AJPW '93 - King's Road Global

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Championships and holders
» AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship: Mitsuharu Misawa
» AJPW National Openweight Championship: The Gladiator
» AJPW Unified Tag Team Championship: Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas [Can-Am Express]
» AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Ultimo Dragon

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Pre-Show
0. Dark Match: Mitsuo Momota & Rusher Kimura & Jun Akiyama def. Haruka Eigen & Isamu Teranishi & Jun Izumida
- Kimura > Izumida (Rushing Lariat) --- 7:45
- Rating: 38

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Full-Show Recap
»» Of course, Giant Baba opened the show, welcoming the Tokyo crowd to a new era in AJPW that will (he said it…) be even more exciting now that All Japan is on TV screens all over Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom.

1. Al Perez & Giant Warrior & The Gladiator vs. Mighty Inoue & Chris Youngblood & Mark Youngblood (The Youngbloods)
The first-ever match of AJPW Puro Spirit TV was an even one… whenever The Gladiator wasn’t tagged in. Other than that, the new National Openweight Champion destroyed his opponents. He pinned Inoue after a Gladiator Bomb to win it for his trio.
- Gladiator > Inoue (Gladiator Bomb) --- 7:05
- Rating: 57

2. Fire Cat & Richard Slinger & The Great Sasuke vs. Gran Hamada & Octagon & Ultimo Dragon
The two new luchador signings teamed up with Ultimo Dragon in a winning effort, while Sasuke wasn’t able to avoid a loss for his team. Gran Hamada, the next challenger, pinned Fire Cat for the win after a Swinging DDT, as the champion looked on from the apron.
- Hamada > Cat (Swinging DDT) --- 11:22
- Rating: 62

3. Dean Malenko & Kazuo Yamazaki & Naoki Sano vs. Masanobu Fuchi & Satoru Asako & Yoshinari Ogawa [Tsuruta-gun]
The very first big moment in the history of Puro Spirit was triggered by this match. It appeared to be just another Tsuruta-gun Jr. Heavyweight six-man tag match, until the ending. Malenko, Yamazaki and Sano were having difficulties ending the match, much thanks to Sano’s being uninterested yet again. And then, he denied tagging in. Malenko was left in trouble and he fell victim to Yoshinari Ogawa’s Bridging Belly-to-Back Suplex.
- Ogawa > Malenko (Bridging Belly-to-Back Suplex) --- 12:37
- Rating: 57

»» After the match, Kazuo Yamazaki confronted Naoki Sano, demanding an explanation for his recent actions, including costing the match to their team. Sano was silent for a while but then told Yamazaki he was sorry, while lowering his head. Yamazaki was pissed but after hearing “I’m sorry” for a few times, he went to check on Dean Malenko.
Big mistake. Naoki Sano surprised his former dojo buddy with a devastating Tiger Suplex! Then, as Yamazaki moved and slowly got to his feet (sort of), Sano hit him with a very stiff High-Speed Roundhouse Kick! The crowd booed the former Jr. Heavyweight Champion out of the building… Sano now sides with the bad bunch!

Bobby Fulton’s AJPW Farewell Match
4. Bobby Fulton & Jackie Fulton [The Fultons] vs. Johnny Smith & Tommy Rogers [The Fantastic Bruisers]
From a betrayal, we move to a recent betrayal. The Fulton brothers teamed up against the newly formed Fantastic Bruisers and there was a lot of bad blood, after a short-term team and a very, very long-term one were dissolved.
Intense from the get-go, both teams looked as if they were fighting for their lives. There was some anticipation to see The Fantastic Bruisers’ first match together, and they didn’t disappoint, looking like a well-oiled technical wrestling machine. They even won… with Tommy Rogers being allowed to end longtime teammate Bobby Fulton’s AJPW tenure with a Tomikaze, while Jackie was out from a Death Valley Driver from Jackie Smith.
- Rogers > Bobby (Tomikaze) --- 15:03
- Rating: 68

5. Giant Kimala & Haku & Terry Gordy vs. Stan Hansen & Dory Funk Jr. & Terry Funk (The Funks) [The Outlaw Stable]
Gordy and Hansen wrote another chapter in their feud. This time, Kimala and Haku sided with ‘Bam Bam’ and it seemed like Texas some ten years ago, as the six men beat each other like crazy in a fight, rather than a wrestling match.
After neutralizing Dory Jr., the villains had the numbers’ advantage and they played well with it. Also done with Terry, the three men all teamed up to put Hansen down with a Triple Powerbomb before moving back to Dory Jr., who Gordy pinned after another Powerbomb.
- Gordy > Dory Jr. (Powerbomb) --- 14:32
- Rating: 82

