What are you watching?

[Loss]

New month, new topic.

 

I'll have some stuff to add here soon.

[Loss]

Toshiaki Kawada v Akira Taue - AJPW 03/31/96

 

There are so many things to love about this match. Kawada is so convincing in his performance here, and spends the majority of the match pulling out every trick in the book (and possibly even inventing a few new ones) to get Taue over as his superior, even with the match going to a draw. The story is communicated that Taue has an advantage over Kawada offensively, but that Kawada has only one major advantage over Taue -- his footwork. And that comes into play several times, as it's the only way Kawada is ever able to create an opening. And most of Kawada's openings are given instead of taken, which puts Taue over even more. Kawada is lucky enough to duck out of the way of a Taue lariat on the floor that would have killed him, but Taue goes crashing into the ringpost and now Kawada has a bit of an advantage. At first, Kawada can only put the hurt on Taue's arm by using the ring as a weapon, whereas Taue is able to fight back with wrestling moves. Kawada's total despair is obvious, and the point is made effectively that even when he's in control, he can't really rest on his laurels. That point is only rarely forgotten, as even in the final minutes of the match, Kawada is attempting pinfalls constantly, even after failed submission attempts.

 

The build throughout the match from sequence to the next is pretty great, with the storyline of familiarity being the theme early on, with each blocking the other's chopping attempts and Taue knowing to try to avoid Kawada's kicks. It then escalates into a Taue ass kicking until Kawada has just enough timing to move out of the way when Taue is about to move in for the kill. The nods here are also pretty cool -- the battle for the vertical suplex is reminiscent of the Funk/Brisco series, and the powerbomb battle is much like Jumbo/Tenryu. Other matches have done it better, but this match finds its relevance just fine.

 

I'm also a fan of the crowd control on display here. On the surface, Taue is the underdog, and the crowd reacts accordingly early on, but as the match progresses, Kawada has put Taue over so brilliantly that Kawada starts getting the reaction befitting an underdog when Taue is back in control. How they put Taue back in the driver's seat is pretty cool as well. Earlier in the match, Taue had attempted a powerbomb on the floor, which Kawada countered by kicking Taue in the face. Now, later in the match, after Kawada has been dominant for some time, he attempts to powerbomb Taue on the floor himself, perhaps to win that particular battle of stubborn wills, but Taue counters by kicking him in the face himself! Arrogantly, Taue starts to believe he's Kawada's equal in that department, but he loses that game in quick fashion.

 

There are a few things working against the match, the draw ending being the most frustrating. Taue going over here was something built and teased all throughout the match, and the performance of both suggested that was going to happen. Yes, he was about to finally get the nodowa in the center of the ring when the bell rang, but at that point, the match was back and forth anyway, and some of the goodwill from earlier in the match had been undone. Also, they spent the entire match fighting over the powerbomb, and after all that build, Kawada is the first to successfully execute the move, and Taue kicks out? There was so much build to it that it was almost guaranteed to be the finish. And from that point on, the match is little more than a series of moves with no relevance, with admitted cool points going to Taue for using Misawa offense to try to put him away.

 

Overall, I'd say this was a match that was laid out to be great, but wasn't great because it wasn't planned to be great. They reached the pinnacle of what they could do when given a 30-minute draw to work with and what would appear to be a lack of booking direction. Still, nice match with too much good stuff to write off.

 

***3/4

[World's Worst Man]

Building to a move which is kicked out isn't really a negative in my book. If it was, Misawada vs. Kawada 6/3/94 wasn't such a great match In fact, building to a move with small offense and numerous attempts is a great way to get a nearfall, because you're building drama by slowly wearing the opponent down, and showing that the guy desperately wants to hit the move, rather than building drama by piling up big offense, and THEN hitting the move. In the latter case it's a negative, because it's just a shortcut and it just kills the moves off if tons of offense doesn't get the job done. Thats why Misawa-Kawada 6/3/94 was so great, because they managed to lay the match out in such a way that the offense never really piled up and became ridiculous, while also building so superbly to the powerbomb. But anyway, the build was just one of the reasons I thought this match was better than any WWE match since the Bret Hart days

[Loss]

You know, I rewatched and that's still the one bone of contention for me, but I also think in retrospect that I was a little too hard on the match. The beautiful things they do throughout the match are enough to overcome the powerbomb build, which as you said, isn't without merit. A rewatch has me putting this a bit higher ... at about ****1/4 or so.

[silverwidow]

A rewatch has me putting this a bit higher ... at about ****1/4 or so.

Good.

 

It's the best All Japan singles match of the year.

