Kawada or misawa?

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

You know when it comes to good AJ in the mid 90's people always talk about Misawa and Kawada and there famous match and all the good matches they had together. But I was wondering. Which do you prefer Misawa or Kawada? And why? Or is there someone else at the time that you like better than those two?

I'd have to say that so far with my limited viewing I prefer Kawada. Just because he kicks so much ass. I know that sounds markish but I can't helo it. I'm a mark for Kawada. The kicks and the stiff powerbomb....I just love em!

So who do you like better? Or is there someone else from that time?(Kobashi, Hansen, Taue....)

[Guest Singular]

I like Kobashi over both of them.  Some Misawa and Kawada matches I have seen loose my intrest after 25 minutes or so.  I don't know why, but they just do.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Well, I guess we could break it down into two tastes.

 

Style (Misawa)

Substance (Kawada)

Passion (Kobashi)

 

At least this is how I see it, I could be wrong.  Misawa has a whole bunch of flashy moves, he is very dynamic and diverse.  Kawada is all work, which is not to say his matches aren't exciting, they are just exciting in a different way.  Instead of frogsplashes and spinning clotheslines and tiger drivers he uses a plethora of kicks...Sweet Sweet Kicks.  Kobashi is like Misawa in terms of flashy moves, but the passion that appears in his work, the 'fighting spirit' makes him my favourite....Plus his hair and goofy look appeals to me...Very Ohtani-like.

[Guest J*ingus]

And there's also:

 

Height (Taue)

Pure Mean-Spiritedness (Hansen)

[Guest Jubuki]

I have my reasons for appreciating all of them.  I think I like Taue better than any of them, just because he was rather un-good for a long time and then suddenly worked to their level, and then in the past few years has carried some of those guys to good matches.  Kobashi was great before the age of 27, just astounding.  Maybe he couldn't live up to the expectations he'd already set at a young age.  Misawa, when motivated, was the Man in more ways than one, and Kawada is easy to pull for.

 

Granted, all of them take a back seat to Volk Han, Destroyer, and Jumbo for me, but I like them all, even when I make fun of them.

[Guest J*ingus]

Hey Jubuki or anyone else who knows, I was wondering this, could anybody list for me the dates, match lengths, and general recommendations for the Kawada/Taue vs. Misawa/Kobashi matches?  I'm getting a comp put together, and wanted to include at least of of them.

[Guest Jubuki]

They had 9 matches.  The 8 that made it to tape were:

 

6/1/93

12/3/93

5/21/94

11/25/94

1/24/95

6/9/95

10/15/95

12/9/95

 

I haven't seen the latter 2 RWTL matches, but only 1/95 out of the others is worth skipping.  The rest are all great.

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

Let me just say something about there 6/9/95 "greatest tag match ever". Now I watched Misawa/Kawada "greatest match ever" and I didn't feel that it was. I felt that i watched one of the greatest matches ever. I felt I enjoyed the Flair/Steamboat series a lot more but that could just be because it was more personal to me than this match.

But that match on 6/9/95 I felt lived up to and exceeded the praise I had heard for it. I was left breathless and wondering if I could find anything better. I mean I liked it more than the Misawa/Kawada match AND the Flair/Steamboat series. It was just a damn good match. Never in my life have I seen such a vicious and methodical shit kicking. I highly recommend that match.

[Guest Tim Cooke]

"Now I watched Misawa/Kawada "greatest match ever" and I didn't feel that it was. I felt that i watched one of the greatest matches ever. I felt I enjoyed the Flair/Steamboat series a lot more but that could just be because it was more personal to me than this match."

 

6/3/94 is wrapped so deep in so many different things that you need to go back to 1985 when Choshu and Co invaded AJPW through the Jumbo/Tenyru series, through Misawa and Co v Jumbo and Co through the Misawa v Kawada series prior to 6.3.  They are doing so much that a viewing without proper knowledge will not do anything justice.

 

But that match on 6/9/95 I felt lived up to and exceeded the praise I had heard for it."

 

It is a great match.

 

"I was left breathless and wondering if I could find anything better."

 

Me too...though I found many things that I could like just as much or even more eventually.  

 

"I mean I liked it more than the Misawa/Kawada match AND the Flair/Steamboat series."

 

It is clearly better than the Flair v Steamboat series without a doubt...just too deep in story.  As far as 6/3/94 goes, it changes day to day with me about whether it or the tag match is better.

 

"It was just a damn good match. Never in my life have I seen such a vicious and methodical shit kicking. I highly recommend that match."

 

Beyond the stiffness and the moves, there is so much more.  The story that they tell from the past and the present and their representation with the moves make it so great.  

 

Tim

[Guest goodhelmet]

Back on the original topic, I have always enjoyed Kawada more than Misawa. That's not taking away from Misawa's work, just the kicks and the missing teeth and the black and yellow all add Kawada's appeal. Plus, Misawa is the booker and in the back of my head that bothers me. The same way I rooted for Steamboat in the Steamboat-Flair series, I root for Kawada everytime I watch one of their matches.

[Guest wolverine]

I haven't seen the latter 2 RWTL matches, but only 1/95 out of the others is worth skipping.  The rest are all great.

Don't bother with 12/95.  Not as bad as 1/95, but not worth your time.  I actually don't own either of those matches anymore because I traded them shortly after buying them because they were so weak.

 

All this stuff about "greatest tag match ever" makes me embrace Dream Rush that much more.  I think you put it best when you mentioned how you wouldn't sacrifice the fire, heart, character and energy that those four put into the match to make what went wrong, right.  Life isn't perfect, and neither is wrestling.  Sometimes perfection is only a facade, and when it happens too often, it loses touch with reality.  Those four couldn't have put together a better match that night, no matter what anyone would think.  It's a performance so transcendent that I wonder if I'll ever be able to see topped in my lifetime.  In any event, it's the true definition of "Puroresu Love," not to be confused with a certain slogan that a certain individual has been spewing for the past year plus.

[Guest MrDanger]

The great thing about 6/9/95 as far as I'm concerned is that an All Japan newbie can watch this match and just be blown away by the work alone, you just can't really say that about 6/3/94 since the whole match is centred around story.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

I don't see a lot of puro...but what I have seen I think I like Kawada more...nothing against MIsawa...the matches between them I've seen are great and one couldn't do it without the other..I just seem to like Kawada better...no explaination really

[Guest wolverine]

Here's how I'd break down All Japan as far as who the best worker was:

 

1990-1991:  Jumbo Tsuruta

1992-1993:  Kenta Kobashi

1994-1995:  Toshiaki Kawada

1996-1997:  Mitsuharu Misawa

1998-split:  Toshiaki Kawada

 

Everything after the split I don't care about.