AJPW '93 - King's Road Global

AJPW 1993 Champion Carnival Day 1
March 20th 1993
Attendance: 799 – Dallas, Texas, USA
TV Rating: 0.67 [tv Asahi – JP] + 0.15 [ITV – UK] + 0.16 [Fox Sports Networks – US]

---

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

---

Full-Show Recap
X
1. Brian Lawler & Richard Slinger vs. Gran Hamada & Octagon
Without dark matches, Memphis’ prospect Brian Lawler was brought in alongside Slinger. To job? Sure, but he was able to prove he can be taken into account in the future. The agitated Jr. Heavyweight tag match was officially the first-ever AJPW match in the USA. Hamada pinned Jerry’s son with the Hama-Chan Cutter.
- Hamada > Lawler --- (Hama-Chan Cutter - Pin) --- 10:12
- Rating: 63

X
2. Billy Black & Joel Deaton [Wild Bunch/The Outlaw Stable] vs. Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas [Can-Am Express]
The titles were not up to contention when the champions Can-Am Express faced Texas-own Wild Bunch in the second non-tournament match of the night. And at home, Black and Deaton didn’t want to embarrass themselves, their mentors and the state.
They put on an impressive fight, even hitting the Aided Texas Piledriver on Furnas in the first half of the match. He kicked out at cost. Eventually, the champions were superior, beating them with the Doomsday Missile, but only after more than a quarter of hour. Both teams shook hands.
- Furnas > Black --- (Doomsday Missile - Pin) --- 15:33
- Rating: 67

X
1993 Champion Carnival – A Block Match
3. Jackie Fulton vs. Nobuhiko Takada [UWF-i]
And the tournament began! Not with the most exciting match, for sure, but at least the American crowd was exposed to the final boss of real pro-wrestling: UWF-i’s Nobuhiko Takada! Poor Jackie Fulton, who’s trying to find his top wave of momentum yet, had to deal with him. He held on, at least for as long as he could, even surprising Takada with a Fantastic Flip. However, he was unable to hit the Eagle Driver and Takada’s submission game would prove too much to handle. A Cross Armbreaker tapped Fulton out, even before the 10-minute mark, and gave Takada two points.
- Takada (2 pts.) > Fulton --- (Cross Armbreaker - Submission) --- 9:17
- Rating: 63

X
1993 Champion Carnival – A Block Match
4. Johnny Smith vs. Kenta Kobashi
Big expectations for this match, as Smith is known to always show up against the bigger fish in the pond. He did, but ultimately the match was a bit of a letdown that didn’t win the crowd over.
For almost 18 minutes, the technical but stiff clash had some issues and the two didn’t connect as fluidly as they could. In the second half, Kobashi controlled the bout, forcing the British wrestler to survive a Burning Lariat and to avoid a Moonsault before falling victim of a Vertical Drop Brainbuster. Two points for Kobashi!
- Kobashi (2 pts.) > Smith --- (Vertical Drop Brainbuster - Pin) --- 17:43
- Rating: 58


X
AJPW National Openweight Championship – V4 + 1993 Champion Carnival – A Block Match
5. Toshiaki Kawada © vs. Cactus Jack (w/K.Y. Wakamatsu)
The American tape-traders were invested on this one. For the first time, an AJPW championship was defended in US soil. And it was fair to say this was the most valuable clash of Champion Carnival’s first day, being for two points and a belt!
Cactus presented himself to Kawada in a dangerous manner, having no problems with being more aggressive and counting with K.Y. Wakamatsu’s distracting presence at ringside, even if Wakamatsu wouldn’t do a thing. Kawada, on the other hand, had his always imposing figure and fighting style, not afraid to hit hard. And the contest could have ended when Kawada hit a solid Gamengiri, but Cactus kicked out at two and got back up.
Before the 10-minute mark, fists, kicks and forearms were being thrown like it was Texas in the 80s (well, it was Texas in the 90s), and when the bout spilled to ringside, Kawada needed to be cautious, keeping his eye on Cactus’ manager. That cost him, as Cactus took advantage of the champion’s cautiousness, and in a spectacular moment, hit a Lariat on him near the guardrail, causing both to go over it and into the crowd, where the brawl kept going. Both men returned to the ring at 19, avoiding count-out.
In the ring, shortly after, Kawada had the match on his side… or so he thought, having hit a Hook Kick before setting up a Dangerous Kick. But… finally, K.Y. Wakamatsu got to the apron, threatening to hit the champion with the kendo stick. The chickensh*t manager tried to excuse himself for long enough to Jack to regain his composure.
Cactus pulled Kawada for a Double Arm DDT, and followed it up with his Stump Puller Piledriver, now named the Cactus Spine Piledriver. Kwohei Wada counts the pin, reluctantly: 1…2…3!!! Cactus won the AJPW National Openweight Championship in his home country, but the crowd had none of it! And AJPW is none of this!
- Cactus (2 pts.) > Kawada --- (Stump Puller Piledriver - Pin) --- New champion! --- 14:02
- Rating: 86

