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supersonic

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Everything posted by supersonic

  1. Akiyama vs. Marufuji - September 9, 2006 Akiyama dominated early, but Marufuji got the advantage when he hit a dropkick on Akiyama's left knee. That became the story of this match, as Akiyama was never able to make a full comeback against the smaller, less experienced Marufuji. Sure, he got in a nice submission sequence of putting the challenger in the Scorpion Deathlock followed by a Bow-and-Arrow Stretch, as well as backdropping Marufuji on the entrance apron, but the damage was done. And Marufuji was quite vicious on Akiyama's left knee, slamming it on the ring post and locking in numerous submissions including the figure four leg lock. With that said, none of Marufuji's bombs could take down Akiyama, not even a standing Shiranui that had Akiyama's back landing on the top edge of a steel guard rail, or even a Super Shiranui inside the ring. Instead, Marufuji took advantage of his work on Akiyama's left leg, ultimately ducking a lariat in a nice finishing sequence, and securing the GHC Heavyweight Title in a pumphandle style small package, which Akiyama didn't have the leg strength to kick out of. Nice sequence to pay off a solid but unspectacular story. I must point out that the commentary specifically mentioned ROH and New York City, obviously alluding to Glory By Honor V Night 2. I wonder if something special is planned for that event. This was a historic business risk taken by NOAH, as Marufuji was the first true junior heavyweight to claim the top prize in the company. I'll chronicle that as I continue watching vintage NOAH. ***1/2
  2. KENTA & Shibata vs. Taue & Shiozaki - September 9, 2006 Fun tag here especially the story told between Taue and Shibata. The taller veteran Taue got the advantage to the crowd's approval during an early strike exchange via multiple slaps and then crushing Shibata's face on his knee. Minutes later, Shibata used the same knee-to-face move on Shiozaki and taunted Taue on the apron. Taue also gotten taken off the apron, causing the younger Shiozaki to have dig deep and hold his own against the fast kickboxing-background duo. Ultimately, the combined quickness of KENTA & Shibata was too much, as Shibata was taken out and Shiozaki went down to a springboard Doomsday Device. ***1/2
  3. KENTA & Marufuji vs. Rikio & Morishima - July 16, 2006 Excellent tag match here as expected. The juniors stepped up their physicality and utilized their speed to offset the size difference here, but Rikio did a great job at times using slaps to cut them off, and I assume he pulled that from his sumo background. Everyone here did a great job when hitting a bomb after being knocked out of immediately going down afterwards, making sure to still the sell the pain and show that they found a quick burst before reality kicked in. However, this match was designed to be Morishima's breakout, and he fucking delivered with the opportunity. After 20 minutes of incredible tag team wrestling action with all kinds of cutoffs, strikes, kicks, suplexes, and size matchups, the match became molten-hot when it came down to KENTA vs. Morishima. The closing several minutes had the crowd in a collective orgasm, going apeshit when Morishima not only kicked out after a Busaiku knee, but then also a Doomsday Shiranui followed by a G2S! Rikio also did his best to keep Marufuji from helping KENTA, even pulling out a World Muso. Morishima would dig down deep to hit KENTA with a sudden backdrop driver for another hot nearfall, but as the match inched closer to its 30 minute time limit, the two of them became desperate to get the win for their team. Rather than just rely on strikes and bombs, they turned to traditional wrestling as well, including a small package and school boy pinfall attempt by KENTA. Moments later, KENTA deadweighted Morishima on an attempted fireman's carry position, so Morishima quickly improvised and rolled KENTA over into a pinfall, structured similarly to a Death Valley Driver without an actual suplex and slam being involved. Moments later, the 30 minute time limit expired, with all four men getting the standing ovation they obviously from the awesome Tokyo crowd. The only nitpick to point out were the juniors slipping on the ropes a couple times, but I don't factor that into my rating. We've seen plenty of times athletes slip in a flukey moment as well, causing them to miss a steal, touchdown, tackle, etc. and that doesn't take away from their respective sports either. This match is a work of art that all aspiring strong-style wrestlers need to study, and one of the defining matches in NOAH history. No wonder so many ROHbots were getting hard at the thought of Morishima coming across the Pacific back in the day. ****3/4
