1997 All Japan Real World Tag League Final: Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 12/5/97
These four had another classic match, but not quite as fantastic as their classic one year earlier. Not only was the psychology slightly drier in this match, but the fan heat was also weaker than usual until the last ten or so minutes. Taue piledrove Misawa as television footage began. Misawa did a flip dive off the apron on Taue. Akiyama got the better of Taue in an exchange of moves. He and Kawada did some smooth mat wrestling. Akiyama gave Kawada a dragon screw. Kawada and Taue then dominated Akiyama for a stretch. Kawada stiffed Akiyama with kicks and chops and scored a near fall. Taue DDTd Akiyama. Kawada continued the dominance of Akiyama until Misawa tagged in. Misawa stiffed Kawada with a slew of elbows. Kawada went for a powerbomb but Misawa turned it into a huracanrana. Misawa gained a near fall on Kawada with a tiger driver and another with a tiger splash. Kawada kicked Misawa in the back. Taue German suplexed Misawa but Misawa gave him an elbow. Akiyama gave Taue a jumping knee. Kawada and Akiyama had a stiff exchange of blows and Akiyama hit a jumping knee and an exploder on Kawada. Akiyama gained a near fall on Kawada with an exploder and Misawa gave Taue a tiger driver. Akiyama and Misawa gave Kawada successive German suplexes. Taue gave Misawa a nodowa. Akiyama German suplexed Taue twice for a near fall. Taue German suplexed Akiyama and Kawada gave Akiyama a backdrop driver and a powerbomb for a near fall. Kawada hit Misawa with a jumping kick and applied the stretch plum on Akiyama for a near fall. Kawada gained another near fall on Akiyama with a lariat. Taue gave Akiyama a dynamic bomb for a near fall. Misawa knocked down both opponents with elbows. Taue gave Akiyama a nodowa but Akiyama then gave him an exploder. Taue gave Akiyama a nodowa and a kick to the face for the pin at 30:52 to win the tournament. Not as great as the previous year, but still a super match. ****3/4