Event: All Japan at the Tokyo Dome
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 55,000

Tie-up to start, waistlock by Vader but Misawa backs him into the corner and elbows his way out of it. Vader comes back with a clubbing blow though and takes Misawa down to the mat. Vader applies a half-nelson briefly on the mat before going for the arm, but Misawa gets to the ropes and Vader has to break the hold. Back up, side headlock by Misawa, Vader Irish whips out of it and knocks Misawa to the mat with a Vader Attack. Vader puts Misawa in the corner and hits a combination of clubbing blows until Misawa falls down to a seated position. More punches by Vader, Irish whip, and he hits a Vader Attack before clotheslining Misawa down. Cover, but Misawa gets a hand on the ropes. Vader picks up Misawa and punches him more in the corner, Irish whip, but Misawa kicks him when he charges in and hits a series of elbows. Misawa goes up to the second turnbuckle, but Vader calmly walks over and clubs him off so that Misawa falls down to the floor. Vader eventually follows him out, he picks him up and takes him out to the floor before dropping him onto the railing. After bringing him back to ringside, Vader goes for a powerbomb, but Misawa blocks it. Punches by Vader, he goes for it again, and this time delivers as Misawa falls with a thud. Vader then goes up to the apron and hits a diving body press down onto Misawa, even though he did land with his feet first to make sure he didn't actually kill Misawa. Vader picks up Misawa and slides him back into the ring. Vader picks up Misawa, Irish whip, and he nails the lariat. Vader picks up Misawa again and nails a brainbuster. Another brainbuster by Vader, he hits a body press, cover, but Misawa barely rolls Vader off in time. Leg lock by Vader and he applies an STF. Misawa quickly gets a foot on the ropes, Vader drags him to his feet, Irish whip, but Misawa ducks a lariat and connects with a series of elbow smashes. Running elbow smash by Misawa and Vader goes over the top rope down to the floor below. Misawa then goes off the ropes and sails out onto Vader with a beautiful elbow suicida. Another running elbow by Misawa on the outside and he hits a senton. Misawa then slides back in the ring, goes to the ropes, and delivers a pescado to Vader while Vader is still lying on the floor.

Misawa slides Vader into the ring, goes to the top turnbuckle and nails the missile dropkick. German suplex by Misawa (damn!), cover, but he only gets a two count. Misawa goes for the Tiger Driver, he can't get Vader up, so he hits a scoop slam instead. Misawa goes up to the second turnbuckle and hits a diving elbow, cover, but it gets a two count. Kick to the face by Misawa, he goes off the ropes, but Vader ducks the elbow and plants him with a release German suplex. Vader picks up Misawa and hits a reverse powerbomb, and then he quickly drags Misawa to his feet and kills him with a release German suplex. Running body press by Vader, cover, but Misawa barely kicks out. Vader picks up Misawa and delivers a Tiger Driver, cover, but again Misawa barely gets a shoulder up. Back up, Vader slams Misawa in front of the corner and goes to the top turnbuckle, but Misawa wisely rolls out of the way of the moonsault. Vader is still up first, he slams Misawa in front of the corner and goes up top again, but Misawa is up in time and elbows him in the stomach. Misawa then climbs up as well and nails a superplex. Misawa goes up to the top turnbuckle and nails the body press, cover, but it only gets a two count. Back up, Misawa puts Vader up on the top turnbuckle, climbs up as well and delivers a DDT down to the mat. Cover again, but Vader barely gets a shoulder up. Rolling elbow smash by Misawa, cover, but again Vader barely gets a shoulder up before the three count. Vader gets back up, he ducks a Misawa strike attempt and nails a lariat. Butt smash by Vader, cover, but it only gets two. Misawa rolls onto Vader and connects with a series of mounted elbows, they get back up and trade blows, but Misawa nails an elbow smash to send Vader reeling. Misawa goes off the ropes and hits one final elbow smash, cover, and he picks up the three count! Your winner and new champion: Mitsuharu Misawa

Match Thoughts: That was about ten times better then it had any right to be. I am not the first one to point this out, but in one year Vader went from jobbing to Edge on Heat to holding the most prestigious championship in Japan. Even though Vader was a shell of his former self, this match shows that he was still capable of having a great match if he had someone to help him through it. Shockingly there were very few rest holds in this match as they basically just threw bombs at each other. Since Misawa couldn't do some of his normal moves, he threw in some new ones (top rope DDT, pescado to a downed Vader, and the mounted elbows) to adjust to facing such a large opponent. For his part, Vader took all the moves like a champ and even went for a moonsault, knowing that this would probably be one of his last big matches (which it might of been, as it was the last time he wrestled in front of a crowd this large). That's not to say the match was perfect, obviously Vader was limited in what he could do at times, but overall it was very enjoyable. As a lifetime Vader fan it is great to see that McMahon was wrong and Vader still had something left in the tank later in his career. Score: 8.0

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