Champion Carnival 1993 Match: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Mitsuharu Misawa - AJPW Champion Carnival 1993 - Day 3 27/03/1993
This was an excellent follow up from their Triple Crown title match in 92. One of my main criticisms of the match would be Misawa hitting the TD early, which while unexpected, was honestly something that didn’t have much prevalence as Kawada would control the match a few minutes later. However, I liked them playing from their first encounter with more strikes and big blows. Kawada was excellent with his targeting of Misawa’s neck with brutal downward elbows to the area, wrenching chin locks and eventual setups to the Stretch Plum. Kawada fought with great strategy effort too. He knew when to take his time and when to urgently follow up with his attacks. At first he’d wait patiently after Misawa rolls outside for a reprieve and then attack instantly as he gets into the ring. And when Misawa catches Kawada out doing that method, he’d learn from it and attack him on the outside too. He was very explosive when he was going back and forth with Misawa later in the match too. Loved their competitive stretches of offence, like the rams into the turnbuckle and the elbow blows which Kawada would actually win. Misawa was really good working from beneath, putting over Kawada’s work, working desperately with his big elbows and facelocks. The submission work by both men was excellent too. The crowd really latched on whenever the face lock or the stretch plum was locked on. The finish was really clever. The nearfalls of both the Tiger Driver and Powerbomb were effective and then doing a KO finish from a Misawa elbow gave it a big exclamation point. You can definitely feel the escalation of their feud from friendly rivalry to slightly nasty and bitter. ****1/4
Champion Carnival 1993 Match: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue - AJPW Champion Carnival 1993 - Day 15 12/04/1993
The famous handshake kick-starting the best tag team of all time. From a pure quality standpoint. As well as ending a great Kawada vs Taue feud which was the highlights of All Japan from 90-93. Half of the match is spliced with handheld footage. And one thing that showed me that you don’t really get a feel from the crowd in handheld by this time. The match is good though. They pace themselves well for the 30 minute time limit with Kawada locking in a leg scissors choke and more submission holds with them slowly building and escalating the action with more great counter wrestling. Great dramatic finish with the Powerbomb being hit just before the bell. ****
Champion Carnival 1993 Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa - AJPW Champion Carnival 1993 - Day 15 12/04/1993
Since it joined in progress, I can’t say if it was so much better at full length or worse but the final 10 minutes that got shown were really good. Misawa tries to wear down Kobashi but Kobashi has a little come back, almost beating Misawa with the moonsault but getting caught by the craft Misawa when he tried to hit too many moves off the top rope like the shoulder tackle. This match kept with the tone that Kobashi was getting harder and harder for Misawa to beat but that also came with multiple false finishes. When used too often, I dislike them and the match was bordering on the line for me. ***1/2
Champion Carnival 1993 Match: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi - AJPW Champion Carnival 1993 - Day 16 14/04/1993
It’s criminal that only 10 minutes were shown for this match because what we were shown was HOT and energetic. Tremendous closing stretch. It’s just missing the build to give it that extra oomph. ***1/2
Champion Carnival 1993 Final Match: Stan Hansen vs. Mitsuharu Misawa - AJPW Champion Carnival 1993 - Day 22 21/04/1993
A notoriously poor pairing, by most standards but they stepped it up a ton with two inspiring efforts. Really good selling by Hansen. He really went the extra mile to sell Misawa’s work on the arm, something that wasn’t really the case with their other matches. Even when he nailed the Lariat, he sold it perfectly. Misawa on top was good as well. The crowd popped big for the Hansen win. Great match. ***3/4
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