-3hr. Q=Master
Mitsuharu Misawa & Masahiro Chono vs. Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue. One of those dream matches that was no longer a dream by the time it finally took place. That said, everyone worked hard and made it a more than acceptable Budokan main. Misawa is the only only who can still do a good imitation of their peak form, but everyone was smart in knowing their limitations and minimizing their weaknesses. Early portion was almost all striking with Chono carrying a lot more of the load than expected. Kobashi is heavier than ever with huge braces on both knees. He didn't move that much or seem confident running, but he still wants to wrestle as much and as well as possible. Chono went after them early with a kneecap dropkick, but Kobashi popped back up and came back with chops, which was goofy but did get the knee attack out of the way without Kobashi having to take a lot of impact to them. They did a few special spots like Chono doing a tope and Taue revenging, but it was more conservative than in the past, which is fine with me but especially with Chono involved I expected them to go back to using their heads. Well executed and a good show, but nothing tremendous. The final 2 1/2 minutes were much better than the rest with Kobashi & Taue going to town on Misawa and Chono making some well timed saves (this also hid the fact that Chono can't take the big bumps). Misawa was easily the best of the four. 22:29. ***3/4
GHC Tag Title Match: Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs. Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka. Very disappointing match that was far too much about attitude and far too little about that translating into a high quality match. Early portion was wasted, just a big ego fest. Turned into a good match later due to Akiyama & Tanaka, who did some nice sequences but unfortunately were the only ones that did enough wrestling to talk about. Saito is way out of his depth, though Otani did little to separate himself from Saito. What was shown here is Akiyama vs. Tanaka has a great deal of potential if Tanaka is allowed to be considered a threat. 22:03. **3/4
Yoshinari Ogawa & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi. Tremendous quickness on display early from Marufuji & Kanemaru. Their stuff was generally excellent athletic spots, with Marufuji making all his aerial moves look so easy. Kikuchi & Ogawa slow the match down a lot, but they bring experience and Kikuchi was good at setting people up. It was better when Ogawa & Kikuchi were apart because they killed the pace and had no offense to make up for it. Overall, a bit sloppy but very exciting.15:48. ***1/2
Yoshihiro Takayama & Daisuke Ikeda & Masashi Aoyagi vs. Masao Inoue & Takeshi Rikio & Jun Izumida. Out of control start showed some "promise", but they quickly made the mistake of settling down. With everyone fighting at once their mediocrity was somewhat masked, but once it was a conventional the mediocrity was glaring. Just dull unskilled boredom containing little more than the lousy kick, punch, stomp type of striking. Takayama & Ikeda were the only ones that distinguished themselves. 18:27. *3/4
1/13/03 Kyoto KBS Hall: Kenta Kobashi & KENTA vs. Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka. Kobashi chops more than ever to limit his steps, but despite his injury woes still feels he should be working the better portion of the match. I thought this team with KENTA would be a really good idea, but Kobashi didn't show much faith in KENTA, and KENTA was to sloppy to prove Kobashi wrong. All that being said, even though it was a small show with no titles on the line, they blew the tag title match out of the water. Ego, as it should be, was put aside in favor of working together to have a quality match that makes everyone look good. They bothered to tell a story this time, and even though it was the obvious story of Kobashi being the best and KENTA being the little inexperienced guy that didn't belong, often the most obvious stories are the best ones to tell. Stylistically, they did a mix of stiff wrestling and junior style. I could have lived without Tanaka jumping backwards when Kobashi chopped him and Otani trying to strike with Kobashi being treated as comedy, but an overly strong #1 does help make up for an overly weak #4. 19:36. ***1/2
