After a rewatch this is a serious best All Japan match ever candidate
for me. For example I'd easily have it over the 9.6.1995. tag and
Jumbo/Tenryu 1989.
It was structured and worked pretty much flawlessly. Miasawa's early
dominance was something to behold-I'm not one to praise the sheer speed
one moves at, but watching Misawa go is magical. Akiyama couldn't touch
him. I LOVE the overhead camera and here it significantly added to my
viewing experience-you could FEEL Akiyama's frustration as Misawa was
mauling him with elbows in the corner. Akiyama's first opening came off a
Misawa crossbody he countered by smashing his head into the mat. Misawa
sells the neck and thus sets the narrative for the match and we go into
the first Misawa FIP segment. Misawa's neck selling is absolutely
sublime-he walked the line of clueing in everyone he was hurt and not
going overboard about as perfectly as one could. Akiyama's attacks are
all vicious and directed towards the neck. There's no wasted movement in
this match. Not ONE move that doesn't make sense in the context and
that doesn't advance their narrative. It's not there. I watched this
match many years ago but was uncertain how to rate it, I wasn't certain
how to feel about Akiyama's heat segment in particular. This time I
think it's pretty clear it was crucial for the match to work as well as
it did. If Akiyama just hits a million DDTs and Neckbreakers or whatever
when he gets Misawa in the ring the match doesn't work to the extent it
did. It gave the crowd a little break, allowed Akiyama to continue his
limbwork and gave Misawa a way to make a believable comeback. Misawa's
offence is of course breathtaking-and Akiyama Dropkicking him off the
top rope was about as perfect of a way to transition into Misawa's
second FIP segment as there was. It's something about Akiyama's
character I've talked about before-he won't overwhelm others in strike
exchanges and dick measuring contests (at least not
Misawa/Kobashi/Kawada). He has to think up gameplans and bide his time
and take advantage of every opportunity he can. Akiyama's neckwork in
the first Misawa FIP section was pretty brutal on its own but it
escalates even further here culminating with the disgusting Gotch Style
Tombstone that Misawa reacts to with an all time great sell. Of
course-since this is a big Misawa match-his comeback comes into play
eventually. And boy is it awesome here. He busts out an awesome corner
kick neither me nor the commentator ever remember seeing and just stiffs
Akiyama on everything he does, including a nose breaking knee drop.
There is struggle over all the big moves as there should be-but Misawa
is just unstoppable here. And Akiyama starts feeling like an underdog
yet again despite putting Misawa through so much. Until.......until one
of the best sequences I remember seeing in wrestling-EVER. If you think
there's no room for no selling in pro wrestling you're flat out wrong,
and I'm not talking about it in something minor either. This match is a
perfect example how special no-selling can be when done right. When
Misawa blasts Akiyama with that Rolling Elbow you're 100% convinced
Akiyama he's done-but then he just wills himself to throw himself at
Misawa and hits him with an Exploder and by god you won'tever see a man
running portray frustration and aggression like it did here. And then
Misawa gets back up. Because of course he does. Maybe Akiyama can't win
after all. An elbo-no? Another quick Exploder? Maybe he can do it after
all! And then Misawa tries to get up, and I think ok, this is just
getting absurd, is he superhuman or what? And they both fall down. I get
he watched All Japan when he was a teenager but I wish Sekimoto and his
friends wached this sequence over and over again and thought about why
it worked. It's about as powerful of a momentum shift as there is. *****
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