Pro Wrestling Love vol. 64 - Best of Puroresu 2010-2014 (Hiroshi Tanhashi, Kazuchika Okada, Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama)

 Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 64:

The Best of Puroresu 2010-2014

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at http://gweproject.freeforums.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.

Subject: This sixty-third volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the beginning of the Top 12 countdown of the best pro wrestling matches to take place in Japan between 2010-2014. I covered 2005-2009 in an earlier edition of Pro Wrestling Love. I decided to do the next five year chunk. Originally, I was thinking of covering New Japan from 2012-2016 separately as that covers the rise of Kazuchika Okada, BUT the Puroresu scene from 2010-2011 does not really have much meat on the bone to warrant its own coverage so we will look at Puroresu as a whole from 2010-2014. The last two years are very New Japan heavy as their resurgence was completed with the New Three Musketeers: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada and Shinsuke Nakamura leading the charge and also the gaijin-faction The Bullet Club renewing Western interest in the product. 2010-2011 saw FUTEN (Daisuke Ikeda's Shoot-Style Promotion) and Dick Togo's run in DDT holding down the fort while New Japan was recharging. After reigning supreme in terms of match quality in the first decade of the 21st Century, NOAH spiraled out of control due to the tragic death of Mitsuharu Misawa and the retirement of top star, Kenta Kobashi. By 2011, Jun Akiyama was the All Japan Triple Crown champion and in 2012 he officially defected with many of NOAH's top stars to All Japan. NOAH was left with KENTA as the only viable main event star. All Japan with the signings of Akiyama & Co, Masakatsu Funaki and the rise of SUWAMA & Kento Miyahara had a mini-resurgence of their own in the front half of the 2010s garnering some buzz for their matches for the first time in a decade. All Japan was still dwarfed in regards to ticket sales and critical acclaim compared to New Japan Pro Wrestling, but they offered refreshing alternative.  You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

Honorable Mentions

Takahiro Oba & Takeshi Ono vs Kengo Mashimo & Manabu Suraga - FUTEN 5/30/10

Daisuke Ikeda vs Takeshi Ono - FUTEN 9/26/10

Daisuke Ikeda & Takahiro Oba vs Makoto Hashi & Kengo Mashimo - FUTEN 10/24/10

Even though, I felt that the 2010 FUTEN matches fell more in the very good camp than the classic camp, I wanted to include them because they are considered the best of 2010 by many and they are so unique as this the last gasp of shoot-style to the best of my knowledge. For me 2008 BattlArts was a better shoot-style revival promotion. The best of these is the sub-5 minute spring between Ikeda & Ono.

Osaka Pro Wrestling Champion Dick Togo vs Billy Ken Kid - Osaka Pro 2/11/10

Dick Togo vs Hikaru Sato - DDT 11/28/10

Similar to FUTEN, Dick Togo was a star of the Puroresu scene in 2010-2011 in part because the more mainstream outlets were starting to fail (NOAH) or had not fully recovered (NJPW). Again, I found these matches to be very good than classic, but THE Dick Togo match of this era does make my countdown.

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Jun Akiyama vs Keiji Mutoh - AJPW 3/20/12

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Jun Akiyama vs Masakatsu Funaki - AJPW 8/26/12

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Masakatsu Funaki vs SUWAMA - AJPW 9/23/12

Go Shiozaki vs Suwama - AJPW 9/15/14 Royal Road Tournament

Jun Akiyama vs Kento Miyahara - AJPW 9/15/14

Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori vs. Go Shiozaki & Kento Miyahara - AJPW 12/6/14

For some reason, I cannot explain I have a soft spot for 21st Century All Japan. Once Jun Akiyama, the Prodigal Son returned home, they experienced a resurgence. By 2014, they were again making noise in hardcore fan circles and garnering votes in Match of the Year polls. The best of these was the tag team match between the 90s veterans of Akiyama & Omori vs Shiozaki & Miyahara. In addition, I highly recommend the 5 minute championship sprint between Akiyama and Funaki. 

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada - NJPW Feb 2012

IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW Dominion 2012

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada - Wrestle Kingdom VII

Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW G-1 Climax 2013

It is the Tanahashi vs Okada series, need I say more. My only tip is watch the Tombstone Piledriver. Every wrestling fan needs to see this series. 

Kensuke Sasaki vs Jun Akiyama - NOAH 4/10/10

GHC Heavyweight Champion Takahashi Sugiura vs Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 7/10/2010

Kensuke Sasaki vs Go Shiozaki NOAH 7/10/10

GHC Heavyweight Champion Takashi Sugiura vs Kensuke Sasaki - NOAH 11/14/11

Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama, Keiji Mutoh & Kensuke Sasaki vs KENTA, Go Shiozaki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Maybach Taniguchi - NOAH 5/11/13

GHC Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - NOAH 10/5/13

NOAH may have been dying a death, but it still had some great matches. The veterans, Kensuke Sasaki, Akiyama & Takayama were still heavily involved in the early part of the decade to draw. Sasaki vs Akiyama is a major pairing that no one every talks about as a dream match but it did happen once in 2010 and is worth a watch. KENTA's second best title defense was against one of my favorites, Nakajima and I thought this was better than their 2009 series. Finally, a match that every Puroresu fan should watch, Kenta Kobashi's retirement, if you dont tear up then you dont have a soul, brutha. 

Koji Kanemoto vs Fujita Jr Hayato - NJPW 5/26/11

Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Champion Kenou vs Fujita Jr Hayato - Michinoku Pro 6/3/12

Great Sasuke & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Fujita Jr Hayato & Kenou - Michinoku Pro 11/4/13

Gotta put my boy, Fujita Jr Hayato. It pains me I couldnt find room for any of these in my Top 12, but Hayato had a strong start to the beginning of the 2010s. What ended up happening to him?

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Satoshi Kojima - NJPW 8/15/10

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Toru Yano - NJPW G-1 Climax 8/3/2011

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Minoru Suzuki - NJPW G-1 Climax 8/14/11

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs Tetsuya Naito - NJPW 3/4/12

Katsuyori Shibata vs Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW G1 Climax 2013

NEVER Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs Tomoaki Honma - NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 5/3/14

AJ Styles vs Tetsuya Naito - G-1 Climax 2014

Katsuyori Shibata vs Tomoaki Honma - G-1 Climax 2014 Day 8

Kazuchika Okada vs Shinsuke Nakamura - NJPW G-1 Climax Finals 8/10/14

In the pre-Okada era, Tanahashi managed to have a great classic match with Kojima and a very fun face/heel match with Yano (which is unique in Puroresu). My last cuts were Shibata vs Ishii and Shibata vs Honma. I really liked Ishii and Honma a lot in this era and bums me out that I couldnt find them a spot, but hey it was a loaded field. Definitely check out some Ishii and Honma from this era. 

Top 12 Best Puroresu Matches 2010-2014

#12. Kenta Kobashi/Jun Akiyama vs Kensuke Sasaki & Mitsuhiro Kitamiya 

Diamond Ring 2/11/12

Perhaps the ultimate veteran/young lion vs two grumpy dicks tag match, which is among my favorite genres of pro wrestling matches. The only thing that drags it down just a bit is that Kobashi is just not a very good jerk in this match. He is just too much of a good guy. He never transitioned into that Tenryu role. On top of not being that grumpy, he clearly quite debilitated by the years of injuries and illness. Kobashi is among my favorite wrestlers so it is always nice to watch him wrestle especially in a match I have never seen before. Good thing, Akiyama wrestles for two and gives one of the most inspired grump old timer performances of all time. Kitamiya who I have never heard of meets him in one of the best fiery young lion performances of all time as he dies for our pleasure. Sasaki is a solid hot tag veteran presence for Kitamiya, but the story of the match is the Akiyama vs Kitamiya. 

Akiyama SCHOOLS Kitamiya early on. Blocking every takedown attempt with ease and transitioning into any hold he wants. It is total command and a beautiful wrestling lesson. Playful slaps from Akiyama have me smiling. Kitamiya gets more and more frustrated as he is being humiliated in the middle of the ring. He gets a bloody nose and is charging Akiyama with all he has got for a double leg takedown and Akiyama stands there like a stonewall. Kitamiya gives up on wrestling and fires off some elbows. Akiyama is like "Oh no, you didn't, bitch." and just blasts him. He throws Kitamiya's carcass to Sasaki. One of the all time great opening segments to a wrestling match ever.

Kobashi/Sasaki have their obligatory chopfest.

