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Classic AJPW


shinyahashimoto

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Just wondering if anyone watches AJPW wrestling from the 90s?

 

It's always been a slight mystery to me, I remember when first being into wrestling, online 96/97 you would hear of all these great AJPW matches, and it was generally regarded as the best and most groundbreaking heavyweight division in the world. I know the likes of Kobashi, Misawa are popular on here to an extent, but it seems more their NOAH work than AJPW. Now i'm just reading through old Observers, and they constantly have 4-star matches on their TV show, and run riot for best wrestler/best match on the yearly awards.

 

Was anyone into this via tapes etc at the time? How do the matches hold up nowadays? Is there any overview download/DVDs ever released, or documentaries about it?

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Yeah I loved a bit of AJPW. I was big into it a few years back.

 

Tsuruta, Tenryu, Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi, Taue, Akiyama, Hansen, Dr Death, Gordy, Vader fuck me, countless classics. I dunno how they hold up now, I haven't watched 'em for a bit but when I first watched them I thought they were the shit.

 

Misawa vs Kawada from the Tokyo Dome in 98 and pretty much any of the Misawa/Kobashi vs Kawada/Taue matches (think one in July 95? was the best) were belters.

 

Misawa vs Tsuruta 1990, Misawa vs Kobashi 97/98, Kobashi vs Hansen 93 are worth seeking out too.

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The matches hold up quite well and generally a lot better than the joshi matches from the likes of All Japan Women and indies like ECW.

 

When I was watching through a bunch of All Japan matches to refresh my memory for the PowerSlam 'best matches of the PS years' list, some matches completely held up by today's standards whereas others weren't didn't seem as good as I recalled or as rated by guys like Dave Meltzer. The good thing is that many of those great matches are available on YouTube so they're available on tap for when you're feeling down about wrestling after watching the latest clueless diva awkwardly stumble through a match.

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AJPW in the 90s is what got me into puro. Fucking awesome stuff. When you have a roster of Misawa, Kobashi, Kawada, Akiyama, Taue, Hansen, Vader, Steve Williams, Gary Albright and Team No Fear (one of my favourite tag teams ever), it makes for a huge supply of quality match-ups. Akiyama/Kobashi vs. No Fear was brilliant, in addition to all the classics already mentioned, and Kobashi/Vader was epic.

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Watching gaijins like Steve Williams, Stan Hansen, Terry Gordy and Vader in classic AJPW makes it painfully obvious just how much has changed in American wrestling that there are no real guys in America who aren't signed with WWE or TNA who could make such a big impact in Japan as the heavyweight gaijins before them.

 

Giant Bernard is the ONLY heavyweight gaijin worth a damn, as all the rest are ex-WWE guys who either join AJPW or IGF to die or get shitter.

 

I'm sure if you want to find an absolute wealth of classic AJPW you only have to go looking in a ditch.

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Dunno if I agree with that, coby, if you're talking about gaijin right now in general. Joe Doering's not horrible, and Bison Smith is pretty solid, if unspectacular. I hear good things about Feargal Devitt and Mark Haskins seems to have impressed big-time in DG - and we know PAC already has.

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Heavyweight gaijins, sorry.

 

Like you said, Bison Smith is solid but unspectacular. The fact that he only gets GHC Title matches outside of Tokyo, and beats outsiders for said title shots says it all.

 

Haven't seen much if anything of Joe Doering because I don't follow post-NOAH AJPW outside of a select few matches here and there. But when I look at AJPW and see names like Rene Dupree, Lance Cade, and IGF has Bobby Lashley and The Predator, and Chris Bambikiller was a former champ in Zero One.....

 

Doesn't really hold a candle to the heavyweight gaijin roster that AJPW could boast back in the back.

 

On the other hand, the Jnr heavyweight gaijin scene is thriving. Prince Devitt is an awesome IWGP Jnr Heavyweight Champ and I'm glad NJPW has guys like Kenny Omega and Davey Richards on the roster. NOAH really makes the best of that relationship with ROH by having guys like Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong, and Bobby Fish has really come into his own recently. And like you mentioned Dragon Gate with PAC, and I hope Mark Haskins and Marty Scurll have future bookings there.

 

My point, as badly put across as it was, was that Bernard is the only real heavyweight gaijin right now who can wrestle and looks like a threat....... I sincerely doubt he'll ever hold the IWGP Title like how Gordy, Williams, Hansen and Vader all held major titles in Japan.

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My point, as badly put across as it was, was that Bernard is the only real heavyweight gaijin right now who can wrestle and looks like a threat....... I sincerely doubt he'll ever hold the IWGP Title like how Gordy, Williams, Hansen and Vader all held major titles in Japan.

 

I bet he fucking does. He's been the nearly man so many times, I imagine it won't be that long befor he gets a run. I imagine him beating either Hash or Nakamura for the belt, having a token successful defence against a Makabe or Goto, then losing to the other of Nakamura/Tanahashi.

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Can some one explain the intricate differences between Kings road and Strong style. These are terms that get banded about a bit but I never really understand the difference between them not being huge on jap stuff, I love the odd bit of NOAH and some classic stuff from Williams and Gordy or Hansen but thats my limit sadly.

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Can some one explain the intricate differences between Kings road and Strong style. These are terms that get banded about a bit but I never really understand the difference between them not being huge on jap stuff, I love the odd bit of NOAH and some classic stuff from Williams and Gordy or Hansen but thats my limit sadly.

 

This should help:

http://wrestling.insidepulse.com/2008/04/2...and-kings-road/

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Can some one explain the intricate differences between Kings road and Strong style. These are terms that get banded about a bit but I never really understand the difference between them not being huge on jap stuff, I love the odd bit of NOAH and some classic stuff from Williams and Gordy or Hansen but thats my limit sadly.

 

This should help:

http://wrestling.insidepulse.com/2008/04/2...and-kings-road/

 

Many thanks, very good of you. :thumbsup:

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Can some one explain the intricate differences between Kings road and Strong style. These are terms that get banded about a bit but I never really understand the difference between them not being huge on jap stuff, I love the odd bit of NOAH and some classic stuff from Williams and Gordy or Hansen but thats my limit sadly.

 

This should help:

http://wrestling.insidepulse.com/2008/04/2...and-kings-road/

 

Cheers for this. I found it an interesting read. Like Tommy! posted below I am also partial to the odd Puro bout but have never really understood the more intricate differences between the various styles. The stuff about the Kings Road style has clarified a few points I have always wondered about when I have been watching shows.

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Can some one explain the intricate differences between Kings road and Strong style. These are terms that get banded about a bit but I never really understand the difference between them not being huge on jap stuff, I love the odd bit of NOAH and some classic stuff from Williams and Gordy or Hansen but thats my limit sadly.

 

This should help:

http://wrestling.insidepulse.com/2008/04/2...and-kings-road/

 

Cheers for this. I found it an interesting read. Like Tommy! posted below I am also partial to the odd Puro bout but have never really understood the more intricate differences between the various styles. The stuff about the Kings Road style has clarified a few points I have always wondered about when I have been watching shows.

 

It misses out a couple of points, though - firstly, the major feature of King's Road was to portray long, epic bouts of attrition, to show the wrestlers in them as paragons of human excellence, displaying stamina and endurance. Secondly, a part of Strong Style depends on the wrestlers showing "Fighting Spirit", i.e. fire and determination in the face of adversity in addition to technical prowess.

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