Defenders of the Faith: Akira Taue, Mitsuharu Misawa, Shinya Hashimoto (Pro Wrestling NOAH, 2000-2002)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

BEST DAY EVER AT WORK~! Not only did I get to use real chemical engineering modeling at work, I also solved our cleanliness problem. Who's da man? I am da man! Not even a flat tire on the way home from work could bring me down!

The Only Two Things That Could Make Today Better

I decided to celebrate by talking about one of my favorite time period of one of my favorite promotions (read: I did not finish watching all the 2014 NXT matches I wanted), early Pro Wrestling NOAH. Early NOAH captures the intricate and compelling storytelling of All Japan, with a deeper and more fun roster and reducing the average match time. Matches like the Misawa/Akiyama Semifinals match and Misawa/Taue were downright lean and mean. The only match that really feels beholden to the length is strength mindset is the Kobashi vs Akiyama epic from the end of 2000. I thought they made use of their time a lot better there than they did during their Dome match four years later. I capture the very beginning of NOAH and how they went out their way to differentiate themselves from All Japan in the following blog:

 http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

I decided to go back to watch more NOAH matches from this time period because I enjoyed it so much that I did not want to leave any stone unturned. For the most part, none of the matches really rocked my world. They were just very good to great matches that were enjoyable experiences. The two matches that really stood out to me were the aforementioned Misawa vs Taue match and the amazing heel vs heel Takayama vs Ogawa match for the GHC Championship.

I loved the brisk pace of the Taue/Misawa match without sacrificing anything in regards to compelling match structure or awesome moments. Taue had the elbow scouted and was just relentless suffocating Misawa. You really felt how Misawa could not get anything started against this onslaught. Misawa always has his trusty elbow, which bails him out eventually. He just never deviates from what brought him to the dance and who can blame him with the track record he had. I wished the match forced him to dig deeper into his bags of trick, but overall it was very enjoyable.

The big find of going back and watching this era was the Yoshihiro Takayama and Yoshinari Ogawa GHC Heavyweight Championship match from 2002. They stand as far part on the heel spectrum as possible, but they are two best heels in Japan of the decade. I have gone on record that Rat Boy is my spirit wrestler from the look (the hair & zebra pants), the attitude (cocksure, but clearly not deserving) and just being a total cheat in the ring. The Bleach Blond Giant is the ultimate bully of Japan with combination of size and shoot-fighting skills he knows he is a badass and he ain't afraid to let you know. However, how fine is the line between bully and asskicker? What about the line between do whatever it takes scoundrel and undersize underdog? It is a great heel vs. heel match because they never deviate from their characters, but the context makes you cheer for each one at different points. At the beginning as Takayama is just having his way with Ogawa, you feel bad for the little guy. Once the little guy starts cheating like a muthafucka and is really laying a beating on the Giant, you can't wait for Takayama to get his hands on this piss-ant and squash him like  a bug. Pro wrestling demonstrates what we know from the real world that context is the difference between hero and villain and loved and being hated.  That is why pro wrestling is the greatest form of entertainment in the history of mankind.

Greatest Champion Ever! EVAH~!

Previously on Riding Space Mountain:

Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Akira Taue - NOAH 8/5/00
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - NOAH 8/6/00 ****
#93 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - NOAH 12/23/00 ****1/2
#32 of 100, 2000 NOAH Match of the Year
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

Shinya Hashimoto & Yuji Nagata vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - Zero-1 3/2/01 ****1/4
#53 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Vacant GHC Championship 4/13/01 ****3/4
#13 of 100, 2001 NOAH Match of the Year
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/bleach-blond-bad-yoshihiro-takayama.html

GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - NOAH 7/27/01 ****1/2
#26 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

New Japan (Liger & Wataru Inoue) vs NOAH (Kikuchi & Kanemaru) - NOAH 2/17/02 ****1/4
#51 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/02/minoru-special-japanese-juniors-2000.html

Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata - NOAH 2/17/02
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

New Japan (Liger & Wataru Inoue) vs NOAH (Kikuchi & Kanemaru) - NOAH 4/7/02 ****1/2
#37 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/02/minoru-special-japanese-juniors-2000.html

Wild II (Morishima & Rikio) vs Sterness (Akiyama & Saito) - NOAH 9/23/02
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

GHC Hvywt Champion Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mistuharu Misawa - NOAH 9/23/02 ****1/2
#45 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/bleach-blond-bad-yoshihiro-takayama.html

Sterness (Akiyama & Saito) vs Burning (Kobashi & Shiga) - NOAH 10/19/02
#76 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html
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Match Listing:

Kenta Kobashi, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Takeshi Rikio vs. 

Jun Akiyama, Yoshihiro Takayama, Kentaro Shiga - NOAH 9/25/00 ***1/4

Standard fun NOAH six-man. Kikuchi stands out from the pack.

Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs Hashimoto & Alexander Otsuka - NOAH 1/13/01 ***1/2
It is Hashimoto vs Misawa. If that is not must-see, I don't know what is. Rat Boy is badass per usual.

Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama & Vader - NOAH 1/13/01 ****

#88 of 100

Huge Vader Lariats and even bigger NODOWAS~! Scariest Vadersault ever. Great tag team match.

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - GHC Hvywt Championship SemiFinals 04/11/01 ***3/4

Sprint! Super fun, NOAH just kept getting longer and longer. Love these early shorties.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue - NOAH 05/18/01 ****1/2

#34 of 100

It is Taue so efficient and compact at no expense to a great story. Taue delivers a great full court press.

Tamon Honda vs Daisuke Ikeda - NOAH 09/01/01 ***1/2

Wrestler vs striker. Fun NOAH mid-card bouts back when those used to happen.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshinari Ogawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 9/7/02 ****1/2

#21 of 100, 2002 NOAH Match of the Year
Best heel vs heel match ever? Bully vs Rat Boy. So different but both epitomize why I love wrestling. 

Definitely not just another pretty face

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Kenta Kobashi, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Takeshi Rikio vs. 

Jun Akiyama, Yoshihiro Takayama, Kentaro Shiga - NOAH 9/25/00

The reunion of Kobashi and Kikuchi was cool, but this seemed pretty by the numbers. For once, Akiyama actually looks like the star in a tag match rather than taking the backseat to his team members. He felt like Kobashi's equal coming off choking him out in August. Akiyama was the one who earned the advantage for his team  with a big knee to Rikio and later dropkick to Kobashi's knee, which forced Kobashi out of the match. Rikio was the best he looked to me. He was just a raw, strong young dude. All he knew was to use his body as a weapon just throwing it at people and awesome sumo slaps. It is not a sustainable style, but it makes sense for a rookie of his size. However, once the even bigger Takayama was able to use the momentum against him with a  knee lift and his partners were detained, Rikio was easy pickings. Takayama and Kobashi is my favorite pairing of the 00s and it was great seeing them lock up. Kobashi was not as overbearing as usual. He was still the weapon of the massive destruction of his team and it was great to see him work with Kikuchi. However, Akiyama was able to detain him with a dropkick to the knee and a figure-4 while Takayama polished off Rikio. Shiga impressed me in 2000 as the plucky underdog. I did not like him as much as the upstart with a chip on his shoulder against Kobashi, but he was servicable. Shiga gets too caught up trying to fight Kobashi on apron that Kikuchi is able to snap off a couple suplexes. The real star of this match is Kikuchi. He worked the short heat segment when he gets too overzealous by challenging Akiyama's team in the corner and Kikuchi suffers for it. He is great at selling, but the beatdown is pretty by the numbers. Surprisingly, Kikuchi works the hot tag and is the best part of the match. He has this crazy spider spot (like Tenryu's Spider German) and just rocks the match. However, Takayama breaks up Kikuchi's rolling Germans, which triggers the Takayama and Rikio finish. If this match happened on RAW, there would be a lot of buzz, but in puroresu we can be a bit spoiled. Kikuchi's performance is standout the rest is pretty much cruise control for everyone else. ***1/4  

