(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Burning vs. NO FEAR – AJPW, October 30, 1999

Many wrestling falsely assume that 1990s All Japan was all about the head drops and the excess. The truth is that golden decade featured so much more. The company was built on a style that was simple in premise but was executed flawlessly more often than not. That allowed the wrestlers to excel and create these easily-digestible narratives that, even now, are so universal and easy to follow that any viewer can just watch any random match and both follow along and enjoy it without ever being lost or confused. And what we’re looking at now is one of the better examples of that simplicity in action.

The Story

Most people who’ve spent any time in the internet wrestling bubble know who Kenta Kobashi is so I’ll spare any intros. He and Akiyama were once stablemates under Misawa but Kobashi split from Misawa in 1996 and then Akiyama did the same in 1998. Akiyama challenged for Kobashi’s Triple Crown in July ’98 and although he lost Kobashi was so impressed with him that he wanted Akiyama to become his new partner. Akiyama accepted and together they formed the unit called “Burning” and became one of the top teams in AJPW’s tag division.

Although AJPW’s roster had a few solid teams to rely on – Burning, The Untouchables (Misawa & Ogawa) and the Holy Demon Army – more bodies were needed, hence the push of former UWFi wrestler Yoshihiro Takayama and his partner Takao Omori. Takayama was a tall hoss but Baba hadn’t pushed him all that much because, after all, he was an outsider and Baba still had some degree of mistrust on pushing those kinds of wrestlers, what with the Tenryu/SWS thing still hurting so badly.

Then there was Omori. On the surface he wasn’t as well-known of a wrestler, having spent most of his seven years in wrestling as a midcarder. But things began turning around for him in 1999 when Misawa took over as AJPW’s booker. Misawa wanted to push younger wrestlers more and Omori in particular ended up being a central albeit unwitting player in Misawa’s decision to form NOAH. A month prior to this match Misawa got into a major boardroom argument with Baba’s widow Motoko over which match should headline an upcoming sold-out Budokan Hall show. With a full house, Misawa believed that Omori and Akiyama, two rising stars, should get their chance to main-event and show that they were the future of the company and that the company was going to get a big payout anyway. Motoko was vocally opposed to this decision, arguing that wrestling had fallen from its peak and that pushing these two younger guys was futile since the company was trending downward anyway.

Both sides had compelling arguments and neither one was really wrong; hell, even discussing the importance of closing the show or “main-eventing” might be a moot argument in today’s world because many of today’s promotions have lost the plot when it comes to which match is “the main-event” and wrestlers often steal the show from each other. All of that said, Australian academic Jonathan Foye covered the AJPW/NOAH split in extensive detail in his book Ganbaru (to which I contributed a very small bit) and anyone interesting in looking at the fascinating details of that period in wrestling history ought to read his book when you get the chance.

Anyways, Kobashi and Akiyama won the tag titles seven days earlier from Misawa & Ogawa in a genuine 5-Star classic. This match was announced shortly afterwards but the initial plan was for it to be a non-title match. However, on the following night’s show NO FEAR – Yoshihiro Takayama & Takao Omori – attacked Kobashi & Akiyama and demanded a title shot which the champions accepted.

The Match

This is for Burning’s AJPW World Tag Team Championships. They do ring intros but Kobashi is visibly itching to go, still visibly upset from being jumped a few days earlier. Omori and Akiyama hold their respective partners back but then Akiyama rushes NO FEAR with a dropkick. The crowd explodes as he lands a jumping knee on Omori and keeps Takayama down in a corner. Kobashi tags in and Burning hit double shoulders to Omori. Akiyama knocks Takayama off the apron as Kobashi lands double kneelifts. He goes for a vertical suplex but Takayama comes back and kicks his back. Takayama drops Akiyama with some stiff boots and knees and then goes to work double-teaming Kobashi alongside Omori. The ref is largely powerless to force the invading guys back into their corners, but both Akiyama and Takayama still go back to their respective corners since, after all, they still need to win and DQs are basically nonexistent in this period of AJPW.

The crowd chants Kobashi’s name as Omori mocks then, drops a knee on Kobashi’s face, and applies a sort of facelock. He gets Kobashi into his corner and then Takayama does a hangman spot, lifting Kobashi straight up by his neck. Then Takayama tags in and drops Kobashi with more stiff boots. Kobashi fires up and hits back with chops. He gets a fleeting moment of hope before Takayama drops him again with more kicks. He sends Kobashi into a corner and lands some vicious kneelifts that look and sound like they rearranged Kobashi’s organs. And just to make sure there’s no risk of interference Takayama boots an unsuspecting Akiyama from the apron to the floor.

Takayama continues with kicks but Kobashi starts hulking up All Japan-style. He stops selling Takayama’s kicks and pummels him with chops. Omori tries interfering but Kobashi chops him down to size. He goes back to Takayama and just destroys him with neck chops until the referee has to get involved. But Kobashi just shoves the referee aside. Man, Kobashi’s destroying this man like he owes him money. It takes the combined strength of the ref and Akiyama to pull Kobashi off of Takayama, but when he tries to get past them to continue his onslaught Omori hits a giant dropkick out of nowhere and drops Akiyama with a lariat.

