Superstar Sleeze

MANTAUR~!

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Katsuyori Shibata - NJPW 11/03/04 Non-Title The announcer informs us that both men are DANGEROUS~! repeatedly. I believe Kawada is on this tour because at the end he is going to defend against Tenzan as he finally in the midst of his big Triple Crown reign a decade too late. Shibata is a legitimate shoot fighter, but does not have the record of Fujita or Sakuraba. At this point, Shibata was just a New Japan young lion (firmly positioned behind Tanahashi and Nakamura as a prospect). I may have spoke prematurely when I declared Tanahashi/Fujita as the best short match of the project. The story of this match is that Shibata kicks hard, but Kawada punches harder. Shibata catches Kawada unawares by bullrushing him. He posts him on the outside when Kawada tries to escape and they tease a countout finish, Shibata wins a fiery elbow war with a well-timed slap triggering one of those pitch perfect Kawada sells. Shibata then busts out Stretch Plum and Kawada Kicks, which pisses off Kawada. Kawada kicks his ass and then dumps him on his head with a back drop driver. Shibata blocks a kick and is able to win another furious elbow war, but cant put him away with a sleeper. One last vicious elbow war this time with kicks and slaps flying, Kawada wins by knocking his ass out with a sweet right. The ref admonishes him, but the damage has been done and Kawada drops a knee on his head to get the academic three. I loved the use of elbow/slap/kick exchanges. It was not just a segment of macho pissing, it was the match. Shibata's gameplan was the best defense was a great offense and Kawada was more than happy to oblige. It all ends when the crafty veteran says enough of this shit and just knocks him the fuck out with a closed fist. It does not last long enough to contend for a truly great position and I would put Tanahashi/Fujita a little ahead because I enjoyed Tanahashi's babyface performance that much more. In terms of 8 minutes of absolute ass-kicking, it does not get much better than this. ***3/4

So no Bob Sapp matches made the nominations for shame! More seriously, I thought Fujita came off really good in that Tanahashi match. Yeah, his offense is a little bare bones, but I love a good knee lift and all his offense really suited his character much moreso than a Kurt Angle. So how come no more nominated matches from him and why no more praise? Did I just happen to watch his career performance and the rest is shit. Is it because during the Inoki regime he was stuck with shitty opponents? He seemed really different and someone who fit Inoki's vision really well while still being able to execute a great pro wrestling match.

U-30 Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuyuki Fujita - Vacant IWGP Championship 6/5/04 I love polarizing figures so much and I don't think there is a more polarizing figure in wrestling today than Hiroshi Tanahashi. New Japan fans claim he is turning out 5 star classics at a rate that has not been seen since the heyday of All Japan in the 90s. While his detractors assert that the matches are overrated and when they are good he is just being carried like the biggest piece of luggage in the business. I have not really watched a Tanahashi match since about 2010, but I enjoyed his matches with Nagata and Nakamura. That is where the memory ends I just remember liking them, but nothing specific. I look forward to watching Tanahashi progress during this project and once this is done I plan on continuing right through the present day in Japan with a very specific focus on Tanahashi. Here we begin as he returned from being stabbed in real life by ex-girlfriend TV reporter and has been given this vanity title that represents he is best of the youth movement at the time. Bob Sapp (not so surprisingly did not have any nominated matches) was the previous IWGP champion, but lost to Fujita in a shoot fight thus vacated his pro wrestling belt. I love Japan and Inoki. I don't know if there was a tournament or if it was just decided that these two were the top contenders. It makes sense that Fujita would get a crack at the title and Tanahashi as the other heavyweight singles champion makes sense. Fujita, who surprisingly did not have any other nominated matches besides this one, is a legitimate shoot fighter. Like Sakuraba, he is one of the few pro wrestlers to have an above .500 winning percentage in MMA. Thus the match exploits the obvious difference between the two opponents: Fujita the shoot fighter versus Tanahashi the consummate flashy pro wrestler. It is a very similar dynamic to Lesnar/Cena from 2012. After watching a bevy of Kobashi matches, it was nice to watch some New Japan for a change of pace. You could not get much different from a NOAH match than this match. Clocking in at 12 minutes or so with limited suplex and highspots, this felt so refreshing. Fujita was merciless in using his superior amateur skills to quash Tanahashi at every turn and just unloaded with some of the best knee lifts I have ever seen. I have no idea why Tanahashi kept going for double leg takedown when Fujita, a known amateur wrestling expert would just pancake him and go to town. I would not go so far as to say this was a squash like we have seen from Hashimoto in previous matches. They mixed in enough cool spots to show Tanahashi's fighting spirit and his quickness advantage such as Tanahashi almost getting the flash victory at the outset on a roll through on a double leg and catching a kick turning it into a dragon leg screw into a dive. I also liked at the beginning when Fujita just missed a kick to the head and Tanahashi sells the close call. It really put over Fujita as a badass. There is no denying that Tanahashi was very over with the crowd. I thought it was interesting that Fujita donning the "Team Inoki" tights was the clear heel and wrestled very heelish. Inoki strikes me as someone who is very un-self-aware, which part of the charm so it seems weird for him to push his beloved legit shooters as heels. Anyways, that is a tangent to be explored later, since Tanahashi is in a lot of ways the equivalent of a pretty boy babyface like a Martel or Morton, I thought it was very important that he did get moments to stand toe-to-toe with Fujita with a nice elbow and that Fujita at least sold his subpar slaps. The finish sees Tanahashi have one last gasp with the Sling Blade and a running small package, but after that Fujita just saps all his energy with an standing arm triangle choke. After this, he is easy pickings for the smiling, cocky Fujita who kicks his head off and we get the knockout finish tease. Fujita kicks his head off again and this time the ref mercy kills this contest. This match is clearly different from the highly intricate New Japan matches of today as this was a bare bones match with a spunky Tanahashi trying to survive the remorseless shooter, Fujita. Each played their role excellently and sold for each other really well. Fujita is not someone I have ever heard widely praised in a pro wrestling context, but I thought he was really good in this setting. Was this his career performance? It was very good for what it was and will probably be the best match for its short length, but lacks the firepower and extended story of the other excellent matches so it tops out in my book at ***3/4.