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Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs 

Shinya Hashimoto & Alexander Otsuka - NOAH 1/13/01

Holy Shit! A single Tiger Driver actually won a match! Thats Batshit Insane! I really need to rewatch the March tag because I loved this. However, my big problem is that Ogawa makes so much more sense in the role of undersized douche than Akiyama who I thought got destroyed in the match. Hashimoto and Otsuka made their intentions clear that they want Misawa and that Ogawa is just getting in their way. I love Misawa's demeanor. He has total faith in Ogawa. He is not hiding behind him, but he believes in him and wants him to wrestle. For the most part, this does not go too well for Ogawa especially when Hashimoto the Destroyer was in there. Hashimoto vs. Kobashi in 2003:The World Implodes? Hashimoto and Misawa was friggin bitchin. Easily the best strike exchange of the 2000s just great weight and meaning behind each one. Hashimot goes down first, but comes back with overhand chops and stays on top of Misawa with stomps. This draws the young boys to the apron and a great tense staredown. Hashimoto gives one a shove.  I would have loved a melee then restart. Misawa comes outta the corner with a big elbow. In a way they worked a mini-match with a Hashimoto heat and Misawa comeback that was very satisfying. The match continues with Otsuka working a solid heat on Misawa who decks him with an elbow. Ogawa does not the sustain the advantage for long. By God, the crowd is chanting for "Ogawa!". Hashimoto is destroying him with these kicks. Hashimoto goes for a brainbuster, but there is struggle, and some more struggle and finally an eyepoke, HUGE POP! OGAWA SUPLEX! Ogawa/Misawa run through some great double teams, but Hashimoto breaks up pinfall attempt. Hashimoto is relentless attacking Misawa until Ogawa pulls him off and Misawa hits the Tiger Driver for the win.

Hashimoto just seemed like one mean bastard. He was going out of his way to prove He was The Man to Misawa and it generated so much great heat. Otsuka was serviceable as number two. Ogawa was so perfect for this role in every way that Akiyama was not. He was fit to get his ass kicked, but it all built to him getting an eyepoke and a suplex. It was the ultimate Japanese pro wrestling moment of "He may be an asshole, but he is OUR asshole!" Really need to rewatch March match. ***1/2



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Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama & Vader - NOAH 1/13/01

Vader is DA MAN~! If NOAH could milk Vader for a couple more years even if just hidden in tags, he would have been a huge boon to NOAH. My biggest criticism of NOAH is the lack of gaijin talent. Stan Hansen and Dr. Death were so critical to the All Japan Golden Years. I know 2001 Vader is not 1994 Dr. Death especially evident in the couple mishaps and the extremely blown finish. However, holy shit did he look great as the monstrous heel who just mauls Kobashi. I also thought this was one of the most Southern style tag matches in Japan with great double heat.

Kobashi and Taue have an absolutely great shine segment. Vader and Akiyama look to double team Kobashi at the outset, but Kobashi and Taue have other plans in mind. Kobashi destroys Vader with back fists and Taue hits NODOWA~! on Akiyama on ramp. Kobashi continues the beat down on Akiyama. Akiyama high knee and tags in Vader. Vader is fantastic. After all the flippy shit in the 2007 juniors, this is just mama's home cooking as Vader is just blasting Kobashi in the face. In a weird moment, Vader takes Kobashi out into the crowd and puts him in a chinlock. Alright then, snuggle time in the crowd it is. Back in the ring, Vader gets nearfalls off a bitchin lariat (this is one of those lariats JBL would have an orgasm for) and a Vaderbomb. Taue saves and this gives time for Kobashi to tag out. Taue hits the Mother of All NODOWA~! on Vader. Jesus, the elevation he gets on Vader of all people makes up for Vader's shitty finish. Akiyama hits an Exploder on Taue and now Taue is in peril. Vader and Akiyama kick his ass on the outside with Akiyama hitting a piledriver. Taue hits a nasty big boot on Vader. This match is stiff as all hell. Vader chucks Kobashi across the ring on two Germans. Vader hits a massive powerbomb only for two triggering "Ko-Bash-I". Vader hits a Vaderbomb and then nearly kills himself on a Vadersault attempt, which Akiyama covers and then he actually does it and almost kills Kobashi. All I could think was when Vader nearly fell to off the top rope was if I was Kobashi I would be shitting my pants because he you have no idea where the hell Vader would land. I would have called audible and switched the finish, just for my livelihood. That is why Kobashi is Kobashi. He has Balls of Steel!

Incredibly fun match marred by a blown finish. It was entertaining from the excellent Kobashi/Taue shine to the double heat through the finish run with Vader throwing people around. Vader looked like a monster in this match, but I would imagine the finish killed any chance of him getting further chances up the card or perhaps he just didn't have it in him. This match epitomizes what I like in my wrestling. ****



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LOOK OUT!

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - GHC Heavyweight Championship SemiFinals 04/11/01

After a pretty ho-hum 2000 (well besides putting on the Match of the Decade), Misawa needed to be re-established as the Man in NOAH especially with Kobashi being out for 2001 and majority of 2002. This leads to a weird retrogression in the Misawa/Akiyama series and again the problem with never totally committing to Akiyama. Akiyama would win the GHC Championship from Misawa, but here he seems like Misawa's whipping boy. Misawa was coming back at will. Where in 2000, Akiyama dominated after Misawa crashed and burned on elbow from the apron, Misawa rocked Akiyama with elbows so he never ever got anything going. Really the match felt like an exhibition for Misawa's offense. Misawa looked fantastic, pretty much best he ever did in 21st Centruy looking nimble and energetic and Akiyama sold and bumped for him great. It just made Akiyama look a little weak. I liked the double countout on the floor with Misawa hitting a Tiger Driver and Akiyama hiitng an Exploder. It protects Akiyama a bit. They restart the match because there must be a winner!

