5-Star Match Reviews: Misawa & Kobashi vs. Kawada & Taue – AJPW, June 9, 1995 (30th Anniversary Review)

This is a special match for me: this is the second match I ever reviewed and it’s the one that forever sold me on puro. Going into this I had no idea about any background; I just saw Kenta Kobashi in a tag match, heard great things about this from secondhand sources, and thought I’d check it out. And here we are years later and it’s still an amazing, time-tested masterpiece of professional wrestling. And now that thirty years have gone by, let’s see how well it holds up.

The Story

This was the sixth Misawa & Kobashi vs. Kawada & Taue two-on-two tag match the two sides started fighting in June 1993. Kawada & Taue, the Holy Demon Army, won the first match to retain their freshly-won world tag titles. Misawa & Kobashi evened the score six months later in the finals of the 1993 Tag League tournament and won the vacated tag titles in the process. Misawa & Kobashi won again in May 1994 and that was followed by two draws, in in November that went 30 minutes and another in January 1995 that went sixty (for that latter 60-minute broadway Dave Meltzer likened the crowd reaction to something like “a fifteen-minute orgasm”). And here, in their sixth meeting, Misawa & Kobashi were defending against Kawada and Taue.

But beneath the surface there was so much more. Kawada had never beaten Misawa in singles competition. Taue was fresh off his Miracle Run in the 1995 Champion Carnival and made it to the finals before losing to Misawa. Speaking of Misawa, he was nowhere near 100% here: an errant kick from Kawada shattered Misawa’s left eye socket and it was still healing. as for Kobashi he, too, was injured, dealing with an injury to his left hamstring. But neither Misawa nor Kobashi could afford to take extended time off: business hinged on these four men putting on barn-burner after barn-burner in main-event matches.

Though business was solid under ace Misawa things were starting to plateau a little bit, especially with a small roster and restrictions on the kinds of non-wrestling things the wrestlers could do to drum up interest. In other words, the only way the Four Heavenly Kings could satisfy their existing fanbase and draw in new viewers was to up the ante in the ring. That would lead to an escalation in risk that would peak later in the decade but for now, in 1995, things were a bit…lighter, at least compared to later.

The Match

This took place on June 9, 1995. It is for Misawa & Kobashi’s AJPW World Tag Team Championships.

The 16,500 in Nippon Budokan are already going nuts as the bell rings. Taue starts for the HDA while Kobashi (and his heavily taped-up left leg) start for SGA. Lock-up and clean break for Taue. Another lock-up ends in a chop exchange. Kobashi lands a shoulder but Taue fires back with a boot. Kobashi sells by flexing his jaw. Test of strength follows. Kobashi counters an arm wringer but Taue kicks Kobashi’s left leg. Kobashi gives him a death glare and the crowd lets him have it: after all, 1990s All Japan was supposed to be sportsmanlike wrestling and what Taue just didn’t wasn’t that.

Taue reverses a corner whip, lands a facecusher, and tags Kawada. Kobashi CHOP. Kawada no-sells. Kawada holds onto the ropes to avoid an Irish whip. Kobashi counters an Irish whip…but Kawada uses the momentum to boot an unsuspecting Misawa in the face and off the apron. What a dick. The camera zooms in on Kobashi and he has this super sympathetic look on his face: he can’t believe Kawada would stoop so low as to cheat like Taue. Even his lip quivers a bit. Well now he’s gonna show you. Tag to Misawa. Clean break on the ropes. Kawada ducks an elbow and fires off chops. Misawa elbows back, shoots Kawada off the ropes, and lands a dropkick. Kawada tanks it, and lands another kick to the face. Kawada blocks an elbow. Misawa blocks a gamengiri. Misawa tries a spinkick. Kawada ducks it and kicks Kobashi in the face for no reason. The nicest, most upstanding do-gooder in wrestling is out for blood. Referee Kyohei Wada is forced to intervene.

