[2002-03-14-NOAH] Jun Akiyama & Makoto Hashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa & Naomichi Marufuji

[Jetlag]

 

Man I love NOAH. Even a minor lead-in tag like this will have a unique, unpredictable structure, everyone playing their role and guys unloading on eachother with stiff shots. Great opening which gets the crowd by the balls immediately. Marufuji putting Hashi in the tree of woe so he and Ogawa can double team Akiyama is something we all did in WWF No Mercy. I like Akiyama a lot but I thought he was outshone by Hashi here, who was just way stiffer, more intense, etc. I thought Akiyama could've done a better job giving Ogawa & Marufuji receipts for their rat boy tactics. Ogawa looked great as usual outsmarting his opponents. Marufuji didn't do anything stupid, even showing some viciousness dropkicking Hashis skull repeatedly. Loved the finish.

[Calvin]

You can see them laying the groundwork for the infamous 4/7 Akiyama vs. Ogawa match. I don't personally have any strong feelings about Akiyama dropping the championship to Ogawa in four minutes, but I appreciate that they planted the seed and watered it a little instead of booking a total surprise for surprise's sake. 

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