The finishing stretch is a great sprint with Akiyama looking to put Misawa away with a big high knee, brainbuster and his new and still lethal guillotine choke. Misawa is able to make the ropes. The actual finish is roll-up reversals with Misawa coming out on top is very fresh for NOAH given ho accustomed we are too definitive finishes. It was a fun exhibition for Misawa and a return to form for The Man, just a bit disappointing it came at Akiyama's expense. ***3/4

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GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue - NOAH 05/18/01

A GHC Championship match that goes 15 minutes, CALLOOH! CALLAY! Taue has Misawa scouted, he ain't going to fall for any of this elbow bullshit. He is absolutely suffocating on offense taking to Misawa obliterating him with big boots and hitting a NODOWA~! from the ramp to the timekeeper's table. This 2001 match is much more aligned with the usual Misawa takes a shitkicking and keeps on tickin. Misawa gets his Misawa-Rana and counters like this, but you got to get up pretty early in the morning to get one over on Taue, who just keeps pressing with boots to the head. DYNAMIC BOMB~! Misawa kicks out and tries to powder, but Taue gets a hold of him on the apron. RUH ROH! Misawa's elbow saves him and he collapses back into the safety of the ring. Taue was not the only one with a scouting report. So much for safety as he eats two NODOWA~!, but kicks out. Misawa spinkick Taue and he powders. INCOMING! Here comes Misawa with two diving elbows. TAUE BACKDROP NODOWA~! only gets two. That is pretty much a death sentence. Elbows rock Taue -> Emerald Flowsion -> Obliteration Elbow ->2->Emerald Flowsion -> 3. Taue was on fire in this match as he had answer for all the usual Misawa tricks. I would have liked to seen Misawa dig deep into bag of tricks to beat Taue instead of just patiently sticking with the elbow, but that is Misawa's modus operandi. I would say that is what hurt the match the most you have Taue hitting huge bombs and really responding well to Misawa, but the finish is just the same 'ol same with Misawa hitting his elbows to set up Emerald Flowsion now instead of the Tiger Driver. Still a very fun, tidy and efficient bout. ****1/4

Does not look good for our hero

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Tamon Honda vs Daisuke Ikeda - NOAH 09/01/01

NOAH was running in a small building with stained glass, a very interesting setting for a very interesting match. There was nothing about this bout that said NOAH. It would have felt more at home in New Japan or even in BattlArts. This is not surprising as Ikeda cut his teeth at Fujiwara's Gym and the original BattlArts. Ikeda likes to kick people hard. Honda is an Olympic wrestler and looks to neutralize Ikeda with takedowns. Honda does not have his facial hair so he does not look like the world's ugliest pro wrestler. It feels like early UFC where the wrestler takes down a striker, but does not how to finish him off down there and just smothers him. Ikeda proves why Honda has taken this strategy with flurries of kicks, but finally evens the match with a cross armbreaker. If you respect the cross armbreaker, I respect you. Honda definitely respected the cross armbreaker with his selling. This match is totally built around selling, which is a great contrast the big bomb nature of most NOAH matches. However, there was still a distinct lack of struggle and not much in the way of a story once the wrestler vs. grappler story ended. Good example was Honda powerbomb -> Ikeda triangle -> Honda leg lace with not signs of struggle. I loved Ikeda using the ropes to counterweight a Honda throw, but soon they just throwing each other around. It makes sense for Honda to go for throws, but I would have liked to seen Ikeda use his striking ability to counteract Honda. Honda is eventually able to pick up a submission victory over Ikeda. I see why a lot people like this match. It is minimalist match centered around selling.  Personally, I thought Honda was overselling. I understood selling the arm, but he was selling general fatigue and pain like Ikeda was having a competitive match with him. Ikeda did not get much in the way of offense. Even before Ikeda's back drop driver, Honda was selling like he had been through a war and all Ikeda had done was a cross armbreaker. Honda's selling effectively disguised this as more competitive as it was. I enjoyed it as something very different than the NOAH's main event scene. They could have used this diversity more as the decade progressed. ***1/2

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GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshinari Ogawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 9/7/02

Yoshinari Ogawa's tights say GHC Champ. Automatic 5 Stars!!! Hands down the best match of 2002 with Takayama and Ogawa just tearing it up in one of the best heel vs heel match that I have ever seen. Ogawa and Takayama have been the two best heels in Japan in the 2000s, but heel vs heel is even harder than face vs. face. I would say heel vs heel was the root cause of the relatively quiet crowd until the hot finish. They make it work because a monster bully can make even the most snot nosed punk an undersized underdog and the most snot nosed punk can make even the biggest bully an asskicking giant. Much like Hart/Diesel Survivor Series '95 (albeit that's a face v face match), I thought Takayama/Ogawa did a good job trading roles within the match.

The hooks of the match are Takayama underestimating Ogawa and Ogawa looking for any opening to exploit. Ogawa starts hot with a roll-up (where Ogawa actually sold his arm because Takayama is so heavy) and an eye poke/shoulder knockdown, but then goes totally flying on the kick out. Takayama begins to kick the shit out of Ogawa because Ogawa is not a tough badass we get some really fun selling. Takayama steps Ogawa's face and does the one foot cover. You actually feel a bit of sympathy for the little punk. Then you remember he is such a little snot when Takayama big boot goes over the top rope and puts Takayama in the tree of woe. When the ref tries to hold Ogawa back and Ogawa pushes him off, it is not the usual heel trying to be more violent, it is that Ogawa knows this is now or never. Ogawa makes the most of it and wrenches the arm across the post. Ring-assisted figure-4 armlock, Ogawa is God! Ogawa is hyper focused on arm and Takayama is still using his size to struggle, but Ogawa is leveraging this is as his one advantage. Every time Takayama seems like he is about to destroy Ogawa, but Ogawa always gets out. Takayama lifts him out of short arm scissors, Ogawa rolls through into another one. Takayama looks to send him into the railing, but Ogawa sends him arm first into the post. Takayama looks to take off Ogawa's head, but Ogawa gets drop toehold into the post. Ogawa back drop driver onto floor. YES! YES! YES! Crowd gives the biggest pop when Takayama gets back in the ring at 19 and Ogawa lets out a nice, big "SHIT!". Ogawa has turned Takayama babyface, BABY!

Ogawa rattles off a bunch of back drop drivers and one after another Takayama kicks out. You know it is coming. You know it is coming. BAM! KNEE LIFT AND OGAWA GOES FLYING! Ogawa actually kicks out of the first Everest Suplex. Ogawa counters with a barrage of roll-ups, which are actually over because it is Ogawa. Ogawa goes for a small package and Takayama stands tall and slams him in a wicked cool spot. Everest Suplex and Takayama wins the GHC Title!