Sasaki forces Kobashi into his corner and Kitamiya tags himself in. Sasaki looks confused, but shrugs and says go ahead, young buck. Kitamiya unloads on Kobashi with big elbows and Kobashi just throws one high chop to the throat to stymie him, which is a Tenryu dick thing to do I will admit. Tags in Akiyama. Oh boy! He throws Kitamiya to the outside. Kitamiya runs back in and dropkicks Akiyama off the apron. Hey, maybe he can do some damage! We get some Sasaki & Akiyama and Sasaki actually hits a delayed vertical, but Kitamiya wants in and Sasaki reluctantly lets him tag in. Kitamiya reigns down the elbows and Akiyama just slaps the taste out of his mouth. He drops knees into the young lion's face watching him writhe in pain. Kobashi comes in and chop and facelock. Kobashi throws him to the outside and Akiyama just no sells everything and then overhand slaps him in the bloody nose!!! I LOVE PRO WRESTLING! He throws him into the barricade. Kitamiya tries firing up, but Akiyama just slaps him down. You gotta give the kid credit; he doesn't give up. Kobashi chop and now ab stretch. Akiyama gets a deep Boston Crab. Sasaki is really fun on the apron. KItamiya gets a running forearm to tag out to Sasaki.

Sasaki is an awesome house of fire!!! Tons of energy, chops, lariats and a big powerslam to that dick Akiyama. You really want to see Akiyama's ass handed to him and Sasaki does that. It is just like pick on someone your own size and then Sasaki comes in and brutalizes the bully. Great wrestling psychology. You can feel the urgency too. If he does not win now, then he knows there is no shot. Sasaki gets his famous armbar, but Kobashi comes in chops him hard. Akiyama is able to recover to hit a knee from the middle rope, which enough to tag out to Kobashi. Kobashi gets caught in lariat sandwich, but kicks out. Kitamiya wants in and Sasaki is spent. He makes the difficult decision to tag out. 

Kobashi side steps Kitamiya's dropkick. Sasaki bulldozes Kobashi and Akiyama comes flying in with a high knee. SPEAR TO AKIYAMA! KITAMIYA'S REVENGE!!! HE DUMPS KOBASHI ON HIS BACK! THE KID GOES WILD! He gets cocky and tries a BURNING LARIAT~! Kobashi no sells! Awesome! Spinning back chop and Akiyama comes in to hit a sliding knee to get two. KOBASHI BURNING LARIAT~! Finishes him off.

Awesome performances by Akiyama and Kitamiya. Opening segment is incredible. Akiyama is such a douche in this. Kitamiya gives the ultimate "I think I can, I think I can..." performance. I love Kitamiya's explosion at the end only succumb to Kobashi's Burning Lariat! Second best match of Japan in 2012 and a stone cold classic.

#11. Katsuyori Shibata vs Hirooki Goto - NJPW Dominion 2013

Big, dumb, hyper-masculine, testosterone-addled fun! So often spotfests seem so dainty and like a gymnastic exhibition. THIS IS A MAN'S SPOTFEST! They beat the living shit out of each other. I love Shibata. Hell, Goto was awesome in this too. Goto set the tone right out of the gate with a monster lariat as they charged each other. I loved the way Shibata stepped through that roundhouse kick. That was the most intense figure-4 ever when Goto slapped the shit out of Shibata and Shibata yelled at him. I don't care they dropped each on their head three times and each time popped up to deliver another head drop because THEY ARE MEN! That Shibata headbutt was ferocious. They rifled each other with kicks, slaps and forearms. The finish was actually really well-built. Goto basically slammed Shibata face first down on the mat, which was his big nearfall. Shibata used a desperation sleeper to get himself back in it and then with kicks and a couple Death Valley Drivers was able to use the Sleeper effectively enough to set up the Penalty Kick!

Stiffness marks rejoice and revel in this manliness! Awesome!

#10. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW 10/14/13

The series is at 2-2-1, but with Okada as champion going into the match and being 1-0-1 in the last two you can tell Tanahashi was feeling the pressure. He starts off more conservative with a headlock base. Then he even feigns a knee injury. He really milks it and even I think it is going to lead to an Okada heat segment so he had all fooled. He was prancing around doing air guitar to a big pop in the crowd and with me. He goes after the arm, but misses the somersault splash. Okada works the neck with the usual offense, the key highlights being the dropkick to the floor and the Hangmans DDT from railing. The match picks up when Tanahashi press slams him from the top. So if Tanahashi ever wrestles Flair people cant say Flair forced him to do that spot. :) 

Tanahashi needs a strike exchange, missed dropkick before he can take over with arm work. This is some vicious arm work. You can really feel the desperation in Tanahashi that he needs to win this match as he brutally attacks the arm. The transition out is pretty lame with Okada hitting his two weird suplexes that he always hits. Okada sells the arm on the Rainmaker pose. Tanahashi gets a neato pinning combination to avoid the Rainmaker. RAINMAKER~! Woah! That was early. Okada arm hurts too much ala Invasion Attack. The submission move he uses is called Red Ink, but he tries that, but cant hold due to the bad arm. Tanahashi should stick with the arm strategy in future matches. Tanahashi hits a wicked Dragon Suplex and then Sling Blade. High Fly Flow to a standing Okada, but Okada rolls to the outside, but there is no escaping Tanahashi as he hits one on the outside. I think that's the best use of the High Fly Flow to the outside I have seen. Okada nails a Tombstone on outside! BALL GAME! They really milk this spot. They really do protect the Tombstone. It comes down to Tanahashi trying to use his arm work to save the match with Okada trying to nail a Rainmaker and both of them are pretty much out of it from all the punishment. If the tombstone is not enough, Okada hits two picture perfect dropkicks, which should be enough. RAINMAKER~! Wait that was a Tanahashi Rainmaker! He gets a nearfall, here comes the High Fly Flows, but Okada got his knees up. TOMBSTONE~! BALL GAME~! RAINMAKER~!

This is the inferior version of the Invasion Attack match. It is a better template than they were using before, but the problem here was it was lacking the transitions of Invasion Attack and the drama. Instead they substituted bomb throwing. Here it felt my turn, your turn. Invasion Attack Okada's control was tenuous due to a bad wing, but Tanahashi could never really overcome the hole he was put in by the DDT on the apron and then subsequent headrops. Here, it was Tanahashi worked the arm really well and Okada sold, but then lets do bomb throwing. It sounds like I am being harsh, but I do think this is their second best match together because it is just plain more exciting than the previous ones and did think selling was great. I thought selling down the stretch was awesome. 

#9. GHC Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs Takahashi Sugiura - NOAH 5/12/13

Now this is more my style. Sugiura's pint-sized Stan Hansen act is great. These are two asskickers to the max. I liked that they keep the fighting spirit bullshit to a minimum and they just there to dish out pain. Sugiura is the first one to establish control with a side headlock. So simple, so effective and they show you can do a lot with it. Sugiura is a tenacious pitbull holding onto it. Once KENTA gets free, they just start rifling each other with kicks. KENTA's were brutal. Sugiura DROPPED him where he was standing with one of the most vicious slaps I have ever seen. The women in the front row eyes popped for that. Sugiura's front facelock is the stuff that would make a 1992 All Japan announcer cream his pants. :P  

KENTA struggles to the floor but Sugiura hits a neckbreaker off the apron and a brainbuster in the ring. He is rocking it. I didnt love KENTA's first comeback. He hit a dainty forearm and then a flying clothesline (the flying clothesline rarely ever looks good) and went into the STF. I was happy Sugura re-asserted dominance with a kneelift. Then it became all about the abdomen. Hanging him out to the dry on the top rope, SPEAR, front suplex. He was crushing it. He even did Big E's spear through the ropes to the floor which is insane. Sugiura is feeling it tonight. They brawl on the outside. KENTA saves himself by winning a suplex struggle and suplexing him in the crowd. Double Stomp from the riser to the floor. Then in a spot that popped me huge a Double Stomp from the top rope INTO THE CROWD! That was wicked! Sugiura milks the countout tease. This match is rocking. 

KENTA is flying a million miles per hour kicking Sugiura ass all over the place. Big dropkicks and kicks abound. Too early for Go 2 Sleep settles for STF. Scary lack of heat for the submission. He nails a Tiger Suplex out of this. Sugiura hits a Frankensteiner from out of nowhere which I totally loved as a sudden transition. Then he goes for an anklelock. It all rushes back to me I knew there was something I didnt like about Sugiura, he wrestles like Angle down the stretch a ton of anklelocks and Olympic Slams. It breaks down into a fucking stiffest. This was glorious. They were slapping the shit out of each other. Both of them were giving as good as they got but as KENTA dove for a takedown Sugiura rocked his shit with an uppercut knee. Wow! In the corner at one point, Sugiura was just cracking with slaps and then a barrage of vicious elbows. KENTA is dead. He is fucking dead. Wow! That was amazing. Olympic Slam and nothing doing. You see they went too far now. They killed the babyface and now his comeback is incredulous. Sugiura starts smacking him around and KENTA just wakes up and tries to submit him. Ugh.

