12/26/08
Takeshi Morishima vs. Go Shiozaki
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Austin Aries
Naomichi Marufuji Produce 1/11/09 Tokyo Differ Ariake
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Mitsuo Momota & Kotaro Suzuki & Genba Hirayanagi vs. Taiji Ishimori & Ricky Marvin & Akihiko Ito & Ippei Ota
KENTA & Takashi Suguira vs. Akira Taue & Yoshihiro Takayama
Jun Akiyama & Go Shiozaki & Mohammed Yone vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima & Yoshinari Ogawa
PWF Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Naomichi Marufuji vs. NOSAWA
Kentaro Shiga & Kishin Kawabata vs. Takashi Okita & Kento Miyahara
Junji Izumida & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Masao Inoue & Mitsuo Momota
Akitoshi Saito & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Tamon Honda & Ricky Marvin
Buchanan & Keith Walker & Bobby Fish vs. Akira Taue & Takashi Sugiura & Akihiko Ito
Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Takeshi Morishima & Makoto Hashi
Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Shuhei Taniguchi
Kotaro Suzuki & Genba Hirayanagi vs. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori
Go Shiozaki vs. Takuma Sano
Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Jun Akiyama & Atsushi Aoki
Bobby Fish vs. Kikutaro
Claudio Castagnoli & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Kento Miyahara & Amigo Suzuki
Chris Hero vs. Takashi Okita
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Satoshi Kajiwara
Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kengo Mashimo vs. KENTA & Atsushi Aoki
Taiji Ishimori & Ippei Ota vs. Ricky Marvin & Kento Miyahara
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Genba Hirayanagi vs. Naomichi Marufuji & Akihiko Ito
Akira Taue & Takeshi Rikio & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Akitoshi Saito & Takashi Sugiura & Atsushi Aoki
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Go Shiozaki vs. Buchanan & Keith Walker & Bobby Fish
Takeshi Morishima & Mohammed Yone vs. Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli
Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Jun Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi
GHC Junior Heavyweight Title Match: KENTA vs. Kotaro Suzuki
Kuishinbo Kamen & Ebessan III vs. Kikutaro & Catfish Man
TAKA Michinoku & Takeshi Minamino & Kento Miyahara vs. BxB Hulk & Takuma Tanizaki & mcKZ
Sanshiro Takagi vs. Takashi Okita
Kensuke Sasaki & Kota Ibushi vs. Jun Akiyama & Taiji Ishimori
GHC Junior Heavyweight Title Match: KENTA vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima
Takuma Sano vs. Masao Inoue
Akira Taue & Taiji Ishimori vs. Bull Buchanan & Ricky Steamboat Jr.
Naomichi Marufuji & Atsushi Aoki & Akihiko Ito vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki & Genba Hirayanagi
KENTA & Ippei Ota vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara
Doug Williams & Roderick Strong & Davey Richards vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Ricky Marvin
Akitoshi Saito & Bison Smith vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Takashi Okita
Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone vs. Takeshi Morishima & Makoto Hashi
Kenta Kobashi Return Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Masao Inoue
Taiji Ishimori & Ippei Ota vs. Takashi Okita & Kento Miyahara
Akira Taue & Naomichi Marufuji & Atsushi Aoki vs. Buchanan & Roderick Strong & Davey Richards
Yoshihiro Takayama & Ricky Marvin vs. Takeshi Rikio & Kotaro Suzuki
Takeshi Morishima & Makoto Hashi & Akihiko Ito vs. Mohammed Yone & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Genba Hirayanagi
Akitoshi Saito & Bison Smith & Doug Williams vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Shuhei Taniguchi
Special Tag Match: Shinsuke Nakamura & Milano Collection AT vs. Takashi Sugiura & Go Shiozaki 20:30
GHC Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. KENTA 25:45. After the disappointment of the previous match, these two really hit it out of the park tonight. The main real difference was simply that at 25:45, the match was a more reasonable length, and the results were startling, as they were now able to go all out from start to finish. Suddenly, you had a vintage KENTA match, a fast paced, aggressive striking war where neither would back down. There was enough differentiation to keep things fresh and interesting, and they told a much better, more compact story, by removing much of the filler around the story points. Nakajima was more confident now that he had defeated KENTA, believing in himself as champion. He injured KENTA's knee early, and then kept cutting KENTA's striking comebacks off by going back to the knee. KENTA was always battling from behind, fighting both Nakajima and his own body. KENTA thrives on raw energy and aggression, but Nakajima knew how to keep shutting him right down, and this knee strategy kept KENTA from ever building momentum. This wasn't as fast paced as their 6/13/08 match, but they were consistently able to effectively slow it down for portions, rather than just going at half speed and doing extra selling, as in their lesser matches. It was their best story match, and the pacing was better, as they were able to pick things up and slow things down at the right moments, so while it wasn't a sprint, it was never a slog. The opening striking exchange was fantastic. They were charging with front kicks, which evolved into Nakajima getting kicked out of mid-air trying a leapfrog. Nakajima was able to duck a penalty kick, but KENTA jumped over a suimengiri (spinning leg sweep), and tried for another penalty kick. However, Nakajima ducked again by dropping to his back, and after trading solebutts, they put each other down with simultaneous high kicks. This was a somewhat contrived sequence in theory, but it was very surprising, and done with so much speed and aggression that it seemed far less choreographed than it actually was. To some extent, this opening sequence was just flash, but it still set up the first portion of substance, where an aggressive exchange of middle kicks led to KENTA injuring Nakajima's knee by countering with a Dragon screw. Nakajima had so much more confidence here, and that translated to having so many more answers. I liked how the sequences were developing, as they weren't telling the knee story in such an obvious, deliberate, and predictable fashion. For instance, the next key spot was Nakajima Dragon screwing KENTA into the middle rope, but this evolved out of a lengthy sequence where KENTA reversed an Irish whip, but missed his avalanche when Nakajima escaped to the apron, then KENTA thought he was going to kick Nakajima off the apron, only to have his kick caught again. Now Nakajima was on the knee full-time, and KENTA was taking amazing bumps on these Dragon screws to make them look extra damaging, doing a great job of putting over the injury in general. The struggle felt more believable than in their other matches, less like they were