Guest J*ingus Report post Posted March 12, 2003 Yo all. Kawada's tag matches with Taue as his partner are legendary, and rightfully so. But: has Kawada ever teamed with anyone else in the latter half of his AJPW run, from say 95 onward? I'm trying to find a certain type of match: Kawada and some undercard schlub, not a main eventer, fighting a babyface tagteam. Preferably, it would be something along the lines of "Misawa & Akiyuma vs. Kawada & Some Poor Schmuck Who Doesn't Accomplish Much". Does such a match exist? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EL DANDY~! 0 Report post Posted March 12, 2003 He teamed with Masa Fuchi after the NOAH split in 2000, and they had an ABSOLUTELY great match with Nagata and Iizuka on 12/14. He also had a good match with Mitsuya Nagai as his partner against TenKoji in 2001. I'm not sure about anything before that, however. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Tim Cooke Report post Posted March 12, 2003 He teamed with Masa Fuchi after the NOAH split in 2000, and they had an ABSOLUTELY great match with Nagata and Iizuka on 12/14. He also had a good match with Mitsuya Nagai as his partner against TenKoji in 2001. I'm not sure about anything before that, however. If that match is absolutely great, I hate wrestling. Tim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest wolverine Report post Posted March 12, 2003 Baba wanted to break-up the Kawada/Taue team in 1996 and put Kawada with Gary Albright. Tosh obviously refused the idea, which I understand had something to do with him being put in the doghouse that year. Kawada and Taue lasted a hell of a long time, though, from 5/93 all the way up to the split in 6/00. That kind of thing doesn't happen anymore. BTW, if you're looking for a great Kawada tag without Taue prior to 5/93, check out the 2/22/92 Kawada/Kikuchi vs. Kroffat/Furnas. Not on the level as the legendary match in May with Kobashi in there, but still super fun, with Danny Kroffat being surly as fuck, almost Benoit-ish. Great stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest XdojimeX Report post Posted March 12, 2003 I remember reading there was some push from Baba in '96 to break up the Taue-Kawada team but K lobbied to keep them together. I forget who he was going to end up teaming with (Albright maybe?), but obviously he won out. Thank god. There's actually a pretty nifty 6 man tag that year with Kawada teaming with Ace and Albright vs. Misawa/Kobashi/Akiymama. Taue was working the Carny Final so Kawada gets stuck with the white boys on the undercard. He's like a one man show. EDIT: ignore the echo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EL DANDY~! 0 Report post Posted March 13, 2003 Cooke, tell me why you don't think that match is any good, I'm just ready for this one. I know you are all knowing about puroresu, but I happen to think that Kawada and Fuchi, the two people who actually stayed after the NOAH split, did a damn good job telling the story of how they needed to save AJPW's image after they were completely drained, talent wise. That match told a great story. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Tim Cooke Report post Posted March 13, 2003 Just a quick summary. I only saw the match once and that was a while ago. Nagata is nothing more than a Regal Japanese clone. Boring as hell, or at least as boring as Regal is now with Lancy boy. Fuchi was old as dirt in the match and did nothing for me. Kawada looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in the NJPW ring. Maybe my standards are too high, I don't know. But for 30 minutes of supposed storytelling, I didn't see much more than meaningless mat work, with everyone looking ill. Give me the Osaka Pro v NJ Junior 6 man from earlier in the night for a match with some energy, emotion, and story. More later maybe. Tim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
