In my opinion this is the biggest match in the first round. It's between two absolute legends in the sport of professional wrestling. That said I'd like to give you some background on both of them since they probably aren't two of the better known wrestlers in this tournament.
Jack Brisco is mainly known for his tag team legacy that he left with his brother Jerry and while I'll admit that both men had great moments Jack also had a stellar and impressive singles career including defeating Harley Race and the Giant Baba to become the NWA world heavyweight champion. It's an incredible feat. Jack was a top star and one of best of his time and he held the NWA title for 866 days, and while I'm not going to diminish the accomplishments of Jack Brisco, I will put things into perspective. During this time wrestlers would tend to hold the world title for much longer stretches of time. In fact three of the four men that held the NWA world title before him held the title for over 1000 days. And the one that didn't was an up and coming Harley Race who would later out shine both of Jack Brisco's title runs with a reign that lasted 926 days in his second reign as world champion.
But still Jack Brisco has a huge legacy and should be appreciated for everything he did in the sport.
That said, his opponent is the greatest in ring competitor in modern history. And while Jack Brisco was a great champion, Misawa was a better one. Misawa is arguably the greatest world champion in Japanese history. He's a five time AJPW triple crown champion, he won the Global Honor Championship another three times. And in a place like AJPW title reigns weren't as long lasting as in Brisco's day. Still 866 days as champion is impressive, especially for two title reigns. That said Misawa's first Triple Crown title reign (defeating Stan Hansen to do so) lasted a staggering 705 days.To put that into perspective, it was the longest title reign for a triple crown champion.In the history of NJPW, and AJPW, , no one has ever held the top title in any of those companies for that long. the only reign longer was Kobashi's GHC reign in Pro wrestling NOAH, long after Misawa's prime. If that was the only time Misawa had won the Triple Crown, he would've ranked third all time in AJPW history. His second reign as Triple Crown winner was started with another victory over Stan Hansen. And this reign lasted 364 days. Misawa's first two reigns as Triple Crown champion lasted 1069 days, that's 26 days short of three years.
At this point misawa would already hold the record for most days as Triple Crown champion. In total Misawa would hold the Triple crown title for for 1799 days the man behind him held the title for 796 days!!!! Misawa held the belt for 1003 more days than his closest adversary that's almost three years longer than anyone else. These title reigns weren't common place in Japan at this time. It was a rarity to see this. Misawa absolutely DOMINATED.
But you might say "Bythedockofthebay" what was the competition like in Misawa's days. We know that Jack Brisco faced some great champions in his day. Well I'm glad you asked, because during the days that Misawa was world champion there was a group of guys called the "Famous Five", That included Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Toshiaki Kawada, Jun Akiyama, and Akira Taue. All men who held the Triple Crown. It was the deepest main event scene Japanese history. If you add Dr. Death Steve Williams, Vader, Stan Hansen, and Jumbo Tsuruta to that mix you're talking about one of the greatest main event scene in the history of wrestling anywhere.
And during a time where the main event was crowded and was the best it's ever been. Mitsuharu Misawa dominated each and every one of them. He's arguably the greatest champion in Japanese history and he did it with the deepest talent pool in Japanese history.
And while I'd never take Jack Brisco for granted his 866 days as champion wasn't uncommon for the time, while misawa held the AJPW triple crown for over four years. And if you add his GHC reigns, he was a world champion for over six years of his career.
Mitsuharu Misawa dominated the deepest main event pool in AJPW history. He has the longest major title reign in modern day Japanese wrestling, and while Jack Brisco was great, he did things that weren't uncommon in his era. Everything Misawa did is his era was not only uncommon, it was historic.
My vote goes to Misawa after a rolling elbow, a move that put down the likes of Vader, Stan Hansen, and Kenta Kobashi.