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I bought this to get a fuller flavour of the rivalry between Misawa and Kawada over the years, particularly in relation to their singles matches (in anticipation of watching their NOAH Dome match from this year). And having watched it, I can recommend it to anyone who isn't particularly aware of the history between the two, or indeed for anyone who hasn't seen much in the way of matches involving the twe men, and is looking to get a similar taste of their history as I was.
Essentially, every match on the disc is extended highlights, with the exception of the last one (5-1-98). In addition to the matches with extended highlights, there are also brief clips of important tag matches from the men's history, as well as the showing of important historical events involving the two men (such as Kawada taking off Misawa's mask under Misawa's instructions when Misawa was known as Tiger Mask, Kawada moving from being Misawa's tag partner to being Akira Taue's tag partner, and interviews with both men after various matches in their rivalry). For the final match, there is an extended build-up shown, with the announcement of the match by Baba, both men training, pre-match interviews, and both men's entrances before the match begins. The disc is very well put together, featuring a lot of very strong wrestling action (and when I say strong, that goes for both the quality and the brutality/intensity of the matches), before the all-important final match.
Please note, this is NOT a recommended purchase for those who want to witness numerous entire matches between Misawa and Kawada, and I personally had the benefit of already owning several important tag matches that factored into the Misawa/Kawada rivalry in full, as well as a couple of the singles matches that was shown on the disc. But nonetheless, as an introduction to the Misawa/Kawada rivalry (which is one of the most notable in wrestling history, due to the real-life circumstances that are involved), this is a very solid purchase. It also acts as a wonderful introduction to the 90's AJPW Heavyweight style of wrestling, as at their best the matches these men were involved in (be it tags or singles matches) were the very epitome of what the style had to offer.
Rating:  [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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