All Japan Famous Five

[RSNCICREO]

three of these guys also had some very good Six man Tags in the late 80's and Kobashi and Misawa have had some 41/2 - 5* Tags with the Holy Damon army in the Early 90's imo Taue best stuff on his own ie with Misawa  , Fuchi or Jumbo was not untill the late 90's

[OldSchoolRasslin]

The music used for Misawa here is the NOAH version of his theme, not the AJPW one. The AJPW music doesn't have the gunshot effect at the end of the intro.

[knkakyrknkhnk]

ｖｅｒｙ ｃｏｏｌ

[WillIsSoAwesome]

Anyone know the date of the Kobashi/Misawa singles match that so many clips here are from?

[mark79]

HEAD DROPPING FTW!

[Chuloloc]

Awesome. Much love and respect for Japanese Pro Wrestling.

[thomie12345]

akiyama barely made a name for himself in the 90s his career eally catapaulted in the early 200s

[ecchirebirth]

I am glad you mentioned the names of other wrestlers that appeared in the video. Indeed, Taue, Kawada, Misawa, Akiyama and Kobashi were the top tier at the time, but there was some awesome gaijin talent (Vader, Hansen, Willaims, Albright) and really strong midcard talent, especially in the early-mid 90s. You never had a bad main event in that era, but the entire cards tended to be excellent during that period.

[luistownmassacre]

I prefer all of them over the NJPW three. Only dude that was in the AJPW 5's league was Hash. Hase should've been part of the NJPW group.

[antoineb09]

I meant the theme later on in the vid. Nice vid by the way.

[antoineb09]

is that from the mobile suit Gundam Series? I don't know which one I think it was gundam seed.

[Wurzelknecht]

As if Hansen would care about colors. If he sees something moving he LARIATS it just in case... XD

[kyotanahashi]

which is probably why Hansen wrestles in All Japan most of the time rather than New Japan. New Japan wears all black XP

[brocklock09]

I've actually heard a few different names for this group. The "4 Lords of Heaven" which excludes Akiyama, and there was another one that took out Taue, but I don't remember what that was.

[Reaf3289]

@brocklock09

Then:All japan famous five:Misawa,Kobashi,Taue,Akiya­ma,Kawada

three musketerrs of New Japan:Mutoh,Chono,Hashimoto

Now:

The Four heroes of new Japan: Tanahashi,Nakamura,Makabe,Goto­

[brocklock09]

I think it's what you get when you win the Champions Carnivale, but I'm not positive.

[TheLegendKiller888]

These 5 symbolize the greatest wrestlers of the 90's (I mean come on, 60-70 five star matches between them?). AJPW 1990-1999 was the greatest period of Puroresu. And on an ironic note, Akiyama never won the Triple Crown yet he's the ace of NOAH having won 3 GHC Heavyweight Titles...can you send me a link to the piano version of Grand Sword? I've wanted that version ever since I heard it on VPW2...:D

[Kokushi666]

search madsplach on google it has all puro themes basically

[egg64]

I got a Giant Gram 2000 tribute being made for the Fab 5, I've started with Akiyama and am planning to work my way up from him, Taue, Kobashi, Kawada, and Misawa in that order. Look out for it.

[shiningwizard327]

Wow such legends for real! Is there even a top 5 in one organization in America? lol, probably not.

[RSNCICREO]

five of out of my top ten werstlers of all time my top 14 werslers ever 1 Misawa 2 Hashimoto 3 Kobashi 4 Akiyama 5 Taue

 6 Baba 7 Rikidozan 8 Kawada 9 Megumi Kudo

10 Hayabusa

11 Liger

12 Tenryu

13 Fujiwara

14 Myyami Toyota

[JStylezzV2]

Sick video but 4/5 of the people actually won the AJPW Triple Crown title while jun akiyama is the only member of the famous five who never won that title. Im not trying to be a hater upon puroresu or anyone there but i think akiyama's the worst there upon the group(NOT PURORESU) even though he is kickass

[FILIPINOMAZTER]

btw wheres giant baba im pretty sure hes much popular than all these 5 wrestlers combined

[kyotanahashi]

umm....the point of this video is about the Famous Five of 90's All Japan

[JStylezzV2]

yeah sorry if i sounded disrespectful but i was just pointing that out

[theperfectone]

@FILIPINOMAZTER Lol.

