Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy

[10.0] "What a tag match. There's a style there, a real and gritty one, that lends itself very well to the work Cordy and Williams were doing. They had the upper hand through all of that and imposed their will, while Kawada and Misawa had to struggle against them. Managing to overpower them at times too. But the two big Gaijin end up cleaning house."

[9.0] "Fantastic match and excellent way to close out 1991. This was completely sports-based, no really elaborated storylines or anything like that, just two tags seeking to win the vacant Tag Team Titles. The match told a simple story, Dr. Death and Gordy, coming with the legendary "I love it loud" by KISS, played a heel role, and Misawa and Kawada were the audience favorites, of course. These old AJPW tag matches have a lot of elements that I completely miss in modern wrestling, the gaijins targeted Kawada for a long time, so when Misawa came after a hot tag the crowd erupted. I love how they respect the rules, and not every match looks like a tornado tag, that creates an incredible heat when the heels "cheat" and break the pinfall or the submission. Another great detail, when they took Misawa out outside of the ring, that creates an immense anticipation for his return, and the crowd erupted again. 90s AJPW is just the best, man. Amazing and thrilling ending moments, what a masterclass - {****1/4}"

[8.0] "Great match, a bit of a slow start but the ending makes up for it. Amazing foreshadowing too w/ the dynamic between Misawa and Kawada. Low ****."

[8.0] "Man, this match is tinged with the sadness of knowing that three of these four greats never made it to 50. Misawa & Kawada dominate to a surprising extent, which pretty much telegraphs the crowd-deflating way this one is going. Meanwhile, Doc & Gordy are mainly reliant on heat-building cheap shots and double teaming for their spells in charge. Misawa throwing elbows with Gordy is about as fierce a strike exchange as you'll see ****"

[7.0] "Their match on Feb 26th earlier in the year is quite a bit better, and that match is essential viewing for this one as this one plays off that one. The main difference is that last time after being powerbombed on the outside of the ring Misawa is basically dead and Kawada can't withstand the 2v1. This time around, Kawada is so powerful he can fight them off 2v1 for an extended period, so long that Misawa actually recovers, but it's still too little too late, in some great storytelling. This match is good, but it has a pretty slow start, which makes it worse than the prior match."

[8.0] "Very good match, the first part a little too slow for me but in the last 10 minutes it picks up and gets very intense! Tag team wrestling at its finest"

[9.0] "This match is sensational, from the moment the heel team neutralizes Misawa, the match turns completely in favor of them, and enters a sensational climax, with Kawada making an incredible role and performance in the meantime, MOTYC in 1991 (****3/4)"

[9.0] "An incredible tag team bout between four legendary wrestlers. The final stretch was just a fantastic piece of wrestling with a great near fall from Misawa diving in to break up Gordy's pin to a massive cheer from the crowd."

[9.0] "To the shock of absolutely no one, these four put on an absolute banger. The last 15 minutes are just perfect pro wrestling in the way they put all the pieces together to get you on the edge of your seat"

[9.0] "Absolutely amazing, right on par with if not even better than the Feb '91 bout. They did another brilliant callback to said match with Misawa being taken out of the equation once again, leaving Kawada to fight it out alone. But only this time, Misawa actually made it back in the ring to save his teammate, to a MASSIVE ovation from the crowd I might add. Kawada's work was super stellar, excellent performance in the 2nd half and fantastic (subtle) knee selling all throughout. MVC was great here too, consistent tags in-out on the faces, as well as some good heeling. The last 5 mins of this is a must-watch. [****1/2]"

[8.0] "This match really picks up when Misawa is powerbombed on the outside forcing Kawada to go it alone for the remainder of the match. By the time that Gordy and Williams hit that same double powerbomb on Kawada in the ring, though, Misawa has recovered enough to make the dramatic save. Misawa does his best to even the odds, but Williams is able to take him out of the match again to leave Kawada open to a powerbomb from Gordy, which earns the 3-count. Great finishing sequence. ****1/4"

[9.0] "Such a gem here. The work from Gaijins was really good as they were against the fan favorites in Misawa and Kawada. The other team also performed very well. Lots of great back and forth action with clear face/heel dynamic here. The second half was full of drama and intensity and crowd investment into each near fall. Very well-worked match."

