Makoto Hashi vs. Takeshi Morishima. The fans were into this since it was the 1st match in the history of the company. Hashi seemed more fiery and charasmatic than before. These guys don't have many moves, but their stuff looked fine and their energy and desire kept it interteresting. *1/2
Haruka Eigen & Jun Izumida & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota & Takeshi Rikio
Kentaro Shiga & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Masao Inoue & Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Good actiion. Everyone hit their spots. Marufuji stood out the most since all things were about equal between him, Shiga, & Kanemaru, but he has the flashiest spots of the three. **3/4
Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama & Satoru Asako vs. Yoshinari Ogawa & Masahito Kakihara & Daisuke Ikeda. This match went on forever without any real focus. It was exciting and heated when Kakihara was in. Ikeda did a good job as well, and the match was way better when Asako was in for his team. Takayama was put over more than when he was in All Japan, and seemed to be the star of the match due to the size difference being emphasized, but still he was only passable in the ring. Good impact on the strikes, but as a whole the match seemed to be the same thing over and over without any story or change in the dynamics. **1/2
2/3 Falls: Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Akira Taue. It was obvious that Kobashi came back too soon, as always, since he could hardly move. He was still one of the standouts of the match though because he's so stiff and precise with his strikes. This match was all about Akiyama though. He got a shockingly quick win over Misawa when he did a DDT, but held onto Misawa for a front neck lock. Prior to this, a half nelson German suplex was about the only move that Misawa had taken. Misawa was "unconscious" for a minute or two between falls, but as soon as the second fall started he beat on both opponents with his elbows and took control. Akiyama took the brunt of the punishment for his team in the 2nd fall, partly because he was getting put over enough and partly because it wasn't a good idea for Kobashi to log too much ring time. Everyone expected Misawa's team to win the 2nd fall, plus there wasn't any big climax to it, so Akiyama pinning Taue to make it two straight was something of a let down even though it helped him a lot. After the match, Kobashi asked for a handshake so Akiyama obliged then raised Kobashi's hand, only to launch a surprise attack with a backdrop. This got something of a mixed reaction, but more people seemed happy. ***1/2
Satoru Asako vs. Kenta Kobayashi. Kobayashi is a good athlete, but undersized (about the same as Marufuji). He wasn't competitive, of course. It was fine for what it was since Asako is good and it had some action. 4:03 shown
Haruka Eigen & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota & Makoto Hashi. 5:22 shown
Takeshi Rikio & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Masao Inoue & Takeshi Morishima. Rikio's strikes aren't that good. Marufuji was the only one that showed anything. Not very good at all. 8:35 shown
Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Akira Taue & Jun Izumida. Dull, plodding match. It got more interesting after the 13 minute mark, but by that time it was almost over. These guys don't have many moves and are too big and clumsy to be able to do basic holds or sequences with each other well. *1/2
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Kentaro Shiga & Daisuke Ikeda. Ikeda was the only one that was really into it. Of course, Misawa is still good enough to be a standout of the match without seeming particularly interested in it. This match eventually got quite good, but it took so long for that to happen that you'd practically written it off as mediocre. ***
Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama. Akiyama took the match to Kobashi since Kobashi couldn't move much. It was a very good match in spite of Kobashi's health because they know what they are doing. They were really stiff, worked for the spots, and eventually used all the expected high impact moves. It didn't have much of a story except for Akiyama attacking the knee, and it took 14 minutes for that to get started. This match was more submissiion oriented than any of their AJ matches. That wasn't a good thing because it was hard to buy most of the moves they used as finishers. The fans were into all the near falls and submissions so I can't really say it didn't work as a whole, just that I had no reason to believe in them. The only submission I believed in was Akiyama's front neck lock, which turned out to be the finish. This was a good move because beating Misawa & Kobashi with it in back to back days really goes a long way toward establishing the move. The problem is that what little focus there was centered around Kobashi's knee, so I should have been able to believe in knee submissions, it's just that in spite of all these knee attacks Akiyama has launched on Misawa & Kobashi, he's never beaten them or anyone else with a knee submission. There was a skirmish after the match where Kanemaru took out some of the seconds that were standing up for Kobashi then walked off with Akiyama. ***3/4
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Akira Taue & Jun Izumida, Jun Akiyama & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Kenta Kobashi & Takeshi Rikio, Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Kentaro Shiga, Satoru Asako vs. Takeshi Morishima, etc.
Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Takao Omori & Satoru Asako, Akira Taue vs. Daisuke Ikeda, etc.
Daisuke Ikeda vs. Naomichi Marufuji
Haruka Eigen & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Masao Inoue vs. Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota & Makoto Hashi
Kentaro Shiga vs. Kenta Kobayashi
Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Haruka Eigen & Takeshi Morishima & Makoto Hashi
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Akira Taue & Masao Inoue
Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Takeshi Rikio vs. Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiro Takayama & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Daisuke Ikeda vs. Satoru Asako
Takao Omori vs. Jun Izumida
Vader vs. Takeshi Morishima. Vader's NOAH debut.
