Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Johnny Ace & Steve Williams

[6.0] "A standard low-level 90s AJPW tag match. All 4 men were nicely aggressive and physical with their various attacks, though the 1st half overall was pretty eventful once it became solely focussed around Williams and Ace completely dominating Taue and Kawada. Their all-around work was very solid, but it was definitely the sort of work where you begrudgingly accept it in order to eventually see the "good stuff" that follows from it as a result. Taue eventually got a hot tag in the final 1/3rd, but he was his typically half-clumsy self, with some of his attacks not looking too smooth or as convincing as they could have been (most of his attacks were still quite good overall, but compared to the other Pillars his offence was always far less impressive, as was the case here). Williams did really well demolishing both Taue and Kawada with even bigger moves than before, playing on the idea of how he knew he had to be far more brutal at that point considering his opponents' impressive endurance levels and their attempted staging of a late comeback. Kawada likewise did very well delivering some of his major signature moves in the final few minutes, making for quite an exciting finishing stretch as he struggled but eventually managed to put Williams away. 1st half was definitely quite dull at points, but the 2nd half was good, making the match quite good overall. ***1/4"

[7.0] "I liked how different this was to the 30 minute draw between Ace/Williams and Misawa/Akiyama. The focus was on Ace and Williams attacking the knee of Kawada, which allowed the Holy Demon Army to work more face than they have for a while. Kawada, especially. The brisk pace was nice as well which made this an easy to watch despite a smaller setting. Ace and Williams were rock solid in their performance despite the losing side.. ***1/2"

[8.0] "Strong tag match. Williams and Ace are at their best as a team, and while a more cohesive Holy Demon Army might not have as much trouble, this year has seen them regress somewhat in that regard after Taue's world title run. But they eventually push on through to win because Kawada has Dr. Death's number. Great stuff; the length breezed by, and it's a good stop on this year's tag league."

[7.0] "A solid little hidden here. I really started notice how effective kick outs in All Japan matches are. You really feel like the match could be over at any minute because the wrestlers don't a certain move to finish the match. Everyone in this match performed well. Johnny Ace, while not the most charismatic performer, is an underrated wrestler."

[10.0] "This is something of a hidden gem. It played out like a condensed version of a tag title match between the two teams. Kawada was incredible in this match taking one hell of a kicking and selling his ass off in a really simpathetic way. He does not do it much but Kawada is an amazing babyface in peril. Taue played the misawa role of commingl in to help his partner when they are getting overwhelmed. Doc and ace were very good with doc being the center of the attention this time really laying a beating on kawada. The crowd was magnificent and like the match kept growing and growing to a fever pitch until the match ended at the perfect time. They provided a classic here still looking like they had something left in the tank for later in the tour (boy did they ever with the final) outstanding Kawada performance surrounded by very good to great performances from the other three men. ****1/2 never talked about but a hidden classic."