Youth Gone Mild: Naomichi Marufuji, Takeshi Morishima, KENTA (NOAH, 2006)

Hey yo Stud Muffins and Foxy Ladies,

Im going to Bologna and Florence in a couple weeks. Anybody who knows any hot spots especially discotheques please tweet @superstarsleeze.

"God gave us the Papacy...now let us enjoy it"

Times, they are a changing? Or the more things change the more they the same? Rikio's 2005 title experiment was a total bust, but with Kobashi on the undercard the Budokan remained sold-out. If you look at my 2005 NOAH blog you would think that Kobashi just took the year off from singles and focused on badass tag team matches and that Rikio did not even exist. With Rikio gone belly up, Misawa went with the steady, reliable Akira Taue to transition the championship. The man who held the belt for most of 2006 was the familiar, but tarnished Jun Akiyama.

After his red hot 2000 & 2001, Akiyama dominated tag team ranks and still sort of bubbling under. Looking back, I would have saw Akiyama to Kobashi as Kobashi was to Misawa. He was inching ever closer to top dog status, but just a half-a-step behind Kobashi. A lot people say the Dome loss to Kobashi destroyed any chances of Akiyama ever being an Ace in NOAH. I truly believe they could have recovered from that, but the booking after the Dome loss was horrible and especially towards Akiyama. In 2005, Akiyama was relegated to playing second fiddle to Genichiro Tenryu in tag matches and his best match was a non-NOAH street fight against Katsuyori Shibata. His title victory over Taue was fantastic and return to his peak 2000 form in how focused he was. I would say that this match or Danielson/KENTA is the best match of 2006 so far. However, after the title victory Akiyama just drops off the face of the Earth ala Rikio. Had the belt become cursed?

The focus of 2006 seemed to be a stronger commitment to pushing the new generation. The younger guard was comprised of Rikio, the agile giant Morishima, KENTA and Marufuji. Given the success of KENTAFuji and the fact Marufuji was the bigger of the two, Misawa took a gamble on the undersized Marufuji and pushed him to the moon. He defeated ex-champion, Taue at the Budokan in March and in April he went toe-to-toe with Kobashi coming up short, but looking great given his performance. He would go to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship against Akiyama.

Amazing MOVES~! like this mean nothing when there are 50 of a match and they are inconsequential.

In the interim, disaster struck. Kobashi was diagnosed with cancer and would not return until late 2007. Without Kobashi on the card, Marufuji was not going to have the same luxury as Rikio having Kobashi buoy attendances while he got a feel for his new responsibilities. The results were catastrophic. The November Budokan headlined by Marufuji vs. KENTA: KENTAFuji EXPLODES~! did just 11,500 you would have to go back to the early 90s to find an All Japan card that did so poorly. To make matters worse, in my opinion, the match fucking shit the bed and was a total clusterfuck.

By the end of 2006, Misawa had no choice, but to pull the trigger on this experiment and put the strap on himself. Without Kobashi and with a neutered Akiyama, he had no choice to put himself in position to lead his company both on and off screen. It is like they always say if you want something done right, do it yourself. So the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.


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1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 02/27/00

2. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 03/01/03

3. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Budokan 04/25/04

4. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - All Japan 05/26/00

5. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01

6. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka - NJ PPV 12/14/00
7. Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Genichiro Tenryu & Jun Akiyama - Budokan 9/18/05

8. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Tokyo Dome 07/10/04

9. GHC Tag Team Champions Misawa & Ogawa vs KENTAFuji  Budokan 04/25/04

10. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa – Budokan 11/01/03
11. GHC Heavyweight Champion Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 01/22/06

12. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 12/23/00

13. IWGP Jr Hvywt Tag Champs Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Minoru - NJPW  6/25/00

14. IWGP Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada - 10/00 Tokyo Dome Non-Title

15. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Togi Makabe - NJPW 07/06/07

16. Keiji Mutoh vs Toshiaki Kawada - Champions Carnival 04/01

17. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue - NOAH 09/10/04

18. Toshiaki Kawada vs Naoya Ogawa - Zero-One 12/14/03

19. Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki vs Kensuke Sasaki/Katsuhiko Nakajima - NOAH 11/5/05

20. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Minoru Tanaka vs Takehiro Murahama - NJPW 4/20/01

