Super Generation Army (Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi [& Toshiaki Kawada]) vs Tsuruta-gun (Akira Taue, Masanobu Fuchi, & Yoshinari Ogawa)
taped 07/21/1992, aired 08/02/1992
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
(reviewed 04/17/2024) Another famous AJPW mid-match injury angle, unique in that it isn’t an angle at all. The match starts hot with the Tsuruta-less Tsuruta-gun heeling it up with double- and triple-teams, as Yoshinari Ogawa’s presence continues to encourage the Revolution-esque antics we’ve rarely seen since that stable broke up. I especially appreciate when they’re used against Mitsuharu Misawa, as they are early in this match; so often when the guy just effortlessly brushes off a control segment as he’s being worked over one-on-one it feels shitty but when he does it after having already been ganged up on, it’s like “ah yes, of course he’d win in a fair fight, this is The Guy.” That slight change in perspective makes all the difference between an exciting babyface and an annoying one.
Misawa has no trouble endearing himself to this crowd, though, as he soon injures himself. In an otherwise routine spot lifted from his matches with Jumbo Tsuruta, Misawa comes down on his arm at an awkward angle and separates his shoulder, seemingly much worse than he did last time. The match instantly grinds to a halt in a way we’ve never seen with other injuries throughout this review series. Misawa tries fighting through the pain but even the torque of throwing a spin kick proves to be debilitating. Crudely taping his arm in place doesn’t help; the man needs time off, time he ultimately wouldn’t receive, and an audible has to be called.
Everyone steps up in his stead: Kenta Kobashi is more fiery, Akira Taue is more severe, Masanobu Fuchi and the aforementioned Ogawa are more dastardly. Korakuen loses it when Tsuyoshi Kikuchi valiantly steps up to the heels when Misawa’s first nursing his injury on the floor and they likewise come unglued when he eventually tags in to take it to fellow junior Ogawa with headbutts and leg lariats. On the other hand the crowd is almost unsure of what to do when Misawa himself tags back in, a brief hesitance in encouraging a clearly unwell man back in the ring quickly cast aside by the familiar tripartite chants of his name.
It’s hard to know how I felt about Misawa before he died. I was still so new to wrestling, my feelings still mostly unformed, and the tragic nature of his demise would’ve rendered any criticism I had at the time inappropriate to share. Here fifteen years after his death I can look at his insistence to carry on in this match with the sad resignation of knowing what comes next, whether in 1992 or in 2009. Did I feel that way before he died, literally half my lifetime ago? I don’t know. Even if I had seen the match by then, I’m hardly the same person now that I was then. I’d like to think that I’ve always carried the same values throughout my life but I know that’s not always the case, if ever. After all, the Chris Benoit murder-suicide is inadvertently what got me to start watching wrestling in the first place and here I am all these years later, supposedly wiser and kinder, still willingly watching these people do things to themselves that will undoubtedly ruin their bodies, their brains, maybe even their families. How’s that for personal growth?
Thankfully Misawa recognizes for once when enough is enough. A Taue shoulder claw will do just fine in writing him off. Soon referee Kyohei Wada calls for the bell and the match is restarted with Toshiaki Kawada, having emerged from the locker room, taking Misawa’s place. He and Taue go at each other with a familiar ferocity, the former rikishi’s mouth being busted open almost instantly. Tsuruta-gun take charge in triple-teaming Kawada but it doesn’t last, their efforts beaten back by a righteous vengeance whose immediacy is unrivaled in perhaps all of All Japan’s history. A certain sporting dispassion discouraged such intensity, even in the chaotic mid-80s, but with everyone making it up as they go along these guys achieve an unpredictable ardor usually reserved for Mid-South’s greatest angles—and how could they not? It’s not terribly clear when everyone in All Japan learned the exact details of Jumbo Tsuruta’s condition but even if they didn’t know then what we know now, things had to feel uncertain with their ace out of commission for an entire tour. When Misawa is then injured badly enough to end a match, something that had never happened even with his long litany of injuries up until this point, I’m sure these guys felt like they were suddenly fighting for their lives.
The 12 minutes of action that unfold after Kawada’s inclusion in the match are, thankfully, simple and straightforward. These people here in Korakuen have an unwavering investment in seeing the good guys win, responding to every cutoff and pinfall in those life or death terms; even attempting anything more complicated would be malpractice. If this match fails it is in its insistence on arriving at the same destination when the course has already been altered so much: Taue is next in line for a Triple Crown title match so his team should win, an inappropriately sensible decision in such an emotional moment. Ogawa pins Kikuchi with a backdrop hold in a decision which Korakuen does not boo but which dissipates all the energy in the room. With no victory to celebrate, fans are left only to ponder the same unspoken questions on everyone’s mind: is Misawa alright and when will he return?
Brock Hates Wrestling 