Super Generation Army (Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi) vs Tsuruta-gun (Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue, & Masanobu Fuchi)
taped 10/15/1991, aired 10/20/1991
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
(reviewed 04/10/2024) Best and most memorable of these Super Generation Army vs Tsuruta-gun mid-tour six-man tags in at least a year, mostly because Mitsuharu Misawa is barely in it. I kid, I kid. Even if that’s just a mean joke it’s also accurate, as this is the first of a few famous injury angles with the budding young ace over the next few years, most of them based around real injuries. See, in another match the day before this, an errant elbow shot from Jumbo Tsuruta broke Misawa’s nose in an event that seems pretty innocuous until you actually see the picture of it from a Pro Wrestling News segment:
Gnarly! As a result Misawa is here to get written off for the rest of the tour. After coming out with his nose all taped up, Misawa immediately rips the bandages off when Masanobu Fuchi makes a crack about it because he’s gotta be the biggest and the coolest and the strongest wrestler ever. Either way it makes for a hot start to this match, one that finally achieves some of the same intensity these guys tapped into effortlessly the year before.
The novelty of Misawa being laid out for once does help but mostly it’s the drama of Toshiaki Kawada and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi being outnumbered by evil bastards that makes this great. After sleepy performances for the last six months the Tsuruta-gun guys are really feeling it again, led by Super Heel Akira Taue dropping Kikuchi throat-first across various surfaces, wrenching at Misawa’s swollen schnozz repeatedly, and applying the dreaded stomach claw to Kawada’s supple tummy. A year ago he could still be pretty tentative in these matches but by now he is among the most confident and cruel wrestlers in the world. Such a joy to see him work. Jumbo likewise rules as we sadly approach some of the last great matches of his career; he’s practically Lawler-esque as he throws pinpoint punches at Misawa’s nose without (seemingly) hurting him any worse. Fuchi doesn’t do much to Misawa directly but takes the time to fold Kikuchi in half with a brutal STF, delivering his most noteworthy performance of this feud in half a year.
So frustrating that, with a couple of exceptions, 90s AJPW only did these injury angles when they had to and never did it just to shake things up or even to benefit anyone else other than this one valiant babyface being written off for a while. They bring out the best in everybody as it’s not just the heels who are revitalized here but our young heroes as well. This match does more than any yet on this tour to prepare Kawada for his announced title match, an angle that forces him to step up in his fallen partner’s stead. Likewise this is the first time Kikuchi’s felt something like an equal to these veterans and heavyweights, someone who can really challenge their abilities and threaten their status instead of merely getting knocked around by them. Naturally he is murdered for his insolence but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Great match, the most gripping stuff AJPW has offered in months and months. Unfortunately something tells me Giant Baba won’t learn any lessons from the success of this angle or its followups.
HOW DOES THIS COMPARE TO SHAWN MICHAELS VS THE UNDERTAKER FROM WM25: I wish WrestleMania 25 was a return to form for Shawn and Taker but instead, they decided to embark across new frontiers of annoying, overblown wrestling completely removed from the physical effects of what two men do to each other when they have personal differences. Thankfully our friends from the far east have picked up the slack for them yet again.
VERDICT: Better than Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker from WrestleMania 25
Brock Hates Wrestling 