Taue tags in and sends Misawa into a corner but Misawa hits first with a counter elbow. Kobashi tags in, lands a shoulderblock for one, and applies a sort of facelock. Taue escapes via jawbreaker and gets into a chop battle with Kobashi. Kobashi answers with a high kick and when Taue blocks a suplex Kobashi tags Misawa. Taue tries hitting back but Misawa stiffs him with jump kicks and elbows. Jumping elbow gets two. Kobashi tags in and hits a delayed suplex for two. He follows with a long abdominal stretch but Taue powers out. Misawa tags in and tries a suplex of his own but again Taue resists. Taue attempts his own counter suplex. Misawa lands behind him, misses a kick, lands an elbow, and kicks Taue to the floor. Misawa goes for an elbow suicida but Taue moves away. Misawa sees this and shows off with a rope flip…and a surprise elbow to Kawada as Kobashi shoulderblocks Taue from the apron. Then Kobashi holds Taue in place. Elbow suicida connects.

Back in the ring SGA land a double suplex on Taue for two. Taue avoids another shoulderblock and tags Kawada, who immediately targets Kobashi’s hamstring with calf kicks. Kobashi kicks back but Kawada drops him effortlessly. Kobashi shows heart by trying to strike back but putting any more weight than normal on that left leg is getting harder quick. Kobashi falls over which Kawada takes as a sign to continue the punishment. He drops a knee on the back of Kobashi’s thigh and locks in an upside down torture half crab hold. Taue tags in and locks in a sharpshooter but Kobashi powers out. Kawada tags back in and lands more strikes, going back to the leg the moment Kobashi shows the slightest hint of defiance. Taue tags in and tries a knee crusher. Kobashi blocks it, lands a discus chop, and staggers over to tag Misawa.

Misawa runs Taue over with elbows, counters an Irish whip to avoid a kick, elbows Kawada off the apron, and smashes Taue with another elbow. Misawa goes through the same corner sequence as earlier, but this time Taue dodges the attack and – wait, no, Misawa’s already one step ahead as he ducks Taue and lands another hit. Misawa locks in a Boston crab which leaves his guard down…it’s the perfect opportunity for Kawada to waltz in and land a single kick that hooks around and hits Misawa right in his injured eye.

Kawada tags in and goes after the eye with step kicks and an exceptionally nasty corner yakuza kick. Misawa slumps down so Kawada rushes him with corner kicks and knees. He even shoves the ref aside to continue his barrage. But all he’s doing is provoking the Great Demon God. Misawa fires up and blasts Kawada with more elbows. And some for Taue for good measure. High kick by Kawada. Taue attempts a chokeslam. Kobashi goes after Kawada but Taue throws Misawa down and dropkicks the back of Kobashi’s knee. Misawa frees himself from Taue and goes after Kawada. Kawada lands stepkicks but Misawa tanks them and fires back. Taue cuts Misawa’s comeback short with a quick throat drop and trips Kobashi by the bad leg. Taue’s not done. He lands a knee smasher with his foot in the back of Kobashi’s knee in a stomp/smash combo. Misawa gets back up. Taue catches him, tanks some elbows…AND THROAT DROPS MISAWA ONTO KOBASHI’S BAD LEG. But wait, there’s more. Kawada lands a diving knee drop onto that same leg. Kobashi writhes around screaming in agony and then falls to the floor. This has become a two-on-one handicap match.

Kawada lands a gorgeous spinkick but only gets two. He digs his elbow into Misawa’s eye and drops a knee onto his face. Taue tags in and lands snake eyes, sending Misawa face-first into a turnbuckle. He follows that with a Baba-style coconut crash for another near-fall and then tags Kawada, who applies Misawa’s own facelock finisher on him. Misawa gets a ropebreak as Kobashi starts re-taping up his leg. Short-range lariat by Taue for two. Release atomic suplex for another two-count for Taue. Kawada tags in and kicks Kobashi away from the apron. Misawa shows some defiance so Kawada drops him with a rebound lariat for two. Kawada attempts a powerbomb. Kobashi makes it in to try and stop it. Taue drops Kobashi while Kawada lands more stepkicks. Kawada’s powerbomb connects as Taue lands a knee crusher on Kobashi onto the steel barricade. Kawada safely makes a cover…but only gets two.

Kawada locks in a stretch plum as Kobashi tries to save his partner. Taue cuts him off with two kicks, but on his third Kobashi bounces back and hits a lariat. Then Kobashi goes after Kawada with punches to the head, which are rarely used in All Japan. And Kawada tanks it. It takes three punches for Kawada to relinquish his hold, at which he point he snarls and goes after Kobashi, which leads to a double lariat double-down spot.

