Superstar Sleeze

I'd be shocked if they pushed Rey any harder than they did. He is an inverse Andre. He is a novelty because of his size, but not a long term world champion like a Cena. Orton or Batista are definitely most likely. I could see them trying Edge, but he was flopping as a face in 2004. God, I wish Eddie though. He was just so damn entertaining in 2002-2004. By far, my family's favorite wrestler. The only time my parents have been really upset about a wrestler's death. I think Eddie had real crossover potential with Latin roots and the fact that even non-fans just got his act and how fun it was. Size and past demons working against him. Ultimately that past behavior caught up to him.

- The Royal Rumble in '92: I don't know if i will rank the Rumble or not. I do know I like Rumbles quite a bit better than you do and I see that Rumble as the best. If I did do a ranking I would say ****3/4 or ***** and very strong top ten contender worldwide. - Bret vs Piper at WM8: A match I like a good deal but could see it falling in the very good but not exactly great range for me. I could see anything from a #60 ranking to not being ranked at all. - Flair vs Savage at WM8: One of my favorite all time angle type matches and the template for Flair in the WWF for me. Probably ****1/4 last time I watched and strong top 50 material for the year. - Bret vs Davey Boy at Summerslam '92: Been lower on this than most other reviews and think it is bullshit that Bret completely carried Davey Boy. Probably will make my top 100 but may not be in top half. - Bret vs Shawn at Survivor Series '92: I think this match is better knowing who the guys become and the ballsy nature of WWF giving these fresh guys 26 minutes on a main event PPV when those were at a premium. More commendable than a great match. - Bret vs Perfect at KOTR '93: KOTR 93 from any PPV before 1995 is the one Im the most sketchy on. I liked the SummerSlam 91 match a good deal so I have high hopes for this one. - Shawn vs Marty from RAW in the PWI MOTY and ****3/4 WON match: Like but don’t love feels appropriate for this. Probably leaning towards unlikely to make top 100 for that year. - Rock & Rolls vs Bodies at Survivor Series '93: Don’t remember much from this but love the teams so we will see. - Bret vs Diesel at Rumble '95: I didn’t like the KOTR match all that much. Hoping to see how they improved in the 6 months since then. - Bret vs Hakushi at IYH I: Fun match from my memory but not much else. Will be REAL surprised if this makes my top 100 - Shawn vs Jarrett at IYH II: I really love this one and think its one of Shawn’s more shining performances. Gets lost in the shuffle a lot when discussing great WWF matches. - Shawn vs Razor at Summerslam '95: I liked WM 10 more than you so I have high expectations of this one given your ranking. Even though I may not like it quite as much as you, probably a pretty solid contender for top 25. - Bret vs Lafitte at IYH III: Nice seeing Bret showing some viciousness as a face. Fringe Top 100 contender. - Bret vs Diesel at Survivor Series '95: A match I am very familiar with and like a good bit. Probably ***3/4 which puts it in the bottom half of the year. - Bret vs Davey Boy at IYH V: Don’t remember a lot besides the blade job. Will be interested to see if I prefer this or the SUmmerSlam match. I actually didn’t rank the Hart/Austin ambulance match. No idea why or my reasoning. I did think the actual match portion of Savage vs. Jake was good but of course the angle afterwards is great and pushes it upward. I ranked the overall package. I recognize that you are doing the rankings out of the year, but having watched pretty much every major WWF match from the 90s. I am basing my rankings out of where they place in 90s WWF list. WAHOO~! Five stars and match of the year for Savage/Warrior. I love, love that match and am glad I am not only one that would give it 5 stars. It is McMahon at his absolute best in creating a cinema moment. The Savage Wrestlemania story arc is the greatest thing McMahon has probably ever created. This was a great climax before the next year's ultimate feel good moment. I am glad I am not the only who likes Flair/Savage more than Hart/Piper. I need to rewatch Hart/Piper. I have watched Flair/Savage to death. It was a perfect ending to the Randy Savage Wrestlemania arc that starts at II. Bret vs Davey Boy is in my top ten WWF matches of the 90s for sure. Great, great finish. What's funny is I usually cant tell when another wrestler is carrying another wrestler, but this one seems quite clear to me. Hart is clearly telling Smith what to do in every chinlock and Bulldog is blown up pretty bad at points. Bret vs Shawn at SS '92 was a total borefest for me. Bret vs Perfect at KOTR '93 is really, really good and I think much better than the Summerslam match. I would say Top 20 of the decade for WWF. I conflate the Shawn/Marty series, but one of their matches would probably make a Top 50 matches of the 90s. They are fun sprints. RnRs vs. Bodies was tons of fun and my Boston crowd had no fuckin clue what to make of these four doing a rowboat spot in the middle of a match. I would say Top 30 or 40 of the 90s. Really fun. I have not seen that Bret/Diesel match in forever. I will have to check that one out. Bret vs Hakushi is a pretty overrated match. Bret by the numbers which is not bad, but I think it would struggle to make a Top 50 for the 90s. Shawn vs Jarrett is friggin' rules. Jarrett is at his Memphis best during the match and Shawn just owns. Top 15 maybe top ten. Shawn vs Razor II is up there as one of the best matches in WWF history. Everything about it is superb. I would say Top 5 for the decade. Bret vs Lafitte is a really good uptempo Bret match and much better than the Hakushi match. Top 50 match. Wow you are way lower than me on Bret vs Diesel SSeries. One of my all-time favorite subtle heel Bret performances. Bret is the king of the face vs face match and may be his best performance. I say ****1/4 easy and a top 15. Bret vs Davey Boy II rates lower than SSlam. I am pretty sure it has a relatively slow open. Top 25 match.

