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 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 21st 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!
