All Japan 1993 Real World Tag League Final 12/3/93: Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue
Misawa gave Taue some elbows early. Misawa countered a vertical suplex attempt but ran into a Taue boot. Taue atomic dropped Misawa but Misawa then knocked him down with an elbow. Misawa and Kobashi double-dropkicked Taue out of the ring. Kobashi gave Taue a baseball slide kick and Misawa gave him an elbow strike off the apron. Kobashi vertical suplexed Taue for an early near fall and gave him a few chops. Taue fought back with a lariat and gave Kobashi a couple kneelifts. Kawada and Kobashi exchanged chops but Kawada knocked Kobashi down with an elbow. Kawada spin kicked Kobashi for a near fall and Taue dropkicked Kobashi for a near fall. Kobashi fought back with a spinning mule kick and tagged Misawa. Misawa gave Taue a flying lariat for a near fall and applied a chinlock. Kobashi and Taue exchanged chops and Taue vertical suplexed Kobashi. Kawada gave Kobashi a couple roundhouse kicks and a lariat for a near fall. Kawada applied Misawa�s facelock hold on Kobashi. Taue gave Kobashi a few short lariats and Kawada whipped Kobashi into the barricade and slammed him on the floor. Taue then slammed and kicked Kobashi like Kawada did. Kobashi no-sold a couple chops from Kawada but Kawada got the better of him with a kick. Kawada applied a modified half crab. Taue slammed Kobashi for a near fall and gave him a DDT. Kobashi missed a lariat and Taue gave him a nodowa-otoshi for a near fall. Taue dropped Kobashi neck first on the top rope and then head first onto Kawada�s knee. Kawada gave Kobashi a ton of chops to the neck. Kobashi fired back with some chops of his own and kicked Kawada�s left knee, appearing to cause damage in the process. Kawada landed a bunch of knees and chops on Kobashi but Kobashi attacked his left knee with a barrage of punches. Kawada threw a kick with his left leg but it did more harm than good, but did hit Kobashi with a sharp jumping kick. Taue knocked Misawa off the apron and attacked Kobashi but Misawa then knocked him out of the ring with an elbow. Misawa gave Kawada a bunch of elbows but Kawada responded with kneelifts and a slap, but Misawa then knocked Kawada down with an elbow. Misawa gave Kawada a tiger driver for a near fall. He went for a tiger suplex but Taue intervened and Kawada gave Misawa a kick to the head. Kawada gave Misawa a lariat. Taue dropped Misawa head first on the top turnbuckle twice and then dropped both Misawa and Kobashi neck first on the top rope. Kawada high kicked Misawa and Taue attempted a nodowa but Misawa armdragged him. Taue kicked Misawa and he and Kawada gave Misawa a nodowa/back suplex combo for a Taue near fall. Taue powerbombed Misawa for a near fall and whipped him into a Kawada lariat. Misawa fought back with elbows to both opponents. Kobashi gave Taue a ton of chops and a shoulder tackle. Kobashi DDTd Taue twice and dropped him neck first on the top rope. Kobashi legdropped Taue and moonsaulted him for a heated near fall. Taue fought back with some slaps and a modified clothesline on Kobashi. Kawada gave Kobashi a backdrop driver but sold his injured knee huge. Kobashi blocked a backdrop driver attempt and Kawada barely back suplexed him. Misawa gave Kawada a few kicks but Kawada fought back with a spinning savate kick. Kawada German suplexed Misawa but was unable to make the pin attempt because his knee buckled. Kawada applied a stretch plum on Misawa and Kobashi intervened, but Taue cut him off with a sleeper as heat mounted. Kawada gained a near fall and re-applied the stretch plum on Misawa but Kobashi intervened. Kawada attempted to powerbomb Misawa but his knee gave out again. Misawa hit Kawada with an elbow and tagged Kobashi. Kobashi dropkicked Kawada�s left knee and applied a half crab and then a sharpshooter. Taue tried to intervene but Misawa applied a facelock on him. Kobashi powerbombed Kawada for a great near fall but missed a moonsault. Kobashi and Kawada exchanged chops but Kawada scored with some headbutts. Misawa gave Kawada a standing senton and a tiger splash for a near fall. Kawada countered a tiger driver but Misawa then gave him a tiger suplex for a heated near fall. Kobashi dropkicked Kawada and knocked Taue off the apron. Kawada fought back with a jumping kick on Kobashi and hit a second jumping kick but Kobashi struck back with a lariat. Taue tried to intervene but Misawa German suplexed him at the same time as Kobashi German suplexed Kawada for a near fall. Kawada countered a Kobashi powerbomb with a backdrop and Taue back suplexed Kobashi before he could make the tag. Misawa knocked Taue out of the ring with a roaring elbow and flattened Kawada with another roaring elbow. Misawa gave Kawada a released German suplex and hit an elbow suicida on Taue. Kobashi then gave Kawada a backdrop driver for the pin at 24:32. Perhaps the best Real World Tag League Final in the tournament�s history. Just perfect, flawless, sharp work from start to finish. Kobashi was the star of the match, showing the work and intensity that made him arguably the best worker in wrestling in 1993. However, Kawada might have been the best actual worker in this match, as his offense was sharp and stiff, and his selling on defense added so much to the drama and story of the match, which was to elevate Kobashi with his first pinfall win on Kawada. Such a story would have never been as memorable had Kawada not sold his knee as effectively nor hadn�t given Kobashi as much offense as he did. Misawa�s work was very good. While he was clearly the top ranked wrestler from a storyline perspective, he did take a back seat to the aforementioned story. What made Misawa�s work effective was that he was great, yet didn�t overshadow Kobashi and Kawada at all. Taue was the weakest worker and least important piece of the puzzle of this match, but was also solid and didn�t hurt the match. Overall, this match was also great because it never dragged, and was given just enough time to establish and carry out a dramatic storyline. *****
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