1/10/03 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, GHC Tag Title Match: Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs. Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka. Very disappointing match that was far too much about attitude and far too little about that translating into a high quality match. Early portion was wasted, just a big ego fest. Turned into a good match later due to Akiyama & Tanaka, who did some nice sequences but unfortunately were the only ones that did enough wrestling to talk about. Saito is way out of his depth, though Otani did little to separate himself from Saito. What was shown here is Akiyama vs. Tanaka has a great deal of potential if Tanaka is allowed to be considered a threat. 22:03. **3/4
Takuma Sano & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Masashi Aoyagi 11:40
Vader vs. Makoto Hashi
Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue & Kishin Kawabata
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Akira Taue & Takashi Segiura 18:52
1st Differ Cup Sodatsu Junior Tag Tournament 1st Round:
Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Chocoball Mukai vs. MIKAMI & KUDO 2:50 of 18:11. A big demotions for FMW’s former heavyweight champion Kuroda to be in another promotions junior division, but Kodo Fuyuki condemned FMW to having zero credibility in NOAH when he signed them up to come in and challenge for the lowly and meaningless Asia Tag Titles. I wouldn’t bet on 18 minutes of Chocoball, but what aired was a decent combination of flying and garbage. MIKAMI is a Hardy wannabe, utilizing a ladder for his swanton bomb finisher, but while also not being well rounded, he’s actually a tremendous athlete with excellent body control who performs his moves accurately and in impressive fashion. Today’s highlight was a crazy swandive body attack over the guard rail, landing on the first row chairs.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yoshihito Sasaki vs. Masao Orihara & Ikuto Hidaka 4:25 of 16:31. The FEC team of Orihara & Hidaka were pushing the favorites, with the fans reacting big time to their near falls. Hidaka worked his ass off as usual, executing with his superb combination of speed and precision. He’s really spiked the complexity of his spots, adding more and more midair and grasp position changes. Takaiwa was an excellent opponent for him because he’s such a good base for flying moves. Hidaka & Takaiwa would go back and forth with Hidaka being the aerial aggressor, but Takaiwa sometimes crushing him with a powerful counter. Even though Sasaki, who was undoubtedly miles out of his depth, was basically cut out from what aired, I’d bet they really dropped the ball in not showing this whole match as Hidaka vs. Takaiwa appeared to be at least as good as anything NOAH’s junior division produced all year. Seemed to be an excellent match.
KENTA & Kotaro Suzuki vs. The Great Takeru & Kappa Kozo 8:52 of 20:44. Looked like a good match, but was hardly in the class with the previous Hidaka match. Takeru & Kozo work for a nothing league (IWA Japan), but made a solid showing, appearing to be energetic performers. Their highlight was Takeru holding Suzuki horizontal and Kozo slingshotting himself over the top with a leg drop. KENTA was good with both opponents, while Suzuki was hidden by the editing. Looked like a good match.
Ultimo Dragon & Yossino vs. Gran Naniwa & Jun Kasai 7:04 of 15:44. The worst match by far with Kasai & Naniwa, true to form, being the least motivated team by a wide margin. Dragon was worlds above the others, but he was basically on his own. Average at best.
