All Japan Pro Wrestling TV 1/3/1998

All Japan Pro Wrestling TV 1/3/1998

These matches were taped on 1/2/1998.

They have Giant Baba talk about the upcoming Tokyo Dome show.

Masao Inoue and Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru

We join this in progress. Kawada has a headlock on Kobashi. Kobashi hits chops then Kawada spin kicks him in the head. Inoue neckbreakers Kobashi for 2. Inoue chinlocks Kobashi Kobashi slams him. Kanemaru gets in, slingshot sentons Inoue then arabian moonsaults him for 2.

Knaemaru stomps on Inoue then hits chest clubs in the corner. Kanemaru springboard spin kicks him for 2. Kobashi gets in and knees Inoue on the ropes. Kobashi delay suplexes him then high crabs him. We cut ahead and Kawada hits chops on Kanemaru. Kobashi blocks a Kawada face kick from the apron. Kanemaru dropkicks Kawada and Kobashi ddt's Kanemaru off of it.

Kobashi flying knees Kawada and all 4 men get in. Kanemaru top rope dropkicks Inoue. Kobashi spinning neck chops Kawada then Kawada takes a powerbomb + top rope diving lariat combo for 2. Kawada hits kicks then Kobashi dragon screws him. Kobashi single leg crabs Kawada and Inoue breaks it up.

Inoue lariats Kobashi and Kobashi tries to power through it. Kobashi goes down on the 3rd lariat then Kawada running face kicks Kobashi. Inoue corner lariats Kobashi then suplexes him for 2. Inoue top rope dropkicks Kobashi. Inoue's mouth is busted open and Kobashi flying neckbreakers him. Inoue takes a suplex + top rope diving crossbody combo for 2. Kawada is pulled out by Kobashi. Inoue grabs Kanemaru off the top and is cradled for 2.

Kanemaru dropkicks Inoue then hits a top rope moonsault for 2. Inoue fisherman suplexes Kanemaru for 2 then Kobashi backdrops Inoue. Kanemaru is fallaway slammed off a diving crossbody for 2. Kawada running face kicks Kobashi off the apron then Inoue spinning torture racks Kanemaru. Inoue gets the submission win at 16:01

We saw maybe 9 minutes or so of this. Kanemaru was the energetic young flyer here and they had Inoue be a tough guy here in this one. Kanemaru definitely put some work in on this one and we didn't see a ton of Kawada in this. It was fine but not great. 

New Years Battle Royale

Kimala II is double teamed early and Baba doesn't get in until after til starts. Hase is group stomped by multiple guys then pinned by all of them. Taue gets inned by multiple people soon after. Alright and Kobashi double team Kawada and Kawada gets out. Baba hits big chops on Steve Williams and Steve backs off.

Steve and Kimala fire on each other and Kimala falls back. Babab holds Steve for shots from Kimala. Omori hits a slam on Tamon Honda and Honda is group pinned. Johnny Ace and Rusher Kimura trade then Steve lariats Rusher over. Rusher is then group pinned.

Gary Albright takes a 2v1 then is double suplexed. Gary is then group pinned. Takao Omori gets pinned at the same time. Kimala and Steve trade then Steve drops Kimala with an uppercut. Kimala is group pinned. Steve goes after Baba and is beaten up for it. Baba chops Steve down and Steve is group pinned.

Wolf Hawkfield is double teamed by Inoue and Eigen. Inoue is slammed and pinned. Skull Von Crush and Misawa go at it. Skull stunners him then Misawa is group pinned. Johnny Ace rolls up Haruka Eigen and pins him. Kawada hits chops on Baba then Kobashi chops and delay suplexes Kawada. Kawada is then group pinned.

Ace and Baba shake hands. Wolf is held by Ace for chops from Skull and Baba. Baba chops Wolf in the face and Wolf is group pinned. Jun Akiyama then joins the Baba and Ace team. Skull is double teamed by Ace and Baba then Skull takes a face kick. Skull is group pinned.

Akiyama, Johnny Smith, Jun Izumida, Baba and Ace are the final five here. Ace turns on Baba and hits shots to the chest. Izumida joins and is chopped by Baba. Baba punches Ace in the gut then ddt's him. Baba falls down for the ddt and is group pinned. Baba is shocked.

Smith reverse ddt's Ace. Izumida is thrown down onto Ace and Ace is group pinned. Akiyama, Smith and Izumida are the final three. Izumida and Akiyama shake hands then double team Smith. Izu pump kicks Smith. Akiyama goes for corner attack, misses and Izumida rolls him up.

Akiyama avoids a double clothesline and hits a double dropkick. Akiyama lariats Izumida and Smith oddly breaks the pin up. Smith sideslams Akiyama then top rope dropkicks him.  Izumida headbutts Akiyama in the back. Smith tries to backdrop Akiyama. Akiyama rolls on him for the pin. Izumida helps pin Smith. Izumida then rolls Smith on top of Akiyama and pins them at 13:20 to win it.

I'm not sure of the legalities of the a man who is eliminated being used as part of a pin here. It was an entertaining but light hearted battle royale. Early on, it was mostly just 2-3 people fighting and everyone watching until the ring cleared out. As often with AJPW's battle royales, the big starts went out earlier in the match. Izumida winning was a surprise, but if you can't do a surprise win in these things, when can you do it? Oddly, Ricky Santana was on this show but wasn't in the battle royale.

We then get music video style clips of Giant Baba, Jumbo Tsuruta & Rusher Kimura vs. Haruka Eigen, Masanobu Fuchi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi. Jumbo' s team won here and Jumbo looked thin.

Overall thoughts: The show was only about 24 minutes long. There was nothing must see here but it was an okay 24 minutes of wrestling. The battle royale was entertaining but not great. I wouldn't recommend this.