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Heads Up Battle 1994 Kawada v. Misawa vs. Vader v. Dustin Rhodes


Phil Schneider

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If I wanted to play devil's advocate, I would say that Vader/Dustin is probably the finest example of a match stripped down to its essential elements with absolutely no filler while 6/3/94 has some fat you could trim if you were so inclined. Beyond that, I've got nothing. Vader/Dustin is one of my favorite matches of all time (don't listen to Rippa, it's their best match together), but it's not a serious contender for greatest match of all time. 6/3/94 is. There's no shame in losing to the best.

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Both matches are excellent. This is my second time ever watching 6/3/94 and it's been over ten years since I first watched it and it's still great. I can see how some people may say that there is some excess that could be trimmed but I think that would detract from the overall match. At first I was thinking that some of the first third of the match could have been trimmed but upon completion I think everything built really well, it really laid the groundwork for the action at the end.

Vader/Dustin is really great and told a really great story and kept the crowd hot throughout. They didn't have the time to build to things like Kawada/Misawa but they did everything they could with the time they had. Dustin had such great babyface fire and he just threw everything he could at the monster but Vader would just need one opening to take control and inflict heavy damage in a short amount of time. Dustin pummeling Vader and ripping the mask off was such a great spot and really got the crowd fired up and ready for the match ahead.

Misawa/Kawada is the better match, even with my tastes having moved away from 30+ minute matches its still such a great story told and it builds so well. Vader/Dustin is really really good too but just a hair below 6/3/94

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And some of you thought this wouldn't be competitive! Well, Misawa/Kawada BARELY ended up retaining. Both Phil and I waffled on this one. I actually landed on the side of Dustin/Vader, but 6/3/94 edged it out in the end. I think Dustin/Vader would have won plenty of other years. This is an internal debate I think I'm going to keep having. 

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2016/11/all-time-moty-list-head-to-head-kawada.html

 

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This is why this project is so cool, it introduces you to matches you never know existed. I've seen little to nothing of "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes (shameful, I know) and had no idea about this little feud. Vader is such a dick and you get the rush of the bully getting his comeuppance when Dustin explodes at him. At the same time, Dustin's a little green and looks like he doesn't know how to treat Vader; the slaps are disrespectful enough but he doesn't near hammer Vader like Vader hammers him (then again, that goes for most wrestlers so hey). Some of the work was a little sloppy but the story was there and you even have the Brain schooling Schiavone on the psychology of the match which was pretty rare. I'd say if you gave Dustin three more years and redid the match it would have been a stone classic. As it is it's no Misawa/Kawada but it's awesome. 

The only good thing I can say about the Duggan run-in is that it would've been cool to see Baby Bull Leon White and Duggan fight in Mid-South. 

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