[Loss]

Akira Hokuto v Bull Nakano - AJW 01/04/91

 

The good is that this is the best TNA iMPACT match I've ever seen. The bad is that this is very much a TNA-style match, with the main difference being the world class submissions from both Hokuto and Nakano. Of course, those submissions mean precious little when they each keep voluntarily releasing them just to apply other holds, or to do an Irish whip sequence for virtually no reason at all. And the momentum shifts constantly, to a point where it's really hard to gain any kind of connection with the match and see what they're going for. This reminded me so much of Styles and Daniels working with Joe, with Bull being Joe, in that they wrestle as equals despite the size difference. In fact, in some ways, Hokuto is the bigger badass of the two, busting out the German suplex right after the bell rings and landing a piledriver for a close call mid-match. There were things they did right -- in addition to the submissions, the desperation on display here is unparalleled in almost any match I've seen, from both, but that also works against them, because I don't understand why Bull Nakano has to wrestle in so much despair against Hokuto. Vader/Sting or Liger/Hash was what they were teasing early on in terms of match layout, but they didn't go that direction at all.

 

***1/4

[Loss]

Akira Hokuto v Manami Toyota - 01/11/91

 

Holy shit, Toyota ROCKS in this match! She's the Bill Dundee of AJW here, attacking Hokuto's injured arm like a vulture and immediately fighting and clawing to completely remove the cast from her arm. Hokuto then rolls outside and tries to at least get back in the ring and create some space, but Toyota is relentless and is giving her nothing, immediately driving her knee into Hokuto's arm as hard as possible and attempting to do more damage by simply laying her arm flat and stomping on it repeatedly, dropping elbows and just wrestling with an incredibly vicious streak. The best part of it is watching Hokuto writhe around at ringside screaming in pain while Toyota casually brushes her hair out of her face in the middle of the ring. Hokuto fakes Toyota out by making her think she's far more weakened than she really is, and then proceeds to attempt to pay her back for everything by beating the shit out of her, but Toyota will have none of it, as she knows all she has to do is go back to the arm. The next time Hokuto rolls outside, even her trainers get a plancha from Toyota, but karma rears its head as Toyota injures her knee on the way down and ends up getting an immediate payback plancha from Hokuto. Both are virtually crippled at this point and surviving on adrenaline, and Hokuto proves herself no more a gentlewoman than Toyota by immediately zoning in on her knee. This is all in the first five minutes or so of the match and is really impressive.

 

Then, Toyota proceeds to get silly and completely stop selling her knee and just throw dragon suplexes and missed moonsaults and it's full-blown 2.9 wrestling from here forward, with Toyota having no problems whatsoever going to the top rope with a bum knee and Hokuto not struggling at all to hit German suplexes with an arm that has miraculously healed. Remembering it's time for the finish, Toyota suddenly destroys Hokuto's arm for the win, and we have a match. A shame that they threw out all the awesome stuff they built early on just so they could do nearfall-nearfall-nearfall. Still, very good match with lots of energy, heat and emotion.

 

***1/2

[Guest teke184]

I'm not going into detail, but the current titles being watched at the Teke house are:

 

WCW Wrestlewar 1992

 

NWA Clash Of The Champions 2 (Miami Mayhem), 3 (Fall Brawl), 4 (Season's Beatings)

 

UFC 52 (Couture vs. Liddell 2)

 

Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior

 

WWF TV comp volume 16 (IYH: D-X through Royal Rumble 1998)

[Loss]

12/11/99 - Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda v AKINO & Ayako Hamada (ARSION)

 

Epic. If a better heel performance exists anywhere in the world in 1999, I have yet to see it. Unbelievable drama and visually stunning, as the LCO invade ARSION and completely wreak havoc on two rather plunky babyfaces in AKINO and Hamada, laughing and smiling all the way. The LCO are completely ruthless and destroy their opponents all over the building, on a physical, emotional and psychological level, against a team who appear to be totally overmatched until the final minutes when it kicks in that they really are fighting for their lives and at that point, they desperately try everything they know not to keep or gain an advantage, but to end the match just to get out alive. The LCO attempt far less pinfalls on their end, as they seem to be having fun torturing the spry youngsters from the hometown promotion, covering them both in their own blood and smearing it all over a concerned Aja Kong at ringside. It's really hard to do this match justice by talking about it because seeing it conveys a story that words really can't. I am incapable of doing this match justice. The upset finish is the best possible ending they could have done in this context.

 

****1/2

[sek69]

5/29/1986 - Andre the Giant vs Akira Maeda (NJPW)

 

Yes, this is the famous match that turned into a shoot. Maeda has a well earned reputation for being an asshole who shoots on people, but this time it wasn't his fault. Andre was visibly drunk for this match, wobbling as he walked down the aisle with extremely glassy eyes. He's leaning on the ropes during the intros, and not in that way we're used to that he did late in his career.

