All Japan 10/15/95 Nagoya Commercial Tape

Running Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

This was actually the event that commemorated Giant Baba’s 35th anniversary as a wrestler. On the actual anniversary date (9/30/95), Baba was honored with a large reception where he received gifts from several of the federation’s regulars. This footage took up the first 30 minutes of the tape, and not only did it not mean much, it was not included in the copy of the tape I got. Oh well. Fortunately, the main event was included, and that made the tape worth the price. The first 45 minutes of wrestling footage is pretty worthless since even the undercard looked below average by AJ standards. However, the main event was a classic match and, if you are a fan of the All Japan product, one of those matches that is worth going out of your way to see. It was the only match that aired in its entirety, as the undercard matches were edited to varying extents, which was a smart use of tape time.

1) Masao Inoue vs Maunakea Mossman

They had a nice exchange of basic offense early on. Mossman missed a top rope dropkick. Inoue gained a near fall with a lariat and another with a side suplex. Inoue pinned Mossman at 9:45 with a back suplex. 2:38 aired, and the match looked fine for an opener.

2) Johnny Smith & Rob Van Dam vs Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa

Van Dam hit a moonsault bodyblock off the barricade on Ogawa for a pop. Van Dam gained a near fall on Ogawa with a slingshot legdrop. Smith gained a near fall on Kikuchi with a powerslam. Kikuchi and Smith traded near falls. Kikuchi gained a near fall on Smith with a top rope headbutt. Van Dam hit a top rope superkick on Ogawa and a top rope splash on Kikuchi for a near fall. Kikuchi pinned Van Dam at 15:00 after two German suplexes (4:26 aired). Looked like a decent match in the **1/2 range, but it seemed like they could have done better.

3) Abdullah The Butcher & Kimala 2 vs Mike Anthony & Dory Funk Jr.

All four brawled at the start. Funk hit Kimala with a bunch of his stiff forearm smashes. Funk back suplexed Kimala after Anthony dropkicked him. Funk went for a spinning toehold on Kimala but Abdullah intervened. Abdullah elbowsmashed Anthony for a near fall. He pinned Anthony after a second elbowsmash at 9:36 (4:08 aired). As crappy as could be expected, but fans were into the match.

4) Giant Baba, Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota vs Masa Fuchi, Haruka Eigen & Mighty Inoue

This saw the usual lame offense and comedy from these guys. Baba pinned Fuchi at 17:45 after a Russian legsweep (2:25 aired). I’ve seen worse from these guys, but this was still pretty bad.

5) Jun Akiyama, Takao Omori & Kentaro Shiga vs Jun Izumida, Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue

The work was nothing special early on although Akiyama clearly looked better than the others. Akiyama hit a jumping knee on Izumida and he & Omori gave Izumida a double dropkick. Shiga hit a plancha on Izumida. Omori spin kicked Izumida for a near fall. Shiga took quite a bit of punishment from his opponents. Shiga’s tenacity drew a pop from the crowd but he continued to be pounded by his opponents. Shiga gained a near fall on Izumida with a top rope dropkick and another with a sloppy tornado DDT. Izumida gained a near fall on Shiga with a powerslam as heat picked up. All six brawled in and out of the ring late in the match. Izumida dove onto Shiga off the top rope and pinned him at 15:40 (9:58 aired). An okay match but nothing special. **1/4

6) Stan Hansen, Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs Johnny Ace, Patriot & Gary Albright

Patriot gave Hansen a lariat early. Albright and Ace worked on Hansen’s lariat arm. Patriot dominated Kroffat and gained an early near fall. Furnas gained a couple near falls on Patriot and looked sharp on offense. Hansen attempted a suplex but Patriot countered with one of his own. Patriot powerslammed Furnas and tagged Ace, who lit into all three opponents. Furnas belly to belly suplexed Ace. Hansen DDTd Ace for a near fall. Hansen powerslammed Ace for a near fall but missed a lariat and Ace dropkicked his left (lariat) arm. Kroffat gained a near fall on Ace with a top rope splash. The action picked up in the last two minutes. Albright belly to belly suplexed Kroffat for a near fall and pinned him after a double arm suplex in 14:36 (11:26 aired). Except for the last 90 seconds and a couple other moments, a very flat match- no one seemed to be motivated to pick up the intensity for the others. *1/4