21. Shinya Hashimoto & Takashi Iizuka vs Naoya Ogawa & Kazunari Murkami - Tokyo Dome 01/04/00

22. KENTAFuji vs Jushin Liger & Murahama - GHC Jr Heavyweight Tag Title Final 07/16/03

23. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Tamon Honda - NOAH 04/13/03

24. Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki vs Jun Akiyama & Genichiro Tenryu - Budokan 4/24/2005

25. Genichiro Tenryu & Masa Fuchi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Nobutaka Araya - AJPW 6/30/01

26. Kenta Kobashi vs Takao Omori - Champions Carnival Final '00

27. Akira Taue vs Yuji Nagata - NOAH 6/6/03

28. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura - NJPW 12/10/06

29. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Shinya Hashimoto - AJPW 02/22/04

30. GHC Tag Team Champions Sterness (Akiyama & Saito) vs Burning (Kobashi & Honda) - Budokan 6/6/03

31. GHC Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 07/27/01

32. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada - Tokyo Dome 7/18/05 

33. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yuji Nagata - Budokan 9/12/03

34. New Japan (Liger & Minoru ) vs. NOAH (Kikuchi & Kanemaru) - NOAH 4/7/02

35. GHC Tag Champions Akiyama & Saito vs Kobashi & Shiga - NOAH 10/19/02

36. Toshiaki Kawada & Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen & Taiyo Kea - Budokan 07/23/00

37. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Kensuke Sasaki - 01/04/00

38. Genichiro Tenryu vs Toshiaki Kawada - Vacant All Japan Triple Crown 10/28/00

39. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Hiroyuki Ito - U-Style 08/18/04

40. KENTA vs Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 06/27/04

41. Yuji Nagata vs Koji Kanemoto - NJPW G-1 Climax 08/12/06

42. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Minoru Suzuki - Budokan 01/08/05

43. Yoshihiro Takayama vs Kensuke Sasaki - G-1 Climax '04
44. Kenta Kobashi vs Naomichi Marufuji - Budokan 4/23/06

45. Low Ki vs AJ Styles - Z1 01/05/03
46. KENTAFuji vs Wild II (Morishima & Rikio) - Budokan 7/16/06

47. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada - Champions Carnival '00

48. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - NOAH #2 08/06/00

49. Genichiro Tenryu vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan - Vacant IWGP Championship 02/15/04

50. GHC Champion Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mitsuharu Misawa - Budokan 09/23/02

51. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Vacant GHC Title 04/15/01

52. Genichiro Tenryu vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 07/07/02

53. Akira Taue vs Naomichi Marufuji - Budokan 3/6/04

54. Kenta Kobashi vs Kensuke Sasaki - Tokyo Dome 7/18/05

55. Yuji Nagata vs Giant Bernard - New Japan Cup Finals 04/30/06

56 U-30 Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuyuki Fujita - Vacant IWGP Championship 6/5/04

57. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takeshi Morishima - Budokan 3/5/06

58. IWGP Champion Yuji Nagata vs. Yoshihiro Takayama - Tokyo Dome 05/02

59. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - U-Style 02/04/04

60. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Vader vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 2/27/00

61. All Japan Triple Crown Champ  Toshiaki Kawada vs Katsuyori Shibata - NJPW 11/03/04 non-Title

62. IWGP Jr Tag Champions Kanemoto & Minoru vs Liger & Makabe - NJPW 9/12/00

63. KENTA vs. Naomichi Marufuji - NOAH 11/13/04
64. Keiji Mutoh vs Yuji Nagata - Sumo Hall 08/12/01 G-1 Climax Final

65. Jun Akiyama vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - G-1 Climax Finals 08/17/03

66. Takaiwa & Hoshikawa vs Dick Togo & Hidaka - Z-1 12/26/03 

67. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Champions Carnival '00

68. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata - Budokan 02/17/02

69. Mitsuharu Misawa & Akira Taue vs Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama - NOAH #1 08/05/00

70. Kenta Kobashi/Kensuke Sasaki vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Katsuhiko Nakajima - KO 2/11/06

71. New Japan (Liger & Inoue) vs NOAH (Kikuchi & Kanemaru) - NOAH 2/17/02

72. IWGP Jr Hvywt Tag Champs Liger & Minoru vs. Kikuchi & Kanemaru - NJPW 8/29/02

73. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Giant Bernard - NJPW 06/18/06 Vacant IWGP Championship

