I have seen thread from A1 Credit goes to Spanky. BTW BlackTiger I'd advise you to watch the match without reading this or any other spoilers then read up on and rewatch the match. If you read the spoilers and know at what time from what move the match ends you might have trouble getting into the nearfalls. When rewatching the match you'll be able to appreciate the subtleties more without the drama being taken away and the differences between your initial opinion of the match and your current one might be very different. I couldn't get into a few 60:00 time limit draws when I knew how they were going to end, when I rewatched them I was able to appreciate them based on how good they were. "RWTT Final 96" Well, I do not really think that I have to give too many reasons why I like this. It is a general consensus that this was one of the greatest matches ever. I do have a synopsis that Spanky wrote up of this match. It basically has my feelings on it. "I loved the whole theme of this match. The psychology was sooooooooo rich. Kawada has a bad year in 1996. He didn't do anything in singles, and he was in the shadow of Taue (Taue!) for much of the year (what with Taue winning the Champion Carnival and Triple Crown). He even let his team down in tag matches. On 5/23/96, Kawada & Taue lost the Double Tag straps to Misawa & Akiyama. That in and of itself was bad enough, but Kawada actually jobbed to Akiyama. That may not seem like a big deal, but in AJ's rigid hierarchy (of which Akiyama was far, far below Kawada), it was a huge upset. Kawada redeemed himself, sort of, by pinning Akiyama in the League portion of the RWTT. But he suffered another setback when he jobbed to Misawa in the league rematch. Because of that win, Misawa & Akiyama earned a spot in the finals of the tourney, where they would face Kawada & Taue. Each man had a ton of motivation going in to the final: Kawada was looking to redeem himself after a lackluster year. He was also looking to exercise the demons of his past Tag Tourney failures (1988--he let down Tenryu by getting hurt by Hansen & Gordy, 1992--he let down Misawa by getting pinned in the deciding match, 1993--he had an injured knee and wasn't able to make the tag at the end of the match, and 1995--he and Taue lost in the finals again to Misawa & Kobashi). Taue was looking to cap off his career year. He had held the Double Tag Titles with Kawada earlier in the year. He won the Champion Carnival, beating Steve Williams in the finals. As a result of his Carny win, he got a Triple Crown shot against Misawa. Unlike his partner Kawada, Taue was able to get the job done and take the TC away from the Emerald Boy. The tag tourney was the one major accomplishment he lacked, and winning it would be the icing on the cake of an incredible year. Akiyama was the young punk looking to establish himself. Although he had won the tag titles with Misawa, but he also jobbed them to Doc & Ace. As much as he had progressed, he still had to rely on Misawa to save him several times in the big matches. This was another test of his legitimacy, a big chance to "prove to Baba" that he belonged with the big boys. And then there's your man, Misawa. Mike Lorefice compared his position in this match to Michael Jordan. I think that's accurate, because like Jordan, everyone knew Misawa was The Man, and they wanted to see, as his team got weaker, if his superior skill could keep his team on top. The work itself in this match was incredible. The timing (with the exception of Taue & Akiyama botching one spot) was precise as usual. The heat was great. The build & pacing were great. Even without the rich chessmaster psychology, this match would have been fantastic. But the deeply rich psychology put it over the top. The spot where Akiyama took the nodowa off the apron was key. It had been built up to for months. It took us back to 1988, when Kawada teamed with Tenryu in the tag tourney. In the deciding match, the youngster Kawada was hurt, leaving Tenryu to fend for himself. In the 1996 match Kawada was on the other end, as the youngster (Akiyama) left the veteran (Misawa) alone. Tenryu couldn't withstand those odds... could Misawa? Taue tried to pounce on Misawa, but he couldn't keep the advantage. Misawa bravely fought off both men, but then realized that Akiyama had been essentially taken out of the match. Misawa tried to continue to fight, but was overwhelmed by Taue. Taue tried to take out Misawa the same way he got Akiyama. Taue had his hand wrapped tightly around the throat of a worn down Misawa, but for some reason couldn't complete the nodowa. In an incredibly dramatic shot, the camera panned down to show a desparate Akiyama holding on to Taue's leg for dear life. Suddenly, we see Kawada (who was also worn down) rush across to kick the hell out of Akiyama. Akiyama, though he was barely conscious, had bought Misawa enough time to come back. Misawa fought Taue off with elbows, and then both guys struggled in the ring to make the tag. Taue did tag Kawada, but Akiyama wasn't there for Misawa. This was especially ironic, because Misawa had saved Akiyama's bacon many, many times during their big tag matches throughout the past year. And now, when the roles are reversed and Misawa needs Akiyama... he's not there. Kawada lost in 1993 because he wasn't able to make the tag, would Misawa lose for the same reason? Kawada launched an