Guest Johnny Blaze Report post Posted April 7, 2003 I just finished watching the AJ TV taping from 10/25/95, and I gotta say, it may be the best hour of wrestling television I've ever seen. Two mindblowingly good matches, one of Misawa and Kobashi's always fantastic series and the the most impressive carry job I've ever seen in Kawada/Albright. If anyone hasn't seen these two matches yet, get them now. That is all Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest wolverine Report post Posted April 7, 2003 Kawada/Albright was most certainly amazing. It's in all likelihood my favorite performance by Kawada in a singles match. And that's largely due to this excelling far beyond anyone could've imagined at a style that was unique compared to what you'd see in a traditional AJ setting. Kawada's work was at a similar, if not higher level during the 6/12/98 match against Kobashi, but what sets this apart from that match from a performance standpoint was the fact that he was working with someone who lacked the myriad of offensive weapons that many of his AJ counterparts had, yet made the most out of every suplex and submission by putting them over as deadly through his facial expressions. The crowd just ate it up, and it was pretty clear that Kawada was feeding off of that electricity throughout, since his kicks and elbows had that extra special amount of zing to them when it was his turn to fire away. Just an incredible match. I hated the main event on the other hand. Of the 10 Misawa/Kobashi matches I've seen, that one is far and away the worst. Ridiculous sell job by Kobashi down the stretch - almost making a mockery of the style by staggering around the ring like he was punch drunk, before Misawa ended the nonsense with the TD 91. The fact that this thing dragged on for 35 minutes certainly didn't help. Pretty laughable stuff last time I watched, and that's never a good thing when you're watching an AJ main event. I'll take simple, smart work like you see in the Misawa/Taue 9/95 match, where moves and finishers are put over credibly, as opposed to matches like this which fall under the guise of being 'flashy' yet contain an over-the-top amount of nuttiness. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Coffin Surfer Report post Posted April 7, 2003 Kawada/Albright is a fun match that really, REALLY stands out from the pack. Thanks in large part to how much different it is from what was going in All Japan at the time, 15 minute singles matches with submissions put over as potential match enders was not a common thing in the 95 AJ. It's amazing how during the course of one match, Kawada untrains and retrains the audience. It's really a shame that the style didn't lean towards this direction as the decade drew to a close rather than (de)evloving into spot crazy no selling nonsense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Johnny Blaze Report post Posted April 7, 2003 Regarding the Kobashi/Misawa match, it was not a perfect match by any standards, it was, however, a good match, easily over the *** mark. The heat was fantastic and the work was solid, as always, but the points Wolverine made about it were definately valid. I have yet to see many of the major collisions between those 2, as I started my AJ viewing with 88-89 and have just recently gotten through much of 95. From what I've heard about their later matches, this one barely holds a candle. But being "not phenomenal" is still pretty damn good in my book, and considering this is only an hour of TV, two matches at this level is enough for me to give it a thumbs up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
