Morishima bows out at 36

[Fantastic]

From Puroresu Spirit:

 

In a sad bit of news Pro Wrestling NOAH formally announced that Takeshi Morishima will be retiring due to a repeated worsening of his physical condition.

 

The 36 year old Morishima has suffered many injuries over the last several years and has been unable to make a complete comeback without the injuries repeatedly flaring up. Morishima was unable to compete in the currently ongoing Global Tag League due to both his right shoulder, left knee, as we as his left elbow causing him too many issues to compete in the full tour and league.

Morishima went to undergo tests with a physician and it was also determined that he was suffering from high levels of “hemoglobin HbA1c” in his blood, at-risk diabetic. Due to all of these things the doctor told him that he was at risk for further injury and or even fall to the state of being crippled if he continued competing at a high level.

NOAH is regretful to announce this news and hopes that everyone understands and supports Morishima on his decision.

From what I have been told it appears that Morishima will not be competing in a final retirement match, due to the mentioned further risks, and that means his final match was on 4/11 in a 6 man tag with Maybach Taniguchi and Mitsuhiro Kitamaya against Nicholls, Haste, and Super Crazy.

There will though be a retirement ceremony held for Morishima in the near future, the date of which is still currently under discussion.

It seems some good has come in the wake of Misawa's tragic death - specifically, to stop competing when the injuries start amounting up. Poor Morishima though, such a great worker that really never got a chance to shine at the peak of NOAH's popularity.

I have no doubt that had he not stayed with NOAH out of loyalty when he was killing in in 06/07, that NJPW would have snapped him up in a heartbeat and gave him a top of the line push.

[Mad Dog]

I was never a big fan of him but NOAH missed the boat on him big time.

[Smack2k]

Sad news....I got into Morishima when he came to ROH in the mid 2000's, then followed up with his Japan stuff....

 

Good thing he's doing what the Dr says, as he's only 36 and has a long life ahead of him...no need to risk spending your last 20 - 30 years in a wheelchair....

[stomperspc]

Yea, good for him to get out sooner rather than later.

 

The ROH series versus Bryan was legitimately great stuff from both a booking and match standpoint. The way the feud escalated match by match in both a logical and unique manner and the intensity both guys brought made the entire feud one of the best ROH has ever done. Morishima never reached his full potential in NOAH but he had a good ROH run capped off by that feud.

[jushin muta liger]

I was just watching some of Morishima's run in ROH the other day. Sad stuff to hear about. Like Fantastic said, you really would have thought that Morishima would go to New Japan though this talent exchange that was going on now with NOAH and New Japan.

 

I kinda wish his WWE dark matches would surface up online somehow.

[Steenalized]

I'll always think positively of him for those Bryan matches, and like others said, good to get out now before things degenerate. He could've (should've) been more, but I've always enjoyed him, especially compared to NOAHs junior stars who they tried to push in the same era.

[jdw]

I was never a big fan of him but NOAH missed the boat on him big time.

 

I don't know how NOAH missed the boat. Misawa spent a year giving him the chase to the title, starting right after Marufuji bombed out. Misawa then personally did the job to put him over for the belt.

 

Not saying they did a great job with him, or in setting up good opponents for when he had the belt. But it's pretty clear Misawa saw something in him, gave him the push to the top, and wanted it to work.

 

It didn't. Just like pretty much everyone that Misawa picked to replace himself as the Ace. The one time it didn't was Kobashi's long run. But we also need to remember that Misawa's two prior attempts to puch Kobashi to Acedom failed.

[Mad Dog]

No good challengers until Sasaki and then he lost that match. I don't think he was a total failure like Rikio and Marufuji were. It just felt like he never beat anyone important minus the Misawa win.