cooperating and waiting around for each other. They did a better job of incorporating the striking, with KENTA using it for comebacks, trying to gain momentum with a series, and Nakajima using it to cut KENTA off. Nakajima was targeting the knee with his strikes when he could, while KENTA tried to catch kicks so he could counter into his go 2 sleep finisher. The striking segments were more believable because there were more instances of someone throwing more than once rather than politely waiting to be hit back, and they also countered more often. KENTA's knee was a story throughout. He still ran and jumped, but had a hard time getting back up, even after his own offense. KENTA was able to consistently sell here without it slowing down the match in a negative manner that trades off flow for story. Nakajima's confidence continued to grow, as the injury provided a means to quickly cut off KENTA's future comebacks. The fact that they had a clear focus, but at the same time could also allow the match to breathe made for a much more dynamic and interesting match, as the action could be more varied and less predictable. KENTA could have chosen to be more careful, and then we would wonder why Nakajima was just standing around waiting rather than attacking the knee, but instead KENTA chose to turn the speed and aggression up another notch or two, trying to get as many attacks in before the inevitable knee retaliation. KENTA was finally able to turn things around with a Death Valley bomb off the ramp. Nakajima took a superplex, and seemed poised to make a comeback, cutting KENTA off on the top with the death roll, but KENTA counted his Frankensteiner off the top with a powerbomb, and hit the diving foodstomp he had wanted initially. There was a double sell after Nakajima cut KENTA off with his death roll again, and at this point you felt they'd moved on from the body work to trying to finish the fight. A couple simultaneous front kicks led to KENTA trying to get fancy with a leg lock counter to a front kick, but Nakajima rolled into the goofy ankle lock, and eventually dropped into a kneebar. Nakajima tried to use the counter where he turns to go 2 sleep into a Frankensteiner, but KENTA was ready for it, and dropped into a Ligerbomb for a near fall. KENTA tried to go back to the go 2 sleep, but Nakajima turned it into a victory role for a near fall. Nakajima was unable to finish with the death roll again, and KENTA caught his kick and hit the go 2 sleep for a near fall. KENTA couldn't finish with the penalty kick either, and they had a desperate exchange where KENTA ducked the high kick, but ate a super kick to set up the death roll, only to have KENTA counter and finish him with the go 2 sleep to regain the title. This is their best match. ****1/2
GHC Heavyweight Title Match: Kensuke Sasaki vs. Jun Akiyama 22:46
Genba Hirayanagi vs. Kikutaro
Ippei Ota vs. Kaji Yamato
KENTA & Atsushi Aoki & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Kengo Mashimo & Takeshi Minaminno & Kento Miyahara
Go Shiozaki vs. Takashi Okita
Katsuhiko Nakajima & Takuma Tanizaki vs. Naomichi Marufuji & Akihiko Ito
Mitsuharu Misawa & Akitoshi Saito & Takeshi Morishima & Kishin Kawabata vs. Atsushi Aoki & Akihiko Ito & Genba Hirayanagi & Ippei Ota
Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda vs. Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Takuma Sano & Taiji Ishimori vs. Masao Inoue & Ricky Marvin
Jun Akiyama & KENTA vs. Go Shiozaki & Makoto Hashi
3/15/09 Tokyo
Takashi Suguira & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Akira Taue & Junji Izumida
Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone & Kotaro Suzuki & Mitsuo Momota vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara & Takashi Okita
4/11/09 Tokyo
D-Lo Brown & Bull Buchanan vs. Bison Smith & Akitoshi Saito
Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima vs. Akira Taue & Masao Inoue
Atsushi Aoki & Akihiko Ito vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara
KENTA & Taiji Ishimori vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Genba Hirayanagi
Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Takuma Sano & Kentaro Shiga & Ippei Ota
Kenta Kobashi & Takashi Sugiura & Tamon Honda vs. Keith Walker & Makoto Hashi & Ricky Marvin
Global Tag League: D-Lo Brown & Buchanan vs. Akitoshi Saito & Bison Smith
Global Tag League: Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima vs. Akira Taue & Masao Inoue
Global Tag League: Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki vs. Jun Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi
3/21/06: SUWA vs. Tsutomu Hirayanagi
5/7/06: KENTA & Kikutaro vs. Ricky Marvin & Scorpio
6/29/06: TAKA Michinoku & Ricky Marvin vs. Naomichi Marufuji & Atsushi Aoki
Taiji Ishimori & Ricky Marvin vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Takashi Okita Digest
Takuma Sano & Atsushi Aoki & Akihiko Ito vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki & Genba Hirayanagi Digest
Akitoshi Saito & Bison Smith vs. Kentaro Shiga & Kishin Kawabata Digest
D-Lo Brown & Buchanan & Keith Walker vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki & Tamon Honda Digest
Global Tag League: Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone vs. Akira Taue & Masao Inoue
Global Tag League: Yoshihiro Takayama & Takashi Sugiura vs. Jun Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi
Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima & Kento Miyahara vs. Kenta Kobashi & KENTA & Ippei Ota
Kishin Kawabata vs. Masashi Aoyagi
Taiji Ishimori & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Takashi Okita
Masao Inoue & Atsushi Aoki vs. Takuma Sano & Ippei Ota
D-Lo Brown & Buchanan & Keith Walker vs. Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
No DQ Match: KENTA vs. Genba Hirayanagi
Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Takashi Sugiura & Akihiko Ito
Kotaro Suzuki vs. Ricky Marvin
Global Tag League: Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima vs. Akitoshi Saito & Bison Smith
GHC Heavyweight Title Match: Jun Akiyama vs. Go Shiozaki
KENTA vs. Kento Miyahara
D-Lo Brown & Buchanan & Keith Walker vs. Takuma Sano & Kentaro Shiga & Genba Hirayanagi
Takashi Sugiura & Taiji Ishimori vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Takashi Okita
Jun Akiyama & Kenta Kobashi & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki & Ricky Marvin
GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Atsushi Aoki & Akihiko Ito
Global Tag League: Akitoshi Saito & Bison Smith vs. Akira Taue & Masao Inoue
Global Tag League: Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima vs. Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone
4/25/09 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki & Ricky Marvin vs. Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi 21:05
GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Atsushi Aoki & Akihiko Ito 28:04
5/3/09 Kyoto KBS Hall
Global Tag League: Jun Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi [4] vs. Bison Smith & Akitoshi Saito [9] 19:26