I had been so down in 2002, just turns out I was not watching the correct matches because this was all types of awesome. Ogawa just embodies Rat Boy so well. The way he can just slip out of each situation and his heat segments are some of the best since 2000 because there is no guy you want to see get his ass kicked. He just kept getting out of each situation. Then he gets the countout finish. It keeps building and building, you get that knee lift just like the Kobashi bloodied up Ogawa. Then you get a nice compact finish run Takayama needs a bomb or two and Ogawa tries to hold on by the skin of his teeth with roll ups. The only reason this does not go on higher is because Takayama as such a natural heel just is not as good as the ultimate babyface Kobashi steamrolling Ogawa so that is why it is a level less, but an easy 2002 Match of the Year and gives 2002 a Match of the Year on the level of the years. Watch this match! ****1/2

RE-WATCH THOUGHTS:
Who am I to doubt myself? Again, thought I may have overrated this match, but I thought this was really fun again. Ogawa was without a doubt the most entertaining wrestler of the decade, it is a shame, he disappeared in the latter half of the decade as you would have been great as the decade got staler. I had forgotten about Ogawa's loud "Shit!" at the 19 count when Takayama rolled back in in a nick of time. I popped all over again. He sold so well in the beginning making you believe Takayama was going to run away with this. Even with the size disparity, once Ogawa went on offense it was totally credible because he used the ring-post initially and just kept on it. I loved those cutoffs by using the ring post late in the match.


Takayama was so in the zone at this point that this is just perfect confluence of great wrestling. Takayama is such a great bully that you actually start rooting for Rat Boy to stick to this arrogant asshole. Then when he is forced to sell for Ogawa, he goes all out. He is so critical in making Ogawa credible and making you doubt the outcome of the match. Then you start to root for Takayama to kick his scrawny ass. It was just a really well done heel vs heel match whether neither sacrificed their character in order to wrestle the match. It really felt like a match that only these two unique wrestlers could have. I have it #2 for 2002, but I severely short-changed some other 2002 matches, but we will see how it holds up. I am projecting in the #20s. ****1/2

It's Raining Dropkicks: Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 2014)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

How come no one talks about Northern Cyprus? It fascinated me when I was a child and I have not thought about in about decade, but what the hell is going on out there?

The Pride of Northern Cyprus

I was asking myself that on multiple occasions watching New Japan Pro Wrestling's hot new wrestling star during a sampling of his critically acclaimed output from 2014. "The Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada came to prominence just as I was checking out of puroresu which I means I missed the big resurgence in popularity that Okada helped to cultivate. However, when people discuss modern New Japan the two wrestlers attract the most discussion are Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura. Tanahashi is a lightning rod of controversy over whether he is a great worker and I fall in the pro-Tanahashi camp, which is a topic for another blog. Nakamura is the fan favorite of American fans of New Japan and rightfully so as you will see below and his amazing match with Okada. However, you don't read much about Okada personally. You will see the major proponents of New Japan tout Tanahashi/Okada as the best series since Misawa/Kawada or Misawa/Kobashi. Even so, I can't see to find much discussion about Okada individually. What else to do but hit the primary source material.

First thing is first (I'm the realest), I don't ever watch matches in chronological order so it just so happened I watched three of the more lackluster Okada performances first and you should be able to tell, which ones I was down on him before my slight turn around on him. Before that, I felt like Okada was totally emotionally checked out of the match. He is terrific at technical execution of most moves especially the dropkick and the big elbow drop. Yes, his tombstone and The Rainmaker needs more impact, but overall he is one of the more fluid and graceful of all pro wrestlers today. The problem is much like Nakamura circa 2008, he just is not does not seem invested in the outcome of the match. There is no sense of urgency, struggle or desperation. His moveset seems like a weird mish-mash of cool moves and there is no real sense of direction to the payoff being the Rainmaker save for the dropkick, which I get to later. It has just been going through the motions while others are being awesome around him. Now because he is so naturally gifted, he has not gotten in the way of Styles or Suzuki having a great match, but he has not contributed either.. He just seems so disinterested.   

After the watching the Ibushi and Nakamura match, I can see what Okada can be. He has all the fundamentals to be one of the greatest workers of all time, he just needs to add that emotion and charisma element to it. In those matches Okada cares about winning. In the Ibushi match, he has everything to lose and Ibushi has everything to gain. It is the Heavyweight Champion against the Junior Heavyweight Champion and if he lost he would be a laughingstock. He underestimates Ibushi early, but as Ibushi overachieve, he becomes more and more frustrated and desperate. Ibushi pulls his trigger on the Phoenix Splash, but misses and Okada picks up the pieces to win. In the Nakamura match, it is the opposite dynamic and Okada is trying to prove himself to Nakamura and he is not taking any chances. Sure he is still the cocky, punk Rainmaker, but when it comes down to business, he does not fuck around. There is nothing that proves this more than Okada hitting not one, not two, but three Rainmakers before even daring to pin Nakamura to win the G-1 Climax. 

I will let you dropkick me if I misbehave

Lastly, while Justin Timberlake may have brought sexy back, Okada is bringing the dropkick back. A transition/jabroni move for over a decade now, Okada has developed to be his version of Misawa's elbow. It is his game-changer and his 'ol reliable. I poke fun of it during the Naito because Naito also hits a shit ton of dropkicks and I was also unaware that was how he used the dropkick, but once I caught onto it I really liked it. The dropkick if you think about it is a incredibly impact move especially targeting the head and thanks to Okada's natural athleticism he is almost always able to connect with his opponent's head. Unlike the elbow, it is slightly more high risk, which is why you see him miss at least once a match to convey the risk he is taking. It is most effective in the Nakamura match where he uses it to stymie Nakamura's Boma Ye Knee. 

Overall, I think if Okada can convince me he is invested in winning every match and that is the most important thing in the world to him then I think he really is someone I am going to enjoy to watch. After all, the nickname "Rainmaker", the entrance with falling money and the boss entrance attire is just begging for me to like him. 

Match Listing:

IWGP Champion Okada vs NEVER Champion Tetsuya Naito - NJPW 01/04/14 Tokyo Dome

Boring. Dropkicks galore. Just does not seem to go anywhere. Avoid

IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada vs IWGP Jr Hvywt Champion Kota Ibushi - NJPW 3/6/14

Ibushi the overachieving underdog up against the increasingly frustrated Okada. 

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs AJ Styles - NJPW 5/3/14

Great AJ heel performance switching from outside interference to knee psychology. BULLET CLUB!

IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs Kazuchika Okada - G-1 Climax Day 1 2014

AJ as a awesome trash talking heel. Does Okada have a counter for Styles Clash?

Kazuchika Okada vs Minoru Suzuki - NJPW G-1 Climax 8/8/14

Minoru Suzuki rules the school, while Okada just doesn't meet him at that level.

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

Okada's dropkicks & heart vs. Nakamura's counterwrestling & knees. Epic War!

THE RAINMAKER~!

