I didn’t know this match existed until earlier today, and it was one of those situations where I needed to watch it IMMEDIATELY. Satoshi Kojima is a wrestler that I dig quite a bit, and who just had a fantastic string of performances in the G1 Climax 24. Sadly, a lot of Kojima’s prime is lost on far too many wrestling fans because it took place in All Japan post-NOAH split. For example, this match.
I didn’t know Mitsuharu Misawa ever returned to AJPW after the NOAH split, and I certainly didn’t know that he wrestled Kojima during Kojima’s prime. It’s also before Misawa started to really show the effects of the All Japan style on his body, so this is a pretty impressive showing all around. Except for the part where Misawa fucks up his fake dive taunt. That’s kind of funny and kind of sad simultaneously.
But enough of my ravings, just watch these guys shit-kick each other in a hidden gem from post-NOAH-split All Japan.
Hey there, Jeff. I stumbled upon this post while for Misawa stuff in the Net. I’m really surprised that Misawa actually had another AJPW match apart from the tag team match he had with Mutoh. I’m even more surprised that he had a match against Kojima.
I was much more surprised at the end of the video, when Misawa hit the Tiger Suplex ’91 on Kojima. For Misawa to hit that move must have indicated a certain degree of respect towards Kojima. Just wow.
Thanks for sharing this, man. It was an amazing match.
Hey, thanks for the comment! 2000s AJPW actually has a lot of hidden gems that were overshadowed by how great All Japan was in the ’90s and the really hot NOAH period, and I think this match is definitely one of them.