 

The bell rings and it's obvious Andre's not playing ball here. He just stands there with his arms at his side daring Maeda to come at him, and when he does he somehow manages a front facelock which almost turns scary when he falls forward still grasping Maeda. You see his legs bend underneath the weight, and there's really nothing he can do until the ref gets Andre to break and they both stand up.

 

Maeda tries a worked kick, and Andre immediately tries to grab the front facelock again. Akira wants no part of being underneath a drunk 500 pounder and bails. Back in the ring, Maeda is clearly trying to figure out what to do here as the situation is starting to become clear that Andre's not only gone into business for himself he's opened a whole franchise. They lock up again, and now Andre is having problems trying to lock in the facelock. It looks like he's trying to do that facelock into a suplex he used, but he just can't get it to happen. Maeda tries to reverse it into a facelock of his own and Andre's attempt to re-reverse ends up looking like 2 siblings wrestling in the living room.

 

They stand up and this time Andre tries a full nelson, which again almost leads to a scary moment as Andre falls forward while keeping the hold on, nearly squashing Maeda's head and neck into the mat. They make the ropes, and now even the ref has his hands full as Andre isn't breaking the hold, causing the ref to do the slowest count ever in an attempt to maintain some level of kayfabe. At this point you can see the ref say something to Andre's cornerman (probably "someone end this shit early") as Andre finally lets go.

 

Now starts the infamous part where Maeda decides he's had enough of this and starts kicking the shit out of Andre's legs. He tries to take Andre down in an attempt to gain some control of the situation, but the Giant's just not having it. Maeda makes several attempts to take Andre down and put him in some sort of armbar, but he's just pushing his way out of everything. He tries again, this time he goes for a leg hold, which leads to scary moment #3 where Andre kicks wildly with is free leg and just misses booting Maeda in the head legit. Andre makes it to the ropes and the ref is hesitant to break the hold since it's the first time Maeda's been able to get a handle on things. The hold's broken and we're back to a standoff as Andre has given up any pretense of cooperation at this point.

 

It's becoming obvious that Andre's not even paying attention as Maeda has to keep circling around him to make it seem Andre's looking at him. He's starting to wobble even more and the stiff kicking begins in earnest. He gets about 4or 5 stiff kicks without a result, leaving Maeda to stand with his hands on his hip as to say "what the fuck am I supposed to do now?" He even turns to Andre's cornerman and throws his hands up. I should point out that this match is already past the 20 minute mark and there's no way this should have gone on this long. Andre is growing tired of the evasion tactics and lunges. More stiff kicks ensue and this is starting to look like an episode of COPS when the police try to taser someone who's too drunk or high to feel it. I think the plan was to try to take Andre down with shoot kicks, but he's not even selling that at this point.

 

Finally, just as the crowd is starting to realize something's not going right, Inoki comes down to ringside. Maeda finally gets Andre down with the shoot kicks, he ends up half against the ropes and half off his feet. After a few more kicks, Andre gives an "I'm done with this" hand motion and walks back to his corner to speak with the cornerman. What's funny is while Maeda is telling Inoki the situation, Andre's complaining and gesturing as if he's upset at the shoot kicks. Inoki gets in the ring, which gives the ref the chance to say what's going on under the pretext of ushering him back outside again. Amazingly, no one stops the match yet, leaving Maeda no choice but to deliver more stiff kicks while Andre complains to the ref and the cornerman about it. Things are starting to completely break down, as Maeda is taking down the Giant with ease, and finally Andre decides he's not going to get up again. Inoki enters the ring, says something to the ref (I'm guessing Japanese for "ring the fucking bell") and Maeda's seconds enter the ring and rush Inoki. Everyone looks legit pissed, and Andre challenges Maeda's whole posse to a fight.

 

All in all, it was a complete mess from start to finish. There's no way this should have lasted 30 minutes, it put Maeda in a position where not only did he have to shoot in order to protect himself, he had to expose the business by having to take down the unbeatable Giant with ease. A lot of people who hear about this match just assume it was Maeda being a dick like he would do the next year when he kicked Choshu in the face and broke his orbital bone. Andre entered the ring in no condition to perform and put himself and his opponent in danger. There was no less than 3 instances where Maeda could have been hurt due to Andre's falling over.

 

No star rating, since it's pretty much Maeda trying to defend himself from a drunk Giant for 30 minutes.

[World's Worst Man]

Most entertaining match review ever. Seriously.

