Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

WRESTLING ON THE INTERNET NOT FROM THE NOW


RIPPA

Recommended Posts

I am a child of the DVDVR 90's AJPW poll. No document, no collection of matches had more of an influence on me switching from casual WWE kid to decades-long tape scouring diehard so it's been really fun for me to revisit every episode of 90's AJPW TV. I've been some outright classics that I've either never seen or didn't understand the context of back in the day. This is the one I'm highest on right now.

11/9/1994 REAL WORLD TAG LEAGUE NIGHT ONE
MITSUHARU MISAWA & KENTA KOBASHI vs. DAN KROFFAT & DOUG FURNAS (THE CAN-AM EXPRESS)
Opening ceremony first, match starts at 4:29

I was blown away by the in-ring action but the context really elevates an already superb match.

  • Misawa/Kobashi were the more-or-less reigning AJPW World Tag Team Champions going into the RWTL (they vacated pre-tourny and won them back by winning the whole thing) while the Can-Ams were the reigning All Asia Tag Team Champions. Misawa had won the prior two RWTLs and the Can-Ams were coming off a miserable '93 campaign where they lost their first five.
  • Kobashi's feud with the Can-Ams went well beyond the 1992 Match of the Year - there were six other matches for the All Asia belts that involved the three of them, but Kobashi moved on up to the World Title scene. Kobashi was 1-6 against the Can-Ams in straight tag matches through '93 and '94, the lone win being (untaped?)  w/ Misawa in the prior year's RWTL.
  • Dan Kroffat had been using Misawa's Tiger Driver pretty regularly, to a point where it was his go-to singles finisher. Misawa was not stoked about this.
  • This was the Main Event of the tournament's first night, in a red-hot Korakuen Hall.
  • The Can-Ams were so incensed by this match (and I assume their match with the HDA) that they would actually vacate the All Asia Tag Team Championships mid-tournament so they could better focus on the AJPW World Tag Team Championships

Nearfalls you'd give your soul up for, a crowd so hot they skip melting and go right to sublimation, and quite possibly the performance of Dan Kroffat/Phil LaFon's career. He looks like $1,228,396 CAD. I don't want to say I prefer it to 5/25/92 but it's been awhile, we'll see.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Presumably, either JC or Brian Last won these off the eBay auction a little while ago from the Paul Borsch estate sale. They go through a bunch of payoff sheets from the late 70s through 84. Interesting look at how he did his business. 
 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Jimbo_Tsuruta
4 hours ago, Infinit said:

I can't believe I never saw this before!

 

Neither have I, thanks for this!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...