[2004-03-06-NOAH-Navigate For Evolution] Jushin Liger vs Makoto Hashi

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7lADr-z0zg

[dawho5]

This was good, but not above that for me. The early matwork was well-done. Liger and Hashi both work their holds and have a sense of struggle to getting out of them. It's just a problem of not a lot of it being very focused. Some of it was there just for the purpose of being there. Both throw their strikes like they mean it, so that helps the match out as well. Ending run was okay at best, more like a succession of big bombs until the finish. Probably won't make my ballot, but not a bad watch.

[BillThompson]

I just watched this yesterday as well, and I really could not get into Hashi. Him passing up so many opportunities for transitions just to throw more freaking headbutts infuriated me to no end.

[Ditch]

I gave this match several tries and never dug it. Liger wasn't enough of a prick, Hashi gets too much offense (which isn't his strong suit), and the finish doesn't get hot. The structure should have been:

 

-Opening

-Liger control

-Hashi comeback

-Low-end bombs from Liger

-Hashi nearfalls on Liger

-Hashi survives a couple big moves, but Liger finally puts him away

 

And do all that in 15-18 minutes rather than 22. Not exactly rocket science. I think some people rate this highly based on the concept rather than the actual match.

[Graham Crackers]

This match is disappointing. It just feels inorganic, like they were going though the motions. It lacks the heat that Liger's earlier NOAH matches had.

[ohtani's jacket]

Meltzer was relatively high on this, so I thought I'd give it a watch even though I have zero expectations for Liger at this point. But y'know what, I kind of liked it. It was solid, hard-hitting action. Hashi is a great no-frills worker. I like how NOAH shows close-ups of other wrestlers watching the bouts. Makes the title bouts very important. I got behind Hashi here and wanted to see him win. He got a huge nearfall before the finish that was super. The botched Liger Bomb attempt was really unfortunate and nothing Liger did after that could make up for it. If not for that mishap, I may have been even higher on this.