Global Tag League: Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki [7] vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takashi Sugiura [6] 21:51
Takuma Sano & KENTA vs. Masao Inoue & Ricky Marvin
Buchanan & Genba Hirayanagi vs. Akira Taue & Masashi Aoyagi
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara
D-Lo Brown & Keith Walker vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Taiji Ishimori
Jun Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi & Atsushi Aoki vs. Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki & Akihiko Ito
Global Tag League: Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takashi Sugiura
Tamon Honda & Atsushi Aoki vs. Makoto Hashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
Takuma Sano & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Keith Walker & Ricky Marvin
KENTA & Taiji Ishimori vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Takashi Okita
Jushin Thunder Liger & Koji Kanemoto vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Genba Hirayanagi
Kenta Kobashi & Akihiko Ito vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Kazuchika Okada
Global Tag League: D-Lo Brown & Buchanan vs. Akira Taue & Masao Inoue
Global Tag League: Jun Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone
Global Tag League: Yoshihiro Takayama & Takashi Sugiura vs. Akitoshi Saito & Bison Smith
Global Tag League: Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima
Kenta Kobashi vs. Genba Hirayanagi 5:59
Ricky Marvin vs. Atsushi Aoki 13:53
Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue & Makoto Hashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kentaro Shiga & Kishin Kawabata 17:06
3 Way Match: Taiji Ishimori vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Akihiko Ito 2:57
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Taiji Ishimori & Akihiko Ito 9:34
Go Shiozaki vs. Shuhei Taniguchi 20:18
Takeshi Morishima & Takashi Sugiura vs. Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone 30:00
Jun Akiyama vs. KENTA 29:14
KENTA vs. Akihiko Ito
Takashi Sugiura vs. Genba Hirayanagi
GHC Junior Heavyweight Title Next Challenger Decision Match: Ricky Marvin vs. Taiji Ishimori
Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Atsushi Aoki
Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki vs. Jun Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taiji Ishimori vs. Atsushi Aoki & Akihiko Ito
Takashi Sugiura vs. Takashi Okita
Takeshi Morishima & Makoto Hashi vs. Takuma Sano & Kishin Kawabata
Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Akira Taue & Genba Hirayanagi
Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Masao Inoue vs. Akitoshi Saito & Bison Smith & Bobby Fish
Go Shiozaki vs. Chris Hero
Jun Akiyama & Kenta Kobashi & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone & Kotaro Suzuki
GHC Junior Heavyweight Title Match: KENTA vs. Ricky Marvin
6/4/09 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Takashi Sugiura vs. Takashi Okita 8:32
Takeshi Morishima & Makoto Hashi vs. Takuma Sano & Kawabata Kishin 8:59
6/8/09 Tokyo Keiou Plaza Hachiouji Gokai Hall
Jun Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takashi Sugiura 14:37
Global Hardcore Crown Openweight Title Match: Makoto Hashi vs. Kenta Kobashi 12:15
9/6/08 Tokyo Nippon Budoukan NTV Cup Final: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori 32:31
Undercard digest
Takashi Sugiura & Yoshinari Ogawa & Taiji Ishimori vs. Takuma Sano & Ricky Marvin & Masao Inoue 16:36
KENTA & Akihiko Ito vs. Kotaro Suzuki & Genba Hirayanagi 13:09
Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone vs. Akira Taue & Yuto Aijima 13:23
Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Chris Hero 10:28
Jun Akiyama & Kenta Kobashi & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima & Kento Miyahara 17:47
Misawa ten gong salute
Undercard digest
KENTA & Akihiko Ito vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taiji Ishimori 14:42
Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima vs. Bison Smith & Bobby Fish 13:43
Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takashi Sugiura & Takuma Sano 20:24
GHC Heavyweight Title Decison Match: Takeshi Rikio vs. Go Shiozaki 22:37
4/22/83 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, Lou Thesz Cup League Final: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
8/26/84 Tokyo Denen Colisem: Tiger Mask II vs. La Fiera
5/14/90 Tokyo Taiikukan: Toshiaki Kawada & Tiger Mask II vs. Yatsu Yoshiaki & Samson Fuyuki
6/8/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
8/22/92 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Stan Hansen vs. Mitsuharu Misawa 24:24
7/29/93 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada 25:53
4/15/95 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Champion Carnival Final: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue 27:03
10/21/97 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi 32:55
2/28/98 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Triple Crown Heavyweight Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Johnny Ace 33:34
4/15/01 Tokyo Ariake Coliseum GHC Heavyweight Title Decision Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Yoshihiro Takayama 21:12
1/10/03 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Mitsuharu Misawa & Masahiro Chono vs. Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue 22:03
7/10/04 Tokyo Dome, GHC Tag Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Keiji Muto & Taiyo Kea 21:46
5/6/09 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, Global Tag League Match: Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima 22:53
Chris Hero vs. Akihiko Ito 7:42
Kotaro Suzuki & Genba Hirayanagi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taiji Ishimori 9:16
Akitoshi Saito, Masao Inoue & Bobby Fish vs. Akira Taue, Yoshinari Ogawa & Ricky Marvin 10:58
Takeshi Morishima & Takashi Sugiura vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takuma Sano 11:34
Atsushi Aoki Shining Magic 10 Match Series 8th: Jushin Liger vs. Atsushi Aoki 13:45
Shuhei Taniguchi Rush 10 Match Series 4th: Bison Smith vs. Shuhei Taniguchi 15:35
Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda 10:26
Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Go Shiozaki & KENTA 30:15. Mitsuharu Misawa died 9 days earlier during a tag match with Go Shiozaki, and Shiozaki won the GHC Heavyweight Title that Akiyama had vacated due to yet another injury the next day. Before NOAH started totally misusing what talent they had left and the joy went out of wrestling within the promotion, everyone fired up one more time for Misawa, whose picture was displayed at the timekeeper's table, giving the sort of great effort Korakuen Hall has rarely seen from AJPW and it's alumni since the early 90's glory days of Misawa & co. vs. Jumbo and co. Stylistically, it was Kensuke brutality through and through. The basic idea of these matches is that these guys would rather die than back down an inch. There are a number of **** range Sasaki & Nakajima tags where everyone beats the holy hell out of one another, but I felt as though this was the best and most insanely intense of the lot. What separated it for me was the early portion, which was wrestled at a ridiculous level of stiffness and intensity from the opening bell, and you really never see that in a match that's going 30 minutes on a major show, much less one at a small venue. It also told good little stories, particularly setting up the juniors to be able to stay with the heavies even under the most punishing of circumstances. This was perfectly established when Sasaki tagged out after a big chop exchange with Go and the fans chanted for KENTA, but Nakajima was more than happy to beat Go up instead. KENTA finally came in to face Sasaki, and was slapping the many time heavyweight champion across the face and kicking him down. Sasaki finally fired up and hoisted KENTA up, deposited him in their corner, and threw some super wicked chops before tagging out. KENTA wasn't done with Kensuke though, and at every opportunity he'd attack Kensuke in the corner, so Sasaki finally came in and double teamed him. They made some attempts to mix things up, but the impact of the strikes were so extreme it was difficult for anything else to impress on that level. Go dropping Nakajima neck first on the guard rail was nice, but not quite up to the level of chopping him over the guard rail. The big exchanges were more toward the middle of the match. Nakajima & KENTA did their version of the Kensuke/Kobashi chop exchange, trading sick kicks, which they'd actually get knocked down from on occasion but pull themselves right back up because that's what had to be done. Nakajima had to release his Boston crab on KENTA to attack Go, who came in for the save, so Kensuke laid down the law bowling Go over with a lariat. Go finally had a full out giant chop exchange with Kensuke, which had an awesome ending with Go trying to end it with a lariat, except Kensuke lariated his lariat arm then knocked him down with a lariat. They did several big moves in the final third, but sort of had trouble sustaining the same amazing extreme magnitude of ferocity. The flashier stuff more junior style offense from KENTA & Nakajima was nice, but it was just hard to compete in a match where you could literally hear 95% of the blows, and for the finish they shifted back to the huge impact. Overall, an amazing match that was really better than it had a right to be, even given the talent. Somewhere, Misawa is smiling. ****1/2
Bonus
8/10/07: Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki vs. Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura
12/23/07: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Ippei Ota
12/23/06: Ebestan Hansen vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
The Leave Cup Royal Rumble (Time Lag Battle Royal) 44:59
Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru 10:10
Takeshi Morishima vs. Akitoshi Saito 14:50
Takashi Sugiura vs. Taiji Ishimori 8:43
Mohammed Yone vs. Naomichi Marufuji 8:46
Go Shiozaki vs. KENTA 28:43. It's not surprising that this fantastic match has managed to fly under the radar, as by 2009, people were well aware that NOAH was a big show main event title match league. Go vs. KENTA should not have lived up to its potential because it was the heavyweight champion taking on the junior champion with neither title on the line in a random, one-off semifinal of a random, one-off small Differ Ariake show booked by Takeshi Morishima of all people. This was one exceptionally rough, hard-hitting contest though. The opening striking exchanges were really cool because they were both trying to strike at once, to mixed results. You never really see this because it doesn't look as clean, but it's so cool to see an unpredictable mix of both men sort of hitting one another or one guy getting intercepted trying, rather than the routine dull cooperation of just standing around taking turns. Later, KENTA caught a chop and turned it into a wakigatame, which began his focus on arm work, as he followed by repeatedly running Go into the guardrail. Go tried to come back with his chops, but I wish they would have followed up on the idea that the more KENTA kept kicking his arm, the less effective Shiozaki's attacks became, rather than kind of just endlessly beating the shit out of one another to fill almost half an hour. KENTA kind of escaped to the floor after a superkick, and Go misjudged how damaged he was, trying for a tope, only to have KENTA intercept him with a jumping front kick. As always in these heavyweight matches, KENTA was fearlessly going toe to toe with a much bigger, stronger man. He may be the best ever at making you forget just how much size he is giving up because his heart is giant, but at the same time, there were also some impressive small vs. large spots, such as Go countering the swinging DDT by just tossing KENTA to the floor out of the fireman's carry, which allowed Go to hit a no touch tope. The downsides to the match were that it was a bit sloppy, with Shiozaki having some issues with the more athletic portions despite being the one who was doing the high flying, and it was more a match where they just killed each other than one where they gained a lot of traction from doing so. The final third was much faster and more dynamic than the slug happy first two thirds, doing their best to put this into the great match pantheon. Shiozaki eventually even had to bust out a new variation of his finisher, the henkei Go crusher, to finally put KENTA away. It probably wasn't easy for them to get out of bed the next day, but it was certainly a pleasure to watch them incapacitate themselves. ****
Takeshi Rikio vs. Kotaro Suzuki 11:24
Handicap Match: Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima vs. Genba Hirayanagi 1:09
Akitoshi Saito & Bryan Danielson & Roderick Strong vs. Masao Inoue & Ricky Marvin & Kikutaro 14:17
Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takuma Sano & Eddie Edwards 12:26
Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone vs. Jun Akiyama & Akihiko Ito 9:35
Go Shiozaki & Takashi Sugiura vs. Kenta Kobashi & Shuhei Taniguchi 17:45