Andre vs Flair sounds like the best thing ever! Settling for the second best thing Piper vs Andre Andre The Giant vs "Rowdy" Roddy Piper - Philly 9/1/84 With Snuka out of action, Piper went around the horn with Andre for a couple month. Does it get better than the obnoxious piss-ant, Roddy Piper going up against the invincible Giant. I bet a lot people paid good money to see Andre tear into Piper. Piper does a good job protecting himself. He definitely lets himself get thrown around and gives the people what they want without being squashed. Eye-rakes, wrist tape and even going blow by blow with The Giant. Andre was great at ignoring the rules and just throwing everything at Piper whether to was belt shots or wrist tape. I wish this would happen more often now. Piper flees the scene after a big boot over the top rope to lose via countout. Entertaining bout.

This thread has been a great resource in uncovering how big Patera was in the late 70s and early 80s. Something I was totally unaware of before arriving on PWO. I have really liked what I have seen from Patera especially the classic Texas Death Match with Backlund. Ken Patera vs Pat Patterson - MSG 8/25/84 These two has a much more famous match in 1980 with Patera becoming the IC title match, which I do need to see. This match is just to re-establish Patera as a top tier wrestler in the WWF to the MSG crowd as he would go to be Studd' buddy in his feud against Andre. Even though Patterson has been in semi-retirement for a few years at this point, he still has got it. His punches look as crisp as ever and he has plenty of energy. Patera is no slouch in his own right. He is great as the cocky strong man character. He comes off as totally engrossed with himself and that his shit don't stink. Patterson catches him unawares with a cross body. Patera sells frustration and a bit of embarrassment so well. Patera was able to take over on a rope break with some really good forearms. He somehow ends up tangled in the ropes and Patterson tees off. Weirdly, Patterson wrapped Patera's leg around the post, but this is totally ignored. Patera hits a nice backbreaker and even though this is his match so to speak he gives Patterson plenty to shine before hitting a hotshot and applying his vaunted full nelson. I love the hotshot as a desperation heel move especially when a babyface has built up a lot of steam. Very good outing from both men with Patera establishing himself as a top flight heel and Patterson as the lovable vet putting him over.

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff - Philly 7/7/84 Hulk Hogan in 1984 is the living embodiment of energy. He is running wild and unbridled. Orndorff is someone I always liked, but never thought he was a real upper tier worker. He is a good at heat seeking taunts and character work, but his work leaves a lot to be desired. He is no Valentine or Orton, but he gets more heat because of the "Paula" chants. The opening is a well-worked clowning segment with Hogan attacking Orndorff while he was in the robe jawing with the crowd. Orndorff sells the atomic drop like Rude and is generally amusing. What makes him better than a Studd or Steele is that he can bump and stooge better. An eye rake gives him the advantage and throws the "Hulker" (Dick Graham) into railing and hits him with a chair drawing blood. Hogan in 1984 was not afraid to wear the Crimson Mask. I like how there were two attempts at the comebacks before the final one. It is more fun than just one Hulk-Up that we would get later. Orndorff is content to stomp, elbow and eye rake. Hogan's follow up back elbow in the corner is so awesome. I loved that he bit Orndorff and did a front rake throwing it right back in his face. Oh yeah, the back fist and punch combo. Clothesline and Atomic Legdrop finish him. 1984 Hulk Hogan is just so much fun and he did not disappoint in this match. I would say Orndorff was a middling opponent for the Hulkster.

