Monday, September 24, 2018

Pro Wrestling Love Vol. 9: Best of Puroresu 2005-2009 (Hiroshi Tanahashi, Yuji Nagata, Yuki Ishikawa)


Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 9:
The Greatest Matches of Non-NOAH Puroresu in 2005-2009

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at gwe.freeforums.project.net) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Contact Info: You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these match reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram @superstarsleeze or at ProWrestlingOnly.com as Superstar Sleeze to continue the discussion

Subject: This ninth volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the Top 6 countdown of the best matches to take place in Puroresu from 2005-2009. We left off at 2004 and so we are resuming at 2005. It makes sense to end at the end of the first decade of the 21st century. The last half of the decade sees Antonio Inoki be ousted from New Japan in a shocker, but he was clearly losing his mind. In his departure, New Japan began its ascent back to its place in the sun as the top promotion in puroresu. It begins with building around traditional pro wrestling and placing new stars, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura at the forefront. In addition, shoot-style made a comeback in the form of FUTEN, Big Mouth Loud and the reopening of BattlArts. Finally, junior style wrestling was revitalized with the growing popularity of Dragon Gate and the success of Katsuhiko Nakajima and Fujita Jr. Hayato.

Ratings: As of right now, I would say the top match is a lock for the list along with one of the two BattlArts matches from 2008.  

The K.I.D.


Honorable Mentions

Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Champion Yoshitune vs Fujita Jr Hayato - Michinoku Pro 12/12/08
Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Champion Fujita Jr Hayato vs Ou Kobushi - Michinoku Pro 9/5/09
As Fujita Jr. Hayato’s biggest fan, I have got to make sure he is properly represented in Pro Wrestling Love. Michinoku Pro has a mini-resurgence in the late 2000s thanks to his excellent hard-hitting work.

IWGP Heavyweight Champion HiroshI Tanahashi vs Hirooki Goto - NJPW 11/11/07
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Manabu Nakanishi vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW 6/20/09
Speaking of resurgences none was bigger than New Japan’s in the late 2000s and was all behind the Ace of the Universe, Hiroshi Tanahashi. With Antonio Inoki ousted from power, New Japan was rebuilt as a true pro wrestling company around Hiroshi Tanahashi. Tanahashi is interesting as he no strong older supporting cast to help him rebuild. Hashimoto had passed away. Mutoh was running All Japan. Chono was retired. Sasaki was in NOAH. Tanahashi along with Nakamura literally built this company back up from scratch. That is a real feather in his cap.

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura – NJPW 12/10/06
Non-NOAH Puroresu Match of the Year, 2006
I wanted to single this match out, one because it was the non-NOAH match of the year for 2006 and because it was the first great match between the two biggest rivals that would dominated New Japan for the next decade.

Open The Triangle Champions Do Fixer (Genki Horiguchi, Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito) vs. Blood Generation (CIMA, Don Fuji, Naruki Doi) - Pro Wrestling Festival 2005
Dragon Gate is not my favorite style in the world, but I really did enjoy this one. I have a very fun spotfest that everyone will like and those that really like the style will love!

All Japan Jr. Heavyweight Champion Shuji Kondo vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - AJPW 2/17/07
Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Champion Fujita Jr Hayato vs Great Sasuke - Michinoku Pro 6/19/09
The last two out are both junior heavyweight matches and really show that junior heavyweight wrestling was having a mild renaissance in the late 2000s. As I mentioned in the previous volume, I really enjoy the work of Nakajima and this was his best singles match of the decade with ex-Dragon Gate powerhouse Shuji Kondo, a truly terrific match. The next match was a part of the great Fujita Jr Hayato campaign of 2009 where he is easily my pick for Wrestler of the Year. Here he is having a great match with the Great Sasuke who had not had a great match in a decade. As we will see later in this countdown, Hayato was firing on all cylinders.

The Top Six Non-NOAH Puroresu Matches of 2005-2009

GREAT BASH HEEL!

