20 Best Wrestling Tag Team Matches Ever
12. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada Vs. Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW - May 21st, 1994)
If it weren’t for AJPW’s Four Pillars of Heaven, there’s a strong chance puroresu tape trading never takes off in the 1990s, and the Japanese scene never truly breaks America. The importance of Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, and Akira Taue cannot be understated, and the list of classic matches between the foursome is unfathomably huge.
For context, Kawada and Misawa were the stars in 1994. Misawa was the perfect “fighting spirit” babyface and AJPW’s top guy, while Kawada was a ruthless psychopath, and the perennial number two who just couldn't defeat Misawa at the time. Kobashi, meanwhile, was a fiery upstart with a real chip on his shoulder, and Taue, the tallest member of the group, was older and slower than everyone else, but this only made him more dangerous, as he fought with a point to prove.
They had many classic tag bouts over the years, with this one sitting near the top of the pile. Kawada and Kobashi really stole the show, with the latter’s expert selling the real highlight, but nobody lagged behind. The Misawa/Kawada teases were executed to perfection, and the match more than earned its length 40-minute runtime by the end.