Grimmas Posted September 21, 2014 Report Share Posted September 21, 2014 Discuss here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetlag Posted September 21, 2014 Report Share Posted September 21, 2014 Honda has his sceptics, and probably for good reason, but never overlook a guy who arguably outwrestled both Akiyama and Kobashi in singles matches. All-out Honda was undoubtedly a world class worker, and even while some of his undercard work is uninspired, there's plenty of neat underrated stuff to be found thanks to his unorthodox style and exceptional moveset. I think NOAH letting him go was a mistake, as he could still go in his Futen matches (of which there are far too few available) and he was able to have a surprisingly good tag in 2012 with Akiyama, Shiozaki and his old rival Saito. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted October 4, 2014 Report Share Posted October 4, 2014 I really need to research Honda. I may do a personalized Tamon Honda set just to collect as much of his stuff as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJH Posted October 4, 2014 Report Share Posted October 4, 2014 There's plenty of nice little matches he was involved in, and his moveset did make him stand out, but I'm amazed so many people see something other than a thoroughly Kobashi match in his most famous one. That or crediting staple Race spots to Lawler is the most egregious piece of misattribution online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted October 4, 2014 Report Share Posted October 4, 2014 My favorite match is the Akiyama match from 2001 which is my MOTY for that year. What match are you talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted October 4, 2014 Report Share Posted October 4, 2014 Most likely the 4/13/03 GHC match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DylanZero Posted October 5, 2014 Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 One of my personal favorites, despite never getting much in the way of a meaningful push and I would always advocate this guy to people who only knew of the Four Pillars. And really only the big three. I can't help but wonder if some online go a bit too far though with him. Still, solid tag runs and two heavy MOTYCs against Kobashi and Akiyama (I think the Kobashi match is a strong candidate for greatest NOAH match ever and was my MOTY for '03, maybe it was a Kobashi match but what made it for me was Honda's bumping and selling of everything Kobashi brought), some really nice Trios appearances in the 90s where he was underpushed, he'll be on the list for sure, and likely a high vote if the SC poll says anything. Was the unsung midcard hero of two companies, and arguably two of the best ever when he was around. Really loved him in NOAH and highly anticipate going back to see some of his AJPW work. He did get old a little too fast in his career to starting so late and he was uninspired on top of that during random tags past '06 or so, but still could turn it up once in a blue moon. Such a unique style and some huge performances make him hard to argue against for me personally. But the later stuff where he fell off a bit could see him not making it depending on some of these WoS guys and how they hold up and I wouldn't begrudge anyone leaving him off. Recommended viewing before the Kobashi match if you haven't seen that yet since they're both pretty cool matches too in addition to showing the start of Honda's brief main event run: w/ BURNING (Kobashi, Honda, KENTA, & Kikuchi) vs. Sternness (Akiyama, Saito, Hashi, & Kanemaru) February 18, '03 vs. Saito March 30, '03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTNW Posted October 5, 2014 Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 There's plenty of nice little matches he was involved in, and his moveset did make him stand out, but I'm amazed so many people see something other than a thoroughly Kobashi match in his most famous one. That or crediting staple Race spots to Lawler is the most egregious piece of misattribution online. That match was 90% Honda. Which was completely fine. Not getting in the way of someone else's masterful performance is an important quality to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venegas Posted October 5, 2014 Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 There's a bunch of Tamon Honda that I haven't seen, but based off of the Kobashi match and the Daisuke Ikeda match, he absolutely looks like an all time great. I was going to make a list of matches for myself to watch since there's actually a ton of footage of him on Youtube and whatnot but I'll share it for the benefit of the project. vs Gary Albright; AJPW 09/12/95 w/ Masao Inoue vs Shinya Hashimoto & Tadao Yusuda; ZERO-1 04/18/01 vs Daisuke Ikeda; NOAH 09/01/01 vs Jun Akiyama; NOAH 05/09/01 vs Mitsuharu Misawa; NOAH 03/25/02 vs Akitoshi Saito; NOAH 03/01/03 vs Takuma Sano; NOAH 03/16/03 vs Kenta Kobashi; NOAH 04/13/03 w/ Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito; NOAH 06/06/03 w/ Kenta Kobashi vs Minoru Suzuki & Naomichi Marufuji; 05/17/05 w/ KENTA vs Naomichi Marufuji & Minoru Suzuki; 08/19/05 Feel free to add to it if I'm missing anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted October 5, 2014 Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 The two Honda/Izumida vs Hayabusa/Shinzaki tags (1/15/99 and 2/13/99) are very much worth checking out. I like the first one better but both are good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pol Posted December 22, 2015 Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 The only version of the 2001 Akiyama match I can find is JIP to the last 7 minutes. Is the full version out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetlag Posted December 22, 2015 Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 It is available in full and used to be on YouTube, but the channel was taken down. Maybe somebody saved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El McKell Posted December 22, 2015 Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 Not sure if this actually is the match in question, I'm in work and I just did a quick searchhttp://www.pideo.net/video/youku/461ce181eed85ba6/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pol Posted December 22, 2015 Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 That looks like it, thanks. I should've thought to search in Japanese. Now let's see if i can actually get it to download... