[2003-11-01-Navigation Against The Current] KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs Juventud Guerrera & Ricky Marvin

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Graham Crackers]

This has some fun moments but it's not a very compelling whole. It's nice to see Ricky Marvin though.

[supersonic]

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

[ShittyLittleBoots]

A really good match that could've been great had it been a bit shorter & had there been a bit more intensity in it. ***1/2

[ohtani's jacket]

KENTA & Marufuji were the tag team darlings of 2003. I believe they won the WON Tag Team of the Year award for 2003. I don't have a horse in that race. If I had a time machine and a ballot, I'd probably vote for Rey Bucanero and Ultimo Guerrero, but let's see a little more of what KENTA and Marufuji could do. I grew to like 2000s Juvi during his CMLL run, and I don't know anyone who doesn't like Ricky Marvin. So, I'm keeping an open mind here. The match took a long time to settle into a groove. It wasn't bad. Stuff was just happening. It got good when they started busting out the crazy moves. I liked the Juventud vs. KENTA matchup that developed, and for a while, I was considering how much of Juvi's generational talent he wasted. I do think it's interesting that Rey Mysterio became a WWE legend while Juvi and Psicosis became their own worst enemies. The match turned into a crowd pleasing spotfest, which may not be enough for seasoned fans, but it's not like I'm setting the bar impossibly high for a KENTA and Marufuji match. It was a decent bout. Maybe not worth the lovefest at the end, but Budokan's not an easy place to work and I'm in a generous mood.