AJPW 6/3/1994 - Triple Crown - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada

AJPW 6/3/1994 - Triple Crown - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada

 

Mitsuharu Misawa beat Toshiaki Kawada at 35:50 with the Tiger Driver '91. Great match. There really weren't any flaws to it and it was a heated and stiff affair from the start. They started out hot with a nasty backdrop and a cool Kawada block on a Misawa apron dive. They then escalated to some submissions with knee work on Kawada, until they started to hit their mid-level moves. Misawa got his ear drum busted and they started throwing bombs with Misawa lighting up Kawada with tons of nasty forearms. Kawada returned with gamenigiri's and a desperate Stretch Plum. From there, it was all Misawa as Kawada had hit everything in his arsenal and Misawa just got stronger and stronger until the fatal Tiger Driver '91 critical hit that ended the match. I didn't really have any issues with this one aside from wishing Misawa would have went for Kawada's leg again near the end. They didn't really botch anything, they kept it interesting, the shots were stiff, the heat was great and they really tried to make it special.  Kawada sold off the charts here and Misawa played his role as the ace perfectly. Whether it is the best match of all-time or not is something that will have to stand the test of time but it was definitely a classic. Rating:*****