[Loss]

Manami Toyota v Kaoru Ito - AJW 03/23/97 Queendom

 

I dig this match a lot, simply because both are so determined to wrestle this match the way they see fit. Toyota starts off with her typical ovaries to the wall style, Ito upstages her at her own game and then takes Toyota to the mat and makes her stay there. Toyota is incredibly frustrated that she's in this position, and Ito starts dropping elbows on her back and all appears to be well, but she goes vertical again, which is Toyota's domain, and pays for it, because Toyota immediately takes control again. Toyota now decides that *she* will give Ito a dose of her own medicine and locks in an octopus before switching to a figure four leglock. At this point, Ito has underestimated Toyota's ability on the mat and it has cost her, and Toyota has underestimated both Ito's aerial ability and her nerve, as Ito has no problem using the table Toyota brought into the match in the first place. The match continually builds within that Top This mindset, which continues when Ito decides to pay Toyota back for the figure four by doing a Boston Crab on her inside the ring and giving 50% off the additional purchase discount by doing a half crab on the arena floor. My favorite spot from Ito, however, is what Tony Schiavone would refer to as a "hair drag and a twist". Now, there are times when Ito is admittedly a little sloppy, just as there are times when she doesn't seem sure what to do when she's left to build to a Toyota comeback, but she's working toward an admirable goal, and I'm willing to cut her some slack for it just because the sheer effort does increase the enjoyment of the match.

 

Also, give credit to Toyota for an inspired performance here, showing that she can sell when she decides she wants to. Her selling is a little shallow at times, however, just because it's more limping to show that the injury isn't forgotten, but she has no issues performing any of her offensive moves at all, at least at first. There's cause without any real effect. She does eventually go outside the ring and require assistance from the trainers, but that spot just isn't the same without Akira Hokuto and spray. There was so much heat and emotion when Hokuto did that against Kandori at Dreamslam, but here, if anything, it derails the rhythm of the match.

 

Back in the ring, we seem to be going somewhere concrete with Ito alternating between figure fours and half crabs, coming full circle with the top this theme and with Ito doing everything she can to dismantle Toyota's taped-up ankle. Toyota's desperation rolling cradle is awesome beyond belief, but she kills it for me by going to the top rope and attempting a moonsault, which she misses but executes with a little *too much* grace, considering the beating she has taken. Just moments later, she does the same thing, hitting a desperation German suplex to stop Ito from coming off the top rope, but immediately going up top and executing a perfect dropkick.

 

This is a weird match to call good or bad because they do something amazing, completely destroy any good will it created, redeem themselves and then tear down the wall again. It's both delightful and depressing. The great does outweigh the bad (which in reality is more just disappointing than horrible), and Ito definitely earns a hard-fought victory. Excellent match, but a really bumpy ride.

 

***3/4

[goodhelmet]

Rock N Roll Express vs. Ivan Koloff and Kruscher Kruschev 7-9-85

 

Tim kept pimping this match to me and I was always too busy to just sit back and watch it. Well, I took the time to watch it.... twice. I had a longer review worked out but I need to structure it better. Still, lets just say this is one of the best tag matches of the 1980s and probably in my Top 10 NWA matches.

[Tim Cooke]

Told ya!

[JHawk]

Notice that me pimping it in my first-ever Today in Wrestling History column at TSM wasn't enough for him to see it. He needed Tim to hype it to him.

 

Glad you saw it though, as it was a fantastic match.

[goodhelmet]

I am not going to judge your star rating because all of us have grown in the last three years but there is no way that is only a 3 star match. That is easy **** territory.

[Loss]

To quote a good man, "You'll have to elaborate."

[Resident Evil]

What match?

[Loss]

Rock & Rolls against the Russians.

 

You know, looking at the team names alone, that very well may be the most 1980s match of the 1980s.

[The Thread Killer]

So I sat down and watched some NOAH tonight?

 

 

Third Great Voyage ? From the Budokan

11/5/05

 

Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiosaki

 

This was a rematch of sorts from the NOAH Dome show this past July, ?Destiny.? Sasaki and Kobashi had what was voted by Tokyo Sports and Nikkan Sports (and a lot of other people) as the Match of the Year for 2005. I wouldn?t agree with that, as it was mostly just two insanely popular guys stiffing the living hell out of each other in front of a super hot Tokyo Dome crowd?but it was a fun match.

 

No technique, just a lot of this:

 

 

However, hats off to NOAH because Sasaki had never competed for ?the ark? and he is consistently named as the first or second most popular wrestler in Japan, right there with Kobashi. They had never faced. This was definitely a dream match that the fans wanted to see, and NOAH gave it to them.

 

This time around, it was the two most popular wrestlers in Japan against each other again in a long anticipated rematch?but each one brought a mentor along for the ride. Sasaki had his Sasaki Office prot?g? Nakajima, and Kobashi had the only student to graduate the NOAH dojo in 2004, Go Shiosaki.

