(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Tsuruta, Fuchi & Kabuki vs. Misawa, Taue & Kobashi – AJPW, May 26, 1990

This is the match that started a legendary two-year war between Jumbo Tsuruta and Mitsuharu Misawa. That brutal war carried All Japan until Tsuruta’s unfortunate and premature departure and while it went on All Japan was white hot. This match also includes something unusual as far as All Japan classics are concerned: Akira Taue as Misawa’s partner rather than as his opponent. Anyone who has followed that period knows this to be rare, and outside of the odd ‘special tag match’ would never really happen again.

With All Japan’s roster devastated by a loss of talent that would be completed by the end of the summer, how well did they manage to pivot towards pushing new talent? Let’s find out.

The story

1990s marked a seismic shift in Japanese wrestling when Genichiro Tenryu, one of the biggest stars in the company from the prior decade, left All Japan after being lured away by a huge money offer from an eyeglasses company executive (read: money mark) who thought he could bankroll a rival wrestling company. Tenryu had been the second half of AJPW’s defining feud opposite Jumbo Tsuruta; with him gone, Baba had to think quickly and find a new headlining act for his promotion.

His solution was to have Tiger Mask II shed his gimmick and become the company’s ace. And so, Mitsuharu Misawa removed his mask and started wrestling under his real name for the first time in six years.

Within seconds of removing his mask fans began chanting Misawa’s name as though he had never donned it in the first place. Five days later, Misawa and his allies began feuding with those who were associated with his childhood hero and company ace Tsuruta.

For the first few days the two sides traded wins back-and-forth, setting up the gradual build towards an eventual Tsuruta versus Misawa singles match. But something had to change on Misawa’s part: he needed a new weapon in this new feud. He was a light heavyweight as Tiger Mask II and thus spent most of his time doing lucha and acrobatic moves.

But those things wouldn’t work against the aptly-named JUMBO Tsuruta. If he was going to stand a chance against a full-fledged heavyweight who outweighed him by at least forty pounds of muscle, he needed an equalizer that could be used against anyone at any time…and as we shall see, he definitely picked the right move for the job.

The match

This took place on May 26, 1990. It was rated ****1/2 out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

Veteran Fuchi and relative newcomer Taue start things off for their respective teams. Taue takes control with some shoulderblocks, a scoop slam, and a dropkick, before tagging Kobashi. Kobashi lands a diving dropkick for a two-count. Chain wrestling sequence followed by an armlock from Kobashi. Fuchi escapes, lands a drop toehold, and applies an armlock of his own. Tsuruta tags in but Kobashi maintains control with another dropkick for a one-count. Then Tsuruta shows this young gun whose boss with a jumping knee and then cheap-shots both Misawa and Taue off the apron. The crowd still loves him, though. Misawa’s itching to go so Kobashi tags him and the fans go nuts at this Tsuruta versus Misawa encounter. Misawa hits first with a barrage of knees to Tsuruta’s head. Tsuruta fires back with a big lariat for a two-count. Clearly the ace isn’t scared of Misawa.

Kabuki tags in and Misawa uses this as an opportunity to show off his lucha acrobatics. Taue tags in and hits a slam/elbow drop combo for a two-count but Kabuki gets up and hits a thrust kick and tags Fuchi. Taue tries fighting those two off by himself but loses and ends up on the receiving end of a beatdown from Fuchi. Taue escapes a leglock, hits some mounted punches, and tags Kobashi.

Kobashi gets a two-count off a Hogan leg drop and tags Misawa, who gets a two-count of his own off a running crossbody press. Misawa finds himself on the enemy’s side of the ring and so Tsuruta goes for a cheap-shot. But before he can land a hit, Misawa drills him with a single elbow smash and Tsuruta falls to the floor unmoving. And so begins a core theme that would define All Japan for the next decade:

Misawa’s.

Elbow.

Is.

God.

Kabuki checks on a seemingly unconscious Tsuruta as Misawa lands a senton on Fuchi for another two-count. The crowd seems somewhat disinterested in Kobashi tagging in and hitting a vertical suplex; many in view of the hard camera can be seen looking at Tsuruta, growing surprised that he’s still down. Even Fuchi looks over after tripping Kobashi to tag and probably thinks, “He’s STILL down?” this leaves Kabuki alone to tag in and hit some basic body shots. As he locks in a grounded armbar Tsuruta shakes the cobwebs from his head and he…is…PISSED. Tsuruta runs across the ring and goes after Misawa. The two stable leaders go down fighting, to the point that the rest of the wrestling action stops. Both sides even work together for a brief moment to split the Tsuruta and Misawa up to force a stalemate and the referee’s stuck in the middle trying to play peacemaker.

Order doesn’t last long as Tsuruta rushes Misawa again. The brawl ends and Kabuki goes back to working Kobashi’s arm on the mat. Fuchi tags in and goes after the same limb with a cold viciousness that made him look far more dangerous than he first appeared. Fuchi keeps torturing Kobashi until he tags Kabuki but Kobashi counters a corner whip with a crossbody out of the corner for a one-count, Kabuki drops Kobashi with a thrust kick and reapplies his Fujiwara armbar until Taue breaks it up.

Tsuruta tags in and hits a big boot for a two-count. He, too, works Kobashi’s left arm until Misawa comes in, at which point another ugly brawl starts up. Kobashi uses the distraction to tag Taue, who brings the fight to Tsuruta with a corner elbow and a Russian leg sweep for a two-count of his own. A clothesline gets Taue another two-count so he tags Kobashi who hits a back suplex for a two-count. Tsuruta cuts him off with some kneelifts and tags Fuchi who dumps Kobashi ringside, sends him into the barricade, and then drops him knee-first on a ringside Japanese (read: unbreakable) table.