Kawada gets up first and goes after Misawa but Misawa stops him with elbows and a counter free-leg enzuiguiri. Kobashi tags in and lands another chain of stiff chops which Kawada again tanks like a champ. Kawada retaliates with a kick to the leg turning this into a tough-man contest. Kobashi catches Kawada’s leg, lands crisscross chops, and drops him with a punch. But then Kobashi gets carried away and knocks Taue down, which gives Kawada just enough time to trip Kobashi and make a safe tag out.

Taue comes in and is immediately met with a dropkick to HIS knee. Kobashi hulks up All Japan style and fires off corner chops, ignoring Taue’s throat drops. Another kick finally drops Kobashi but when Taue sends him into the opposite corner and hits brain chops Kobashi fires up again and lands a throat drop on Taue. Kobashi charges. Taue ducks and throat-tosses him back into the corner. Taue charges. Kobashi blocks with a kick. Running Baba neckbreaker. Both men drop.

Kobashi gets up first but Taue resists a powerbomb so Misawa comes in and lands an aided Tiger Driver. One, two, Kawada makes the save. Double back elbows from SGA send Kawada to the floor. Kobashi scoop slams Taue and goes to the top rope – err, wait, no, Kawada cuts Kobashi off with a gamengiri. Kobashi gets up, kicks Taue, and tags Misawa, who lands a flurry of elbows. Misawa lands a spinning lariat and attempts a Tiger Driver. Taue blocks and goes for a big boot. Misawa blocks that and hits a rolling elbow. Kawada tries a sneak attack. Misawa blocks and lands another rolling elbow. Tiger Driver on Taue. Two-count. Facelock on Taue. Kawada breaks it up. Misawa stiffs him a few more times, sending him to the ropes where Kobashi puts him in a sleeper. Back to the facelock. Kawada frees himself from Kobashi. Misawa fights both of them for a moment…until Kawada spikes him with a high-angle Dangerous Backdrop.

Taue crawls over for a tag but Kobashi cuts him off and then tags in officially. Taue blocks a dragon suplex but can’t block a German. Two-count. Another scoop slam. More interference from Kawada as he kicks Kobashi’s leg and throat-slams him from the second rope. Kawada tags in, stepkicks Kobashi, and teases another Backdrop. Kobashi resists and does the Misawa/Jumbo midair press counter for two, taking recoil damage to his knee in the process. Kobashi blocks a German and ducks a lariat. He lands a back suplex but hurts his leg even more. Undeterred (or stubborn, depending on your point of view), Kobashi sets up for another moonsault. This time Taue interferes but Kobashi fights him off. Meanwhile Misawa slams Kawada and lands a frog splash to set Kobashi up. Kawada’s still kicking so Misawa lands on him with a senton. There’s no moving now. Moonsault connects. One, two, th – Kawada survives.

Misawa tags in and tries a Tiger suplex but Kawada resists. He blocks another Tiger Driver so Misawa ax kicks him and hits a release German suplex. Kobashi traps Taue in a corner as Misawa lands a bridging Tiger suplex…for 2.99. Misawa follows with a Tiger Driver. Taue escapes Kobashi and breaks it up. Misawa goes for an elbow. Taue blocks and pokes the bad eye. that’s followed by a chokeslam. Taue teases a super chokeslam from the corner. Kobashi cuts him off but then Kawada cuts Kobashi off. Taue connects with the super chokeslam but Misawa still has fight left in him. Misawa blocks a forearm so Kawada lands a punch and an abisengiri rolling kick…which sends Misawa to the last place he’d want to be, the apron on Taue’s side. And the crowd, who’ve been white hot from the start, erupt. Because they know what Taue’s planning. He goozles Misawa. Kobashi hobbles over to break it up. Kawada hobbles over and drops Kobashi with another kick to the bad leg. Misawa continues to fight so Kawada lands an enzui lariat to set Taue up perfectly…FOR THE CLIFF NODOWA. Chokeslam from the apron to the floor.