 

This match had the added element of the older and tougher guys pretty much torturing the kids, with the young stars showing lots of guts every time they battled back and threw everything they could at the superstars. I really liked this match a lot?in fact I enjoyed it more than I did the Sasaki/Kobashi match from the Tokyo Dome. This match had the same brutal intensity of the match from Destiny?but also had the added advantage of some good high flying stuff from Go Shiosaki, and some amazing kicks and footwork from Nakajima. I swear, Shiosaki can defy gravity.

 

This was no technical masterpiece?you?re not going to get that from Kobashi at this stage in his career, and from Sasaki EVER, but it was a lot of fun to watch and the added element of the students along for the ride gave it a different dimension which was great.

 

I highly recommend this match.

 

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Genichiro Tenryu

 

And then there was this.

 

After seeing Misawa?s performance against Kawada in the Main Event at Destiny, I had hoped he might still have a couple of classics left in him. This sure wasn?t one of them?and I?m thinking if he does have anything left, Tenryu sure isn?t the guy he?s going to get it with.

 

This match just made me sad. Tenryu has been over the hill since?I don?t even know when. I guess he had some okay matches when he came back to AJPW 5 years ago?but aside from that, I never liked his stuff in SWS, or WAR, and I never saw his NJPW run. His NOAH run has not been the disaster that I thought it would be, but I?m starting to see that was more as a result of safe booking than skill. He looked AWFUL here, as he botched a simple powerbomb and vertical suplex badly.

 

Misawa? Ugh. He looks to be about 30 pounds too heavy and a couple of steps slower than he should be. He has lost a lot of zip off his famous forearm shots, and it?s painful to watch him run across the ring now at half speed, almost stumbling.

 

In this match, Misawa looks to have legitimately injured his neck. Tenryu suplexed him on the ramp, and then Misawa just kind of laid there for a while. Actually, Misawa did a lot of laying around in this match, which wasn?t fun since Tenryu was not the guy to go after him.

 

The few highlights of this match were Misawa?s reaction when Tenryu wanted to shake hands?Tenryu not taking no for an answer?and then Tenryu almost kicking Misawa?s head off his shoulders. Misawa finally got up after that, and we saw a lot more zip on those forearm smashes, let me tell you. There was also a half hearted knife-edge chop/forearm shot exchange, but all that did is remind me of when both guys were a lot younger and better.

 

I?d avoid this match if you were ever a fan of either one. I hate to say it but I think Misawa needs to seriously think about hanging it up before his reputation takes a serious Flair-like beating. It makes me sad to see the man who I consider to be the best wrestler of all time stumbling his way through a farce like this in front of a mostly silent crowd. The man who took part in what I consider to be the greatest singles match and the greatest tag team match of all time deserves better?and so do his fans.

 

GHC Tag Team Title: Mohammed Yone & Takeshi Morishima ? vs. KENTA & Shibata

 

Now, from the ?Holy Crap I Wasn?t Expecting This To Be Good? file?

 

Morishima & Yone are kind of a thrown together Tag Team Championship combo who I?d not seen since they beat Suzuki & Marifuji. I am NOT a fan of Yone. Sure, he makes me laugh and has the best look?more specifically hair in all of Japan hands down?

 

 

but as a wrestler he drives me bonkers. He has presence and charisma to spare, but his offensive arsenal consists primarily of kicks that he misses about 25% of the time?and worse than that, he DOES NOT SELL for shit. It drives me up the wall to see some of the best talent in NOAH unload on him, and he either pops right back up or kind of grimaces a bit.

 

Morishima I could always take or leave. At one point, I thought he was the more talented of ?Wild II? but it seemed to me that Rikio got serious about training and improving, and Morishima got serious about going back up to the buffet for seconds. Rikio went on to end the historic GHC reign of Kobashi?and Morishima went on to eat an entire turkey in one sitting.

 

As a team, and the GHC Tag Champs, Morishima & Yone actually have a few things going for them, I'm surprised to say. They?re over big, which is a plus. Also, the weird mesh of Battlearts inspired kicking from Yone and standard NOAH Heavyweight Wrestling from Morishima is a strange but fun combination. It helps that Morishima is not in the greatest of shape, but in this tag team he gets to take breaks on the apron and catch his breath...maybe have a quick snack.

 

This was my first look at one time NJPW up and comer, now freelancer Shibata who has formed a new team with KENTA called ?Takeover.? Surprisingly, they wrestle like heels, with a lot of quasi-cheating, showboating, and general disrespect for their opponents.

 

This match was awesome, because it was laid out very well. Takeover took turns kicking the ever-loving hell out of Yone?which I enjoyed because he HAD to sell a lot of it?it was STIFF and it looked like it hurt like a sumbitch. Morishima played the partner who wants to tag in, but can?t seem to get anything going role very well, and Takeover added to this by constantly provoking him, kicking him off the apron and slapping him. This fight went a good 30 minutes, and was packed with near falls. As always KENTA looked awesome. Shibata isn?t as technical as I would have expected, but he throws a mean kick and did well for himself. As I said earlier?Yone and Morishima make a lot better team than I had expected, which might have been why I enjoyed this match so much. It was a pleasant surprise and if you see it, I think you?d quite enjoy it.