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs NEVER Champion Tetsuya Naito 

NJPW 01/04/14 Tokyo Dome

SHOW SOME FUCKING EMOTION! That felt good. This was one of the most boring matches I have watched in quite some time. It just seems like they are going through the motions for over 30 minutes and there was no discernible narrative. My only enjoyment came from ridiculous amount of dropkicks hit in this match. The first fifteen minutes was particularly dry. Naito wins the first exchange with a dropkick and gets a painful looking arm submission. Naito gets a little too cute and Okada dropkicks him off the apron. Okada does a weird submission on the ramp, which strikes me as an odd thing to do, but then does the normal thing a running dropkick on the ramp. Okada is so damn slow in the ring. Even the Japanese announcers are bored and they start talking you about Tanahashi/Nakamura coming up. I shit you not, I was so bored I tried understand as much Japanese commentary as I could. Naito hits that cute dropkick and now more dropkicks. This is when I was like damn there has been a lot of dropkicks. Finally some heat when Naito won't let Okada up in the corner by putting his boot on the throat this draws boos! Naito hits a springboard dropkick and goes for his Koji Clutch. Naito is just not following up his work. Okada starts goading him and Naito gets wild with headbutts. Ok, here we go, Naito goes up top. Okada counters with a dropkick, of course and Naito wrenches his knee on the way down. That might be a cool hook, here we go. Okada hits his hangsman DDT and I am liking his aggression. They milk the count and Naito makes it back in. Okada hits the big elbow drop and Rainmaker Pose! Naito counters the Rainmaker into the DDT. Okada misses the dropkick. NAITO HAS IT SCOUTED! Naito runs through his shit: Koji Clutch, enziguiri, German Suplex looking for Stardust Press, but Okada breaks it up. Okada hits a flapjack and DDT. There is some nice struggle over the Tombstone and Naito hits a big forearm. I like Naito's staggered selling after scoring that big forearm and is best selling of the match, which has not had much. Naito hits more offense, but crashes and burns on Stardust Press. Rainmaker is reversed into the rollup and then exactly what this match needed a strike exchange. OKADA DROPKICK! WHAT ELSE! Rainmaker->reverse->Dropkick BABY! I would have rather Okada won with a dropkick, but we get a pair of Tombstones and the Rainmaker to win.

Blame the Dome maybe, but there was no heat for this. One of the better things about Okada is using the crowd loves him, but he does not have the Dome presence that a Choshu, Hashimoto or a Kobashi does. There were flashes of aggression, but it sure felt perfunctory until the end. I would say Naito two runs to Stardust Press, which did not feel like much to me at least had some sort of direction. I have to say the Rainmaker reversals are fun and the best part of Okada matches. Okada looking more and more like Orton for me. C'mon brutha, lets pull this one out of a tailspin.

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IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs 

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Kota Ibushi - NJPW 3/6/14

Ibushi would need to be having one of the best nights of his career just to hang with Okada, but to beat him he was going to need that rare A+ performance. That is the story of this match, this is not a junior heavyweight underdog hanging on by a thread against the Man. This is the underdog totally overachieving and beating the champion for the majority of the game. Ibushi came to play and Okada clearly underestimated him. Early on, you see Ibushi beating Okada to a dropkick and having Okada's dropkick scouted. Okada because he is the champ did eventually get things under control with the dropkick his preferred momentum-changer. The Hangsman DDT off the railing put him in a strong position and again he starts to gloat. It is the one foot cover and the crowd is booing. Okada is taking his time between moves and fixing his kneepads. He is going to take care of his light work when it suits him. Next thing you know, he is thrown to the outside by an Ibushi hurricanarana and then is taking a moonsault press on the floor. Sleep on Ibushi and he will make you pay. Okada has the double jump moonsault scouted with knees. For the first time watching Okada in 2014, I get that feeling of desperation. The pressure is on him as Heavyweight Champion to win the match. Ibushi is one with nothing to lose and everything to gain. Okada hits his pretty big elbow drop and the prelude for the Rainmaker. When you got nothing to lose, you can take big chances and that's what Ibushi did in the match. He smacks Okada in the face with a Pele kick. Okada roars back with a massive sitout dropkick. He is getting frustrated. I like this, Okada. Ibushi has all of Okada's moves scouted the Tombstone and The Rainmaker even hitting his own version of the Rainmaker. Okada desperately tries to climb to the top rope to hit a bomb and Ibushi nails him with a backhandspring mule kick, which was fucking awesome! The crowd seemed behind Ibushi most of the way, but Okada fans have become more vocal as it seems that their boy may actually be out of it. Ibushi is feeling it and he goes for the home run. The Phoenix Splash and he crashes and burns. It was an excellent run, but you can feel that it is over for Ibushi. Unfortunately, they do go a little longer than necessary with a strike exchange and Okada hitting a couple counters. Finally a dropkick to the head, a nice stacked up German and The Rainmaker wins it. 

All the build was to the Phoenix Splash, once you hit that payoff, there is no real reason to delay inevitable. I would have had Ibushi struggle for a bit then go with dropkick, stacked up German and Rainmaker. Best Okada performance yet, where you feel like he actually cares about the outcome of the match. He is cool and cocky early, but as thing get out of head he becomes frustrated and desperate. Ibushi was great as overachieving underdog. He left it all in the ring and he pulled the trigger on his best shot. It missed, but he can at least say he tried. Very well-done heavyweight vs junior heavyweight match that stayed true to both characters. ****1/4

THE RAINMAKER~!

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IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs AJ Styles - NJPW 5/3/14

AJ Styles proves that he has more tricks up his sleeve in his first match as a full-time New Japan wrestler and competing for Okada. The hallmark for AJ matches in 2014 was the struggle to the Styles Clash and combining his move combinations to successfully pull the trigger on the most devastating move of 2014. In this match, he goes a different route and looks to set up his Calf Killer, which won him his match against Chris Hero in ROH. AJ Styles working over Okada's leg shows that he is just as adept at limb work as he is at heeling and offensive escalation and furthermore how versatile he was in 2014. I freely admit that the Fukuoka did not seem to give one single fuck about AJ and while it was a great performance, it did take the G-1 Climax for AJ Styles to firmly cement himself among New Japan's big four. I am glad that Gedo & Jado had the faith in AJ Styles to get himself over all while carrying the strap.

In contrast, Okada is super over with the live crowds and I have found that to be best quality is how much the crowd loves him. I have only watched three Okada matches, but he has not set my world on fire. He is very solid and there is nothing wrong with him. He just is not connecting with me. I love his entrance, but in the ring he is just seems plain good. There is nothing extraordinary. I hope to look back on these sentences and eat them, but these are my feelings now. Okada controls AJ early with a side headlock and AJ just seems overwhelmed with the moment and can't get anything going. Okada hits the Rainmaker poses to mock all the Bullet Club posturing early. Styles desperate lunges with a double thrust to the throat and hits a snap suplex into the turnbuckles to finally swing the momentum in his favor. Styles makes use of the Bullet Club tossing Okada to the outside as they attack Okada. I like the ref not willing to count because he knew there were shenanigans going on even if AJ had obstructed his view. Okada wipes the entire Bullet Club and AJ out with a nice dive over the top, cool moment. My major malfunction with Okada is that his offense seems aimless. He is just going through the motions and while I know that Rainmaker is the end goal there seems to be no destination in mind. AJ Styles catches Okada's foot swings him around and rifles him in the leg with a kick. AJ's leg work to set up the Calf Killer was excellent everything looked like it hurt and he was great being smug while working on top. Okada did not really sell, so that sucks. Again, once Okada battles back there is a string of pedestrian moves. AJ with an eye gouge and a tremendous springboard forearm. AJ is cheating and has a game plan and is laying everything in. It is hard to argue he is not the better wrestler in this match. Okada catches AJ up top with a dropkick and now a kip up. AJ does not jump over the railing and eats a big boot for it. Hanging DDT and tease a double countout, but Okada throws him back in. Okada hits his big elbow drop the set-up for the Rainmaker. Rainmaker reversed into the Calf-Killer was the spot of the match (hey Okada sold) until the AJ Styles strike combo->Rainmaker tease-> PELE KICK! Finish run has picked this match up quite a bit. The first Styles Clash attempt is reversed into White Noise and they go into big move trading with the most surprising thing being that Styles misses Spiral Tap. The only time I have seen him attempt it in 2014. Bullet Club runs in and Yujiro turns on Okada and becomes the first native Japanese member of the Bullet Club. The Styles Clash wins AJ Styles the IWGP Championship in his first match.

