All Japan TV 5-6-93 Kawada vs Fujinami!

[Chitohausen]

Sanctioned by the Pacific Wrestling Federation; Lord James Blears, chairman


Airs across Japan on Saturday, May 6, 1993 on:




Taped on April 21, 1993 at Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan



Announcers: Kenji Wakabayashi and Kosuke Takeuchi
Ring Announcer: Takashi Yamada
Referees: Red Shoes Unno, Tiger Hattori and Kyohei Wada



KENJI WAKABAYASHI and KOSUKE TAKEUCHI open the show.

They welcome us to this week’s episode of “All Japan Pro Wrestling”!

This week, we’ll see a tie-breaker between Steve Williams and Terry Gordy! Both men finished tied for third place with 19 points, so this match will determine who finishes the Carnival in third place!

We’ll see another match in the rivalry between All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling, as Triple Crown champion Mitsuharu Misawa teams with Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi to face the New Japan trio of Riki Choshu, Masahiro Chono and Kensuke Sasaki!

And in our main event, the winner of the Champion Carnival and top contender to the Triple Crown, Tatsumi Fujinami, will square off with Misawa’s right hand man, Toshiaki Kawada!


CHAMPION CARNIVAL, 3RD PLACE TIE-BREAKER:
“DR. DEATH” STEVE WILLIAMS defeats TERRY “BAMM BAMM” GORDY. The World tag team champions square off against each other to determine which one of them will finish the Champion Carnival in third place. This match is what you would expect from these two, they pummel each other mercilessly!

As the match progresses, Gordy gains the upper hand, but Doc won’t stay down, he keeps battling back. In the end, Williams turns things around and drives Gordy into the mat with the Oklahoma Stampede for the 1, 2, 3!


We see short highlights of some of the matches from Super Battle in Tokyo Dome on May 3 that weren’t taped for TV. Bam Bam Bigelow destroys the veteran Haruka Eigen after hitting a slingshot splash, followed by a diving headbutt! Then we see clips of a great junior heavyweight tag team match, as Great Sasuke and Ultimo Dragon defeat Shinjiro Ohtani and Masanobu Fuchi after an Asai Moonsault from Dragon on Ohtani! And finally, Kensuke Sasaki, the Power Warrior, pins Rusher Kimura after a scoop brainbuster!

The next two weeks of TV will feature matches from that historic show on May 3 from the Tokyo Dome! Next week, we’ll see Sting battle Riki Choshu! The Miracle Violence Connection defend the World tag team titles against Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada! And the feature bout will see Giant Baba and Genichiro Tenryu defend the honour of All Japan against Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami!

Then, on May 20, Tiger Mask III looks to finally get a win over Jushin Thunder Liger! Scott Norton returns to Japan to battle the fiery youngster Kenta Kobashi! And, the feature bout will see a “Dream match” for the Triple Crown, as champion Mitsuharu Misawa puts the belts on the line against the Great Muta!


AJPW VS NJPW, 6-MAN TAG:
RIKI CHOSHU & MASAHIRO CHONO & KENSUKE SASAKI defeat MITSUHARU MISAWA & KENTA KOBASHI & TSUYOSHI KIKUCHI. This is a hard-hitting, back and forth match that sees plenty of offense from both teams. Misawa and Choshu are evenly matched, so whenever they’re in together, neither man has a clear advantage, but if they’re in with one of their other opponents, they usually dominate the match.

In the end, Choshu gets the win for his team, locking Kikuchi in the Scorpion Lock for the submission.


TATSUMI FUJINAMI beats TOSHIAKI KAWADA. This 20-minute match airs in full on TV. Kawada explodes right out of the gate, taking the fight to Fujinami as soon as the bell sounds, and Fuji finds himself flat on the mat before he even knows what hit him! Kawada keeps the pressure on, not giving the Dragon a chance to get any offense going.

However, the tables turn when Fujinami catches Kawada’s leg as he goes for a kick. Fujinami delivers a Dragon Screw legwhip, and just like last week against Kawada’s tag team partner Akira Taue, this damages the knee of Kawada, giving Fujinami the upper hand!

Kawada’s kicks are one of his best assets, and by hurting the leg, Fujinami seems to have taken that away from Toshiaki. However, Dangerous K fights through the pain, and continues to hit stiff kicks, even though the expression on his face shows that it’s causing him tremendous pain.

Fujinami keeps going back to the injured leg, and goes for the kneebar, the same hold that forced Taue to submit last week. However, Kawada is close enough to reach the ropes, forcing Fujinami to release the hold. Kawada battles back, switching to vicious chops and elbow strikes instead of the kicks, and he’s got Fuji reeling!

Kawada hits the Gamegiri, but it seems to hurt him just as much as it hurts Fujinami, and Kawada is unable to cover the Dragon after hitting the move.

As the match progresses, Fujinami always goes back to the injured leg whenever Kawada tries to get some offense going.

In the end, Fuji kicks the leg out from under Kawada, then slaps on a Figure-Four Leglock right in the middle of the ring! Kawada can’t reach the ropes, so he tries to roll over, but in his weakened state, he just doesn’t have the strength. Kawada fights valiantly, looking for some way out of the hold, but it’s no use, and finally he has no choice but to submit.


Wakabayashi and Takeuchi wrap things up, and hype next week’s show, which will feature three matches from the May 3 Tokyo Dome show.


Credits Roll



© 1993, All Japan Pro Wrestling