AJPW 1993 Champion Carnival Day 10
April 7th 1993
Attendance: 12,000 – Tokyo, Kanto, JP
TV Rating: 1.67 [tv Asahi – JP] + 0.17 [ITV – UK] + 0.06 [Fox Sports Networks – US]
Championships and holders» AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship: Mitsuharu Misawa
» AJPW National Openweight Championship: Cactus Jack
» AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship: Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas [Can-Am Express]
» AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Ultimo Dragon
Pre-Show0. Dark Match: Mitsuo Momota & Minoru Tanaka def. Isamu Teranishi & Satoru Asako
- Tanaka > Asako (Wrist-Clutch Fisherman Buster - Pin) --- 6:47
- Rating: 37
Full-Show Recap
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1. Al Perez & Giant Warrior & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Billy Black & Joel Deaton (Wild Bunch) & Ultimo DragonA very pleasant surprise in the opener, specially because Ultimo is an absolute wonderful wrestler. He melted well with everyone, even having some pretty great big man vs. cruiserweight interactions with Warrior. Wild Bunch hit their Aided Texas Piledriver on Perez for the win.
- Deaton > Perez --- (Aided Texas Piledriver - Pin) --- 10:22
- Rating: 79
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2. Giant Baba & Dean Malenko vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshinari Ogawa [Tsuruta-gun]The biggest test in Malenko’s contender-or-die journey. He teamed with an aging semi-active icon against Tsuruta and Ogawa and was fantastic in his technical exchanges with both, that made for most of the match. Malenko submitted Ogawa after 15 minutes with the Texas Cloverleaf, but not before enduring some punishment at the hands of Tsuruta.
- Malenko > Ogawa --- (Texas Cloverleaf - Submission) --- 15:10
- Rating: 74»» Impressed by Dean Malenko’s performance, Giant Baba grabbed a mic and made a decision: the gaijin technician has done more than enough to deserve a shot at the AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Championship. The crowd agreed. And so, at Champion Carnival Finale, he will have a match against Ultimo Dragon for the belt, no matter what.
Then, Malenko became the first man to be pissed off for getting recognition, as he had a quest and wanted it to be respected. He feels that now his title shot will mean less and leaves the ring, taking his wrist tape and throwing it to the ground while leaving.
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1993 Champion Carnival – B Block Match
3. Terry Gordy (6 pts.) vs. Tommy RogersOn a good run, ‘Bam Bam’ didn’t want to lose his momentum, but facing him was a tag team specialist with no wins in the 1993 Champion Carnival yet. Capable of causing some damage, Rogers surprised Gordy in the first minutes of the match.
As simple as the match formula was, it worked perfectly, as it all got to a point where this was somewhat of a big man vs. smaller man battle with the bigger one overwhelming Rogers. In the end, Gordy gained two more points after a Backdrop Driver.
- Gordy (8 pts.) > Rogers --- (Backdrop Driver - Pin) --- 11:12
- Rating: 80
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1993 Champion Carnival – B Block Match
4. Dory Funk Jr. (w/Wild Bunch) vs. Eddie Gilbert (w/Wild Bunch) (2 pts.)The friendliest match of this B Block opposed two members of The Outlaw Stable looking for some points to take them off the bottom places of the standings. Wild Bunch were at ringside to watch their stablemates.
It was a nice contest, with Dory Jr.’s preferential technical style melting nicely with Gilbert’s all-round offence. Both were able to create some trouble to each other and ‘Hot Stuff’ was on the verge of tapping out to the Spinning Toe Hold. He didn’t and, once again, he ended up racking two more points, after managing to hit the Hot Shot DDT.
- Gilbert (4 pts.) > Funk Jr. --- (Hot Shot DDT - Pin) --- 13:40
- Rating: 73»» In the ring, The Outlaw Stable made everyone sure there was no bad blood between them after the match. The members of the group present in Tokyo shared a beer, as it’s kind of their usual. Then, the winner, Eddie Gilbert, even got emotional, thanking Dory Funk Jr., as well as «our other mentors», Terry Funk and Stan Hansen for their work in motivating Wild Bunch and, specially, himself. He also vowed to make them proud for the rest of 1993’s Champion Carnival.
What a change Gilbert’s having.