The Shield vs Ryback, John Cena, Sheamus - WWE Elimination Chamber 2013 The TLC debut match would lose a lot of its luster if in subsequent matches The Shield reverted to just another team in the WWE. Thus this match had the heightened importance of affirming and securing The Shield's uniqueness in WWE. Once again, the babyfaces do not know what has hit them. They are so used to the semi-respectful style of the WWE. Yeah, their opponents may cheat, but there has never such a full court press. This is like VCU's vaunted Havoc Defense (if that coach went to a school that could procure him better players that team would be one of the most fun in college basketball). Going into this match, Cena, Ryback and Sheamus expect saves from their opponents, but they don't expect that at first sign of trouble at absolute barrage of offense from their opponents like Reigns clothesline (so glad he switched to Superman Punch) or Rollins' sick springboard knee to Cena's temple (where has that move been?). As a huge Sheamus fan, I am a little disappointed he was treated as an afterthought in this match, but given the time constraints and his partners I cant begrudge the layout. I loved the opening with triple delayed verticals on the Shield, reminiscent of the double/triple figure-4 in Horsemen tags. Sheamus was able to give us a small sample of his badass offense, before Reigns cutoff him off on the outside. I love the revolving door of dropkicks on Sheamus. Sheamus creates space with a non-finishing Brogue Kick and tags in Cena. Cena runs through offense on Reigns to a very mixed reaction and as he goes for the STFU, but Rollins smokes him with a flying knee to the temple. As much as I love Sheamus as an offensive dynamo, Cena proves his mettle in this segment why he is the top star because he is just that damn good at selling. There are some lulls, but spots like Ambrose wicked DDT starts up "Feed Me More" chants. The crowd was rabid for Ryback. How the fuck was he not in The Shield match at Wrestlemania? How stupid! Hot tag to Ryback and RYBACK SMASH~! Bodies go flying as Ryback proves he is one man solution to the Shield problem. Sheamus tries to get involved but suffers Kane's fate and gets speared through the barricade, which has Reigns selling and Ambrose was out too. This leaves Rollins with the Monster. Even though, Shield had controlled the vast majority of the match, it looked like the faces could pull it off. Here comes the Shield to save Rollins and they beat down Ryback. They call for the Triple Powerbomb, but they didn't see Cena! Cena goes for FU and Ryback shellshock Reigns spears Ryback and Rollins falls on top for the victory. What a finish! Due to WWE's penchant for babyface victories, you really bought into Cena & Ryback pulling this one out, but once again the Shield use divide and conquer more effectively than any team in WWE history. There are some lulls in the action in this one compared to TLC, but still one of the best matches in the WWE in 2013. ****1/4

Phew! Five reviews in one day. Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat - WCW Saturday Night 05/14/94 Vacant WCW World Championship Flair and Steamboat put on one last classic before Steamboat's forced retirement that contends with the Ladder Match and Bret/Owen for American MOTY. The Spring Stampede match was wrestled a little too straight for me and had its lulls. This really felt like a high-octane match with plenty of cool new spots that built on the classic canon of Flair/Steamboat. Flair playing the heel more strongly in this match avoided them playing it too straight and added more dynamic elements to the match. It also never feels like a nostalgia match. They still are wrestling at a very high level. It is a cardio tour de force and they are adding spots and nuances to their already well-developed series. I love, love the amateur riding sequences that usually start their matches. They just see where it goes and when Flair picks an ankle he turns it over into a half crab, but then misses the flying knee on Steamboat's knee. It is so organic and logical, but when has Flair ever picked an ankle and gone to the half-crab. It manifested itself naturally out of the riding sequence. Flair is so good at creating movement in his matches to let his opponent shine, the press slams and armdrags were great ways to establish Steamboat's control. However when there is motion, there are times to take advantage. A well-timed Flair punch to the gut ends Steamboat's energetic work. From there, it is 1989 again, baby! Flair hits wicked chop after wicked chop. Flair has such an underrated punch. There is one punch after inverted atomic drop that just looked so picture perfect. You gotta love Flair in the corner. It has to be either Flair or Vader as the greatest corner wrestler ever. Steamboat is milking this for all its worth and I thought the Center Stage crowd was behind The Dragon during the entirety of this match. Every time Steamboat starts to light up Flair they are ready to get behind him. These are some amazing chop exchanges, lots of fire and fury behind them. One of my favorite spots ever was when Steamboat had taken so much punishment that he nearly collapses on the apron, but catches the ropes. I love, love that spot. Someone needs to crib that for a big time match. (2017 me is marking out so hard for these chop exchanges) Among the many things I love about this match is they never forget the crux of the match. It is for a vacant championship. There is no championship advantage. So both men are very aggressive and very offensive. Not only that, they are always going for pinfalls to catch their man unawares, but they also work hard to negotiate their pinfalls. Flair is using amateur cradles and jackknifes (using the ropes for leverage when he can) while Steamboat is using flash. Their goal is to win the match and you win the match by pinfall. There is no wasted motion in excessively beating someone up because a mistake on a home run could cost you the title. So many times you will see a disconnect from the story of the match and the action nowadays. Flair and Steamboat always remember that is about pinning a man's shoulders down for a three count. Flair looks to sap all the energy out of Steamboat with a nice long sleeper and the crowd really gets behind the Steamer at this point. They move to the next chapter of the match where Steamboat works over the knee. It begins with a Flair Flip to the outside only to catch Steamboat in the midsection when he comes off the ropes with a chop only to fall prey to a Steamboat suplex on the floor and then float over on a Steamboat suplex and Flair misses a kneedrop. Thus begins the awesome part where Steamboat builds to applying the figure-4 on Flair. So many times the babyface just slaps on the figure-4, which gets a pop, but for Stemaboat to work over the knee to build to it just made it that much better. I am still a sucker for stuff like Flair pushing Dragon away during a series of chops only to do the Flair Flop. (Im rewatching this in 2017 and sprucing up this review. I popped again for this Flair Flop.) Back from commercial break, The Steamer misses a top splash and Flair immediately double stomps him in the abdomen. Flair is still selling so fucking well. Delayed vertical and Flair is still selling like a million bucks. Flair goes for multiple pinfall attempts, but still cant negotiate a win. Flair hits the knee crusher and now we go to school! The ref catches him using the ropes for leverage so he goes for the kneecrusher again, but Steamboat hits an enziguiri. I loved the Flair Flip where he actually ducks the chop on the apron, but gets nailed coming down from the top rope. Huge mark out moment! At about the 35 minute mark, they are still flying around and they do the bridge spot because they are Cardio Gods. Steamboat gets the superplex, but Flair foot on the ropes. Steamboat was the king of the frenetic finish. He is flying off the top rope. He is throwing a ton of cradles at Flair. I am outta breath just watching all this unfold. I loved the finish with the flying around during a criss cross 38 minutes in and Flair headbutting Steamboat in the midsection on a leapfrog attempt. It is simple but stays true to the match being about getting the pin at all costs. I think if Steamboat actually sold it more with writhing it would have helped. The constant thread throughout the entire match was two champions trying to win the match by throwing out everything they had in their arsenal. From beginning to end, it was about negotiating a pinfall. They occasionally lost their way in order to fit in Flair signature bumps and spots, but overall they stayed true to the match. I thought right up to Flair's figure-4 at 30 minutes they were wrestling at insanely high level and had me totally hooked. The first Flair press slam was when they kinda lost it and it started to peter out. I think if they went 32 minutes instead of 36 minutes this would be a perfect match. That's my nitpick complaint. I loved how Steamboat was just pouring it on at the end. Top rope chops, constant motion. You see Flair throw these wicked chops and then nearly collapse. Steamboat had Flair down from almost sheer exhaustion. He was trying to sap Flair's energy with a barrage of quick cradles, but his plan backfired because when he is not able to get high enough on his leapfrog and Flair is able to get the win. They were such equals in every way that it was just a small mistake that separated them. I have this ahead of the Ladder match, just behind Bret/Owen as the number two match in the US during 1994. It is just an excellent championship style match that I wished still existed to this day. ****3/4