74. Sterness  vs. Burning 8-Man Tag - NOAH 08/03

75. Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi - AJPW 01/17/00

76. Genichiro Tenryu vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 02/24/02

77. Yoshihiro Takayma vs Osamu Nishimura - G-1 Climax Semifinals

78. Yoshihiro Takayama vs Kensuke Sasaki - G-1 Climax Round Robin

79. SUWA vs Dragon Kid - Toryumon 08/24/00 Hair Vs Mask

80. GHC Tag Champs Misawa & Ogawa vs Saito & Inoue - NOAH 9/10/04

81. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Masato Tanaka - Zero-One 3/02/02

82. Keiji Mutoh & Hiroshi Hase vs Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata - Tokyo Dome 10/08/01

83. NJPW(Liger, Minoru , Makabe) vs Osaka Pro(Delfin, Murhama, Tsubasa)-NJPW 12/14/00

84. Toshiaki Kawada vs Vader - AJPW 2/17/00

85. Shinya Hashimoto & Yuji Nagata vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - Zero-One 3/2/01

86. GHC Jr Heavyweight Tag Champs KENTAFuji vs Kanemaru & Hashi Budokan 9/12/03

87. U-30 Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura - Tokyo Dome 01/04/05

88. Toshiaki Kawada vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 06/06/01

89.  Naoki Sano vs Minoru Tanaka - Battlarts 01/30/2000

90. Dick Togo vs Tiger Mask IV - M-Pro 08/25/02

91. GHC Tag Team Champions Wild II vs Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito - Budokan 9/23/02
92. GHC Heavyweight Champion Naomichi Marufuji vs KENTA - Budokan 10/29/06

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NODOWA~!

GHC Heavyweight Champion Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 01/22/06

Wow, Akiyama looking like it is 2000 with his urgency and focus. Akiyama has looked great in certain instances since 2002, but here he was wrestling at the level that made him the preeminent puroresu star at the turn of the century. Everything was focused on Taue's head and neck. He was throwing knees like Misawa would throw elbow. Everything had a purpose and a sense of urgency behind. Taue is the King of Efficiency. There are no overwrought sequences. He is a straight-ahead wrestler. His goal was to Nodowa Akiayama to hell and retain his title. It did not feel like  macho pissing contest, but two men struggling to win a championship.

The bout starts off pretty even with Taue having a slight advantage. Akiyama looks to strike early ascending the ropes, but Taue big boots him to the outside. Taue consolidates with a great dive to the outside. Taue chucks him back first into the railing and then drops him neck first on railing. Taue looks to get the Nodowa setting up with hotshots, legdrops and big boots, but Akiyama is able back body drop him out. In the spot of the match, Akiyama absolutely wipes Taue out with a running knee from the apron from behind. Akiyama does the same move again, but this time with Taue on the railing. Akiyama is relentless with knees to the head and does his trademark top rope diving elbow to the back of the head. Taue makes a mini comeback with a back drop driver that sets up the Nodowa/Big Splash comb. In a sequence I loved, Akiyama dropkicked Taue's knee to be able to knee him in the head, but the knees only get two. He looks for the Exploder, but Taue knows to avoid it. Akiyama DDTs him on the ramp. Akiyama looks to seal the deal with a running knee, but eats a big boot. NODOWA OFF THE RAMP~!

They tease the countout finish, but Taue rolls him back in to only get two. Taue hits Nodowa and holds onto throat to hit a Dynamic Bomb that looked dangerous, but only gets two. Backdrop Nodowa and cocky Taue covers with hand just on throat. Taue wants the Nodowa off the rope, but Akiiyama fights off. Akiyama jumping knee off the ropes. The Exploder gets two. They are really both showing much they want to win this with constant barrage of nearfalls. Akiyama goes for his guillotine choke, but still cant negotiate the pin. Another exploder still cant get the job done. "TAUE! TAUE! TAUE! TAUE! TAUE!" Now it's Akiyama going for the Top Rope Finish and it is SUPER NODOWA~! Taue can only get a arm on Akiyama and it is a kick out. Taue has an enziguiri left in him, but Akiyama unleashes knee after knee and eventually Taue succumbs to the onslaught.

