2/27/2000 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama (3/3)

[Laingraves]

Damn ! I wanted to smack that photographer with the bowl-cut for getting in the way of that Dick Murdoch style knee to the guard rail ! The press is all over the place in Japan ! Makes it look more respected though so i'll stop bitching !

[diamond4512]

秋山、見事な三沢越え！！三沢は受身の天才だから、どんなに大技­を出しても立ち上がってくる。

だから、間をおかず、攻め続けなくてはいけないんだよ。

秋山の勝因は、ずばり、攻め続けたことだ。

[WildPegasus91]

In a realistic sense, having a credible belt on ONE man for THAT long, is totally unfair. Even if he had held the belt literally a thousand days shorter of a span, his legacy would be practically unaffected; all the time and energy AJPW spent in this man could have been seriously spent elsewhere, and wouldn't have hurt his credibility at all. Now thank you very much for this upload, fantastic material here, I apologize if I've offended anyone. If anyone is interested in talking more, contact me.

[WildPegasus91]

Now I'm NOT saying that Misawa did not deserve lengthy title reigns, and I'm NOT saying i have anything against the man, he truly is one of the greatest; but this fact is dreadfully counterproductive, and sad really. Think about all the stars that could have been so much bigger with the right push, a meaningful title reign, or for example a clean win over Misawa like Akiyama finally (and fucking deservingly) just achieved. I love the man, but we need to realize....

[WildPegasus91]

The truth surrounding Misawa, is that this man, whether he wanted it or not, killed so many potential career's its not funny. Countless stars could have became so much more if not for the INSANE length of this mans title reigns. He is the single longest reigning (by combined days as champion) of all time (AJPW Triple Crown) At 1799 days total, that right, look it up and digest that fact. Thats over 1000 MORE DAYS THEN JUMBO FUCKING TSURUTA....

[Jikk]

@WildPegasus91

You do realize Jumbo was near the end of his career when the Triple Crown was created? I pretty much disagree with everything you said. Misawa was the ace, and he we was going to have the longest reigns. It took him 8 years to finally get a "big win", and the bulk of those 1799 days came during his first reign, when guys like Jumbo, Hansen, and Gordy were pretty much out. He didn't kill careers, he added credibility to the likes of Kawada, Kobashi, Taue, and Williams.

[Ray192]

@Jikk 8 years? Within 3 years of his debut he became the new Tiger Mask. Within 2 years of his unmasking he became a champion. That's a meteoric push. Akiyama was red hot back in 97 and 98, and by 00 nobody bothers to chant his name anymore because he kept getting squashed by Misawa. Did Kawada deserve to go 10-0 against Misawa before finally getting a win? Did Kobashi deserve to have his title reigns get destroyed twice by Misawa? They never even got a chance to draw.

[Ray192]

@Jikk Can you imagine what would have happened if Tsuruta had beaten and squashed Misawa for 10 straight matches before allowing Misawa to pin him? Misawa would have been the ace of absolutely nothing. How do you become a true start/draw if only Misawa is allowed to shine? Hashimoto was the NJPW ace, and plenty of other wrestlers got the chance to shine alongside him. If Misawa had lost the title to Akiyama back when it mattered NOAH might actually be doing alright, but instead...

[MrWrestlingFan]

@Ray192 Kind of a stretch thinking this really would contribute to the state of NOAH today.

[Ray192]

@MrWrestlingFan If Akiyama got the rub and became a star back when AJPW had a decent TV slot he might have become a draw. If he was a draw he wouldn't have had disastrously jobbed to Ogawa, NOAH wouldn't have been reliant on Kobashi, and Misawa wouldn't have had that desperate last reign. Hell if Misawa weren't in as many of those head-droping title matches and forced to keep main eventing... It's all conjecture, but IMO NOAH's lack of stars is partially due to Misawa's dominance.

[WildPegasus91]

The ending pisses you off? Why is that? When you look back on AJPW i suppose you like countless others, eat up all the hype surrounding Misawa. (RIP) Well I'm gonna say this whether it wants to be heard or not. I personally love Misawa but for those of us who truly understand the world and reality of wrestling politics outside the Kayfabe, we should be able to see something more objectively. And that "thing" is Misawa and his career.

[sebastianhoward65]

The ending pisses me off, good match otherwise.

[aachhu1112]

Do you happen to have any matches of these guys teaming together from like 1996-97? I know they had some classics with The Holy Demon Army and Williams & Ace.

[MrWrestlingFan]

@aachhu1112 I've got quite a few. Did you want anything in particular? I would have responded earlier but YT was giving me trouble.

[aachhu1112]

@MrWrestlingFan You are THE MAN. If you could get 1 of these two up before Sunday night so I can plug you on 411, I would greatly appreciate it!

Misawa & Akiyama vs. Williams & Ace, July 7, 96

Misawa & Akiyama vs. Holy Demon Army, December 6, 1996

Also, since I'm requesting anyway, the Misawa-Kobashi vs. Kawada-Taue from December 3, 1993 is one of my all time favs that isn't on here anymore.

[azrielseclements]

interesting note: This match took place on the same day as WWF No Way Out, the PPV that Mick Foley (Briefly) made his retirement in...and now that I know the wrestling alternative to that day...I wish I was introduced to Puro' much sooner...

[pjlx911]

Ok, what type of move is Akiyama trying to put on Misawa? It looks like some sort of a Crucifix maneuver @ 1:40.

Btw, who do you think carried the match (B/c if you watched this far, you pretty much know what's been happening)?

Mine is on Misawa, not only is he a straight pro, but he is pretty good at making Akiyama look like a BEAST in this match (The work in acting like Akiyama is giving him a "stinger").

[MrWrestlingFan]

It's really just a great performance by both men.

[TheUltimateFighter1]

Absolutely. Both men were amazing.

Really, if you take any of the All Japan Famous Five and put them in a match together, you can't go wrong.

[KobashifanSam]

modified triangle armbar imo. if he had the head in it would be the triangle choke.

[chaquank]

this was right before the Split

[aachhu1112]

Misawa got beat? What is the world coming too.

Great match, great storytelling. ****1/2

[AgentReid007]

Great match, I believe that was the first time that Akiyama beat Misawa.

[hbknhhhfan]

yes

[NWTwrestling]

cool match! i wish i watched wrestling back in 2000!

[MrWrestlingFan]

It was a good year for Japan

And WWF

but not WCW.