Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, from the All Japan Budokan Hall Show held on June 8, 1990

It seems kind of odd to say that this match, which took place almost twenty years after AJPW was established, is what "started" AJPW, but that phrase is shorthand for what's accomplished here. This skyrocketed Misawa's worth overnight and brought his merry band of polite rabblerousers to prominance, all thanks to sublime performances from both men and the story they build being engrossing in its own right. There's maybe too many submission holds here, but whatever points it loses there is gained right back with the finish, among the best in the history of wrestling. Puroresu begins here, sort of.

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