[FILIPINOMAZTER]

lol in wwe when they land on their head they consider it as a botch lol

[kyotanahashi]

well, part true...whereas most casual fans does too...like the Regal-plex from Regal to Orton from a lil over a year ago.

people automatically called it a botch because he slammed him on his head

[FILIPINOMAZTER]

yes since japan wrestling is almost realistic unlike the pg 13 wwe but i like the wwe in the 90's its just crap now imho

[L0wki]

AJPW from 1990 to 2000 best Wrestling in the Whole F´n World. THanks Misawa Kawada Taure Akiyama & Kobashi for so many memories.

[BigGoldenWolf]

RIP Misawa

Kawada is God!

[hooknshoot45]

the music's kinda fruity, but other wise kick ass vid

[lanesouthern]

RIP MISAWA

[Kokushi666]

:'( i just cant belive he's gone

[lanesouthern]

me too... we lost a hero.

[theCM3000]

could you give me the mp3 of the piano version of Grand Sword you used? please?! or tell me how to obtain it? great vid, by the way.

[bluebomberx]

I'd like to know myself as well. But I was able to use YouTube Downloader to clip the piano intro and then combine it with an older version of Grand Sword via Audacity and make my own version.

Thanks for the copy of the latest version of Spartan X, btw.

RIP Misawa.

[fanWRESTLINGfan]

madsplash has it

[jdavidcc7]

rip mitsuharu misawa

[stygianmessiah]

erm....wasnt dis song used in a japanese anime or smth

[kyotanahashi]

Gundam Seed

[thetinogarcia]

these guys would fuck up the power mega zords if they were real

[adrian24]

with the color scheme, they're like old grumpy power rangers that'll really beat the crap out of you.

[akathelegend2007]

is it me or does kadawada botch allot??

[kyotanahashi]

its just you...

[APaulA222]

at 0:21 what event and date was it when Misawa was toasting victory of the Triple Crown?

[Yl4LIFE]

fab five indeed though i think akiyama deserved a triple crown win :/

[wrestleweird]

great movie ^^

[bioskope]

wish it had been the super six with the inclusion of Jumbo, but hey I ain't complaining.

[marijumanji]

Agreed, I'm watching some old tapes and for some reason I thought Jumbo would have a slow and plodding style. He's actually as fast and as hard hitting as any of these guys!

[bioskope]

Indeed the Fab Five. These guys were the first folks I turned to for actual wrestling when the wells of WCWWE ran dry.

[richmwill]

There will never, ever be a promotion as great as AJPW when these guys were on top.

[potomacbrave88]

Sadly, many fans here in the U.S. were fed a steady diet of Cena, HHH, Hogan, etc. over the years and will never have a true appreciation for what these guys did in their heyday.

[PunkRingOfHonorX]

What's there to lament on? Really. It's simply a diversity in cultures and sports, you can't necessarily appreciate something you were never exposed to, can you?

[potomacbrave88]

You're right. I guess I look at the U.S. wrestling scene differently since I've had a chance to see an alternative.

[Kokushi666]

nothing cxomp[ares to these guys or this vid nice man love it 5*

[FuckinDago]

I'm not that big of a Misawa fan either, Taue is one of my all time top 5 favorites though!

[omgwtfbbq34]

this really makes WWE look like a piece of shit

[frrrrrunkis]

Not that they need any help with it at this time, but yeah, you're definitely right.

[wtfrodney]

no mutoh or hase?

[Linkthellama]

Great Video. I do wonder where you found that piano grand sword though.