  4. KENTA vs. Sugiura - June 4, 2006 Another excellent match, a fitting finale to KENTA's tremendous reign as the GHC Jr. Champ. He never truly got what I would consider to be a genuine advantage in this, even with Sugiura occasionally selling at points. KENTA just found himself constantly getting thrown away with all kinds of overhead suplexes throughout the match. Of note is that Sugiura worked on KENTA's left knee early, softening it up for the ankle lock. A pity Kurt Angle likely never watched this and of course that he will likely never face KENTA. KENTA found himself Yakuza kicked off the apron and flying back-first into the steel guardrail, allowing Sugiura to dominate the rest of the match. And although Sugiura dominated, KENTA always kept himself in the match with kicks and slaps, having beautiful exchanges with the challenger. But with such a beating having been laid upon on him and his left ankle damaged, KENTA had no choice after about a minute in that hold, coming so close to the ropes and having the crowd antsy, but to finally tap out. Phenomenal match. ****1/2
  5. Kobashi vs. Marufuji - April 23, 2006 Another great match here. Marufuji kept finding ways to survive Kobashi's standard brutality, and went after the left knee of the HOFer. His work on that joint was phenomenal, with a picture-perfect figure four leglock being the highlight. Kobashi would continuously find ways to neutralize Marufuji though with his various chopping methods. Of course, Marufuji took some stupid bumps in this one. There were the head-drops, but also a plancha in which he landed on the floor. He would later hit a super shotgun dropkick... to Kobashi out on the floor, scraping the outside apron before bumping on the ground. He had a great moment calling back to his victory over Akira Taue when he grabbed Kobashi's arm to prevent a chop, making an upset career-defining victory seem possible. But this was Kenta Kobashi, and he wasn't going to look up at the lights, even after taking a straight jacket suplex pin and straight jacket backroll pin attempt. Just a great match all around. ****1/4
  6. KENTA vs. Kobashi - March 5, 2006 Excellent match as expected at the time. KENTA got to show the first-ballot HOFer just how much he had improved when they lost went at it in singles a year and a half earlier. In this one, he was able to inflict early damage on Kobashi's left arm, and he was it on like white on rice with numerous arm-bars and even kicking at it while the former GHC Heavyweight Champ was down. Kobashi's selling of the left arm was mostly exceptional, constantly clutching at it after landing some bombs with it. I really appreciated that KENTA escaped Kobashi's stupid head-dropping suplexes, showing that he had done an effective job on him AND showing how much he had improved since their previous encounter. Mid-way in the match when Kobashi got control, his right arm was in such pain that he used his left-arm to deliver a DDT to the then-GHC Jr. Champ on the apron. But despite how much better KENTA had become, no matter how much damage he had inflicted, even with him holding a championship that was considered prestigious at the time, he could not slay the icon. Kobashi was able to suck up whatever pain he had, with enough time passing in the match for it to slightly heal, and deliver his trademark bombs, including the corner Kobashi chops followed by Polish Hammer, plus his half-nelson and sleeper suplexes. Great match to elevate KENTA and remind the fans exactly one year after his epic GHC Heavyweight Title reign had concluded, Kobashi was still the shit. ****
  7. Taue vs. Marufuji - March 5, 2006 Really good storytelling in this one. Marufuji went after the legend's left leg early to limit his already limited mobility, but Taue would still be able to withstand some dropkicks to the chest. After Marufuji put in more work on him, Taue could no longer hold his ground and was actually getting thrown around by the much smaller Marufuji. Taue would rely on his old man strength to get him out of jams, such as just throwing Mongolian chomps and relying on his various chokeslams. My favorite moment of the match was when Marufuji blocked one while falling, absorbing the bump since Taue didn't get the full impact on it, and getting a cross armbreaker on Taue. It became crystal clear that the upset was coming, and it certainly did when Taue found himself stunned standing after a blocked Flux Capacitor, getting a superkick and being pinned clean with a pumphandle small package. This was a simple story, one that NOAH unfortunately didn't go on to fully utilize with its booking: Marufuji had too much speed, just enough experience, and significantly less wear-and-tear, and that is what got him this landmark victory. ***1/2
