Best Of All Japan 1990 #1

Jumbo, Kabuki & Fuchi vs Misawa, Kobashi & Taue - 5/26

This one is pure story-telling all the way. Firstly you’ve got the theme of the young upstarts against the old guard. Then within that you’ve got Jumbo against Misawa. Jumbo is clearly the man and he’s out to prove it to these punks. Kobashi shows balls early on by trying to chop the shit out of old Jumbo, but he quickly gets paid back with a flying knee to the face. Kobashi is great here as he just takes a shit load of punishment, but keeps coming back with more and more fire inside of him. Taue is great too, throwing his size around and beating on dudes. But Jumbo is excellent and when the match breaks down into a pull-apart in the middle he looks like he wants to murder Misawa for even challenging him. However as the match wears on he looks more and more like his age is catching up to him and as his allies fall around him he can only watch as his position as top dog looks increasingly unsteady. Misawa finishes Fuchi with a Tiger Suplex and walks away victorious, leaving the unanswered question, ‘Are Jumbo’s days at the top numbered?’ This was simple pro-wrestling done perfectly and set up the next match on list which took place a few weeks later. Not the greatest match ever, but for history it’s very important.

Jumbo vs Misawa - 6/8

Many people will call this a classic, and hell it’s very important in the evolution of All Japan in terms of ‘making’ Misawa. However for me it just doesn’t cut it as an all time classic match. It builds really well with Misawa getting some really credible offence in the middle and Jumbo sells like he’s really fighting to stay in it. Then Jumbo brings the bombs and the many, many lariats, but can’t keep Misawa down. There are some great dives to the outside from Misawa and he really shows off his athleticism well here. For me though the match never enters the super intense zone, in fact I thought the crowd heat was a little low in the early stages, although these two do a good job of drawing them in. I will admit the finish is great, with Jumbo launching himself at Misawa and getting all hung up in the ropes and then a series of reversals ending with Misawa rolling up Jumbo. Great entertainment and a fine match, but does have that hatred that I need to rank it really high up.

Kobashi vs Kroffat - 8/26

A short one as the video is under seven minutes long, but very intense and very stiff. Kroffat kicks the fuck out of young Kobashi here and dominates most of the match. I do wonder why he never made it as a singles star in the US, because he has bags of intensity, talent and great look. Kobashi has great comebacks and he crowd are really behind him. The only thing is, nothing really happens here. Kobashi wins by reversing a dive into a spinebuster, but it looks a bit shoddy. Nice little diversion, but you’ll forget it as soon as you watch your next match.

So there we have 3 down and 5 to go for the rest of 1990. Please leave any comments below or drop me an email and wheatbox@gmail.com