An absolutely terrific match with both wrestlers working hard to win the match, which should not be a novel concept. Akiyama's commitment to the knee and the attack on Taue's head and neck was tremendous to watch. Taue has enough tricks in his bag to work effective control segments and then surprise during the big finish run. Clocking in at around 20 minutes, the match felt fresh and energetic throughout with Akiyama in top form. ****1/2

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Kenta Kobashi/Kensuke Sasaki vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Katsuhiko Nakajima 

Kensuke Office 2/11/06

Kensuke Sasaki is out to teach his young protege, Katsuhiko Nakajima, some tough love at what I believe is the first Kensuke Office show. I believe Akira Hokuto, Kensuke Sasaki's wife is on commentary, and his children are shown in the crowd. I loved how everytime Sasaki lit up Nakajima there was an insert window that shown Hokuto's conflicted reaction. The beginning was great with Kobashi and Sasaki pumping each other by chopping each other and then giving out a bellow and shaking hands. If I was their opponent, it would be rubber pants time for me.

Nakajima hits a spinwheel kick right off the bat to get a quick two and Sasaki bails. After that, it is all Sasaki who throws him half way cross the ring on a headlock and Sasaki is not taken off his feet by Nakajima's kicks. Kobashi wants Tenryu. Tenryu at first avoids the chop by ducking under ropes, but then instigates the chop war. Bad idea. This time Tenryu only has a trickle of blood come down his chest. Tenryu says enough of this bullshit and kicks his knee. DDT on the floor. Kobashi is all like WTF, MATE!?!?! Tenryu holds the ropes open, but then blasts Kobashi with an elbow and then grabs some woman's chair and blasts Kobashi with it. Tenryu and Nakajima are clearly outgunned by the dream team of Kobashi and Sasaki so they need to fight dirty. Nakajima can not contain Kobashi. Tenryu is in quickly to choke Kobashi with his tape. Kobashi is madder than a hornet and makes a beeline for Tenryu. Tenryu retreating into the crowd grabs a chair and jams into Kobashi's mouth. OW! Kobashi is bleeding profusely from the mouth. Nakajima takes a wicked bump off a Kobashi chop. He hits the back of his head hard. Kobashi has to tag out due to his mouth. The same Nakajima cant get the brickhouse down. Tenryu comes around the corner and whips a full water bottle at Kobashi. At the Sasaki family show, things are getting heated.

It is the point of the match where they lose me. I was loving all the Tenryu's prick work and Nakajima as spunky underdog. Then the match just turns into a legalized mauling of Nakajima. This is not the heat segment where you are like I cant wait for the hot tag. It is more like I feel really bad for Nakajima and Tenryu please just end it because you are pricks for running the score up on them. At one point, Tenryu tries to save Nakajima, but Sasaki chops Tenryu down in the corner and he just seems so helpless. It is more hopeless and depressing. Again Tenryu tries to save, but Sasaki bulldozes him and puts him in an amrbar while Kobashi has Nakajima in a Texas Cloverleaf.

All of sudden, Nakajima just out of self-perservation starts throwing big boots and avoids Sasaki, who bulldozes Kobashi! TAG TO TENRYU! Lariats for everyone. Enziguiri and punches to Kobashi. Tenryu gets a wicked abdominal stretch on Kobashi, but once Tenryu starts chopping it is all over. It is now the legalized mauling of Tenryu by the two powerhouses. Northern Lights Bomb Nakajima Saves! Tenryu blocks a Northern Lights Bomb and hits a Brainbuster. Tag to Nakajima! Give em hell, Nakajima!

Nakajima finally takes Sasaki down with kicks. He elbows Kobashi off the apron. He ascends to the top. Can the kid do it? Missile dropkick for one? FUCK YOU KENSUKE! Sasaki blocks the Northern Lights Bomb so Tenryu punches him in the face. Nakajima Northern Lights Bomb gets two. Goes for his German, but Kobashi hits the half-nelson. Tenryu hits a lariat on Kobashi. Sasaki lariats Tenryu. Nakajima German for two on Sasaki. Again another "This is Awesome" chants moment. Nakajima controls Sasaki with kicks to head, but Sasaki catches axe-kick into powerbomb, which should have been the finish. Hey Masa Saito is there! That's cool. Kobashi and Sasaki do the Bash Brothers. Wicked lariat with Nakajima basically taking a headdrop off of it gives the win to the all-star team.

