Makai Club #1

I thought the finish of this match was really clever. It all relies on reasonable doubt. We kind of know that Punk is full of shit when he claims he kicked the ref by accident but because of his eye, there is a big chance that it was indeed by accident. A great way to turn Punk further heel and make Hardy feel like he warrants another title shot. The rest of the match was a great series of big moves that were all built to. Hardy always evading the GTS was a great hook for the match to go to considering this was early in the feud. Hardy had some great hope spots and bumped big. Really good outing. ***1/2

The pace was so relentless. Constant back and forth wrestling with some incredible counters. The continuous use of La Atlantida only for Rey this time countering it into a DDT was great wrestling. And it was very nuanced in a way that it felt like a struggle - a battle for control. Jericho’s cut offs were great like the nasty clothesline from the apron, the flash Wall Of Jericho and the big powermoves he’d pull out to offset Rey. Jericho wrestling like a powerman works perfectly. Rey is still in superb shape in 2009 (even now in 2020) but he pulled out some breathtaking moves that reminded me of 1996 Rey Mysterio showing up on The Great American Bash. And everything felt like it was escalating with the toll eventually having to take it’s toll on both men. The finish had another great call back to the Extreme Rules match with Jericho grabbing Rey’s mask again but only to reveal Rey had two masks on. Great match. Career match for Jericho matched with a top performance from him. Rey was sensational as always. ****1/2

This is a dream match in the making honestly. You have Kanemoto still able to go on a really high level. Tanaka who ages likes fine wine. Kenny Omega who is coming into his own as a wrestler and HARASHIMA. Now, the match doesn’t really blow me away in a way that I liked. There are lulls in the match where they seem just to be going through endless cycles of HARA/Kanemoto and Tanaka/Omega which makes sense given the booking will lead to an Omega vs Tanaka match for the All Japan Junior Heavyweight title. The HARASHIMA vs Kanemoto exchanges are gold though. Awfully stiff strike exchanges, great home promotion hero vs invader stuff. ***1/2

I always thought Jericho was at his best when he was on the defensive in his matches, coming up with counters to get one over on the opponents. Jericho pulling out a La Atlantida was fucking awesome. The code breaker of the rope were great as well. And of course, the finish with Jericho countering the 619 by taking off the mask and school boying Rey for the win. I just wish that he didn't no sell the chair shot that trasitioned into the finish. Rey was a house on fire whenever he was on offence though. He was incredible. ****

This was a really good follow up to their Champions Carnival ‘93 match where Misawa knocked out Kawada with the elbow. Kawada gets rid of that loaded gun and attacks the arm for the first stretch of the match with hammerlocks and armbars. Misawa sold the arm through it not being a killer blow like it was for the Hansen and aforementioned Kawada match so it was a good touch to add to the match. Kawada threw some big closed fists to gain control several times which was awesome. He just didn’t have enough to put away Misawa. One thing I liked about this match is that the strikes early in the match put over the hatred for each other. A very good addition to the series but it was a step below their other matches up to this point. ****

My second time watching this and only raised its stock with me. I loved the opening bit with Hansen attacking a young boy leading to Kobashi to attack Hansen and taking it to him. And Hansen making Kobashi pay going to the outside - his playground - with a brutal powerbomb on the mats was great. I’m really struggling to determine who was the better of the two in the match. Both put on pure clinics in this. Hansen was probably at his best in terms of selling his vulnerability. His defensive offence like his big boot to an incoming Kobashi in the corner, the little palm strikes he’d throw. Just a great defensive effort from Hansen. Kobashi in contrast was on the offence for most of the match, in the driving seat for 60% of the match, him beating Hansen in the strike exchanges, refusing to be belittled again, proving that he is on Hansen’s level now. Both Kobashi and Hansen delivered to the best of their capabilities by this point. The closing stretch with Kobashi using the leg drops, which Hansen had zero answer for, to slowly knock Hansen out was great. The amature wrestling pins being used to great incredible nearfalls with Hansen’s fatigue slowly dropping with each cardio busting pin. And the set up for the final Western Lariat was incredible. It was so last gasp with it practically being a wild swing to defend against Kobashi ramming Hansen’s face into his knee. What an encounter. ****3/4