[jdw]

01/21/07 GHC Title: Mitsuharu Misawa © defeats Takeshi Morishima (20:05) (Budokan)
03/04/07 ROH World Title: Takeshi Morishima © defeats KENTA (9:44) (Budokan)
08/19/07 GHC Title Shot - Block B: Takeshi Morishima [2] defeats Go Shiozaki [0] (18:08)
09/09/07 GHC Title Shot - Block B: Takeshi Morishima [7] defeats Jun Akiyama [6] (16:33) (Budokan)
09/09/07 GHC Title Shot Final: Naomichi Marufuji defeats Takeshi Morishima (9:14) (Budokan)
12/02/07 Takeshi Morishima defeats Naomichi Marufuji (22:58) (Budokan)
03/02/08 GHC Heavyweight Title: Takeshi Morishima defeats Mitsuharu Misawa © (20:22) (Budokan)

 

Part of it might be that he had the ROH Title for a large chunk of the year, and also was going to be jobbing to people in the US at a certain point. On the other hand:

 

* he got the title shot against Misawa, and was made to look impressive

* he got to beat two-time champ Jun at Budokan in the Title Shot Tourney

* he lost to former champ Marufuji, but it was also booked to give Morishima the tougher route (back-to-back matches + Jun)

* he got the win back in the heads up match on the final Budokan of the year to set up the big match with Misawa

 

Then:

 

06/14/08 GHC Title: Takeshi Morishima © defeats Takashi Sugiura (25:01)
07/13/08 Takeshi Morishima drew Kensuke Sasaki (30:00)
07/18/08 GHC Title: Takeshi Morishima © defeats Takeshi Rikio (13:24) (Budokan)
09/06/08 GHC Title: Kensuke Sasaki defeats Takeshi Morishima © (22:02) (Budokan)

 

He beat four former champs: Misawa, Jun, Marufuji and Rikio. The other ones on the roster were Ogawa and Taue. I guess I could go look to see if he'd beaten Ogawa by the point, but it really wouldn't matter... it was Ogawa. Taue didn't really mean much.

 

Kobashi was kinda-sorta-back, but he also went out after that September 2008 Budokan for six months or so. He didn't wrestle any singles matches in his 2008 comeback, so he's pretty much out of being an opponent.

 

There's only so much they could do with him. They probably shouldn't have fed him Jun in the chase, and instead saved him. But honestly... it was a thin roster. Misawa kept trying to find new Aces. People liked some of the wrestlers he tried, but not enough to pay to see them as Aces.

[Mad Dog]

My memories are really fuzzy about this specific era but it felt like Misawa and Kobashi were the only stars on the roster by that point.

[kjh]

From the Observer at the time:

As was feared by many, the battle of the former tag team of the Double Takeshis, with Takeshi Morishima defending the GHC title against Takeshi Rikio as the main event on 7/18 at Budokan Hall led to a crowd of only 6,000 fans, the company’s worst crowd ever in its main building.

That was with Sasaki vs. KENTA and Misawa, Marufuji & Suguira vs. Kobashi, Takayama & Nakajima on the undercard. Hard to say whether he was less of a failure than Rikio's & Marufuji's reigns as business was stronger overall when they had the title, but not because of them.

[Memphis Mark]

The good news is that Morishima can now work on his health . Hopefully he will be able to lose weight and restore his health .

[MikeCampbell]

06/14/08 GHC Title: Takeshi Morishima © defeats Takashi Sugiura (25:01)

This was set up by Sugiura beating Morishima during the NOAH Tag League, IIRC. Not a bad set up for a title shot, but Sugiura wasn't nearly the big name in 2008 that he would be a few years later.

07/18/08 GHC Title: Takeshi Morishima © defeats Takeshi Rikio (13:24) (Budokan)

This was actually a Friday, which us Western fans thought seemed like an odd day to run the Budokan, and shitty attendance seemed to confirm that. But, someone on DVDVR said it was a Japanese Holiday, which also might have been a cause for the lousy number. Morishima beats a former champion, and his former partner, who had beaten him the year before in a GHC Tag Titles match (Akiyama/Rikio beat Morishima/Yone). Good idea in theory, but, Rikio hadn't been seen as a top level guy since his failed 2005 run with the strap.