[PhenomAJ]

co sign....i'd like to get that.

[egg64]

That was his old version right? I'd ripped it from my Dreamcast AJPW game to have it.

[nixus6]

Was it me? or the the whole fucking stadium shake when Taue slammed Kobashi at 3:50

[blackskydragon]

that was Striker the triple crown theme

Qurosia

[Guille989]

kinda sounds like the ghc song but this one its better

[Qurosia]

What is the first song that is played, lasting until 00:21?

[AmyInChains161]

Amazing video! Thanks!

[JavyOO7]

Where did you get the piano theme of grand old sword from? It sounds awesome.

[DrBolty]

VERY well put-together video! I like how it sort of has the feel of an anime opening introduction to go with the j-poppy music.

Perhaps the only failing is that it's a shame that any music video of the AJPW greats sort of misses the point, since the moves they did (while cool) was never the best thing about them.

[dray3000]

i agree with you on some

level but i also have to say that purois better than wwe

[dray3000]

japanese wretling is the same as the indys in america e.g roh chikara and pwg

[Ve3troMedia]

pwg is more traditional American, chikara is more libre influenced. So no.

[kyotanahashi]

and SOME of roh is a bunch of spots with no storytelling, psychology, and no selling...and lesser known wrestlers...most of ROH is good...Hero, Claudio, and Albright are the only reasons why i watch today's ROH

[Kentarules2]

no danielson? btw awesome video, i never knew misawa's kickname was spartan x.

[kyotanahashi]

never a big fan of danielson...

[Kentarules2]

boooooo!

[hehehe88]

boo yourself, these 5 are bigger then the american dragon now, then and always.

[Kentarules2]

i know these five are bigger than Danielson, how is that remotely relevant. He said "Claudio, Hero and Albright are the only reasons i watch todays ROH" so i said "no danielson?" he said "never a big fan of Danielson" so i said "Boooooo!" as a half joke.

[MauriceSometimes]

It's the AJPW Famous Five. WhyTF would it have Danielson?

[Kentarules2]

i was talking about a comment he posted not about the video.

[MauriceSometimes]

Ah, my mistake.

[kyotanahashi]

i like how everyone jumped on your comment without even looking at the past comments from like ages ago

[Kentarules2]

lol

[Anglefan12]

look guys, this is where hundreds of mindless indy wrestlers get their moves, too bad they didn't see the big picture and learn their psychology too.

Really though, these guys are great, Misawa gets a ton of credit but I like Kawada and Kobashi more.

[kyotanahashi]

i couldnt agree with u more...they dont even let the fans absorb of what sick bump theyve performed....pretty soon, their knees will get super fucked up (more fucked up than Muto's) and will have shorter careers

[Anglefan12]

Yea, and internet dumbfucks still go "COOL MOOVEZ 5 STARS"

It never ceases to amaze me. The bottom line in pro wrestling isn't workrate, it isn't cool moves, it isn't innovation, it's not highspots, it's simply emotional connection, whether that's John Cena being corny as fuck or if it's Misawa and Kawada telling one hell of a story in the ring, there's emotional connection, THAT makes a good pro wrestler.

[MosesJesusFriends4ev]

well to be fair not ALL indy wrestlers :p

though I do agree.

[Anglefan12]

No, actually, most indies have people ripping off attitude era characters and moves, one show I honestly saw 8 stunners. CZW is bad for spotty AJPW rip-offs, and other various smaller indies do the same.

[MosesJesusFriends4ev]

no I understand that you're exactly right.

I was just saying not all Indy guys

[Anglefan12]

yea, definately.

I guess the bottom line is "don't immitate, innovate" that doesn't just mean moves, but characters and how you work a crowd too.

ROH fans should find humor in how I used the phrase "don't immitate, innovate" since that's where I stole it (not being innovative myself).

[MosesJesusFriends4ev]

I am an ROH fan and I did :)

[GothEmoWC]

I'm sorry, but why are all of the Japanese wrestlers fat and pale?

