Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader

[9.0] "The pain endured by Misawa in this match is legendary, I loved this match's energy. Great workers, great match."

[9.0] "Vader is a guy that I took too much to finally start liking. I am not a huge fan of old pro wrestling because I hate this culture related to "Oh this match had an old style so it means it is good". Like, what the hell? Everything evolves. No one in basketball says that Bob Cousy is the GOAT, no one in soccer community says that Puskas is the GOAT, because sports fucking evolve. Everything actually evolve. There is some bad things about the modern pro wrestling? For sure it does, and it is annoying me as much as the time passes. Evolve is NOT upgrade, only because a thing changed doesn't mean it changed for good. But that culture of "old pro wrestling is great and don't have mistakes such as the ones we have nowasday". Like, come on. Anyway, I don't know how I get it into that theme but I loved that match, Misawa is a fucking monster and somehow a match with a powerhouse dominant like Vader fucking rocks. Vader shows dominance like no one else can, when Misawa take the lead over him applying powerbomb in the outside and even a Tiger Driver at him, man, Misawa look so great, not because he did his moves well, but because he did in someone that was dominating so well that made believeble for me that Misawa just had a super hero moment. I can waste more of my time easily talking about both of those genius, but I need to write like 10 other reviews, so I will leave with that. Insane, again, insane match. Suggest for anyone."

[8.0] "Not perfect but pretty damn good. Vader is booked perfectly here as an absolute monster and he is damn good at it, Misawa is for once the underdog and that's a rare dynamic. Misawa's offence is mainly strikes rather than power moves due to Vader's size (he does a few though) and some picture perfect aerial assaults including a good looking elbow suicide dive and a frankly insane splash to the outside to a downed Vader, Misawa on offence is intense and it works well. Vader's offence is him battering and manhandling Misawa with ease and his power moves, especially his beautiful Tiger Driver, look great. Finish was good, although the very last strike looked more like a forearm than Misawa's signature elbow but oh well. Only the superplex and top rope DDT didn't look great."

[8.0] "It's rare to see Misawa fight from under like he does against Vader but he does it well. Vader's control is a little slow but Misawa's come back makes it worth the wait. You see a level of desperation from Misawa that isn't seen often which is really cool as well. Very easy to enjoy and hard hitting king's road wrestling."

[8.0] "Although a good highly enjoyable match especially with an ardent crowd, during Vader's second control period it felt a tad inconsistent with the work he put forth in the early goings of the match. Vader's first control period was him overpowering, dominating, and bludgeoning Misawa working its way to some well-earned awesome-looking big moves (powerbomb on the outside and splash off the apron), while the second control period consisted of big moves in consecutive fashion. Misawa's comeback and last stretch were awesome. Also, Misawa being unable to deliver the Tiger Driver but Vader having no issue executing it was pretty nice. The finish coming out of nowhere was a pretty cool way to end it I thought. ****"

[10.0] "absolute slug-fest. just a brutal, brutal match between two of the stiffest and best wrestlers in AJPW at the time. one of my favorite matches of all time."

[8.0] "These men make an art form out of straight sluggin' each other. Simple but effective, this is just two elite brawlers hitting each other with basic, brutish offence, and it works. It's not perfect: there's a couple of telegraphed kickouts and I think it ends a little too quickly, but maybe that's just because I want them to fight forever. Early on, the two 'big' moves to the outside (powerbomb and splash) by Vader are made so obviously safe that they look considerably less effective than the regular in-ring offence. But this is all nit-picking at what is a really enjoyable display of perfected fundamentals and power. This has an absolutely insane atmosphere too; the crowd are molten-hot throughout, and the announcer's voice breaking into squeaks and yells really sells the importance of the moment."

[9.0] "This was my first time ever watching Misawa wrestle. I had always heard of his greatness, and I figured a match with one of my all-time favorites would help me get more involved. And boy did it ever! Vader was pulling out moves I had never seen him do, like brain busters and a hellacious Tiger Driver that sent Misawa flying. And Misawa himself was incredibly smooth and brutal all at once, at one point just raining down elbows like no tomorrow. This was the perfect introduction to his style and a match Ill find hard to forget."