They are slapping each other. Fatigue and pain has set in. This is so badass. They start roaring against each other. Through the onslaught, KENTA fights through and hits GO 2 SLEEP! 1-2-NO! Sugiura comes up swinging. This time is CLOSED FISTS! He is throwing lefts and rights and holy shit! KENTA FIRES BACK WITH HIS OWN FISTS OF FURY! Forget what I said. THESE MEN WERE BORN TO BE ALIVE! HOLY SHIT THAT WAS JERRY LAWLER LEVEL EPIC! GO 2 SLEEP ON EXPOSED KNEE! 1-2-NO! What the fuck that should have been the finish. KENTA pummels Sugiura into submissions with wicked slaps it is brutal. Go 2 Sleep! Academic!

It has its flaws but fuck this was a WAR~! KENTA earned his man stripes tonight as he went toe to toe with one of the toughest asskickers of all time. Took a lickin and he kept on tickin and he beat Sugiura at his own game standing and banging. Awesome asskicker of a match, the closed fist sequence is an all-timer! 

#8. AJPW Triple Crown Champion SUWAMA vs Jun Akiyama - AJPW 10/23/11

The Prodigal Son Returns! Still announced from NOAH, this would be the beginning of Akiyama's full-time return and ultimate rise to power unseating Keiji "Pro Wrestling Love" Mutoh. I consider myself a Suwama fan. He feels like a raw bone power house that belongs in Mid-South. He is a hoss. I think it is easy to underestimate him in this match but this is far from a carryjob as he brings it as much as Akiyama in the best match of his career and what could prove to be the best non-New Japan match of the front of half of this decade. 

The story of the match is of course Akiyama, the Fifth Pillar, returning home and even though he is not the champion he is the favorite, I think Suwama is different than any opponent he has faced. Kobashi is strong as an ox, but Suwama is so one-dimensional and it is all about power with him. There are times when I don't think Akiyama is prepared for every counter to be a power move. On top of that Suwama has youth on his side and he is in his prime at this point. He has been a main eventer for at least three years now and is not afraid of the spotlight and it shows. He does not prove himself to Akiyama. He is equal from the beginning and that's what the test of strength shows. Akiyama gets a drop toehold on the outside into the railing shades of the Misawa 2000 classic to open up a lead on Suwama's neck. Suwama is great at selling this and what I love about Akiyama is even though we are 5 minutes into a 30 minute match none of his covers feel perfunctory. You feel that as he is attacking the neck that he could get a fall this early because of his urgency. As he tries to create some speed to strike Suwama's neck he leaves himself open to his power counter a big time overhead belly to belly that rocks him and sends him to the floor. That's when the match shifts into next gear. Suwama throws Akiyama around at will outside focusing on the back. Akiyama does a magnificent job selling the back. Suwama is destroying it with slams and a Boston Crab. Akiyama cant run the ropes, cant counter Suwama his back is in a bad way. There is a great spot where Akiyama gets a knee and tries to get up top so he can get some momentum to turn the tide, but his back is so bad that he cant capitalize and Suwama hits a big time superplex. It all comes to a head on the apron. If Akiyama cant come up with something here then his return will be a disappointment. He manages to hit an Exploder off the apron and salvage the match. Suwama is in a lot of pain. Akiyama slowly works himself back up using his patented Akiyama offense knees, elbow to the back of the neck, Exploder and the Guillotine Choke. Suwama strength and energy sapped. Akiyama looks to go airborne, but Suwama swats him out of the sky with a monster lariat. Now Suwama returns on offense and it is big time suplexes that's in order for Akiyama, but Suwama is clearly hurt from the Exploder and Choke. They do a big suplex barrage, which I don't care for, but it is obligatory in the style to sort of the level the playing field. Suwama hits a HUGE dropkick to send Akiyama to floor and then hurls his body through the ropes out on the floor onto Akiyama. This would be the biggest win of Suwama's career and he is pulling out all the stops. Akiyama back in the ring looks like he can barley stand or run the ropes. Suwama needs that powerbomb for the win. Akiyama struggles and struggles to avoid it locking on a choke, but Suwama does what Suwama does best he powers out with a back drop. That's difference between Suwama and his other opponents the reliance on power to solve his problems. It is barrage of suplexes, German and Backdrop Driver. Akiyama is putting up token resistance, but Suwama is irresistible even throwing out a frogsplash. Suwama calls for it and nails a MASSIVE POWERBOMB! Only gets two! Honestly, I was rooting for him. I knew right there it was over for him. Even though he kicked Akiyama's ass if he was not going to put him away there he was not going to do it.

Yep, just as he went for the back drop driver here comes Akiyama's resistance and he shifts his weight. As they struggle with strikes Akiyama hits a lucky knee that connects with Suwama's head and knocks him out. Great glassy eyed sell from Suwama. The selling has been off the charts great in this match. Akiyama hits a barrage of knees and the crowd comes alive. Exploder->1 count yep Suwama is dead in the water. Exploders and Wrist-Clutch Exploder only gets two!??!!? Oh cmon! New crazy Michinoku Driver wins the match for Jun Akiyama.

Guess what this would be Jun Akiyama's FIRST Triple Crown Championship. I had sneaky suspicion he never won pre-split and so this makes it extra special. Definitely way too much excess down the stretch. Suwama murdered Akiyama and could not get the job done annoys me because it makes Suwama look like a choke. The lucky knee was a great transition. Then again way too many knees and Exploders. Enough complaining, this fucking ruled. Great, great selling by both men. Loved the control segments. Suwama's power game was great. Akiyama's offense was brilliant. The transitions were incredible and so well-timed and made so much sense. Like I said may be the best non-New Japan match of this front half of the 2010s in Japan. Not talked about enough! Watch this match! 

#7. AJPW Triple Crown Champion SUWAMA vs Masakatsu Funaki - AJPW 10/24/10

Puroresu Match of the Year, 2010

FINALLY! This was uploaded in all its reigning glory I have probably been on the lookout for this for 5-6 year. This was even better than I expected. Table throws, furious strike exchanges and BLOOD~! Curious though we only get 21 minutes of a 29 minute match a little less than 75%. It feels complete so I am going to rate, but I wish we had it in its entirety. 

SUWAMA maybe the most underrated wrestler ever because he has been stuck in 21st Century All Japan his whole career, but the dude is a beast and if you like power wrestler like me you ought to check him out. Funaki is a shoot-style beast and together have a crazy sexy beast match that is probably my worldwide 2010 match of the year. In the buildup to this match Funaki was Knocking Fools Out with his kicks to the head including SUWAMA. That's how you build up a challenger. 

Pretty much an excellent shooter vs pro wrestler match. Funaki is better at strikes (kicks and open hand slaps) & submissions. SUWAMA has raw bone power and relentless heart. SUWAMA rocks the double hand chops, meaty lariats and brutal throws. Offensively, this is a dream match. 

Funaki catches him with a kick to the head that more spooks SUWAWA than anything else as he powders. This plays off Funaki's lethal kicks and his KO power. It plants that seed this match can be over at any second and SUWAMA needs to be cautious. The thing that is not SUWAMA's game plan. He is never cautious. He is always moving forward and is a bull, just lowers his head and runs into the fray. 

They do some great wrestling. I love how Funaki quashes SUWAMA's fireman's carry attempt and they both grapple really well. Upon standup, Funaki starts lighting SUWAMA up with kicks but just one might Double Chop fells Funaki. They do a great job establishing Funaki's technical advantage, but SUWAMA's strength is the great equalizer. On the outside Funaki again laces into him with kicks and SUWAMA just HURLS THE TABLE AT HIM! YES!

SUWAMA has the high ground back in the ring and scores with the Double Chop sending Funaki flying. SUWAMA sticks his leg through the ropes and Funaki gabs a kneebar. Funaki's other main weapon besides Knocking People The Fuck OUT is his heel hook. Funaki just settles into a rhythm of kicks and I could watch him kick forever. I love SUWAMA he is always moving forward and he is always trying to get back on offense. He is selling, but he keeps struggling and keeps fighting. Hell Yeah! Funaki is maneuvering into submissions like the heel hook and cross armbreaker, but SUWAMA is using his guts and power to fight out.  He starts catching those kicks and thats when he starts throwing Funaki around. At first those throws just get Funaki off balance, but eventually they will make in roads. Suplexes allow for resets they dont always cause damage. It breaks Funaki's rhythm but he gets back up. The first one that does real damage is the slam on the Triangle Choke pickup. It is all power with SUWAMA hurling his body with a shouldertackle off the apron and huge Mack Truck Lariats. Funaki for his part just starts throwing hands with reckless abandon. Funaki's hands were flying and a lesser man would be knocked out. These were stiff, brutal shots to the head. At one point in the corner I thought he fucking KO'd SUWAMA with an illegal closed fist. SUWAMA comes up with BLOOD! Holy shit! Funaki just comes flying in with a flying knee to the head. This is so fucking awesome! 