This was jam-packed with hard hitting offences that go at a heavy pace. There is a ton of urgency to the work. The openings for submissions are capitalised on quickly by both Nigel and Danielson, not dwelling on anything. The strikes are snug as hell with big forearms and hand strikes being thrown constantly. Nigel always uses his stiff lariat as a last ditch effort for control. The shoot headbutts by Danielson for the finish was sick. Good main event. ***3/4

I was watching this and I was struggling to put my finger what was holding me back from loving this. However, while writing my thoughts down, my feelings towards the match grew and grew. This was a battle of the bulls. It was Nagata vs Kobashi. New Japan vs NOAH. Only the best was going to work. And that's what they went out and did. Nagata got heavily booed during his entrance. Kobashi got classic "Kobashi" chants. It was pretty much war. Loved Nagata giving Kobashi a slap. The disrespect from him was pretty great. Kobashi pushing him in the corner multiple times and choping the shit out of Nagata was awesome too. Inititally I thought they started to do the fighting spirit spots where Nagata would no sell Kobashi's suplexes too early, but upon relfection, I thought they really worked well into the story. He ain't going to lie down for Kobashi on his home turf easily. The roman knucklelock struggle was great for that as well. It was a real battle of strength. I liked the finishing stretch with the nearfalls and slowly, but surely erosion of Nagata's energy. But Nagata still fighting when the end is looking nigh was so engrossing. That koppu kick against the Kobashi lariat attempt and the final burning lariat after the 30 minute call stood out as the peaks of the closing stretch. ***3/4

An hour draw is always interesting. I don’t believe I’ve seen it in Korakuen Hall, however and I’ve always wanted to see how the crowd would respond in such a place. I think the first half of the match was well worked, albeit it felt stretched out. Not necessarily through pace, because it was done at a normal speed, everything just felt extended. The match escalated well though, leading to a huge blow out for the second half with a bigger crowd brawl than the one they had earlier in the bout and a total bombfest with big suplexes and finishers. Nothing seemed to work and both guys sold that really well with their expressions and urgency. ****

This looked to be the best title match in the Tanaka run. However, it let itself down when the match got all mindless with an extended no-sell exchange. Tanaka targeted the leg of Takeshita in the early going, trapping his leg against the post and smacking it multiple times with a chair. Tanaka hit a dragon screw and then a Sliding D right to the knee that could've easily dislocated the knee joint. Takeshita being unable to move quick enough the table Tanaka put him on before hitting a splash was a great touch. Tanaka using a piece of the broken table ruled as well. The second half of the match had heavy emphasis on big impact moves but both kept on no selling them, including Tanaka's Sliding Ds. It left me slightly cold for a good while, until Takeshita began throwing some meaty punches with Tanaka replying with elbows. The finishing rolling elbow hit right on the button for a great finish. ***1/4

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Satoshi Kojima (c) vs Shinsuke Nakamura - NJPW Nexess V 26/03/2005 On one hand, both of these two are favourites of mine. However, 2005 Nakamura is someone that’s very raw and way below the level he would reach later down the line. Kojima is pretty much his first peak of his career being in the middle of his Triple Crown title run, having an absolute classic with Kawada at AJPW Realise. But he’s not exactly known for being able to career lesser wrestlers. So can a peak Kojima offset a raw Nakamura? Off the bat, they establish Nakamura has the better technique, with him taking Kojima to the ground with ease where he chokes him out. And then again with the arm wringer into a kip-up spot. Kojima uses his strength to counter Nakamura fairly well but in the end, Nakamura’s focus, on the arm in particular, pays off with a double wrist lock being tightly cinched in. The match gets into a big point of the match where they are just meandering through, trying to pad out the time with as many submissions as possible. Kojima attacked Nakamura’s leg with a very Tanahashi style of offence. A few dragon screws, the seated leg submission he does (I don’t know the name of it). That doesn’t go anywhere. There is a brief brawl on the outside that goes nowhere. The match was just there for a while. And it loses me and the crowd. It even got to the point where Kojima’s Machine Gun Chops/running forearm barely gets the “Icchauzo Bakayaro” chant. The match eventually picked back up when Nakamura locked on the Fujiwara and the crowd bought it as a finish. Nakamura even gets a bit vicious when he refuses to let go of a cross armbreaker when Kojima grabs the ropes. But Kojima then wallops him with a lariat which was an awesome payback spot. There were some more awesome moments in the latter stages of the match like Kojima throwing away his elbow pad to a big pop. Nakamura throws in his flash submissions like the jumping triangle and his Fujiwara armbar counter against Kojima’s lariat attempts (which looked amazing). The nearfalls were really well done being sparsely done making it feel bigger when Nakamura kicks out of the running lariat. They mostly relied on submission holds for potential matchenders. I dug the little scramble at the end before the bell rang as well. A good way to end the match. The match had its really great moments where I was fully invested in the match. Such as the first 15 minutes with there was some solid mat work and they laid the foundations for a really good match. The closing stretch was really good as well. It wasn’t a classic hot finishing stretch that you’d associate with Japanese wrestling. There is a ton of focus on submissions with occasional bursts of suplexes and lariats being thrown by Kojima. Nakamura shined signs of promise, although he was a little out of his depth in the body of the match. Kojima is a bit too limited to really carry someone who was only 3 years into their career for 60 minutes so there was a big chunk of the match where nothing interesting was happening. There is a great 30 minute match in this, but given the end booking, they were shackled to go 60 minutes. A match well worth watching if you like both wrestlers though. ***1/2

