Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, Cliff Morgan's Wrestling Vault proudly brings to you, fellow believers in balletic brawls;
Weekly Watchlist 053, the 1 Year Special!
Yes folks, you're reading that correctly. This post marks one full year of the Wrestling Vault! My first post was June 18, "Welcome to the Vault" and my first edition of the Weekly Watchlist was June 22! When I was scheduling things out this month, I initially thought post 052 would mark a full year, with their being 52 weeks to a year. But when I went back and checked the dates, I had to push this post ahead a week! Glad I got that all sorted out!
Now some of you may be asking, "what does a one year special look like?" Well, to be honest, not a whole lot different from a regular post! But where this one differs slightly, is that I've decided to deep dive not only one of my favourite matches, but a match considered to be one of the best tag matches of all time! It's another one match special this week but trust me when I tell you, two would be WAY too much this week.
Also, did you guys check out my Five Star Friday post yesterday? It's post number one of a series I'll be working on from time to time as matches come up and I have the time. Post 1 took me weeks of writing and months of prep, mostly because I wasn't sure how I wanted it formatted, but I think I'll be able to make them a semi regular post once I get a better feel for them.
Enough talk! Let's get into this weeks review!
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| AJPW |
Weekly Roundup
Here's what I watched for the week;
Match of The Year Tournament
Recently, a friend of mine was pitching me ideas for the Vault recently and told me about a book tournament bracket she has. She reads like I watch wrestling, it's nuts, so she keeps track of her books and narrows them down to figure out the best book she read that year. I rolled the idea around (it's a running work in progress) and decided to give it a try!
So, after a year of the Wrestling Vault, I am happy to announce that I will be starting the...
Cliff Morgan's Wrestling Vault Match of the Year Tournament!
(shortened to Match of the Year Tournament from here on out)
On the second Monday of each month, I'll be posting brackets for the best matches I watched that month. Like everything else on the Vault, it may not necessarialy be a match from this year. But if one makes it through, I'll be sure to give it the flowers it deserves. Using my Matches of the Month posts as qualifiers, I've decided to narrow down what matches will make it to the pre-quarterfinals to three as two seems far too limiting.
I'll also be splitting the year up to make things easier to organize.
A Block - January and February
B Block - March and April
C Block - May and June
D Block - July and August
E Block - September and October
F Block - November and December
I'll be announcing which matches make it through the tournament in my monthly Match of the Year Tournament posts, with the finalist of the Winter and Spring bracket going on to face the winner of the Summer and Autumn bracket to decide what the best match I watched this year was.
I've retroactively completed the Winter Bracket for 2025, with the Spring Bracket currently in progress. It's looking to be a tight race and June is really going to need to put in a good shift to try and make it through to the semifinals.
But, that's enough about the tournament! I'll be making a post with all the rules at the start of July, a week prior to the tournament actually starting. Hopefully, I'll have worked out all the kinks by then.
• • • • •
Holy Demon Army vs. Super Generation Army - AJPW Super Power Series 1995 - Day 15 - 06/09/1995
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| A clash of titans - AJPW |
Knowing that this post was going to celebrate one year of the Wrestling Vault, I wanted to do a match that was really special.
Something that really fit the bill of celebrating a year of doing this
silly blog. So, I took to my spreadsheet. More specifically, the sheet
where I keep track of every 5 star match I've watched this past year.
I've got 171 entries in there and a lot of them have already been
covered on the Wrestling Vault in some way; 54 to be exact. But one of
them has eluded my coverage since I first watched it. One such match
stands head and shoulders above the rest. One of these matches feels so
significant to wrestling I love and cherish, that I'd be doing everyone a disservice for not covering it this week.
The match in question is one that is often cited as the greatest tag team match of all time, featured in the June 9th AJPW Super Power Series 1995 main event. Pitting Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue, better known as the Holy Demon Army, against the defending AJPW World Tag Team Champions Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi, better known as the Super Generation Army. All four members of All Japan's "Four Pillars of Heaven" are featured here and are at the top of their game. It's an incredible match that clocks in just a few minutes shy of 45 minutes and by god, was I hooked for every second.
