Holy Demon Army (Akira Taue, Toshiaki Kawada & Yoshinari Ogawa) vs. Super Generation Army (Jun Akiyama, Mitsuharu Misawa & Satoru Asako) - AJPW New Year Giant Series 1995 Day 1 02/01/1995
This was a super 20 minute six man tag to kick off 1995. Kawada and Akiyama continue their mini rivalry where Kawada treats Akiyama with nothing but disrespect and hate, at one point stepping on Akiayama’s neck while entering the knee. Akiyama gives it back though with his exploders and general fight. Ogawa turns into a little shit when he gets in the ring, stiffing Asako with punches and leading the way to attack Akiyama. Functional match that showcases Kawada’s dickish ways and Ogawa following his lead against Akiyama and Asako. Taue and Misawa had limited roles but they weren’t really needed for this. ***1/2
Triple Crown Title Match: Toshiaki Kawada (c) vs. Kenta Kobashi - AJPW New Year Giant Series 1995 Day 14 19/01/1995
I think everyone knows that the reason this match went to Broadway was because Baba wanted to give the fans of the region, who are just a few miles away from where the Great Hanshin Earthquake took place, something special. And sixty minutes of Kobashi v Kawada is special, for sure. Extremely rare for the era. And they do an excellent job at filling the time as well. Even the low points of the match were interesting enough to keep you invested. They opt for a more methodical, technical approach for the most part rather than the brawl heavy style that we've grown accustomed to. Kawada and Kobashi seemed intent on grinding each other down with Kawada attacking Kobashi's taped leg at times. Kobashi kept plugging away though, being able to fight through the attacks on the leg and the nasty strikes Kawada threw at him, including a chop to the throat of all things. Kobashi did a great job at keeping his spectacular offence to a minimum, pacing the moves nicely over the 60 minute, allowing the crowd to soak it in and not get exhausted. Kawada's selling was great. Particular on how he sold his fatigue and wear and tear of the match. He looked near dead at times. Super good match. ****1/4
AJPW World Tag Team Title Match: Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa (c) vs. Holy Demon Army (Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada) - AJPW New Year Giant Series 1995 Day 17 24/01/1995
Well, I’m not going to lie about this. You could feel every minute of this 60 minute match. Unlike the Kobashi vs Kawada TC match from a few days prior, the pacing was a little slower and they didn’t do as good of a job filling the time with interesting work, in my opinion. But this still kept some of the elements that makes this fixture a special one. The excellent double team work by Kawada and Taue is always a threat. Both commend each other really well offensively and personality wise as both can be the ill-tempered bastards at times. Taue in fact turned back the clock somewhat and brought some of his heelish tactics that he’s moved away from as of late, such as dropping Misawa/Kobashi across the ring ropes. The Holy Demon Army set their sights on Kobashi, their usual target in these matches, double teaming on him and working him over with their rough offence. But there was a lot of focus on attacking the leg by both sides. Kawada was the victim of that initially and he eventually turned the tables and sweeped Kobashi’s leg later in the match, hurting it in a big way. Misawa brought out of amazing, out of nowhere moves into the match to spice like a blind twisting elbow off the top rope. It was wild. Misawa was really game for the unconventional moves in this. All good wrestling from this four. I just wasn’t fond to see them drag it out over 60 minutes. It didn’t seem as natural as it could’ve been. ***3/4
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