Best Of All Japan 1990 #2

Fulton & Rogers vs Kikuchi & J. Malenko - 9/1

Fun little sprint match from these guys that basically consists of The Fantastics beating the ever loving fuck out of Kikuchi. He bumps like a madman, including a bodyslam from the apron to the floor which is just sick. Oh how I cringed. Fulton and Rogers majorly go to work on him but he won't stay down no matter how many times he's dropped on his head. Combine Kikuchi flying all over the places with Malenko's intensity and the Fantastics stiffness and it makes for a great little match. Finally after being dropped from a great height for what must be the thousandth time Kikuchi stays down for the three count, but his complete disregarded for the well being of his body has to be commended. This isn't an epic clash like the main-event of this show (see below) but it's not supposed to be. It's a fast and furious mid-card entertainment and it's a fine, fine match, but unfortunately it can't hold up with some of the intense and epic bouts that its surrounded by. So whilst a fun diversion it'll probably be lucky to break into the prestigious the top 50.

Jumbo vs Misawa - 9/1

This is the big rematch. Jumbo is out to prove that he still can hang with the young guys and Misawa wants to prove his earlier victory over Jumbo was no fluke. This has everything I wanted from their first encounter in spades, with huge intensity, crowd heat and drama. Jumbo is a man possessed and really looks like he wants to murder young Misawa just to prove a point. He hits him with everything, including some awesome looking ground and pound and a chair shot in the crowd. Misawa brings his great athleticism and spirit, but Jumbo is just on fire here. Towards the end he looks so desperate to put away Misawa, hitting him a lariats, superplexes and backdrops, but he just can't keep him down for three. Finally a bridged back suplex gets Jumbo the win, but Misawa still looks strong as he survived a mega onslaught here. This is perfect pro-wrestling filled with danger, intensity and emotion. Some of the near-falls are unbelievable and both guys come out of it looking like megastars, which perfectly sets up a rematch for somewhere down the road. This should be a definite top 10 pick, but if there's another 10 matches of this caliber yet to come you won't hear me complaining.

Jumbo/Taue vs Kawada/Misawa - 9/30

The first time that these two teams met out of a total of four meetings. Quite slow and steady in the early going I thought. One major highlight was Kawada and Taue brawling in the crowd until Kawada gets bored and throws Taue into a cupboard. Awesome. Fairly steady and entertaining action, but things relly kick off whenever Jumbo enters the ring. Everything is great when it comes to 'house of fire' Jumbo. He throws laraits and suplexes around like no one's business and comes off as still very much the man. Not a bad match by stretch of the imagination and healthy entertainment, however it just doesn't really do enough to be highly regarded. It'll be borderline if this gets in or not.

Jumbo/Taue/Fuchi vs Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi - 10/19

There were so many great little pieces to this match that it's hard to do it justice. Taue was great at being the whipping boy for the older team, and his interactions with Kawada were gold. Firstly, Taue bodyslams Kawada on the outside, so he retaliates by suplexing Taue on the wooden floor a little bit later. Then when ever they're in the ring they just try the rip each other apart. This match also goes further in cementing my love of all things Kawada. His kicks are lethal and he has this brilliant 'cannot be arsed' look that makes him a complete badass. Kobashi's selling is great as the older team decide to work over his face with all manner of punches, kicks and chairs (well a chair). But things really get turned up when Kobashi hot tags Kawada and from that point on it's completely crazy. Bodies are flying everywhere and the intensity doesn't drop at all. We also get a Kobashi-sault which immediately makes this match worth a million stars. Finish comes with young Kenta surviving a huge onslaught from Jumbo, including an avalanche-backdrop, before eventually being put down. This match made everyone look good, especially Kobashi as he almost gets a fall on Jumbo, and is worth everyone's time. Definitely should make the list.

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