  8. KENTA vs. Marufuji - January 22, 2006 I'll get the flaws out of the way: KENTA had room for improvement in regards to selling the left knee that Marufuji spent so much time working on. In addition, he could've added some more hope spots to fulfill this match's crowd heat potential. I also saw zero point in landing a fucking Shiranui off the apron to the floor. Marufuji almost fell apart in the closing stretch due to that, failing to lift KENTA for a Tiger Suplex, simply rolling him back in that position for the pin. This was a great Jr. Title defense for KENTA, most importantly VERY different than his prior classic defenses against SUWA and Low Ki. Marufuji worked a headlock early to feel out and slow down the red-hot KENTA, bringing back memories of Shawn Michaels doing the same thing to Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 21. KENTA would get some back-and-forth going until Marufuji attacked his left knee and just mercilessly went to work on it. Make no mistake, Marufuji was relentless on KENTA's left knee, neutering the few sporadic hope spots KENTA attempted, and the best part of course was him bringing out the classic figure four leglock. Put this match in front of an ROH crowd at the time and the heat would've been off the charts for that. After about 10 minutes, KENTA is able to bring the match to an even level when lifting his right leg to block an attempted corner splash, then landing a Yakuza kick, and countering a charging Marufuji with a powerslam. KENTA was vicious, doing a so-so job of selling all the left leg work as I mentioned earlier. But that was somewhat made up for with the pacing, and more importantly in the finishing stretch which I'll get to later. I actually didn't mind KENTA landing an Attitude Adjustment style Death valley Driver out on the floor, as that protected Marufuji from a stupid head/neck drop. Once the match got to the finishing stretch after the Shirnaui on the floor, both men traded blows and suplexes, with Marufuji ducking some left leg roundhouse kicks, showing that KENTA lacked that extra fraction of speed to land them after the work done earlier. They also traded beautiful Tiger Suplex nearfalls that had the crowd rocking. KENTA eventually no-sold the earlier work and used his left leg to deliver his standard kicks. However, KENTA showed that his left knee lacked a bit of firepower. Marufuji was able to kick out of a left leg Basaiku knee. He then kicked out of a left leg G2S. But once KENTA landed the second Basaiku knee, everyone knew it was over. I suspect the issues I pointed out earlier were taken care of by the time these two faced off again to provide the MOTYC potential they have, rather than just a great match that gets lost in the shuffle. ****
  9. Yone & Morishima vs. KENTA & Shibata - November 5, 2005 First time I've seen Shibata, looked pretty good here despite being green, I'd like to see him against his Caucasian mirror image Kyle O'Reilly. Looking forward to seeing more of him. The match took forever to get hot, becoming great in the last 2-3 minutes. The work was smart, but there were never any moments of building to hot tags, it was just good but nothing special until Morishima and KENTA exchanged finishers while their partners would break it up. Had the hot finish been several minutes rather than just a few, I'd have been happy to say this was great. ***3/4
  10. Suzuki & Marufuji vs. Akiyama & Koshinaka - November 5, 2005 This felt like a very good Raw tag. Suzuki and Koshinaka had a great slap exchange that anyone who has a taste for the likes of Sheamus or Fit Finlay should see. Akiyama seemed a bit bitter going up against the team that beat him and Hashi at the huge Destiny PPV, so of course he was great. At one point he was able to isolate Marufuji, dropping him multiple times on the entrance apron while Koshinaka somehow kept Suzuki in the ring. Marufuji had a great burst near the end on Akiyama, but couldn't put down the legend with a Shiranui. However, Marufuji's stock was elevated when he kicked out of a wrist-clutch exploder, requiring a second one to take him down for the count. Post-match, Suzuki warms my heart just like SUWA by being a jabroni to the winners. ***1/2