7) All Japan Double Tag Team title: Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (c) vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi

This was the big rematch from their epic four months earlier where Kawada pinned Misawa for the first time. Not at the same level of that match, but close. In terms of pacing and how the match was laid out, the work was flawless. Misawa folded Kawada up with a tiger suplex early on. Taue hit a tope suicida on Kobashi and then gave Misawa a nodowa off the apron to the floor. Misawa sold the nodowa like he was dead. Kobashi dominated Taue for a stretch but Kawada got the best of him on the mat. As Misawa came to and stood up on the floor, Taue attacked him and gave him a DDT on the floor. Taue dominated Kobashi, giving him a stun gun on the ropes and gaining a couple near falls. The champions continued to dominate Kobashi for several minutes. Misawa tried to intervene, but Kawada flattened him with a lariat for his efforts. Taue gained a near fall on Kobashi with a powerbomb at 21:38. Kawada gave Kobashi a backdrop driver for a near fall. After one aborted comeback after another, Kobashi finally tagged in Misawa. Misawa lit into both champions with a flurry of offense and gained a near fall on Taue with a tiger driver. Kawada attempted a comeback, but Misawa elbowed him in the knee, which Kawada sold huge. Misawa locked Taue in a facelock while Kobashi locked Kawada in a sleeper. Kobashi DDTd Taue on the exposed wooden floor using the ringside barricade as a launch pad. Kobashi powerbombed Taue for a dramatic near fall at 30:07. As Misawa was dominating Taue, Kawada locked an armbar on Kobashi for a brief time. Kobashi sold as if his arm had been injured. Misawa and Kawada then had their signature world class exchange, including Kawada gaining a heated near fall with a powerbomb. Kawada locked a cross-armbreaker on Kobashi in a dramatic submission attempt, and Taue also focused his attack on Kobashi's arm. The champions continued to work on Kobashi's damaged left arm until Misawa tagged in. Taue attempted to chokeslam Misawa off the apron again but Misawa blocked the attempt. Taue hit a released German suplex and a nodowa on Misawa for a super near fall. Kawada locked Misawa in a stretch plum for a long time. He went for a powerbomb but Misawa countered with a huracanrana. Kawada tried to attack Kobashi's injured arm but Kobashi countered with a dragon screw, revisiting the storyline of Kawada's injured knee from earlier in the match. Misawa hit an elbow suicida on Taue at 47:00. Kawada German suplexed Kobashi but hurt his knee in the process. Kobashi moonsaulted Kawada for a dramatic near fall. Misawa German suplexed Kawada twice for a near fall. Taue tagged in and got the better of Misawa, giving him a nodowa for a near fall. Misawa countered a Taue dynamic bomb with a huracanrana and gave Taue a tiger driver for a near fall. Misawa also gained a near fall on Taue with a tiger suplex. Kobashi gained a near fall on Taue after a powerbomb and a German suplex. Kawada hit a released German suplex on Misawa for a near fall. Kawada gained a near fall on Kobashi after a koppo kick. Taue gave Kobashi a nodowa on the floor at 56:45 in a desperation move. Kobashi fought back and dragon suplexed Kawada for a near fall. Misawa gave Taue almost a cobra clutch-like German suplex for a great near fall at 59:00. Misawa gained another near fall but time expired at the 60 minute mark. One of the two best 60 minute matches in All Japan history due to its flawless layout. The psychology involving everyone's "injuries" worked like a charm and all four took the audience on a great emotional ride. Kawada and Kobashi were arguably the stars, but Misawa and Taue also made significant contributions. *****

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