Before we get right into this, I want to give a quick little rundown of each member of the Four Pillars. I know it's going to be a rehash for a lot of you, but I haven't had a chance to talk about all four members in one post like this before. All four have had their time in the spotlight on the blog, but never all four together. Bear with me for a minute.
Mitsuharu Misawa - By 1995, Misawa was firmly established as the ace of All Japan. Taking over the position after Jumbo Tsuruta in 1990, Misawa was a stoic icon. He was violent and brutal between the ropes and took the punishment just as readily as he dished it out, never showing much more than a grimace on his calm visage of stone. Misawa was as resilient as they came and had a career defined by self-sacrifice and unwavering commitment. His position at the top was not only accepted but applauded by All Japan faithful.
Kenta Kobashi - Despite closley following Misawa for most of his career, Kobashi was always a few rungs below his tag team partner. For everything he lacked (which wasn't an awful lot), he more than made up for with his unrelenting spirit. Kobashi would always be taken right to the very limit, the point where surely he'll give in, only to push the limit further and further away, his heart refusing to give in. As big of a babyface as their ever was, Kobashi knew he had to keep the crowd with him through sheer drama and heart alone.
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| Misawa & Kobashi - AJPW |
Toshiaki Kawada - Best known for his bitter attitude and vicious strikes, Kawada was danger personified. He had this rebellious, resentful air about him that gave you a feeling of unease when you saw him lay into his opponent, like he was actually trying to hurt his opponent. Like everything that has ever gone wrong in Kawada's life is because of whoever he's in the ring with and he's going to make them pay with interest. Maybe it was that he was always seen as second fiddle to whoever he's paired with that made Kawada this way, he always crossed the ropes with the intent to prove that he was not someone that was going to be overlooked.
Akira Taue - The fourth, and sometimes seen as the black sheep of the four pillars. He didn't have the silent charisma of Misawa, the unyielding soul of Kobashi, or the resentful heart of Kawada. What Taue had, was this enigmatic feeling of timing and chaotic violence. He knew how to dish out the exact amount of punishment right when it was needed. Sometimes referred to as "the son of Baba," he stood only 3 inches taller than Misawa and Kobashi at 6'4" but moved and looked in every way the same as a shrunken down 6'10" Baba. Taue was never graceful but he didn't need to be when he hit you as hard and as violently as he did. Taue was the kind of guy to stand in the back of the group as an enforcer. Not always sharing the spotlight with the rest of the pillars, but never out of place among them.
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| Kobashi & Taue - AJPW |
So, now that we're fully caught up with all the players involved, let's get into this thing, shall we?
As I mentioned before, this match is the main event of day 15 of AJPW's Super Power Series 1995 with the tag titles on the line. The Holy Demon Army make their way to the ring first, with the Super Generation Army following close behind. The themes of Kawada, "Holy War," and Misawa, "Spartan X," play each team to the ring, respectively. With Misawa's theme encouraging the crowd to chant "Mi-sa-wa! Mi-sa-wa!" as soon as the first notes rip through the speakers. Noticeable as soon as the champions enter the ring, aside from their gold, is how bandaged Kobashi's knee is. His left leg is wrapped from the knee nearly to his hip, only a few inches of skin visible between his trunks and the white wrap. The severity of it here is up in the air as I can't find a straight answer online, but Kobashi has always had knee problems, so its safe to assume his wheel is pretty flat for this match.
The injury we can't see, however, is right on Misawa's face. In my first edition of Wrestling Roulette, I talked about a match between Taue and Misawa on 04/15/1995 where Taue focused on the face of Misawa. A few months prior to that outing, Misawa actually injured his orbital in a tournament but powered through, his injury no secret to anyone. A few months on now and, despite given more time to heal, his face is nowhere near 100%, even without the knowledge that these guys lived with the mindset of "tape me up, give me some pills, and I'll go out there and work a 60 minute main event through the pain."
All of this is to say that the Super Generation Army is fighting at less than 100%, with the Holy Demon Army now at a clear advantage, even without factoring in that Taue and Kawada have no qualms zeroing in on an injury if it means they'll get ahead.