The Shield vs. Ryback & Team Hell No - WWE TLC 2012 TLC Match Is this the greatest debut match in a promotion in the history of wrestling? Not only is it an excellent match, but it represented a total paradigm shift in how WWE presented six-man tags and a return to more chaotic matches. On commentary, Lawler stated that Rollins tweeted "Tonight, we change the world" Usually, that is a whole lot of carny bluster, but on this night The Shield completely changed the game. It was not the moves or the spots themselves that changed wrestling, it was the presentation and the strategy. The presentation was utter raucous mayhem, but not in the ECW garbage way or the Southern hate-filled brawl way. It was closer to wrestling's version of a gang beatdown. It was three men attempting to survive a ruthless assault from three thugs. There were no neat little segments laid out like a typical wrestling match, but just constant action for 20 minutes or so. That is when strategy was so critical in making this match so unique in the WWE history. The Shield wrestled as a unit. No one member felt like the standout star. They were all equals united by the goal to decimate and defeat their opponents. This meant constant isolation of the opposing team. They would lose the advantage momentarily only to have another member come flying out of nowhere to reestablish command of the match. While Team Hell No were the Tag Champs at the time they were primarily singles wrestlers, thus it made sense that Ryback & Team Hell No would not know how to combat The Shield except by brute force. The Shield is not an equation you can brute force. Even though, Ryback was on the losing end of the match, I thought he was the standout star of the match. He wrestled huge in this match. Although, he was greeted by "Goldberg" chants early on, by the time he was mounting his comeback the Brooklyn crowd was chanting "Feed Me More". He was one man wrecking ball and the only one that could manage to really string together a combination of offense on The Shield. His heart in trying to battle The Shield essentially on his own and being the only one that was able to take a member of the Shield out (Rollins) made him look like a huge star in my eyes. With Cena, Rock, Undertaker and HHH all taking up spots at Wrestlemania, it is a shame because Ryback was really hosed that year. They set the tone right away with a melee to start. Ryback gains the advantage on Ambrose, but eventually the numbers game overwhelms him (not before he busts out the 'ol burst out of the gang beatdown spot that looks awesome). The Shield is able to press their advantage on Kane & Bryan taking out each using the ladder. The Shield really excelled at using weapons to consolidate. Kane is able to get a pinfall attempt on Reigns so Ambrose immediately starts chopping him down with a chair and then DDT onto a chair. Ryback is able to gain the upper hand on Ambrose & Rollins long enough to try for Double Shellshock, but Reigns saves. I know it is a Cole cliche, but the pack of dogs mentality is such a great way to describe what is going on. Reigns to the Spanish Announce Table "Get up, fools, this my table now", I always knew he was going to be cash money. Triple powerbomb onto the Spanish Announce Table takes Ryback out of picture. Bryan comes flying through the ropes onto all of The Shield. Team Hell No gamely try to battle The Shield, but without Ryback they fall prey to the numbers advantage. I love how as Ambrose & Rollins are dismantling the smaller Bryan they have Reigns patrolling to make sure that Kane and Ryback dont get up. However, when neither Ambrose nor Rollins can pin Bryan after a double superplex, Reigns rushes into pin Bryan allowing Kane to make the save. It is the details that make a classic. Kane is able to get a mini-comeback that climaxes with chokeslamming Ambrose through a chair. Of course just as Kane is starting to cook, Rollins chop blocks his knee and Reigns spears him through the barricade. Then they friggin' bury Kane in rubble. That is so bitchin! Back in the ring. little Daniel Bryan is able to apply the Yes-Lock on Ambrose, but here comes the Shield and gets it on each one of them, but he too falls prey to the numbers game. It looks like The Shield has the match won after Rollins curb stomps Bryan's head into a chair, but Ryback pulls Ambrose out. The Beast has risen! RYBACK SMASH~! Everyone goes flying. Scream for me, Brooklyn! "FEED ME MORE!" Ryback meat hook clothesline, SHELL SHOCK~! The Shield dive on Ryback. On the outside, Ryback just shoves Reigns into some chairs. It was the little spots like that. In wrestling, you expect an Irish Whip into chairs, but when a guy just kinda shoves a guy when he is not totally ready into chairs it just stands out as really cool. Ambrose then literally bounces a chair off of Ryback. It looked sick. Ambrose and Reigns leave Rollins to dive off a very high ladder onto a prone Ryback on a chair, but Ryback will not be denied and Rollins tries to scale the ladder higher to escape, but ends off being thrown onto a bunch of tables. The back of his head clips a table, fuck that must have hurt. Back in the ring, Ambrose sets up Reigns to powerbomb Bryan through a table for the win while Ryback tries to crawl to ring to make the save, but it is too late. Ambrose and Reigns collect their fallen comrade, but can hold their heads high because they accomplished what they set out to do they changed the world. Everything was so well-timed. There was never a minute of downtime. There was no beatdown that ever dragged. Each babyface got their comeback climaxing with Ryback big one at the end and each babyface got taken out. The Shield came off as the most destructive force in WWE history because instead of relying on the power of one, they relied on the power of three. I have seen people only go as high as ****1/2, but someone needs to tell me where the flaws were in this, but given how this match pretty much changed the WWE landscape in one match I am going the full monty *****.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yuji Nagata - Budokan 09/12/03 "Mr. IWGP" Yuji Nagata having just broken the title defense record as the IWGP champion (10 defenses, which would stand until Tanahashi's 2011-2012 reign) and defeating Akira Taue at the most recent Budokan show in June looks to wrest the top prize in NOAH from their ace, Kenta Kobashi. A victory here for either would cement the winner as the hottest star in puroresu. Both took part in New Japan's last ever sellout of the Egg Dome in May of 2003 where Nagata lost his IWGP title to Takayama while Kobashi successfully defended against Masa Chono. Kobashi was riding a tidal wave of success as the freshly minted ace of NOAH having defeated Misawa in March and was looking like the biggest star in Japan. However, a loss here and Nagata could easily claim the mantle of the hottest star in puroresu. This just had a big fight feel that the last three matches were lacking. The Budokan crowd was rocking from the outset and never let up. They were lapping up everything from the first chop exchange to the final BURNING LARIATO! Early on, Kobashi asserts his dominance over Nagata with his chop. He suckers Nagata into his type of match: chop exchanges, tests of strength and and bombs. Nagata eventually realizes that is not a game he can win. He just gets tired of Kobashi chopping him and starts unloading with kicks to Kobashi's chopping arm. Nagata even pushes the ref away from him as he works over the arm and that gets the crowd on his case. The Nagatalock III is an armbar variation that has proven to be a death knell for all his opponents and the entire time in this segment Nagata works his darndest to apply the hold and Kobashi works equally hard to stay out of it. This sense of struggle lent itself to great drama and the best Nagata singles performance I have seen yet. Once Kobashi is able to score a bomb (half-nelson), Nagata seems to lose his sense of strategy. Kobashi is able to level the playing field with a lariat. Kobashi is still selling the arm allowing for Nagata to hit his own bombs including a wicked back body drop that only gets two. Kobashi is able to shift his weight on a suplex attempt and after a lot of struggle he hits a corner powerbomb (Im such a mark for that move). They are selling battle exhaustion really well here even if they dropped arm story prematurely. Surprisingly, Kobashi gives a lot of the home stretch to Nagata after Nagata hits a wild spin kick to press advantage. This ultimately helped the crowd dynamics as they are more predisposed to cheer for the underdog so after Kobashi survived the Nagata onslaught of a super exploder, a barrage of enziguiris and a back drop driver, the crowd exploded with a huge "KO-BASH-I" chant. Kobashi reversed an Irish Whip with a Lariat. I love the camera shot of a concerned female fan who is all of sudden ebullient then they cut back and Kobashi has that "This Fucker Bout To Die" expression. Brainbuster gets two and a BURNING LARIAT secures the win. Budokan crowd loved this match and really was hanging on every nearfall. Nagata had been so well-built by NJPW and the win over Taue made him one of the better challengers from a booking standpoint. From a match standpoint, Nagata just is not an elite wrestler. He is missing the intangibles. He does not doing anything poorly, but he is not great at anything. I think they could have had a classic if they stuck with the arm work and told an interesting story. Instead they went with the bomb throwing match, which is something that Kobashi excels at. The match just felt very safe. They performed a match in Kobashi's wheelhouse and delivered satisfaction to those in attendance. The difference between a Nagata and a Hashimoto or a Mutoh would be they would have forced Kobashi out of his safety zone. In turn, Kobashi would have forced Hash and Mutoh out of their comfort zone. If Nagata forced Kobashi to work a little more NJPW style (read: more matwork) I think it could have been a more unique match. As it stands it is just another very good Kobashi match. ****

