Here's my take on some semi-recent NOAH stuff:

Doug Williams vs Yoshinari Ogawa (12/16/18): Gosh remember 2018? Man, where has the time gone? Seriously, I know a lot happened last year but, we're a quarter of the way thru 2019 and I'm still trying to get used to that, aren't you? In the same vein, Williams and Ogawa let you know that the past is present. This was like a 1988 AJPW Jr. title match with holds, counters, and good old fashion wrestling. Hey it might be slow for some but, damn this was a fun match!! What a breath of fresh air in this smoggy decade's end!

This Decemeber 16th show was a big one for NOAH but, man- I wasn't feeling it...although there was one other match that caught my attention: Kotaro Suzuki vs Daisuke Harada. This match was good but, the last 5 minutes were especially enjoyable. Then we get some post match madness and I always dig that!!

The follow up is:
Kotaro Suzuki, Yoshinari Ogawa & YO-HEY vs Daisuke Harada, HAYATA & Tadasuke (01/06/19): This is Korakuen Hall six man action and damn it is very good! NOAH still knows how to do this 17 minutes of excitement that cuts out all of the slow extemporaneous bits of of the Kotaro vs Harada match out. This had heat and the tandem moves most notable Ogawa and Kotaro (Misawa's other protege besides Marufuji) doing Untouchables moves - Oh man! so cool to see 20 years later! This was just a great follow up to the above match in more ways than one.

SO then I decided to back track:
Daisuke Harada vs Kotaro Suzuki (10/30/18): There was a Halloween in 2018?! When the hell was that!? Oh wait I remember sitting in my house with the lights off until 8pm...occasionally glancing out the window making sure no teenagers were fucking up my shrubbery. Ahem...anyhow...We get a much better match than their Jan 2019 encounter. This baby has intensity, the fans were into this, and maybe the moves came across better. I dunno but, this was some very good stuff! I liked this! Trick and treat perhaps? Ehh, that doesn't work in March but, dammit if I'd been on the ball a 5 months ago, that joke would have been spot on! Spot on, I say!!!

Hahaha! So, my ever-so-often check up on NOAH was fun. I totally avoided the Go Shiozaki & Nakajima matches since they are the same damn chop-kick matches for the past 10 years. But, I found some fun stuff with Ogawa, Kotaro, and Daisuke Harada and his gang. It's a very Indy feel over on the Ark but, it's fun. I'll be sure to check it out some more this year and maybe you will too!

Peace!