Slacking again... This blog chronicles the Best of Heavyweight Matches in NOAH of 2005. Begins with a discussion of how a wrestler needs to have credibility and cache with an audience like an authority figure (a politician, military general, CEO etc.. ) that just does not come from wins like a sports figure would. This comes up because of Rikio defeated Kobashi and Misawa at the Budokan in 2005 and was the GHC Championship, but he was unquestionably a flop. Of course, the bulk of the post is reviewing five great matches from NOAH. The two most famous of the year from the Dome show are not Match of the Decade contenders, but are entertaining enough. The first Tenryu tag match is really good and the second one getting Taue involved and building off the first tag match is one of the best tag matches of the decade. 1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 02/27/00 2. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 03/01/03 3. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Budokan 04/25/04 4. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - All Japan 05/26/00 5. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01 6. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka - NJ PPV 12/14/00 7. Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Genichiro Tenryu & Jun Akiyama - Budokan 9/18/05 ****3/4 (Return to All Japan 90s tag style. Fantastic build to a exciting climax) 8. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Tokyo Dome 07/10/04 9. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa – Budokan 11/01/03 10. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 12/23/00 17. Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki vs Kensuke Sasaki/Katsuhiko Nakajima - NOAH 11/5/05 (Action packed, young guns shine) ****1/4 21. Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki vs Jun Akiyama & Genichiro Tenryu - Budokan 4/24/2005 (Tenryu's chest is a murder scene, Shiozaki bites off more than he can chew) ****1/4 29. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada - Tokyo Dome 7/18/05 **** 46. Kenta Kobashi vs Kensuke Sasaki - Tokyo Dome 7/18/05 ***3/4 (Kobashi descends into self-parody and the excesses of the NOAH style) http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/07/2005-noah.html

That's a really good point about Rikio as he becomes increasingly useless as a match goes on. Morishima is weird. He has a great lariat. His elbows are generally fine, but fuck those Vader forearms are awful. My biggest problem with Wild II vs Sterness was just how weak everything looked in context of how NOAH was worked and just how everyone was going through the motions.

Watching all this 00s puroresu, it just sucks that Marufuji is bigger than KENTA. I am not saying KENTA is perfect and he definitely has his flaws (long-term selling), but he is 8 bazillion times better than the waste of space, gymnast Marufuji.

Disagree about Rikio and Morishima vehmently. Morishima brought it, man. He was looking to wipe the floor with some muthafuckas and prove that he belonged in the upper echelon. Rikio did absolutely nothing. He killed time early with Marufuji working inconsequential moves. In the middle of the match, he worked another boring stretch where he just threw out some stuff. His cross body was good because it was urgent and heated, but then he was content to go through the motions. Morishima was working like his job depended on this one performance. Yes, he let KENTA throw him around too frequently, but overall he seemed more confident in this match than ever before. I still cant get out of my head at the tail of the end of match the camera panning to Rikio/Marufuji on the floor barely touching to each other while KENTA and Morishima are killing each other and busting ass. Fuck both of them. KENTAFuji vs Wild II (Morishima & Rikio) - Budokan 7/16/06 Mori-Fuckin-Shima, welcome to the party, brutha, why dont you stay awhile? Talk about a breakout performance in my eyes. He looked like a cant miss prospect in this match. Morishima is someone I have not explored fully (I really want to watch the Danielson series after this), but if he is hitting these highs he looks unstoppable. I don't if in the other matches it has been a lack of confidence, he looked like a star in this match. The number one reason I want to watch the Morishima/Danielson matches were for his double hot exchanges with KENTA. KENTA reminds me of 2013 Daniel Bryan so much. He is a wrestling