Burning (Kenta Kobashi, Tamon Honda, KENTA) & Naomichi Marufuji vs Sterness (Jun Akiyama, Akitoshi Saito, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Makoto Hashi) - Korakuen 08/23/03 I was watching a spotfest when I wrote this. Forgive me if it goes astray. I have actually been looking forward to seeing KENTA & Marufuji's big run as it is something I missed that is highly polarizing. I am always interested in wrestling acts that are highly polarizing. I really liked the KENTA/Nakajima series from 2009 and in general enjoyed him. I always thought Marufuji would have been better off on the Japanese gymnastics team or the Japanese version of Jackass/Stupid Human Tricks. This is NOT a Kobashi/Akiyama match at all. It is actually quite jarring watching Kobashi & Akiyama take part in such a 00s spotfest. I am not trying to say they are beneath it. It is just not how they work that makes this strange to watch. This is definitely a KENTAFuji showcase and their new en vogue style. This match affirms everything I remember: KENTA is pretty good and Marufuji is just atrocious. There are just so many lame gymnastics exchanges from Marufuji that look especially bad when Kobashi comes in and just chops the fuck out of Kanemaru. KENTA is athletic, but remembers to actually hit you. I thought this was a very quiet performance from Honda, which disappointed me after his monster performance in the GHC Tag Title match. I could watch Kobashi chop the fuck out of Hashi & Kanemaru all day. Once Marufuji starts getting his ass kicked I start to enjoy the match a lot more. Nothing makes me want someone to get their ass kicked more than after they hit Sliced Bread No. 2. When you hit that move, I just want you to take closed fists to the head and piledrivers to eternity. Unfortunately all good things come to an end and Marufuji takes out Akiyama's knee and tags in the big man, Kobashi. Kobashi crushes Akiyama. Saito throwing KENTA down with an urnage was the best thing he has ever done. If this review seems disjointed, it is because they are just throwing out a ton of shit. Saito powerbombs KENTA and Kanemaru frogsplash, but triple save. Burning quadruple teams Kanemaru. Ballshot Kanemaru! Use the Ballshot!!! In the spot of the match Kobashi puts Kanemaru on Honda and winds him up to hit an Inverted Alabama Slamma. That was pretty cool. KENTA runs through some offense, but gets pinned from behind on a rollup. What the fuck?!?!?! KENTAFuji are taking over. Ok? Get used to it. Spotfest in every sense of the word. It is a really fun match with some cool stuff in it. I thought the finish was pretty lame as they should have gone out like they came in a blaze of glory. I dig spotfests, but they can only get so high for me. ***1/2

I think you make some good points defending the first half of the match. It is more logical than I initially gave it credit for. However, it reminded me a lot of the Demolition or Hart Foundation matches of the 80s. Those matches when you write down what is happening on paper it sounds fantastic. In practice, it feels like they are just going through the motions. I totally agree that the finish run is too sweet. Honda is a total boss in that last 5 minutes or so. The pop for his victory just really tells you how well they built that ending. The back end really makes the match for me. It is like I always say that when you are picking the absolute best matches of the decade, the nitpicking is necessary because you are trying to choose between the elite of the elite. GHC Tag Team Champions Sterness (Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito) vs Burning (Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda) - Budokan 6/6/03 During the home stretch of this match is when I got Honda, which is why I need to rewatch that GHC title defense again towards the end of the project. The GHC Title defense established Honda as a solid junior partner (not in the weight sense) for Kobashi to go up against Kobashi's arch-nemesis and his junior partner. The finish run of this match stands as one of the best finishes I have ever seen, but I thought the first half of the match was really just there. If you JIP to Kobashi's hot tag and then extrapolate out I could imagine someone dropping the full monty on this match, but the outset and Honda's FIP were really lukewarm. It is not as bad as a disjointed match to grade. It is just they sort of go from the ground floor to the top floor in two blinks of an eye instead of a gradual build. The match follows the usual Japanese formula the heels isolate the junior partner, but cant handle big gun. I love this formula; I just did not think it was executed with as much panache as usual. At the beginning, Akiyama pokes Kobashi in the eye, which fires up Kobashi to chop the fuck outta him. When Saito and Honda tango, Saito gets an upper hand so Kobashi comes in and puts him in his place. When Honda is back in, Saito wins a suplex struggle and Akiyama hits a high knee. Thus the basic strategy is established isolate Honda because Kobashi is too much man to handle. What I love about Japan is not everything so black and white even though Honda is the junior in the pecking order, he is still a world class athlete so he can defend himself and throw Akiyama down. However, everything has been fine to this point, but not super badass then you had some meaningless bomb throwing: Akiyama hits Kobashi with a DDT on the ramp and the next move is a Kobashi superplex. Sterness gets the match back on track with a sweet spike piledriver on the floor to Honda. The face in peril sequence after that just kinda meandered as they were just going through the motions. Honda spear and hot tag to Kobashi ignites the crowd and takes a good match and turns it into a classic. It is spinning back chops for everyone and Akiyama is out on his feet. Sleeper suplex, but finally Saito does something worthwhile and hits a HUGE German suplex. Saito had not ruined this match for me, but he was definitely not making it better. C'mon Saito you are still going to do a lot more than just that to take Kobashi down. Spinning back chop and a half-nelson suplex on ramp and Kobashi was back on top. At this point, Honda takes over the match for 5 or so minutes is the best wrestler in the world. No written word recap will do this finish justice. It is one of the more dramatic finishes to a Japanese tag or any match ever. It is filled with saves, Honda Germans, Olympic Hell out of Exploders and high drama. The pop for Honda's victory over Akiyama is one of the loudest I have heard from a Budokan Hall. This match is why you can never project where a match is going to go. What started as a ho-hum match turned into a classic finish with a great underdog babyface victory. It is hard to rate, but I will need to re-watch. I am going conservatively and saying ****.

