NOAH You Might Have Missed - Jun Akiyama & Sterness - 2001
Entry posted by G. Badger in You Might Have Missed
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This is a project that's been in the works for awhile. So long that a handful of matches I had bookmarked on YouTube are no longer available. This early NOAH stuff is hard to come by through the normal "free" channels. I'm guessing a lot of folks didn't pony up and buy the tapes/dvds. And I'm pretty much past that part of my life now...I've got a mountain of stuff that's in need of watching. Still, this along with joshi and supplementing my late 80's AJPW with Riki Choshu content, is all I'm really watching online. I digress.
So this post I'm taking a look at Jun Akiyama and the first incarnation of his Sterness stable (his team with Akitoshi Saito especially). This week I'm focusing on 2001 since NOAH's a really interesting promotion at this time. Kobashi is out and they seem to be searching for an identity which doesn't truly seem to come until Kobashi's GHC title reign in 2003. That seems really overlooked to me. I've seen a couple things like Misawa vs Takayama and I'm thinking a Taue vs Misawa match over a decade ago. Relatively recently I did a Zero One vs NOAH in 2001 post and was pleasantly surprised with the results. Not only was the match quality good but NOAH seemed to have a less polished presentation, more adventurous/creative booking...it feels like a high end Indie like WAR or BJW or what later Zero One would be. I think most folks might recognize that with the NOAH vs NJPW feud esp. the junior tag matches of 2002. Or perhaps the 2003 Differ Cup which I also reviewed a little bit ago. Anyhow let's get onto the matches.
Akitoshi Saito & Jun Akiyama vs Takao Omori & Takashi Sugiura (06/16/01) - Oh!!!!What a finisher!! 21 minutes of great tag wrestling. Just so well paced and never gets gratuitous. In fact it's rather simple. That keep it simple stupid mentality is what makes great matches when the talent and athleticism is there. Its 2001 so everyone is still in their prime. Sugi is the face-in-peril as a rookie. What's great is that with his frame, Saito and Akiyama can just lay into him. Everyone is on point here, everyone is excited to be doing this new promotion NOAH - its something I'd feel good giving ****1/4. That finish was just the right thing at the right time and gives it that extra 1/4 star and "near classic" designation.
Saito, Akiyama, Shiga & Kanemaru vs Ikeda, Misawa, Marufuji & Ogawa (06/20/01) - Great 8 man match. Good kinds of chaos. My only complaints are with the couple commercial breaks and the VQ from the upload of the old footage. It got pixelated a bit and some the guys had white pants so they looked the same on the far away shots. That said, this was a blast to see these guys in one ring. I'm not sure if this was anything beyond a stable fight. Sterness seems like a street gang especially with Saito there as the enforcer. This is a little over 20 minutes (19ish shown) so this was a great appetizer to I'm sure a lot of other stuff at the time.
Jun Akiyama & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio (07/15/01): Fun match and a good showcase for everyone not named Akiyama. Kanemaru displays a good mix of junior offense and sneaky Ogawa tactics to stay competitive with the big men. Rikio is more developed than Morishima in terms of character and moves but you can tell in 2001 that Morishima has better fundamentals. That was a smart pairing. You can tell Akiyama likes working with them.
Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama (07/27/01): Man, they paced this one beautifully. This was not a match of excess at all. Very economical but still surprising and with just the right amount of razzle dazzle. It wasn't ungodly stiff or unnecessarily dangerous. The choice of moves and spots were so tasteful. It felt like two of the best in the world, former partners/allies going toe to toe. This was a classic match to me. I'm not watching AJPW/NOAH all of the time like I was 15 years ago so I can't tell you how it rates next to their other bouts or any of that stuff. Looking back I did a Akiyama in 90's AJ post in 2019. So I dug their 04/18/98 Champ Carnival bout quite a bit as well. If you liked that one I think you'd like this as well and vice versa 
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Saito, Akiyama, Shiga & Kanemaru vs. Misawa, Marufuji, Sano & Ogawa (08/15/01): Sterness vs Wave again! Another great match! There's a lot to like here. Everyone is involved including Misawa. There's a bit of comedy at the start. We get lots of rope running and simple but effective teamwork for the body of the match. At the end they dial up the team moves, we get the strong offense, saves etc. These guys are just working in a groove... super fun stuff. 26 minutes but it just flew by.