In a cool moment after the match, there is a group picture with the likes of Keiji Mutoh, Takayama, Kojima and the M-Pro guys with Sasaki, Kobashi, Nakajima, Hokuto and Sasaki's kids front and center.

As much, I really enjoyed the NOAH heavyweight tag team matches from 2005, this was a clear step down. This was more of an exhibition of how Kobashi and Sasaki are the baddest men that ever lived. The take away from this match was there could be an alien invasion in 2006, but they would have no chance because the human race has Kenta Fuckin Kobashi and Kensuke Fuckin Sasaki. There was enough from Tenryu and Nakajima that this was not a total squash. I loved the early heeling from Tenryu, but we really never got the heat segment on Kobashi to make you want to see Kobashi beat the living shit out of Nakajima. If you restructure the match with a Kobashi FIP segment, this had the potential to be a real classic. Instead, it may have been a feel-good match if you are a Kobashi or Sasaki fan. Nakajima was the MVP of the match with his crazy bumps and selling. By the end of the match, Nakajima was rocking and rolling, but just did not have enough firepower to compete with Sasaki. It is a very good match and worth the watch, but could have been so much more. ***1/2

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Akira Taue vs Naomichi Marufuji - Budokan 3/6/04

Taue's specialty is reigning wrestlers in and there is no wrestler on the NOAH roster that needs to be reigned in more than Marufuji. Taue rises to the occasion and pulls out a pretty good match from Marufuji. It is a straightforward story if the veteran giant against the undersized, plucky young hotshot. Taue dominates early with his size throwing around Marufuji. Taue mocks Marufuji by doing his own moves and then teasing the big dive to the outside. The crowd and I were ready to pop big for the dive, but it was for naught. While Taue was on the apron, Marufuji wisely went after the giant's legs and getting into the ring to apply a figure-4. After tangling up in the ropes, Taue wins a suplex struggle and hits a hot shot. He is selling the knee, but fighting through the pain. On the outside, Nodowa into post and Taue's heat segment is pretty tame. The match picks up once Marufuji hits a Nodowa when he is on the turnbuckles calling back to how Taue was hitting his moves. Taue tries for a Nodowa, but Marufuji flips out and hit a basement dropkick and running kick to head. Marufuji hits a Human Capture Suplex and then a superkick/sliced bread combo. I hate Sliced Bread No. 2. TAUE COUNTERS SLICED BREAD WITH NODOWA!!!! If that was the finish, FIFTY BAZILLION STARS! Taue counters a schoolboy roll-up with a triangle choke. If that was the finish, FIFTY BAZILLION STARS! Taue Nodowa and Dynamic Bomb only get two! Oh Shit! Marufuji counters Backdrop Nodowa and Taue goes to town with chops on Marufuji. I love Taue! Marufuji blocks the back drop Nodowa with holding his hand and converting into a cross-armbreaker, which Taue breaks with overhand chops. They told a stupid Spanish Fly tease and Marufuji wins with a superkick and intricate cradle.

The finish run was wicked hot, but I thought the body of the match was pretty tepid. Everything made sense, but Marufuji just is not that fiery compared to Kobashi or Akiyama so there is a lack of struggle. The finish was lots of fun with some really cool moments like Nodowa counter to Sliced Bread and Marufuji countering the Nodowa, but not enough to make this a classic match. On a night where the theme was old guard versus new guard, it seemed like the new guard just was not there yet. They split the matches 2-2 with the big guns, Misawa and Kobashi going 2-0. Probably the most telling statement was that Akiyama defended against an outsider (Minoru Suzuki) rather than Rikio, Maurufuji, Morishima, KENTAor Shiozaki. The new guard still needed more time to develop unfortunately for everyone involved there was not much time left. ***3/4

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Wendy vs Lana in a Firecracker on a Pole Match! BOOK IT, VINCE~!