I am going to the Smackdown taping in Boston tonight. Does Main Event start at 8? Or is it live to tape and I need to get there by 7? Thanks in advance.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Budokan 04/25/04 Going into this project, this was my pick for the best match of the decade in Japan of the 00s, granted I had only seen something like 20 matches from the decade. While it is just as excellent as I remembered, it did not quite have enough to dislodge Misawa/Akiyama and Misawa/Kobashi from the top two spots. From the first time I watched this in 2007 until now, I have been impressed with the hellacious beating Takayama dishes out on the champion. For the first time in the title reign, it feels like Kobashi could actually drop the title. These two have insane chemistry together. I loved their outing in 2000 and this match has enough differences to make this a unique great match. Instead of the hook being that Takayama is a outright heel, here it is can Kobashi surmount Takayama's strength advantage when in all the previous major title defenses he has been the larger competitor. Takayama is a big man, but he absolutely wrestles huge ensuring his stature being the crux of most of his matches. Early on they put over his size that Kobashi has to wear him down before he can hit big bombs like the half nelson suplex or delayed vertical. Kobashi pays for treating Takayama like any another opponent when Takayama reverses a delayed vertical into a guillotine choke. Takayama establishes control with a nice running knee/butterfly suplex combo. At first, it looks like Takayama was going to target leg, but when Kobashi keeps chopping him he takes his arm and hyperextends it over his shoulder. I loved this showcase of adaptability. He came in looking to take a limb and when Kobashi presented one to him he took it. Kobashi's verbal selling really put over the double wristlock. Outside the ring, Kobashi hits a rebound lariat off the railing, but his ailing arm prevents him from getting in the ring and Takayama hits a monster German off the apron. They milk this for all its worth with a double countout tease. Reminiscent of their 2000 match, Kobashi's right arm has been rendered useless he has to find ways to circumvent it. Takayama picks off Kobashi with a butterfly suplex and transitions immediately into a cross-armbreaker, but Kobashi makes the ropes. Takayama continues to try to hyperextend the arm. Kobashi grabs desperation sleeper, but cant leverage due to height disadvantage and bad arm. Takayama hits a wicked half-nelson suplex and a big German to get a two. The "Ko-Bash-I" chants ring out in the Budokan. He goes for the Human Capture German suplex, but here comes Kobashi. Kobashi throws Takayama down on his knee attempt, spinning back chop and a half-nelson level the playing field even though Kobashi is still favoring the arm. Takayama takes advantage of this to hit a dragon suplex and running knee, but the ropes save Kobashi. Takayama makes his last stand just landing nasty punches and kicks really smothering Kobashi and pushing the ref aside. This was really the first time Takayama was heelish and it puts over the desperation. Kobashi gets behind to hit the half-nelson and then a brainbuster for two. Burning Hammer, but his arm cant handle it. Takayama throws a wild kick BURNING LARIAT~! still only gets two. Kobashi with a bloody lip and a crazed look in his eyes signals for the Moonsault and the crowd loses shit for this. Moonsault right on Takayama's face wins the match! This match was wrestler more like an intense title match with a David vs Goliath dynamic rather than 2000 match where Takayama heeled it up. It shows how far Takayama had come as a credible challenger to any major Japanese title. The match showcases Kobashi at his best working from underneath. Using his histrionics to full effect to get the crowd cheering for his eventual comeback and who better to dish out punishment than the Bleach Blond Badass. Takayama gave as good as he got as his chest looked like raw meat after this match. The right arm was why Kobashi could never string together a combination of offense until Takayama had finally punched himself out and also why Kobashi had to bust out the moonsault (on the face) because he could not physically hit the Burning Hammer. Also for the first time, Kobashi was pushed to the limit as he was forced to dig deep in his bag of tricks to beat this giant. It was an excellent payoff to many different levels of storytelling before the biggest match in NOAH history against Akiyama in the Dome. *****

If Tony is not totally bitter about his wrestling career, I think he would be a great guest on the Steve Austin Show. At the very least, I would think he would like to talk Crockett, the Horsemen, Midnights/RockNRolls etc...

Orton/Bryan really do have insane chemistry together. I have loved all their RAW matches dating back to the street fight last year, but have not seen their PPV matches. I feel like Orton has really improved since last Wrestlemania in interacting with crowd and being more vicious. I'd have to go back and watch the Christian series, but I have to say Bryan must be his best opponent.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Tamon Honda - NOAH 4/13/03 This is my first Tamon Honda match and I don't think I got him until the tag title match after this so I will need to rewatch this match down the line. I thought it was a great match, but not an elite match. It is a perfect first title defense for Kobashi against a solid midcarder, who had some solid victories in 2002 and a very good Olympic record in freestyle wrestling. Plus established Honda as Kobashi's #2 and a reputable tag partner. This has to be Honda's career performance with a great array of throws and submissions to try put down Kobashi. Kobashi just has too much game for Honda, who is outgunned by the new champion. The beginning match establishes just that: Kobashi is the champion and he is going to control the beginning because he is the better wrestler. Now, Honda is the game from the beginning going for cradles and being able to throw Kobashi on a headlock, but cant turn the tide early against the offensive juggernaut that is Kobashi. Kobashi DDTs him on the ramp and it looks like nothing can stop him. Until in a badass spot, Honda German suplexes Kobashi over the ropes onto the ramp. Now thats creatively badass. As is a staple of Kobashi matches, his opponent goes to work on the arm to take away the Lariat and the chop. Kobashi is such a master seller of this every time out and sells the cross-armbreaker very well. Honda goes back to the top wristlock to quash any Kobashi resistance. Honda freaking headbutts Kobashi's arm. Kobashi nails the back drop driver and sells the arm well, but you know it is coming, the Orange Tsunami is going to overwhelm Honda, a DDT and 2 half-nelson suplexes confirm it. Honda gamely tries to hold on by grabbing his Olympic Hell (did not realize this was a finish just thought it was a chinlock until after I did some reading.). Honda starts throwing Kobashi around climaxing with a top rope German suplex and again goes back to Olympic Hell. He can't put him away and goes for the powerbomb. Kobashi-rana and LARIAT!!! The end is nigh as they show the GHC title. Out of nowhere, spear by Honda. Honda force Kobashi over on the German, but eats a LARIAT. Everybody is out. Honda one last pin attempt before sleepr suplex and BURNING LARIAT continue Kobashi's title reign. Kobashi worked the match much more underneath relying on his selling to get match over and in turn helping to make Honda look like a credible threat. Honda impressed me with throws and his work on the arm. Once I realized Olympic Hell was more than a intensely held chinlock I think I would like this match even more. I could see why some detractors of Kobashi who go after his offensive-laden matches may choose this as a shining example of a great Kobashi match. I thought it was perfect way to start a title reign, but at the same time allows to be even greater matches down the road rather than blowing your wad all at once. ****1/4

GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 3/01/03 This is how you seize the torch. Finally, Kobashi takes the mantle from Misawa as the full-fledged ace and embarks on a magnificent heavyweight title reign. Very rarely in wrestling and sports is a there a "torch passing" moment so when it does happen it truly feels like a special match. So when you take an extraordinary match add this touch of gravitas you have the makings of a Match of the Decade candidate. I would argue that this is the most famous match of the era and thus will come under extra scrutiny. After watching the match for either the fourth or fifth time, I believe it warrants inclusion among the best matches produced in Japan in the 00s. The story of this match was Kobashi would not be denied on this night. After years and years of proving his mettle, he was ready to defeat Misawa definitively. For Misawa, it was his last stand as The Man of Japan. It was a fitting climax to the story of two great, competitive rivals. The beginning of the match is Misawa establishing control and setting the pace with his elbow. After scoring the first bomb (a backdrop driver), Misawa stymies Kobashi at every turn with the elbow while focusing on Kobashi's arm removing the lariat and chop from the arsenal. Kobashi sells the arm like a champ as he cant apply the sleeper due to the arm work. When Misawa has the opportunity to hit his customary diving elbow, he was not expecting to crash and burn into the railing chin-first coming up with a nasty gash. Much like the chin-first drop toehold in the amazing '00 Akiyama match, Kobashi sees his opening and pounces. Everything is focused on debilitating the neck of Misawa. If you have control of the head & neck, you have control of the body. Kobashi paces his work a little better than Akiyama reserving his bombs for later content for using cravats and DDTs. The best spot of the segment is when Misawa goes for the monkey flip and Kobashi just falls back and eats turnbuckle. Kobashi starts to chop the fuck out of Misawa's neck, but Misawa ain't having any of it. We were one muscle flex away from Misawa doing his best Luger impression. It does not matter if it is Greensboro Coliseum or Budokan Hall, that spot is over like rover. The playing field is levelled after a trading a spinning back chop and a Roaring Elbow, Misawa is first up, but Kobashi still has fight left in him and Misawa elbows him back in the head. He rattles off his finishing sequence that has culminated in so many victories. He goes for Emerald Flowsion, but Kobashi desperately shoves him into the turnbuckles to save himself and hits a half nelson suplex. Kobashi will not be denied as he fights through elbows to hit a LARIATOOOOOO! The struggle over a suplex and MIsawa suplexes him on the ramp then dives through the ropes to elbow Kobashi on the ramp. After 25 minutes, they are both out on the ramp and I just wondering what is going through their minds knowing what the next spot will be. In the spot of the match, Misawa Tiger Suplexes Kobashi off the ramp onto floor. I still lose my shit when it happens. "KO-BASH-I" chants ring out in the Budokan and they tease the double countout finish to really put over that spot. Misawa only gets a two. To steal a phrase from DDP, this crowd is JAAAAAAAAACCCKED!!! Both men selling the fatigue and battle wear like champs. Kobashi throws wild chops, but Misawa catches him with nasty back elbows. Kobashi is falling over himself on jelly legs and finally Misawa hits it. The end all be all: Emerald Flowsion. 1-2-KICK OUT CROWD LOSES THEIR SHIT~! Delayed brainbuster triggers the MI-SA-WA chant. This crowd does not want it to end. Burning Hammer brings the match and the rivalry to a fitting conclusion. Kobashi grabs the reins from the Misawa in a classic barnburner. *****

After watching Kobashi's title defense against Ogawa (absolutely badass match), it is actually a bit disappointing they did not switch the style up a little more often in All Japan and NOAH because Kobashi had one helluva working punch and he would have been so damn good at brawls.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa – Budokan 11/01/03 I did not know until I watched this match that I have a spirit wrestler and his name is Yoshinari Ogawa. If I stepped into the ring, I would look pretty much same right down to the bitchin’ zebra print tights. I’m an inch taller than his billed height. We have a similar build and the same hair color/hair style. I would be the most obnoxious, cheating prick you ever did see. Needless to say, it took all of 30 seconds for Ogawa to become one of my favorite wrestlers ever. I can’t wait to see his dynamic with the Golden Boy, Misawa. I am feeling the Sting/Luger ’96 dynamic on steroids. Liberal cheating, blood and closed fist punches sound like something out of Memphis, but remarkably it happened in the Budokan in 2003 during a Kobashi match. You can only have so many “epic” matches and this served as a great change of pace. Instead of Kobashi trying to best a warrior on his level in a struggle for the prestige of the GHC Championship, we just wanted to see Kobashi murder this little douche and we got it. Very rarely, do you see Kobashi filled with hate. He fires up and gets angry, but he has respect for his opponent. For Ogawa, he holds him in contempt and is going to punish him. However, this can only be conveyed if Ogawa does his part to live up to the name, “Rat Boy”. This is one of the better heel performances I have ever seen as Ogawa just lays it on thick trying every trick in the book to prove lightning could strike twice and pull off a major upset to become the GHC Champion again. He sets the tone of the match right off the bat by spewing water in Kobashi’s face at the bell and beating down Kobashi with a big ‘ol shit-eating grin. Of course, Kobashi fires up and just lays in some wicked chops, which Ogawa’s due to his character can really sell well because he does not have to protect his image. Ogawa next trick is play dead off Kobashi’s chops. Kobashi argues with the ref and Ogawa chop blocks Kobashi’s knee. Kobashi’s knees are why he was out for all of 2001 and a good chunk of 2002 and they are heavily braced. Ogawa is just relentless on the knees including trying to take the braces off. Two spots, I loved during this segment were Kobashi blocking the kneecrusher and Ogawa turning it into a Dragon Leg Screw and Kobashi doing push-ups out of a half-crab and chopping the fuck out of Ogawa. In a moment of hubris, Ogawa thinks he has effectively weakened Kobashi starts to toy with him by poking him in the forehead. This leads to some suplex reversals and Kobashi being thrown into the ref. Ogawa actually gets a visual pinfall off of the enziguiri and back suplex. Ogawa realizing the ref was out gets the friggin’ ring bell and goes to town on Kobashi’s knee. You know it is coming now that big blowoff to all the heat they were building. They struggle on the outside and Kobashi sends him head first into the post. It looked wicked. He sends into post again head first and a spinning back chop puts him out. The ref are trying to restrain Kobashi and I don’t speak Japanese, but I am pretty sure he said “Fuck that little prick”. Ogawa comes up bloody and Kobashi unloads with closed fists on the cut. It is such a shame All Japan/NOAH is worked so straight because Kobashi has a badass worked punch. When Ogawa tries to cut off Kobashi at the knee literally, Kobashi rocks with a huge punch and then DDTs him on the ramp. Kobashi hits the mother of all powerbombs, but only gets two. Kobashi only gets two off the sleeper and punches Ogawa again in the head. The ref has enough and tries to restrain him and Ogawa low blows Kobashi! Kobashi right back on top with chops and a superplex. Ogawa’s last ditch effort was quick pinfall attempts with the feet on the ropes just like how he beat Akiyama and pinned Kobashi in a tag match. Ogawa refused to take the half-nelson suplex (proving he was smarter than everyone else in the promotion) and eats a Burning Lariat for the mercy killing. These two played their roles to a tee. On paper, Ogawa is totally overmatched by the awesome Kobashi. He cheats and needles Kobashi and then he has the audacity to go after his knees. Throughout the whole heat segment, I was just so pumped for the forthcoming destruction. I am just thinking I am going to get some suplexes, throws and Lariats. Then on top of that, I get BLOOD and CLOSED PUNCHES! That’s some sweet icing on the cake. I have some minor quibbles, no reason for Ogawa to get the visual fall and the ending stretch could have been tighter (low blow-> leads to pinfall attempts ->Kobash BURNINATES). Overall, a match that totally caught me unawares and is just a bitchin’ curveball out of NOAH. ****1/2

Come for the Dirty White Boy and his awesomeness and stay for the most badass, hilarious story in Titans history: Halloween Havoc 2012!!!!! I have not laughed so hard in a long, long time. I am glad to be apart of the team. Just throw up the Sleeze signal and Im there.

