Mitsuharu Misawa, Jun Akiyama, & Satoru Asako vs Kenta Kobashi, Johnny Ace, & Johnny Smith – AJPW Summer Action Series II 1997 Day 5 (08/22/1997)

Super Generation Army (Mitsuharu Misawa, Jun Akiyama, & Satoru Asako) vs G.E.T. (Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace) & Johnny Smith
taped 08/22/1997, aired 08/24/1997
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

(reviewed 05/21/2024) Sometimes I wonder where my vague animus toward Johnny Smith comes from and then I watch him humor suck ass Satoru Asako through the driest junior heavyweight exchange All Japan has ever seen and it all comes rushing back to me. Says a lot when Johnny Ace tags in and I think “here we go, business is about to pick up.” In fairness Ace does just fine here, cranking on a headlock better than we’ve seen anyone in All Japan do in a while along with bringing the high energy efforts we’ve come to expect from him. The Global Energy Team is a weird stable in that it’s two of the more fan-friendly gaikokujin of the era tagging with perhaps the most beloved babyface in the promotion, all of them being aggressive enough to circle back around to quasi-heel status at times. That’s what we get here with the two G.E.T. guys and the unaffiliated Smith applying armbars and rushing to make cutoffs in such a way that lights a fire under the Super Generation Army’s ass. Or at least that’s true for Jun Akiyama, who’s swiping at his opponents once they start going after his arm, while Mitsuharu Misawa merely sleepwalks through being briefly isolated by his former partner. Not sure what gets this dude’s dander up anymore. That indifference adds to a cold SGA control segment that ends with a Johnny Ace hot tag, so who knows who’s supposed to be sympathetic anymore. In the end an extended finishing stretch—much bigger than you’d expect from a Korakuen show at this point, especially since this is only the semi-main event—features Misawa on the wrong end of a bunch of G.E.T. moves but it’s Kenta Kobashi’s brief exchange with old pal and future partner Akiyama that serve as the highlight of the match. Smith picks up the win for the away team with a dumb scoop slam dropped into an inverted DDT. Try a different move, buddy, this one stinks.