Naomichi Marufuji & Kenta Kobayashi vs. Scorpio & Richard Slinger
Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota & Makoto Hashi vs. Haruka Eigen & Tamon Honda & Satoru Asako
Kenta Kobashi & Takeshi Rikio vs. Jun Akiyama & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Takao Omori vs. Kentaro Shiga
Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Daisuke Ikeda vs. Akira Taue & Jun Izumida & Masao Inoue
Satoru Asako vs. Makoto Hashi 11:25. Hashi is a tweener who has been slotted in the junior division, perhaps because it's thin perhaps because he's young. He doesn't exactly fit the mold of a junior and 's a bit deliberate, but Asako is a solid veteran who can carry him. Watchable but certainly not memorable. **
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Kenta Kobayashi vs. Masao Inoue & Yoshinobu Kanemaru 15:16. Kobayashi is spectacular - on pure athleticism at this early stage in his career - when spotted. Kikuchi is by far the smartest wrestler in the match, but physically lacking the energy and punishment absorbing ability of his prime it's tough for him to carry a match beyond a mid level of quality. If pure necessity hadn't been the cause of him learning to wrestle intelligently, he might have been one of the all time greats rather than a guy that killed himself for a couple tremendous years. Kanemaru is the best all around wrestler of the four at this point, but it's often enfuriating to watch him because he'll just sit back and let the bore Inoue carry the match. To make things more frustrating, when he does tag in he's liable to kill time rather than sparking the action. **1/2
Kenta Kobashi & Takao Omori vs. Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiro Takayama 23:29. Kobashi had surprisingly pinned Akiyama in tag a few weeks earlier, so Akiyama was out for justice. He flattened Kobashi with a backdrop off the opening lock up, setting the vengeful tone. No Fear battled each other like bitter rivals. They are proof the Japanese fans will react as long as your enthusiasm is readily apparent. Everyone wrestled as if it were a grudge match, but by failing to tell a story the heat slowly waned until they started using their signature moves. Unfortunately, the match was marred by a stupid "entertainment" finish where a completely unprovoked Omori turned on Kobashi, laying him out with his lariat, to propel his regular partner Takayama to an upset German suplex victory. No Fear continued crushing the orange after the match with Akiyama fending off the ring boys until Akira Taue made the save, setting up his singles match with Takayama on 12/23. ***1/2
Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota & Takeshi Morishima vs. Haruka Eigen & Tamon Honda & Jun Izumida
Kentaro Shiga vs. Daisuke Ikeda
Akira Taue vs. Takeshi Rikio
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Vader & Scorpio & Richard Slinger
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Takeshi Morishima
Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota & Daisuke Ikeda vs. Haruka Eigen & Tamon Honda & Jun Izumida
Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs. Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama
Masao Inoue & Satoru Asako vs. Naomichi Marufuji & Kenta Kobayashi
Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Scorpio & Masashi Aoyagi
Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Richard Slinger
Vader vs. Takeshi Riko
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Makoto Hashi
Takeshi Rikio Single Go-ban Shobu: Kenta Kobashi vs. Takeshi Rikio
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Daisuke Ikeda vs. Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama
Mitsuo Momota Debut 30th Anniversary Memorial Match: Mitsuo Momota vs. Kenta Kobayashi
Jun Akiyama vs. Makoto Hashi
Rusher Kimura & Kentaro Shiga & Takeshi Morishima vs. Haruka Eigen & Jun Izumida & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Daisuke Ikeda & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Masashi Aoyagi & Akitoshi Saito
Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Takeshi Rikio
Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Akira Taue & Masao Inoue
Vader & Scorpio & Richard Slinger vs. Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama & Satoru Asako
Satoru Asako vs. Scorpio
Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota & Takeshi Morishima vs. Haruka Eigen & Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue
Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Akira Taue & Jun Izumida vs. Vader & Richard Slinger
Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue vs. Richard Slinger & Makoto Hashi
Yoshinari Ogawa & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama
Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Takeshi Rikio & Kenta Kobayashi vs. Jun Akiyama & Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takeshi Morishima
Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota vs. Haruka Eigen & Jun Izumida
Akira Taue vs. Satoru Asako
Mitsuharu Misawa & Daisuke Ikeda vs. Vader & Scorpio
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Akitoshi Saito
Akira Taue & Jun Izumida vs. Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama
Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Kenta Kobayashi vs. Jun Akiyama & Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Vader & Scorpio
Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takeshi Morishima vs. Masao Inoue & Takeshi Rikio & Takashi Suguira. Rikio & Morishima took it to each other hard right off the bat, exciting the fans with their intensity. Unfortunately, the energy level decreased after this surprisingly interesting opening, largely due to dull as can be Inoue. For the most part though, the others had better move sets than Rikio & Morishima, which while not maintaining the urgency at least kept it from becoming a bore. Sugiura popped the crowd with a Greco-Roman throw into an arm breaker, but otherwise didn't show too much. He was the one wrestler that didn't have to though, as the fans react everytime he gets a waistlock: his teases and counters all work. Other than Inoue, everyone made some contributions, kept pace up pretty well, and executed fine. Kanemaru used the guardrail for a springboard stomp to the back. 14:16 ***