GHC Tag Team Champions Sterness (Jun Akiyama & Atikoshi Saito) vs Burning (Kenta Kobashi & Kentaro Shiga) - NOAH 10/19/02 The undisputed and unlikely star (at least from my perspective) was Kentaro Shiga. I had never seen Shiga, but with that frame he looked like as if I stepped into the ring. He is not a shorty like Saito, but a tall-ish, lanky fellow. So when Akiyama waves him off dismissively at the very beginning as if to say "Listen chump, it is time for the big boys to play" and then promptly cheapshots him off the apron Shiga comes in and tries to retaliate, but this is not Akiyama's first rodeo and he backs off the apron and gives him a wag of the finger. , I was like "Fuck Yeah!" Shiga then proceeded to prove me wrong the rest of the match that he did belong. Shiga just screamed "Face In Peril", but lo and behold he was one helluva hot tag. Shiga gets a hold of Akiyama and slaps him in the corner. You can imagine what happens next as Akiyama just brutalizes Shiga with a barrage of slaps. Akiyama goes to finish the job on the ramp, but Shiga gets a tornado DDT off the ramp that almost decapitates Akiyama on the railing. HOLY SHIT! He does it two more times off the apron onto the railing and I think Akiyama is dead. Akiyama can only get a foot on the ropes and collapses on the Irish Whip attempt. Kobashi is in and get hits his delayed vertical suplex, but Saito saves drawing boos. One other thing I love about this is match is that there is actual heel heat for Sterness. When Saito saves Akiyama he actually draws boos. Interference is pretty liberal in puroresu tags, but rarely draws boos. The facts the crowd was in unison for Kobashi & Shiga and there was an actual build to a finish improved this match tenfold over the previous Sterness tag. Saito draws more boos by breaking up a sweet ab stretch with crossface. Kobashi tags Shiga, but outside of his on bomb he just does not have the offense to take it to Akiyama, who wrangles Shiga into a vicious crossface while Saito restrains Kobashi. This has been a perfect use of Saito so far. smile.gif Now the real fun begins as Akiyama busts open Shiga's nose with a high knee and they just brutalize his face during the heat segment. Saito, who throws a pretty good kick, kicks him in the face and steps on his face. Akiyama slaps Shiga in the face while Saito holds him as the ref is admonishing him Saito stands on Shiga's face. This is friggin' awesome. Shiga gets a lariat to tag in Kobashi. I have to say I was bit underwhelmed by Kobashi. It was a pretty tepid hot tag when I was expecting molten fire. He chops the fuck out of Akiyama, but they go into finisher tease. Saito hits a real sweet axe kick on Kobashi and a German. Kobashi lariats Saito and tags Shiga, who is a fuckin house of fire. He is out for blood and just crushing anything that moves. A Saito jumping enziguiri stymies his run. Now it is Kobashi's turn to rattle off offense: he throws Akiyama down on the knee to corner and half-nelson suplexes follow, but Saito saves. They tease the Burning Hammer, but Saito the Personification of Buzzkill breaks it up with a jumping enziguiri. Don't worry Kobashi, Shiga has this on lock. He applies an STF on Akiyama while Kobashi detains Saito and the crowd is rocking for Shiga. Shiga does for his big bomb: the tornado DDT, but Akiyama hits a brainbuster out of it. Akiyama goes to choke a bitch, but Kobashi saves. Shiga gets one more hope spot with a roll-up outta of an exploder, but Akiyama proves too much for him hitting a brainbuster, exploder and a fisherman buster to polish him off for a successful defense of the tag titles. The match does run pretty long and can be a bit excessive at times would be my quibbles. I would imagine this is Shiga's match of a lifetime. Everyone loves an underdog and this is a story anyone can get. The underdog punking out the bully, getting his ass beat, taking it right to the bullies, but coming up short. Kobashi, who lets face it can be a bit of a glory hog, really let Shiga shine in this. Akiyama played a great heel prick in this much better than any other match I have seen from him. ****

GHC Tag Team Champions Wild II (Takeshi Rikio & Takeshi Morishima) vs Jun Akiyama & Atikoshi Saito - Budokan NOAH 9/23/02 You know all those touring 80s metal bands with only one original member (looking at you, Quiet Riot) that's what this match felt like. It was a wicked bad All Japan tribute match that had one of the original members of the band performing. You know what this match is good for, though. You see why Akiyama is a cut above the rest. The way he throws himself into every bump and into every move makes you believe. Don't get me wrong, Rikio and Morishima had potential, but they were so tentative. Not tentative in a I am selling that match as a big deal let me be cautious, but tentative more like I don't want to hurt myself or my opponent and still pretty green. Atikoshi Saito is a lost cause and just a pretty atrocious wrestler. I have no idea how Akiyama got saddled with such a chump. He was apart of some of the slap exchanges and double clothesline spots ever. Jesus, in Japan, it is not like work their slaps just friggin' shoot slap him. Rikio and Morishima were not much above him in terms of laying it in, but they did try a bit harder with Akiyama. The Morishima side slam on Saito to transition out of his heat segment was pathetic and Saito visibly hopping into Rikio's arms for a bearhug was sad. I'll give credit where it is do, Wild II was effective in working Saito's ribs with lots of double stomps and Saito actually sold pretty well, but that part was merely decent. The best parts of the match were of course when Akiyama was in. The way he just bumped for Morishima and Rikio made them seemed so much more credible. When he slapped them, it definitely woke them up. Morishima finally started hitting some big clotheslines and because Akiyama is a total nut he took a wicked Doomsday Device. Akiyama gave as good as he got because he messed Morishima's face with his jumping high knee. The finish run features Saito and Rikio and it is about as anti-climatic as one can imagine. Saito wins after a bunch of jumping enziguiris. Easily the worst match I have seen so far in my 00s puroresu watching. It is full of trite slap exchanges and poor offense. How far has the once mighty All Japan has fallen! I am not even going bother rating it.