AJ have an awesome performance early as a big bumping heel and using his friend. Then he switched gears to go after the knee from there they had some great spots late. They went for two or three spots too many before the Bullet Club run in. I think if the Bullet Club ran in aftter White Noise they would have been better off. Okada is over, but he gave a pretty lifeless performance and could have used at least more selling and purpose to his offense. Still there is plenty of AJ goodness in this match to make it a worthwhile. ***1/2

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IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs Kazuchika Okada - G-1 Climax Day 1 2014

I was super pumped to get started on some AJ Styles in New Japan and what better place to start then where he really opened people's eyes in the G-1 Climax. Coming into this match. AJ Styles was riding a two match win streak over Okada having defeated him for the title in early May. I have seen about three Okada matches in my life, two were back in 2012 when he broke out and then one a couple months ago when he was a young boy. I don't have a real feel for him. This match while great did not really lend me anymore insight than I had previously. He seems like he is an all-around capable wrestler who knows how to carry himself, which is critical. Okada's entrance is really cool with the robes and chains. American wrestling needs a colorful figure like that. He is definitely someone I will be exploring in the near future as I plan to catch up on New Japan.

For someone (*cough*Meltzer*cough*) to say this is Styles' best match or best performance is pretty disrespectful to AJ, in my opinion. I have seen a lot of AJ and he has had plenty of matches that are a total level above this match. I am not trying to slight the match. The match was a great match, but it was opening day of the tournament match. It is going to whet your appetite not satisfy it. Plus with AJ's title not on the line and AJ being up 2-0 in his personal series against, Okada you knew it was time for Okada to get his win back so the same level of drama was not there. To make a comparison to American wrestling, I would say this would be a candidate for the Best RAW match of the year, that's level it was at,

AJ yapping it up during the match was awesome. It is a new part of his arsenal (unless something changed late in his TNA run) and I loved it. He was trash talking Okada asking him if that's all he got when he was in a straitjacket surfboard or after he took control, mocking the Okada chants. The verbal beatdown added a lot to the heel heat section.  The opening part of the match was well-worked armwrenches before they tease hitting their finishers. From there, Okada takes over with a big back body drop on Styles. Styles lunges at Okada with two fists to the throat. I love that as a heel transition. Like I said Styles heat segment was definitely taken up a notch by his trash talk. Styles brings back the jump over the railing on an Irish Whip. Okada follows up with a cross body. They tease the double countdown. Not much has changed since 2009, I see. :)

Okada puts AJ in a wicked STF (Take notes, Cena) and Styles is very vocal about how much it hurts. AJ uses the suplex into the turnbuckles as a desperation transition as we have seen before. I like that spot utilized for that purpose. He follows up with a torture rack into a powerbomb, damn that was nice. AJ is thinking it is time to end this. First he crashes and burns on the springboard 450. Then he goes for the Styles Clash, but nothing doing. The ref gets bumped (oooooooo that's different from the 2000s). Okada hits a sweet top rope elbow drop, but there's no ref! Here comes Yuijro of the Bullet Club, but he gets taken out with a dropkick to the head. Okada goes for the Rainmaker, but reversed into a German and Pele. The Pele kick is the usual set up for the Styles Clash, but Okada reverses the Clash into a TOMBSTONE! RAINMAKER~!

After succumbing to the Styles Clash twice, Okada had a counter this time with the Tombstone leading to his Rainmaker finish. The early part of the match was carried by AJ with his trash talk. The last part was very solid escalation. AJ took over with the suplex into the corner and began working towards putting Okada away. At each turn, he was just too premature and could not make the most of Yujiro's help. Okada had an answer for pretty much anything Styles threw at him and conquered him with the Rainmaker. It never reached that next level, but it built to a very satisfying conclusion. Can my boy, AJ, pick up the pieces and gain some momentum in night 2 against the up and coming Naito? **** 

Rainmaker or not, you aint kicking out of the Styles Clash

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Kazuchika Okada vs Minoru Suzuki - NJPW G-1 Climax 8/8/14

This match takes place from the last night of the round robin portion of 2014's G-1 Climax. If Suzuki wins the match, then Okada will not go to the finals and Styles would enter the finals. For these high pressure stakes, I don't think Okada is wrestling like this at all like anything special. Minoru Suzuki is wrestling at a very high level throughout match and really carries the day. Okada disrespects early with the cocky clean break. Suzuki takes exception and takes him down with an armbar. Okada lunges for the ropes. Suzuki is relentless on the arm using the Tarantula and his big kick on the apron. Suzuki has worked the arm pretty well and Okada just blows it off with some elbows. He hits his big elbow drop early so he calls for the Rainmaker. Suzuki goes right for that arm and when Okada misses the dropkick. Suzuki rifles the arm with a kick. There is a nice progression in the armwork now with Suzuki using submission moves that could lead to a submission: Fujiwara Armbar & Cross Armbreaker. In an absolutely awesome moment, Suzuki plays possum by not being able to run the ropes so Okada looks foolish on a leapfrog and when Okada turns his back Suzuki drills him with a dropkick. Suzuki is so fucking good. Suzuki applies a sleeper and is looking for the piledriver to win, but Okada escapes with the White Noise on the Knee. We finally get the strike exchange which Okada wins with a pretty dropkick. Okada hits the weakest Tombstone ever. Suzuki blocks the Rainmaker and BIG CLOSED FIST! GO SUZUKI GO! Okada hits a pretty dropkick and the Rainmaker to win!