SUWAMA is out on his feet. He has nothing behind anything and Funaki is picking him apart. Funaki goes for the Back Drop Driver, but SUWAMA reverses and DEMOLISHES HIM! MASSIVE DROPKICK! THE BEST DOUBLE UNDERHOOK SUPLEX YOU WILL EVER SEE! Funaki tries fighting back, flying knee in the corner, but SUWAMA catches and muscles him into the BIGGEST RUNNING LIGER BOMB EVER! THAT WAS AWESOME! SUWAMA BLASTS WITH A SPINNING LARIAT! THIS IS SICK! SUWAMA wants his Last Ride Powerbomb. Funaki has one last gasp HUGE STRIKES TO THE HEAD! How the hell is SUWAMA not out...Funaki is teeing off...DOUBLE KO KICK AND SUWAMA OBLITERATES HIM WITH A LARIAT! Two massive Takayama style Germans and a THUNDEROUS POWERBOMB FOR THE EMPHATIC VICTORY! 

From a purely offensive standpoint, this is why type of match. I love shoot-style for its strikes and submissions. I love pro wrestling for its power in terms of the lariat, suplexes, slams and powerbombs. This was a blend of everything I love in wrestling from an offensive standpoint. On top of that, I loved the layout. It was electric, big fight feel. Both guys never giving an inch. They both coming forward, tons of struggle and urgency. This was not two dudes playing ragdoll for the other. They coming in and trying to disrupt the other. That is what I love. There is some selling stuff and some transitions here and there that could have been improved on but fuck it this was BAD FUCKING ASS! Supercharged Big Ass Pro Wrestling!

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 8: Best of Pro Wrestling NOAH 2005-2009 (KENTA, Jun Akiyama, Kenta Kobashi)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Ratt was totally bitchin last night! They are such a badass metal band and see Juan Croucier still do all his dancing tricks with his bass brought a big smile to my face. Thumbs up!

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 8:

The Greatest Matches of Pro Wrestling NOAH 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 eighth volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the Top 6 countdown of the best matches to take place Pro Wrestling NOAH from 2005-2009. We pick up where left off in 2004 with NOAH. 2005 was still peak NOAH with the Kenta Kobashi reign winding down and their last Tokyo Dome show. The Dome show was headlined by the 90s New Japan vs 90s All Japan dream match of Kenta Kobashi vs Kensuke Sasaki and the return of Toshiaki Kawada as he squares off against archrival Mitsuharu Misawa. Kobashi had dropped the GHC title to Takeshi Rikio the first of the new generation to win the belt, however he proved to be a bust. By 2006, NOAH was in a precipitous freefall with Kobashi out of action due to cancer and now new talent that could lift the business. Eventually, Misawa put the belt back on himself. It was that dire of a situation. We end in 2009 because that is their year of the tragic in-ring death of Mitsuharu Misawa. Rest in Peace, Misawa.

Ratings: As of right now, I would say the top two matches have a shot at making the list, but are probably on the outside looking in.

Now thats what I call a POP!

Honorable Mentions

GHC Heavyweight Champion Takeshi Rikio vs Akira Taue - Budokan 11/05/05

One of the loudest crowd pops in the history of Puroresu when Taue wins the GHC Championship. Remember how badly the Budokan wanted Taue to unseat Kobashi last November, well they are still into Taue. They are over the moon when he wins the championship here.

Kenta Kobashi vs Kensuke Sasaki – Tokyo Dome 7/18/05

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

The last gasp of NOAH as they are still able to draw a huge crowd on the back of 90s stars as they reprise the Kawada vs Misawa feud (they had not wrestled since 2000) and the 90s dream match of Kobashi vs Sasaki. The problem was that it was now 2005 and their lack of new stars would extremely problematic in the long run. Misawa vs Kawada is a nostalgic Greatest Hits match. I just saw Ratt last night. It is akin to that seeing a great 80s band run through their Greatest Hits. It is fun, but it does not have the same zing as something present. Kobashi vs Sasaki is something I should really revisit. I thought it was a little too excessive in the fighting spirit and macho pride spots, but it is definitely something important enough that it should be mentioned.

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

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

NOAH in 2005 was the rebirth of tag team wrestling with Kobashi slowing down he was put in more tag matches. These are some of the best tag matches of the decade and there is still one more to come in the Top Six. Tenryu is in NOAH and this is his last run where he can still put on classics, which is pretty amazing since he debuted in the late 70s! This is also the debut of the Boy Wonder and one of my favorite 2000s wrestlers, Katsuhiko Nakajima who is a true gem of junior heavyweight. I got to see him live thanks to Ring Of Honor in Detroit in 2009.

Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama & KENTA - NOAH 10/03/09

The Misawa tribute match. Wrestling touches on a lot of human emotions. Joy, anger, fear, pride and envy to name a few. The biggest emotion it often misses is sadness and its cousins depression and grief. The early emotions are red, passionate, intense emotions and make for energetic experience. It has trouble with blue emotions and I hope that we see more of this in pro wrestling as it evolves to really progress. This is perhaps the best sad match ever. It is a somber mood. Misawa is dead and Kobashi is so injured he can't pay tribute to his friend. They use that sadness to weave an excellent story.

GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs Kotaro Suzuki - NOAH 1/25/09
The NOAH Match of the Year, 2009. KENTA The Junior Destroyer takes on the cheating, cowardly punk, Kotaro Suzuki in a very entertaining match. I would say this overachieves as Suzuki has never impressed, but he is the straw that stirs the drink in this match. It is his over the top heeling that draws you in. You really wanted to see the hard-hitting, explosive KENTA comeback and when you get it. It is truly glorious. We will see an even better version of this style of match featuring KENTA later in the coutdown.

The Top Six NOAH Matches from 2005-2009

TAKE THAT DREAM!

#6. GHC Heavyweight Champion Takeshi Morishima vs Kensuke Sasaki – Budokan 9/6/08

NOAH Match of the Year, 2008

If you treat your opponent with the respect he deserves, then the match will be respected. Sasaki paints his unlikely masterpiece with young GHC Champion Takeshi Morishima who never quite panned out to the high expectations placed upon him. Kensuke Sasaki is a great wrestler, but one who needs a fellow great wrestler to have a great match. Most of the time, Sasaki is in there with works of greater talent. It is not totally his fault his generation was stacked with Hashimoto, Mutoh, Hase, Tenryu, Kawada, Kobashi and Akiyama. Still, the one thing always missing from his resume was him carrying a match proving he could be a ring general. This was that match.

Sasaki is a power wrestler through and through but he is a little on the short side, very stocky though. Morishima is a big boy. What Sasaki does so well is put over Morishima’s size advantage. He does not wrestle a fighting spirit match where they trade blows in the middle of the ring. This is not a King’s Road match where they trade bombs down the stretch. This is a smart match where Sasaki recognizes Morishima’s biggest asset his size, puts that over so that becomes the hook of the match. Can Sasaki the Legend survive and find a way to defeat the Monster champion or will he succumb to his girth? Like I said before when you have fans asking themselves questions in the match that’s when you got them. Compare this to the Misawa match, Morishima was plugged into Misawa formula and you would think that Morishima was just Kawada 2.0. Except, Morishima looks like a dude who ate Kawada. So when Sasaki began the match with his usual power-oriented strategy he was thwarted by the simple fact that Morishima is fucking huge. Sasaki does a great job selling for this monster both physically and psychologically. Morishima is really overwhelming the veteran. Sasaki has one hope and that is the young Morishima makes mistakes. Those rookie mistakes haunt him as he has a nasty habit of telegraphing his moves allowing the veteran Sasaki to capitalize. But when Sasaki falls back into his routine of power wrestling, Morishima literally squashes him. Morishima is wrestling this match like a monster and really looks like he is going to fulfill his potential. Sasaki has a new strategy go aerial and attack Morishima from the high ground. This strategy pays dividends and allows him to finally hit his Northern Lights Bomb, but Morishima kicks out! Sasaki is exasperated, really great selling from him. He hit the Monster with his best shot and still could not get the job done. Morishima goes high risk and crashes & burns on a moonsault. That is the opening Sasaki needs. He fells the Beast with a lariat which feels like a huge victory. Sasaki dictated the pace so well and he really put Morishima over. Morishima wrestled with conviction. They did a great job created situations where Sasaki could make inroads on Morishima. It is a barrage of Lariats and a Northern Lights Bomb that win the day for Sasaki. TAKE THAT DREAM!