You could argue this match can be split into three acts, and I'll make sure to point them out as we go along, with the first act starting with the bell ringing. It's Kobashi and Taue starting things off, a respectful, slow opening to what would be a drawn out war of attrition. The lock up to the chorus of "Ko-ba-shi! Ko-ba-shi!" chants, being the first man to land a strike, chopping Taue across the chest. They're evenly matched at the start with shots back and forth, with Taue trying to wring out the arm of Kobashi but he's able to fight through it. He twists Taue's arm around to break but Taue gets a cheap shot in before relasing the hold, going for the leg of Kobashi early on. They break as Kobashi's face starts to curl as if to say "really? We're gonna have THAT kind of match tonight?!" If only he knew how bad things were going to be.
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| Really? REALLY?! AJPW |
He shakes and slaps some feeling back into his leg, backing Taue into the corner and resuming his gunshot like chops before tossing Taue to the opposite corner and following close behind. Whatever he was going for is thwarted quickly as Taue catches Kobashi by the head and drills him with a quick bulldog, tagging in Kawada after getting to his feet. He takes the fight to Kawada as well, but he merely absorbs his chops and looks him dead in the eye, holding the top rope and asking for more. Kawada is able to put Kobashi on the ropes and lay into him with chops of his own, with his own Irish whip reversed to the detriment of Kobashi. Thinking on his feet, Kawada feeds Misawa his boot to send him flying off the apron, dismissively walking away as Kobashi checks on his teammate.
Misawa isn't down for long however, back on the apron and tagging in to face arguably his greatest rival. Having come up short against Misawa in their legendary 06/03/94 match of a lifetime, Kawada had yet to beat Misawa in 1 on 1 action (fun fact! Out of their 21 singles matches together, Kawada only came out on top in 3 of them!) so the chip on Kawada's shoulder must have felt like a boulder. Again, it's a strike exchange with the pace picking up considerably. Dropkicks and jumping kicks abound, with another boot from Kawada sending Kobashi to the floor. This time, Kobashi is back up quickly and storms the ring, with Taue in to support Kawada as both teams go nose to nose, the referee doing his best to ease tempers.
Kawada tags out for Taue to square off with Misawa now, with a forearm shot out of the corner sends Taue crashing to the canvas. Kobashi is back in again with the intensity cranked up past lockups and tests of strength to punishing strikes and draining holds. Kobashi brings Taue to his corner and tags Misawa in again, looking to wear down Taue and tag frequently to ensure both men are as fresh as possible. Taue gets sent to the outside with Misawa lining him up for a dive but Taue moves at the last second, with Misawa saving himself as only he can. He flips back inside as Kobashi flies off the apron to crack Taue with a forearm, Misawa cutting off an intruding Kawada with a forearm to the jaw. Kobashi holds Taue in place so Misawa can fly and land his elbow suicida. The Super Generation Army is on a roll.
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| With the grace of a tiger. AJPW |
Act one of this match doesn't last for very long, I'd argue, only about 10 minutes. With act two starting when both Kobashi and Kawada are in the ring again. Kawada wastes no time, firing off kicks that are as giving as a home run strike in baseball to the injured leg of Kobashi. If act one was the escalating tensions between these teams, act two is the destruction of Kenta Kobashi.
The kicks weaken his foundation, while forearms and a boot to the head bring him down, but Kibashi keeps getting to his feet and fighting back, each time he relies on his bad wheel for support, he crumples from the pain. Kawada again focuses in on the knee, dropping his own on the back of his leg before twisting and stretching Kobashi in, what I can only describe as a very high angle pin. Kawada is standing over Kobashi and hyper extending his knee and, as a result of the angle, his shoulders are close to the canvas, but they aren't the focus of Kawada's fury.
Taue is in and picks up from where his partner left off, kicking the leg before tying him up in a sharpshooter. Kobashi powers up and pulls himself for the ropes, but Taue pulls him to centre again, but Kobashi refuses to give in. Misawa calls for Kobashi, giving him a sense of direction in the fog of war, but he may as well be five miles away while in the corner of the Holy Demon Army, with Taue and Kawada making frequent tags between focusing in on the screaming injury of Kobashi.
