20 AJPW Matches you must see before you die

15. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta – June 8, 1990

This is the match that began it all. It was this match that catapulted Misawa to the main event and began a main-event run that would last a decade. And it all came down to a last-minute decision by Giant Baba to change the finish.

Before the entrances even began, the crowd was firmly in Misawa’s corner. Baba, sensing the potential for a new star to be born, changed the match’s finish just moments beforehand. Originally, this match was supposed to end with then ace Tsuruta winning, but Baba changed it to Misawa winning instead.

This match is typical of AJPW at the time: it starts off slow, has an extended submission sequence in the middle, and the second half brings in all the drama that makes the normally-silent crowd erupt. Misawa really shined in this match, having shown some picture-perfect out-of-ring moves and technical precision that became central to his future matches.

For a 1990 match, it’s a fantastic contest that helped set the bar for future great matches and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Misawa was simply the man.