[8.0] "[4.5*] This was an important match as it took place on the show in memory of Giant Baba (Creator of AJPW and Misawa's great friend). Both wrestlers are phenomenal, Vader's brutal match, he was hitting Misawa hard throughout the match, he was incredibly stiff. Misawa's reactions were very good, it was impossible not to root for him, especially knowing the context of this match. Misawa's sequence of punches and elbows to win this match and take down the giant Vader was incredible, a very exciting match, with a very hot crowd and a huge victory for Misawa."

[8.0] "A fitting match for the show, reminiscent in theme to the old Japanese main events of the past, like the ones that Giant Baba himself used to wrestle. A big moment and a match that was more in the style of other kings road stuff then other Vader stuff, all did well here."

[8.0] "just a nasty brawl between two of the meanest motherfuckers doing it at the time. Vader looked so dominant up til this point in his return to All Japan that the finish caught me off guard. at one point there was weird timing on an alley-oop into the buckle, Misawa seemed to respond by telling Vader to drop him on his head and save the match. Vader obliged."

[9.0] "Misawa matches that end in an elbow strike are usually awesome, and this is no exception. There's a really great stretch where Misawa's starting to gain back control and hits Vader with an avalanche suplex, a frog splash, then an avalanche DDT. Misawa's big move "spam" never feels like spam, since it feels like a test of endurance that ends with a simple elbow."

[8.0] "A very hard hitting and quick paced brawl , no feeling out period or rest holds in this one , loved the stiff and nasty shots , Big Van Vader was shown to be the unstoppable monster heel that made him look like he couldn't be beaten which really drove the story , however i would of liked the finish to of had a little more acclimation point to the match like a Tiger Diver 91 rather than elbows as that would make Vader look more like a monster that required a devastating finisher like Misawa's Tiger Driver 91 to put him away , regardless a really fun match."

[8.0] "The finish is my favorite portion of the contest, but the combat by both wrestlers is sensational! BIG 8/10."

[8.0] "We had a very good match here, with the King's road style that I always love. Mitsuharu Misawa works very well the neck of Vader and arrives to beat him with an enormous Ellbow Strike. The storytelling was effective, and the stiffness was very impressive. Excellent match. ****1/4"

[7.0] "Vader dominating Misawa is great, although I'm not really a fan of Leon. Still, he did some sick spots, like the outside Powerbomb followed by that Splash and a very brutal Brainbuster! The ending is pretty neat, Misawa destroying Vader with that nasty Elbow Smashes was amazing and the finish is just really outtanowhere and I love it. ***3/4"

[8.0] "Really good match overall. The dynamic here was easy to watch as Vader working as a big man and Misawa battling beneath as usual. The big moves exchanging was really good. The near falls were well-built here for getting bigger crowd reaction. Fun stuff."

[7.0] "A good match, but it didn't quite reach expectations, primarily due to the physical condition of both men."

"I like the Tokyo Dome's arena. Vader is classy. In the beginning of the match, Vader really seems to give Misawa a hard time with his blows. I like Vader's brainbusters. It's great how Misawa is able to eject his opponent from the ring with just a few forearms shots. The suicide dive of Misawa is great. It's easy on the eye to see him doing a german suplex to such a big opponent. It's less impressive when it's Vader who does it but still good. It's a bit funny when Vader does a tiger driver. I LIKE when Vader does his moonsault, even when there's nobody home. A little bit too short, the end is premature."

[9.0] "I love this match. Vader just started the match dominating Misawa and stiffing the hell out of him, but midway through the battle started to get even, and Misawa returned the favors. I love the ending with the elbows. ****1/4"

[9.0] "Great match. Vader was awesome in his role as the monster in this match, and Misawa was so good too. Loved the ending w/ him just totally destroying Vader w/ those stiff elbows. ****"