[2007-02-16-ROH-Fifth Year Festival] Samoa Joe vs Takeshi Morishima

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Tim Evans]

Interesting match. This was Morshima's first match in ROH and one of Joe's last. They had a confrontation months earlier that I sorta remember. Joe hit Morishima with some really stiff kicks. One to the nose busts Morishima open. I remember liking Morishima back in the day but he didn't do much for me here. Some good moves but he looked bored. I need to go back and watch the Morishima/Danielson matches. Anyways, he kicks out of the muscle buster but Joe wins with a choke. That's surprising given Morishima had a title match the next day. Good stuff.

[cactus]

Joe is on his ROH farewell tour and Morishima is making his debut for the company. My video starts with Joe trading words with Nigel McGuiness. Morishima rushes down to the ring when Joe is distracted and they jumpstart this one. The fans popped big for Morishima making his run to the ring. The few fans who weren't familiar with Morishima are soon won over by him. On top of him being an incredible brawler who can stand toe-to-toe with Joe, he's also deceivingly athletic. He does a friggin' cartwheel and pulls off a top rope missile dropkick with ease! As always, Joe's stuff looks incredible. So incredible that it causes Morishima's nose to get busted open hardway. Morishima kicks out of the Muscle Buster! The referee might have botched the count, but that was a huge rub for Morishima. Joe locks on his choke and it's not long until it's lights out for Morishima. This was a good debut for Morishima, but I felt that he should have won this one. ★★★¾