AJPW '93 - King's Road Global

Results:


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Highlights – Before the Intermission:
»» The B Block started the league action for Day 2. Unsurprisingly, Masanobu Fuchi defeated Richard Slinger, who tapped out for the second time in two matches. Dean Malenko also won, scoring four points now, after beating The Great Sasuke. The two winners will meet on Saturday, and Fuchi tried getting on Malenko’s nerves, slapping him while he celebrated.

»» In the A Block, the other member of Tsuruta-gun, Yoshinari Ogawa, beat Fire Cat, while in a somewhat chaotic match, Perro Aguayo beat Sabu to get his first points. The match was wild and, in all honesty, sucked. The AJPW board is really sure now: Aguayo has been terrible.

Marquee Matches – After the Intermission:
B Block Match
6. Negro Casas [UWA] (2) vs. Ultimo Dragon (2)
Entering the later stages of another lackluster Junior Heavyweight show, Negro Casas and Ultimo Dragon tried, in all fairness, to lift the mood. The two technically gifted wrestlers worked the style, with the Mexican legend being sneaky at times in order to try to get two more points to his account.
Ultimo, however, had a visible speed advantage and during the second half of the match, it showed. Always avoiding La Casita, Dragon then managed to shake Casas’ with his own variation of the move. That got Casas a bit mad. Dragon then capitalized with the Asai DDT to gain the two points himself.
Result: Ultimo Dragon (4) over Negro Casas (2) --- Pinfall --- 16:37 min.

A Block Match
7. Kazuo Yamazaki (2) vs. Naoki Sano (2)
The main event opposed two of the most dangerous Junior Heavyweights in the AJPW locker room and two of the favorites to win the Junior Crown League. If Yamazaki didn’t want to lose to the reigning World Jr. Heavyweight Champion, which could compromise his tournament success and his position in the title picture, Sano was definitely looking to avoid defeat too, as he isn’t fond of the idea of being challenged by an opponent like Yamazaki, which he knows so well.
The two were very careful in their approach throughout the majority of the match. As technical of a bout as the one to precede it, the two took it to the ground in order to try to avoid each other’s kicks. After half of the 30 minutes passed, the match had dragged like that, and only then the two started to be more offensive, resorting to kicks now and then, as well as their own trademark submissions. The Bow and Arrow by Sano got Yamazaki screaming, but Yamazaki was very close to submit the champion with his Cross Armbreaker.
With two minutes left to go, the two were finally looking for a definitive win. In the middle of the ring, both reversed the other’s crucial moves and the battle had to be done kick by kick. 29:40 and both hit simultaneous Roundhouse Kicks! The two fell flat on the mat as the time ticked until the 30-minute mark. The match then ended, a time limit draw.
Result: Kazuo Yamazaki (3) vs. Naoki Sano (3) --- Time Limit Draw --- 30:00 min.

»» After the match, the crowd felt the need to applaud the two struggling wrestlers. Both got to their feet and when that happened, Yoshinari Ogawa spoiled the moment, attacking Kazuo Yamazaki (his Day 3 rival) from behind. It could have been much worse, hadn’t Naoki Sano stop the Tsuruta-gun rebel with a huge kick. Then, both Sano and Yamazaki shook hands.

Results:


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Highlights – Before the Intermission:
»» In the Block B, Can-Am Express left no doubts they plan to be labeled as undisputed, winning their match, while Akira Taue and Jumbo Tsuruta scored their first two points, defeating The Youngbloods relatively easily.

»» The second day of Block A started with a surprise to some. In a competitive affair, Wild Bunch got their first two points, defeating The Fantastics, who had beat Johnny Ace and Mitsuharu Misawa on Day 1. Then, in the best match of the night (for some), Miracle Violence Connection left no room for surprises, beating Jackie Fulton and Johnny Smith, who showed up and put up a fight.