 

09/06/08 GHC Title: Kensuke Sasaki defeats Takeshi Morishima © (22:02) (Budokan)

I'm not saying it was a sure thing, beating Misawa in 9/05 sure didn't help Rikio, but, it seems like this was a wasted chance to really help cement Morishima as an ace. After two lousy challengers, he avenges the draw from July, and beats a former IWGP and AJPW Triple Crown champ. History showed that Sasaki as champion wasn't marginally better at the gate than Morishima had proven to be. So, at least they'd have been trying to accomplish something useful for the company.

 

It's hard to say whether or not titles wins over Ogawa and Taue would have really done much of anything. Sasaki's failed run with the title is proof that the magic was already gone for NOAH at the gate (and this was before the Misawa incident). So, I don't think that Morishima vs. Ogawa or Morishima vs. Taue headlining Budokan was going to bring in huge numbers. Taue's lone successful GHC defense was against Morishima in 2005, so they had history on their side. Beating the former GHC Champions certainly sounds like a step in the right direction to make him into the ace that he really needed to be.

[kjh]

07/18/08 GHC Title: Takeshi Morishima © defeats Takeshi Rikio (13:24) (Budokan)

This was actually a Friday, which us Western fans thought seemed like an odd day to run the Budokan, and shitty attendance seemed to confirm that. But, someone on DVDVR said it was a Japanese Holiday, which also might have been a cause for the lousy number.

 

Wasn't this a NOAH tradition dating back to the two Dome shows they ran? I don't think that is a valid excuse for the poor attendance number.

[KrisZ]

At that time KENTA & Marufuji were seen as way bigger stars than Wild II (Morishima & Rikio)

[jdw]

My memories are really fuzzy about this specific era but it felt like Misawa and Kobashi were the only stars on the roster by that point.

 

Kobashi was barely on the roster: he was making a comeback that year, and as I said never worked a singles match that year before going out for the year on the same card where Sasaki won the belt.

 

So if we take Misawa as the only star on the roster. He's the one who put Morishima over. He'd tried to get other people over in the past in NOAH, each of whom also put Morishima over in either the chase or after he got the belt.

 

NOAH was fucked. It really wasn't Misawa's fault that none of the fans bought anyone as being an Ace other than he and Kobashi. He kept trying from 1998 on to get someone else over as the Ace in both All Japan and NOAH. They all failed, except for Kobashi's one period of being healthy in NOAH.

[jdw]

At that time KENTA & Marufuji were seen as way bigger stars than Wild II (Morishima & Rikio)

 

The problem is that none of them were really Drawing Stars. Jun really wasn't either an an Ace level.

 

Some of the problem was that puroresu overall was in a down cycle, and the success of Pride didn't help a great deal. But it took more than a decade for any of the "next generation" to draw to the level of building a company around. Even the current "hot" drawing of New Japan is of a debatable level relative to what the prior generation did in the 90s.

[KrisZ]

Drawing power wise definitely but I remember talking 10 years ago that the future Aces of NOAH were two Jrs and their heavyweight pipeline was barren

[Mad Dog]

 

 

My memories are really fuzzy about this specific era but it felt like Misawa and Kobashi were the only stars on the roster by that point.

Kobashi was barely on the roster: he was making a comeback that year, and as I said never worked a singles match that year before going out for the year on the same card where Sasaki won the belt.

 

So if we take Misawa as the only star on the roster. He's the one who put Morishima over. He'd tried to get other people over in the past in NOAH, each of whom also put Morishima over in either the chase or after he got the belt.

 

NOAH was fucked. It really wasn't Misawa's fault that none of the fans bought anyone as being an Ace other than he and Kobashi. He kept trying from 1998 on to get someone else over as the Ace in both All Japan and NOAH. They all failed, except for Kobashi's one period of being healthy in NOAH.