  11. KENTA vs. SUWA - September 18, 2005 SUWA grabs the GHC Championship script from Joe Higuchi prior to the match and tears it up, stunning the crowd and pissing KENTA off. They brawl for a minute before the match is thrown out after SUWA uses a ringbell. The match is allowed to continue, with KENTA running to beat the shit out of SUWA at the stage curtain, and dragging the challenger back to ringside, throwing him over the top rope into the ring. For about 15 minutes, SUWA was the jabroni of all cunts. Getting in Higuchi's face. Blatant low blows, including one in front of the referee. Fucking with dojo students at ringside. Using wrist-tape to choke KENTA out of the referee's view. Taking a turnbuckle pad off and throwing it in Higuchi's direction. But KENTA, through sheer determination, hatred, anger, and crowd support, was able to stay alive, even shrugging off the effects of a shotgun dropkick about 15 minutes into this storytelling greatness, preventing what appeared to be a package piledriver attempt and lifting SUWA for a beautiful G2S. If this was meant to be the final rung of the ladder in terms of making KENTA one of the premier babyfaces in the company, mission accomplished. ****
  12. Suzuki & Marufuji vs. Akiyama & Hashi - July 18, 2005 Another splendid tag match, with Hashi coming into this one having his head bandaged. Why a heavyweight like him agreed to take a Marufuji's sunset flip powerbomb onto the floor, I'll never know. Suzuki of course was usual his cunty self going after Hashi's head and removing the bandage. I also enjoyed the seemingly continual subplot of Akiyama being irritated with Marufuji's existence - I wonder if that ever pays off with a particular match. But Hashi was the weakness of his team, not being able to kick out of a Shiranui after all the damage to his head and neck. ****
  13. Kanemaru vs. KENTA - July 18, 2005 The match starts off with a vicious striking exchange segment that leaves both men wincing. KENTA is able to get an advantage, perhaps a foreshadowing of arguably the greatest match of his entire career, when Kanemaru feels pain in his left arm. KENTA was on that shit like white on rice, not just with his usual kicks, but showing off the submission holds for any morons that claim he's one-dimensional. Kanemaru is able to get some advantage when he hurts KENTA's neck and goes to work on that, but despite some selling issues of his arm down the home stretch, he just simply isn't able to do enough damage to KENTA, who is obviously still bitter about their historic tag match the night before. After two Basiukee kneeds, KENTA earns the GHC Jr. Title to begin the next stellar chapter of his career. Some better selling from Kanemaru would have made this match something truly special, rather than just a great match on a stacked show in front of an incredible Tokyo Dome audience. ****
  14. KENTA & Marufuji vs. Kanemaru & Sugiura - June 5, 2005 This isn't quite up to par with the finals of the GHC Jr. Tag Titles tournament, but to say that isn't an actual criticism. This was not only a historic match, but fantastically paced one to boot, with just some minor questionable selling to take it from MOTYC (which this is) into all-time tippy-top classic. As I mentioned, the pacing in this was just off-the-charts insane. While KENTA unloaded Basaike knees aplenty to hold on to the Jr. Tag straps, Sugiura consantly found ways to deliver Angle slams. But no matter how many times Sugiura would execute that, the champs would find enough adrenaline to kick out or be there to make the save for one another. Also in this match that stood out to me was Marufuji selling a tornado DDT hope spot from Kanemaru like he had been studying some Rob Van Dam matches, a tremendous moment that allowed Kanemaru to get a hot tag. Another moment was KENTA giving Sugiura a Yakuka kick, with Marufuji using that momentum to give him a sunset powerbomb on the floor. Later, KENTA would apply a powerbomb using the momentum of a Shiranui. To say that the drama built and built in this classic would be an understatement. I think that despite the numerous MOTYCs in which KENTA & Marufuji had found way to hold onto their straps for dear life, the crowd could sense something magical just like Kenta Kobashi vs. Takeshi Rikio a few months earlier. When Kanemaru found a way to keep Marufuji outside the ring, allowing Sugiura to hit a super Angle slam on KENTA, the historic reign came to an end to crowd's mighty approval. While not the box-office draw of Kobashi's GHC Heavyweight Championship