#5. Kenta Kobashi & Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama 

Budokan 12/02/07

NOAH Match of the Year, 2007

To me the most emotionally moving match of Puroresu in the 2000s. Kobashi triumphs over cancer (there was no way he was going to job to cancer) and returns to the ring in an amazing tag team match. It was a conquering hero’s welcome for Kobashi. Fans chanting “Ko-Bash-I” and Tamon Honda crying on commentary. I would argue you connect separate the emotion and content of the match. It is so fueled by Kobashi’s return that it propels this match into a 2007 Match of the Year Candidate. Misawa and Akiyama were natural foes for his return match, but his partner on the surface seemed to be an odd choice. It was his rival and eternal heel Yoshihiro Takayama. Takayama did a great job cheerleading and playing to the crowd to get Kobashi involved. Kobashi showed some ring rust early on and was a little sluggish. What makes this match so great is that the Kobashi The Destroyer of the mid-2000s is gone. Misawa caught Kobashi good with an elbow and all of sudden we are teleported back to 1993 and it is sympathetic Kobashi playing face in peril to the two greatest offensive wrestlers of all time. When you add in the cancer factor, the sympathy levels were just off the charts. You were just begging for Kobashi to make that hot tag to Takayama and then rejuvenate himself enough to become Kobashi The Destroyer and win the match. A great moment in the match is that as Kobashi is turning the tide on Akiyama, Misawa  comes in and quashes it with elbows to a chorus of boos! Hot tag to Takayama! It is short-lived but cool to see as Misawa blows him out of the water with an elbow. Takayama vs Akiyama is interesting because we never did get to see them in a high-profile singles match. That would have been a barnburner. Another great moment is Takayama could cover Akiyama, but he knows this match is about Kobashi so he tags out instead. Kobashi runs through his Greatest hits. The crowd is roaring and I am beaming with a smile so big as I watched it too. Takayama tackles Misawa and Kobashi hits a moonsault on Akiyama. Kick out and then they pan to Honda crying. Eventually Misawa & Akiyama overwhelm Kobashi and Misawa hits the Emerald Flowsion. If there was ever a time to break from the time-honored tradition of the returning wrestler doing the job in Japan, now was the time. The fans wanted to see Kobashi win and that was a silly booking decision. This also doubles as Misawa’s last great match of his storied career. I thought he was the second best worker (Kobashi’s face in peril was incredible) he was just a cold, stoic, remorseless badass in this match. The last hurrah of the Misawa vs Kobashi rivalry.

#4. KENTA vs. Bryan Danielson – NOAH 12/02/06

Exactly, one year before KENTA and Bryan Danielson had a tremendous traditional wrestling match. One thing you may have noticed from these countdowns is the dearth of gaijin talent. From Rikidozan through the 90s, gaijin especially from America played a big role in Puroresu. By 2000 they were mostly gone for the landscape and puroresu became very native heavy. This has changed in recent years thanks to the Bullet Club in New Japan but for most of the decade it was Japanese vs Japanese. Danielson is a student of pro wrestling and loves puroresu. I am sure it was a real treat for him to get to wrestle for NOAH and to wrestle one of the best junior heavyweights of the 2000s in KENTA.

If you can reign in KENTA and make him work for his offense, then you can get a great match out of him. KENTA has all the tools to be one of the best of all-time, but he doesn’t use them smartly. Danielson is a great ring general and knows how to make KENTA work for it. This is a great example of a tempo-based psychology match. KENTA wants to work that million mile per hour style and Danielson is trying to stymie him. Early on as KENTA is revving up Danielson gets a simple hiptoss and converts that into a cross armbreaker. That’s excellent wrestling. Quash the early momentum and lay some groundwork for an arm-based attack. Danielson was tremendous in working the arm. Danielson uses this as a setup to hit a diving headbutt and then a monster splash over the guardrail on KENTA but in the process hurts his knee. That’s the spot I always remember from this match. It is such a great turning point. Danielson was doing great on the ground, but felt he needed something extra to beat KENTA. When he goes high risk, he pays for it with a bum wheel. The finish stretch just flows beautifully building on the great ground work they laid in the beginning. Danielson powers through at first and tries the Crossface Chickenwing, but KENTA picks the knee and gets a Texas Cloverleaf and now Danielson is hurting. So when Danielson goes for Cattle Mutilation he cant hold it. Now KENTA can roaring back with his big ass kicks and knees. Danielson try as he might cant withstand this onslaught and loses to Go 2 Sleep. I love strategies and this is a match of strategies. Danielson blows it when he goes high risk after wrestling a great conservative match. I love how it does not immediately lead to Danielson taking heat. He is fighting through the pain and KENTA had taken more punishment up until that point. You see KENTA making in roads, but Danielson is still in the driver’s seat until his leg gives out. Then KENTA finally EXPLODES in great KENTA fashion. Just awesome escalation throughout the match really built to a fever pitch.

#3. GHC Heavyweight Champion Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama – Budokan 01/22/06

NOAH Match of the Year, 2006

Just as the top match of this countdown is the grand sendoff for the King’s Road Tag Style, this is the sendoff for the King’s Road singles style. Kobashi’s cancer scare, Misawa’s poor health and Kawada’s winding schedule meant these two were the last of the Five Pillars of Heaven. The September tag match is a great lead in to this match as it really makes you want to see singles match between these two. In the feel-good moment of 2005, Akira Taue wins the GHC Championship raising the stakes of this match.

After his loss to Kobashi in the Dome, Akiyama disappears in the last half of the decade. Yes being a part of three of the best matches of the decade seems like disappearing when you do nothing in between. However, in this one match, Akiyama wrestles like it is 2000 fighting with urgency and focus. The focus was the head and neck of Taue where he was throwing knees like Misawa would throw elbows. As I have said before Taue is the King of Efficiency. There are no overwrought sequences. He has one goal win the match. How is he going to do it? Nodowa Akiyama to Hell and retain his title. We begin with a  nice little Taue shine diving to the outside showing how much this championship means to him. Taue worked the match smartly and builds nicely to his first Nodowa attempt but it is still early as Akiyama counters. The spot of the match is Akiyama wiping Taue out with a knee from the apron from behind. This sets up the excellent heat segment on the head and neck of Taue. Akiyama takes a page out of 2001 Mutoh’s playbook using the dropkick to the knee to set up a knee to the head, but that only gets two. Akiyama tries a running knee on the ramp, but Taue nails him with a big boot. NODOWA OFF THE RAMP! Game-changer! I loved that moment as it totally changes the complexion of the match and just like that Taue is back in it. Taue runs through his big offense lots of Nodowas and a Dynamic Bomb cant get it done. The drama is at a fever pitch with Akiyama responding with Exploders. They play off the September tag with Taue hitting a Super Nodowa when Akiyama had been trying a Super Exploder but Taue does not have enough to cover like he did four months ago. Akiyama ends up kneeing him in the head and eventually Taue succumbs to the onslaught. Two of the all-time greats going out having a balls to the wall match where the key is they are always struggling to win the match and put themselves in the best position to win. The entertainment of the fans is a by-product, the true goal is to win the match. I love how they put over the high stakes of the match when Akiyama knees Taue in the head on the first Super Nodowa attempt. Taue knows he needs that home run shot to win, but in order to hit it has to sacrifice the offensive position. It is a really cool moment. They take it home with Akiyama winning the match because of the groundwork he laid with the head/neck work and Taue not being able to overcome it.

GET 'EM JOE!

 

#2. GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs SUWA – Budokan 09/18/05

It is the battle of Caps Lock: KENTA vs SUWA! The best KENTA matches are ones where he has to earn his offense whether it is the cheating heel tactics of a Kotaro Suzuki or the technical wrestling of a Bryan Danielson. You want to see KENTA go through some trial and tribulations before he explodes into his hellacious comeback. No one was better at that than SUWA in this match. SUWA turned in a career performance as he was a heel’s heel in this barnburner. He tore up the scroll that is always read before NOAH title matches. Sacrilege!  He blasts KENTA with a ring bell! The ref is forced to DQ him. SUWA is parading around knowing he beat up the champ. Joe Higuchi, the old dude that reads from the scroll, gets so hot that he takes off his suit to trade hands with him. The crowd goes wild for this! It is one of those moments that transcend time, language and culture. When a old man gets so fired up and is ready to put a punk in his place that always gets over. He throws the turnbuckle pad at the ref. He openly punts KENTA in the nuts. The ring crew and young boys are irate. The match has been restarted because everyone wants KENTA to destroy this prick but he has taken too damage. Now SUWA is openly flouting the rules. What are they going to do? Disqualify him again? This is an amazing heel performance that really needs to be seen to be believed. A man who has no cares in this world is always a dangerous man. SUWA hits that big dropkick that Finn Balor lifted from him and KENTA takes a gnarly bump for it. SUWA looks to finish him off with a Pedigree when KENTA reverses into a GO 2 SLEEP! GO KENTA GO! Loved the closed fist exchange here it works so much better than chops. KENTA OBLITERATES SUWA with kicks to the head and an exploding knee and just like that KENTA vanquishes the prick. It is the easiest story to tell. Asshole bully, SUWA is a total jerk and gets a ton of heat on himself then badass, asskicking babyface, KENTA The Destroyer roars to a satisfying conclusion when he kicks off the asshole’s head. I love this match! And to think this is not even the best match on the card…

#1. Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Genichiro Tenryu & Jun Akiyama – Budokan 9/18/05

NOAH Match of the Year, 2005

What if Tenryu did not leave All Japan in 1990, is this a match we get in 1996 instead of 2005? Perhaps, but that is the dilemma I face. Undoubtedly, this is a great match, even in NOAH’s weakened state in the last half of the first decade of the 21^st century, to be selected as the best match is still high praise. I ranked it #8 overall of all Puroresu matches to take place between 2000-2009. Yet find myself not wanting to include it in my Top 100 because it does not feel consequential. It is four of the greatest of all time (all four I ranked in my top 25 in the Greatest Wrestler Ever poll) but they are all in the twilight of their careers. This would be Tenryu’s last great match. Taue had a couple more gems in 2006 before fading away. Kobashi would have his cancer in 2006 and while he would have great matches afterwards it would never be the same. The youngest of the four, Akiyama, never reached his full potential as a star of a major promotion as he would flounder in NOAH before a resurgence in All Japan, but never a Budokan level draw that was expected of him. So the match feels more like the end of the road than a part of the greater pro wrestling narrative. I would not call it nostalgic. To me Misawa vs Kawada from the Dome in 2005 was nostalgic and so was the Misawa Tribute match. It was on the border of being passé, but the four characters are larger than life and can still suck you in. This and the Taue vs Akiyama match from four months later are a fitting end to the King’s Road.