 #6. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Togi Makabe – NJPW 7/6/07

Bloody, hellacious, heated brawl! Yuji Nagata needed to be in more of these in his career. Makabe was all in as a heel brawler. Totally invested in being the biggest scumbag on the planet. What is interesting is that it was not Makabe being an asshole that triggers Nagata into a fury. Nagata came out of the gate guns blazing! Makabe used every dirty trick he could. Nagata was the valiant defender of New Japan, a role he can surprisingly be good at. Nagata fights through eyerakes to beat the hell out of Makabe at the beginning, which is great at establishing the lengths which Nagata would go to. The ref keeps getting in his way and eventually he wears a steel chair as a collar around his neck, always a great visual. Then Makabe busts out scissors and I fell in love with this match. Nagata rips roars back into contention with huge Misawa-like elbows and bloodies Nagata. Double juice! The ref has some big cajones as he stands up to Nagata trying to rip off Makabe’s arm and to refusing to count pinfalls for Makabe because of him wrapping his arm in a chain and piledriving Nagata on a chair. Makabe misses his finish, the King Kong Kneedrop and it is off to the races. Nagata kicks his head off and the Back Drop Driver completes a successful defense. Chaos, violence and brutality. Re-reading my review, I may have actually underrated it. I need to rewatch this. This sounds amazing all over again when I was reading my review. Check this out!  

#5. Fujita Jr. Hayato vs Koji Kanemoto – NJPW Super J Cup 12/22/09
Puroresu Match of the Year, 2009

Hard Rock Halleujah! Big Hair! Middle Finger to the sky! It is Fujita Muthafuckin Jr Hayato! Hayato always has a bad attitude and the veteran Kanemoto meets him right at that level of hate & intensity. It was an absolutely electric beginning. Full mounts, hair pulling, choking, closed fists, eye gouging and gritty matwork. They make their way outside wiping out railings and chairs. Great atmosphere for this match, they are rocking. Hayato is not just a hard kicking badass. He is an amazing seller. Kanemoto worked an amazing double wristlock out of a German suplex and then switched to a heel hook that had Hayato scratching and clawing for the ropes. Great desperation selling. Steiner Screwdriver by Kanemoto! Wow! Kanemoto chooses to humiliate rather than win and that costs him as Hayato applies a tight Guillotine Choke, but Kanemoto makes it to the ropes. Kanemoto catches a kick and turns it into a heel hook for the win. What a fight! Energy and hate! Just a total asskicker!

#4. Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda – FUTEN 4/24/05
Non-NOAH, Puroresu Match of the Year, 2005

FUTEN is a BattlArts-style promotion run by Daisuke Ikeda. BattlArts was started in 1996 after shoot-style Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gym (PWFG) closed. BattlArts was started by Yuki Ishikawa, but it was not quite a shoot-style promotion. It is more of an ultra-violent promotion. Not like a CZW, but like a New Japan Strong Style on steroids. In BattlArts, it is just two sometimes four dudes hitting the ever-loving crap out of each other and unlike shoot-style they allow closed fists. Shoot-style went out of style at the turn of millennium as real MMA in the form of PRIDE took off. In the mid-2000s there were some attempts at revitalization in the form of U-Style (run by Kiyoshi Tamura) and FUTEN by Daisuke Ikeda and then Yuki Ishikawa reopening BattlArts in 2008.

It should be noted that somewhere in Japan I believe that Ishikawa and Ikeda are fighting right now. They are the Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner of Puroresu they have been fighting each other than 1996 and had some tremendous battles in 1997. The over simplified story is Ishikawa is a ground & pound wrestler whereas Ikeda is the stand up striker with lethal kicks. It is the MMA story as old as time: Stand up vs ground.

Did I mention they allow CLOSED FISTS! Incredible how they are lying them in. Ikeda kicks ass at the beginning of the match earning 4 knockdowns and forcing 2 ropes breaks to Ishikawa’s one knockdown and 2 rope break forces. Shoot style selling is always interesting. The register is sudden and intense. The long term selling is cool and calm. It makes sense in a real fight you wouldn’t busy yourself selling, but you better that register is powerful. Ishikawa makes his comeback with back drop drivers. He closes the gap to 5 knockdowns and 3 rope breaks compared to Ikeda’s six knockdowns and 3 rope break forces. Ikeda pulverizes Ishikawa’s face and causes Ishikawa to bleed profusely from the mouth. Those Ishikawa suplexes were great.  Ishikawa earns the victory with a snug crossface chickenwing. More often than not theres no great overarching narrative it is just two dudes kicking each other’s teeth in and wanting to win badly.