Omori tags in officially, sends Akiyama into the barricade, and then DDTs him on the exposed floor. Kobashi tries saving Akiyama but Omori sends him into the barricade as well. Back in the ring, Omori removes a kneepad and drops some knees to the back of Akiyama’s head. a piledriver gets Omori a two-count so he applies a deep chinlock. Takayama tags in and lands more body shots followed by a corner yakuza kick and a snapmare/soccer punt combo. He boots Kobashi off the apron and lands a big leg drop for two while taunting Kobashi. The ref gets between them and then NO FEAR continue bullying Akiyama in their corner. NO FEAR maintain the double-teams and then Takayama sends Kobashi into the barricade again as Omori drops Akiyama with a full nelson slam. Omori follows with a top-rope elbow drop for a two-count. Then NO FEAR spike Akiyama with a two-man Razor’s Edge and cover, only for Kobashi to make the last-second save.

NO FEAR dispose of Kobashi for the moment and land a double-team move on Akiyama. They try an aided big boot but Akiyama ducks so Takayama kicks Omori instead. Hot tag to Kobashi. He tanks one kick from Takayama, dodges a second, and avoids a third by doing a jumping shoulderblock the moment Takayama gets his foot up. Machine gun chops for Omori followed by a jumping corner kneelift. Omori avoids a powerbomb and Kobashi ducks a wheel kick. Kobashi follows with a jumping leg drop and a successful powerbomb. Omori grabs the ropes to block a half-nelson suplex but Kobashi stops him by kicking those same ropes. Omori breaks free and connects with his wheel kick and both men collapse.

Takayama tags in and dropkicks Kobashi. Kobashi struggles to resist a sleeper so Takayama applies a modified crossface until Akiyama breaks it up. NO FEAR demolish Kobashi with a sandwich double lariat followed by a back suplex/diving neckbreaker combo for two. Akiyama saves Kobashi and takes NO FEAR on one-on-two. He drops Omori with a dragon screw leg whip but Takayama kicks him down and then delivers another brutal kneelift to Kobashi. Akiyama stops Takayama from hitting his Everest German Suplex but Takayama drops him shortly afterwards. Then Takayama hits another big running knee that hits Kobashi so hard he looks like he got hit by a train. One, two, and – Kobashi kicks out at 2.9. The crowd’s going nuts over Kobashi’s survival.

Takayama follows with an overhead suplex and a corner kneelift. Kobashi tanks the hits but then he fires up and hits a running lariat out of nowhere. Akiyama deals with Omori by way of Exploder suplex and then Kobashi destroys Takayama with a short-range Burning Lariat for the pin and the win to retain the titles!

Winners and STILL AJPW World Tag Team Champions after 14:54: Burning (Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama)

Review

Meltzer once called NO FEAR “the worst tag team I’ve ever seen to have consistently great matches” which, in some way, was an accurate statement. On the surface it didn’t seem like they did all that much: Omori hit moves randomly and Takayama limited himself to kicks, knees, and the odd sloppy-looking throw. One could conclude from this that the match was only good because Kobashi and Akiyama were so much better by comparison but, in truth, that wouldn’t be entirely accurate. For an under-fifteen-minute match this was incredible. It was short, to the point, and told the precise story it was meant to. Takayama and Omori did simple things but did them so well that they didn’t need to do anything more complex. Without any complicated backstory or needless hype video these four men managed to get their point across through facial expressions, moves in and around the ring, and body language. While the match was formulaic and abrupt by All Japan standards, the fact that everyone got so much out of such a short match makes it special and worthwhile.

The thing I like most about these AJPW matches is that the stories and narratives expressed through the moves are so easy and universal that you can draw your own conclusions easily which, even if they’re off the mark completely, add to the drama and entertainment of the wrestling itself. Here’s Kobashi, the ultimate white-meat babyface and a goody two-shoes with such an overt sense of righteousness in the ring that he makes John Cena look like Stone Cold Steve Austin by comparison, beating the tar out of Takayama. He showed such an unchained aggression in the ring that he shoved the referee aside and kept attacking to the point that his own partner had to pull him back else they get disqualified. He attacked as if Takayama had slept with his wife or something. It was such an unusual display but it worked wonders here: Kobashi’s unusual aggression sold NO FEAR as a big deal and helped sell this as more than just a title defense.

But perhaps most importantly, this wasn’t a stereotypical King’s Road match filled with head spikes, danger, and unnecessary escalation or excess. Instead, it was a fifteen minute sprint but with a classic match structure and American-style psychology: isolate one partner at a time, build heat on the heels, create false hope spots, and deliver credible and believable near-falls. The match could’ve gone longer but that wasn’t all that necessary. The point of this match was revenge for Burning and that’s what they got. Kobashi and Akiyama made quick work of NO FEAR by hitting as hard as possible, even at times risking admonishment from the referee.

Really, the only real problems were the match’s conclusion and the referee being inept during most of the match. It didn’t make sense for him to get involved when he did or to warn of disqualification since he wouldn’t do it. All of his waving and finger-wagging was useless since there were no consequences for interference or underhandedness, but that’s more a criticism of the booking and the style than it is the action in this particular match.

Final Rating: ****3/4

This match is way better than it has any right to be. It was the kind of straightforward title defense on would see on TV rather than on PPV or in a stadium and yet it was unbelievably effective in getting its point across. This match proved that a match doesn’t need to go on for 20-40 minutes to be great. It was a compact summary match that almost hit the fifteen-minute mark yet these guys managed to put on an entertaining piece of wrestling action in the time they were given.

In less time than it takes for most entrances to end on big WWE shows these four guys established that there was some bad blood/ill will between both sides, had a hot and exciting start, got heat on the challengers, built drama and tension, and brought the story to a thrilling conclusion, all while having a competitive match. Getting all of those elements together and have them work in concert so well happens very rarely, which makes this match that much more special.

Thanks for reading.