Regardless, let us rejoice and be glad because these four old timers put on a helluva match and Akira Taue’s resurgence during this time period was excellent. This plays off the earlier Kobashi/Tenryu tag in April, but Kobashi has subbed in Taue for Go Shiozaki in return for excellent results. Clearly indicative of  a larger NOAH problem is that subbing in an old dude clearly improves a match over the young buck. In the April match, Tenryu’s chest ended up looking like a murder scene as Kobashi had chopped him so hard that ripped open his pecs. So Tenryu does a great chickenshit heel routine. I don’t blame him one bit. Frustrated, Kobashi sics Taue on them and he has Tenryu & Akiyama reeling. Then Kobashi tags in and he is now licking his chops (pun fully intended). Tenryu backpedals and tags in Akiyama. Akiyama thinks he will fare better against Taue so he takes a cheapshot at him. Taue DEMANDS to be tagged in to avenge this. Taue goes BEZERK on Akiyama! Crowd goes wild! Kobashi and Tenryu finally square off. Tenryu makes fighting spirit spots work because it actually sells how painful they are. His facial expressions are great. The match was so heated and chippy I loved it. So much trash talking. There was a point where Akiyama/Kobashi were supposed to nose-to-nose but Akiyama accidentally headbutts Kobashi and draws blood. I love it. Kobashi/Taue work a great control segment on Akiyama focusing on the neck. When Tenryu does get in, it he is who is licking his chops. Big melee fracas that is reminiscent of the big King’s Road tags of 90s with tons of bombs. They even do a miscommunication spot which is very rare in Japan where Taue accidentally big boots Kobashi. Taue vs Akiyama absolutely kill it in the final minutes. Akiyama teases a super exploder, but it is Taue with a Super Nodowa that wins the match. You can count to a million, Jess!

Tenryu was the cagey veteran that picked his spots perfectly. Kobashi was a big gun that could turn the tide of the match on a dime, but never overstayed his welcome. He was taken out by his partner he was able to save Taue a couple times, but couldn’t do much late in the game. Akiyama was the best seller of the match, but also the firecracker of his team. What more can be said of this Taue performance? He looked like a superstar and gave an intense performance. A great finale to the King’s Road tag team style!

  

Next time, we close out the first decade of the 2000s by looking at the best matches to take place in Japan from 2005-2009 not from Pro Wrestling NOAH!

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 5: Best of Pro Wrestling NOAH 2000-2004 (Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, Yoshinari Ogawa)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Funny work story: So I have been working with this sales rep from China for the past month or so. She asked me in an email: How do you solve import tariffs? I popped for that one.

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 5:

The Greatest Matches of Pro Wrestling NOAH in 2000-2004

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 fifth volume of Pro Wrestling Love finishes the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in Pro Wrestling NOAH from 2000-2004. Pro Wrestling NOAH was a splinter promotion started by Mitsuharu Misawa in 2000 from the All Japan Pro Wrestling Promotion after the death of Giant Baba led to a year and half of tumult backstage. Misawa started the NOAH promotion with all the natives of All Japan (sans Toshiaki Kawada and Masa Fuchi, who said behind out of loyalty to Mrs. Baba). Personally, I think the Tokyo Dome show in the summer of 2005 is the proper place to stop this. I think that is end of peak NOAH, the Kenta Kobashi reign had just ended and the Dome 2005 show was the last major show before the downward spiral of NOAH in the late 2000s. However, I feel that a list of the best Puroresu matches from 2005-2009 makes a lot of sense and if I do a NOAH list from 2000-2005 it would cause some strange overlap. So out of deference from that list, we will do NOAH from 2000-2004 even though that is kinda messy because we would still be in the midst of Kenta Kobashi’s epic title reign.

Ratings: Reviewing these matches again reminded me how much I love each and every one of these matches. They are so unique and different from one another with such spectacular characters. It is a heartbreaker but I don’t see how #6 can make my list. The other 5 are all mortal locks and I would say #1 and #2 are Greatest Match Ever Contenders. I have flipped flopped one and two so many times so we will see what happens in April!

My Spirit Wrestler!

Top Six Match of Pro Wrestling NOAH from 2000-2004

#6. GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshinari Ogawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama – 9/7/02

NOAH Match of the Year, 2002

I don’t know when it was decided, but sometime in the middle of Jun Akiyama’s title reign, Misawa switched gears and decided that Kenta Kobashi was going to be the Ace. Kobashi was injured throughout the majority of 2001. It only made sense to finish what Babe started with the Misawa vs Kobashi feud that was the main feud of late 90s All Japan. Thus he planned for a major torch passing moment, but in order for that to happen Misawa would need to win the Championship. If he beat Akiyama, that would undo a lot of hard work that was put into the major Akiyama push. So he needed a transitional champion. Someone worthy to beat, but who? Misawa selected Takayama as big badass heel that has no allegiance to NOAH, a perfect person to beat. However, if Takayama defeats Akiyama it would have to be decisively which again undo all the hard work put into Akiyama. So Misawa thinks outside the box and uses a double transitional champion, a rare, shrewed move. So who could Akiyama lose to in a fluke fashion and be totally sacrificed at the altar of the Bleach Blond Badass of Japan. RAT BOY! Misawa is a genius!

Normally, I am not too fond of heel vs heel, but this is a great character dynamic. Imagine a cheating, dastardly David when he takes on Goliath. You can choose to root for Takayama to destroy this punk, cowardly scuzzball. Or you can root for Ogawa to somehow upset the Giant. Ogawa’s tights say “GHC Champ” so yes you should root for him! J  The hook of the match is that Takayama underestimates the undersized Rat Boy and Ogawa exploits this to make in-roads in the match. The beginning of the match establishes the danger that Ogawa is in as Takayama kicks his ass, but Takayama is cocky. It is an errant big boot that sees Takayama crotch himself on the top turnbuckle. Ogawa is totally desperate and urgent. He is shoving the ref out of the way trying to get his licks in when he still can. The focus of Ogawa’s attack is the arm. Takayama has a lot of great strength hope spots while Ogawa continues to desperately cling to his arm work. The best moment of the match is when Takayama is poised to take Ogawa’s head off, Ogawa ducks and drop toeholds into the steel post. They really milk the 19 count and when Takayama rolls in, Ogawa lets out a nice big “SHIT!” and I pop huge! You know it is just a matter of time now. Back drop driver after back drop driver does no good. Then one gigantic knee lift and Ogawa goes flying! The end is nigh for Rat Boy and Takayama kills him dead with slams and his Everest Suplex. I would say this is the best heel vs heel match ever. Whether you are cheering for the asskicking brute or the cheating punk, you will not leave disappointed.   

#5. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama 

GHC Heavyweight Title Tournament Final 4/15/01 

NOAH Match of the Year, 2001

In 2001, it came time for NOAH to establish their own championships and Misawa taps Takayama as the man he wanted to beat to make that championship mean something. Takayama is such a star. I love how he carries himself. He is king shit. Takayama is a very large man for a Japanese pro wrestler standing 6’ 5” and 275 lbs. It was Misawa that saw something special in Takayama. After years in the mid-card in UWFi and All Japan Pro Wrestling, Misawa began pushing Takayama after Baba’s death in All Japan and once NOAH was started he saw Takayama as a shoot-style badass heel that offered something very different than rest of the Five Pillars.

Takayama tries a new strategy against the greatest big match wrestler in puroresu history and that is use his inherent size advantage to bully Misawa. He is not going to engage Misawa in a fire fight like Kobashi would. The problem with Takayama is that he is inherently arrogant because he knows he is a big, bad asskicker. So when he pulls stunts like a one foot cover and warning kicks to Misawa’s kicks it serves to annoy Misawa more than hurt him. The next taunt was Takayama putting his hand over Misawa’s mouth. There is something naturally very upsetting about someone having their hand over your mouth controlling your ability to breathe and talk. So an enraged Misawa unleashes a barrage of elbows, but still the Giant is always able to go back to the knee lift to the abdomen. It is when Takayama bloodies Misawa with a nasty kick to the ear, just vicious. He unloads two absolutely sick elbows and an Emerald Flowsion that fell the Giant. The finish run is short and sweet, but it makes sense because it had been building the whole match. Takayama had controlled the whole match and was not just dominating Misawa, he was disrespecting him. Misawa totally obliterated him. No reason to drag it out just one short, explosive climax. This is the quintessential Misawa match. Takayama is a big, bruising Giant and they just build and build and build to that big finish run.  