I agree. You could see the promotion losing steam as Misawa's reign progressed. Looking back it was a slow down hill slide from Misawa/Kawada at the Dome in 2005.

 

Also, what was the time frame of Kobashi's cancer absence.

[jushin muta liger]

 

 

 

My memories are really fuzzy about this specific era but it felt like Misawa and Kobashi were the only stars on the roster by that point.

Kobashi was barely on the roster: he was making a comeback that year, and as I said never worked a singles match that year before going out for the year on the same card where Sasaki won the belt.

 

So if we take Misawa as the only star on the roster. He's the one who put Morishima over. He'd tried to get other people over in the past in NOAH, each of whom also put Morishima over in either the chase or after he got the belt.

 

NOAH was fucked. It really wasn't Misawa's fault that none of the fans bought anyone as being an Ace other than he and Kobashi. He kept trying from 1998 on to get someone else over as the Ace in both All Japan and NOAH. They all failed, except for Kobashi's one period of being healthy in NOAH.

I agree. You could see the promotion losing steam as Misawa's reign progressed. Looking back it was a slow down hill slide from Misawa/Kawada at the Dome in 2005.

 

Also, what was the time frame of Kobashi's cancer absence.

Kobashi was out from July of 2006 to December of 2007.

[jushin muta liger]

At that time KENTA & Marufuji were seen as way bigger stars than Wild II (Morishima & Rikio)

All 4 guys were positioned as the new four corners of heaven in 2006 when they did that 30 minute draw and all raised their hands at the end of the match. But it was clear that they were slow tracking Morishima to be the man in the future. If he wasn't, Misawa would have not took the belt off Marufuji after one title defense ( I don't count the Nigel defense in terms of drawing in Japan) especially with that one title defense having one of the worst undercards NOAH put out at Budokan Hall.

 

Morishima in ROH was the trial run for him before he got the GHC belt to see how he would be as the number one guy. And Morishima wasn't in NOAH.

 

Part of that Takeshi main event was that Rikio wasn't a guy the fans accepted either.

[KrisZ]

NOAH also started depending too much on outsider talent as well like Sasaki

[Superstar Sleeze]

Definitely check out the Morishima/Sasaki title switch. It is Morishima's best match of the 00s in my estimation. It is probably Sasaki best individual performance of his career. He makes Morishima look huge in ways that no one else had. Which brings me to my next point, we can talk booking all we want, but at the end of the day he has to deliver in the ring.

 

Morishima was an uneven performer especially at projecting size. Sometimes you think KENTA or Marufuji were the same size from a match layout. He would also go through the motions for large portions of the match. What I mean is he knew during this part of the match he should Suplex the shit out of someone, but it was translating emotionally. Finally the long NOAH epic match style did him no favors. Working at a brisk 10-15 minutes would have shaken up the stale NOAH style and played to Morishima's strength of quick bursts of energy.

 

All above statements should be qualified with fact I have never seen his ROH work.

[jdw]

 

 

Also, what was the time frame of Kobashi's cancer absence.

Kobashi was out from July of 2006 to December of 2007.

 

 

After being out from Jan 2001 - Jul 2002 with the knee, with the exception of a Budokan comeback in Feb 2002 that set him back.

 

After coming back in 12/07, as mentioned he worked no singles matches before going back out from 09/06/08 - 03/01/09. He was back out again from 12/23/09 - 07/23/11, then worked under 50 matches in 2011 through Feb 2012 before he was beyond done, with the exception of the send of match.

 

He basically was done after July 2006. He never again was pushed to GHC level.

[fxnj]

Let's not forget about his horrible year long 2012 reign that drew like shit and was full of dull matches. I don't see how you could blame his failure on lack of opportunity. If anything the dude was way over pushed and the promotion's insistence on using him as the ace just led to KENTA and Marufuji getting their quality heavyweight main event runs way later than they deserved.