You can Thank Phil & The Boys at Segunda Caida for this one!


#3. Yuki Ishikawa, Alexander Otsuka, Muneori Sawa vs Daisuke Ikeda, Super Tiger II, Katsumi Usuda – BattlArts 7/26/08 Elimination Match

Anytime you see Ishikawa across the ring from Ikeda you know that shit is gonna get real. It is a great organic, thoughtful the match was. Moves like Northern Lights Suplex, Figure-4 and Sharpshooter would never happen in a MMA contest, but here they come up with credible ways to apply the hold without excessive cooperation. Of course there are plenty of brutal strikes. The elimination nature helps add a narrative element that is missing from many of the BattlArts match that I crave.  I loved the beginning of the match building to the first elimination. Sawa has a chip on his shoulder and he really wants to take out the big dog, Ikeda. He is obsessed with him to the point of costing himself the match. However, they maintain the pecking order as Ikeda is able to assert his superiority over Sawa. It is Usuda that takes advantage of Sawa’s tunnel vision applying a deep, deep toehold. Sawa sells like a million bucks and conveys great desperation knowing that he is easy pickins’. Usuda taps Sawa out and Team Ikeda 203.

They do a great job showcasing how much a hole being down a man is. The opposing team has an extra man to break up submissions and thus the onus is now on the disadvantaged to score an elimination by knockout. A perfect example of this is Otsuka has an arm triangle on Usuda, Ishikawa detains Super Tiger, but Ikeda casually strolls over to break up the submission. The disadvantaged team has the suplex machine, Otsuka and the hard-hitting Ishikawa so they have a puncher’s chance. Otsuka does even the score by hitting a German/Dragon Suplex combo to KO Usuda and tying it up at 2-2. Ikeda & Tiger eliminate Otsuka in short order with a wicked Tiger kick to the head and then Ikeda polishes him off with a brainbuster and punt to the head. Team Ikeda is up 2-1. I love how quick that elimination was. Team Ishikawa worked so damn hard to tie it up only for Ishikawa to be left all by himself. Heartbreaker. There is no one to save Ishikawa in submissions and all his submissions will be broken up. In the spot of the match Ishikawa has a Standing Deathlock on Super Tiger so everytime Ikeda kicks Ishikawa down it wrenches the hold in more. Wow! That is a contender for greatest spot in history. Eventually Super Tiger’s knee gives out and he succumbs. It was all building up to this: Ishikawa vs Ikeda Round 8,624. Ishikawa is exhausted and may have punched himself out. Ishikawa wants a submission and Ikeda wants to kick Ishikawa’s head off when we get a draw! I didn’t like this finish. It is enough to probably keep it off my final ballot. It was not 30 minutes of Ishikawa vs Ikeda earning a draw rather it was an elimination tag where Ikeda was not in the match that long. It just did not feel like an earned draw, but booking crutch not to give a finish to Ishikawa vs Ikeda. Still for 30 minutes of action, you would be hard pressed to find something better.
   
#2. Yuki Ishikawa & Muneori Sawa vs Super Tiger II & Manabu Hara – BattlArts 11/16/08
Puroresu Match of the Year, 2008