Wow, this was a match I wasn't expecting. Thrilling bout from start to almost finish (the ending was fluffed). Buzariashvili is someone I've never heard of before but he was really good in the match. Some of his suplexes were tremendous, like the belly to belly suplex to Maeda early in the match. His grappling was good, nothing looked too loose and he was a bit of a personality too with his gloating and his kicks to Maeda’s stomach which were almost petty like. Maeda looked for the openings and relied on a few nasty kicks to the chin of Buzariashvili before getting the win which like I said was a bit messy. Great stuff, I thought.

This showed me just how much Miyahara is at the heart and soul of these matches. For better or for worse. His personality and infectious presence really hooked me into this match. His selling helped make a rather humdrum middle portion of the match feel signifcant and worth investing in. And his screaming during the standard strike exchange made it worthwhile - unintentional, of course, but I'd say that it helps in this case. Suwama, on the other hand, hit all the notes that he's going to hit in these matches but I can't help, but feel slightly unexcited by Suwama in the beginining. He grew into the match as it progressed, getting some good nearfalls for the the closing stretch in front of a really hot crowd - a big crowd under the circumstances too. The powerbomb and backsuplex holds made for some fine big moves. But like I said - Kento was the heart and soul of this match ultimately. ***3/4

This was very heavy with the stiff potatoes they threw at each other. Ishikawa started it all off smacking Ikeda right in the eye socket from the ground in classic Ishikawa fashion -- Ikeda had to keep the eye shut for most of the match -- and then again once he got control. And then they punched lumps out of each other when standing up. Ikeda nailed one on the jaw, rocking Ishikawa badly. Ikeda threw some really nasty down kicks to Ishikawa. The ref even attempted to step in before letting it slide, only for Ikeda to lay a big one in to get a KO count. Ishikawa found some great ways to wrench on Ikeda's neck like his grovit style neck crank and then another crank using his legs. And not just the neck, both wrestlers constantly fought for the Fujiwara armbar, with them being Fujiwara Gumi trainees, of course. There was a great KO tease when Ikeda totally threw for the wind and almost knocked Ishikawa out cold with him barely getting up before the 10. And that led into them again exchanging hard punches. One particular Ikeda punch left Ishikawa with a big dent imprint on his forehead. The headbutts were fucking vicious and the running headbutt before the finish, where Ikeda would throw a big lariat, then a few kicks for some great near 10 counts and then the actual win, was disgusting. Excellent match where they genuinely enjoyed knocking 10 bells out of each other with kicks, punches and using any moves that they could think of - for old times sake. ****1/2

Damn I forgot how good Honma was around this period. This had the raw brutality that Shibata matches have but the extra flair and investing focal point in Honma. Shibata batters Honma, Honma more than gives it back, more so you could argue. Honma's selling was awesome. His comebacks were well timed and had some much energy behind them that you can't help, but root for him. The PK block by Honma was a great "WTF" moment and then when Shibata slapped the piss out of him, you expected him to fall but fuck that, Honma says. And he bitch slaps him right back, knocking Shibata for a loop. I got goosebumps for that. Tons of good stuff like this throughout. ****1/2

A match where both stuck to their best hits - Ishii lariats and headbutts and Nakamura with kicks and knees - fairly impressive match. It had a fairly nice dynamic of the leader of CHAOS going against the small bull of the group, Ishii went all out to beat Nakamura with Nakamura constantly rolling with the punches and coming back. ****