1st Differ Cup Sodatsu Junior Tag Tournament Semifinals:
Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yoshihito Sasaki vs. MIKAMI & KUDO 13:32 of 15:21. The DDT team really should have been Takaiwa & Sasaki’s first round opponents. G+ gave the semifinal a lot of air time it really didn’t seem to deserve. Not that it was bad as a whole, but Sasaki & KUDO are two of the worst workers in the tournament and the crowd was dead for the mediocrity they delivered. The highlight, in a way, was Takaiwa trying to powerbomb MIKAMI off the ladder, but MIKAMI turning it into a Frankensteiner for a hot near fall. The problem is this spot took forever to set up. **3/4
Ultimo Dragon & Yossino vs. KENTA & Kotaro Suzuki 11:42. They postponed the anticipated Dragon vs. KENTA meeting to build anticipation, with the legend and new sensation delivering when they finally took their turn. Upstarts Yossino & Suzuki are just outclassed at this point, but they did their best. Suzuki was featured since he was jobbing, looking as good as ever since Dragon, who is still really quick and explosive, was carrying him. The Dragon vs. Suzuki pairing was far superior to KENTA vs. Yosshino, as they had good timing together. Kind of short, but they got about as much mileage as one could hope. ***
1st Differ Cup Sodatsu Junior Tag Tournament 3rd Place Match: KENTA & Kotaro Suzuki vs. MIKAMI & KUDO 24:50. The pleasant surprise of the tournament was the exceptional quality of what I figured would be a routine good junior tag. Actually, it was more similar to a heavyweight match with a slower pace and an impressive level of stiffness. I may have spoken too soon about KUDO, as the DDT team seemed to save it for this match. KUDO particularly shined in this setting since he could trade kicks with KENTA. MIKAMI tried to forward roll over a kick, but got blasted when he didn’t clear KENTA’s leg. They shifted to high gear for the final quarter, with the fans really getting into the numerous credible near finishes. MIKAMI’s big ladder spot of the match was getting suplexed off by KENTA. ***3/4
1st Differ Cup Sodatsu Junior Tag Tournament Final: Ultimo Dragon & Yossino vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yoshihito Sasaki 20:27. Dramatic well worked match with effective counters and near counters. The goal of the match was to make you almost believe Dragon & Yossino couldn’t win because Takaiwa & Sasaki were such tough rat bastards. It was pretty clear the way it was worked that Toryumon would score the “upset” win. However, as Dragon over Sasaki was actually the expected result from the outset, the backbone of the match was simply passing off the illusion that the ZERO-ONE team was too tough for Toryumon. Takaiwa really got his dickish attitude going here. Dragon might be the idol of many a junior, but Takaiwa & Sasaki weren’t giving him much respect, generally putting the boots to him. That’s more than Yossino got, as they just laughed him off and slapped him around. Takaiwa carried the match in his deliberate power and attitude style, with Dragon & Yossino using athletic counters to get their oft sparse offense in. The fans were excited when Yossino got hope spots, usually a counter into a near fall. Dragon finally made the hot tag and started taking it to Sasaki, only to have Takaiwa jump right in and lay him out with his Death Valley bomb. Takaiwa was clearly the star, but given who else was involved we needed a little more from Dragon to elevate it to an excellent match. A flash pin would actually have worked better here since the Toryumon team had been punted all match, particularly if Yossino scored bit but that’s asking too much given all the leagues involved, so they settled on Ultimo over Sasaki with the Dragon sleeper. ***3/4
Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi. Maybe more than ever, these are two of the most talented wrestlers around. There was much to admire about this match, starting with the fact they went all out for 33 minutes to deliver a classic. Unfortunately, it was far closer to as bad a match as they are capable of having than as good of one. 5 minutes in Misawa was using the kind of moves he'd use against Hansen 15 minutes in, and their matches were usually 10-15 min shorter than this. The moves just kept escalating until they became numbing. Misawa dominated the early portion, working the lariat arm some but without any real conviction. The tide turned when Misawa missed an elbow off the apron, busting himself open hardway. Kobashi attacked the neck, but again it was so spor oriented I never believed it. They tried to sell, but the selling was undermined by the countless big moves. The moves were great, particularly when Misawa did his elbow suicida with Kobashi on the runway then Tiger suplexed him off, which they even sold effectively. The execution was great as always. Misawa did