Nippon TV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League B Block: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara 30:00. The GHC Jr champs took on an overmatched KOPW team where Jr. superstar Nakajima was severely held back by 20-year-old 2nd year wrestler Miyahara. The Office team was always fighting an uphill battle, and after an early portion that seemed designed for Miyahara to merely follow along and keep up, you were kind of counting the minutes until he jobbed. Miyahara didn't do anything special, but he found enough heart to hang in there, getting the occasional hope spot. The champs kept double teaming, with a really good segment where Nakajima went alone, and a more than adequate one where they ganged up on Miyahara trying to put him away before Nakajima recovered. The match was booked well enough that the fans got into it, pulling for the underdog Office team rather than the home boys. Nakajima gave Suzuki a series of his best kicks, but overall the striking wasn't quite as good as usual due to Miyahara. The match was also kind of long given Miyahara, but he wasn't bad by any means, he just wasn't as good as the others. The booking worked, at least in the sense that they established Nakajima & Miyahara with the swerve of having them hang with the champions, and the veterans were good enough that they managed to hold it together, in large part due to Nakajima being an elite wrestler. One of the highlights was Kotaro stopping Miyahara's tope with an upper. ***
Nippon TV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League A Block: Atsushi Aoki & Kota Ibushi vs. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori 21:11. The two time defending Jr Tag League champs faced the tossed together NOAH/DDT interpromotional team in an up and down and all across the board match that was notable for being one of Aoki's biggest wins to date, forcing Jr. champion KENTA to tap. This was some mix of styles, but not really in a good way. Ibushi's stuff is very choreographed, but it also has amongst the highest level of difficulty around. Ishimori was brave enough to match him in a few amazing fast athletic segments. These two had great chemistry and were a joy to watch. The rest of the match just felt random with Aoki pitting his submissions against KENTA's kicks, or something. Aoki did a lot of weird moves that mostly seemed a lot of excess effort and movement to do a simple hold. I didn't care for his striking, his elbows are short and light, but at least it's not an area he looks to go to. The real problem with the match was KENTA, who wasn't bad, but didn't seem as fiery or stiff as usual (though he managed to bust Aoki's nose up at the end), and wasn't that great doing Aoki's technical wrestling. KENTA had one nice segment with Ibushi, but it was mainly Ibushi, and both his matwork and striking with Aoki was just not at the level we expect from KENTA. If KENTA is KENTA, this is a standout match, but without him it was more a standard quality junior tag with a few majestic moments from show stealer Ibushi & Ishimori and too much filler. ***
Takeshi Morishima vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi. Digest
Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Akitoshi Saito & Akihiko Ito. Digest
Go Shiozaki & Takashi Sugiura & Takuma Sano vs. Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone & Genba Hirayanagi. Digest
Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara vs. Jun Akiyama & Kentaro Shiga & Atsushi Aoki. Digest
Global Hardcore Crown Openweight Title Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Masao Inoue
Nippon TV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League B Block: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Ricky Marvin & Eddie Edwards
Nippon TV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League A Block: KENTA & Taiji Ishimori vs. Bryan Danielson & Roderick Strong
Kentaro Shiga & Bryan Danielson & Roderick Strong vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Genba Hirayanagi & Kikutaro
Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara vs. Yoshinari Ogawa & Akihiko Ito
Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone vs. Akira Taue & Takuma Sano
Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima & Takashi Sugiura vs. Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito
Nippon TV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League Semifinal: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori
Nippon TV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League - Semifinal: Atsushi Aoki & Kota Ibushi vs. Ricky Marvin & Eddie Edwards
Shuhei Taniguchi Rush 10 Match Series 5th: Go Shiozaki vs. Shuhei Taniguchi
Nippon TV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League Final: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Atsushi Aoki & Kota Ibushi
Yoshinobu Kanamaru vs. Akihiko Ito
Global Hardcore Crown Openweight Title Contendership, 7 Man Battle Royal: Junji Izumida, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Makoto Hashi, Kishin Kawabata, Tamon Honda, Takashi Okita & Kentaro Shiga
Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara vs. Takeshi Rikio & Kotaro Suzuki & Genba Hirayanagi
Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Akira Taue & Mohammed Yone & Ricky Marvin
Akitoshi Saito & Takuma Sano vs. Go Shiozaki & Shuhei Taniguchi
Takeshi Morishima vs. Atsushi Aoki
KENTA vs. Taiji Ishimori 25:41. This sounds like a great matchup until you remember KENTA is a complementary wrestler, and Ishimori is a complementary tag specialist. Still, their 4/23/06 GHC Junior Title Match worked quite well, so there was reason to think this could have been an excellent match. They actually put together a more structured match than I expected, but it was too long and slow and just never quick clicked and became particularly compelling. KENTA came out with his kicks, and Ishimori would counter them with Dragon screws and attack his legs to try to take the kicks away. This went on for quite some time without any particular passion. Ishimori would throw a neat move in every now and then, the highlight being trying a moonsault to the floor with KENTA in the entrance, but he was a little off and KENTA didn't quite catch him right so Ishimori's foot crashed the guard rail. The did a lot of good moves in the second half, but they weren't working together at a particularly high level. The efforts were pretty singular, pretty much a match of you do your spots and I'll do mine. Since these are two of the more entertaining wrestlers you could do a whole lot worse. I mean, Ishimori's moonsault slam alone match the match worth watching, but this was by no means a classic. ***1/4
Kotaro Suzuki vs. Taiji Ishimori 20:00
Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Ricky Marvin 7:30
Mohammed Yone vs. Shuhei Taniguchi 9:51
Go Shiozaki & Akihiko Ito vs. Kenta Kobashi & KENTA 16:55
Akira Taue vs. Kawabata Kishin 15:00
Takeshi Rikio vs. Kentaro Shiga 11:45
Akitoshi Saito vs. Takuma Sano 12:31
Junior heavyweight battle royal 15:28
Mohammed Yone vs. Takashi Sugiura 17:26
Go Shiozaki & Takeshi Morishima & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama & Tamon Honda 33:01
Taiji Ishimori vs. Ricky Marvin
Kishin Kawabata vs. Genba Hirayanagi
Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Akitoshi Saito & Takuma Sano
KENTA & Akihiko Ito vs. Takeshi Morishima & Tamon Honda
Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone vs. Yoshinobu Kanamaru & Kotaro Suzuki
Go Shiozaki vs. Atsushi Aoki
Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Takashi Sugiura & Shuhei Taniguchi
3/21/06: Mohammed Yone vs. Shuhei Taniguchi
4/4/07: KENTA vs. Ted DiBiase Jr.
