[2009-09-27-NOAH-Great Voyage] Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima & Takeshi Morishima vs Genichiro Tenryu & Kotaro Suzuki & Yoshinari Ogawa

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[dawho5]

This was a nice tribute match to Misawa featuring two of his protégés, Ogawa and Suzuki. Both Ogawa and Tenryu do great chickenshit heel routines early. Ogawa, Suzuki and Tenryu do Ogawa/Misawa double teams to Nakajima to big responses. Suzuki and Morishima both hit signature Misawa high flying spots. Tenryu and Sasaki have oen of those long, annoying pissing contests. This was somewhat less so given Tenryu's selling, the crowd getting 100% behind Tenryu and Tenryu finally knocking Sasaki down with a chop only to find himself exhausted. It actually feels like something was accomplished on this one, even if it went too long. Suzuki gets a nice little Misawa-style run at the end, but we all know which team is winning this match. This probably won't get a vote, but it's a really fun, touching match in honor of a great pro wrestler.

[Ditch]

Tenryu's selling is so fantastic in this. And what I just realized is that it's a great contrast to the Tenryu vs Sasaki slugfest that started the decade, where Tenryu was a physical peer to Sasaki.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Katsuhiko Nakajima & GHC Tag Champions Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima vs Genichiro Tenryu, Yoshinari Ogawa, Kotaro Suzuki - NOAH 9/27/09

 

From the get go, the heels were totally overwhelmed by the power of the babyfaces, but this did not stop it from being a fun popcorn match. It is ironic that Misawa, perhaps the greatest Ace in puroresu history, hung out with two of the bigger chickenshit scuzzballs of NOAH (Ogawa & Suzuki) and thus it was Suzuki who was selected to pay tribute to him even though he plays a chickenshit early. The early goofing around with Morishima is awesome. Ogawa and Suzuki are both outmatched by the even bigger looking Morishima and bail. When Ogawa's shoulder tackles go nowhere, he calmly tags Tenryu. Tenryu try as he might, he gets nowhere either and when he rolls to his corner to tag out he realizes "Oh fuck". Tenryu gets frustrated because he can't win a chop battle with Sasaki and chops Nakajima out of frustration. I like that sore sport moment. Nakajima gets hot when he is tagged and that leaves him prone for a Rat Boy dragon leg screw. The Nakajima heat segment is decent with the usual trappings, double teams and Tenryu punches. The transition is pretty weak as he hits a little dropkick to tag in Sasaki. Sasaki kills Ogawa and when Tenryu breaks up an armbar with punches. He decks the both of them with lariats in a fun spot. Tenryu and Sasaki pay tribute to Kobashi with a long chop battle where both men find themselves tuckered out. Tenryu is so much better at these than anyone else because he sells so well during them and he outs over how much pain he is in. Suzuki goes off on a Misawa tribute run with a diving elbow to outside, a facelock, and elbow combinations. He even goes for a Tiger Driver on Morishima. Morishima decks him with a lariat and a back drop driver to win the match. It is a fun match, but nothing to go out of your way to see. ***

This match is a part of the Misawa tribute tour that was a consequence of his tragic in ring death in the middle of 2009.I was expecting more emotion from the wrestlers, the crowd and especially myself. I found myself very moved by Kobashi's return from cancer match. I expected a similar emotional outbreak for this from me. I think I will get that from Kawada & Taue vs. Akiyama & KENTA, which I specifically saved for the very last match I will watch from this decade.