All Japan 1995 Carnival Tournament final: Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue 4/15/95
Taue was really fired up for his first Carnival Tournament final and had the best match of his career. In fact, the match was shockingly fantastic to the point that it was perhaps the best Carnival Tournament final in company history. They started out with strong action and Taue hit a tope suicida on Misawa to great heat. Taue dropped Misawa neck-first on the top rope on opposite sides of the ring and applied a dragon sleeper. Taue gave Misawa a DDT for an early near fall. Misawa countered a powerbomb with a huracanrana and finally gained the adcantage at 7:20. He gave Taue his elbow suicida. Misawa pounded Taue with a flurry of elbows and gained a near fall. Misawa gained a near fall on Taue with a back suplex. Taue actually twice raked Misawa's eyes to thwart his offensive attacks. Taue dropkicked Misawa out of the ring and gave him a back suplex off the apron to the floor. Misawa fought back and gained a near fall with a tiger splash at 15:00 and another near fall with a German suplex. Misawa then gave Taue a tiger driver for a dramatic near fall. Taue fought back and gave Misawa a nodowa off the apron to the floor as fans popped a nut screaming so loud. Taue then gained a near fall back in the ring. Taue hit a released German suplex for a great near fall. Taue gave Misawa a dynamic bomb for another great near fall at 21:30. Misawa knocked down Taue with several elbows, but was so out of it himself that his comeback was aborted. He countered a Taue nodowa and hit a desperation running elbow. Misawa gained a near fall after a series of elbows. He gave Taue a released German suplex and then a tiger driver for a very heated near fall. Taue attempted a comeback but Misawa gave him a tiger suplex for another near fall. Misawa gave Taue another tiger suplex and scored the pin at 27:05 to win the tournament. Misawa, who sported a black eye afterwards, was just amazing in carrying Taue to this level. Everything he did was flawless and his work was comparable to his best epic matches against Kobashi and Kawada. *****