[2004-08-01-NOAH-Exceeding Our Dreams] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[dawho5]

Too long, too much time between everything at the end. Misawa can't be bothered to even crank on his stepover facelock or sell Taue's legwork. Their match in 01 is far, far better than this.

[Timbo Slice]

I actually really liked this in spite of Misawa doing his weird NOAH "Is he actually selling or does he not care" shtick. Taue's sense of urgency was there and the stretch run was fun. It was tough to do this type of match with Taue getting the call a month later against Kobashi, and Misawa couldn't exactly put him over clean, but Taue was really good here and this was as fun a performance as you'll see from him in NOAH.

[dawho5]

Oh, I'm not saying it was in no way enjoyable. But they have a much better match in 2001 that renders this moot. I've liked Taue in every big match he's been in since NOAH was started.

[Graham Crackers]

This match-up is usually good and parts of this iteration are fun but this suffers from the usual time limit draw problems.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue - NOAH 8/01/04

 

Somewhere between 2003 and 2003, Misawa's health and/or motivation in the ring declined rapidly. The difference between Misawa/Sano and the Misawa/Kojima & Misawa/Taue is stunning and sad. It is not just that he is slower, everything seems so mechanical and like he is going through the motions. That was my biggest hang up with this match. I loved the individual spots because they are all our favorite Misawa/Taue spots, but it felt like any exhibition. Misawa would run through his spots and then Taue his. They were just sleepwalking through this match. It was an early NODOWA~! that set up the Taue on top with Misawa making his extended comeback. I thought it was interesting that you heard Keiji Mutoh's name dropped when Taue used a dragon leg screw and then a figure-4. I was waiting for the Taue SHINING WIZARD~! Then Misawa runs through his usual aerial offense. Then Taue runs through his Big Boot/Nodowa/Dynamic Bomb offense. Finally we get some sense of struggle on the Super Nodowa and the Nodowa from the apron, which Misawa blows him away with an elbow. An O'Connor Roll from Misawa was pretty sweet and unexpected in this very familiar match. Taue chants start up. There is a perfect microcosm of Taue in this match where he hits this absolutely shitty dropkick and follows it up with one of the best dropkicks ever. I loved the Dynamic Bomb/Big Splash combo should have been the finish. Taue hits a barrage of Nodowas and a Dynamic Bomb. As soon as the ref only gets to two it signals a draw. Fuck that finish. They did not seem fully expended. They did not even do the big run up. It was like yep we did everything and checked all the boxes now just call a draw. Almost everything about this match through the finish felt like an exhibition and perfunctory. Very disappointing. If you want to watch Misawa/Taue from the 00s, watch the '01 match.