 

GHC Heavyweight Title: Akira Taue vs. Takeshi Rikio ?

 

This match was the reason I was watching this show.

 

As many people know, Rikio is the man who ended Kobashi?s epic 13 defense and almost 2 year GHC reign, and since then had been having what could only be described as a lackluster reign. It wasn?t out of lack of effort on NOAH?s part to get him over, either. His first shot at Kobashi on 03/06/04 was actually a very good match, in my opinion and I can see why they finally picked him to be the guy who won the belt last March. He?s young, he?s strong, he?s in great shape, and he seems to know all of the basic power moves.

 

His first defense against Saito was?man?I couldn?t even sit through it, it sucked so bad. Then again, I blamed that on Saito sucking, and the fact that nobody bought him as a legit threat. I know I didn?t. Also, it didn?t help that that match got upstaged by the start of the SUWA/KENTA feud, Suzuki & Marifuji fighting Misawa & Kotaro Suzuki in a hot match, and the outstanding Akiyama & Tenryu vs. Kobashi & Shiosaki match, which featured the infamous incident when Kobashi actually busted open Tenryu?s CHEST with repeated chops. That was a hard match to follow?and with Saito, you ain?t gonna do it.

 

His second defense against Tanahashi (who many North American fans are now getting to know thanks to his recent matches in TNA) was actually a very good match?the problem is that it was totally overshadowed by the double Main Event on the Destiny Card at the Tokyo Dome of the aforementioned Sasaki/Kobashi Dream Match and Misawa vs. Kawada for the first time in 8 Years.

 

I guess Misawa?s last attempt at putting Rikio over was when he literally did it himself on 09/18/05. I?ve not seen that match, but I?ve heard it?s pretty damn bad. Having seen Misawa on this show, I don?t doubt it?and I guess that Rikio was not enough for Misawa to work with and carry to a watchable match. Rumor had it that this match was the final nail in the coffin for the Rikio experiment.

 

So here comes Taue!

 

Anybody who loves the 90?s AJPW stuff like I do has to have at least a small soft spot for Taue. Anybody who took part in that many MOTDC?s is okay by me. In NOAH his stuff has been pretty bleh though. His team with Sano does nothing for me?mostly because Sano isn?t trying at all. The feud with the Dark Agents and Taue was moderately interesting, but I freaking hate all of the Dark Agents except Sugiura (and how HE got stuck with those lumps I?ll never know) so I haven?t seen much of out of Taue since NOAH?s first year. He?s basically your very loved and highly respected veteran who does not a lot of anything, mired in the midcard.

 

I have rarely seen such a rabidly vocal crowd in NOAH as we saw for this match. They were chanting Taue?s name from the get go, and at one point they actually BOOED Rikio. I was booing myself, as he took some LAME bumps, dished out some really weak looking offense, and the worst thing was, he avoided all of Taue?s patented outside the ring moves, especially the Nodowa from the apron?which I (and all the fans in the Budokan) wanted to see pretty damn badly. I don?t know if it was the fact that Rikio looked like his heart wasn?t in this match, I don?t know if it?s because he looked sloppy and disorganized, or I don?t know if it?s because the whole Rikio reign was a scrub, but man the fans were not on his side.

 

I should make it clear?this match is not a good match by any means. If you had to snowflake rate it, it might get 2 stars. What made this match special was the fact that the fans were so vocal, and dammit?you just had to feel good for Akira Taue getting the win when nobody would have predicted it a couple of months ago. You knew that he was just going to be a transitional champ, and you knew that he?s over the hill and more suited for Tag Team action now?but for this one night?it was like the fans, and NOAH were saying thank you to Akira Taue for all his years of hard work and so many classics?and it felt good?even if the match was lackluster. The response he got once he got the win has to be seen to be fully appreciated. I?m glad I saw this match.

 

NOAH on NTV LIVE

From The Budokan in Tokyo

1/22/06

 

I wanted to see this show for the much pimped KENTA vs. Marifuji GHC Jr. Title Match, and for the Taue vs. Akiyama GHC match?but the friend I was watching it with was tired from working all day, so he had to split. We?ll catch the two ?must see? matches next week, and if anybody actually cares, I?ll post a review of them like I did these ones.

 

Meanwhile, I saw?