#4. GHC Tag Team Champions Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs

KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji 4/25/04

One disappointing difference between All Japan and NOAH is the lack of emphasis on tag team wrestling, but damn if this match is not one of the best tag team matches of all time. In late 90s All Japan, Misawa started peculiarly teaming with Rat Boy. I like to imagine that Ogawa is the only man alive that can make the ultra-serious Misawa laugh and that’s why Misawa keeps Ogawa around. Ogawa is my spirit wrestler. I am an inch taller and we have a similar build. We have similar badass hair (ok mine is nicer) and both have a love of zebra pants. If I was ever a wrestler, I would have been the most low-down, dirty, dastardly, cheating chump you would have ever seen. KENTA & Marufuji were the main beneficiaries of Misawa’s interest in pushing junior heavyweights. It would eventually lead to both of them being pushed in the heavyweight division as main event stars. I generally enjoy KENTA. He is a hard-hitting, explosive wrestler who suffers from the problem a lot of 21^st century wrestlers do and that’s moving a million miles per hour through a match undermining the action that happened previously. Marufuji would be better suited for the Japanese men’s gymnastics team with all his tumbling passes which result in very light offense. Never let it be said that I am not open-minded as a Marufuji match will be making my Top 100 matches of all time.

Misawa rushes over to catch Marufuji as he coming down on Sliced Bread and hits EMERALD FLOWSION!!! Ogawa covers. KICK OUT! WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED!!!! KENTA flies in with a springboard legdrop and takes out Ogawa with roundhouse kicks. Misawa restores order with elbows and heads to the top. KENTA hits enziguiris to stun him. Marufuji joins him on top and hits a fuckin Moonsault Rock Bottom on Misawa! KICK OUT BY MISAWA! EVERYONE LOSES THEIR SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED!!!!

That’s what we like to call in the business, “in medias res”. I have been trying to stay away from just doing play by play but that sequence has been burned in my head and it is one of the all time great sequences. I think what makes this match so great is that KENTA & Marufuji know they are the big time underdogs in this match, but they still believe in themselves without ever getting cocky once. They rush Misawa & Ogawa at the bell, but the Indomitable Emerald Elbow proved to be too much for them. The control segments by Misawa & Ogawa are great. Misawa & Ogawa are such an engaging odd couple. It is the hard-hitting Misawa and the underhanded Ogawa each controlling the young upstarts in their own way. I love the transition from this blowout to a competitive match. In 15 seconds, Marufuji hits a Sliced Bread on Misawa on the ramp and Kenta wipes Ogawa out with a knee and just like that KENTAFuji is right in this thing.  Don’t play with your food, Misawa & Ogawa. The resulting finish run is just an amazing fireworks spectacle of an insane bombs that I could never do justice. It is each man playing their character to perfection that makes this finish stretch so sweet. It is a great veterans vs young lions match with all the fixins. And to think this was not even the best match that night…

When I first discovered Youtube in 2006, I was a kid in the candystore this is one of the first videos of Puroresu I ever watched. It was love at first sight. I love Kenta Kobashi!

#3. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa – 11/01/03

Is there a more appetizing match on paper than Kenta Kobashi The Destroyer vs Rat Boy? It is the perfect match because there is nobody’s ass you want kicked more than Ogawa and there is nobody you rather do said asskicking than Kobashi. Some matches you can just predict exactly what will happen just based on the opponents. Kobashi is going to dominate early. Ogawa will do something underhanded to gain the advantage. He will take cheapshots and shortcuts to maintain his tenuous grasp as he desperately tries to survive all the while making Kobashi madder and madder. Until Kobashi just explodes in an effusive fury of closed fist punches! You know what sometimes I want a match to be exactly what I predict because the predictable is what makes sense and when you make sense you make dollars. When you have two characters that are so damn good at being who they are, Kobashi The Destroyer & Rat Boy, then execution of that story is going to be the treat.  It is a vast departure from the NOAH house style. This feels straight out of the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, TN with the liberal cheating, blood and closed fist punches.  If you have never watched this match, watch this match!

#2. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama – 4/25/04

NOAH Match of the Year, 2004

This match is from the exact same card as the Tag Title match two slots above. The fans that night sure as hell got their money’s worth! If there was ever a time for a tie it would be between this match and the following match. I thought about doing a tie, but then I realized one match had to come after the other match. I couldn’t write my reviews on top of each other after all! Originally, when I was voting for the Best of Japan 2000-2009, I had this match above the match that follows. The more I think about the more I realize influence and historical import matters to me. I think that’s my tiebreaker. Misawa vs Kobashi had been building since Misawa and Kobashi became a full-time tag team in 1993 and it also kicked off the epic Kobashi title reign. So this match is a badass match, but the other just has more oomph due to history, but this is splitting hairs.

Kobashi had been champion for little over a year at this point, but had not really been tested. This was his stiff challenge. Takayama is bigger, had shoot credentials and is a former IWGP & GHC Champion. In some ways, Kobashi wrestles like the underdog reminiscent of how he wrestled Hansen in the early 90s when he was a young buck. He is going for big bombs early to win the match. Is it desperation or is it confidence? It is hard to say. The result is not it ends up with Takayama burying the knee in the midsection because Kobashi leaves himself open to the counterattack. Kobashi switches gears to working holds trying to use Takayama’s weight against him sapping the big man’s energy. This is a far more effective strategy has Kobashi is setting up his big offense using the holds. I love the urgency of Kobashi throughout this. It really puts over how credible a threat Takayama is. The match is famous for the amazing heat segment. When Kobashi tries to chop his way out of trouble, it is bye bye arm. Takayama wants to take the arm home with him and Kobashi is in full sell mode. Kobashi is such a  great seller, so emotive. The finish stretch is amazing: Takayama throwing every suplex at Kobashi, Kobashi gritting his teeth through the pain to kick out and even hit lariats. It is so powerful. The big man may have punched himself out. When Kobashi signals for the moonsault, the crowd goes bezerk! Like you need to watch this match for that one spot if nothing else because that is pro wrestling. I love that he finishes the match with moonsault (on the face!) because his right arm is so banged up he cant hit the Burning Hammer so he needs a suitably big bomb to win the match that does not involve the arm. If Misawa vs Takayama is quintessential Misawa, this is quintessential Kobashi. Strong fundamentals based work that respects the size and ability of his opponent, a dramatic heat segment filled with amazing selling and a gangbusters finish run. The part the crowd loses its mind for is a simple fist pump that is pro wrestling.

#1. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - 3/01-03

NOAH Match of the Year, 2003

I have said it before and I will say it again. The torch was not passed on this night. It was seized! What do you say about a match this epic that was literally a decade in the making. I guess I will start with that lived up to the insane expectation everyone had for this match. Misawa and Kobashi were no spring chickens. They may have already had the greatest match in pro wrestling history on 1/20/97. There 1998 and 1999 matches are nothing to sneeze at either. So where the hell do you go from there? It is a testament to these two amazing pro wrestlers that they managed to create such a special, emotional match. It is Misawa’s Last Stand as the Man. At this point, I cant remember if it was me or my co-host on Tag Teams Back Again that likened Misawa to Michael Jordan. His gimmick is that he is the Ace. He is the Man. No-nonsense, ultra-serious, resilient and best at his craft. People had defeated Misawa in the past for champions, but no one had ever BEAT Misawa. It was almost like the title losses of the 90s were just heat segments in Misawa’s career before the inevitable comeback. The difference with this match was there were no more comeback. Ok, ok, he won the GHC Title again, but work with me here, there was no coming back to feeling like he was The Man again, that luster was lost forever, which makes his GHC Title reign in late 2000s feel all the more desperate and hollow. Taue, Kawada and Akiyama all defeated Misawa for championships, but it was Kobashi that defeated Misawa for the right to be called The Man. It is so apropos that in this match, it is Kobashi who mounts the impossible comeback. The spot of the match is Misawa’s Tiger Suplex from the ramp to the floor. Kobashi is out. Emerald Flowsion. 1-2-NO! After years and years of making comebacks and putting people away, it is now time for Misawa to taste the medicine he made so many others taste. That sinking feeling in his stomach that he is not going to win and his opponent is about to make the superhuman comeback. The Burning Hammer reigns down on Misawa and Kobashi seizes the mantle of The Man!   

With NOAH done, lets take a look at what else was going with puroresu in the early 2000s, we look at all the other Japanese promotions from 2000-2004 namely New Japan and All Japan Pro Wrestling! The completion of the WWF 1993-1997 countdown is scheduled for Friday. I have not forgotten. 