[TheKingOfTheMat]

Why are most NA wrestlers buffed to the max and have no talent?

[kyotanahashi]

let alone taking a single neck drop without getting injured

[Anglefan12]

Well, believe it or not, guys like Cena do have talent, they just don't appeal to you.

And to answer your question, because it sells, that's the answer, because it sells. The Japanese style doesn't sell in america, the american glitz and glamour style does.

[achinn99]

We've argued about this before, but to me, selling T-shirts and hats doesn't equal talent. It means the guy is good looking and has a gimmick that appeals to kids. You ARE right though about one thing. Most WWE fans are mindless slobs. They hated Finlay when he was a creative, strong-style villain and now they love him cuz he defends a midget. If that's a "connection" then you're right and I give up, but I don't think that's a connecion. A connection, to me, is more akin to idol worship.

[achinn99]

Anglefan, we've argued about this before, but just because a guy sells hats and T-shirts doesn't mean he has talent, it means he's good looking and has a gimmick that appeals to kids. You ARE right about one thing, though, most WWE fans are mindless slobs. They hate Finlay when he is a creative, strong-style battler, and they start to love him when he defends a midget. If that's a "connection" then you're right and I give up, but that's not a connection.

[achinn99]

(Somehow I double posted) but to me, the only true connections made in the WWE were/are made by the few who transcend their face/heel persona and really ingrain themselves in wrestling folklore. Hogan, Andre, Macho, Flair, Hart, HBK, Taker, Austin, Rock, Foley, HHH. So far, Cena doesn't belong on this list just as Edge doesn't, despite their history (and Edge HAS had some classics). I would need many more words to explain it further, but a true connection comes with mythos, not just T-shirts.

[Anglefan12]

A connection simply means that the fans see something in themselves, or something in their daily lives. Most people don't see a mean bastard in themselves, well they do, but it's pretty generic. Finlay showed heart and character, something they could identify with.

My best analogy for Cena is that he's the muscular fireman who saves kittens from trees, that your son looks up to, and that your wife wants to fuck. He doesn't absolutely nothing wrong and that's why some love him and some dont

[achinn99]

Yeah, I pretty much agree with that, despite my post (though most of my reasons for not liking Cena have to do with his ring-work). When I get on Youtube while drunk I make some pretty confrontational posts. My bad.

[Anglefan12]

Yea, well, 90% of the time I don't like his in ring work either, I don't order most PPVs for a variety of reasons, but every PPV I've seen, he's delivered with the WWE style main event.

He sucks it up on Raw, but he's safe and routine, safe is good for WWE management and other wrestlers, and routine is good for the younger fans.

Like I said, it's not about liking what he does, it's about understanding why he's good at what he does. I hate the Yankees, but I know they're good.

[PapaChewie]

Anglefan12 speaks the truth.

[PapaChewie]

Anglefan12 speaks the truth.

[Gigas0101]

Kobashi and Toshiaki should form a tag team. that's jus' my opinion.

[victimblue]

If you go to All japan these are the wrestlers to beat!Misawa,Kobashi,Kawada,Aki­yama and Taue.

[kyotanahashi]

yea, if u go to All Japan in the 90s...now u go to NOAH to beat these guys...and HUSTLE for Kawada

[Saga619]

Did Kenta Kobayashi ever beat that cancer he had?

[kyotanahashi]

yes...look up his recent match on december 2nd...and another a few days ago...he looks great

[halfmanhalfmetal]

Kenta Kobayashi (aka KENTA) never had cancer, Kenta Kobashi however, did.

[kyotanahashi]

good call

[kingequain]

Taue's theme has no right being that awesome.

[mrmofo444]

3:53.... that was fucked up

[saxed]

Man, puroresu wrestlers take the sickest bumps in wrestling...stiff as hell...