 

Misawa, Sugiura & Mushiking Terry vs. Sasaki, Nakajima & Mushiking Joker

 

See, now THIS is how Misawa should be wrestling. If he insists on staying active, this is the ideal role for him. He was only in the ring for brief bursts during this match, and because it was against Sasaki, the crowd was hyped for it. He didn?t blow any spots, his speed wasn?t a major problem, and he wasn?t in the ring long enough to show too much weakness.

 

My understanding is that the whole ?Mushiking? deal is exactly like Tiger Mask in the 80?s and Jushin Thunder Liger in the 90?s?except rather than cartoons, the characters are based on a very popular children?s video game about characters who?eat bugs. Terry is so obviously Kotaro Suzuki that only a child couldn?t see it, and rumor has it that Joker (who?s mask covers much more) is Ricky Marvin. When they fight in these personas, they seem to use an overly theatrical lucha type style, but trust me?it?s over. When either Mushiking character tags in, you can actually hear little kids in the audience cheering, which is cute.

 

It was cool to see Misawa and the first ever graduate of the NOAH dojo Sugiura mix it up with Sasaki and Nakajima. Much like the Kobashi match I wrote about earlier, it really adds to the whole outsider, Sasaki Office vs. NOAH angle. I would say that I?d like to have seen this as a straight up tag, but I don?t know if Misawa could have physically handled that, which may have been why this was booked this way.

 

This match was basically a clusterfuck, but it was a harmless fun one. The segments with Misawa and Sasaki were fun. Nakajima looked very good and was very effective when he was in there. Surprisingly, Sugiura kind of phoned it in during this match, which is too bad. Then again, he?s a mat wrestler, and with Sasaki and the Mushikings in there, there isn?t going to be a whole lot of mat wrestling going on. Terry and Joker both looked very good for what they are doing with those characters, and have adjusted to the roles quite well it seems. I wouldn?t go so far as to recommend this match. It was one of those matches you really enjoy at the time, but then can?t remember anything remarkable about it afterward. It was like the wrestling equivalent of fast food.

 

Rikio & Akebono vs. Kenta Kobashi & ?Junji? Izumida

 

Okay?this match FUCKING SUCKED.

 

Rikio is going to have to learn to rise above the match he is in, if he ever wants to get back to the top. You know what his problem is? If he?s in there with somebody who sucks, he lets them drag him down to their level. He looked plain old bored in this match, like he was going through the motions and wasn?t even trying to make it work?and when you?re teamed up with a 600 pound bag of shite, you have to work. As I said earlier, last year Rikio and Kobashi had one match that was excellent, and one match that was passable. There was no reason why he couldn?t have put in the effort when he was in there with Kobashi, but he didn?t.

 

Meanwhile, Izu obviously wasn?t moved to put in any effort either, which is ridiculous. This was the most high profile match he has been booked in since I have been watching NOAH, and he stumbled around with his eyes half closed, delivering the fakest looking headbutts I have ever seen this side of the Junkyard Dog, and running slower than Misawa. They can change his name to ?Junji? but he still sucks?and I wish he had only tried more. This was his chance, and he fucked it up. He could have busted ass during this match to show that he wanted a push, but instead he sucked it up and killed the heat that this match had.

 

Yes?this match had heat?for a while.

 

That would have been because for whatever reason, Akebono is over. I guess because he?s a sumo. Well he?s also a fat tub, who can?t walk from one side of the ring to the other without gassing out. Seriously?he SUCKS. The worst part of it all were his stupid facial expressions, his attempts to look menacing, and his reaction to getting chopped by Kobashi. Kobashi had him in the corner for his patented repeated knife edge chopfest, and Akebono kinda winced, looked like he was going to cry, and half slumped down while half heartedly pushing Kobashi away.

 

Kobashi is not totally guiltless, either. I love the guy. However, there are two types of Kobashi fans right now. The kind who think he hasn?t lost a step since the glory days in AJPW, that his match with Joe in ROH was a 5 Star Classic, and that he?s the greatest wrestler in the world today?and those who think he is broken down, and relying on the same old spots to pop the crowd. I think a bit of both is true. He is still in great shape, although it?s obvious his knees are still bothering him and they always will. He doesn?t go to the top rope anymore for the flying tackle or the moonsault. He doesn?t do the running legdrop or the Burning Hammer anymore. All Kobashi does now is CHOP and CLOTHESLINE, with the odd half-nelson suplex thrown in for good measure. (For example, the the animated picture of him and Sasaki above.)

 

The thing is?that still makes for a half decent match. IF he?s in there against somebody good. Compared to the shit that WWE puts out, Kobashi still is one of the best around?but he?s not Kobashi of 1993, or even 1998. He can?t do what he used to, just like Misawa can?t, Kawada can?t, and Taue can?t. He?s aged. He?s probably still got a few years left in him, especially if all he does is lift weights, and throw chops.

