Post by Alex on Jun 30, 2020 4:53:13 GMT -5
EPILOGUE~!
With this thread coming to an end, I'd like to do a little bit of a piece giving my thoughts and a few thank you's.
I'd like to thank all of the people involved in getting this footage; Ditch, Dan, Adam, DDevil, Realman and all the people who have sourced tapes over the years. A lot of these matches have been my rips and uploads but a lot haven't, and I need to credit everyone for supplying me with the things I didn't have in my collection.
Now, onto the feud. I know it seems a bit anti climactic, and honestly, that's the worst thing about this feud. I can only speculate as to what Baba was thinking, but I believe that the idea was to eventually transition away from this when Jumbo was ready and move onto Misawa and Kawada as the main feud, but I can say with certainty is wasn't planned like this. I feel as though Baba wanted this to go maybe another year, with eventually Misawa getting is epic win, maybe using that to run the Tokyo Dome several years earlier than they did.
But, this is all speculation, and we only have what really happened. In terms of what led up to our end, I had a blast watching these matches back, picking up things I hadn't seen before. I'd never watched this in order, and I'm so glad I did. The in ring action was amazing, and seeing some of my favourite wrestlers grow and develop from some lower midcard talents with plenty of promise to legitimate main event superstars capable of carrying a company on their shoulders made me smile more than I have in a very long time. But, it was Jumbo's performances that really made this feud for me. Watching Jumbo elevate everyone he wrestled and teamed with to the level required to make the feud believable so early on was a masterclass, and then his teaching them to structure and lead on their own was Jumbo's greatest gift. He set the 4 Corners up to carry the company until the departure.He elevated 4 men, all capable of performing at the main event level, meaning the company had more people than most to rely on. Not to mention his willingness to work with (And lose to) the big gaijin; Hansen, Gordy, Williams, making them credible threats as well.
This leads into my argument of why Jumbo is my favourite, nobody had ever done more to ensure that the company he was so loyal to was more successful than Jumbo. Just like how Baba, the Funks, the Destroyer, Billy Robinson, Jack Brisco, Bockwinkel and Flair to name a few set him up for success, he repaid that faith and knowledge in spades. He helped Tenryu, and gave Choshu a whole new run after he left New Japan. His influence spread across companies and generations.
Just imagine if he had gone the other way. That he followed the Inoki mold, wrestled all of the big names but wanted to win, essentially sabotaging his company until guys like Fujinami and Sakaguchi consolidated enough power to right the ship. All Japan would have been dead, or at least gone through a period like New Japan's 4th Generation, which for a long time were considered a failure. We would never have got he most consistent 7 years of match quality one promotion has ever seen.
But Misawa's role in this shouldn't be understated either. He was always destined to one day be the ace, but it was his willingness to put aside what he know would eventuate and be led some of the best matches he would ever have. And it wasn't just the wrestling he absorbed, with Jumbo he had access to how the business itself worked, leading to him eventually becoming a key member of the front office, a role Jumbo had also had up until Baba's passing and his subsequent dismissal by Mokoto Baba.
All in all, this feud went from 1990 (Misawa's unmasking) - 1992 (Jumbo's diagnosis) but I would have been very happy if it went 5 years either side of that. The matches were great, they were meaningful, they elevated everyone, it was able to add participants (Ogawa and Akiyama) seamlessly and resonate with crowds all over Japan. I hope that you enjoy this journey as much as I have, and if you have any questions/discussion topics, please feel free to post them below and I'll happily follow up as best I can.
Enjoy~!
With this thread coming to an end, I'd like to do a little bit of a piece giving my thoughts and a few thank you's.
I'd like to thank all of the people involved in getting this footage; Ditch, Dan, Adam, DDevil, Realman and all the people who have sourced tapes over the years. A lot of these matches have been my rips and uploads but a lot haven't, and I need to credit everyone for supplying me with the things I didn't have in my collection.
Now, onto the feud. I know it seems a bit anti climactic, and honestly, that's the worst thing about this feud. I can only speculate as to what Baba was thinking, but I believe that the idea was to eventually transition away from this when Jumbo was ready and move onto Misawa and Kawada as the main feud, but I can say with certainty is wasn't planned like this. I feel as though Baba wanted this to go maybe another year, with eventually Misawa getting is epic win, maybe using that to run the Tokyo Dome several years earlier than they did.
But, this is all speculation, and we only have what really happened. In terms of what led up to our end, I had a blast watching these matches back, picking up things I hadn't seen before. I'd never watched this in order, and I'm so glad I did. The in ring action was amazing, and seeing some of my favourite wrestlers grow and develop from some lower midcard talents with plenty of promise to legitimate main event superstars capable of carrying a company on their shoulders made me smile more than I have in a very long time. But, it was Jumbo's performances that really made this feud for me. Watching Jumbo elevate everyone he wrestled and teamed with to the level required to make the feud believable so early on was a masterclass, and then his teaching them to structure and lead on their own was Jumbo's greatest gift. He set the 4 Corners up to carry the company until the departure.He elevated 4 men, all capable of performing at the main event level, meaning the company had more people than most to rely on. Not to mention his willingness to work with (And lose to) the big gaijin; Hansen, Gordy, Williams, making them credible threats as well.
This leads into my argument of why Jumbo is my favourite, nobody had ever done more to ensure that the company he was so loyal to was more successful than Jumbo. Just like how Baba, the Funks, the Destroyer, Billy Robinson, Jack Brisco, Bockwinkel and Flair to name a few set him up for success, he repaid that faith and knowledge in spades. He helped Tenryu, and gave Choshu a whole new run after he left New Japan. His influence spread across companies and generations.
Just imagine if he had gone the other way. That he followed the Inoki mold, wrestled all of the big names but wanted to win, essentially sabotaging his company until guys like Fujinami and Sakaguchi consolidated enough power to right the ship. All Japan would have been dead, or at least gone through a period like New Japan's 4th Generation, which for a long time were considered a failure. We would never have got he most consistent 7 years of match quality one promotion has ever seen.
But Misawa's role in this shouldn't be understated either. He was always destined to one day be the ace, but it was his willingness to put aside what he know would eventuate and be led some of the best matches he would ever have. And it wasn't just the wrestling he absorbed, with Jumbo he had access to how the business itself worked, leading to him eventually becoming a key member of the front office, a role Jumbo had also had up until Baba's passing and his subsequent dismissal by Mokoto Baba.
All in all, this feud went from 1990 (Misawa's unmasking) - 1992 (Jumbo's diagnosis) but I would have been very happy if it went 5 years either side of that. The matches were great, they were meaningful, they elevated everyone, it was able to add participants (Ogawa and Akiyama) seamlessly and resonate with crowds all over Japan. I hope that you enjoy this journey as much as I have, and if you have any questions/discussion topics, please feel free to post them below and I'll happily follow up as best I can.
Enjoy~!
