Johnny Ace & Steve Williams vs. Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa

[9.0] "Great tag team match. Dr. Death & Ace isolate Misawa by throwing him around and cutting off his connection with Kobashi. This domination forces Misawa to fend for himself. Good story, strong tag-team elements, a crazy finishing stretch and solid in-ring action. ****"

[8.0] "[4.0*] Incredible tag team wrestling match. I could spend hours explaining how much the dynamics were better back then, with the faces and heels perfectly determined and working in a proper way for their alignment, which creates a passion within the live audience, making the atmosphere phenomenal. This was no different. The heel work from Dr Death and Johnny Ace was phenomenal, they made me really angry at them, this is when the job is done in a really good way. Of couse Kobashi and Misawa were perfect at their roles too. The last 7 minutes were very explosive with a lot of nearfalls and thrilling moments, with a personal favorite of mine being Johnny Ace mocking Kobashi and actually hitting a pretty damn good Moonsault, lmfao. My only issue is that it was VERY slow sometimes."

[9.0] "It's kinda hard to buy into Misawa & Kobashi as the underdogs in peril by this point, but they spend the best part of 20 minutes on the back foot here and the payoff is tremendous. Match itself is an unruly throwback to late '80s All Japan with lots of tornado chaos and a white hot crowd going ballistic for all the false finishes ****1/2"

[8.0] "Great tag team match that won for Kobashi and Misawa the Real World Tag League and consequently the vacant World Tag Team Championship. A lot of history there, Steve Williams lost the Triple Crown to Kawada, but Misawa and Kobashi still have unfinished business with him, because it was the Doc who beat and ended Misawa's 705-day reign, and his only title defense was against Kobashi, so a lot of hatred there, and they encapsulated that pretty well into the match, with an insane heel work from Williams and Ace. This was a typical King's Road match, it may not have been an insane amount of action at the first half, but they wrestled smart and did a solid work on Misawa, trying to undermine his strengths. The ending stretch was phenomenal as always, the crowd was super hot and getting loud for everything, the connection that the wrestlers have with the crowd in this period is insane, it's like the audience and the match are only one thing, because the reactions are always on point and the experience cannot be the same without the heat inside the Budokan. Johnny Ace's performance was excellent here, of course he's totally second string to the Doc but he managed to do some impressive stuff, and I loved the near finishes, every move looked like it could end the match, this was a match with a lot of drama and nearfalls - {****}"

[9.0] "Just a smashmouth no frills fight with zero compromises. The heels got the heat on Misawa for much of the first half and the second half was just unrelentingly stiff action. Everyone looked fired up and on their game. Steve Williams hit two massive suplexes which got enormous reactions from the crowd who were hot from the start. Misawa and Kobashi won with a Tiger Suplex on Johnny Ace after an exhilarating final few minutes. The crowd liked the show of sportsmanship post-match as the competitors had visibly gained respect for each other."

[7.0] "One of those 90s AJPW matches that gets its high ratings almost entirely based on the final 1/3rd. The first 2/3rds were fun enough, with a good story being told of Ace and Williams dominating Misawa for almost the entirety of that length. Their work wasn't anything special outside of a handful of Williams' great strikes, but it was still decent enough. Misawa's stoic demeanour and realistic selling during this was very enjoyable, allowing him to reflect the damage done to him while still looking confident and strong overall. This also meant that it was more significant when Misawa did finally sell as if he was in excruciating pain, thereby signifying that whatever hold or attack his opponent was applying should be taking seriously. Kobashi did well from the sidelines, doing his best to assist Misawa however he physically could with run-ins and such. Misawa got his comeback by the 2/3rds mark, impressing with all his signature elbows as he fought off both Williams and Ace simultaneously. Williams also started to up his game at this point, laying both Kobashi and Misawa out with some monstrous suplexes that elicited fantastic roars from the crowd. Kobashi's efforts on the outside finally found success as he took both his opponents down, allowing him and Misawa to then go 2-v-2 and finally even the match up. Kobashi's fiery passion was fantastic leading up and during his eventual hot tag after having only 3 minutes total in the ring prior, but he very quickly found himself in Misawa's prior shoes being beaten down by both men. Ace showed off some good offence at this point, including a surprisingly cool moonsault as if to mimic and mock Kobashi. It was then Misawa's turn to make the save, helping Kobashi get back on his feet long enough for Misawa to tag back in for revenge. The tandem offence spots and super close near falls were all fun, with both teams displaying strong chemistry within and between their teams. Although that final 1/3rd was much more active and enjoyable than the first 2/3rds (which themselves were relatively uneventful but still solid), there were still only a small handful of moments that I'd actually consider great, and none of them lasted very long. Had Ace and Williams made their control period of the first 2/3rds far more monstrous, Misawa's comeback been far more explosive, Kobashi's hot tag been hotter, and Misawa's revenge tag been far more hate-filled, then this could have been an amazing match. The foundations were all there, but they didn't go nearly as far as they should have. ***1/4"