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1993 Champion Carnival – B Block Match
5. Steve Williams (8 pts.) vs. The Gladiator (4 pts.)A hoss fight, from top to bottom. The Gladiator was decided to make everyone and specially ‘Dr. Death’ forget about his loss to Gilbert on Day 8. And so, he entered the match looking to hurt his opponent, which he did. Not a small man either, the truth is that after some minutes, Williams was a babyface in danger.
The match eventually got more balanced and Williams recovered some momentum, throwing Gladiator around with two Gutwrench Suplexes. Near the end, the two wrestlers were really bruised and having trouble to stay on their feet. No one really controlled the action, but Williams attempted an Oklahoma Powerslam. Bad choice.
The Gladiator reversed it and hit a Big Boot, almost kicking Williams’ head off. Then the monster powerhouse went for the kill: Gladiator Bomb! Not done, he climbed to the top turnbuckle, not wasting time: Gladiator Splash! 1…2…3! The Gladiator got one of the biggest wins of his career!
- Gladiator (6 pts.) > Williams (8 pts.) --- (Gladiator Splash - Pin) --- 16:57
- Rating: 79»» After the match, it was ‘Dr. Death’ Steve Williams to appear to be very pissed due to the loss. But someone else was entering scene: Terry Gordy passed by his former teammate but didn’t waste time. He got to the ring to come face-to-face with The Gladiator. The two behemoths and, likewise, probably the two most aggressive men in AJPW were standing face-to-face. Of course, then they shoved each other and the Projects rushed to the ring, thinking they needed to prevent a third World War… which didn’t happen. But it might, at Day 12!
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1993 Champion Carnival – B Block Match
6. Akira Taue (6 pts.) vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (6 pts.)The main event of Battle Ready was repeated exactly one month later and Tsuruta-gun’s Taue looked to have a different outcome here, one that favored him. The match started slowly, of course, as Misawa was more than aware that Taue was going to be even a bigger challenge here.
And when he could, the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion tried to go for the move that changed it all one month ago when possible: the Bridging German Suplex, which, while not a finisher at Battle Ready, made Taue weak enough for the definitive finish. The big man was aware of that, and he prevented it. At the same time, he kept imposing his physical presence to Misawa, which could put him in the driver seat of the match. And when he hit a surprise Nodowa Otoshi, the crowd gasped! 1…2… but Misawa managed to kick out!
The match progressed and Misawa gained some control back. Both men were targeting each other’s back, Taue even trying to pull any Chokeslam variation out of nowhere. But it was harder now and Misawa was the one to get the upper hand out of a great sequence, finally hitting a Bridging German Suplex! 1…2… Taue kicked out, but Misawa had the same plan of Battle Ready. He went for the Rolling Elbow, but Taue ducked! And he went for the Dynamic Boot, but then it was the champion ducking! When Taue got back up: Rolling Elbow! That was it! Misawa ended the match with the Tiger Driver ’91 after an incredible finish.
- Misawa (8 pts.) > Taue (6 pts.) --- (Tiger Driver ‘91 - Pin) --- 22:09
- Rating: 81»» After the match, Mitsuharu Misawa grabbed a microphone, like he did at Battle Ready. Then, he had said he was sure that Akira Taue would win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship one day. Here, after Taue got up, Misawa went a step further, claiming the man would be one of the pillars of AJPW for years to come.
This time, Jumbo Tsuruta was nowhere to be seen and the message behind that was clear: Taue is his own man, even if part of Tsuruta-gun. Misawa told Taue that he knows the mathematics aren’t in his favor for the 1993 Champion Carnival’s final standings, but he’s sure that in 1994, Taue will be in the competition far stronger.
Taue swallowed his pride and shook Misawa’s hand, ending Day 10 with a high level of respect.
Show Rating: 80
Last Days’ Recap:»»
WWF – April 7th: Wrestlemania IX was… odd. WWF’s biggest PPV of the year was good, though, being headlined by a clash over the WWF World Championship that ended with The Undertaker retaining over Ric Flair. The best match of the night, however, was a surprising Big Bossman vs. Mr. Perfect that saw the cop pinning Hennig. Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice continued their dominant path of destruction as top babyfaces, beating the arrogant duo of Bret Hart and Rick Martel.
B Block League Field
Prediction Contest (Day 9 and 10) - Results:Asaemon - 6/8
Frank Reed - 5/8
kyegds - 5/8
marc91 - 7/8
Purotastic - 7/8
The winner is:
No one! Marc, Puro... can you guys imagine if one of you HADN'T bet on underdog veteran Dory Jr.?... you screwed up, guys...