reign, to me the reign of KENTA & Marufuji as the GHC Jr. Tag Champs, being the very first tandem to hold those titles, was just as important. Match quality wise, both reigns are obviously comparable. But like Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards years later, having these two green young men booked together not only did an amazing job of hiding their weaknesses, but in showcasing their incredible athleticism, high-flying, and striking abilities. I don't think it's any coincidence that Gabe Sapolsky the following year made sure that every championship in ROH would be booked with such strength and prestige simultaneously. “You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can't, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don't give up.” - General Chuck Yeager ****1/2
  15. KENTA & Marufuji vs. Fujita & Hidaka - May 7, 2005 As I suspected, hot tag segments were preserved for this Differ Cup Final rather than being blown on the earlier matches. The result is a great match, although not a tippy-top all-time classic that I'm sure many deem this to be. Of note is that Fujita & Hidaka have some NWA or Zero-1 Tag belts with them, but I'm not sure which tag championship specifically. In this one, KENTA got his left leg worked on early, but enough damage wasn't done to matter. But the Zero-1 team would much later go back to that left leg, yet KENTA didn't sell it in the very finish, which to me is what took this from being at the very tippy-top as mentioned earlier. However, what I loved is that the finishing several minutes were absolutely incredible, creating a formula that so many teams in ROH and PWG have copied largely to lesser match quality results. Also fond to me was the GHC Jr. Tag Champs becoming the default heels when KENTA did the boot scrapes on Fujita, which the crowd jeered as that had been an established signature spot for Fujita. I'll definitely keep an eye on that for KENTA's matches involving Samoa Joe when I catch up to those. There was also another moment when Marufuji delivered a subtle (but to the detail-oriented blatant) eyepoke. When the hot tag was achieved for the Zero-1 team to go into the third and final act, the crowd went absolutely apeshit, as there were also old-school segments of the referee not allowing them to help each other. Hidaka did everything he could to keep Marufuji at bay while Fujita had some jaw-dropping attempts to put KENTA away, including a leg-whip on the left leg from the top rope, followed by the Boneyard, and then attempting another Boneyard submission moments later when the opportunity came. But KENTA wouldn't submit, finding ways to reach the ropes, and Marufuji was able to break up a pinfall attempt after a successful Michinoku Driver. After multiple Busaiku knees though, it was inevitable that NOAH's team would win this instant classic. ****1/4
  16. Marufuji vs. KENTA - November 13, 2004 Very good singles match here. They did a great job of countering each other left and right. Such examples include KENTA hitting basaiku knees out of nowhere and even with limited space, KENTA countering an attempted Shiranui by turning it into a successful piledriver, and then countering another attempted Shiranui into a successful G2S. The only issue was both mean being so sweaty and/or gassed that they fell over about 20 minutes in, killing the drama for a good finish. ***3/4
  17. Marufuji & KENTA vs. SUWA & Marvin - October 24, 2004 After watching this classic, and getting to see the conniving greatness that was SUWA, I'm saddened we never got to see him lock it up with Ric Flair and Eddie Guerrero. He was an absolutely masterful jabroni in this one, the Kevin Steen (another guy who I wish had been booked against SUWA) of his team, with Marvin somewhat playing the El Generico-esque good cop. In particular, I loved the channeling of the Dudleyz with the blatant lowblow spot in the first act of the match on KENTA, this one though being a simple stop instead of headbutt from SUWA and minus the crowd-teasing of course. KENTA was tremendous once again in getting his hope transitions in for a hot tag, capitalizing on the challengers the second he got that chance. He had some fantastic exchanges with SUWA, and I could see he really landed those kicks; there was no slapping of the thigh for the audio effect. Marufuji was great again in his chemistry with Marvin, the two of them having some dazzling flashy transitions. Marvin near the end of the match also laid in a gorgeous Shiranui on Marufuji, showing that he had learned from all those previous title shots and put in the work to utilized the arsenal of his greatest opponents. The finishing stretch in this was phenomenal too, ending with KENTA laying in the G2S on Marvin, who took a spectacular bump to put it over and give this match the exclamation mark it deserved. I hope a decade later though that the bump was worth it for him though. SUWA, still the absolute cunt he was during his career, attempted to ambush the successful champs post-match. ****1/2