in a body that is not his own and is three sizes bigger than he really is. He is just a friggin' dynamo. The dude can sell his ass off when the time comes for it. Now, my big qualm with him is sometimes he wrestles too big. A superplex to Morishima or a powerslam should be treated like a big deal because of the size disparity, but because KENTA is trying to really show the audience that he is an equal these moves come off as ordinary moves. It is like Misawa or Kobashi is doing them. KENTA should be leveraging his size as an actual advantage by getting people to pop by saying "Holy shit look at that little guy superplex Morishima" by really struggling to accomplish the feat. EDITOR'S NOTE: Marufuji and Rikio fucking sucked. Yes, they took part in this match, but fuck them for ruining it with their laziness and apathy. I am a positive guy so I am going to focus on the good, but if the rating does not reflect my enthuasiam it is because I have to judge the match as a whole and unfortunately Rikio and Marufuji were a part of this match. The majority of the first ten minutes were relatively tame (give you one guess who to blame). However, guess who just rocked it from the get go. KENTA and Morishima, BABY! KENTA is flying all around like D-Bry off a hot tag and Shima murders him with a lariat and then another one. Shima goes for the Back Drop Driver, but Marufuji hits a superkick and a double kick stuns Morishima. There was a boring control segment on Morishima. Morishima catches Marufuji coming off the top with an overhead belly to belly. Rikio is a very pedesterian wrestler. He is just sort of there. His main source of offense is a slap. It is pretty much the only thing KENTA and Marufuji consistently sell from him. Rikio tags out. My notes just say MORISHIMA RULEZ~! Because he does. Morishima sprints in and bascially jumps and sits on KENTA. As a fuck you to Marufuji, he does a back handspring, but then just starts unloading on KENTA with forearms. He hits this ragdoll urnage/exploder thingy that looked awesome. The aforementioned KENTA superplex was in there somewhere, which I thought could have been highlighted more. The climax of this sequence was Morishima diving onto KENTAFuji on the floor. What follows was an excellently worked heat section on KENTA's ribs and midsection. Rikio would stand on KENTA and then Morishima would climb on Rikio for extra weight. Of course, double stomps and ab stretches. KENTA was really taking a pounding and he was milking it for everything it was worth. I have to mention this. Marufuji at one point comes in to save with the weakest looking little kicks to Rikio back. They looked downright dainty. It is too bad Morishima never really got a hold of that little chump. Rikio runs into a corner and KENTA hits a back suplex to tag in Marufuji for the lukewarm tag. Marufuji fucks up a spot and runs through his usual stuff: dropkicks to knees, human capture suplex, superkicks. Morishima hits a massive missile dropkick. Marufuji only postive contribution to the match was that bump. Marufuji escapes the Doomsday Device with a victory (a pretty neat counter). KENTA much too easily hits a powerslam and German on Morishima. Fuck it though at least we finally get a hot tag after Rikio's and Marufuji's and the crowd goes mild tags. KENTA beats the piss out of Morishima with his exploding knee (Bryan's current finish), wicked kicks to head, Sliced Bread/powerbomb combo and the Go 2 Sleep. Punk's and Bryan's finish by the originator cant get it done. Morishima's big run is a back drop driver and a lariat I totally bit on. Once it became Morishima's lariat and KENTA's barrage of cradles, I knew the finish...Draw. This is the tale of two matches: KENTA/Morishima rocking it and Marufuji/Rikio phoning it in. It is such a shame that Marufuji is bigger than KENTA. KENTA does suffer from trying to get all his shit in and not building to big moments. He definitely could sell, but needed to work on long-term selling. The offense and crowd connection was there. Morishima it was all about being able to hit that high level consistently. It is on the job training and thus it is a shame they just did not strap a rocket to these two's ass because the crowd was buying what they were selling. Just leave RIkio and Maurfuji in the dust. It is a tough match to rate. Rikio and Marufuji were not in there much. I tend to reward awesome more than subtract for apathy because I am a postive dude. ****