»» After the bell, the winning team celebrated and, finally, the losing team got back to their feet and were about to leave scene. That’s when Terry Gordy positioned himself between The Outlaw Stable and the exit to the backstage. Stan Hansen confronted him, but before he got any answers, his trio was violently attacked… by… UWF-i!!!
Led by Nobuhiko Takada, a five men group also featuring Bob Backlund, Gary Albright, The Great Kabuki and Yoshiaki Yatsu beat the hell out of The Outlaw Stable before Wild Bunch could get there. The Outlaw Stable’s protégés weren’t attacked, as Giant Baba came to establish some order.
Then, Baba announced that Nobuhiko Takada is going to be Stan Hansen’s opponent at Power Clash, as he was the one to issue the challenge, but Baba won’t stand for attacks like these. As for Gordy, he got banned from the upcoming Battle Royale and got the warning that he would be fired if he attacks anyone until Power Clash at January 28th.

20-Heavyweight Battle Royale for chosen match at Power Clash
6. Akira Taue, Al Perez, Billy Black, Dan Kroffat, Doug Furnas, Eddie Gilbert, Giant Warrior, Jackie Fulton, Joel Deaton, Johnny Ace, Johnny Smith, Jumbo Tsuruta, Kenta Kobashi, Mighty Inoue, Mitsuharu Misawa, Rusher Kimura, Steve Williams, The Gladiator, Tommy Rogers, Toshiaki Kawada
20 Heavyweights started, but only one could win and choose his own match for Power Clash. Soon, it became pretty clear that The Gladiator vs. Toshiaki Kawada for the National Openweight Championship was going to take place in the event, as both men eliminated each other early into the match and brawled to the back.
Jackie Fulton and Johnny Smith also got out in similar fashion, after Fulton avenged his brother by eliminating Tommy Rogers. The pond then started to get less populated, as only Akira Taue, Eddie Gilbert, Johnny Ace, Jumbo Tsuruta, Kenta Kobashi, Steve Williams and Mitsuharu Misawa remained, after The Can-Am Express were thrown out by Ace and Misawa.
Taue was eliminating a lot of men, and he ended throwing Gilbert over the top rope too. After a Nodowa Otoshi to the outside, Kobashi was out as well. Taue, Ace, Tsuruta, Misawa and ‘Dr. Death’ were the final men, but all of a sudden, Ace was eliminated by Tsuruta.
And then, Tsuruta was out after Williams hit a big Belly-to-Belly over the ropes. Taue was fuming, angrily eliminating Johnny before moving to Williams, who resisted to Taue’s attempts to throw him out. However, ‘Dr. Death’ didn’t make it to the final, as Misawa got him in the apron with a Rolling Elbow which was aimed at Taue, who ducked!
The final between Taue and Misawa lasted for some five minutes before Taue thought he had Misawa on his hand, even saying to his face that he would challenge for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship at Power Clash after an Ore Ga Taue. But as Taue went to throw him over, Misawa avoided him, hit a German Suplex and got him up and over the ropes! Misawa won!
- Last elimination: Misawa > Taue (over the top rope) --- 24:39
- Rating: 79

»» Akira Taue wasn’t happy with the loss, as he wanted to avenge Jumbo Tsuruta, but his mentor and leader of the Tsuruta-gun, who stayed ringside to cheer for Taue until the end, got him to the back.
With a microphone, Mitsuharu Misawa then announced his plan for Power Clash: he won’t defend his Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. Instead, he will be looking to add a fourth and fifth belts to his possession… because he will challenge for the Unified World Tag Team Championship, alongside Johnny Ace! Can-Am Express vs. Ace and Misawa is a done deal!

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Show Rating: 78

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Weekly Recap
»» NJPW: Just a day before our television return, NJPW held Wrestling World 1993, their January 4th special and biggest show of the year. It will be difficult to top it, as it was honestly phenomenal. In the main event, Masahiro Chono retained the IWGP Heavyweight Championship with a win over Shinya Hashimoto. Tatsumi Fujinami beating Riki Choshu to win the Greatest 18 Club Championship was also a highlight of the event.

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I miss the previous versions where we could tweak out product instead of changing it completely, but I'm changing it starting next show and I'm sure it will be fine, since it's not a major shift. I had Royal Puroresu as a product, which is supposed to have 100% matches, but there's a 15% margin, so I ran angles every show. I changed it to Pseudo Sports, which, I think, doesn't change much in that aspect. The change is more so I can have major stars in shorter matches on TV without the fans complaining that they didn't wrestle for 20 minutes...