AJPW '93 - King's Road Global

I think Cactus Jack will won the battle royal next week. Then he will bring hardcore wrestling to AJPW. YEEY! LET'S GO MICK!


OMG they're so ME.

Herb Abrams may be willing to work for coke and hookers.

AJPW Puro Spirit TV #8
February 26th 1993
Attendance: 15,224 – Kawasaki, Kanto, JP
TV Rating: 1.64 [tv Asahi – JP] + 0.13 [ITV – UK] + 0.06 [Fox Sports Networks – US]

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Championships and holders
» AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship: Mitsuharu Misawa
» AJPW National Openweight Championship: Kenta Kobashi
» AJPW Unified World 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: Gran Hamada & Masayoshi Motegi vs. Rusher Kimura & Satoshi Kojima
- Hamada > Kojima (Hama-Chan Cutter) --- 9:54
- Rating: 58

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Full-Show Recap
Inter-Nations Tournament Qualifying Match – All-USA 15-Man Battle Royale
1. Al Perez, Billy Black, Dean Malenko, Dory Funk Jr., Doug Furnas, Fire Cat, Giant Warrior, Jackie Fulton, Joel Deaton, Mark Youngblood, Richard Slinger, Steve Williams, Terry Funk, The Gladiator, Tommy Rogers
Can we say that the Inter-Nations Tournament has officially begun? The All-USA Battle Royale to determine USA’s representative in the cup opened the show. We got to know that Fire Cat is actually American as he was one of the participants.
The pool of wrestlers got thinner as Steve Williams and The Gladiator played a part, eliminating seven of the fifteen. Jackie Fulton had the special taste of eliminating his brother’s former partner: Tommy Rogers. However he was dumped out of the ring right after that.
In the end, four men were left: Dean Malenko, Doug Furnas, Steve Williams and The Gladiator. Wise people would say Williams and Gladiator, the bigger men, would be the finalists. But as they collided, they actually ended eliminating each other, as both men hit Lariats on one another in the apron, leaving Malenko and Furnas alone in the ring.
Furnas wanted to join his partner Dan Kroffat in the tournament, but Malenko wanted to be another Jr. Heavyweight entering the 8-man fray. In the ringside, ‘Dr. Death’ and Gladiator had to be separated while Furnas and Malenko fought a technical battle. After some minutes, Malenko was able to reverse Furnas’ Boston Crab, sending him to the apron, over the top rope. After that, he connected with a Dropkick! Just like that, Malenko advances!!!

- Elimination list:

- Last elimination: Malenko > Furnas (over the top rope) --- 15:23
- Rating: 79

»» Following the match, we finally got to know the four invited participants for the Inter-Nations Tournament, as well as the brackets for the First Round. Giant Baba announced the names of 1992’s Wrestler of the Year, El Hijo del Santo [Mexico], Larry Zbyszko [Poland] (he’s got Polish descent, that’s good enough), Miguel Perez Jr. [Puerto Rico] and Sabu [Saudi Arabia] (kayfabe is amazing).
Then, it was announced that next week, the following four matches will take place:
A1: Dan Kroffat [CAN] vs. Miguel Perez Jr. [PUE];
A2: Dean Malenko [USA] vs. Larry Zbyszko [POL];
B1: El Hijo del Santo [Mexico] vs. Johnny Smith [UK];
B2: AJPW National Openweight Championship: Toshiaki Kawada [Japan] © vs. Sabu [SAU].