It is funny we are just a little out of sync. I have loved all the big Taue matches, but the singles matches you have ranked in top ten I have in the teens and this match you save Top 30 and I say Top Ten (currently number #7). Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Genichiro Tenryu & Jun Akiyama - Budokan 9/18/05 A dream tag team match that actually delivers in spades with a match of the decade contender. I have had an aversion to the big dream tag matches earlier in the decade (Hashimoto Z-1 and Kobashi's '02 return), but I thought this match was an action-packed, high-octane match that played off the the earlier Tenryu/Kobashi tag with excellent Taue/Akiyama interactions. It does say a lot that a dream tag featuring all 90s stars in 2005 was NOAH's best match in 2005. Yes, they did try harder to push the new generation into key roles the next year, but matches likes this showcase how unsustainable their current model was. As a fan though, let's rejoice and be glad because Akira Taue is fucking awesome. I loved, loved Tenryu's chickenshit act at the beginning. It is so rare for someone to actually have balls big enough to act like a coward in the FIGHTING SPIRIT~! dominated puroresu culture that it is very refreshing. If you recall, Tenryu's chest looked like a murder scene last match and is doing everything to avoid Kobashi's chops early. Frustrated Kobashi sics Taue on him, who has Tenryu and Akiyama reeling. Taue tags in Kobashi who is now licking his chops (pun fully intended), but Tenryu backpeddles and tags in Akiyama. Akiyama chops Taue off apron in retaliation. Taue DEMANDS to be tagged in to avenge this offense. Taue goes BEZERK on Akiyama whipping him into all sorts of railings. Crowd goes wild. TAUE! TAUE! TAUE! Akiyama hits a jumping knee and tags out to Tenryu. Kobashi/Taue conference and Kobashi tells Taue to stick with it. Taue controls Tenryu with an overhand chop and here comes Kobashi. CHOP WAR~! Chop wars are so much better with Tenryu because of his reactions. Sasaski is trying to be all tough and macho. Tenryu looks like this fucking hurts. Tenryu dropkicks Kobashi in the knee to end that. Akiyama knocks Taue off the apron again and dragon leg screw on Kobashi. Taue comes in and they do a runaround the ref. Taue cant get his hands on Akiyama, but Kobashi is able to tag out. Taue wins a suplex struggle over Akiyama and Kobashi hit a sleeper suplex that is actually consequential because it leads to the heat segment on Akiyama. Taue collects the Akiyama carcass to the outside and Kobashi whips him into repeated big boots. Akiyama selling of his neck is so good. I would say Akiyama rates behind only Kawada in terms of how well he sells out of the five. Everything is so chippy in this match as Kobashi is still jawing with Tenryu. Taue drops Akiyama throat-first on top rope. In one of my favorite spots of the match, Tenryu kicks Taue in the face when he has a chinlock on. Taue comes over makes him eat a big boot. Tenryu's face is like "What the fuck was that for" as he checks to make sure he still has a jaw. The transition to the home stretch is Nature Boy Kenta Kobashi vs. Total Package Jun Akiyama with Akiyama strengthening from every chop. In fact, he accidentally draws blood from Kobashi when he headbutt him on what should have been a nose-to-nose. Thats the intensity level right now baby! I am loving just how heated it is between these four. Tenryu is now licking his chops. Tenryu chop/punches in corner. He beats Kobashi down with double overhand fists. Kobashi comes back with spinning back chops and chops of his own. Kobashi instead of overstaying his welcome having turned the tide tags the fresh Taue in. That's what separates this from a lot of the big 00s tag is smart wrestling. Goes for Nodowa nothing doing. Tenryu scores a massive lariat. Tag to Akiyama and melee ensues. A rare Japanese miscommunication spot as Taue big boots Kobashi. Now Taue is double teamed. Exploder for two and here comes the guillotine choke. Kobashi saves and takes on both Tenryu and Akiyama at the same time. He eats an Exploder. Exploder on Taue! Taue pops up and Nodowa! TAUE! TAUE! TAUE! Taue looks to end it with the big splash. Akiyama meets him and looks for the Super Exploder. No! No! No! IT IS THE SUPER NODOWA~! HOLY SHIT! You can count to a million, Jess! 1-2-3! Match of the year! Everybody played their role so perfectly. Tenryu was the crotchey old man that picked his spots wisely. Akiyama was the firecracker and heavy hitter for his team, but doubled as a great seller for Kobashi and Taue's offense. Kobashi played this match perfectly. He was the big gun he turned the tide against Akiyama, but he never tried to play hero until the end. If he needed to tag out whether it was having his knee worked on or Tenryu's chops, he did. When Taue has been taken out by Akiyama, he sacrificed himself by trying to take on both and ended up eating an exploder for himself, but gave Taue that valuable recuperative time. Taue, Taue, Taue! What can be said about such a masterful performance other than just go watch it. He was being built for a GHC Heavyweight Title run and he looked like a million bucks here. The home stretch is one of the best built hom stretches in a while with a fantastic climax. Top ten match of the decade! ****3/4

