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(note: As of writing this, i am bord, so its going to be a LONG review!)
Mitsuharu Misawa, a name that is legendary and is amazingly respected in the world of wrestling. So many great wrestlers have graced the wrestling rings since it began such as Kenta Kobashi, Jumbo Tsuruta, Toshiaki Kawada, Keiji Mutoh and Ric Flair, but in my opinion, Misawa is the complete package, he could do it all. These 11 discs highlight Misawa's greatest matches and accomplishments such as his Triple Crown wins in the 90s, his tremendos rivarlys with Tsuruta, Kawada, Akiyama, Vader and Kobashi, all the way through to his time with Pro Wrestling NOAH.
I am going to name many of my favorite matches from the set:
-(1985/06/21) Tiger Mask II vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi - This is not their 5 star match from March of 1985, however, this match, in some ways is better! The intensity in this match is unmatched and incrediable, and along with that, we get to see Misawa at his best during his time under the infamous Tiger mask gimmick. *****1/2
-(1985/11/27) Tiger Mask II vs. Dynamite Kid - The Dynamite Kid, without a dout, along with Ric Flair, Vader, Hansen and Brody are the greatest gaijin wrestlers that there ever was. This match is famous due to the past that Dynamite had with the original Tiger Mask in NJPW. Maybe not the best match, but the fat that Misawa wrestled Dyanmite is enough to make me say sit up and take notice of the match. ***3/4
-1987/06/01) Tiger Mask II vs. Genichiro Tenryu - Tenryu, a great wrestler who is amoung my favorites could have a great match with anyone. This match was the between the Wizard of the chops and the Emerald King of elbows. AMazing bout that should be watched by all US wrestlers who need to see how to pop crowd with awesome in ring wrestling. ****3/4
-(1988/03/09) Tiger Mask II vs. Jumbo Tsuruta - Jumbo and Misawa had what is argubly the greatest rivarly in the history of wrestling. Tsuruta, made his mark in wrestling in the early 80s as being a guy that was an innovator of many moves and who could go with the best. His matches against Flair in the 80s were all amazing, but little did Jumbo know that just a few years later, he would come up against his greatest opponent ever in Mitsuharu Misawa. Great match, but there next match is even better. ****1/4
-(1990/05/14) Tiger Mask II & Kawada vs. Yatsu & Fuyuki - Famous match that was nothing special in terms of actual wrestling, but itsz the events in this match that makes it legendary. Goodbye TM II, welcome MISAWA! ***
-(1990/06/08) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta - The first legit 5* match on this set, and for once, Dave Meltzer got something right in saying that this match was unbelievably great, and by god, it was. Watch and learn people. *****
-(1991/07/24) Misawa & Kawada vs. Gordy & Williams - Many people remember Gordy as being the puppy dog faced looking wrestler who looked like he could be beat with a single punch, however, before his terrible coma in 1993, he was in a team with Dr. Death and no matter where they went, they DESTROYED the other team. These two, along with Brody/Hansen, as teams, are perhaps the greatest ever. With all due respect to the great Kawada and Misawa, they were out shined here. Great, great match! *****1/2
-(1991/09/04) Misawa & Kawada vs. Tsuruta & Taue - ****
-(1992/08/22) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Stan Hansen - Misawa's first TCC win! Nice match, very stiff and amazing story telling. Infamous match, and its very easy to see why people. ****1/4
-(1992/10/21) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada - One of their early matches together, and perhaps one of their best too. Although i don't talk about it in the same breathe as their 6/3/94 match, its still amazing in EVERY way. *****
-(1993/12/03) Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Kawada & Taue - My favorite match on the ENTIRE set. I have seen their 6/9/1995 match (which is refered to as being the greatest tag match of all time), but i personally perfer this match, by far. I don't know why i perfer it, as their 1995 match is longer and tells a greater story, but the in-ring work rate of this match is just...tremendous! This is my favorite match of all time! *****[*] _-- That isn't a type error.