Akira Taue & Jun Akiyama & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Takashi Okita & Kento Miyahara 12:17
Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone vs. Akitoshi Saito & Takuma Sano 13:25
Tamon Honda vs. Kensuke Sasaki 13:57
Go Shiozaki & Taiji Ishimori vs. Shuhei Taniguchi & Atsushi Aoki 16:30
KENTA & Ricky Marvin & Akihiko Ito vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki& Genba Hirayanagi 19:59
Global Hardcore Crown Openweight Title Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Kawabata Kishin 15:06
Takeshi Morishima vs. Takashi Sugiura 14:13
Ricky Marvin vs. Steve Anthony 7:57
Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa & Junji Izumida vs. Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone & Genba Hirayanagi 11:25
KENTA & Akihiko Ito vs. Atsushi Aoki & Bobby Fish 16:34
Go Shiozaki & Takashi Sugiura & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama & Taiji Ishimori 19:56
Bison Smith vs. Kensuke Sasaki 13:29
Akitoshi Saito vs. Takeshi Morishima 12:07
GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara 24:31
Akihiko Ito & Bobby Fish vs. Takashi Okita & Kento Miyahara 12:52
Tamon Honda & Shuhei Taniguchi & Genba Hirayanagi vs. Taiji Ishimori & Ricky Marvin & Steve Anthony 17:44
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Masashi Aoyagi 10:57
Go Shiozaki & Takashi Sugiura & Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone vs. Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama & Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa 25:58
GHC Junior Heavyweight Title Match 18th,3: KENTA vs. Atsushi Aoki 22:34
GHC Tag Title Match 17th,4: Bison Smith & Akitoshi Saito vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima 32:58
1st Junior Heavyweight League Qualification Decision Match: Genba Hirayanagi vs. Akihito Ito 8:33
1st Junior Heavyweight League Qualification Decision Match: Atsushi Aoki vs. NOSAWA 6:59
Taiji Ishimori & Ricky Marvin vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 8:56
Bison Smith vs. Shuhei Taniguchi 7:32
Jun Akiyama & Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Suguira vs. Takeshi Rikio & KENTA & Mohammed Yone 18:33
Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Genichiro Tenyru & Yoshinari Ogawa & Kotaro Suzuki 21:05
Kenta Kobashi & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Keiji Muto & Akira Taue 21:53
GHC Heavyweight Title Match: Go Shiozaki vs. Akitoshi Saito 24:42
Taiji Ishimori vs. Akihiko Ito 3:30
Yoshinari Ogawa & Ricky Marvin vs. Masashi Aoyagi & Genba Hirayanagi 10:43
Takeshi Morishima & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Makoto Hashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 9:52
Kenta Kobashi & Masahiro Chono & Go Shiozaki vs. Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito 22:50
GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Jado & Gedo 24:32
Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Takashi Sugiura 8:44
Special Tag Match: Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Jun Akiyama & KENTA 17:32. What more fitting way to pay tribute to the late Mitsuharu Misawa than to do a vintage mid 90's AJPW Kawada style match? It was so great to everyone listening to Kawada in 2009, so he was able to incorporate little stories, grudges and rivalries into the intense, brutal war rather than it solely being everyone beating the shit out of each other as was often the case with his better matches of the 00's. Granted, only KENTA actually provided much real help, but Akiyama & Taue at least knew what they had to do and were competent while Kawada & KENTA were catching a breather. KENTA didn't give Kawada a clean break to start, stunning him with a big slap that slowly dropped the dangerous one to a knee. An aggravated Kawada came back with a fierce chop then the match exploded with a big back and forth striking sequence that ended with KENTA charging into Kawada's yellow boot. Akiyama was actually motivated for his first segment with Kawada, landing some big punches. The thing is Tenryu would do this and then he'd actually go on to do other good things that'd make you mostly forget he was an old man, while Akiyama mostly disappeared. Luckily, KENTA was thrilled by the opportunity to stand up to Kawada, and managed to take all the focus off of Akiyama. KENTA invariably took a cheap shot at Kawada when he was supposed to be wrestling his partner, whipping Taue into the ropes but knocking Kawada off the apron with a jumping kick then putting the boots to him on the outside. When Kawada recovered, he snuck in and avenged with a kneedrop. This led to another huge striking showdown when Kawada tagged back in. The match didn't have the sort of climax it might have if it were 1994, but there aren't any recent stories to play off and they had to keep it on the shorter side since Kawada pretty much had to be in to direct traffic and keep the quality and intensity at the old AJPW main event level. This wasn't mere nostalgia, it was Kawada giving one of the top performances of the year in memory of his old rival and KENTA not just stepping in but certainly up to meet the challenge. ****
6/11/87 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask (Misawa) vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara
11/21/91 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, '91 World's Strongest Tag League Match: Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
Atsushi Aoki vs. Takashi Okita 7:07
Keith Walker & Delirious vs. Yoshinari Ogawa & Makoto Hashi 8:30
Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima vs. Akitoshi Saito & Akihiko Ito 4:17
1st Junior Heavyweight League B Block: Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Genba Hirayanaga 7:45
1st Junior Heavyweight League A Block: KENTA vs. Ricky Marvin 1:59. About as good a 2 minute match as you can do. It was really a little longer since Marvin attacked with a dive before the bell, but, in any case, it was one of the most aggressive, counter laden sprints you'll see. They had great chemistry and just did a complex, perfectly timed finishing sequence. Marvin was going for the finish from the outset, and threw all he had at KENTA, who answered with his blistering blows. An example of the action saw Marvin slide under a lariat, kip right up and hit a superkick, but KENTA come right back laying him out with a rolling lariat. If only they added an opening and a body to this.