I don't know about this Okada guy. He is just there in these matches. He is pretty, adequate at everything and has a really pretty dropkick, is he the Randy Orton of New Japan? It is just a small sampling size so we shall see. Okada could have sold more and had more emotion in this finish stretch, but still he was fine.  Suzuki is so awesome in this match and is just a great showcase for him. ****

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

The dream match that NJPW booking has wisely put off since Okada burst onto the scene in the beginning of 2012 pits two stablemates from CHAOS against each other for the G-1 Climax Championship and pretty much a mortal lock to headline the 1/4 Tokyo Dome show. Okada has reminded me a lot of old Nakamura. From a technical  execution standpoint, Okada is a great wrestler, but he seems disinterested in the outcome of a match and just is not showing passion. In this match being challenged by one of the other two top natives in NJPW, he seems hungry to assert himself as the premiere pro wrestler in the world. I want see more of that from Okada. Nakamura has been great in the matches I have seen in 2014. His new oddball persona of wearing Michael Jackson-inspired jackets and dancing like MJ is entertaining outside the ring and inside he is the last of the Strong Style workers which means a heavy emphasis on counter submission wrestling and strikes especially blows to the head. It is not fancy, but it is going to get the job and it may get it done quickly. Okada does not really have a flash submission or knockout in his arsenal so he is susceptible in his long setup times to a wrestler like Nakamura. Nakamura is what made this match dynamic. He forced Okada out of his comfort zone and to react to how he was wrestling, which made it more compelling than the Okada-style which can be mechanical at times. 

Early on, it was all about posturing and bravado. Psyching each other out in a macho pissing contest, Okada does his cocky clean break so Nakamura responds with stare at the belly button. Because these two have never faced off, Nakamura feels like the favorite because of his experience in big time matches. So when Nakamura is fucking around during this break, Okada immediately clamps on his a DDT. Right there, I know Okada came to play. Okada is still a cocky punk so he can't resist putting his one foot on Nakamura's chest and hitting the Rainmaker pose. We get the first strike exchange and of course the King of Strong Style wins with a knee lift. Okada has to avoid those exchanges because that is an area that Nakamura will crush him in. Nakamura just lays waste to Okada in pretty much every conceivable fashion of using a barrage of knee lifts. Now it is Nakamura's turn to get cocky and does little playful kicks to Okada. What is going to be Okada's strategy? When Tanahashi feels overwhelmed, he neutralizes his opponent by attacking the knee. What does Okada have in his arsenal to set up the Rainmaker? The answer is of course, his dropkick. 

Nakamura goes for a running knee one too many times and Okada is able to counter by setting him up top hitting a dropkick causing him to tumble all the way to floor. Okada presses his advantage on the outside with a  Hangsman DDT. Normally, Okada would let this run for a countout, but he is not fucking around in this match and he is not going to give Nakamura a second to breathe. Big Elbow Drop! Okada really has a case for best elbow drop ever. It is fucking pretty. RAINMAKER POSE~! GEDO IS JAAAAAACCCCCKKKKEEEDDDDD! Now this is where Nakamura shines, his counterwrestling game. First it is a lungblower to buy himself time. Then when Okada goes for a submission, he walks right into the trap. Nakamura gets a rear naked choke and is looking for a cross armbreaker, but settles for a Triangle. As Okada stands to reach for the rope, Nakamura uses his long legs to force him over into a cross-armbreaker. Gedo is freaking out as Okada writhes and flops around looking for the rope. Perfect way to respect the cross-armbreaker. Nakamura buries knees deep into Okada and is looking for the Boma Ye. Okada counters with the White Noise into the Knee (not my favorite move). Okada successfully avoids Nakamura's wild roundhouse kicks and uses dropkicks to set up the Tombstone. Now it is time to Make It Rain in Seibu, FLYING CROSS ARMBREAKER OUT OF THE RAINMAKER~! Holy shit! Definitely one of the best spots of 2014! Nakamura the counterwrestler strikes again. Okada steps on his face to force the release. BOMA YE~! to the back of the head. This is treated like it levels the playing field, but i felt like Nakamura was in the driver's seat. Strike exchange ends with an Okada dropkick. Nakamura pulls one out of the Suzuki game plan and baits him into hitting dropkick again. He collapses on a rope running spot and Okada goes for the dropkick again, but Nakamura was playing possum so Okada crashes and burns and BOMA YE~! KICK OUT! Okada will not be denied tonight. Nakamura gets a running start but as we saw in the Shibata match if you can guard against that it is his downfall. Okada hits with a dropkick on the button. Nakamura blocks The Rainmaker with a knee and looks for Boma Ye, but Okada closes the gap by running towards it and grabbing the leg. Love that! Nakamura uncorks two closed fist to set up Landslide, but Okada reverses out with a backslide. When Nakamura kicks out, Okada hangs on to hit not one, not two, but three Rainmakers to win the G-1 Climax.

That was the story of this match Okada was not fucking around and he was taking no chances. I loved that there were no kickouts. It was Okada ensuring his victory. Okada looked like a boss here using the dropkick liberally like a Misawa would with his elbow to set up his offense. We saw with Shibata how you can defend against Nakamura's Boma Ye and Okada executing that strategy perfectly. He survived Nakamura's counterwrestling and the Flying Cross Armbreaker out of the Rainmaker was an awesome spot. Kicking out of Boma Ye was definitely a big star-making move! You really felt like Okada wanted it more on that night. I distilled action down to its best parts but there was some fluff and overkill late paired with a lukewarm beginning that I think this is behind Styles/Suzuki and Nakamura/Tanahashi, but I would peg this no worse than a top 5 NJPW Match of the Year and Top Ten Match of the Year overall. Nakamura's counterwrestling/strikes versus Okada's dropkick & heart made for one epic story on this night.  ****1/2 

Match of the year?

Break The Rules: Jun Akiyama, Go Shiozaki (All Japan Pro Wrestling, 2014-2015)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

One of the biggest disappointments in pop music for me this past year was Charli XCX's major solo single debut "Boom Clap". It was a solid pop song and I was entertained by it for the first couple listens. I think pairing with Fault in Our Stars for your first major American release was the smart business decision. However, at the end of the day, it did not sound unique. Charli has been a part of the writing and performing the hooks of two of the biggest songs of the past couple years, Iconapop's "I Love It" and Iggy Azalea's "Fancy". Two wildly different songs that are immediately recognizable and stand out from the pack. I eagerly anticipated Charli XCX's solo efforts and try as I might, Boom Clap fell short for me. As I was looking through some of her music videos recently, she is a total babe in case you were unaware, I found "Break The Rules", which I think was a perfect blend of snot-nosed punk and current electronic-based dance pop music. I hope that song gets a harder push in the current music scene as I think it could make a big splash with the huge anthemic chorus and because I am a pretty big Charli XCX fan.

My new future ex-wife

I am also a big Jun Akiyama fan. The last remaining Pillar of Heaven of the 90s All Japan scene has returned home to All Japan Pro Wrestling ousting Keiji Mutoh as president. Mutoh & Co. departed to form Wrestle-1 while Akiyama was left with an interesting hodgepodge of older All Japan talent (Akiyama & Omori), NOAH talent (Shiozaki), Mutoh-era AJPW (Suwama, Doering & Akebono) and Kensuke Office (Miyahara). All Japan of the 90s showed that you could run an effective promotion with 6-8 top wrestlers and while All Japan looks a bit thin they pack enough punch to put on quality matches.