I loved, loved Kobashi/Ogawa. I am surprised it didn't make the cut for you. Other than that I agree with your assessment. You seem a little higher on KENTAFuji than I am, but they do bust a barnburner next year against Misawa/Ogawa. 2003 was the best year since the year 2000 even if it was just one promotion doing all the heavy lifting. 1. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 03/01/03 2. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa – Budokan 11/01/03 3. Toshiaki Kawada vs Naoya Ogawa - Zero-One 12/14/03 4. KENTAFuji vs Jushin Liger & Takehiro Murahama - GHC Jr Heavyweight Tag Title Final 07/16/03 5. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Tamon Honda - NOAH 04/13/03 6. Akira Taue vs Yuji Nagata - NOAH 6/6/03 7. GHC Tag Team Champions Sterness (Akiyama & Saito) vs Burning (Kobashi & Honda) - Budokan 6/6/03 8. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yuji Nagata - Budokan 9/12/03 9. AJ Styles vs Low-Ki - Z1 1/05/03 10. Jun Akiyama vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - G-1 Climax Finals 08/17/03

Akira Taue vs Naomichi Marufuji - Budokan 3/6/04 Taue's specialty is reigning wrestlers in and there is no wrestler on the NOAH roster that needs to be reigned in more than Marufuji. Taue rises to the occasion and pulls out a pretty good match from Marufuji. It is a straightforward story if the veteran giant against the undersized, plucky young hotshot. Taue dominates early with his size throwing around Marufuji. Taue mocks Marufuji by doing his own moves and then teasing the big dive to the outside. The crowd and I were ready to pop big for the dive, but it was for naught. While Taue was on the apron, Marufuji wisely went after the giant's legs and getting into the ring to apply a figure-4. After tangling up in the ropes, Taue wins a suplex struggle and hits a hot shot. He is selling the knee, but fighting through the pain. On the outside, Nodowa into post and Taue's heat segment is pretty tame. The match picks up once Marufuji hits a Nodowa when he is on the turnbuckles calling back to how Taue was hitting his moves. Taue tries for a Nodowa, but Marufuji flips out and hit a basement dropkick and running kick to head. Marufuji hits a Human Capture Suplex and then a superkick/sliced bread combo. I hate Sliced Bread No. 2. TAUE COUNTERS SLICED BREAD WITH NODOWA!!!! If that was the finish, FIFTY BAZILLION STARS! Taue counters a schoolboy roll-up with a triangle choke. If that was the finish, FIFTY BAZILLION STARS! Taue Nodowa and Dynamic Bomb only get two! Oh Shit! Marufuji counters Backdrop Nodowa and Taue goes to town with chops on Marufuji. I love Taue! Marufuji blocks the back drop Nodowa with holding his hand and converting into a cross-armbreaker, which Taue breaks with overhand chops. They told a stupid Spanish Fly tease and Marufuji wins with a superkick and intricate cradle. The finish run was wicked hot, but I thought the body of the match was pretty tepid. Everything made sense, but Marufuji just is not that fiery compared to Kobashi or Akiyama so there is a lack of struggle. The finish was lots of fun with some really cool moments like Nodowa counter to Sliced Bread and Marufuji countering the Nodowa, but not enough to make this a classic match. On a night where the theme was old guard versus new guard, it seemed like the new guard just was not there yet. They split the matches 2-2 with the big guns, Misawa and Kobashi going 2-0. Probably the most telling statement was that Akiyama defended against an outsider (Minoru Suzuki) rather than Rikio, Maurufuji, Morishima, KENTAor Shiozaki. The new guard still needed more time to develop unfortunately for everyone involved there was not much time left. ***3/4

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takeshi Morishima - Budokan 3/5/06 At a Budokan show that featured four old guard vs new guard matches, Takeshi Morishima looked to shine against the resilient Mistuharu Misawa. Early on, Morishima looked like an unstoppable force in the ring. His lariat was crisp and I wished that would his strike of choice. His elbows are fine, but Vader-esque forearms tends to leave a lot to be desired. Still he was showing great energy and mobility for a man his size. I have always loved Morishima's look and the Japanese commentators compare him to Terry Gordy. The match told the classic Misawa story of rope-a-dope with Misawa letting his opponent punch himself out and time his comebacks. Misawa hits a diving elbow, but takes more out of Misawa and Morishima hits a shoulder block from the top rope to the floor. While some of these spots looked impressive, Morishima felt like a plug-in-play wrestler in the Misawa formula and was not bringing that extra spark to separate himself from the pack of young guns. Morishima is bleeding from the nose for no apparent reason and hits a powerbomb. He looks for another on the ramp, but silly Morishima you can't powerbomb Misawa twice and Misawa-rana follows. Misawa goes offense with his usual aerial spots. He hits the Tiger Driver and then goes for the Tiger Driver off the apron, but Morishima throws him off the apron. Morishima is confident when hitting the lariat. Sometimes he look lethargic and indecisive in the ring. In the big spot of the match, Misawa hits a Tiger Driver off the apron onto the floor. So much JIGGLE~! on the slow-motion replay. The count is on, but Misawa rolls him in. Morishima hits him with a wild forearm. Morishima runs through his big offensive run: back drop driver, exploder, lariat and back drop driver. The final kick out gets a big pop and we all know it is over for Morishima. Misawa roocks him huge with a massive elbow in corner. Misawa relentless with elbows throwing the ref off. Morishima makes a final stand, but succumbs to the Elbow Onslaught. Misawa by the number is a great formula and produces enjoyable matches. Morishima went on offense early and Misawa peppered in his hope spots. Then Morishima got one big run before the eventual Misawa elbow barrage. It is up to the opponent to make them something special and memorable out of this well-designed formula. Morishima gave an uneven performance. There were some great spots, but there was something lacking in charisma and selling. Outside of the lariat, he did not seem to having anything he could fall back on. Morishima has the look and good fundamentals to build on. He just needed more time to mature. Unfortunately, 2006 was pretty much now or never for the NOAH young guard and no one was ready. Misawa pitched him a softball and Morishima hit a double. Aint nuthin wrong with a double except when you needed that home run. ***3/4