Takashi Suguira & Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama & Akira Taue & Tamon Honda 17:40
1st Junior Heavyweight League B Block: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Taiji Ishimori 13:08. Not exactly their best stuff, but a nice basic power vs. speed match where their unfamiliarity was slightly apparent, but overall it was more or less a well done match that was simply too short to be fully developed. Ishimori got off to a fast start, entering by knocking Liger to the floor with a swandive missile kick then following with a no touch tope con giro. Liger quickly came back and slowed the match down, stretching Ishimori out and beating him up. This set Ishimori up to use his athleticism to make brief comebacks, countering with a flying move or a pinning predicament. If they added more of a finishing sequence it could have been really good, but it never really developed beyond this basic structure, and Ishimori never really seemed to have a legimate chance to beat the legend. ***
1st Junior Heavyweight League A Block: Kotaro Suzuki vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima 30:00. Methodical story match with Kotaro taking Nakajima's left knee apart then Nakajima working Kotaro's left arm. It was very well focused and sold, with Nakajima switching to using his right leg but still selling the left between almost everything he did because it was too weak to support his body weight. Nakajima reinjured his knee blasting the post when Suzuki ducked his kick, but there weren't a lot of big moments, it was just a super solid match where they were smart and did everything right. The main drawback was it kind of had the time limit look all along, and even though it picked up in the last 5 minutes, it failed to really transition from a really focused 70's style technical match to something truly memorable. ***3/4
12/23/06: Takeshi Morishima vs. KENTA
6/6/07: Go Shiozaki & Ricky Marvin vs. KENTA & Ippei Ota
5/5/07: Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Suguira vs. Mohammed Yone & Shuhei Taniguchi
Yoshinari Ogawa & Kentaro Shiga & Kawabata Kishin vs. Masashi Aoyagi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Katsuhiko Nakajima 13:08
Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone vs. Keith Walker & Delirious 10:35
Akitoshi Saito & Takashi Sugiura vs. Akira Taue & Atsushi Aoki 15:32
Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima & Takashi Okita vs. Jun Akiyama & KENTA & Akihiko Ito 18:34
Shuhei Taniguchi Bakushin Juuban Shoubu #6: Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Kenta Kobashi 11:17
1st Junior Heavyweight League B Block: Taiji Ishimori [2] vs. Genba Hirayanagi [0] 7:09
1st Junior Heavyweight League A Block: Kotaro Suzuki[1] vs. Ricky Marvin [2] 9:40
1st Junior Heavyweight League B Block: Yoshinobu Kanemaru [2] vs. Jushin Thunder Liger [5] 14:45
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Taiji Ishimori vs. Masashi Aoyagi & Atsushi Aoki digest of 6:59
Akira Taue & Kentaro Shiga vs. Keith Walker & Ricky Marvin digest of 8:46
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yoshinari Ogawa & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Kawabata Kishin & Akihiko Ito & Takashi Okita 0:51 of 17:33
Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima & Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Akitoshi Saito & Takashi Sugiura & Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone 23:30
1st Junior Heavyweight League A Block: Kotaro Suzuki[3] vs. Delirious [4] 13:52
1st Junior Heavyweight League B Block: Genba Hirayanagi [0] vs. Jushin Thunder Liger [5] 9:19
1st Junior Heavyweight League A Block: KENTA [3] vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima [3] 30:00. The draw probably had more to do with wanting to protect the fighters records in something of a small show interpromotional match. The lack of result played a big part in KENTA not advancing to the semifinals, and thus the belt being switched to Yoshinobu Kanemaru without KENTA actually dropping it to him. This overlong match was obviously even less likely to be outstanding than the 2/15 one because both men were surely banged up by the end of this long, grueling singles league. They did most of what they did in their previous great match, they just didn't do it nearly as well, so it wasn't a positive that they weren't really doing anything new or different. It never felt like there was even a possibility of this going short, or really being anything other than a draw. It was less story oriented, and since there was no finish to build to, they didn't put much effort into the structuring, just kind of doing all their good things in a more random manner. This was ultimately more of a solid match where they got by on their skill and talent than an exciting one. It was interesting and entertaining enough, but it didn't gain momentum or have the bursts of action to make up for the slower parts like their previous match. It was their most striking oriented match so far, and while fairly credible and believable, it was also slow and narrow, and they were standing in front of each other too much. It felt elongated because they were adding pedestrian offense and rest holds, in addition to taking more time between each strike. Though it was a slow paced match, there were still moments of excellence, though too few and too far between, as the match never really took off. Nakajima was mostly selling, and he doesn't sell as well as KENTA. KENTA was more consistent with his rib attack here, at least early on, and the match was well performed. That being said, it was basically a house show match that didn't really add much to what they had done better in previous matches. I enjoyed the fighting in the back of the building by the wall, which was mostly just another kicking exchange, but it had more urgency than the ones they were doing in the ring. Toward the end, there was a nice spot where Nakajima tried his sankakugiri, but KENTA dropkicked him out of mid-air. Another great spot saw Nakajima land on his feet for a Tiger suplex, but KENTA countered his charge with a cutter. Another new spot had Nakajima catch KENTA's leg to counter the go 2 sleep, and try to turn into an ankle lock, but KENTA actually rolled for his own ankle lock rather than just lay there like an idiot, so Nakajima had to immiediately answer with his own roll to maintain his initial advantage and prevent KENTA from ever getting his own hold ankle lock. This was their 5th best match. ***1/4
