Alright, now that the sorry sap part of the blog post is out of the way, Wrestling!
So I've been sitting on this 3 disc set for a while now, but recently I purchased (Beyer help me) Best of Pro Wrestling NOAH DVDs for the years 2001-2014, because I have mania and the rum I was drinking determined that my mania was for NOAH that night.
I'm...I have imposter syndrome, I think. Like with Pro Wrestling NOAH, I feel like I haven't earned the right to be a NOAH fan, somehow. This didn't happen with New Japan, I think because I came into that company with a wave of other new fans, so it was a very mutual feeling of discovery and it made me feel comfortable coming in. But with NOAH I don't get that. It's not that the fandom hasn't been welcoming. In fact, everyone I've interacted with has been incredibly helpful and friendly when it comes to getting invested in the emerald brand. But I feel like...I dunno, I don't Deserve to be a fan somehow. Cause the company and it's fans have been through a lot the last twenty years, and here I am just kinda like a tourist with a camera around his neck and a Hawaiian shirt.
So, what to do?
Walk the King's Road up to the Ark, I guess. As I wait for the Pro Wrestling NOAH DVDs to come in, I'm gonna go through this DVD of a VHS rip, and try to...absorb? the power of 90's All Japan, so that I can be ready for a decade and change of Pro Wrestling NOAH.
Join me, won't you?
9.3.1993
Triple Crown Championship
Mitsuharu Misawa (c) vs. "Dr. Death" Steve Williams [5th Defense]
Start as you mean to go on, I guess. I really didn't want to go into this review like "KING'S ROAD IS THE SUPERIOR STYLE OF PRO WRESTLING AND MY EYES ARE OPEN" because I try not to be a hyperbolic guy (just manic). But...like I watched this match and I was blown away. It was so simple, but they got so much out of the crowd, who was WILD. Even through the background noise of this being a VHS rip, I could tell how amazingly alive the crowd was. There was one true moment of 'Heat' and it came when Dr Death pressed Misawa and dropped him sternum first into the ringpost. The crowd went nuts and it just stoked the fire. I don't wanna do a play by play, but at the same time I also really cant. It was all about momentum in this match. Doc would have control, Misawa would try and fight back, Doc would get it again. I loved it. My favorite moment of the match was when Williams went for the Oklahoma Stampede multiple times and Misawa kept slipping out each time, but never truly gaining an advantage. The match ended when, having gotten the momentum for just a moment, Misawa nailed the Tiger Driver, two massive elbows that still weren't putting the gaijin down, and hit a second Tiger Driver for the pin. I NOW GET MISAWA HYPE
****1/4
9.3.1993
All Japan Tag Team Championships
Holy Demon Army (Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada) vs. Stan Hansen and Ted DiBiase [3rd Defense]
So as I've said above, my experience with 90s All Japan is extremely limited. But I'd always felt a very soul bound attraction towards Toshiaki Kawada. I can't tell you why really; maybe it's his loyalty to All Japan when NOAH was formed, maybe it's the black and gold aesthetic, maybe I just really, REALLY like Taichi and that affection transfers over to his teacher. But after this match, I can tell Kawada is going to be one of my favorites on this DVD set. He's just a bottle of piss and vinegar fueled by wanting to be the best and I can appreciate the hell out of that.
There's really not much to tell about this match beyond that. Stan and Ted are big motherfucking gaijin who wanna take the tag titles. Kawada cannot abide by this insult and takes every opportunity he can to fight the two men. By all rights, Taue comes off as the level headed one in this tag team. Heat's on Kawada forever before Taue makes the tag. Taue runs wild but eventually he gets shut down, while Kawada gets thrown out of the ring. DiBiase hits Akira with an atomic drop and Stan bops him right after with a Lariat for the pin. Stan then goes outside just to fucking murder Kawada with a Lariat as well. To quote Bane, "That was Unnecessary." Not great, but it endeared Toshiaki to me.
***1/2
Joined in Progress
THAT Misawa/Kawada match
This DVD has the last twenty odd minutes of the June 3rd 1994 Misawa/Kawada Triple Crown match. I've never seen this match but I knew the legendary status of it, obviously. I'm not going to review what I saw, because I don't want to disrespect the match by reviewing part of it. But what I saw made my brain explode like I was attacked by a Scanner. I'll probably go back to this one day on this site.
7.29.1993
Triple Crown Championship
Mitsuharu Misawa (c) vs. Toshiaki Kawada [4th Defense]
I don't get why this DVD is going out of order, but I don't mind too much.
First off, Toshiaki Kawada's entrance robe/jacket
 |
| I Just want it for Around the House |
What I don't love is Kawada getting donked on his neck twice on really, really scary German Suplexes. By the time Misawa brought him back up for the Tiger Suplex, he was out on his feet. Pinfall in an extremely good match that I haven't really talked all too much about. I, once again, blame the previous matches rabid excitement for the dulling of my expectations.
****1/4
Man, I hope the final match on this disc can wake me up and get my spirits high again.
8.31.1993
"Dr. Death" Steve Williams vs Kenta Kobashi
OH MAN I NEEDED THIS. If you've never seen this match, I linked the match above. go watch it now, this post will definitely be here when you come back.
You could tell right away from the immediate hyper aggressive lockup that this match was going to be meaty. I was pumped. Surprisingly, Kenta took over early, working him over for the first stretch of the match. It was weird, mostly because I was expecting Steve Williams to at least try and steamroll Kobashi.
But then.
Kobashi was beating on Dr. Death and he starts...kinda running in place. Kenta pummels him again, Dr. Death is dancing more.
He's firing up.
You made him angry.
You. Dumb. Motherfucker.
Steve Williams is fucking done with this bullshit now. He picked up Kobashi in a press slam and dropped him outside the ring. Not slammed him outside of the ring. The mad bastard faced away from the ring ropes and just let his opponent fall from the press. I was amazed and terrified, knowing I would never want to make Steve Williams angry. I have the words "Steve, no, please stop" written twice in a row.
It was about this time, when the match boiled down to the two men trying to hit each other as hard as they could, running corner to corner, that this thought came to my mind.
Kobashi hit a moonsault (and it was fucking beautiful by the way) for a two from the referee and this audience is screaming. He worked over Dr. Death a little more before going for a second moonsault, but this time Williams got the knees up to collapse an Orange Rib cage. Doctor Bomb attempt lead to a really weird moment of Kenta...falling back first...on Williams? He got a two count but that didn't end the match. No, there was a worse fate to suffer for young (27) Kobashi.
Earlier in the match, Kobashi had countered a football tackle by putting Steve Williams in a sleeper hold, leading to a tense period where Williams might have been choked out. Kenta tried this again, but Steve wasn't a fool, he kept his momentum from running to gloriously get in position for the first of three brutal, amazing Backdrop Drivers. It was so amazing, I had to make a gif of it.
Two more Backdrop Drivers end it. I'm gassed.I need a cigar.
*****
Well, that was the end of Disc One. I can't see how the rest of these matches can get any better, but I'm ready to be pleasantly surprised