Maybe the first (or one of the first) signs of AJ really getting to grips with the style New Japan and the fans want to see. I think it helps that in a heel vs heel match, he didn't need to lead to get over as a threat, especially against Minoru Suzuki. Suzuki ripped into the arm of AJ with nasty Fujiwara attempts, Kimuras, cross armbreakers - a wide variety of submissions. AJ sold the arm superbly well but he did a great job of desperetely fighting out of them. The slap, duck, slap, enziguri exchange was awesome. Even the litttle interference felt like it added to the match. This holds up tremendously well. ****1/2

They had a story. They wrestled to that story and the fans that like these two will probably like it. But as someone who dislikes one of the wrestlers and doesn’t find the other interesting anymore, this came off so badly. They had one of the dullest, most dry walk and brawls I can remember. It all dragged out unnecessarily long. They tried to segment the match into three areas of the performance centre but each time it was the same - boring wrestling. The portion in the gym had potential but it was super uncompelling and awkward at times. Orton hanging Edge sounds like a killer moment but it came off as so flat. There was no spark or magic. And it wasn’t a crowd issue, it was an Edge and Randy Orton issue. Edge, god bless him, tried to inject something into this match but unfortunately it came in the form of cringe inducing facial expressions. It totally reminded me why I hate him as a wrestler. This was really bad, and I don’t see any value in it past it ending the feud. It reminded me of Bad Blood 04’s Hell In A Cell match. Everything was dragged out so much to the point where you couldn’t enjoy any aspect of it. Quite sad. DUD

I enjoyed it on some ironic level and I was kind of hoping that it's come full circle into legit enjoyment but the whole match was so messy it could've ever stop stepping on its toes. The trash talking was so bad. It's like they saw the Taker/AJ match and decided to do more of that. Taker vs AJ did it in a more natural way and in away that doesn't come across as so lame. Shouts of "HE'S GOT A BAD NECK" just makes me incapable of taking the wrestling seriously. The portion where they wrestled on top of the truck was so illogical. They had a super kick exchange/double sell spot on top of the truck. They didn't make any use of it at all, there was no purpose for Ciampa to lure Gargano on the truck. He didn't try to throw him off. He didn't slam him on the roof or anything. The only point of the truck was so they could have their signature spot on a truck rooftop. And that sums up the match for me. It was done so it'd be a cool visual and thats it. The finish was so bad. Russo-riffic swerves that make zero sense. Why did Candice LeRae only now coming out to stop the match? Why did she low blow Gargano in the balls only to do it to Ciampa a few minutes later? Why didn't she just do it to Ciampa then? Her acting for the entire bit was horrific, too. Primary school level. No conviction, no believability. This was clearly a physical match. They bumped big, they wailed each other with weapon shots but it was done in a way that takes all that away. Ciampa took the crutch shots like a champ - god bless him - but the crutch use is so passe at this point in the feud. The ring boards being exposed meant absolutley nothing in the match outside of a visual pin for Ciampa. It was just there. It means nothing to me by this point. And it takes away from the good parts of the match that could've worked if there was something to these spots. Bad match. I had fun watching but just writing this review showed to me just how bad this match was.

Looks like this is the start of the great feud between Tito and Valentine. It’s their first meeting since 1979 if cagematch is to be believed and they’d continuously have title matches until late 85. I love this rivalry. It’s maybe one of the best Intercontinental championship feuds of all time given its length, story (leg break) and great matches. It’s in for a shout certainly. The chemistry between the two comes off instantly. The opening exchange was full of intensity and struggle from a single arm wringer to a missed elbow. Valentine in typical fashion attacks the legs of Tito as well as the stomach a little which Tito sells really well, always staggering around when on his feet, struggling to stand. The work from Valentine looks really snug and nasty. Tito makes really energetic comebacks with his fist shaking but it’s all deliberately paced too because Tito’s still recovering from being on the defensive for the whole match. The 20 minute time limit ran out (it was around 16 minutes in reality and the graphics prior to the match said it was a 60 minute time limit so wtf?) in an lame way. Valentine was working the leg and then the bell rang. Flat ending to a real fun match. ***1/2