GHC Heavyweight Champion Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 01/22/06 Wow, Akiyama looking like it is 2000 with his urgency and focus. Akiyama has looked great in certain instances since 2002, but here he was wrestling at the level that made him the preeminent puroresu star at the turn of the century. Everything was focused on Taue's head and neck. He was throwing knees like Misawa would throw elbow. Everything had a purpose and a sense of urgency behind. Taue is the King of Efficiency. There are no overwrought sequences. He is a straight-ahead wrestler. His goal was to Nodowa Akiayama to hell and retain his title. It did not feel like macho pissing contest, but two men struggling to win a championship. The bout starts off pretty even with Taue having a slight advantage. Akiyama looks to strike early ascending the ropes, but Taue big boots him to the outside. Taue consolidates with a great dive to the outside. Taue chucks him back first into the railing and then drops him neck first on railing. Taue looks to get the Nodowa setting up with hotshots, legdrops and big boots, but Akiyama is able back body drop him out. In the spot of the match, Akiyama absolutely wipes Taue out with a running knee from the apron from behind. Akiyama does the same move again, but this time with Taue on the railing. Akiyama is relentless with knees to the head and does his trademark top rope diving elbow to the back of the head. Taue makes a mini comeback with a back drop driver that sets up the Nodowa/Big Splash comb. In a sequence I loved, Akiyama dropkicked Taue's knee to be able to knee him in the head, but the knees only get two. He looks for the Exploder, but Taue knows to avoid it. Akiyama DDTs him on the ramp. Akiyama looks to seal the deal with a running knee, but eats a big boot. NODOWA OFF THE RAMP~! They tease the countout finish, but Taue rolls him back in to only get two. Taue hits Nodowa and holds onto throat to hit a Dynamic Bomb that looked dangerous, but only gets two. Backdrop Nodowa and cocky Taue covers with hand just on throat. Taue wants the Nodowa off the rope, but Akiiyama fights off. Akiyama jumping knee off the ropes. The Exploder gets two. They are really both showing much they want to win this with constant barrage of nearfalls. Akiyama goes for his guillotine choke, but still cant negotiate the pin. Another exploder still cant get the job done. "TAUE! TAUE! TAUE! TAUE! TAUE!" Now it's Akiyama going for the Top Rope Finish and it is SUPER NODOWA~! Taue can only get a arm on Akiyama and it is a kick out. Taue has an enziguiri left in him, but Akiyama unleashes knee after knee and eventually Taue succumbs to the onslaught. An absolutely terrific match with both wrestlers working hard to win the match, which should not be a novel concept. Akiyama's commitment to the knee and the attack on Taue's head and neck was tremendous to watch. Taue has enough tricks in his bag to work effective control segments and then surprise during the big finish run. Clocking in at around 20 minutes, the match felt fresh and energetic throughout with Akiyama in top form. ****1/4

Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs Dick Togo & Ikuto Hidaka - Z-1 12/26/03 NWA Lightweight Tag Team Champions Am I the only one who is immediately annoyed by a wrestler wearing capris? It just screams I am a bland spot monkey. Based on this one match, Hidaka was just the typical 00s wrestler adding spins & flips to moves that just do not need spins & flips and overwrought finish sequences. Overall, he was not a critical wrestler in the match. In fact, I thought the match lived and died on the shoulders or in this case the knee of Hoshikawa. I had never heard of Hoshikawa, but he gave one helluva selling performance. His offense left a whole lot to be desired especially his weak jumping kicks. Takaiwa had some good spots, but I thought he took away from the flow of the match. Rather than coming in as the heavy hitter saving Hoshikawa, he was more interested in trading spots with his opponents. Within the first minute, Hoshikawa injured his knee on a dive to the outside. Togo and Hidaka went to town on the knee and started off looking like one of the best Junior matches of the decade. I liked Hoshikawa rallying near the opponent corner only to have Togo sweep the leg from outside. He wraps it around the post and the a chair around it. Hidaka applies a figure-four and Togo comes in & jams a chair into his knee. Takaiwa saves and CREAMS Togo busting him open with the chair that comes flying out and almost hits Hoshikawa. Takaiwa works the cut well, but eventuall Takaiwa and Togo trade teases of finishers before Takaiwa hits a powerbomb only for Togo to hit a top rope Pedigree and then a Pedigree and a pretty, pretty Senton Bomb. Takaiwa now big chops and a Top Rope Death Valley Driver. It has really devolved into spot-trading at this point. Takaiwa sets Togo up for some sort of Doomsday Device, but Hoshikawa whiffs on kick and Togo ranas out. Takaiwa finally wrangles Hidaka and powerbombs to tag out to Hoshikawa. Hoshikawa is not very good at offense, but the most interesting facet of the match is his knee. Hidaka and Hoshikawa work a really good sequence around his knee with Hidaka targetting it and Hoshikawa not being able to hold him on a first bridging German and on the scond bridged on one leg. Same Doomsday Device set up this time we see it leads to a Takaiwa double powerbomb into a Death Valley Driver. Now that was a wicked spot! I like that as a finish and the only reason not to use that as a finish would be if they were not winning. Of course, they follow it up with weakest, lamest jumping kick by Hoshikawa and Togo saves. Togo detains Hoshikawa and Hidaka gets powerbomb and Togo hits a beautiful Senton. Hoshikawa and Hidaka go back and forth, before Hidaka grabs a heel hook. Senton flying in by Togo. Togo dives onto Takaiwa on the floor and Hoshikawa taps out. Togo and Hidaka are the inaugral NWA Lightweight Tag Team Champions. When Hoshikawa was in the ring, it was an interesting match with Hoshikawa trying to overcome the early injury and Togo/Hidaka targetting it. Takaiwa would come in and just hit MOVEZ~! Yes, his double powerbomb/DVD was impressive, but would like to see more transition work. Togo has a really great Senton, but still not an outstanding performance. It is a good, heated junior tag, but a little uneven. ***1/2