My favorite genre of Puroresu: Prick heels vs Ace Babyface & A Hungry Young Lion. We saw Sawa in the previous match how he has a lot of energy and a real chip on his shoulder. Tiger holds Ishikawa as Hara attacks him with wicked kicks to the midsection. Great selling from Ishikawa. Ishikawa crumples to the mat with every kick to the midsection. All the submission holds are so well worked and so well-hold wrestlers lunging desperately for the ropes. The match kicks into overdrive when Sawa becomes a face in peril. Tiger hooks in a choke on Sawa. Sawa reaches the sanctuary of the ropes only to find Super Tiger come in blazing with kicks. Ishikawa tries to save but Hara hits a kneelift to his sore midsection. Tiger and Hara take turns mercilessly kicking Sawa. What makes this so good is the gradualism of Sawa’s selling. There is no dying, no deadfish selling and no miraculous kicks outs. Sawa is fighting back, but just being overwhelmed. Sawa pays tribute to the Keiji Mutoh with a Dragon Leg Screw and Shining Wizard! Pro Wrestling Love! The rest of the match is effectively a handicap match as Sawa is completely decimated. Super Tiger II looks to finish the job he started in August of 2008 in his singles match with Ishikawa. Ishikawa is able to play counterwrestler and convert those lethal kicks into heel hook submissions. I love how they really earn their saves. Hara has to really wrestle Sawa down and lunge for the desperation save. Likewise when Tiger has Ishikawa in a double wristlock, Sawa breaks through. Just like my original review, I am not going to spoil the finish because it is something that should be enjoyed without an foreknowledge. I like it better than the elimination because of the great face in peril segment on Sawa and the red hot finish run.   

#1. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Yuji Nagata – NJPW 4/13/07
Puroresu Match of The Year, 2007

The first of many Hiroshi Tanahashi masterpieces! It all begins here as the new, young champion of New Japan defends against the old guard, Yuji Nagata. What makes this so different from many other matches in 2000s from Japan is that it is a traditional championship style bout. Nagata is one remaing holdover from the Inoki Era. He is the bridge between the Three Musketeers and Tanahashi & Co. He is built in the image of Inoki. He is a pro wrestler that excels at striking and counterwrestling. In the year 2007, Tanahashi is coming in the champion, but he is by no means The Man, yet. Nagata is mighty over and he is ready to prove why he is Mr. IWGP.

Tanahashi employs a very similar strategy in his matches as 2001 Keiji Mutoh. In a lot of ways he is the heir to Mutoh, but a much hard worker and a much smarter wrestler. The thing that connects Tanahashi and Mutoh is that needed have the firepower to compete at the tippy-top level of a Hashimoto, Nagata or a Nakamura. They are not going to out-strike or out-wrestle these combatants. They are crafty wrestlers and agile. They take away a body part and put their opponent in a hole. Tanahashi builds on where Mutoh laid the groundwork to use his offense to set up his big bombs. One of my favorite aspects of Tanahashi matches is when he eats knees on a High Fly Flow, but has been working the knees so his opponent is forced to sell his knees. With this knowledge of who Tanahashi is, we can begin analyzing the match. Tanahashi cannot let Nagata dictate the pace. Tanahashi is a bit of a cocky bastard. I mean he is very pretty. He takes time to pose and Nagata takes that as a slight. He tears into him with kicks, knees and elbows. Nagata looks to tear Tanahashi’s arm off. Nagata tries to kick Tanahashi off the apron, but Tanahashi catches his kick and Dragon Leg Screw! Thus it begins, the classic Tanahashi heat segment! Along with Bret Hart, there are few others I rather watch work a control segment than Tanahashi. Tanahashi is laser focused on the knee like his life depends on it. Nagata is selling like a million bucks, Flair Flop and Kawada-like collapse. At the same time, Nagata has great hope spots like flash submission in this case a crossface. He starts to build momentum, but his knee gives out on a brainbuster. Tanahashi’s strategy is paying dividends. Here comes the big Tanahashi finish stretch with all his signature moves. The High Flow Fly eats knees, but as I said Nagata cant capitalize because his knees are all messed up. Sling Blade, nope, Nagata holds on for a BACK DROP DRIVER! It is all knotted up in the 4th Quarter. I am really impressed at how well Tanahashi conveys how important this match is late in the game: headbutting Nagata’s knee and the way he really puts all his weight into a German Suplex bridge. Try as Tanahashi might, he falls short as Nagata always had a puncher’s chance and a big kick to the rocks the future Ace of the Universe and two backdrop drivers take it for Blue Justice. Great veteran vs young champion match and just a beautifully escalated traditional championship match! Tanahashi’s strategy shows he is a thinking man’s wrestler, but cant handle all the firepower of Nagata yet.

With all the Puroresu of the 2000s done, it is time to finally finish what I started and close out the WWF Best of 1993-1997.  

No comments:

Post a Comment