all the moving because Kobashi's knees are so bad, but they worked around this problem to the point it wasn't something you thought about. What you couldn't help but think about is the lack of meaning we've seen in all their matches since their 1/20/97 encounter that was one of the apexes of heavyweight wrestling precisely because they laid it out in a way that made everything was perfectly worked in and ordered to achieve maximum value. Yeah, there was a killer new invention or two, but essentially we've seen this match over and over starting with 10/21/97. That one was fresh and revolutionary because it was heavyweight legends doing a crazy junior style match, but now it's heavyweight legends just running through moves like guys that are 20 years younger and don't know any better. I want to care about things like Kobashi kicking out of the emerald flowsion, they just don't want to provide the reasons. 33:28. ***3/4
Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs. Tamon Honda & Takashi Sugiura. Too short and mostly the two slugs Saito & Honda, but at least some thought was put into what they did do. It looked like Akiyama was making a flashy entrance with a Kabuki theatre mask on, but instead he snuck out from the crowd. Saito took Sugiura out then jumped off the apron to spike Akiyama's piledriver of Honda. It was perhaps goofy that Sugiura didn't resurface for about 6 minutes, while Honda who definitely took the more deadly move was the one working that portion, but they seemed to be protecting Sugiura, who has a lot more future than Honda. Saito worked over Honda's knee until Sugiura cleaned house. Fans took the near finishes seriously, but I would have liked to see Akiyama actually do some things before they went home. 7:31. **1/4
Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Masao Inoue. Both need to be carried. They didn't screw up, but very little looked all that good. Takayama is the better of the two because he's figured out how to do his offense and transitions more quickly. Short nothing match. 7:02. *1/4
Scorpio vs. Yoshinari Ogawa. Should have been so much more than it was. Started out like the good old Scorpio matches with him developing sequences and counters, but quickly turned into the kind of standard back and forth match guys that aren't particularly skilled do. Scorpio wasn't at his sharpest during the good portion then just rolled out all his big flying moves the next time. In between, Ogawa did a few moves, but it's hard to get excited about a guy who is pulling out the scroto squeeze. 6:20. *1/2
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Makoto Hashi vs. Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA. Started out great with a really impressive fast sequence that had the fans going nuts. After that, it mostly stagnated. Kanemaru was the best in the match. He was able to work extremely fast with the opposition and take their best stuff. Hashi doesn't fit in, which is fine, but not surprisingly he doesn't make himself an alternative so he's just kind of there. He should be the power guy like Takaiwa was in the NJ tags: instead he was just the guy that stalled the match. KENTA is ever quicker than Marufuji, and a lot more explosive, but he's also very erratic. He seems like the type that would rather type the extra five words a minute ever though it meant another mistake. Marufuji wasn't at his sharpest here either, but there were some really impressive meaningless flashy stretches in between some meaningless boring ones. 16:35. ***
Jun Akiyama vs. Yuji Nagata 6:29. A great matchup should eventually deliver a great match, but this second try took a big step in the wrong direction by only delivering a finishing sequence. They fought on the outside with Akiyama delivering repeated DDTs on the ramp and his exploder on the floor for a near count out. The surprising early out of the ring damage (though only slightly modified from a segment that came later in their 1/4/02 NJPW match) helped when they returned to the ring because with Nagata already “just about beaten”, the fans actually believed in Jun’s front necklock. Unfortunately, Nagata came back with hot moves, so again build was out the window. They worked together on a level that exceeded 1/4/02, perhaps by a considerable margin, but the brevity was retarded. While certainly exciting, it was more like a TV version of a G1 Climax match where there’s a day or two worth of big league matches to cram in to an hour of World Pro Wrestling, so they air the hot final third. I enjoyed what was here, but there was a lot missing, for instance an actual body. **3/4