WEW Tag Senshukenjiai: Tamon Honda & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kodo Fuyuki & Tetsuhiro Kuroda. The FMW team took this as a big match since it was for their belts even though it was in the lower middle of the card. Kuroda didn't mind helping Marufuji look good even though he's a junior. Kuroda was very active today, able to keep up with Marufuji although obviously not on his level as a worker. Marufuji did enough good moves to go around. I liked when he turned a windsprint lariat on the ramp into a Frankensteiner. Fuyuki worked surprisingly hard, but does everything in such an exaggerated fashion he drains the drama. He's the equivalent of an actor giving their theater performance on film. There was a lame headbutt battle between Honda and Fuyuki, but annoying portions like that can be ignored when everyone is working hard to make it look like a big match. Although they were very energetic and kept the pace up, they didn't forget to struggle for the big moves to make them important. Fuyuki & Kuroda won the titles. 13:10 **3/4
Yoshinari Ogawa & Daisuke Ikeda vs. Masashi Aoyagi & Akitoshi Saito. Ikeda is the right opponent for Aoyagi & Saito, but still it wasn't particularly interesting because their striking isn't particularly credible or exciting. Still, even if Saito wasn't in top form, his stuff with Saito was some of the best in recent times. Unfortuantely, Aoyagi is ancient and still does that dated martial arts style with those weak unbelievable movie kicks that hasn't been cool since the days of Lee Gak Soo. Ogawa, who doesn't do any striking worth noting, was out of place here, but stayed out of the way to the point he took the match off. The match convinced me that Ikeda and Saito could have a nice brutal match, but was too short to develop anything with two people much less four. *3/4
Akira Taue vs. Yoshihiro Takayama. Taue did a good job of structuring this match so it was always interesting without them having to blow all their moves early. Aalthough the pace was quick for these guys, it just ended before it took off and they used their better moves. It didn't have the execution problems I envisioned and there were some good things about it, but it was very unfulfilling with all the teases that were left as that. Usually battles of the big men don't come off because both require someone to bump for them. Takayama is no great bumper, but that's not the problem with him since he's always willing to take a beating. The problem here is he sold for a little while then just beat Taue out of the blue. **
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Takao Omori. So short. They exchanged blows early, with Hashimoto taking over before long since he's a much better striker. Omori had one run with a few ax bombers and a Dragon suplex, which the crowd went nuts for, but Hashimoto then beat him within 30 seconds. Stiff and intense as you'd expect from Hashimoto with great heat, but there was nothing to the match. *3/4
Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader. Misawa gave a strong performance, the best on the show. He made Vader look monstrous, taking some wicked bumps, particularly on a released German suplex early in the match. Misawa's attack on Vader's surgically repaired arm wasn't tremendous though, and Vader didn't exactly amaze me. With Vader lacking in stamina, they only wrestled a little over 14 minutes, not building the match too well. The quick ending seemed to defeat the purpose of much that was done earlier. ***1/2
Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama. At its best, this match was explosive with highly impressive stiffness and brutally executed high spots. Unfortunately, the match was twice as long as it needed to be given what they were putting into it. The selling was totally uninspired, coming off as nothing more than a series of prolonged dead spots. There was no heart to the match. The moves they used and the way they did them pumped you up, but in between it was dull and lifeless. I guess it's the epitomy of what the AJ style has become, technical precisise killer spots over knowing when and how to use them. In spite of Kobashi being on his last leg, the talent and effort was still there in abundance from both wrestlers. There was no reason this couldn't have been a great match other than the style they chose to wrestle that really went halfway. They did the spots that these guys at their current best emphasize, but it's like they tried to do the older style AJ match except forgot how. The Misawa vs. Kobashi matches from 10/97 & 10/98 were amazing because not only did they do so many awesome moves, but they had a clear vision of what the match was going to be. They were hardly my favorite style - what I think of when I say a great AJ match - but they focused on what they were going to deliver and, although there's liabilities to that style, did it about as well as it could be done. Here it was almost like they were faking it in between the big spots, trying to pass off the match as something it wasn't rather than either doing that properly or sticking to all they do well. There's a lot to like about the match, which picked up in the middle with Akiyama beating the hell out of Kobashi's lariat arm, and wound up with Kobashi's left eye almost completely closed from this nasty mouse he got under his cheek. ***3/4
Tamon Honda vs. Makoto Hashi
Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota & Daisuke Ikeda vs. Haruka Eigen & Mighty Inoue & Satoru Asako
Takeshi Rikio vs. Takeshi Morishima