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drew wardlaw Posted April 27, 2016 Report Share Posted April 27, 2016 Not sure if this actually is the match in question, I'm in work and I just did a quick search http://www.pideo.net/video/youku/461ce181eed85ba6/ Hey not sure if I'm doing something wrong or what but the link just takes me back to the page. I've been looking for the full version of this. Is it around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetlag Posted May 5, 2021 Report Share Posted May 5, 2021 It's 2021 and I'm still finding Honda matches I enjoy. Sadly he rarely unleashed his grappling side in undercard tags, but he is really fun as an ogreish guy throwing headbutts and bulldogs and sometimes stiff lariats. A NOAH deep dive will definitely be in order for Honda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjp7798 Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 Probably the most underrated/underappreciated wrestler of Kings Road and NOAH. Been fantasizing about a Tamon Honda vs Hideki Suzuki dream match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ma Stump Puller Posted January 7, 2022 Report Share Posted January 7, 2022 I wish I could put Honda on the 100 but he's just so inconsistent. Most of AJPW material is him being either incredibly green or being incredibly lazy: what I mean by this is that he essentially just drags a match along with headlocks, headbutts, and maybe the odd other move or two. He's so minimalistic that it really hurts him a ton when considering overall match quality. Honda has some pretty good matches, but they are spaced between a lot of lazy bullshit, which is annoying given his incredible work in NOAH and further beyond. He CAN be great, he just actively chose not to do so unless stakes were involved, and even then you can argue that these were created by having world-class wrestlers getting him to his best. What bugs me even more is that his rookie stuff showed that he could really work great if he gave a damn, because despite having no heat/no real experience, he's naturally super strong, good on his feet, and has some neat showings. Some highlights (bolded are particular matches where he shines best: for the sake of not going over old ground I'm not covering his really obvious highlights like the Kobashi/Akiyama matches) Tamon Honda vs. Hayato Mashita (Fortune Dream 1, 2014) Go Shiozaki & Tamon Honda vs. Mohammed Yone & Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH 14.04.2012) Go Shiozaki, Takuma Sano & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. KENTA, Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda (27.04.2008) KENTA, Mohammed Yone & Takeshi Morishima vs. Kenta Kobashi, Tamon Honda & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (17.02.2006) Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda vs. Minoru Suzuki & Naomichi Marufuji (17.05.2005) Akitoshi Saito, Jun Akiyama & Makoto Hashi vs. KENTA, Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda (23.06.2004) Akitoshi Saito, Jun Akiyama, Makoto Hashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. KENTA, Kenta Kobashi, Naomichi Marufuji & Tamon Honda (23.08.2003) Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda vs. Togi Makabe & Yoshihiro Takayama (16.07.2003) Akitoshi Saito & Jun Akiyama vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda (06.06.2003) Akitoshi Saito, Jun Akiyama, Makoto Hashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. KENTA, Kenta Kobashi, Tamon Honda & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (14.05.2003) Shinya Hashimoto & Tadao Yasuda vs Masao Inoue & Tamon Honda (ZERO-ONE Truth Century Creation II 18.04.2001) Naomichi Marufuji & Tamon Honda vs. Path Finder & Scorpio (24.06.2001) Daisuke Ikeda vs. Tamon Honda (29.03.2001) Masao Inoue & Tamon Honda vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa (18.02.2001) Kentaro Shiga & Takeshi Morishima vs. Takashi Sugiura & Tamon Honda (08.01.2001) Masao Inoue & Tamon Honda vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW 27.11.1999) Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Jun Izumida & Tamon Honda (16.01.1999) Tamon Honda & Toshiaki Kawada vs. The Lacrosse & Yoshihiro Takayama (25.07.1997) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Tamon Honda (17.01.1997: me personally, I wouldn't put this here but it DID get a big reaction from the crowd, so.....) Tamon Honda vs. Toshiaki Kawada (12.01.1996) Johnny Ace, Ricky Santana & Steve Williams vs. Jun Akiyama, Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda (20.08.1994) Akira Taue & Tamon Honda vs. Jun Akiyama & Kenta Kobashi (03.06.1994) Stan Hansen vs Tamon Honda (AJPW 31.05.1994) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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