GHC Tag Title Match: Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Shinya Makabe 27:13. Kobashi is obviously still capable of a great long match, but if you were booking, wouldn’t you give 27 minutes to Akiyama vs. Nagata and 7 to a match with Honda, Takayama, & Makabe? The heat was on Kobahi, so Honda played gatekeeper, insisting on starting the match to keep the opposition from wrestling Kobashi until they earned the right. Honda took a beating, especially from Takayama, and as you’d expect none of this was very good. Kobashi finally made the hot tag, shooting the decibel level up. Unfortunately, Makabe was even more mediocre in a heavyweight setting because he didn’t have an opponent providing interesting offense that might distract you from his Goldturd Jr. offense. Makabe is normally more watchable than Takayama and Honda, but he shockingly brought nothing, while Takayama at least had his moments and Honda gave his all. Makabe did manage to make his new pairing with Takayama seem to be a real tag team; Kobashi & Honda simply fought as individuals, showing none of the double teaming their opponents pulled. There were a few bright spots such as Honda German suplexing Takayama over the top into the ring and Kobashi DDTing Makabe on the floor and bludgeoning him until he bled, but there was way too much basic unskilled and uninteresting action. Kobashi wasn’t healthy enough to save the match, but even in the most uphill battle, he’ll always work long and hard. The final minutes were good, deceiving the audience several times with near finishes, and they at least worked up to them. Given they tried a ridiculously long match, it could have been a lot worse, but it could have been a lot better if they instead attempted a match the wrestlers were suited to manage. **1/2
First GHC Junior Tag Champion Decision Tournament Final: Jushin Thunder Liger & Takehiro Murahama vs. Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA 24:27. NOAH ran a dream match to decide the first junior tag champions, but unfortunately it was as poorly laid out and substanceless as most of it’s present day counterparts, really only notable due to the great talent involved. First this or that aside, it’s basically your typical very good junior tag, perhaps notable for being a little longer, especially on the finishing segment. Liger has easily had a thousand better matches than this one. Hell, virtually any NJPW junior tag from 1997 is has superior timing, execution, build, and though the offense might not be as flashy, the level of difficulty is actually much higher. Of course, familiarity and chemistry are big parts of that, but being a different dream match and a match of the year candidate are two different things. While certainly an enjoyable match, it’s extremely disappointing given it’s not even in the class with the Marufuji & KENTA’s excellent subsequent title defense against Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Makoto Hashi on 9/12/03. KENTA caught Murahama with a wild swandive attack over the guard rail, while Marufuji soon gave Liger a super quebrada over the rail. While the quick start was impressive, the intensity being there was more important than the hot moves. Unfortunately, Murahama was barely recognizable, not showing any of his trademark quickness or submission skill. Just as it was appearing to be all flash, Liger seemingly changed things up by incorporating the submission aspect, which Murahama gladly followed up on since that’s one of his strengths. Murahama is an armbar specialist though, and they instead momentarily attacked KENTA’s back and knee then went back to doing more spotfu. Surprisingly, and obviously disappointingly, Liger didn’t manage to get Marufuji or KENTA to wrestle any differently, certainly not any smarter, than normal. Liger vs. Marufuji was still excellent on talent alone, and obviously their overall ability translated to some good things in their other pairings. However, it was way too much spectacle and too little thought and selling to allow the audience to take the “dramatic near finishes” seriously. KENTA got beat on a lot, which was the best role for him since his offense isn’t as solid as the others. Though he has a few very graceful flying moves, right now his kicks are so rushed he may connect somewhere with something between the toe and the knee. Marufuji won with the Liger invented shooting star press. ***1/2