[armandroh666]

Akiyama & Taue, probably the 2 most underrated between those 5 legends

[humbertoramos]

Has hAYABUSA EVER WRESTLED kOBASHI?

[manjiimortal]

In tag matches.

kobashi wrestled a tag at a FMW show against Hayabusa.

They also faced each other during the RWTL.

[Gigas0101]

cruise control, man.

[Yl4LIFE]

honestly akiyama shoulda gotten atleast one reign as trip crown before they left AJPW he had the potential and a nice ass move set Exploders, Sterness dust i mean Taue had nothin but a couple of chokeslams >.>

Taue does nothin these days but try to chokeslam everyone ;/

[theredraven]

Taue's better than Akiyama.

[bluebomberx]

Where did you get that copy of Grand Sword? It's not at MadSplash.

[Gigas0101]

Madsplash?

[humbertoramos]

er...how could we have guessed your not a big misawa fan ?

[humbertoramos]

brilliant video...

[Yl4LIFE]

Awesome vid

How is it that Akiyama never got the Triple Crown? ;[ he certainly deserved it

[kaithekender]

He did deserve it, but Misawa was notorious for not giving the younger guys a break. All japan didn't put him over EVERYBODY every year because they WANTED everybody else to look bad.

I think Akiyama managed to beat Misawa once in their 4 All Japan singles matches that I can remember. And Misawa didn't have the title then.

[TheBuck26]

Greatest era in pro wrestling history.

[junklock]

Absolutely. And that fact will never change.

[junklock]

Nothing will ever come close to what these guys could do.

[BennyUrquidez86]

Where did you find that remix of "Spartan-X"? It's awesome!!!!

[madsplash]

its on madsplash, along with every single version of the theme, NOAH and All Japan versions

[Sevendust696]

Yet anothe great video by kyotanahashi.

Keep u the good work bro!!

[sandwichbreath]

no muta?

[kyotanahashi]

ok..this video is about the five guys that are in All Japan during the 90s...which many fans called it the glory years of all japan...hence the red letters and the description...and Muto came in after those guys basically left the promotion...to look for Muto, or in your case Muta, go to the 3 Musketeers (which is similar to this but in New Japan form) and/or Muto videos

[sandwichbreath]

o ok i dont know much about puroresu so i didnt really know

[ThePuroMan]

I know this video is about the five, but come on! No love for Jumbo of Baba?

[theredraven]

That would defeat the purpose of the video being about these 5 though.

Jumbo/Baba were awesome but the 90's was really about this lot :)

[armandroh666]

Other then the song choice (isn't a big Gundam: Seed fan anyway, only liked the original Gundam series from 1979 & Gundam Wing) but that aside great video

PS: I always felt Taue was pretty underrated

[kevinhardy]

great video

[neopolitan1]

wwe fan this guys will kill any wwe wrestler they go for 20,25,35,40 minutes every macth ok maybe triple h but not your cena ,bobby . batista ok. real puroresu........

[Ray192]

I like how half of those shots involve Misawa getting owned.

[AngeTheDude]

Real pro-wrestling right here guys!

[yourheroxyz]

These guys made pro-wrestling!

[Drock131986]

Another awesome video from you, can't wait for the next one.

[kanemaru18]

misawa is my favorate.^_^

[kanemaru18]

hey thats the tripple crown theme at the beginning.:)

[WrestlingSwami1]

Anyone else think Taue was out of his mind trying that Elbow Suicide?

That aside, phenomenal video, 5 stars, as usual.

[theredraven]

I saw him do a somersault senton offf the side of the ring against Misawa in 91 during the Td 91 debut match.

[vivaLASvideos]

great vid.5 stars

[DangerousK]

good video.  how about one dedicated to the gaijin of AJPW?

[manjiimortal]

Great work man. So, when does a Misawa tribute comes out?

[theredraven]

I have to admit Kyo you have surpassed yourself this time :)

[Entertainmentwf]

awesome vid like awesome kyotanahashi :). I loved it :).