[2001-04-18-ZERO-ONE-Truth Century Creation II] Mitsuharu Misawa & Takeshi Rikio vs Naoya Ogawa & Kazunari Murakami

[superkix]

Short and sweet hate-fueled action backed by a hot Budokan crowd. Ogawa wants Misawa but Rikio says "you gotta get through me" so Ogawa takes in Murakami, who goes nutzo on Rikio with punches. When Misawa gets the tag, he starts popping Murakami with elbows and the fans are losing it. Ogawa comes in but Misawa tags out, building the anticipation for their first exchange, and boy does Rikio piss off Ogawa. Ogawa straight up punches him in the face a bunch, hits a judo throw and when he gets into the front mount, Misawa comes in and elbows him off. The Misawa/Ogawa interactions were a bit of a letdown but in an awesome moment, Ogawa has Misawa in a front mount, tap-tapping him with punches, and from out of nowhere, Rikio bulldozes him off. The finish was interesting, with Murakami attacking Misawa and goading him on, which leads to Misawa hitting a rolling series of backdrop suplexes, holding the third for the pinfall.

 

[ohtani's jacket]

I can't quite figure out which is worse, NOAH or Zero-One. What I do know is that Ogawa and Murakami have to be two of the most overrated workers in the history of Japanese wrestling. Japanese wrestling is in such a funk it's not funny. 

[Makai Club #1]

Where was this RIkio when he won the GHC Heavyweight title? When he tackled Murakami, the place exploded. Murakami got the better of him, naturally but Rikio held his own in these shining moments of the match. The Ogawa v Misawa stuff was pretty rocking in terms of atmosphere but the spots could've been better. Misawa in this environment though is interesting. That’s what I’ll say. ***  

[Superstar Sleeze]

On 7/14/2019 at 3:59 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

I can't quite figure out which is worse, NOAH or Zero-One. What I do know is that Ogawa and Murakami have to be two of the most overrated workers in the history of Japanese wrestling. Japanese wrestling is in such a funk it's not funny. 

BLASPHEMY~! Murakami is one of the best cocky shooter pricks of all time and I fucking love Ogawa big muthafucka that Judo slams everyone with charisma out the yin Yang! 
 

Naoya Ogawa & Kazunari Murakami vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Takeshita Rikio - Zero-One 4/18/01

Why did no one tell me Ogawa & Misawa!?!? Holy shit! The big fight energy was off the charts for this one! Even thought this never reached the zenith it could have due to inter-promotional bullshit and egos, this was super fun while it lasted. I don’t want all wrestling to be like this but when it is a blood feud please bring this fucking energy! Inject this shit into my veins!

To my knowledge this is the biggest crowd Z-1 ever drew. Ogawa wants fucking Misawa bad! Misawa is the most over dude by far but he plays the heel because of the promotional dynamics. Ogawa is so good at jaw jacking. Admittedly I have not seen much Rikio but he fucking brought in this match. He didn’t back down from Ogawa, bowed up and said me first. Murakami came out like a bat out of hell! It has been far too long since I’ve seen Murakami. He is an all-time favorite. The scrap between Murakami & Rikio may have been the best part of the match. Murakami’s punches looked awesome and Rikio’s shoves were incredibly. There need to be more uncooperative shoving in wrestling! Misawa/Murakami was solid I feel like Murakami took it easy on him. Misawa’s elbows were wicked over. Murakami tagged out. Misawa tagged out to boos. Ogawa and Rikio was a lot of fun. Great STO! Misawa comes in. The battle between STO and Backdrop Driver was great with winning. Melee ensues. Rikio bowls over Ogawa; Murakami is throwing wild haymakers at Misawa. Misawa threw three massive, organic, gritty suplexes to win. Fracas to close. Awesome it is too bad they switched over to Tom Howard/UPW because I could have watched way more of Hashimoto/Ogawa vs NOAH! This ruled! ***3/4. 
 

[ohtani's jacket]

Love you work, Marty, but you'll never convince me that Murakami and Ogawa are any good.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Thank OJ, means a lot coming from you. Different strikes for different folks. Give me Ogawa and Murakami everyday, twice on Sunday!