Inter-Nations Tournament Six-Man Tag Team Showcase Match
2. Dan Kroffat & El Hijo del Santo & Sabu vs. Johnny Smith & Larry Zbyszko & Miguel Perez Jr.
After that, that was a showcase with six of the cup’s participants, only not involving Malenko and the National Openweight Champion, Toshiaki Kawada. All men, specially the invitees, got time to show their talents. El Hijo del Santo was presented as a very gifted luchadore, as Zbyszko was portrayed as a sneaky arrogant veteran. Sabu and Perez Jr., both FMW wrestlers, matched with each other nicely, willing to get more violent.
In the end, Zbyszko blindly tagged in, ambushing Sabu and pinning him after a Piledriver.
- Zbyszko > Sabu (Piledriver) --- 13:13
- Rating: 80

3. Octagon & The Great Sasuke vs. Satoru Asako & Yoshinari Ogawa [Tsuruta-gun]
Tsuruta-gun’s young Junior duo got a match with the similarly-geared Octagon and Sasuke. Ogawa shone, keeping his team alive in the match for a while, but Octagon’s technical lucha-style and Sasuke’s high-risk offence were sufficient to win the match. Octagon submitted Asako with the La Escalera.
- Octagon > Asako (La Escalera) --- 12:27
- Rating: 67

4. Cactus Jack & Giant Kimala & Terry Gordy vs. Kenta Kobashi & Mighty Inoue & Stan Hansen
Inoue had one obvious role in this match: to take the fall. And that he did. But, of course, there was a great match unrolling before that finishing moment took place. It was a brutal one too, with Cactus Jack finally being properly reintroduced to AJPW’s stiff style, even failing to hit a Diving Elbow to the ringside when Kobashi moved out of the way.
All men hit hard and even Inoue adapted to the style. In the end, Gordy hit Kobashi with a Big Boot and Cactus took advantage of that, scoreing the pin for the team following a Double Arm DDT to the veteran.
- Cactus > Inoue (Double Arm DDT) --- 13:41
- Rating: 79

»» Whoever expected some calm after the bout got swerved! Cactus Jack and Terry Gordy jumped Stan Hansen, stomping him to the mat until… Eddie Gilbert, joined by The Funks and Wild Bunch as back-up, stopped the attack!
When recomposed, Hansen laid out the challenge for Battle Ready: come March 7th, Gilbert and Hansen will reunite as a team to take on Cactus and Gordy!

5. Haku & Naoki Sano vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Kazuo Yamazaki
The last one was heavy, this one followed suit. All men hit hard in a match more focused in weight clashes than in Yamazaki vs. Sano in the ring. And no men could wear and tear the Jr. Heavyweights better than Haku and Kawada.
Throughout the bout, the duo of Kawada and Yamazaki got along better and, honestly, Sano was lucky not to be mauled by Haku halfway through. Kawada pinned the Tongan following a Gamengiri and a Dangerous Kick combo.
- Kawada > Haku (Dangerous Kick) --- 16:20
- Rating: 77

6. Akira Taue & Jumbo Tsuruta & Masanobu Fuchi [Tsuruta-gun] vs. Eddie Gilbert & Mitsuharu Misawa & Ultimo Dragon
The main event promised a lot. Tsuruta-gun’s A-players had to bring it all to beat the determined team in the opposite corner. Gilbert was fired up and received a loud pop following another rescue of Stan Hansen.
He was the sideman in the match, though, as it focused more on the interactions between the title match participants of Battle Ready. At one point, Taue once again stood up for Tsuruta, this time very violently, beating the hell out of the Triple Crown Champion.
In the end, Taue also mauled Ultimo Dragon, allowing for Fuchi to lock the STF and pick up an important win over the World Jr. Heavyweight Champion.
- Fuchi > Dragon (STF) --- 20:15
- Rating: 75

»» Following the bell, Mitsuharu Misawa interrupted Tsuruta-gun as the three were about to leave the ring. In a short but heartfelt promo, he reassured Akira Taue that he respects Jumbo Tsuruta, perhaps more than he respects any other wrestler. He told the ‘Dynamic One’, he also respects him a lot, seeing him as a huge threat to his reign.
After that, he offered a handshake. Taue hesitated… and ultimately refused it, leaving the ring before Tsuruta, who smiled at Misawa as if saying: «he’s his own man now».

Show Rating: 76

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Weekly Recap
»» Nothing noteworthy to report.

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