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takeshi Morishima - Budokan 3/5/06

At a Budokan show that featured four old guard vs new guard matches, Takeshi Morishima looked to shine against the resilient Mistuharu Misawa. Early on, Morishima looked like an unstoppable force in the ring. His lariat was crisp and I wished that would his strike of choice. His elbows are fine, but Vader-esque forearms tends to leave a lot to be desired. Still he was showing great energy and mobility for a man his size. I have always loved Morishima's look and the Japanese commentators compare him to Terry Gordy. The match told the classic Misawa story of rope-a-dope with Misawa letting his opponent punch himself out and time his comebacks. Misawa hits a diving elbow, but takes more out of Misawa and Morishima hits a shoulder block from the top rope to the floor. While some of these spots looked impressive, Morishima felt like a plug-in-play wrestler in the Misawa formula and was not bringing that extra spark to separate himself from the pack of young guns. Morishima is bleeding from the nose for no apparent reason and hits a powerbomb. He looks for another on the ramp, but silly Morishima you can't powerbomb Misawa twice and Misawa-rana follows. Misawa goes offense with his usual aerial spots. He hits the Tiger Driver and then goes for the Tiger Driver off the apron, but Morishima throws him off the apron. Morishima is confident when hitting the lariat. Sometimes he look lethargic and indecisive in the ring.

In the big spot of the match, Misawa hits a Tiger Driver off the apron onto the floor. So much JIGGLE~! on the slow-motion replay. The count is on, but Misawa rolls him in. Morishima hits him with a wild forearm. Morishima runs through his big offensive run: back drop driver, exploder, lariat and back drop driver. The final kick out gets a big pop and we all know it is over for Morishima. Misawa roocks him huge with a massive elbow in corner. Misawa relentless with elbows throwing the ref off. Morishima makes a final stand, but succumbs to the Elbow Onslaught.

Misawa by the number is a great formula and produces enjoyable matches. Morishima went on offense early and Misawa peppered in his hope spots. Then Morishima got one big run before the eventual Misawa elbow barrage. It is up to the opponent to make them something special and memorable out of this well-designed formula. Morishima gave an uneven performance. There were some great spots, but there was something lacking in charisma and selling. Outside of the lariat, he did not seem to having anything he could fall back on. Morishima has the look and good fundamentals to build on. He just needed more time to mature. Unfortunately, 2006 was pretty much now or never for the NOAH young guard and no one was ready. Misawa pitched him a softball and Morishima hit a double. Aint nuthin wrong with a double except when you needed that home run. ***3/4

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Kenta Kobashi vs Naomichi Marufuji - Budokan 4/23/06

The last Kobashi match at the Budokan, until his 2008 return after surviving a cancer scare, features him working with Marufuji during his push towards to the GHC Heavyweight. I don't wish cancer on anyone. I am a big Kobashi fan, but he was descending into self-parody. If there was any silver lining it was that he needed the two years off. Of course, when I go to watch the 2008-2009 work, I may end up saying he just should have retired, but I will wait and see. Marufuji came to work during this match and prove that he was capable of working the heavyweight style. I thought this was his best individual performance to date.

NOAH is really, really good at the first 5-10 minutes of matches. They always establish these cool stories, but never follow them to an interesting conclusion. Instead they settle for fireworks displays. It is really disappointing. After a handshake of respect, Marufuji is trying to prove himself to Kobashi, but he finds himself thwarted at every turn by Kobashi superior strength, I loved the head fakes during the chopfest only for Kobashi to finally catch him. The wristlock only ended up him being chopped. The headscissors lasted longer, but he suffered a similar fate. Kobashi looked like he was going to make easy work for this pretender. Then Marufuji took to the high ground and dropkicked Kobashi in the knee. Marufuji's knee work was totally on point with figure-4s being the choice. Kobashi still can turn on the sympathy sell when he wants. It was 1995 all over again with him selling the knee like a million bucks and we were all buying it. Kobashi eventually catches him with a  chop, but collapses in the ring. Kobashi desperately suffocates him knowing he cant afford to let him regain his strength. Marufuji catches Kobashi's chop in an awesome moment. Lariat. Kobashi unphased says bring it. Marufuji superkick and Kobashi's sell is perfect. "Damn it that little kid actually hit me." Marufuji hits a big splash to the outside and he is starting to feel it. In one of the best uses of springboard dropkick as Kobashi is crawling back into the ring, Marufuji nails him in the head.

Of course, it is now time for the finish run and they just lose it. It is a barrage of Sliced Breads and Half-Nelsons. The best sequence was actually this rather overwrought counters, but looked actually like they were struggling and finished with a Burning Lariat. Obviously that should have been the finish, but of course Marufuji kicks out. Brainbuster wins it for Kobashi.