KENTA Speeds At Night: #12 KENTA vs Bryan Danielson - Pro Wrestling NOAH 12/02/06

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Commitment is the key to a successful, happy life. Trying to be everywhere will result in you being nowhere. Trying to do everything will result in nothing getting done. You have to commit to your goals, develop a strategy and execute on that strategy in all aspects of your life. I think a perfect representation of commitment in a wrestling match pits KENTA against Bryan Danielson in a match from Pro Wrestling NOAH that took place on December 2, 2006. In the match, Danielson is committed to the strategy of grounding the ultra-quick KENTA by working the arm, which has the added benefit of setting up his preferred submission hold focused on the arm. However, at a key point in time he has an opportunity to take a big risk by diving over the top rope into the crowd, if he lands he will assuredly win the match, but a bad fall could be his demise. Danielson, a daredevil, abandons his strategy, in doing so jams his knee on the dive giving KENTA an opening. Danielson quickly tries to return to his strategy but the aforementioned submission hold requires bridging which he can no longer do because of his bad knee. As you will see in my post-script, a lot of people would assume KENTA would target the injured leg of Danielson, which he attempted. However, that is not KENTA's forte and actually got KENTA in trouble. KENTA excels at fast-paced, bomb throw, kick your head off style. KENTA stayed true to himself and committed to his strategy. Used the injured leg, to set up his big kicks to the head and won the match. You see from this match one wrestler did not stay committed to his strategy causing himself an injury while the other wrestler took a licking, but kept on ticking and through commitment to what brought him to the dance took the victory home. Stay committed to your goals and strategy (re-evaluation based on new information is of course necessary also) and success will be yours.

 



KENTA vs Bryan Danielson - NOAH 12/02/06

This may shock a lot of people but the amount of matches I have seen Bryan Danielson wrestle as Bryan Danielson is probably only a handful and the vast majority are live. I was just never one to really ask my parents for money to buy wrestling or any item for me. Of course, my Dad would take me to the matches when they came to town and usually one 1-2 PPVs a year, but other than that not much. This mentality would continue into college. I always saw live events as special exceptions and would go to ROH whenever they were in town, but never felt that my limited college money should be spent on indy wrestling. I am hoping to change this in the near future and really hunker down and watch some golden age ROH. This match gives me hope that really is all that it is cracked up to be because Danielson was amazing in this match.

As I said in the SUWA review, the one constant in great KENTA matches is make KENTA work for it. Don't let him work his million mile an hour match, but make him sell and build up to that frenzy. What is interesting is I really feel like 2013 Daniel Bryan and mid-00s KENTA are really similar in working style. Bryan is better at building a match and slowing it down on his own accord. However, he has been prone to blowing off selling to get his shit in and his real selling point in the ring is his million miles an hour pace. Having not seen a lot of Daniel Bryan as Bryan Danielson, I was interested if they were going to try break the moves/minute record or something. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well this turned out.

The one odd thing to get out of the way is that the crowd is dead throughout the majority of the match. Was this one of Danielson's first tours in Japan? Were they just unfamiliar with him? The feeling out process is slower than I expected and very mat based where Danielson seems to have the advantage. KENTA looks to pick up the pace, but Danielson gets a hiptoss and converts that into a cross armbreaker. Excellent wrestling as KENTA is more as home with an uptempo pace so Danielson wisely slows it down and at the same time damages the arm. KENTA freaked out that Danielson almost got a submission victory actually slows down the match with a chinlock in a way to reset the match because he has been outclassed thus far. Once Danielson get back on top he is just working that arm relentlessly with all sorts of crazy submission moves. KENTA hits a snap powerslam and is still selling. Danielson's answer to KENTA is a Robinson backbreaker and a diving headbutt. I get a little worried here because they move quickly into a roll-up barrage when the diving headbutt was such a big spot. Danielson continues to go for home runs as he hits a huge splash to the outside over the guardrail on KENTA, but in the process hurts his knee. 

 

After the big dive, Danielson sells the knee kipping up on one knee after a missile dropkick, but KENTA had taken more punishment up until that point. So Danielson started back on offense with the missile dropkick. The knee messes him up a bit and KENTA hits a guillotine DDT, which he usually does not expect his opponent to sell (ala the Harley Race piledriver) so he looks to follow that up with a springboard move, but Danielson catches him with a German and then goes to lock on the Chickenwing Crossface (having had worked on the arm). There is a great struggle over this hold and here at his first real chance to pick the knee KENTA does. He applies the Texas Cloverleaf, but Danielson makes the ropes and when Danielson does put on Cattle Mutilation he cant hold it because his bad knee. There is an excellent headbutt vs kick war and Danielson was throwing some Garvin like nasty headbutts. Danielson goes for the Crossface Chickenwing again, which would avoid bridging on the bad knee and almost assuredly secure the victory, but KENTA fights like mad to get out of it. The next time KENTA gets on offense he goes back to Texas Cloverleaf, but gets countered into a pinning predicament. After that Danielson is relentless with a barrage of Cattle Mutilation. He attempts to hit a Tiger Suplex/Cattle Mutilation combination, but KENTA is able to bridge one into a pinfall. Awesome spot! At this point, KENTA has solidly got his ass whipped. He gets an Ace Crusher and quite naturally starts bust out his big guns: Exploding Knee and Kicks. Danielson's last stand is a roll-up barrage, but KENTA is stringing together too many kicks at this point. He hits the Go 2 Sleep to secure the victory.

I love this match as a game of strategies. Looking at this from a kayfabe perspective, Danielson is a better all-around wrestler. KENTA thrives in the uptempo game and with his kicks. Danielson stymies him early and never really lets him get going. Danielson is working the arm effectively, but does not have the knock out blows like KENTA so he goes for big gambles like the diving headbutt and the big splash, but this costs him his knee, which messes with one of his best submissions: Cattle Mutilation, which requires bridging. KENTA goes after the knee, but he is not very adept at working over body parts and nearly gets burnt with a cradle counter to a Cloverleaf. So KENTA has a fucked arm, has been getting his ass beaten and cant really take advantage of the knee, but has an opening with an Ace Crusher. So he goes to what brought him to the dance, big fuckin home run swings right at Danielson's head. KENTA always has the puncher's chance and he landed some big ones late. Danielson should have stuck to the arm game plan, but got lured away with big gambles then ended up ruining his chances to apply Cattle Mutilation. If only he was able to get that Crossface Chickenwing. Larry Z would have been proud at this exhibition of the human game of chess. My match of 2006 so far! ****1/2

 

P.S.

 

Discussion between me and a poster at PWO:

 

Poster: Early and mid-match were really good.  Both worked smart and kept it simple.  Then it falls apart for me.  Danielson does a big dive and hurts his knee.  He makes it exceedingly obvious that his knee was hurt during that dive.  KENTA...decides we're going into a suplex nearfall sequence.  Danielson is still selling the knee, and KENTA's one move that targets it is the Texas cloverleaf.  Then we move on to more nearfalls.  Actual finish and the few moves leading directly up to it was pretty god, but once again the need for big suplex nearfalls when the match had another perfectly logical way to go kills me.

 

My Response: I disagree with the finish ruining the match. After the big dive, Danielson sells the knee, but KENTA had taken more punishment up until that point. So Danielson started back on offense with the missile dropkick. The knee messes him up a bit and KENTA hits a guillotine DDT, which he usually does not expect his opponent to sell (ala the Harley Race piledriver) so he looks to follow that up with a springboard move, but Danielson catches him with a German and then goes to lock on the Chickenwing Crossface (having had worked on the arm). There is a great struggle and here at his first real chance to pick the knee KENTA does. He applies the Texas Cloverleaf and when Danielson does put on Cattle Mutilation he cant hold it because his bad knee. The next time KENTA gets on offense he goes back to Texas Cloverleaf, but gets countered into a pinning predicament. After that Danielson is relentless with Cattle Mutilation. KENTA is able to bridge one into a pinfall. At this point, KENTA has solidly got his ass whipped. He gets an Ace Crusher and quite naturally starts bust out his big guns which are the his knee, kicks and G2S. I don't take meticulous notes, but I don't think he ever hit a suplex in the post-dive portion of the match. He was working the Cloverleaf, but almost got bit. If I am KENTA and I got my arm fucked and I don't really work the leg and I am getting my ass kicked, if I have an opening I am hitting my home run shots. My cross-court forehand in tennis is a lot better than my down the line. If I want to access to a righty's backhand, I need to hit a cross-court backhand or create a inside out forehand. There is a lot of time I want to work over someone's backhand, but it is a limitation in my game to work it over. When I start to get down, you best believe, I am hitting the big cross court forehand even if their forehand is pretty decent. I don't fault KENTA for relying on what brought him to dance. He gave it a try to work over the knee, but it almost bit him when Danielson got a two count on a small package.