Daisuke Ikeda, Morishima & Rikio vs. Akitoshi Saito, Akiyama & Hashi (08/27/01): More Daisuke Ikeda in NOAH? Absolutely yes, please! Ikeda and Akitoshi Saito blasting each other with kicks, hell yes! 12 minutes of a 14 minute match. Rikio and Morishima (Wild 2) were super impressive. Rikio does the big man thing well as he did throughout his career. Morishima even here shows he's more than just a big man. His explosive quickness makes me want to see more of him. Akiyama does what he needs to as the new champ but is actually pretty damn giving as well. This was really good stuff.
Naohiro Hoshikawa & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Akitoshi Saito & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (09/09/01): I did a Zero-1 vs NOAH in 2001 post back in 2022. I missed this one and am happy to include it here for my Sterness post Unfortunately we only get the last 3 minutes as its from a TV show. What's shown is a blast with Kanemaru & Takaiwa. Kanemaru does one of the best flip bumps on a lariat ever...and I hate flip bumps.
Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa (10/17/01): We only get a third of the match. The full match is out there somewhere but we get the last 7 minutes and it's really good stuff. Untouchables are still a great team. Sterness just act like a couple of bosses. Saito is definitely a great tag partner to have...a great #2 to Akiyama. He and Ogawa work really well together as well... it feels like you are watching WAR or BJW..there's a real charm to it.
Vader & Scorpio vs. Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito (10/19/01) 11 minute match. This is really all about reminding people how much of a badass Vader is! Sterness have a great opening attack on the Americans. Saito really has one of the best enzuigiris in the game. Fun stuff but not entirely competitive.
Michael Modest & Vader vs. Akitoshi Saito & Jun Akiyama (11/25/01): This is from another TV episode so only have is shown and it focuses on Vader vs Akiyama. More real fun stuff. Wish we got to see more as we also didn't see much of Saito until the finish. He puts Modest away with his version of the Steiner Screwdriver. On the outside Vader chokeslams Slogans through a table like a god! Holy cow!
Jun Akiyama vs. Takeshi Rikio (11/30/01): Really good 15 minute match. Rikio had some great slaps and power moves which is all you can ask of him. Akiyama provided the little touches to make Rikio look like a contender. That said Akiyama was never really in danger although the big man hit the champ with some fierce bombs.
Vader vs. Jun Akiyama (12/09/01) Oh man that felt like a title fight! Stiff and psychology to boot. We get call backs to the above tag matches. We get both guys coming out with a game plan and sticking to them throughout. When people say that Akiyama doesn't employ psychology in his matches, point them to this match. Near classic stuff! Long live Vader too! Just when you think he's over the hill, he busts out a a move or two to remind you just how great he is. Release German suplex anyone?
This was a lot of fun. There's a good amount of variety despite focusing on Jun Akiyama/Sterness. You would think every match would be the same but that wasn't the case. The big reason is that everything wasn't trying to be an epic. So while there was only one classic, they seemed interested in putting on entertaining wrestling matches. Everyone seemed excited to be there and to wrestling in these new fresh match ups. Even if it was only one new guy a match like veterans like Saito, Too Cold Scorpio or new blood like Morishima. In fact, I'm digging 2001 so much that I'm going to do a bonus post on it...matches that I ran out of time on for Akiyama but also a couple title fights and high profile tags. After that, I am planning on doing a Akiyama/Sterness 2002-2004 post.
Thanks for reading!!
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