GHC Heaveyweight Champion Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mitsuharu Misawa - Budokan 09/23/02 The most in-demand puroresu star of 2002 continues his run of excellent matches against NOAH ace, Mitsuharu Misawa. Takayama won the GHC Title from Yoshinari Ogawa and was used as a high-profile transitional champion to Misawa to set up the famous 03/01/03 Misawa vs Kobashi encounter. In their match from 2001 to decide the first GHC Champion, I found the first half of the match to be sluggish before the dramatic home stretch seeing Misawa crowned as the GHC Champion with Emerald Flowsion. In this match, they cut a quick pace from the outset of this match and never really let up even though towards the end they did seem fatigued. This featured a great Takayama heel performance, which makes Misawa's famed extended comeback all the better. It all boils down to Misawa's elbow versus Takayama's size. Takayama started off dominating Misawa with an assortment of kicks that sent him out of the ring and reeling into the corner at different moments. Takayama boots him off the top turnbuckle. He sends him crashing into the railings before clobbering him with the big boot over the railing. Early on, it seems the size and power of Takayama will be too much for Misawa to handle. Takayama, cocky as ever, covers Misawa with one foot in the ring. They go back to a test of strength something Takayama had won early, but this time Misawa executes a fireman's carry out. During a Misawa chinlock, Takayama feigns choking so as to get the ref to break it. Takayama is fuckin awesome. Takayama dumps Msiawa out onto the apron only to be hit by a short-arm elbow and a running elbow over the top rope. A dropkick to the outside sets up Misawa's diving elbow, which looks particularly brutal given how Takayama lands and Misawa follows this up with another elbow from the apron sending Takayama through the railing. Misawa effectively began to use his elbow as his equalizer against Takayama. Takayama as devastating weapon of his own: the kneelift. He catches Misawa coming off the top with a wicked kneelift triggering big Misawa chants. Takayama hits a bridging butterfly suplex, never seen that one before, for two. There is a lame sequence of kicks that just kinda ends with a Misawa single-leg takedown. Here comes the Misawa offensive onslaught: roaring elbow, German, Tiger Driver, Frogsplash and facelock. Takayama throws him off on Tiger Suplex attempt. A roundhouse kick to the head ends a elbow versus boot exchange and gets two. Takayama just fucking unlodas with knees driving Misawa into the corner. He hits a dropkick to Misawa's face and another knee only to get two triggering more Misawa chants and causing a bloody lip. Takayama has proven he has bombs of his own that can counteract Misawa, but has not yet put him away. He signals for the German suplex; he hits it, but rolls through to hit another one and Misawa gets his foot on the rope. He goes for a capture German suplex, but Misawa turns that into a double underhook overhead belly to belly suplex (is there a shorter name for that. It feels like one of the IUPAC names for an organic molecule). You know they do a reverse tombstone piledriver spot in WCW. Well the try to do the same thing but with the Emerald Flowsion version of that and fuck it up resulting in a bloody nose for Takayama. They run through a sequence, but they seem blown up at this point. Misawa takes home with elbows and after a barrage of them wins his second GHC title. ***3/4 They lose a bit down the stretch, but it was a dramatic thrill ride as Misawa was able to vanquish the Bleach Blond Giant of Japan with his trusty elbow. Takayama laid a pretty damn good beating on Misawa. Those Takayama kneelifts were bitchin' as all hell. It is too bad they botched the Emerald Flowsion shot as it seemed to mess up their finish, but it was a very well built match.

Yoshihiro Takayama vs Osamu Nishimura - G-1 Climax '02 Semi-finals I wanted to like this, but it came off feeling too much like exhibition to me. There was no real sense of struggle or urgency until the latter stages of the match. There is no doubt that Nishimura was over like rover with the crowd, but I did not get the sense he really cared about winning the match. He seemed kind of like a hot dog showboat. I love Takayama, but he sort of just let Nishimura do stuff to him to pop the crowd. Nishimura has some neat little mat stuff, but it is way too cute for my taste. What bugged me the most about Nishimura' performance is how he totally no sold the cross armbreaker while in the hold. Talking about killing the drama. Even though, the crowd loved Nishimura, there seemed to be something so detestable about him. He just seemed so smug to me. Towards the end when Nishimura did a knee drop on Takayama's knee and then the figure-4, Takayama's selling finally drew me in. It finally felt like two people trying to win a match. Of course, I am going to call a spade a spade and Takayama just dropped the knee selling after that, which bothered me because Takayama working from underneath was an interesting dynamic. I have never seen Nishimura before but something about him did irk me so I did take personal pleasure when Takayama said enough with this bitchy little kicks and chopped the fuck out of his chest. Then he just chucks him across the ring twice. God Bless Takayama! That was pretty much the end of Nishimura. Nishimura get an ab stretch pin for a false finish that crowd bites on. Takayama, undeterred, hits him with an Everest German to pick up the victory. Having only watched one match of Nishimura, I will continue to have an open mind about him that withstanding I was very underwhelmed by this match. It was a refreshing change of pace to see long stretches of matwork and no lariats, but I have seen better versions of this match and it really could have been so much more. There was plenty of good wrestling, but once again it felt like a Nishimura matwork exhibition. I thought Takayama supplied all the best parts and was the only one interested in selling during the majority of the match. It would have been cool to see Takayama work underneath if it was against a less self-indulgent opponent. It is a hard match to rate, but I will say ***1/4.

Yoshihiro Takayama vs Kensuke Sasaki - G-1 Climax '02 Sasaki is wearing a doo-rag because he has cut the most bitchin' mullet of all time off. Mullet > Doo-rag. However, I cannot deny he is rover like over like this crowd and they may have been able to get a little bit more out of him before transitioning into the Nagata era. Sasaki looks to power straight through the monster early with lots of stiff shots to the mid-section and head. This flurry overwhelms the Bleach Blond Giant enough to hit a powerslam on the ramp and a brainbuster before a HUGE knee lift puts on a stop to that. The crowd even gasped for that kneelift. For all the love the lariat gets, the knee lift is just as badass. Takayama is his usual dickish self putting just one foot on Sasaki counting along. He hits a nice jumping knee on the ramp and then his jumping knee/butterfly suplex combo. A cocky Takayama lets Sasaki take a standing count only to eat a lariat, big mistake. Sasaki is able to apply the scorpion deathlock, but Takayama is too close to the ropes. They start trading wild forearms and this turns into a battle of the big boot versus the lariat. Some of those lariats by Sasaki were vicious and Takayama ate them like a champ. Takayama goes for the German. Sasaki blocks it and then throws Takayama to the ground on his jumping knee attempt. This time the lariat fells the giant. He signals for the Northern Lights Bomb and the crowd pops huge. It is academic as Sasaki picks up the points in this match. ***1/4 It felt like a really high-end TV match, just simple, but exciting spots strung together in a cogent fashion to advance the tournament. Takayama came off as a bigger prick in this match and someone you will root against from now. The big take home was just how over Sasaki was in this match. The home stretch is how they should have ended the Nagata match. Sasaki basically used Takayama's size against him when he threw him down and then hit his big finish to a nice pop.

Dick Togo vs Tiger Mask IV - 08/25/02 Inaugural Tokugun Jr. Heavyweight Champion I didn't really care for this one at all I thought this was a badly executed 2002 US Indy match that focused way more spots (that didn't even look good) than trying to tell a compelling story. They piqued my interest from the outset when Togo started the mask ripping, chair throwing and dragging Tiger Mask around by the neck with a cord, but once Tiger Mask was able to crack Togo in the skull with the chair things went downhill fast. Tiger Mask's offense looked awful, his sweep the leg was shit and he just looked like he could beat himself out of a wet paper bag. I know Togo is revered and I have not seen much so I will keep an open mind, but those Pedigrees have got to go. He makes me long for Kojima's Ace Crusher. The top rope Pedigree was particularly bad. At least the senton he used decent. So I lost my notes for this match and only the negatives stick out, but I do remember thinking it was at least entertaining in regards to the early brawling and Togo's heel work. **3/4