On the big stage, they went all out for it with a big pomp and circumstance finishing stretch. Nearfall that felt warranted and earned for the occasion. Great back and forth wrestling with Ibushi's reckless abandonment style against HARASHIMA’s deliberate style meshing superbly well. Great match. ****1/4

I thought this was fine. Sami running away from fun. Bryan slapping Sami was good too. Nowhere nearly as good as it should've been though. ***

Okay. It's time to add my two cents into this match. This has got to be one of the most unique matches of all time. Also one of the more talked about NOAH matches since the 00s. It has warranted tons of discussion from non-NOAH fans. Mostly good. And most of that comes from the way the match was worked. It was different. I'm a big sucker for unconventional matches. Unconventional media, in fact. Films, books, TV shows, even wrestling. Any subversion of a formula brings my intrigue straight away (Ironically my favourites are mostly formula driven but still). This didn’t need gimmicks to do that. And it's not even different because of the empty arena because that has become normal now. This was a normal title match between the champion and the challenger. It has a simple enough premise. However the match kicks off with a staredown. A long staredown. Think Riki Choshu vs Shinya Hashimto 97 in the Dome. It kicks off with a long staredown, but even longer than you’d expect. It was nearly thirty minutes long. It plays off Fujita previously staring holes into his opponents as a form of mind games. And I like that. It can border on pretentious in the wrong hands, and maybe Fujita is a wrong hand in some eyes, but it worked in this case. One could argue that this is one of those matches that you need to watch without spoilers or live. I don’t believe in that crutch honestly. The quality should shine through regardless, and this shines through. The match transitioned well from that with Fujita taking Shiozaki down and dominating him on the floor, obviously using his MMA training and experience to his advantage. But the appeal of this bit was Go forcefully trying to overcome that. Not taking the easy escape of the rope breaks, forcing his way through. Showing that pride of a champion. Another example of Go being defiant was him not selling the punt kick from Fujita. A big blow for him going back from even his original New Japan run. So that was pretty insane. And this was the story for most of the second half, I’d say. Fujita would throw some big strikes (elbows, slaps, etc) and Go would just keep coming back. I like how the finish plays on your expectations of a 60 minute time limit. Similar to Flair/Steamboat II. You expect a 60 minute time limit when you’re 57 minutes into the match but they don’t do that. Go overcomes the obstacle and reigns victories. In this case, I think the match would have benefited big time with a crowd but it was a good closing stretch regardless. The match had some big pluses. Great moments where I was invested all the way and loved. Go no selling the hard strikes hooked me big time. The staredown was a joy to watch. Perhaps could’ve been shorter but it works well into the match and it made the initial exchange feel significant. However, the match had its flaws. The match had to shoehorn in a crowd brawling section into the match with Fujita attempting to throw Go over the balcony. It wasn’t all that exciting or interesting. It could’ve easily been thrown out. Great match that is something that you won’t see often and is perhaps uneasy on the eyes but was something that I found enjoyable to watch. Far from an all time classic, in my opinion. But a great match that warrants looking at. ****

Millenials aren't heels - I don't know if that helps or not. Mad Blankey are the heel unit of Dragon Gate and there is only one heel unit at a time usually. Millenials are more tweenerish, I'd say.

5 lashes for the losing team. If The Midnight Express loses, Cornette gets lashes as well!! This was a combination of their other matches. The Midnight Express acting all cowardly and bumping huge for the face team when they do try and wrestle them initially. The crowd, as always, is hot for Magnum who uses it perfectly to make everything he does feel BIG. Eaton especially is excellent at throwing himself about and absorbing tons of damage. Eaton does these scrambling for cover spots and I always get a kick out of it. Mr Wrestling II goes wild with a chair after Eaton misses with it and the crowd eats it up. Eventually the MNX gained some control and cut off Magnum perfectly from Mr Wrestling II, going back to the grounded hammerlock that got them success in the prior match. The hot tag is made and it looked like Mr Wrestling II was about to pin Condrey but Magnum accidently got the ref distracted, preventing the cover from being made and Eaton took advantage and pinned Mr Wrestling II with Cornette pushing his foot off the bottom rope. Booo! One of my favourite things about these amtches is that it always has a “Do not throw anything in the Sam Huston coliseum” announcement by Paul Boesch. To Magnum and II’s credit, they take the lashes without much complaint. Eaton doing crying impressions in the background while Cornette and Condrey mockingly do “Two” chants was gold. Great match and great angle. ****