 

Here?s the problem. Now if he?s in there with somebody who can do the same, like Joe or Sasaki, he can have a half decent ?chopfest.? Maybe 3 snowflakes. (Which is all the match with Joe was?sorry to Meltzer and his parrot HTQ at TSM.) Put him in there with some load like Akebono, or ?don?t make me try? Rikio, and you get what this match was?SHIT. Akebono was leaning all over the place, panting and sweating. The man jiggles when he leans on the ropes, and is genuinely unpleasant to look at. Rikio is proving why he failed as GHC champ, and Izu is proving why he?ll never be a name in NOAH or get farther than he has.

 

I assume this match got booked because Akebono is the current Bob Sapp in Japan. Over with the people, everybody wants him. It made business sense to use him, because he probably sold tickets?but man does he suck. If All Japan or New Japan wants him so bad?they can have him. All 600 freaking pounds.

 

So anyhow, there is my NOAH night. Two very good tag matches, one fun six man, and a sentimental moment for Taue. Not bad and if you get a chance, tell me what you thought if you see these matches.

 

- Dave

[sek69]

Lou Thesz vs Antonino Rocca - No exact date, probably the 40s-50 NWA

 

I recently downloaded this and it was way better than I was expecting. It was two of their MSG matches in clip form, and considering the age of the material it was pretty good. One thing that stood out is how the ref establishes early on that he's not taking any shit. The first match actually ends in a DQ because Rocca kept knocking Thesz out of the ring and actually dropped him over the top rope with the Argentine Backbreaker (aka the Torture Rack executed way better than Luger ever did).

 

The second match is the real eye popper, first for Lou Thesz actually delivering a powerbomb. I always heard that move was credited to him, and lo and behold there it was in a match 50+ years old. Suprisingly, it wasn't the finish. Hasn't seemed to kill it as a finisher though. The second surprise was Thesz busting out the bridge-out-of-a-pin you see in almost every junior-cruiser match these days. I had no idea that the spot went that far back or that Thesz did it. It was also funny to see the proper 1940s women going nuts in the crowd, guess New York crowds were always hardcore.

 

The only downside is that of the 3 falls in the match, they clip the first two and the third was ended by curfew. After all that you don't get a satisfying finish, but it was worth it to see the master in action.

[Mad Dog]

AJ Styles vs. Shannon Moore - street fight

 

I offer this match up for anyone who thinks Styles is a one dimensional guy. Here you have him just brawling for the entire match with only one big spot. The match was decent for the amount of time given to it. I liked the added touch of Styles wearing jeans for the match instead of his usual ring gear. It added an odd touch of realism to the match. I think this match would've been better served with extra time and a better ending.

[Loss]

Shawn Michaels v Chris Benoit - WWE RAW 05/03/04

 

First time I saw this when it aired live, I didn't think much of it at all. Someone must have spiked my drink with crack or something, because this was an awesome match, way better than I expected it to be when rewatching. The headlockery at the beginning is some of the better use of that spot I've seen in a WWE match and the build throughout is terrific. This match is definitely made-for-TV in that it's wrestled more like three 10-minute matches than one 30-minute one, so I don't think this layout would have worked on pay-per-view. Benoit is no-nonsense, though, and by proxy, some of the typical nonsense of his opponents gets left out of the game of his opponent because of the match layout -- there's no "oh-my-poor-back" selling, there's no no-sell kip up. It's just a battle of wills with each guy trying to outdo the other in any way possible. Favorite spots are Benoit's German suplex into a bridge (in WWE!!) and Shawn's Liontamer, which he should really use more often. There's silliness at the end with the ref bump and HHH making himself more important than the match, but this is probably Benoit's best match as champion and is definitely Shawn's best since returning in 2002.

 

***3/4 -- would have been higher with a clean finish. I normally don't really lower my opinion of the match enough to matter based on the finish, but with all the hype surrounding this, they really owed it to the fans to have a clear winner.

[goodhelmet]

Hung out with teke over the weekend. A few of the things we popped in but didn't really pay detailed attention to....

 

TNA Against All Odds 2006 (Samoa Joe vs. Sytles vs. Daniels; Christian vs. Jarrett)

Rock N Roll express vs. Russians 7/85

Ted Dibiase piledriver angle from Georgia (Dibiase/JYD vs. Freebirds)

Freebirds vs. Von Erichs 12/83

Sgt. Slaughter vs. Iron Sheik 6/84

Matt Hardy vs. Edge (Unforgiven 2005)

[Guest Mike Campbell]

I watched Clash of Champons XIX yesterday, nothing outstanding but I thought it was a nice little show. The Freebirds vs Low Cowboys was definitely interesting to say the least. If anyone can recommened some Low Cowboys matches to me I'd appreciate it, I'm dying to see more of them now.