Marquee Matches – After the Intermission:
B Block Match
6. Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk [The Funk Brothers] (2) vs. Kenta Kobashi & Toshiaki Kawada [Super Generation Army] (2)
In Day 1’s face-off, Kobashi and, specially, Kawada were surprised when Terry Funk said they expected a fair great match between both teams at Day 2. Kawada doubted that the match would go that way, even though Terry seemed focused on the match, instead of hurting or getting any kind of vengeance against him. So, Kawada stiffed out the older pairing in the early goings.
It was only after a while that The Funks, with some double teaming efforts, managed to get a hold of the match. Terry had his pride and wouldn’t let himself take the fall easily for the second time in three weeks. The same can be said for Dory Jr.
But then, the duo got overwhelmed again by the Super Generation Army team, who used strike combos as double team moves. And then things got a bit heated when, after a Machine Gun Chop + Gamengiri combo, Terry entered the ring to stop the referee’s count on a pin attempt. Kobashi intervened, dropkicking Terry to ringside. In the ring, Kawada finished Dory Jr. with a Folding Powerbomb to get the two points.
Result: Kobashi & Kawada (4) def. The Funk Brothers (2) --- Pinfall --- 17:54

»» After the match, the Super Generation Army duo watched as The Funks helped each other to their feet and to the back, with all the bad blood seemingly buried. Then, Kobashi took a microphone and spoke for his team. The two aimed at… Can-Am Express, their next opponents, wishing for a great match against the champions.
Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas joined them in the ring, nodding positively, agreeing with the words of the two. Both teams shook hands.

A Block Match
7. Eddie Gilbert & Stan Hansen (2) vs. Johnny Ace & Mitsuharu Misawa
Two non-regular tag teams main evented the second day of Real World Tag League. However, with the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and the former holder of the three belts in separate corners, that comes as no surprise.
Early into the match, we were only teased of a confrontation between Hansen and Misawa, as the two men to start it were Gilbert and Ace, and whenever one was legal, the other wasn’t. It was only after seven minutes that the fans got their wish in a daring moment by Stan Hansen, as he could have possibly ended the match right there, after a big Powerbomb on Johnny Ace. After the referee counted two, however, Hansen himself stopped the pin and asked Misawa to get in the ring. After all, Hansen wanted to beat the champion to get a rematch fairly.
Then, the expectations were high as the two men battled, throwing stiff forearms at one another. After some four minutes in the ring, a Rolling Elbow by Misawa endangered Hansen’s wishes: 1…2… but no! The rowdy Texan kicked out, roughly.
Then, Gilbert got in, and the two never met in the ring again. Hansen got in, but most of the time was given to Gilbert and Ace from then on. Gilbert had way more success in the match when he stopped showing off and did his best to wear Ace out, almost tapping him out with a Figure Four Leglock.
Ace fought back, however, and managed to get some control, even going for the Ace Crusher, but Gilbert countered, pushing him against Misawa is his corner. Misawa then tagged in, and began controlling the match. However, unexpectedly, Gilbert rolled Misawa up for a School Boy pin. He got his feet on the ropes for leverage in the beginning of the count: 1…2…3! Shockingly, Eddie Gilbert has pinned the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion!
Result: Gilbert & Hansen (4) over Ace & Misawa --- Pinfall --- 16:29

»» As the bell rung, Eddie Gilbert ran towards Stan Hansen, hugging him, looking to celebrate the win. Hansen shoved him right away, being visibly pissed at Gilbert for a) pinning Mitsuharu Misawa; b) doing it in a moderately cheap way. The reality is: the Triple Crown Champion has been pinned by two men recently (Steve Williams and Eddie Gilbert) and none of them is Stan Hansen.
As the duo argued, with Gilbert looking like a child trying to redeem himself for skipping school, ‘Dr. Death’ himself and Terry Gordy got to the ring. M.V.C. are Gilbert and Hansen’s next opponents. Time to unite was now, so Hansen focused on the former Unified Tag Team Champions, as the much smaller Gilbert did too. The two teams were face to face, ending the show.

Match cards for the Third League Rounds
Bets are welcome!