[2000-09-16-NOAH-Exceeding Our Dreams] Akira Taue vs Daisuke Ikeda

[soup23]

I was intrigued to see how these two matched up and this was about what I expected. A good big man clunky match. They had some brawling on the outside and Taue looked pretty spry with his kicks. Taue even bangs out the DVD which was nice to see. Ikeda didn’t give a chance to do a ton but he was effective in his strikes when given the chance. Finishing run by Taue was well done and he puts Ikeda away with the Nodowa. *** (5.8)

[AstroBoy]

I really loved the opening moments of this. I have grown so weary of meaningless standoff stuff between guys at the start of matches and these two did something much more useful -- they used the feeling out process to show their differences in size and technique. Instead of getting a meaningless exchange of holds, Taue asserts his size and power advantage consistently. Ikeda doesn't just fire back and work 50/50, they actually let Taue get the edge on him with his tools and then Ikeda uses his submission work to gain a foothold of his own. This was like water in the desert.

 

The match continues down a fine path even though it doesn't really develop into much more after its promising start. Taue really went over strong here and I was a bit surprised at how decisive the finish was. But I will take this level of clarity and restraint over a bloated, mirror-sequence match any day.

 

***