AJPW New Year Giants Series 1996
AJPW World Tag Team Title Match: Holy Demon Army (Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada) (c) vs. Gary Albright & Stan Hansen - AJPW New Year Giant Series 1996 - Day 17 24/01/1996
Once again, Kawada's selling is king. Albright killed Kawada with his German suplex and Kawada sent all limp and cross-eyed. The match was pretty much standard with Albright and Hansen controlling the match with their weight with Taue and Kawada holding their own thanks to their great teamwork and individual skill. The tease for the Nodawa on the outside was a great spot with Kawada helping out by hitting Hansen with a running kick, knocking Hansen silly. Good tag match to open the year. ***1/2
AJPW Excite Series 1996
AJPW World Tag Team Title Match: Gary Albright & Stan Hansen (c) vs. Holy Demon Army (Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada) - AJPW Excite Series 1996 - Day 3 20/02/2021
Not as good as the title match last month but it was a house show outing which is still pretty solid. Albright shined a bit more outside of his suplexes too, showing great submission prowess. ***
AJPW World Tag Team Title Match: Holy Demon Army (Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada) (c) vs. Super Generation Army (Jun Akiyama & Kenta Kobashi) - AJPW Excite Series 1996 - Day 11 02/03/1996
The story between Kawada and Akiyama continues on into 1996. Akiyama looked strong against Kawada with his exploders and striking combinations although Kawada was still king in that regard. Akiyma is gaining ground though. But Kawada’s main trouble wasn’t with Akiyama, it was Kobashi and his pesky actions, knocking Kawada off the apron twice. The closing stretch was predictably good and bookended the match nicely. ***1/2
Triple Crown Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa (c) vs. Gary Albright - AJPW Excite Series 1996 - Day 11 02/03/1996
Gary Albright in All Japan is fun because he's different. Anytime he goes to waistlock someone, the crowd rises in anticipation for the German Suplex. It's a dangerous high spot for Albright and he gets a one great nearfall when he hits it. Misawa has a bit of a reputation for not working well with the foreign wrestlers and while this wasn't near the Kawada v Albright match, this was a fun title match. Misawa was much more of an underdog than he usually was and that allowed him to play more with his counter defensive characteristics, relying on the Elbow to defend against Albright. ***1/4
Oh, the Irony of Kawada being the one with the best in ring chemistry with the foreigners.
ReplyDelete