1995

[Phil Schneider]

We chose as our first champion

 Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa/Kenta Kobashi AJPW 6/9/95 

 

 

SC Review

[Curt McGirt]

Watched it again. Something nobody mentions about this match is the totally cruel thumb to the eye that Misawa takes from Taue toward the end. That was the most desperate heel tactic ever and looked legit as hell. 

Are there any possible challengers for this year? Raven/Richards vs. Pitbulls was the best ECW match ever, I don't think it'd overcome but might be a contender. 

[Matt D]

1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

Watched it again. Something nobody mentions about this match is the totally cruel thumb to the eye that Misawa takes from Taue toward the end. That was the most desperate heel tactic ever and looked legit as hell. 

Are there any possible challengers for this year? Raven/Richards vs. Pitbulls was the best ECW match ever, I don't think it'd overcome but might be a contender. 

 

On 9/25/2014 at 12:23 AM, PeteF3 said:

Well, it was touch and go with the joshi greatness earlier if this would hold up as MOTY. I'm sure there's more great joshi to come but at this point, the answer is "Yes. Yes it does." There are too many great moments to recap here and most of them were touched on already. I will say that about 35 minutes in, having dismantled Kobashi's knee but being unable to put him away, and while yet another Misawa opponent is on the verge of gakking up a winning opportunity and about to give into another comeback, Taue goes back to a recent standby--popping Misawa in the eye. I think it's an even greater moment than his attack on the eye in the Carnival final, precisely because it doesn't really draw attention to itself. He doesn't need to grind a boot in the eye or drop him on the turnbuckle--one shot completely stops Misawa's momentum cold, and then it's a matter of unleashing the heavy artillery and grinding him into defeat with that. It's one of my favorite moments in any wrestling match. I don't think this is quite the Greatest Match Ever, as the best joshi tags still eclipse this. I do think it's the best AJPW match of the '90s so far--the best combination yet of super-advanced offense and sequences and psychologically deep, dramatic storytelling.

 

On 9/25/2014 at 7:45 AM, Matt D said:

"Why is Taue so awesome relative to the obviously far superior Pillars of all japan?"

"An eyepoke."

The internet explodes.

 

Edited June 17, 2020 by Matt D

[The Natural]

On ‎6‎/‎15‎/‎2020 at 9:45 PM, Phil Schneider said:

We chose as our first champion

 Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa/Kenta Kobashi AJPW 6/9/95 

 

 

SC Review

That's the one. That and Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin's Submission Match at WrestleMania 13 fight it out for my #1 Greatest Wrestling Match of All Time. It's the best match Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue ever had and that's saying something with the back catalogue of all four. I LOVE this match and Hart/Austin, WrestleMania 13.

[The Natural]

10 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Watched it again. Something nobody mentions about this match is the totally cruel thumb to the eye that Misawa takes from Taue toward the end. That was the most desperate heel tactic ever and looked legit as hell. 

Are there any possible challengers for this year? Raven/Richards vs. Pitbulls was the best ECW match ever, I don't think it'd overcome but might be a contender. 

Nothing challenges Kenta Kobashi/Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue from AJPW on the 9th of June 1995. I'd second Raven/Richards vs. Pitbulls from ECW Gangsta's Paradise 1995. I'd also recommend:

Eddie Guerrero vs. Dena Malenko. ECW TV (26th August)

Rey Mysterio vs. Psicosis, ECW (17th October 1995.) ECW's best ever match IMO.

Diesel vs. Bret Hart, WWF Royal Rumble.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Shawn Michaels, WWF In Your House 2.

Bret Hart vs. Jean Pierre Lafitte, WWF In Your House 3.

Diesel vs. Bret Hart, WWF Survivor Series.

Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog, WWF In Your House 5.

 

[NintendoLogic]

6/9/95 as 1995 MOTY is probably the closest thing to a universal consensus as exists among serious wrestling fans. But just as somebody had to face the 1927 Yankees in the World Series and the 1985 Bears in the Super Bowl, somebody has to challenge it for the throne. And there are plenty of matches from 1995 that would be strong contenders in most years. For example, the you have the best singles match of Taue's career:

The second-best Misawa/Kawada Triple Crown match:

Outside of All Japan, you have my pick for the best title match in the history of the WWWA red belt.

I think that last match in particular would be right up the SC crew's alley. It's almost like a joshi version of Battlarts.

[Matt D]

I went back and looked at what I said about 6/9/95 in 2014 when we were doing Remedial Wrestling and I had found very little to criticize at the time. I didn't 100% buy into Kobashi's Superman burst. I had some concerns that the escalation made things harder for the future, but that's not much of a criticism. I ultimately wished this much thought, effort, and brilliance went into a match in a style I was more naturally inclined towards. There were a few things I would have personally preferred, but it's all pretty bulletproof.

[The Natural]

On 6/17/2020 at 5:02 PM, NintendoLogic said:

6/9/95 as 1995 MOTY is probably the closest thing to a universal consensus as exists among serious wrestling fans. 

When I look at Match of the Year lists, 6/9/95 is the match you see the most. Nearly always there as it should be.