This has to be the best U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! ALL THE WAY! type match. Just perfect for Independence Day. Slaughter is amazing selling the fatigue of this WAR~! He really puts over the match and Hogan with his selling and bumping. I forgot about the FIREBALL~! I don't know how I did, but I marked out all over again. Again great, great finish. I wish Hogan's feuds with Savage and others had more of this mid-80s street fight feels for blowoffs. AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!

Kenta Kobashi vs Kensuke Sasaki -Tokyo Dome 7/18/05 This is the double main event of a heavily stacked card, but the card is also a harbinger of things to come. GHC Champion Takeshi Rikio is ostensibly in the third most important match (fourth from the top), but against rising New Japan star, Hiroshi Tanahashi. The double main event of Misawa/Kawada and Kobashi/Sasaki features two outsiders and all four men are from the 90s. Yes, they were still able to draw 52k to the Dome, but from a quick glance at the card you can see how unhealthy the promotion is. Indeed, all five major heavyweight matches from NOAH in 2005 feature outsiders (Sasaki, Tenryu, or Kawada). The NOAH vs NOAH matches were stale, but instead of building from within they were bringing from the outside, which is not a sustainable solution to their woes of staleness. There are a couple handful of matches from this decade that have a lot of notoriety surrounding them as must see bouts. I would say up until this match all those matches held up. Whether it was Mutoh/Tenryu, Misawa/Kobashi, Kobashi/Takayama, these matches are hyped and you should believe the hype. By WON voting, this placed third overall in 2005 and number one in puroresu. In Ditch's DVDVR poll for the best puroresu match in 2005 it ranked second. It is (in)famous for the five minute EPIC CHOP WAR~! that takes fighting spirit to new lengths. However, for the first time in this project, I felt let down by a hyped match that felt very much like an exhibition of fighting spirit rather than a sporting contest. I want to watch this match and the Sasaki/Kawada Dome match back-to-back to solidify my opinions, but based on recollection the Sasaki/Kawada match blows this out of the water. That match is very much rooted in the same impetus as this match. It is about macho pride. If Kawada was the most suited All Japan wrestler to work New Japan then Sasaki was the most suited New Japan wrestler to work NOAH. Sasaki and Kawada have a hard-fought struggled to prove who is the best by challenging each other at every turn. Whereas, Kobashi/Sasaki came off as the biggest dick waving contest ever held in a wrestling ring. They were demonstrating their moves and proving how tough they were to each other rather than trying to claw for a victory. It is a very good exhibition of the NOAH fighting spirit style and has its entertaining parts, but as a wrestling match it is sorely bereft of the urgency and struggle necessary to making a match a true classic. I enjoyed the early bomb throwing leading to trash talking before the epic test of strength. There needs to be more trash talking in Japanese wrestling even if I dont understand it. Nothing of any real consequence happens before the chop war they just throw out some moves. Sasaki hits an awful lot of high-risk moves like a top rope Frankensteiner and a cross body from the top to the floor (which I really liked against Takayama), but it all looks well planned rather than heated. CHOP WAR~! I will say this they are committed to it and they go all out. The plums of sweat that comes off each man's chest and the color of chests are impressive. How could Kobashi's chest never turns that virulent shade of purple that his opponents do? They look to be hitting as hard as him. Kobashi wins the battle, but it is a Pyrrhic victory as he collapses. Sasaki is very good at selling the damage of the CHOP WAR~! in how moves throughout the rest of match, but he may not even be selling. My one favorite signature Kobashi spot from the mid-00s is the teased countout finish and this one comes courtesy of a sweet Northern Lights Bomb off the apron to the floor. Kobashi falling off the apron at 16 was a real nice touch. I don't like the Sasaki armdrag/armbar spot at all. They knock each other out with lariats signaling the reset for the big finish, which is Kobashi running through his shit and winning with a Burning Lariat. Taken as an exhibition of fighting spirit and macho pride, this is fun, but really outside of the countout finish tease there is not much in the way of drama, struggle or urgency. It is a must-watch because of how well it exemplifies the style of the time, but it is nothing I consider great. ***3/4