-(1994/03/05) Misawa & Kobashi vs. Giant Baba & Hansen - Giant baba had a small series of matches in 1993 and 1994, and they were his last set of matches, unfortanently. Baba put on a great performance for a man of his age and size, as himself, along with Stan Hansen showed the fans that size, sometimes DOES matter! ****1/2 (note: the last 3 match are all from disc 4, which is my favorite disc out of the entire set)
-(1994/07/28) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Steve Williams - Williams had beaten Misawa before in 1993, he also defeated Kenta Kobashi around the same time as Misawa's first encounter with Dr. Death, could he do it again. Either way, this match is AWESOME! ****1/2
-(1995/04/15) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue - Need i say anymore, another legit 5* match. *****
-(1997/04/19) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi - ****3/4
-(1997/04/19) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada - ****1/2
-(1997/10/21) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi - Call me crazy, but this match is one of my least favorite Kobashi/Misawa matches. Of course, everyones favorites are their 1999 matcyh and their infamous 10/31/98 bout. Still, this match is god dam incredibale. ****3/4
-(1997/11/27) Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinsaki - In my opinion, any match that features Akiyama is going to be amazing and with the help of Hayabusa, Shinzaki and Misawa, this match had 5 stars written all over it, however, it JUST fell short by half a star. ****1/2
-(1998/04/18) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama - Proberly my 2nd favorite match on this set, and when (you should) you buy this set, i'm sure that you'll all agree with me when i say that Meltzer is an idiot for not giving this match an actual 5 star rating, however, i don't work for the WON or Meltzer, so i'm going to give it my own perosnal rating of *****!
-1998/05/01) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada - From the famous Tokyo Dome, Kawada and Misawa pull of anoher one of their classic matches together. Also, the end sequence to this match by Kawada is just breath-takingly insane! ****1/2
-1999/05/02) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader - One year later, again at the Tokyo Dome, but this time, the wrestlers who worked that night weren't doing it just for the fans, but also for the late, great GIANT Baba who died soon before this event in January. This match did Baba proud, and Vaders performance in this match is of the charts. Was it because of the pressure from the 62,000 fans, was it for Baba, or is it just because Vader is amazing for a man of his size. This match is great. Triple Crown for Misawa again! ****3/4
-(1999/09/04) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Yoshihiro Takayama - Takayama seems to be unknown in the brains of many pro wrestling fans, and some will perhaps only remember him as the guy who was tagging with Kobashi in Kobashi's return match but he's actully a power house. He's a great wrestler and this match proves that. ****1/2
-(1999/09/04) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader - Not as good as their previous match in May of 1999, but its still WAY ABOVE par in my book. Its amazing. ****
-(2000/01/09) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama - Shame that the match is Joined in Progress but its still one of my favorites on the set. ALso, in this match, see the most BRUTAL Exploder ever exicuted! ****3/4
-2000/12/23) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader - This match is from NOAH, and it is perhaps on the same level as their 1st match togther in 1999. From top to bottom, bell to bell, this match is just insanly stiff in everyway. In this match, you see Misawa doing some of his signature moves and great, inovative dives, whilst on the other side, you get Vader giving Misawa the most brutal release german suplex that i have ever seen in my life, and this is coming from a dude who has seen alot of matches and wrestling footage. ****1/2
-2004/07/10) Mitsuharu Misawa & Ogawa vs. Keiji Mutoh & Taiyo Kea - Note: I do not like Ogawa one bit, i think that he is only at the level that he is at because he was Misawa's tag partner. He can pull of a good match, very rarely a great match, but he's nothing special in my opinion. Anyway, onto the match. This was the first metting between 2 of the very best wreslers who ever lived in Mutoh and Misawa, and oh yes, its in the Tokyo Dome. I don't think i need to say much more except this, Kea proved he can hang with the best and also, expect serious MAYHEM! ****1/2
-(2005/07/18) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada - A slightly disappointing match is what some describe this match as, but that comment comes from fans who only compare their previous matches together, which is the wrong thing to do as they hadn't had a match together in 6 years up to that point, also, they are both older and are in very few ways, "slowing" down. A great match, but the Dome crowd seemed very quite, but perhaps it was a showing of respect. ***3/4 GANSO BOMB
-(2005/11/05) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Genichiro Tenryu - Here we go, two absolute LEGENDS face off in a pro wrestling NOAH ring for the first time. Tenryu, who is also at this point at an "old" age has had a great couple of years working with best in AJPW like Mutoh and Kawada, and now, like i said before, he moved on up to NOAH Pro and faced Misawa in a legendary match that is somewhat a 'lost classic'! ****1/2
-(2007/01/21) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Takashi Morishima - Morishima, an up and comer who by this point, was still learning the in and outs of wrestling, and what better way to be taught wrestling by, then Mitsuharu Misawa. This match was like school for Morishima, and he got an A+ grade for his performance in this match. ****1/4
Misawa/Morishima isn't the last match on the set, but it would've been nice for it to end with Misawa's last great match, as for those that don't already know (i'm sure you all know anyway), he sadly passed away on June, 13th 2009.
Overall rating for set: 9.6/10
What would improve it: All matches to be shown in full!
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RIP Misawa-san
Rating:  [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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