Marcifully, Kobashi is able to fall into his corner and tag in Misawa, taking it to Taue before trying to send Kawada off the apron to turn the tide of battle, but Kawada is one step ahead and climbs off the apron of his own accord. When Misawa goes to send Taue into the ropes, his whip is reversed as he goes across the ring instead. He catches the top rope to half his momentum, turning on a dime and firing off a forearm to Kawada that drops him off the apron, his receipt coming when he least expected it.
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| Gotcha! AJPW |
Kawada takes a second to recover from the out-of-nowhere blow while Misawa holds Taue down with a Boston crab in the centre, the larger frame of Taue proving to be a disadvant- holy shit! As calmly as a dad walking out to get the morning paper, Kawada walks back inside the ring and kicks Misawa square in the face! Receipts for receipts now?! He doesn't even need to referee to tell him to get out, he waltzes right back to his corner as cool as ever. This single kick turns the tide for the Holy Demon Army, with Kawada tagging back in and focusing on the actual injury to Misawa's orbital bone. Kicks, knees, forearms, a veritable assault in the corner by Kawada.
Misawa is able to fight out and fend Taue off as he climbs in for support- but not for very long. Kobashi gets in and goes for Kawada, with Taue grabbing Misawa by the face and driving him to the canvas. Kobashi is lighting up the chest of Kawada. Too focused to realize Taue has zeroed in on his leg before firing off a dropkick, he drops Kobashi like a shot. As I said before, Taue may not be as graceful as the others, but when you're as precise and patient as a sniper, you don't need to be.
It's bedlam now with all four men still in the ring and going at each other. Kawada assaults Misawa in the face with his signature kicks. Misawa fires off a salvo of his signature forearm shots, and Taue snags Misawa by the face again with another variation of his nodowa otoshi, or choke slam as it translates to. Kobashi fights back but Taue takes out his leg before spiking it into the canvas, leaving him prone and writhing in agony. Suddenly, Taue snatches Misawa by the throat, this time drilling him with a proper nodowa otoshi onto Kobashi's leg!
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| What are friends for? Not this, that's for sure. AJPW |
A top rope double knee drop from Kawada doubles down on the punishment as Kobashi is flailing around in pain, surely thinking that amputation would be a less painful way to ease his suffering. He falls to the floor with members of the SGA tending to him, leaving Misawa alone in the middle. The assault continues on unabated, a knee drop and a roll of snake eyes from Taue keeping the punishment to Misawa's face constant. Kawada tags in now and spots Kobashi pulling himself up to the apron, ignoring the prone Misawa to drive his boot into the face of Kobashi, sending him back out to the floor.
Kawada pulls Misawa to his feet and pulls him in for a powerbomb, surely thinking they have this match well in hand by now. What he fails to notice is Kenta Kobashi rising from the dead. He's back in the ring, one leg barely able to work, but he forces his body forward. He fires off a chop to Kawada and nearly buckles from the impact, but catches himself. Only for Taue to climb in the ring and send Kobashi back to the floor with a boot to the skull. Kawada lands his powerbomb as Taue bends Kobashi's knee over the top of the rail, but he still rolls inside the ring to save Misawa, caught in the clutches of a Kawada Stretch Plum.
Taue fires off another boot, but Kobashi stands firm! Taue takes off the ropes for another kick but Kobashi is close enough to the ropes to catch himself on the fall, rebounding and firing off a lariat! He cracks Kawada in the head with punches, breaking the Stretch Plum but turning the ire of Kawada to him instead of Misawa. They trade strikes in the middle until both men fire off a lariat, both hitting the canvas.
It's tough to nail down when things hit their third act, but I feel like you can gauge it by the crowd. The reaction to Kobashi surviving Taue's boots before taking it to Kawada into the double down was thunderous. People are screaming, clapping and stomping their feet like mad and it's pretty clear to anyone watching that this is the point in the match where the fans know the end could come at any second, so they are on the hook for every single near fall. Act two was the destruction of Kobashi, act three is where the rubber really meets the road. Where only the strong survive.
This is also where things turn into peak kings road style wrestling. Where the most violent, brutal, heinous strikes are merely a transition to something even more violent, brutal or heinous. The strikes get harder, the slams more impactful, the will to survive pushing these four men further and further beyond. None more than Kobashi, lest we forget the fact that he's basically fighting with one leg.