Atsushi Aoki & Taiji Ishimori & Ricky Marvin & Akihiko Ito vs. Yoshinari Ogawa & Kentaro Shiga & Makoto Hashi & Genba Hirayanagi 13:20
Ist Junior Heavyweight League Decision Tournament Semifinal: Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima 10:17. I didn't expect much given the length, but Nakajima has a great work ethic and carried the match to the heights it was capable of reaching given the limitation. He took it to Kanemaru the entire match so Kanemaru had no choice but to work hard as well. The match largely consisted of Nakajima blistering Kanemaru with his stiff and intense offense, which led into a submission from time to time, and Kanemaru making brief comebacks with one of his big flying or high impact moves. It had the look of a regular length match, but Kanemaru unfortunately countered his way to a flash pin victory. ***1/4
Ist Junior Heavyweight League Decision Tournament Semifinal: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Delirious 10:45
Mohammed Yone & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Junji Izumida & Kishin Kawabata 10:08
Takashi Suguira vs. Tamon Honda 9:29
Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Keith Walker 3:55
Go Shiozaki & Akira Taue & Akitoshi Saito vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima & Takashi Okita 17:08
Ist Junior Heavyweight League Decision Tournament Final: Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 18:53
11/1/06: Judo Suwa & Shuji Kondo & "brother" Yasshi vs. Mohammed Yone & Taiji Ishimori & Atsushi Aoki
4/4/07: Bison Smith & Joe Legend vs. Takeshi Rikio & Ippei Ota
5/5/07: Taiji Ishimori vs. Ricky Marvin
6/6/07: D-Lo Brown & Buchanan vs. Mohammed Yone & Shuhei Taniguchi
Atsushi Aoki vs. Akihiko Ito 12:07
Akitoshi Saito & Masashi Aoyagi vs. Kentaro Shiga & Genba Hirayanagi 13:02
Taiji Ishimori vs. Chris Hero 13:01
Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa & Takuma Sano & Ricky Marvin vs. Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki 13:27
Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima vs. Bison Smith & Eddie Edwards 16:28
Go Shiozaki & Kenta Kobashi vs. Takashi Sugiura & Shuhei Taniguchi 20:03
Taiji Ishimori vs. Kentaro Shiga 10:01
Go Shiozaki & Atsushi Aoki vs. Shuhei Taniguchi & Yuto Aijima 14:50
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki & Genba Hirayanagi vs. Yoshinari Ogawa & Ricky Marvin & Eddie Edwards 12:40
Takeshi Rikio vs. Chris Hero 11:40
Akira Taue vs. Mohammed Yone 8:58
Takashi Sugiura vs. Bison Smith 15:46
Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima & Kento Miyahara vs. Kenta Kobashi & Takuma Sano & Akihiko Ito 24:56
Makoto Hashi vs. Shuhei Taniguchi 10:38
Akira Taue & Takuma Sano & Junji Izumida & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Yoshinari Ogawa & Kentaro Shiga & Kishin Kawabata & Genba Hirayanagi 13:47
Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda & Akihiko Ito vs. Bison Smith & Chris Hero & Eddie Edwards 15:43
Atsushi Aoki Senkou Juuban Shoubu #10 - Naomichi Marufuji Return Match: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Atsushi Aoki 17:21
GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Taiji Ishimori & Ricky Marvin 22:26
GHC Tag Title Match Match: Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima vs. Mohammed Yone & Takeshi Rikio 26:40
GHC Heavyweight Title Match: Go Shiozaki vs. Takashi Sugiura 24:39
11/1/06 Tokyo Differ Ariake: Kotaro Suzuki vs. Ippei Ota Ippei 15:37
4/4/07 Tokyo Differ Ariake: Go Shiozaki vs. Daniel Cross 12:49
Opening Match: Taiji Ishimori & Ricky Marvin vs. Yoshinari Ogawa & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
BURNING 3 WAY: Kenta Kobashi vs. Tamon Honda vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
Teacher and Student Confrontation: Jun Akiyama vs. Makoto Hashi
11 Man Heavyweight Battle Royal+1: Genba Hirayanagi, Kishin Kawabata, Akira Taue, Takuma Sano, Junji Izumida, Takeshi Rikio, Takeshi Morishima, Mohammed Yone, Go Shiozaki, Shuhei Taniguchi, Kentaro Shiga
Who Are You?: Mushiking Terry vs. Kotaro Suzuki
Mitsuhiro Matsunaga Retirement Match: Akitoshi Saito vs. Mitsuhiro Matsunaga
NOAH vs. Machine Army: Super "S" Machine (Takashi Sugiura) & Super Strong Machine vs. Naomichi Marufuji & Atsushi Aoki
Mr. Christmas vs. Atsushi Aoki
Yoshinobu Kanamaru, Shuhei Taniguchi & Kishin Kawabata vs. Taiji Ishimori, Makoto Hashi & Kento Miyahara
Takeshi Morishima vs. Akitoshi Saito
Handicap Match: Go Shiozaki vs. Junji Izumida & Kentaro Shiga
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Akira Taue
Takuma Sano & Akihiko Ito vs. Yoshinari Ogawa & Ricky Marvin
Takashi Sugiura vs. Mohammed Yone
Kensuke Sasaki, Takeshi Rikio & Tamon Honda vs. Yoshihiro Takayama, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Genba Hirayanagi
7/22/06: Mammoth Sasaki vs. Takeshi Morishima
12/23/07 Differ Ariake: Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA vs. Takeshi Morishima & Go Shiozaki 16:19 of 22:43. Smaller show match mixing stiffness with weardown, working up to the good moves but never really taking off. Go worked most of the match with Morishima coming in for brief runs of domination. Marufuji & KENTA used their teamwork to help make up for being outsized, but you kind of always felt that they were going to eventually lose the match. Everyone contributed and it was good in spots, but outside of Morishima, who was impressively spotted, generally not near the level their capable of. **1/2