  18. KENTA & Marufuji vs. Samurai & Inoue - January 10, 2004 Turns out NOAH did indeed have the best match of the day over ROH. This was the typical great puro match in which the first 2/3 or so it looks like it'll be peak with being very good, but the heat got tremendous in the last third of the match. There was a segment between Inoue and Marufuji, in which Marufuji did a super-hurricanrana followed by missile dropkick, that look a bit choreographed and business-exposing. At that point i also asked myself this - why the fuck did these two men, both with somewhat long hair, no upper body tattoos, cruiserweight style bodies, wear loose white pants? Made it difficult to differentiate. KENTA was on fire in this one, getting the chance to do some Ricky Morton work when the challengers went to work on his neck, which started after a piledriver. The challengers were pretty vicious. In the last segment of the match, when Marufuji was playing the Morton, KENTA was tremendous with the hot tag. My favorite moment of the match was KENTA ducking Inoue and Marufuji delivering a superkick that would make Shawn Michaels proud. The remaining 2-3 minutes were fantastic stuff. Great tag match. ****
  19. KENTA & Marufuji vs. Marvin & Guerrera - November 1, 2003 Sadly, this was not to be the greatest match of the day, as there was a singles match in New Jersey that quite easily surpassed this. And while I find it a bit overrated, it's still really good. Something seemed off about mixing KENTA in with the lucha background guys this early into his career. This had a hot beginning, in what seemed to be sparked by some pre-match microphone work from the lucha challengers. Marufuji's high-flying style seemed to fit in quite well with Marvin and Guerrera. In fact, this match featured the greatest counter to the Shiranui I've ever seen, as Guerrera dead-weighed himself with Marufuji elevated in the air and dropped him with a Michinoku Driver near the end of the match. With that kind of spot, the match obviously had a hot finish too, but with Guerrera's different background and likely his notorious attitude being a part of the match, the middle couldn't measure up to the other acclaimed KENTA & Marufuji tags of 2003. ***3/4
  20. KENTA & Marufuji vs. Hashi & Kanemaru - September 12, 2003 Didn't like this one as much as the tourney final, but objectively speaking, this was top-notch stuff again. Calling back to previous matches? Check. Selling hate and limb work? Check. Building to a hot finishing stretch that has the crowd in an absolute frenzy? Check. Mixing in spectacular spots to go with the phenomenal tag psychology, to give this match its genuine peaks and valleys? Check. The Jr. Tag Titles certainly started off similarly to the WWE SmackDown!-exclusive Tag Titles the year before, but in this case, even better. ****1/2
  21. Takaiwa vs. Marufuji - December 9, 2001 Really good match and storytelling, although not structured to be truly great to me. I assume this title change was Marufuji's coming out party, and I loved the very beginning of the match, with Marufuji's superkick and immediate collapsing of the damage reminding me of Shawn Michaels. Takaiwa tried to make an example out of the younger challenger throughout the match, having the match done with but choosing to continue dishing punishment. That would be his downfall, as throughout the rest of the match Marufuji would not be denied and earned the Jr. Championship to a wonderful reaction. ***3/4
  22. Sasaki & Nakajima vs. Kobashi & Shiozaki - November 5, 2005 The proteges start off the match with a hot sequence, establishing this as an even matchup between both teams. The match gets really heated when the heavyweight HOFers step in and re-enact their Destiny classic with a spectacular chop and strike exchange, almost like a blinking contest to determine who was the true alpha male between them. Sasaki's chest because scabbed purple, and I shudder to imagine what Bryan Danielson's pasty skin would've looked like taking these same chops. I'd say in this match that Shiozaki had his breakout performance, as he took a fucking beating, paid his dues, and had to have raised his stock (although considering NOAH's questionable booking throughout its history, that may not be the case.) I have to mention that his traditional dropkick is a thing of beauty, one that reminds me of Ricky Steamboat. In the third act of the match, Kensuke Office cut the ring in half, of course using Shiozaki as the weak link. Once Kobashi got tagged in to give the 17-year old Nakajima some receipts, Nakajima used his youth and quickness, including giving Kobashi a taste of his own medicine with rapid strikes in the corner. However, instead of chops, Nakajima delivered rapid and gorgeous kicks. Moments later Kobashi chopped him down during an attempted leg strike (Kobashi also did the same earlier in the match to Sasaki during a strike and chop fest), and then applied the Texas Clover Leaf. However, Kobashi was too tired and beat up and released it before Nakajima could submit. The four men have a head-drop segment that makes me cringe post-Misawa, but I can't deny the heat it added to the match, and they all sold it incredibly well. I also remember Nakajima getting a German Suplex pin on Shiozaki, but was so exhausted that he fell in a yoga pose during the pinfall attempt. Considering that he was still a teenager, his performance was absolutely amazing, even better than Mark Briscoe's ROH debut in 2002. For all of NOAH's questionable booking, the finish was perfect with Shiozaki doing the job to Sasaki. Both members of Kensuke Office were in the middle of title reigns, and there was no way Kobashi was going to look up at the lights in this match. Tremendous tag match, just a tad below Kobashi & Homicide vs. Low Ki & Samoa Joe, and the second best match to take place on this date. ****1/2
  23. Kobashi vs. Sasaki - July 18, 2005 Looks like this one was a dream match, pitting an AJPW icon against an NJPW icon. This definitely had the atmosphere of a WrestleMania main event. But the crowd and venue itself isn't what made this so special. After several minutes of both men establishing that this was a match of equals, they than had a battle within the battle, exchanging in a chop-fest that first had me wondering, much like the first CM Punk vs. Roderick Strong singles match, if I was watching a 1989 event because it reminded me of Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat. But it kept going, with both men even getting to the corner and taking turns dong Kobashi's signature rapid-fire chops, instantly grabbing each other to switch positions when the chopping perpetrator would get gassed. This exchange eventually ended after several minutes when Kobashi just laid into Sasaki, who fell down. This exchange was never tedious, and had the crowd going apeshit when it concluded. Other highlights include Sasaki dropping Kobashi on the floor mat via brainbuster, and Kopbashi almost getting counted out. What made that stand out is that around the 16 count, Kobashi fell or tripped, building the potential drama of a countout victory for Sasaki. But Kobashi was the fucking man and found a way back in the ring before the ref reached 20. Ultimately, this was just Kobashi's night, having just a bit more firepower behind his strikes and bombs than the quicker Sasaki. But even in defeat, this match did nothing to hurt Sasaki's star power that had already been established for more than a decade. This was a dream match that lived up to expectations. I won't quite put on par with the other big star power dream match of Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels (the original or the sequel), but this was excellent, epic shit, even better than the Punk vs. Strong rematch just done earlier in the month . ****1/2
  24. Kobashi & Shiozaki vs. Akiyama & Tenryu - April 24, 2005 Pretty good tag match, with Shiozaki of course playing the Ricky Morton role again as he paid his dues. The most entertaining part of the match was the Kobashi vs. Tenryu matchup. They brawled outside the ring early. Then Tenryu had a sip of water while waiting on the apron, walked over and threw the bottle at Kobashi. This of course pissed off the first-ballot HOFer, who glared at Tenryu with a look that said "You want some of me, motherfucker?" When Kobashi got tagged in with Tenryu in the ring, he delivered a receipt with nasty chops that first had left a beat-red chest, only for Tenryu to bleed profusely moments later from that same region. However, as pissed as Kobashi was, no matter how much tutelage he gave to his protege, Shiozaki was still the weak link and succumbed to the all-star tag team. ***1/2
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