Was Kawada really that good?

Both of them... Kawada in my opinion is superior and the best wrestler ever lived.

He was good but Kobashi is still GOAT for me

He was the best Pillar. His selling was elite and he never had to rely on head drops or dangerous spots to have a good match. He still did them of course because it was expected in All Japan, but he never relied on them like Misawa did.

The only reason Kawada isn't thought of as highly as Misawa is because of Baba's LOL MISAWA WINS booking. The other Pillars rarely pinned Misawa and when they did it was usually in tag matches.

>>2849036
>Pillars

Misawa, Kobashi, Taue and Kawada?

What's the best year of old All Japan to start watching? Planning on watching a year after I'm done with NOAH 2005

>>2849041
Yes and Akiyama to a lesser extent. He was the unofficial Fifth Pillar.

>>2849044
If you only care about watching the absolute best matches between the Pillars then 1994 onwards. But if you want to watch the official beginning of the King's Road then start with Misawa's match against Jumbo Tsuruta from 6/8/90. And if you want to watch a sorta prequel to the type of wrestling the Pillars would do in the 90s then watch Jumbo vs Tenryu 6/5/89. This match was revolutionary for its time and you can see see a clear evolution from this match all the way to the pinnacle of the King's Road matches.

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2MB, 320x260px

>>2849061

Thanks, anon.

>>2848996
He was a solid midcard act, but he never drew a dime.

>>2849045
>Akiyama

At what point did he start to get really over? Watched a few tags from 98 iirc and the crowd wasnt into him like the pillars, vader, hansen etc