GHC Heavykyu Senshuken: Kenta Kobashi vs. Yuji Nagata 30:13. Great 1998 style All Japan main event: not the psychological masterpiece of the first half of that decade, but a very fundamentally sound bout that picked and ordered the spots with the mental aspects in mind. They didn't leave out the moves you'd expect, just did them once when they'd make some impact. They showed some of the patience that was so lacking in the overrated 3/1/03 Kobashi vs. Misawa match, generating more heat early without using any offense invented after they were born. They were in each other's face with something to prove to everyone, and the fans immediately responded to the intensity. Kobashi is the best heavyweight in NOAH because he still has the desire and work ethic, but too often he reverts to being a less athletic and healthy version of his old self, which only makes us long for '93 Kobashi. Nagata finally got him to embrace his limitations; this was stationary Kobashi as a matter of pride and ego rather than necessity. It reminded us of the Kobashi of old in a good way; similar to Kobashi's best stuff against Toshiaki Kawada, it was toughness measured through toe to toe trading. The first half was more Nagata's offense, and the second more Kobashi's, the logical progression since Nagata is credible conservative moves and Kobashi is high impact high spots. Instead of head drops Nagata injured Kobashi's arm by posting him. Kobashi no sold an exploder, but that was his only goofiness, and it wasn't even that bad since he was soon putting over Nagata's other big suplex, the backdrop. The heat was often disappointing for Nagata's offense in the later stages, as the fans have been repeatedly shown submissions don't work, but the match would have been far worse if they went for pops. The match would have worked better if Nagata injured Kobashi's knee as he has legitimate leg submissions with his Nagata locks, but it seems Kobashi's knees are so bad they don't want to risk it. ****1/2
GHC Junior Heavykyu Senshuken: Michael Modest vs. Takashi Sugiura 19:11. Modest carried the match, getting as much out of Sugiura as possible. Sugiura was mostly along for the ride. he lacks the offense for a match of this length, repeating his German suplex around 10 times, and does too much no selling for such an unimposing guy. Modest wrestled as if he were trying to have a memorable match in that he was pulling out all the spots moves wise, but it was like a "bad" Kobashi vs. Akiyama match with nothing going anywhere to the point they are rolling through spots on the ramp so as not to bore those weened on dud culture. Still, a bad Kobashi vs. Akiyama match is good for anyone else, and even if it was deliberate there were a few nice counters to go along with every move in their arsenals. They could have a better match if they put more thought into it, but they gave it their all, and given what they are this was probably as good as they could have done. ***1/4
GHC Junior Tag Titles: Naomich Marufuji & KENTA vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Makoto Hashi 25:31. One aspect that's foolishly been thrown out of junior matches is the segments of quick athletic counters early on. If you look at '80's matches of great juniors like Tiger Mask or Owen Hart, they'd wow the crowd repeatedly without doing any damage to their opponent. It was not only good for the fans, but for their bodies. Marufuji has their athleticism, and today he showed signs of utilizing it more fully. He did a beautiful segment with Kanemaru in this vein early on, and though they slowed things down stuck to good little to no impact offense early on. KENTA and Hashi had nothing going on in the early portion, with Hashi looking out of place and keeping the match from gaining momentum and KENTA's kicks looking awfully light when they even connected. Hashi kept using a reverse DDT on the apron as a big move, which makes no since as it's so much harder to set up and unless you've actually been in a ring you are liable to assume it does the exact same amount of damage as it would in the center. Marufuji brought a ton of energy and was working on such a high level with fluid, fast, and graceful movements. Kanemaru was also damn good here. He is able to do a far wider variety of techniques than KENTA, and executes them a great deal more precision. What made this match is they put more and more energy into it, working all the tag and save possibilities in a frantic and dramatic fashion. The timing was excellent, and they just kept finding ways to extend the match. The fans were going crazy during the last several minutes, which were exceptional, because they kept thinking the match was going to end at any moment. It was definitely more exciting than the more famous Liger & Murahama vs. Marufuji & KENTA match from 7/16/03. ****
Juventud Guerrera & Ricky Marvin vs. Naomichi Marufuji & Kotaro Suzuki 13:25. High energy junior action from start to finish. Better than expected efforts, probably due to it being one of the series of dry runs for Guerrera & Marvin’s 11/1/03 GHC Junior Tag Title shot at Marufuji & KENTA. The offense was crisp and precisely executed with Marvin pushing the high flying to a surprising extent given they were wrestling in a gym before six rows of fans. Suzuki, the youngest and least experienced of the four, was actually the one most likely to slow things down with a rest hold, though I think it’s mostly due to possessing a far shallower move set. Suzuki is very promising, but was generally outclassed with Marvin making the match with his hard work and spectacular offense. Marufuji looked good when he was in, but generally gave Suzuki the experience. Suzuki, was, of course, pinned since he’s the one not in the title match. Marfuji got together with KENTA in the locker room only to be jumped by Juventud, who tried to further intimidate the champs. ***1/4
Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio vs. Mohammed Yone & Kishin Kawabata 12:16. The work ethic was pretty good, but aside from Yone the match generally consisted of simplistic brawling. Kawabata traded strikes with Wild II the entire match despite it being a losing proposition. Yone was the change of pace, showing the only decent offense, but he might as well have balanced his checkbook while waiting to enter. **
Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs. Takuma Sano & Masao Inoue 10:47. Akiyama & Sano shouldn’t be involved in the worst match, but it was short and rather lazily structured. The bout started promisingly with Sano & Inoue launching a consistent attack on Akiyama’s knee, which unfortunately was totally scrapped as soon as Akiyama made the hot tag. Much of the problem was the match was too short to legitimately tell any story. I mean, once Saito got back in it was time for the finishing sequence, which he made look a bit awkward. Akiyama thus had to quickly return healthy to get his spots in, closing Inoue out with his exploder. *3/4
Akira Taue & Daisuke Ikeda vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takashi Sugiura 11:18. Taue straddled the line between making the spots difficult to successfully execute and simply doing nothing. Ikeda worked a fast pace to balance Taue’s snail pace, delivering a big house show performance that single-handedly made the match. Ikeda largely worked with Sugiura, who proved carryable. **
Captain's Fall Elimination Match: Yoshinari Ogawa (c) & Mitsuharu Misawa & Scorpio & Richard Slinger vs. Kenta Kobashi (c) & Tamon Honda & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & KENTA 45:05. An impressive match on all fronts, not only successfully building to Ogawa’s 11/1/03 GHC Title Match against Kobashi, but also being one of Misawa’s most consistently entertaining house show matches in years. They did the good sort of long match, though they weren’t going to bring their top draw material for 45 minutes, they kept it lean and made sure there were no real dips in quality. There was no great psychology, but the structuring and the utilization of the 8 performers were very intelligent. Kobashi & Ogawa started to heat up the rivalry for the big match, but they rotated everyone in and out quickly for the first 17 minutes. KENTA was the early standout, having a particularly nice kick exchange that Slinger surprisingly stole with his spinning leg sweep. Scorpio really began to shine after 17 when they finally made an effort to eliminate someone, shifting to the first finishing sequence. Scorpio’s diversity was very much apparent as he worked the most fluid sequences, taking big bumps and major stiffness depending upon his opponent’s strengths, and of course delivering some spectacular aerial offense. After several saves, Scorpio scored the first pin, squashing Kikuchi with his 450 splash, but the fast paced spot oriented action continued until a little after Honda took Slinger out with rolling Olympic hell at 22:10. Misawa isn’t going to log a lot of ring time in the big tags, but he gave an excellent effort when he was in, pushing the pace and delivering his most exciting wrestling. Kobashi always wants to work at least as long and hard as anyone, but though certainly good, he wasn’t as effective in a format where everyone was spotted. Kobashi can build a match around his chops, but if that’s all he’s going to do, KENTA is more likely to make a bigger impression with his athleticism and lightning quickness. Until the final minutes, Kobashi’s best segment was clearly with Scorpio, who taunted Kobashi after each of his best shots, eventually allowing Kobashi to no sell and show him how blistering shots are done. Ogawa eventually resorted to attacking Kobashi’s knee, with Scorpio coming in and screaming “MORE (pressure)” when Ogawa was working the ½ crab, and throwing in a few knee stomps for good measure. With his team down 3-2, Kobashi came on big after the 40-minute mark, dragging out his suplexes to clean house. However, sneaky Ogawa turned Kobashi’s half-nelson suplex into an outside cradle for the flash pin. Ogawa took the title belt and alerted Kobashi it would soon be his, dropping it at Kenta’s feet after offering to kindly return it. Scorpio then clipped Kobashi’s knee and Ogawa put the boots to it until Misawa held Ogawa in the corner and calmed him down. ***3/4