Kawada gets a break as Taue tags in, taking little shit and giving none back. He absorbs chops from Kobashi in the corner and dismissively shoves him to the canvas not once, but twice. He lumbers around and keeps the pressure on Kobashi as he backs him into the corner, landing Baba-esque chops to the skull, only to get taken down with a charging lariat from Kobashi out of the corner. Seeing his partner struggle to lift Taue, Misawa climbs inside and hooks the other arm of Taue, helping Kobashi take him down with a double Tiger Bomb!
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| Double Tiger style. AJPW |
Double team offence from the SGA gives Kobashi the confidence to plant Taue with a bodyslam before moving to the corner, ascending one rope at a time as gingerly as ever. Kawada is back on the apron in a flash after rolling to the floor from a double lariat, kicking Kobashi in the mush to thwart his plans. Misawa tags in to give Kobashi time to recover and the assault continues. He tries the Tiger Driver but Taue back body drops him, only for Misawa to land on his feet! He cracks both Taue and an invading Kawada with rolling elbows that drop both of them flat. The Emerald Emperor shoots to kill every time he fires off his elbow strike.
With Taue all alone after Kawada rolls to the apron, he hooks the arms and flips him over, drilling him with a Tiger Driver, but Taue survives. Taue is sat n the ring now, recovering from the impact as Misawa snatches his head and arm, wrenching and grinding with Kawada's signature submission hold, the Stretch Plum. Kawada breaks the hold but Misawa fights him back, sending him to the ropes where Kobashi is waiting, snatching him in a sleeper hold! Misawa moves back to Taue and stretches him again, both members of the Holy Demon Army trapped, unable to help their partner escape.
Kawada looks to be out but he has enough life in him to fight out and go after Misawa, ripping him off Taue and driving him into the mat with a back suplex. He's back on the apron now, begging for Taue to crawl for the tag, but Kobashi appears from out of nowhere! He sprints across the ring and crashes into Kawada with a huge shoulder tackle that sends him flying into the metal guardrail! Heb tags in and wears Taue down some more, a German suplex scoring him a close two count. Again, he bodyslams Taue in an attempt to moonsault and again, Kawada intercepts, ripping Kobashi off the ropes. He's tagged in now and tries a back suplex on Kobashi, but he's able to counter it into a crossbody and another close two count.
Everything at at this point could end it, and everyone knows it. The four men in the ring, the referee, and especially the crowd, brought to a fever pitch with every high impact move.
Kobashi tries for the moonsault a third time, this time with Taue intercepting as Misawa gets in the ring to keep a rising Kawada busy. He drops him with a bodyslam and ascends to the top much quicker, going for a splash. Again, Kobashi goes for the moonsault and Kawada starts to rise, but Misawa is in the ring in a flash. He drops him with a bodyslam and a senton, making sure Kawada can't escape, this time Kobashi ascends to the top; and he takes flight! He crashes into Kawada with the moonsault and covers him, but somehow he survives.
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| He nails it! AJPW |
As Kobashi starts to recover, it looks like he may have flew too close to the sun with that move, only able to crawl and roll to Misawa for the tag. Misawa hooks Kawada for a Tiger Suplex and then a Tiger Driver after Kawada makes it to the ropes, ultimately drilling him with a simple German suplex for his efforts. Again, Taue tries to intercept and again, Misawa drops him, the assist from a limping Kobashi enough for Misawa to score a dangerously close two count off a Tiger Suplex. He wastes no time after that kickout, pulling Kawada up and around, hooking him and drilling him with the Tiger Driver.
The referee counts one, then two, then th- no! Taue has fought out of Kobashi's grip and breaks up the cover, assaulting the orbital of Misawa right away before planting him with a nodowa otoshi! With malice in his mind, he sits Misawa on the top rope with the choke grip, but Kobashi pummels Taue from behind, trying to save Misawa from certain doom. His efforts proved to be in vain, with Kawada kicking Kobashi in the leg and dropping him like a stone, leaving the air space clear form Taue to send Misawa flying into the canvas with a top rope nodowa otoshi! Taue returns to the apron to wait for the tag, the damage done.