[9.0] "3 absolute legends and Johnny Ace. Williams comes across as an absolute beast in this. I had a massive smile on my face during the final 10 minutes it was that good. Also a hair pulling spot which proves Kings Road was an inspiration for the Divas division. ****1/2"

[9.0] "In that match, Misawa/Kobashi working amazing as a team really look like the best tag team in the world. This is by far the best I've ever seen Johnny Ace look, Ace hanging with great submissions and a moonsault, and Doc capping off a great year. A the end, the fans bite hard on Misawa German nearfall, Frogsplash + Tiger Driver win. Great match. (****1/4)"

[9.0] "Misawa surprisingly spent most of the match playing the face in peril. Even when Kobashi wasn't the legal man, he took a wicked release German suplex and a DDT to the floor for his attempted interventions on Misawa's behalf. Finally, Misawa got the hot tag and things really picked up. Ace hit an Ace Crusher, and instead of going for a pin, he mocked Kobashi and hit his own moonsault on Kobashi. However, it wouldn't be enough, and eventually the persistent offense of Misawa and Kobashi was too much for Ace to overcome. Excellent tag match. It's just too bad this match wasn't last on the card. It would've made for a more fitting ending to the night to crown the new tag champs after they were just victorious instead of making them come back later to get the tag belts. ****1/2"

[8.0] "They had Budokan Hall rocking for this match. And the way they laid the match out, that's no surprise. There was very little downtime with the match going at a very hot fast tempo. All while putting Misawa and Kobashi in the vulnerable position. Ace and Williams were the dominant team for the whole match, working over Misawa for such a long time which set up the eventual comeback climb perfectly. And then the dramatic closing stretch with a ton nail-biting nearfalls for both sides. This was just a superbly worked tag team match. ****"

[8.0] "I'm very familiar with all these guys except Johnny Ace (I mean, I know who he is and everything, but I had never actually seen him wrestle before. ) I didn't know if Johnny could hang with the All Japan guys, but he made a believer out of me, especially after pulling off an impressive-looking moonsault."

[9.0] "Maybe just a tad better than their '95 match, but still just as hectic. Williams and Johnny of course played a great brawling tag team that did a great job in picking apart Misawa for a lot of the match. Kobashi was also pretty great in defending Misawa and his hot tags. Williams was as tough as ever just stiff punching both Kobashi and Misawa all over the ring. I also really liked Misawa avoiding those dangerous back drops from WIlliams, the same ones that ended his title reign. Not the best tag match of the Kings Road era, but still an awesome battle, ****1/2."

[9.0] "I gave this match **** 1/4. Good match as you would expect with Williams/Misawa/Kobashi. Ace's near pin with the moonsault was the highlight of the match. What brought this down for me was the somewhat slow start, but the last 10 minutes is great"

[10.0] "Wow, is all I can say. Johnny Ace his moonsault is beautiful. People really need to watch his matches in Japan, he looked great. Williams was a stiff fucker as always. And Kobashi and Misawa did their thing. *****"

[10.0] "I can't believe this match has no votes, no love at all! It's a fantastic bout, not least because Johnny Ace (AKA John "People Power" Laurinitis) hits a SWEET MOONSAULT! But really the whole match is great, Williams is one of the best outsiders to come into AJPW, nearly up there with greats like Hansen and Funk, and Misawa and Kobashi are extremely on point here. Just a great, great match that anyone should take the time to see."