GHC Junior Tag Title Match: Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA vs. Juventud Guerrera & Ricky Marvin 29:19. No real structuring, build, or sense of attrition just wild junior fireworks from start to finish. Started with 3 or 4 in the ring doing lucha, and the timing was totally on. Really, the impressive aspect of the match is Marufuji & KENTA doing Guerrera & Marvin's style so well. It settled into something more toward the usual Japanese style, particularly stiffer than lucha and with more credible submissions, but it was still very choreographed. Aside from some lousy punches and elbows, Marvin was really on and carried his team. Juvi was much better than he usually is in NOAH, a few sketchy moments early put really picking it up in the 2nd half after the hot tag. He had the more credible offense, you believed a finish was possible when he countered the shiranui with the Juvi driver then hit a 450 splash, but no longer works as smoothly as Marvin. Marufuji was excellent as always, doing everything well. KENTA was something of a change of pace, but did Juvi & Marvin's match more than forcing his own strike exchanges which is clearly Marvin's weakness. ***1/2
Mitsuharu Misawa & Takeshi Rikio vs. Yoshihiro Takayam & Takuma Sano 5:47 of 12:27
WLW Title Match: Takeshi Morishima vs. Muhammad Yone 12:18
GHC Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Gedo vs. Takashi Suguira 14:20
GHC Heavyweight Title Match: Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Kenta Kobashi 23:50
1/10 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, GHC Tag Senshukenjiai: Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs. Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka. Very disappointing match that was far too much about attitude and far too little about that translating into a high quality match. Early portion was wasted, just a big ego fest. Turned into a good match later due to Akiyama & Tanaka, who did some nice sequences but unfortunately were the only ones that did enough wrestling to talk about. Saito is way out of his depth, though Otani did little to separate himself from Saito. What was shown here is Akiyama vs. Tanaka has a great deal of potential if Tanaka is allowed to be considered a threat. 22:03. **3/4
1/24 Kochi Kenmin Taiikukan, GHC Tag Senshukenjiai: Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs. Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue
3/1 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, GHC Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi
3/30 Fukuoka Hakata Starlane, GHC Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Michael Modest
4/5 Ishikawa Sangyo Tenjikan, GHC Tag Senshukenjiai: Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs. Takeshi Morishima & Naomichi Marufuji
4/13 Tokyo Ariake Coliseum, GHC Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Kenta Kobashi vs. Tamon Honda
6/6 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, GHC Tag Senshukenjiai: Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda
7/16 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, GHC Tag Senshukenjiai: Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Shinya Makabe
7/16 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, Shodai GHC Junior Heavykyu Tag Oza Kettei Tournament Kesshosen: Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Takehiro Murahama
8/26 Aichi Nagoya Kokusai Kaigijo, GHC Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Kenta Kobashi vs. Bison Smith
9/12 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, GHC Junior Heavykyu Tag Senshukenjiai: Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Makoto Hashi
9/12 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, GHC Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Michael Modest vs. Takashi Sugiura
9/12 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, GHC Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Kenta Kobashi vs. Yuji Nagata
10/24 Hiroshima Kenritsu Sogo Taiikukan, GHC Tag Senshukenjiai: Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda vs. Akira Taue & Daisuke Ikeda
11/1 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, GHC Junior Heavykyu Tag Senshukenjiai: Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA vs. Juventud Guerrera & Ricky Marvin
11/1 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, GHC Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Takashi Sugiura vs. Gedo
11/1 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, GHC Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshinari Ogawa
11/30 Hokkaido-ken Sogo Taiiku Center, GHC Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Takashi Sugiura vs. KENTA
11/30 Hokkaido-ken Sogo Taiiku Center, GHC Tag Senshukenjiai: Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda vs. Yuji Nagata & Hiroshi Tanahashi
12/6 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan, GHC Tag Senshukenjiai: Yuji Nagata & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio