[2018-09-01-NOAH-Flight] Hideo Itami vs Naomichi Marufuji

[nivvad]

Sorry, but when he's in that Emerald Green ring, I will refer to him as KENTA. Getting the negatives out of the way first, this was structured like every KENTA vs Marufuji match post-2006 was structured, which was to put on the most "epic" match possible. They didn't accomplish that, but I can't deny how great this match was. The chemistry was still there, and they beat the hell out of each other like it was still the mid-2000s. Also in a way I feel like KENTA was holding back quite a bit. He wasn't as stiff as I remember him being. It was a nice little one off though, and I'm curious where this match takes NOAH next, ****1/2.

[Richeyedwards]

This certainly felt like a KENTA vs Marufuji match in the sense that I thought that either one of them could be seriously injured at any moment. This was a very good match that celebrated the career of Marufuji and these two mens history with one another.

The teases and strikes at the beginning worked well before they moved on to unpacking their vast arsenals of moves with call backs aplenty. This was my favorite portion of the match with the reference to the top rope to floor double stomp and the infamous asai moonsault into the crowd that was proper heart in mouth stuff. There was also a great avoided corner dropkick that looked outstanding. It following a different 30 minute match was a detriment to it as was it having marufuji working with an injured shoulder that he seemed to hurt more as the match went on. But in terms of being a moment and having these two men in the ring together again as opponents (even though they were best as partners) was a great celebration of a 20 year career. This match was not close in terms of how good it was to the two matches they had in 2006 which are a jr title classic and one of the greatest spotfests ever towards the end of the year. It was way better than the bloated 60min draw and a bit better than the 2013 world title match. ***3/4 well worth watching especially if you have watched these mens careers as it is full of little callbacks.

[Tenese Sarwieh]

Hideo Itami showed up only in name and name alone, but KENTA came to fight one of his greatest foes and I loved it. Maybe I'm over praising this because of his overall run in WWE and I think Marufuji is an underrated elite performer but this was just great. It was just their standard structure with callbacks to the other battles they've had. I can even overlook the botch on the ramp because everything else took me back to the glory days if NOAH. Great cap off this rivalry.