Jumbo v Misawa: The Rematch

Jumbo Tsuruta v Mitsuharu Misawa (All Japan, 9/1/90)

Yeah, this is the business. I think if you'd asked me ten years ago where I'd put this on an all time list I'd probably have gone somewhere around the top 20. I guess it's a decent barometer of where I'm at with the pro-wrestling these days because it probably wouldn't be within a hundred spots of that now, but even still it's a cracking match. Ageing star trying to hold onto his place in the world is one of my favourite stories in wrestling and this is mostly an awesome telling of that story. Misawa's already beaten Jumbo once. Jumbo's been blitzed by those elbows and still hasn't quite figured out what to do with all that cruiserweight offence. So he either comes up with some answers or he'll be handing over the reins long before he's ready to. Like the June match I thought the first few minutes were shit hot. Misawa throws his first elbow but Jumbo knows all too well what to expect and gets a block. Jumbo then tries his own and Misawa has that scouted...so Jumbo just knees him in the guts. Last time he couldn't deal with Misawa flying around, so this time he won't let him get the chance. The knees to the body and the clubbering looked good too, so that was a bonus. I thought the middle part meandered a bit, much like in the first match. They worked a few holds and it wasn't as if they sat in them for minutes at a time, but it didn't feel like there was a great deal of urgency to them either. A headscissors, an abdominal stretch, Jumbo wearing Misawa down without it ever really grabbing me. There were a few cool moments sprinkled in, though. They play off the finish to the first match with the roles reversed, this time Jumbo flipping the pin attempt for a nearfall. Misawa had some of that flying to fall back on as well, like his Super Astro headbutt off the turnbuckle, and those elbows were always useful in a pinch. He came across as more of a heavyweight this time, whereas before it was a bit closer to cruiserweight stepping up a division. Then Misawa drills Jumbo in the ear one time too many and Jumbo goes apeshit. He didn't survive two years of Tenryu chopping him in the throat only to have his brains scrambled by the new kid's elbows. The new kid had even been Jumbo's understudy for chrissakes! He just batters Misawa all over the place, slams him over a table, hits him with a chair, dismissively chucks him through the ropes when Misawa makes it back in. The crowd can boo if they want but Jumbo's had enough and it's time for this foolishness to end. Everything that comes after this is pretty tremendous. Jumbo walked that line between desperation and frustration and his progressive selling for Misawa's elbows was amazing. The moment he snapped again and started throwing headbutts was doubly amazing, like a man who'd exhausted all other options and been driven to near frenzy. I loved the spot where Misawa tried the same leap off the turnbuckle from earlier only for Jumbo to finally have it scouted and drive him to the mat. Of course that little glimmer of hope is squashed not long after as Misawa catches him AGAIN coming off the top. It's like whack-a-mole where every time you get rid of one problem another one pops up. Misawa combining his two biggest weapons and hitting an elbow off the top rope was awesome, but I guess it was fitting that he went to the well once too often and it ultimately cost him. He had his own little glimmer after kicking out of the first backdrop, but Jumbo catching him with the lariat as he fires up for another elbow was a fitting way to shut him down for good. There are clear parallels between this and things like Hansen/Kobashi. Jumbo was probably as good in this as Hansen's best with Kobashi, but the best Hansen/Kobashi engaged me way more from start to finish. I think the biggest strengths of both matches is how the young guys came out looking great in defeat while the old dogs showed they weren't ready to step down. It's just that neither victory came decisively and you knew it wouldn't be long before those victories stopped coming altogether. I'd comfortably call this great, but I'm not sure it's what I really want to be watching at this stage in my fandom.