The crowd erupts in “MI-SA-WA” chants as Kobashi crawls over to save his partner, or at least what’s left of him. Kobashi covers Misawa with his own body to protect him but Taue uses his sumo powers to lift Kobashi up and throw him aside like yesterday’s garbage. Taue drags Misawa back into the ring thinking Kawada has an easy cover but Misawa ingenuiously rolls across the ring to the other side, robbing Kawada of his three-count. Kawada, running on adrenaline, quickly brings Misawa back into the ring, but by now the difference has been made as he only manages a 2.99-count.

Kawada attempts a powerbomb. Misawa gets to the ropes. Kawada lands stepkicks and tries again. Kobashi crawls over and holds Misawa down. Taue chokeslams Kobashi as Kawada powerbombs Misawa. 2.999-count. Kawada tries again. Misawa powers out. Kawada’s frustration emerges as he stomps away on Misawa. In comes Kobashi who again shields his partner using his own body. It’s the ultimate act of heroism. Kobashi takes hit after hit but holds his ground. With every inch of his being he digs his heels to buy Misawa time. This calls for the big guns. Holy Demon Special ’95! Chokeslam/Backdrop combination attack! Kobashi makes the sacrifice but it works: Misawa has enough time to hit Taue with a rolling elbow smash.

Misawa gets to his feet but Kawada hits him with a gamengiri. 2.999 count again. Misawa keeps pushing Kawada back with what little he has left. But it’s not enough. Another Dangerous Backdrop. 2.9999 count. Kawada lands another gamengiri. There’s no stopping him now. SOUL-INFUSED POWERBOMB! Kobashi tries crawling over again. But this time Taue traps him in a leglock. Kobashi’s fingertips away but still too far. One, two…three! COUNT TO THREE! Kawada pins Misawa! Kawada pins Misawa! New Tag Team Champions!

Winners and NEW AJPW World Tag Team Champions after 42:37: The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue)

Review

I mean, what else is there to say that hasn’t already been said about this match? Point blank, this is the greatest tag team match I have ever seen in my life. I can’t think of anything resembling a flaw or drawback in this that would make it anything less than 5-Stars. OK, maybe, if you really tried hard enough, you could argue that the match started off slow and at some point the pacing seemed SLIGHTLY sluggish. But you’d really have to struggle to make a compelling case for that since everything else in this match was so airtight since it followed Baba’s desired match format perfectly.

“The ideal match heats up at the beginning, cools down in the middle, and heats up again at the end. That was Baba’s style. It doesn’t have to keep going up. It’s okay to have moments where it dips, but it must always end on a high note.” – referee Kyohei Wada

The action was unpredictable and compelling. It had a mix of contemporary AJPW hard-hitting action with old school Southern-style tag mechanics and structure. They made use of every part of the ring. They told such a captivating and understandable story through their actions, selling, and timing. As I said in the intro I had no idea who Kawada and Taue were before this match but afterwards I was sold on them both as wrestlers.

But what makes this the perfect example of the Four Kings’ greatness is the sheer quality of the match output relative to historical importance. This wasn’t a world title match, nor was it the start of, or final blowoff to, some years-long blood feud. It was a main-event tag match that didn’t have that sense of conclusion or culmination to it. In other words, it was just a big tag match yet the performance was so epic the wrestlers made this feel like it was a matter of life or death. To put it another way, imagine watching The Godfather, Part II or Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back as standalone experiences without having watched the precursor films. Yes you might be somewhat lost with some of the story nuances but the performances in both were so well done that you’re left deeply satisfied as if you’d had just watched the entire trilogy. That’s how good this match was. It’s the magnum opus of tag team wrestling for a reason: these four wrestlers improved on their previous match-ups and tweaked their formula to create something masterful. All the story and plot elements going back years came to a head here, even though they didn’t need to.

Moreover, all four men stood out in their own way. Misawa took an absolute beating and remained cool yet defiant until the very end. Kawada came off like a badass who wanted to win by any means necessary. Taue, who looked the least threatening from first impressions alone, made up for any overt flashiness by using logic and timing to be the ultimate disruptor. And then there was Kobashi, who put on the underdog babyface performance of a lifetime. I’ve read that in some places “playing Ricky Morton” is a wrestling industry expression for being the babyface that takes the heat and builds to the heroic comeback. Well after seeing this match I think that expression should change to “playing Kobashi”. Seriously I’m amazed that his act of self-sacrifice here hasn’t been replicated and overdone time and again over the decades. It was such a moving and believable performance. He told like he was in legitimate pain yet still fought back in the face of overwhelming odds. And best of all he wasn’t even the fall guy here. Like twisting the dagger further, Kobashi had to watch from inches away as his heroic efforts were all for naught. He bought Misawa some time but not enough for the legendary ace to make a final turnaround. The relentlessness of Kawada’s assault and the sheer brutality of Taue’s Cliff Nodowa were too much for even an ace of his power to withstand.