I didn't know that the goal of wrestling was to get a bigger pop on a false finish than the actual finish. Snide remarks aside, the match was very good for the first 3/4s or so and they just fell into the usual NOAH finish pattern. They gave Taue/Akiyama a run for their money for NOAH match of 2006, but came up short. ****

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Bad Haircut, Badder Attitude

KENTAFuji vs Wild II (Morishima & Rikio) - Budokan 7/16/06

Mori-Fuckin-Shima, welcome to the party, brutha, why dont you stay awhile? Talk about a breakout performance in my eyes. He looked like a cant miss prospect in this match. Morishima is someone I have not explored fully (I really want to watch the Danielson series after this), but if he is hitting these highs he looks unstoppable. I don't if in the other matches it has been a lack of confidence, he looked like a star in this match. The number one reason I want to watch the Morishima/Danielson matches were for his double hot exchanges with KENTA. KENTA reminds me of 2013 Daniel Bryan so much. He is a wrestling in a body that is not his own and is three sizes bigger than he really is. He is just a friggin' dynamo. The dude can sell his ass off when the time comes for it. Now, my big qualm with him is sometimes he wrestles too big. A superplex to Morishima or a powerslam should be treated like a big deal because of the size disparity, but because KENTA is trying to really show the audience that he is an equal these moves come off as ordinary moves. It is like Misawa or Kobashi is doing them. KENTA should be leveraging his size as an actual advantage by getting people to pop by saying "Holy shit look at that little guy superplex Morishima" by really struggling to accomplish the feat.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Marufuji and Rikio fucking sucked. Yes, they took part in this match, but fuck them for ruining it with their laziness and apathy. I am a positive guy so I am going to focus on the good, but if the rating does not reflect my enthuasiam it is because I have to judge the match as a whole and unfortunately Rikio and Marufuji were a part of this match.

The majority of the first ten minutes were relatively tame (give you one guess who to blame). However, guess who just rocked it from the get go. KENTA and Morishima, BABY! KENTA is flying all around like D-Bry off a hot tag and Shima murders him with a lariat and then another one. Shima goes for the Back Drop Driver, but Marufuji hits a superkick and a double kick stuns Morishima. There was a boring control segment on Morishima. Morishima catches Marufuji coming off the top with an overhead belly to belly.

Rikio is a very pedesterian wrestler. He is just sort of there. His main source of offense is a slap. It is pretty much the only thing KENTA and Marufuji consistently sell from him. Rikio tags out. My notes just say MORISHIMA RULEZ~! Because he does. Morishima sprints in and bascially jumps and sits on KENTA. As a fuck you to Marufuji, he does a back handspring, but then just starts unloading on KENTA with forearms. He hits this ragdoll urnage/exploder thingy that looked awesome. The aforementioned KENTA superplex was in there somewhere, which I thought could have been highlighted more. The climax of this sequence was Morishima diving onto KENTAFuji on the floor. What follows was an excellently worked heat section on KENTA's ribs and midsection. Rikio would stand on KENTA and then Morishima would climb on Rikio for extra weight. Of course, double stomps and ab stretches. KENTA was really taking a pounding and he was milking it for everything it was worth.

I have to mention this. Marufuji at one point comes in to save with the weakest looking little kicks to Rikio back. They looked downright dainty. It is too bad Morishima never really got a hold of that little chump. Rikio runs into a corner and KENTA hits a back suplex to tag in Marufuji for the lukewarm tag. Marufuji fucks up a spot and runs through his usual stuff: dropkicks to knees, human capture suplex, superkicks. Morishima hits a massive missile dropkick. Marufuji only postive contribution to the match was that bump. Marufuji escapes the Doomsday Device with a victory (a pretty neat counter). KENTA much too easily hits a powerslam and German on Morishima. Fuck it though at least we finally get a hot tag after Rikio's and Marufuji's and the crowd goes mild tags. KENTA beats the piss out of Morishima with his exploding knee (Bryan's current finish), wicked kicks to head, Sliced Bread/powerbomb combo and the Go 2 Sleep. Punk's and Bryan's finish by the originator cant get it done. Morishima's big run is a back drop driver and a lariat I totally bit on. Once it became Morishima's lariat and KENTA's barrage of cradles, I knew the finish...Draw.