Kawada kicks Misawa back in the centre and the impact sends him rolling to the apron, Taue slowly lumbering over to his fallen adversary. Again, he pulls Misawa to his feet and again he snatches him by the throat. Limping to save his partner, Kobashi refuses to give in, fighting off Taue but Kawada is on him in a flash, a single kick droppign Kobashi as Taue goes for the grip again. Kawada comes in with a short lariat to the back of Misawa's head, the impact enough to stun him long enough for Taue to take him off the apron and crashing to the floor with a huge nodowa otoshi. Good lord.
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| Taking the shot, even if he can't afford it. AJPW |
Now, only able to crawl, Kobashi makes his way around the floor to his fallen partner, laying across him to stop Taue from doing further damage. This doesn't stop Taue from still inflicting damage, as he instead starts to assault Kobashi. He pulls him to his feet and dismissively tosses him aside, Taue rolling Misawa back inside for Kawada to pin him, but Misawa keeps rolling! From one side of the ring to another, Misawa goes from apron to apron and falls outside again, the only respite he can find is on the floor. Kawada follows him and tosses him in the ring, immediately covering him but only scoring two. Damn.
Kawada pulls Misawa to the middle again and sets him up for the powerbomb, with Misawa doing everything he can to fight it, but for how long? Knowing this, Kobashi crawls through the ropes and over to his partner, latching onto his leg to ground him. Taue is in quickly to rip Kobashi off, landing a nodowa otoshi the same time Kawada is able to drill Misawa with a powerbomb! Again he covers and again, iut's only two. Kawada then does what, honestly, every single pro wrestler in the world should do. If your best move didn't put the guy away, just hit it again! Another powerbomb attempt but Misawa gets free. He's flat out on the canvas, hardly any gas left in the tank, and Kawada knows it.
He follows Misawa and lays the boots into him, over and over he stomps his chest. Desperate now, Kobashi crawls across the ring and lays across Misawa, absorbing the shots from Kawada to save his partner, his friend. Taue is there now and joins the assault, the Holy Demon Army pulling Kobashi off Misawa like a grieving wife who refuses to leave her dying husband. He's shouting for Misawa to get up as Taue and Kawada drag him to the middle, killing him with a back drop driver/nodowa otoshi combo.
Misawa is all alone now, with Kawada playing with his foot. A gamengiri kick to the face, a back drop driver, another gamengiri and another powerbomb, he tries to fight back but his attempts are all in vain as Kawada lays across him after the powerbomb. Kobashi is trying to crawl and save Misawa, but Taue has his leg trapped, unable to break up the final pinfall.
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| Mercifully, the end. AJPW |
The Holy Demon Army win and are crowned the All Japan Pro Wrestling World Tag team Champions, dethroning the Super Generation Army.
Mother of god, what a match. I always find a new level of apprecieation for a match when I break it down and really dissect it like this, and I think I've fallen in love with this match all over again. The three distinct acts, the damage done to Kobashi, the precise and violent attacks of the Holy Demon Army, the valiant efforts from Kobashi and Misawa. All of it, everything in this match is perfect. You don't need long, drawn out moments of dialogue or "OH MY GOD" faces to the camera to convey drama and storytelling, true pros can do it with their bodies and the moves done between the ropes. This match is proof of that.
• • • • •
Wow, what a year it's been. Hard to believe I was sat at my desk just over a year ago making this blog with the simple idea that "maybe I'll watch some matches and talk about them on here every so often. Just to get my thoughts out." I'm sure a lot of people thought it would fizzle out or get neglected after a while, but I proved all of them wrong. Even me! I didn't have any expectations for myself going into this but now, it's something I'm so passionate about and want to give as much time and energy as is realistically possible.
To each and every person who has taken the time to read, help proofread and edit, listen to Tapping Out, given me a second of feedback, or even clicked a post to realize "eh, not for me," you have done more for me than I can ever hope to thank you for. But know each post I write is with you in mind and you keep me going each and every day.
Even if I haven't gotten a single goddamn email yet.
Bitter? Me?! Never! ...
cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com
Next week, we embark on year two of the Wrestling Vault! A year that will see a lot of growth, change, and evolution for the blog. I hope you'll come along with me.
Until then, take it easy friends.
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