159. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue (AJPW Champion Carnival 1995)

In my eyes, it was pretty clear which wrestler was the weakest out of AJPW’s famed ‘Four Pillars.’ Akira Taue looked like an amateur compared to Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada. I only had two matches to observe Taue, however: two of the famed tag team matches involving all of the ‘Four Pillars.’ Perhaps I needed to see Taue in a singles match. So, after Googling, his 1995 Champion Carnival Match against Misawa stood out as Taue’s best singles match. So, to give poor Taue a chance, I went ahead and watched it. And, to give the man his due, he almost impressed me…

147. Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa (c) vs Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW World Tag Team Championship, AJPW Super Power Series 9.6.1995)

“The greatest tag team match ever” is just one of the many accolades given to this match, listed in ‘Burning: The Greatness Of Kenta Kobashi’ (click here for the list). An earlier tag team match between Akira Taue/Toshiaki Kawada vs Mitsuharu Misawa/Kenta Kobashi, from 1993 (click here for my review), is also on the list…and while I really enjoyed it, the presence of Taue really distracted me. And, unfortunately, the same occurred with this match. His presence was minimised in that 1993 match; here, thanks to the extended duration of the bout, he’s heavily involved in the action. And he really shook my suspension of disbelief (yet again).