This is the tale of two matches: KENTA/Morishima rocking it and Marufuji/Rikio phoning it in. It is such a shame that Marufuji is bigger than KENTA. KENTA does suffer from trying to get all his shit in and not building to big moments. He definitely could sell, but needed to work on long-term selling. The offense and crowd connection was there. Morishima it was all about being able to hit that high level consistently. It is on the job training and thus it is a shame they just did not strap a rocket to these two's ass because the crowd was buying what they were selling. Just leave RIkio and Maurfuji in the dust. It is a tough match to rate. Rikio and Marufuji were not in there much. I tend to reward awesome more than subtract for apathy because I am a postive dude. ****

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GHC Heavyweight Champion Naomichi Marufuji vs KENTA - Budokan 10/29/06

HOLY OVERKILL, BATMAN! This match was like a bad progressive rock album (I know that's redundant ;) ). Sacrificing hooks for more notes at lightning speeds. Sacrificing meaningful transitions for inane time changes. You could probably have constructed 4 or 5 great matches around some of the spots in this match. They easily could have built a classic match around the dueling body part work at the outset of the match, Marufuji establishes why he is the champion countering KENTA at every turn and taking the lead with a DDT onto the apron. He works the neck well to contain the lightning fast KENTA. Any time KENTA gets spunky, he elbows him in the neck, but one time KENTA sneaks in a roundhouse kick. KENTA work on the ribs/abs of Marufuji is really excellent and probably the best continuous portion of the match. So that was one match that could have been great.

Then Marufuji hits a springboard dropkick to send KENTA to the outside. KENTA whiffs on a kick and straddles the railing. Marufuji decided to his and KENTA's life in his own hands with an Asai Moonsault that busts KENTA's nose open hardway and nearly decapitates himself on the railing. They could have been built an entire match around this hook with each struggling  to overcome the injures from this high risk move. It shows how much the Heavyweight Title means to two Junior Heavyweights.

Instead, a minute later they keep going balls to the wall. I am not taking anything away from their toughness because I would be running for the locker room if I was either one of these guys, but fuck talk about killing the severity of legitimately scary spot. Shit like Marufuji ramming KENTA's head into the post only for KENTA to catch him mid-air with an Ace Crusher was just like what the hell is point of all this. Or KENTA slapping Marufuji and now Marufuji has all this energy to run the ropes and lariat KENTA. It was like I was playing my brother in a video game and finally hit an L1 enough to make my guy run to the ropes to avoid his strikes. I can play my brother in Here Comes The Pain for 35 minutes and have a great time, but I am pretty sure no one else wants to watch that.

In another spot that I think they could have built a match around was KENTA sending Marufuji to the floor on a sliced bread attempt. If Marufuji had been kicking his ass for 10-15 minutes and KENTA finally hits this tide-turning move that would have been a great Wow moment, Instead some shit happened involving the ramp where nobody took a move,

Another sequence that could have been the hook to a match was the apron struggle with KENTA hitting a Steiner Screwdriver off the apron. It is high-risk transition that could lead to a sweet heat segment and eventual hot comeback. Marufuji does a great job writhing in pain and when KENTA comes over the top with a double stomp, Marufuji is really good at making me feel for him. Before you know it Marufuji has hit a Sliced Bread as a transition move. Did I mention this was after KENTA hit his Exploding Knee (his secondary finish)? Shaking my head.

In a hilarious moment, they are just suplexing each other. KENTA does not have a good grip and lets go and Marufuji just suplexes himself. Fuck this match. They hit a bunch of huge bombs and start running ropes really fast and hit some kicks and Spanish Fly and a Cradle Piledriver gives Marufuji. I don't give a fuck. The fact that this only drew 11.5k (lowest to date in NOAH history) mean about 5.5k did not either.

It is too bad I am not a promoter because I now have a great template for my next 4-5 main events. Every match is a collection of spots. In this match, the spots did not connect nor did they mean anything. They had some really nifty spots, they had some overwrought spots and they had some pathetic spots. Spots don't make a match. I can forgive a match that is 20 minutes of a spot-a-thon, but at 35 minutes you are wasting my time. Don't waste my time. Worst match I have watched for this project.

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Dont stop me now! I am flying baby! Toryumon! 2005-2006 Juniors! Best of 2005-2006! Fingers dont fail me now!