Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada, AJPW (7/29/1993)
This was for Misawa’s Triple Crown Title.
It’s their first time facing as less than friends. It’s hard to call this a blood feud just yet, but the relationship has professionally disintegrated and the July tags have shown that it’s definitely more than a little personal, even if they’re not quite ENEMIES yet.
Misawa again is real stoic to start out, but Kawada looks almost nervous. It’s hard to say he was supposed to be the bad guy of the two, but he’s certainly not put forward as the hero Misawa was, but faced with a difference like that, Kawada’s so much more interesting and realistic of a character. He decidedly doesn’t charge in now, and the first few minutes of this is a lot of staring each other down and waiting, before a block or a little shot thrown before they back off again. Misawa finally lands the first big shot with an elbow, but Kawada makes a show of staying up before he hits a kick to the chin AND MISAWA BACKS OFF AND FALLS INTO THE ROPES.
Match opens up from there, but still stays relatively scientific, and Kawada now takes a cue from Hansen and targets the right arm. He’s not mean on purpose at any point, but between that and some of the kicks he peppers in, it definitely feels like a different Kawada is challenging tonight. Misawa comes back with an elbow for distance, but then sells it and uses a lot of kicks. The arm makes it hard for him to control much of it, and Kawada gets super chippy when he feels it unraveling, leading to this incredible facial expression.
It’s a lot shorter than I remembered, but it’s perfect. Kawada is again foiled by Misawa just being better and it seems like the turning point in their relationship. He could go to the arm or take him down or throw him, but he goes in for the fight and loses. He forgets the arm and kind of loses his head in the match, just wanting to decisively beat Misawa and giving into the new anger to do it, and trying to beat him up instead, even throwing the wild closed fist right hand again.
Kawada again hits the Powerbomb too early, but keeps his head initially, even surviving the Tiger Suplex now, but it’s when Misawa kicks out of a second (which like Kobashi’s Moonsault in the prior match, doesn’t FEEL like it’s too early, it’s just that it fails) that he loses himself. Misawa blocks a second punch and drops him with a Rolling Elbow. Kawada rolls out because of the hurt elbow from earlier, showing that maybe he did actually have the right idea. He’s broken though and resorts to just tackling Misawa down and trying for a pin. He lands a lucky Gamenguri but Misawa still gets up first. He hits a few absolutely heinous German Suplexes, and he has his own look of anger for the first time.
Kawada tackles him again but Misawa kicks him off the cover and nukes him with another German when he could have won. Kawada is clearly knocked out, but Misawa still pulls him up for a second Tiger Suplex for the win. Easy to understand why Misawa finally got pissed off, but it’s also incredibly easy to see why Kawada would take offense to that ending, really rubbing it in. This is the greatest feud ever.
HANDWERK 