»» With Toshiaki Kawada down, but having been robbed of his own title, the smart thing for Cactus Jack and the weasily K.Y. Wakamatsu would be to get the hell out of scene. They didn’t, as Cactus grabbed a mic, verbally thrashed the crowd and Kawada himself, dubbing his comeback to AJPW the best thing going. He also made the fans and Giant Baba sure that he won’t defend the title during the Champion Carnival: «Now, Baba, I’m the champion, and in the desert where this Cactus lives, there are no opportunities for anyone until they prove they deserve it! Screw them!»
As the duo was leaving, The Outlaw Stable (minus Dory Funk Jr. and Eddie Gilbert) got to the ring, as Stan Hansen and Terry Funk’s main event match was next. On the way, Hansen congratulated the new champion with a proper Western Lariat that threw the belt to the air. Wakamatsu ran for his life, but to the worst place possible. In the middle of the ring, Kawada was back up, so he caught the man who cost him his gold, with a kick: Folding Powerbomb! K.Y. was really folded in half and a pissed off Kawada left the ring, stomping on Cactus on his away to the back.

X
1993 Champion Carnival – A Block Match
6. Stan Hansen (w/Wild Bunch) vs. Terry Funk (w/Wild Bunch)
The crowd was electric for this bout! The two greatest Texans to lace up a pair of boots were in the ring, while two other served as impartial enforcers at ringside. The crowd of less than 800 was too short for this match, that wasn’t a fresh one, but had a different set-up than any other Hansen vs. Funk ever.
The match started slowly and took a while to evolve, with the two stablemates taking time to explore each other’s weaknesses, Hansen applying his strength to advantage, while Funk went for a more technical approach. And ten, halfway through… all hell broke loose. The desire to win took control of both’s minds and the friendly match turned to a heated contest, fists being thrown like… you guessed it, I’m not finishing the punchline here.
How intense got the match? Well, we had Funk breaking a Bearhug with an Eye Rake and Hansen answering with blind fists that bloodied Funk’s brow, turning his face liquid red. With the match escalating, the mutual pin attempts were probably attempts to cease the fight before The Outlaw Stable completely disintegrated. Funk got one with a Moonsault, Hansen got… some, as Funk began playing the part of the veteran trying to clutch to the match as if his life depended on it.
A hope spot led the fans to actually choose Funk as the favorite of the two, and when he locked the Sleeper Hold, the crowd erupted. For a moment, it seemed unlikely for Hansen to escape… but he did, getting back to his feet with Funk on his back and crushing Funk against the turnbuckle. Then, a stiff Western Lariat connected! 1…2… but Funk kicks out! Unbelievable! So, of course, Hansen got him up for another… and yet another, this one with some major rope-rebound! 1…2…3!!! There’s just no getting up from that, and Hansen racks the two.
- Hansen (2 pts.) > Funk --- (Western Lariat x2 - Pin) --- 20:25
- Rating: 82

»» After the bell, Wild Bunch were slightly cautious getting to the ring, but when they did it, they checked immediately on Funk. Terry was ok. Bruised, but not dead, as he probably will never be. And when he got to his feet – it took a while –, Hansen smiled at him, so both got the band (except Dory and Eddie, of course, they’re already in New York) together for a beer, as usual.
The moment was respected, but after that, Kenta Kobashi made his way to the ring. The ‘Orange Crush’ shook the hands of everyone, as The Outlaw Stable had been his battle buddies in the last couple of months. And then, he locked eyes with Stan Hansen, his next Champion Carnival opponent, just the next Saturday, ending the first-ever AJPW US show in an intense way.

Show Rating: 80

---

The booker's perspective:
»» This show served both to slap me in the face and to surprise me. It started when I realized I'd get less than 1,000 fans in attendance, which made me think I should have run the show in the UK instead, where AJPW is more popular since we bought ASW. The non-tournament matches surprised me, but the two first Champion Carnival clashes were an absolute letdown. So my hopes for Cactus vs. Kawada were low, since the programmed finish was a bit of a cheap one - thank God for the no-style style, though! It was amazing, and so was the main event, so the whole show got a pretty good rating, I'd say. Good, overall.

The show in New York will have free tickets, though. This one should have had free tickets as well.

---