AJPW Summer Action Series II 1997

I'm Back, Baby. 

AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Yoshinari Ogawa (c) vs. Maunakea Mossman - AJPW Summer Action Series II 1997 - Day 5 - 22/08/1997

Are we sure that Misawa and Ogawa weren’t brothers? Ogawa with a stubble looks so much like Misawa. He does anyway but the facial hair completes it. I have no choice but to think otherwise. Maunakea Mossman, aka Taiyo Kea, is sort of dressed like Daisuke Ikeda too. But enough about appearances, I don’t watch the Junior title matches much. There is rarely anything highly rated or even full but this seems to have caught my eye. The match quickly settled on the striker v wrestler approach with Mossman kicking the post and Ogawa seeing his opening. The match was solid but the drama just wasn’t there, although the upset win did surprise me and the crowd. Ogawa did some good work on the leg, picking it apart, something he’s good at, Mossman is alright. Athletic, big but lacked that star factor. As a kid, he’s fine at this stage. Nothing to suggest that he’s the future, though. Good on Mossman for winning but they could’ve done a better job at convincing us that he had a chance. *** 

Kenta Kobashi vs. Hiroshi Hase - AJPW Summer Action Series II 1997 - Day 8 - 26/08/1997

God bless Hase falling out of favour with New Japan so we have these dream matches. The first one is Hase vs Kobashi, and it's a doozy. Hase immediately sets himself apart from the rest of the Kobashi's usually opponents by tying Kobashi up with submissions, switching it up from arm to leg. Kobashi get a chance at working a submission style in turn and is rather decent at it. He comes up with solid ways to use size but Hase is a master at submission wrestling and slips out of trouble easily. The match progresses nicely, incorporating high impact moves, such as the delayed vertical suplex, in with the submissions. Hase tries his hand at chopping Kobashi but that goes as expected. And Kobashi tries to do the Giant Swing but with all his strength, he can't get the momentum Hase can. I love that. Kobashi gets in serious trouble after Hase floors him with two dropkicks to the knee and then an excellent mid air transition to a knee bar. And then we get our first big nearfall 25 minutes in with a Dragon Suplex as the match kicks into its last gear. And the closing stretch was pretty great. The nearfall on the Northern Lights Suplex was fantastic and that was the only real big nearfall as the rest was set up to be a big move that gets countered, like Kobashi's moonsault being prevented by Hase, who then suplexes him off the second rope, or Kobashi's plentiful lariat attempts. A fantastic match. ****1/2

AJPW World Tag Team Title Match: Triangle Of Power (Gary Albright & Steve Williams) (c) vs. Super Generation Army (Jun Akiyama & Mitsuharu Misawa) - AJPW Summer Action Series II 1997 - Day 8 - 26/08/1997

This was pretty cool. Not great but to the point and full of suplexes and elbow strikes. It was a breath of fresh air for a main event to be this length. The finish was a surprising one. Misawa got pinned over Akiyama, falling to consecutive suplexes from Albright and Doc. Then the video cuts to promos from the champions and they cut good ones considering its Japan and neither look like the best talkers. Very shouty 80s considering its 1997 too. 

Kenta Kobashi & Kentaro Shiga vs. Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki - AJPW Summer Action Series II 1997 - Day 15 - 06/09/1997

I’m stunned that Shiga never became a big deal considering he’s the one positioned in these types of matches. And he’s rather good in them. Never great, but he’s not going to be, but the spark is there, the fight is there, and he’s quite fluid in his movements. The rest of the match was a bit dull and slow but Shiga was a real bright light in it. The match improved around the 15 minute mark with some nearfalls and Kobashi becoming more of a fixture in the match but this was disappointing ultimately. Hayabusa wins with his Firebird Splash but he fails to impress once again. **1/2

Triple Crown Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa (c) vs. Jun Akiyama - AJPW Summer Action Series II 1997 - Day 15 - 06/09/1997

This is Akiyama’s first Triple Crown title challenge. And it is against his partner, Misawa. It adds an interesting dynamic. Not so similar to Misawa and Kobashi except I don’t think they were for the title. I could be wrong. Akiyama looks strong in the beginning where he attacks Misawa’s left knee with submission holds, dropkicks and any trick that attacks the knee. Akiyama continued to showcase his array of moves - exploder, high knee, etc- and the crowd eventually got behind the match after previously being quiet. Misawa was taking it all and selling for Akiyama but I’d consider his performance an absent one. And the closing stretch wasn’t anything special. Misawa gets an elbow strike in and changes the momentum of the match to his favour. Then he does all his signature moves until the Tiger Driver Wins. Kind of a basic way to describe the match but that’s how it felt. Basic. Lacking something great, although I can’t really find fault in the wrestlers except for what I already stated.  One of the weaker TC Title matches of this reign just on perception. ***1/4