223. Akira Taue vs. Toshiaki Kawada, AJPW 6/7/1996
This has the rep of being „disappointing“ because it went a mere 18 minutes. That shows what kind of grandeur 90s AJPW was. This is one heck of a really good match though. I really liked the opening where Kawada seemed to be the superior striker, until Taue just casually shut him down by nuking him with big boots and a German suplex. Taue continued his assault until Kawada was able to snap a Fujiwara Armbar and work his arm. Taue getting fired up and Kawada frantically trying to cut him off was really great. The armwork also led to a fun spot where Taue tried blocking the gamengiri but ended up damaging his shoulder further in the process. Kawada got so pissed at Taue he chopped him in the face. Kawada destroying Taue with kicks to the face in the corner only to get blown away by a Taue shoulderblock and neckbreaker was also fantastic. These two are just a really fun match up with Kawadas vicious kicks vs. Taues lanky powerhouse style. Taue also hit this really great jumping big boot flush in Kawadas face. Punch drunk Taue hitting a weak chokeslam was also great. You know what are getting from these two in 1996, everything made sense and was sensible, and on top of that you get a bunch of neat moments and kicks to the face. I can see this may have been disappointing to the hardcore workrate AJPW fans considering there wasn‘t even a dive or an apron move, but by itself it was a great match.
137. Yoji Anjoh vs. Masakatsu Funaki, UWF 5/28/1990
Funaki was in peak physical condition here and looking like a movie star. Anjoh is a bit flabby and wears these ridiculous purple leopard print tights. And the crowd is absolutely on fire to see Anjoh taking down Funaki! They just came unglued whenever Anjoh was threatening Funaki in the standup. Funaki has some really nice punch combos and does his ducking and diving thing, but man, this is the Anjoh show. For a guy who is famous for being a fantastic prick heel, he is one hell of a tenacious babyface standing up to a bigger wrestler. The mat work is nice as it was that mix of slow lulls with faster, slicker movements, and the whole match had a great build. Really cool moment where Anjoh has Funaki in a cross heel hold and Funaki has to slap him to break out, Funaki had this facial expression as if he really didn't want to continue fighting. Later Anjo lands an insane near KO where Funaki barely makes the 9, and Funaki has a nice desperation moment where he keeps kicking at a downed Anjoh. Crafty finish. A nice reminder of how great peak level shootstyle can be.
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