Back in the ring, Fuchi attacks Kobashi’s knee ruthlessly and then tags Kabuki, who lands a few more strikes until Kobashi sends him down with a counter clothesline. Taue gets a hot tag and pushes Kabuki around the ring with sumo thrusts. He lands a series of basic moves and then tags Misawa who gets two-counts off a dropkick and a spinning lariat. Both Kobashi and Tsuruta tag in. Tsuruta brushes off a Kobashi dropkick and starts raining stomps on him but Kobashi fights on defiantly. Tsuruta bullies him some more until Fuchi tags in and goes back after Kobashi’s bum knee. Misawa stops Fuchi from fully applying a Boston crab so Fuchi stomps on the knees some more. Kabuki tags in and lands a knee crusher/heel hook combo and keeps the hold applied until Taue breaks it up.

Tsuruta tags in, hits some nasty scoop slams, and then locks in a half crab. Taue saves Kobashi from this hold by slapping Tsuruta and then Misawa joins in on the action with a double dropkick alongside Taue. Misawa follows with a gutwrench suplex, a spinkick, and a frog splash and covers but Fuchi interferes. Kobashi tags in and Misawa sets him up for a diving dropkick but Tsuruta dodges it and drops him with another lariat for a two-count.

Kabuki tags in but Kobashi knocks him down before he can do anything and does the rolling cradle for a two-count. He gets two again off a crossbody press and then tags Taue, who likewise gets two following a lariat. Kabuki reverses an Irish whip and tries a back body drop but Taue counters with a DDT for yet another close two-count. Kabuki hits a quick throat thrust and a backdrop suplex and tags Fuchi. Fuchi dropkicks Taue and counters a press slam into a cradle for a two-count. Taue hits an atomic drop/back suplex combo for two once more. Kabuki stops Taue from hitting a Samoan drop which allows Fuchi to counter into a crucifix pin for another close two-count. Kobashi tags in and hits a rope-assisted leg drop for a two-count. He and Fuchi trade roll-up counters for more quick covers. Misawa saves Kobashi and then he & Kobashi launch Fuchi into each other for some big combo moves. Tsuruta protests and eats double dropkicks for doing so. They also knock Kabuki off the apron and Kobashi lands a bridging German suplex. Tsuruta breaks up the pin at the last second. Misawa tags in and attempts a Tiger Driver. Tsuruta drills him with a lariat before he can deliver. Fuchi jackknife covers but only gets two. Misawa and Fuchi trade waistlocks and counters until Misawa switches to a bridging Tiger suplex. One, two, and three! Misawa and his team win!

Winners after 23:10: Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue

Review

This wasn’t just your typical AJPW main-event with great wrestling: it was a great match with an even greater angle. This was one of the most intense, exciting, and realistic angles of its time. It came across as a legit pull-apart between two guys who suddenly hated each other so much they were willing to risk losing the match just to throttle each other. That level of aggression made this feel instantly special for two reasons: 1) the interruptive nature of it made it look almost shoot-like; and 2) it was widely known that Misawa idolized Tsuruta growing up and was the reason he wanted to become a pro-wrestler in the first place. So here was Tsuruta acting all prickly and tried to cheap-shot Misawa for no reason, only for him to eat his first of thousands of elbow smashes that would come over the next few years. Misawa drew first blood and from there the war was on.

But aside from that defining moment, the rest of the match was as solid as one would expect. It was simple and fast-paced. Everyone else got time to shine. There was a balance of focus on the central Tsuruta/Misawa feud and the rest of the match well. Much of it was built around Kobashi playing FIP as his arm and leg got worked over (a common theme throughout his career because he’s very, VERY good at selling anguish and fighting on). Kabuki and Fuchi took turns mauling either Kobashi or Taue with special focus on Fuchi. Seriously, Fuchi might be the poster boy for wrestlers with average or below-average looks but incredible skill. The way he targeted Kobashi’s joints and wrenched his submission holds made his holds look real and genuinely painful, to the point that this smaller and otherwise unimposing man looked like the cruelest and most remorseless wrestler in the match.

All told, the match ended up being balanced and competitive. There were secondary and tertiary stories told along with the main one, which gave the audience more to enjoy when Misawa and Tsuruta weren’t trying to destroy each other. The final five minutes was tense with plenty of great near-falls and sudden changes in control. Nothing was too complicated and nobody was made to look bad or weak in any way. Misawa scored the deciding call as he should have against Fuchi who was physically the smallest but also the man who had caused his team the most anguish. The match ended differently from their other matches and added another twist to the larger story being told between these two sides. And most importantly, it added a much-needed level of personal animosity to the Tsuruta/Misawa rivalry and made it feel like something more, which is exactly what it needed.

Final Rating: ****1/2

I think this is a fair rating for this match. It was exciting from start to finish, told some great stories, and gave the audience plenty of reason to want to come back to see more. It’s an easily accessible match that’s also easy to follow. It’s got the right amount of flash and ruggedness about it that makes it feel like a real conflict while still retaining that sense of spectacle one expects of pro-wrestling.

I don’t anyone would expect a flawless, drop-everything-and-watch-this-epic out of a match designed to SETUP a feud. But for the first major point in what would amount to a two-year-plus feud, this is as good as it gets.

Thanks for reading.