assault on Misawa, but Misawa wouldn't be defeated. Kawada's facials were great, as he couldn't believe that Misawa kept kicking out. He grew frustrated and tagged in Taue. Taue had Misawa right where he wanted him, but Akiyama finally came back to make the save. Kawada went right over to Akiyama and he & Taue gave Akiyama that brutal Dangerous Backdrop/nodowa combination. Akiyama, for all intents and purposes, was out of the match. But Misawa kept fighting back. The crowd was getting really hot because they could sense the match was near the finish, but the question was whether Misawa could miraculously come back or if Kawada could erase his previous failures against Misawa. Kawada got a great nearfall from a powerbomb (similar to an incredible nearfall in the 6.3.94 match). Kawada then kicked the holy snot out of Kawada, almost as if he was giving Akiyama a receipt for the 5.23 match. Kawada then finally put Misawa away with a power bomb. An incredible display. Great work, great heat, great psychology, great pacing, and absolutely motherfudging amazing storyline. The best thing, thought, about the storyline was not that it wrapped everything up so perfectly. The best thing was the it logically lead to the next chapter, which was Kawada's first victory over Misawa in a singles match. It's too bad that Baba had to royally fuck that one up..." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jubuki Report post Posted January 3, 2003 So much for "not giving away a whole lot." And it was '91 where Kawada got pinned, not '92. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DragonflyKid Report post Posted January 3, 2003 So much for "not giving away a whole lot." I gave him a warning to skip what I copied before he watched the match. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jubuki Report post Posted January 3, 2003 EH....I knew I should've done a synopsis for him...I could've hit the major points without giving anything away... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Black Tiger Report post Posted January 4, 2003 DFK, I stopped reading after I saw the word "spot" all I was really looking for was the stuff listed the in the begining of the article concerning motovations and past histories. The only spot I'm aware of in this match was one I read when I was looking at a bio of Misawa's career (Nodowa to Akiyama while he's on Kawada's shoulders) I don't know where it is in the match, or what is bearing on the match itself is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest wolverine Report post Posted January 4, 2003 "1992--he let down Misawa by getting pinned in the deciding match" This is not correct. In 1992, Misawa & Kawada beat Taue & Akiyama in the deciding match of the RWTL. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Black Tiger Report post Posted January 9, 2003 DFK, I took your advice and just watched the match, it was a great match, that I'd clock at about ****1/2, I went back and read about the psychology of the match from other matches. I"m going to re-watch it with this stuff in mind and see how it impacts my viewing of it. On a somewhat trivial note, in the clips of the rest of the tournament, why did Sabu and Albright fight Omori and Hansen twice, same goes for Ace/Doc vs. Misamwa/Akiyama Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DragonflyKid Report post Posted January 9, 2003 DFK, I took your advice and just watched the match, it was a great match, that I'd clock at about ****1/2, I went back and read about the psychology of the match from other matches. I"m going to re-watch it with this stuff in mind and see how it impacts my viewing of it. I've had many matches I've watched on a stand-alone basis that I thought were great but underwhelmed me, after going back and seeing older work that added to psychology of the match or read backstories I was able to appreciate the matches fully. The good thing about tapes is you can rewatch stuff, it's not like a single viewing is your only chance to appreciate the match and form an opinion. 12/6/96 is a match you can watch multiple times and pick out something new you haven't noticed before which just makes the match seem better the more times you watch. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest wolverine Report post Posted January 9, 2003 BT, either you seriously need to see more All Japan or that rating is on a **** scale. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jubuki Report post Posted January 9, 2003 Misawa/Akiyama & Kawada/Taue actually faced each other 3 times in the tournament. It was set up so that whoever was most successful would have to face off against other successful teams, while the scrubs wrestled the other people who'd been losing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest wolverine Report post Posted January 11, 2003 Have you ever seen their 12/5/97 match, Chris? I've never seen you mention anything about it. While it is a major letdown from the previous year, the Kawada/Akiyama segments are once again great, with them showing that they could've potentially had a classic singles match. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jubuki Report post Posted January 11, 2003 Well, the 3/95 match I just watched was certainly close enough to great or classic for me to be happy. I don't have the '97 final. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