“At the moment I got the pin, I was also struggling, but they say that before a person dies, they remember everything that has happened up to that point. I’ve been chasing Misawa all this time, and those moments flashed in my mind.” – Kawada, Ichinose’s Four Heavenly Kings Biography

Final Rating: *****

Anything less than this would be a disservice or an insult. This has long been called the Citizen Kane of tag matches and it still holds that reputation today. Whether you want to take my opinion about it, or look at wider consensus, there are very few people out there with anything bad to say about this match. But what about the people involved? Well here’s an explanation of the style this match demonstrated, courtesy of the man who called the action, referee Kyohei Wada:

“Tag matches are the essence of pro wrestling. Why? Because no other combat sport has tag matches. There’s also the entertaining aspect where wrestlers are tested on their skills by exploiting moments when the referee’s attention is elsewhere to launch attacks.” – Kyohei Wada, Reading All Japan Pro Wrestling, 2010

And here’s another, more detailed explanation about how that idea, coupled with Baba’s vision of a sportsmanlike wrestling, led to, among other things, this particular match:

“There’s also talk that this might connect to “Royal Road Pro-Wrestling.” Baba-san once spoke about the ideal form of a match: “A match that’s all high-energy from start to finish is impossible.”

Hearing this, I thought to myself. A professional wrestling match might be akin to a symphony in classical music. A symphony has a first movement, a development section, a calming adagio melody, and then a final movement. I’m not particularly knowledgeable about classical music, but I feel there’s a resemblance to the profound, great matches.

Furthermore, I’d like to say that a referee might be similar to the conductor of an orchestra. A conductor’s role is to adjust the emphasis of a carefully selected musical performance. In a match, I believe the referee fulfills that role.

As a side note, even when a symphony ends, it’s still not over when it comes to the matches of the Four Kings. Even after the development section and the finale, both wrestlers’ pride prevents a three-count from happening. The Four Kings’ wrestling, in my experience, involved the most three-count attempts, and the essence of such matches lies in tag team bouts.

The professional wrestling of the Four Heavenly Kings, which does not cut corners, means no fouls, no count-outs, and no referee stoppages—essentially, a complete resolution with a solid three-count.

Such matches are incredibly tough. This is because you have to completely defeat your opponent to the point where they can no longer stand. In a main match, even a submission is not acceptable; it is that strict. If a submission leads the audience to think, “Ah, it’s over…” Misawa or Kawada might want to finish the match with a face lock or stretch plum. However, in the main event, when such techniques are about to determine the outcome, they must be released once, and then end it with a big move like a Tiger Driver, Power Bomb, or Vertical Drop Brainbuster. The battle continues with counts of 2.9, and I find myself counting endlessly as they hit back and hit back.

Of course, the golden 90s were a result of the Super Generation Army’s efforts exceeding their limits, but I believe that the “ideal pro wrestling” sought by Mr. Baba was realized because it was led by these young and pure wrestlers who regarded Giant Baba as their absolute mentor.” – Kyohei Wada, Life Is Better When You Count To Three, 2004

Knowing all of that it’s much easier to conclude that this match it as close to a perfect match as it gets. Even with wrestling, which is such a subjective and argumentative medium by nature, it’s extremely rare for a large group of people to come together and agree in almost complete unison that something is the best, but that’s what we have here. This is THE perfect tag team match. It’s such an emotional and transcendent piece of wrestling history that deserves to be studied over and over because it appeals to a wider audience without the need to understand background or context all that much. It takes an exceptionally virtuosic understanding of one’s craft to be able to create something like this. That’s how good these four men were, and if there was any one wrestling match that captured their individual and combined talents, it’s this one.

Thanks for reading.