Super Generation Army (Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi) & Kentaro Shiga vs “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, The Lacrosse, & Richard Slinger
05/31/1997
Miyagi Sports Center, Sendai, Japan
(reviewed 05/20/2024) This is the last time Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi tagged together as the Super Generation Army, officially advertised as such because Kobashi’s going off on his own; having just won the tag titles alongside Johnny Ace, they’re about to form the Global Energy Team. Even beyond the auspices of the SGA stable, this is one of the last times our heroes ever teamed up period: they only have ten more tag matches together before Misawa’s death, starting with a few friendly one-offs in 2000 before they head to their new promotion. I’m inclined to call this the end of SGA (if it didn’t die when Toshiaki Kawada left, which is actually how I feel) but they keep using the name until the summer of ‘98 so I guess I’ll roll with it a little longer here. In any case this is a fun way for them to go out, a perfectly enjoyable six-man with a few of my favorite gaikokujin and a promising youngster who really ought to have been among their ranks. Kentaro Shiga is quite good here, knowing to differentiate how he wrestles against these opponents of varying sizes while always bringing an energy the likes of suck ass Satoru Asako have never achieved after dozens of televised attempts. He tries matching Dick Slinger for strikes, he sticks and moves against the Lacrosse, and—appropriately enough—he simply dies at Dr. Death’s hands. Along with some punchy little control segments on Misawa and Kobashi it makes for a more meaningful mid-tour tag than we’re used to seeing at this point, aided by a Sendai crowd that is not as hot as it used to be but which is invested in all the right things. The highlight comes late in the match after a springboard dropkick from Shiga has helped Kobashi turn the tide and tag in the ace. Quickly cut off by Doc, Misawa gets bounced around by an ill-timed sandwich clothesline from the opposing heavyweights, ricocheting off Doc’s body from the force of Lacrosse’s lariat in such a way that immediately makes you sit up and take notice. Not often anymore when the sound of a spot in one of these six-mans is what draws you in for the finishing stretch. And it’s a good finishing stretch! Shiga supplies a highflying style we haven’t seen in these matches for ages and it gets the crowd going for a few hot nearfalls before Kobashi comes in with the big boy offense. Seems silly to bust out the Orange Crush on a show like this but I suppose it is a special occasion. Dick does the job for our SGA originals, who shake hands as they part ways.
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