Toshiaki Kawada vs. Mitsuharu Misawa for the All Japan Triple Crown, from AJPW Super Power Series 1994 Night 16

This has been long considered the artistic high point of 90s AJPW, an era that’s as celebrated by Internet wrestling nerds as late 90s WWF is among more well-adjusted people, and while I think AJPW would host an even better match about a year after this one, yeah, this is one of the greatest matches of all time. It’s a tale of two people who know that a great tug of war involves resisting a fall rather than pulling hard, and the storytellers at the wheel know how to make gold out of that simple concept. Quite the brutal journey.

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