Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Big Bubba & Steve Williams

[8.0] "I actually really liked this. It was a lot better than I thought it was. It takes a little bit to get into the heat of it, but when it does, it's great. Big Bubba really surprised me. I only knew Bossman from his more infamous moments like feeding Al Snow his own dog, stealing Big Show's dead father in his casket and getting hanged by the Undertaker. But here? He didn't even look out of place. His Memphis style punches got the crowd's reaction every time, and they sounded like you were throwing meat on a counter. Him and Williams had great chemistry, too. Not as good as Kawada and Taue's, but still very good. Kawada's selling of the leg was spot on and his saves were always a nail biter for the live audience. In the end, Taue puts Bubba away with 2 Chokeslams for the win. Way better than it had any right to be."

[7.0] "A really good match. The part where the American duo controlled the match by repeatedly striking Kawada's leg was a bit boring, but the match heated up towards the end, and the crowd was very enthusiastic, cheering for the Holy Demon Army. A really good performance by Big Bubba, it's a shame he wrestled so little in AJPW. 3.75 stars."

[8.0] "I remember what a trip it was at the time seeing WWF cartoon heel Big Boss Man, rocking his pretend prison guard uniform in the Real World Tag League. Sore thumb Halloween costume aside, Big Bubba throws a mean worked punch and keeps up with the furious pace and physicality here no bother. Even then, this is way better than it has any right to be thanks to the HDA lads staying on the receiving end for so long and getting the crowd proper whipped up behind them ****"

[5.0] "I saw a JIP'd version of this match which is missing only the first 4-5 minutes, and it doesn't seem like anything of real value was lost. Bubba and Williams had just started a long control period as the JIP'd version of the match started. Kawada and Taue, the babyface natives for the match, sold well to help put the monster gaijins over, though I can't see Bubba or Williams showed any truly impressive work in those first 10 minutes outside of a few decent strikes. To be fair to them, Kawada and Taue were pretty uneventful in their performances too, since it was only in the final 5 minutes when they finally got on offence and were allowed to properly show off their talents; even then, they didn't show off anything super impressive, just their usual signature spots. Kawada was the most impressive performer, with his various kicks looking great. The story of the babyfaces surviving an extended beatdown and pulling off the comeback at the very end was a nice story, but the work accompanying it was nothing special. **3/4"

[8.0] "I watched this for the curiosity of seeing the Big Boss Man in AJPW. It's an odd sight to be sure, and his distinctly American style doesn't crossover as well as other big foreigners like Williams or Hansen, but he worked fine within the structure of this match. Dr. Death, to his credit, brings more than enough intensity for the both of them. It always amazes me how every move Williams does looks absolutely devastating. The bulk of this match saw the Americans in control, working over Kawada's leg to minimize his lethal kicks, and Kawada doing a great job selling. The Kawada/Taue duo make a comeback and there are a lot of fun nearfalls and reversals, with the typically hot 90's AJPW crowd popping big for all of them."