[8.0] "These two teams wrestled earlier in the year in February. In that February match, Terry Gordy powerbombed Misawa outside the ring, which took Misawa out of the match completely as he was too hurt to make it back in the ring. In this December rematch, Gordy does the same thing to Misawa, powerbombing him outside the ring and taking him out of the match. This time however, Misawa makes it back to the ring for a fiery comeback. Small continuity touches like that are why people rate 90's All Japan so highly. If you watched this match with knowledge of their previous encounter, you'd be tricked into assuming they were reusing the same spot again and that Misawa would be down for the rest of the match after taking that deadly powerbomb. Instead, they subvert that expectation by having Misawa make the dramatic comeback. Unfortunately for them, Williams & Gordy still secured the win, which was a bit of a disappointment as I think Misawa making that comeback and picking up the win would have made for a better match and story."

[8.0] "This was very similar to some of their other matches but with a heightened Kawada performance and a much hotter crowd, it elevated it somewhat. The MVC was fine on top but Kawada? s selling was awesome and made the match way more interesting than it had any right to be. The finishing stretch was awesome though. ***3/4"

[8.0] "Nice match, Gordy & Williams played the brutal heels and Kawada & Misawa were the underdogs. Kawada did an excellent job of an underdog, proving that he can be either a heel or a babyface. There's no much to say about the match, it was good the way it was. ****1/4"

[6.0] "This was a match that could have been really good, and maybe even great, but two things really hurt it. First, they repeated the storyline from their match earlier in the year, where Misawa was powerbombed on the floor to take him out, leaving Kawada to fight valiantly before being overwhelmed and losing. That was lazy storytelling at its worst. What also hurt the match was that Williams, for whatever reason, had decided that he was going to play superman, as he sold virtually nothing for the entire match; what selling he did do was momentary at best, resulting in him killing off all the offence from his opponents."

[9.0] "Criminally underrated match, relative to typical Meltzer and Cagematch ratings. AJPW left it until literally their last show of the year to produce their BEST match of the year. I usually rolled my eyes at a gaijin match, due to not being a fan of the usual messy brawl stlye, but wow, Williams and Gordy gave a fantastic performance here. I think the trick is that the whole 'big bad monster gaijin(s) who brawls and causes chaos' gimmick really only works when paired with a fantastic Japanese babyface(s) for the crowd to connect with and rally behind. This match was exactly that. It felt special right from the start, as you had everyone going full throttle with blistering strikes. THIS is what I always wanted from gaijins like Williams and Gordy; to throw stiff strikes that connect, rather than little rabbit punches and stomps. Williams and Gordy were great heels by working over Kawada (who obviously sold fantastically), especially with those holds they applied where they would visibly accentuate their large muscles clenching. They provided constant illegal run-ins as well, ensuring they always maintained control, and ensuring the crowd would always hate them while desiring to support Misawa and Kawada as a result. Kawada being worked over for so long meant Misawa got a fantastic hot tag with his usual stiff flurries and flashy aerial attacks. Both Misawa and Kawada got a lot of memorable spots where they'd hit a really big, shocking counter, which was always a joy to see given they were being so heavily worked over for so long. At one point the gaijins laid Misawa out on the outside, forcing Kawada to do an outstanding job valiantly fighting against both of them back in the ring. This also meant Misawa got an OUTSTANDING pin-breakup, saving Kawada from the same move that he himself was previously laid out with. What a cool bit of psychology there. The drama and physicality was off the charts all throughout these final few minutes. Damn awesome match. ****1/4"

[9.0] "Fantastic match! Very emotional! The harsh battle Team Japan against Team USA! All thrashed each other is not spared! Crazy action almost the whole match!"