It all begins and ends with Jun Akiyama, who is one of the greatest wrestlers to ever live Akiyama continues to add to his legacy by owning Jumbo Tsuruta/Mitusharu Misawa role of respect veteran legend that is going to beat respect into these punks. Akiyama is still more than capable of performing in this role as I think he was the God King of Offense in 2014. The Five Pillars of Heaven had crazy deep offensive arsenals. Even though offense is more critical than ever in America and Japan with "innovative" moves ruling the roost, no one comes close to the arsenal that Akiyama still possesses and  there is nothing "innovative" about it. It is about delivering maximum pain as his strategy dictates to win a match. It stands out even moreso without Misawa, Kobashi and Taue as opponents because it feels like he has too much offense. He is delivering such a beating to his opponent that when his opponent makes a comeback it is not credible, which was the problem with Omori especially. 

Takao Omori is one of the most pedestrian, lifeless puroresu stars of the 90s and 00s. His heralded 2000 classic against Kobashi in the Champion Carnival felt more like a Kobashi offensive exhibition. He just does not bring anything special to the table.  He was totally exposed in the Akiyama match with such mundane selling and comeback in what was the biggest match of his career. He is much better suited to be a bruiser in a tag team match like in the instant classic from December against Shiozaki & Miyahara where Akiyama and Miyahara can bring the personality.

Kento Miyahara is the great All Japan hope. If he can mature into a big star and they can put some pieces in place around him then All Japan has a shot at least competing for the number two promotion in Japan. I did not like the Akiyama/Miyahara match as much as some because it was a bit too back and forth, but Miyahara showed a ton of charisma and energy in the match that kept me engaged throughout the match. That finish is one of the best finishes of the year. Definitely check out the match! Then in a match where he is paired with the current ace of All Japan, Go Shiozaki, he totally stole the show by trying to prove himself to Akiyama sometimes to expense of winning the match. I love that attitude. The Akiyama/Miyahara story was compelling and I hope they continue to follow it up with more Akiyama & Miyahara tags ala Jumbo/Misawa in 1990-1992. 

Kento Miyahara: Next Big Thing?

Due to Miyahara's youth, the smart play is to use veteran and former GHC Champion, Go Shiozaki as the interim Ace. You can't deny Shiozaki's experience as a heavyweight champion of a major promotion, but I found him to very disinterested in the three matches I saw from the past year. He was totally hidden in the classic tag for the most part. In the Doering & Suwama matches, he looked like the second best wrestler by far. He reminds me of Nakamura circa 2008 just someone there to hit a few big moves and collect a paycheck. I hope he can add a some fire going forward as I am trying to keep up with All Japan this year.

His singles opponents, Suwama & Joe Doering, a couple powerhouses impressed me in their matches. Doering has a good bit of Stan Hansen of him and I have no problem with that. I liked how he was always moving forward in that Triple Crown match and he was very effective in selling Shiozaki's offense. He has a great cross-body and I definitely like him as a gaijin powerhouse on the roster. Suwama is someone that impressed me during Best of 2000s Japan project when he appeared. He is a stout powerhouse, but versatile enough to have interesting matches with people as different Tanahashi, Takayama and Shiozaki. In the Shiozaki, I really got to see him lead a match and I thought he did a fantastic job. His use of the sleeper as a way to sap energy of Shiozaki to set him up for bigger and bigger moves was a genius strategy and he was on top of his timing of cut offs and selling for Shiozaki.

Going forward, I think All Japan needs about two more pieces to flesh out its roster (*cough* Katsuhiko Nakajima *cough* *cough* Naoya Ogawa *cough*), but they are a great heavyweight alternative to New Japan and I look forward to dig back into their archives between 2010-2014 and look forward to watching their future work.

Match Lisitng:

Jun Akiyama vs Takao Omori - AJPW 6/15/2014 Vacant Triple Crown Championship ***1/2

Kawada/Kojima II. Cant believe Akiyama choked. Akiyama offense great. Omori <<< Kojima.

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

Superb finish. Great veteran vs rookie match. Too many momentum shifts

Go Shiozaki vs Suwama - AJPW 9/15/14 Royal Road Tournament ****1/4

Best use of the sleeper. Suwama on point with cutoff and selling. Go Shiozaki needs to add emotion

Wild Burning (Akiyama & Omori) vs. Xceed (Shiozaki & Miyahara) -AJPW 12/6/14 ****1/2

Akiyama/Miyahara story rules all. Feels like Jumbo/Misawa of this generation. Exciting

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Joe Doering vs Go Shiozaki -  AJPW  01/03/15 ****

Doering's urgency engages while Shiozaki's disinterest hurts this. 

Akiyama may have lost his hair, but he has not lost a step in the ring

Jun Akiyama vs Takao Omori - AJPW 6/15/2014 Vacant Triple Crown Championship

Wow, this is like an exact copy of Kawada vs Kojima 2005 for the Triple Crown. You have the super worker kick the dogshit out of the generic create a puroresu  wrestler in really entertaining fashion only to choke in ridiculous fashion to a barrage of lariats. The only difference was that Kojima was actually over. In defense of this match, I think if you plug in a wrestler with more charisma than Omori this match would be a lot better. Omori is about the most bland wrestler I think I have ever seen. He does the bare minimum in almost every regard, but never really excels at any one thing and especially anything involving emotion. Nothing he did felt earned or like he was overcoming anything because he just started hitting moves. To give Kojima some credit, he does have charisma and there is an energy when he starts to make his comeback. Omori is just so flat. On the other hand, I thought Akiyama's asskicking of Omori was more entertaining than Kawada's asskicking. Akiyama just absolutely destroyed the arm. I love he would just take Omori down at will by the arm whenever he tried to fire up. Akiyama has so many weapons at his disposal strikes, submissions and my favorite throwing Omori's arm into steel objects. At one point, Akiyama hits a crazy cool combination of piledriver into a Boma Ye Knee so sick. Akiyama is grooving into his usual finish stretch (Boma Ye Knee, Guillotine Choke, Exploders)  and I am just like this is way too easy and alarm bells start going off. Akiyama is going to choke. Choke big time. Omori hits some weird lariats, which I am going to chock up to selling. Akiyama bursts out with an Exploder, a quick Boma Ye Knee and then another Exploder. Omori kicks out? Bullshit! Omori wins with a barrage of lariats, wow, that was lame. I have said this before matches like don't make Omori look resilient, it makes Akiyama looks like a choke for not being able to polish him off with all his big moves. Omori was perfectly fine at selling, but his comeback was pathetic. Akiyama crushed it offensively. This was probably the best offensive performance of the year in terms of limb psychology and the two EXPLOSIVE big move combinations.  Did I watch the wrong match? It is a good match and worth to match Akiyama be a boss, but this seems far away from match of the year to me. I am disappointed because I really want All Japan and Akiyama to be awesome. Here's hoping the rest is great. ***1/2

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

In 2014, Akiyama was the God King of Offense. Usually, offense is one of the first things to go for the greats, but I would argue he actually almost has too much good offense that it has been working to the detriment of these matches until the unbelievably awesome finish. The problem with Akiyama dissecting opponents like Omori or Miyahara is that they don't have the cache of a Misawa or Kobashi that I believe in that comeback as much. Miyahara was way better at showing fire than Omori, which helped greatly. I loved the beginning the sense of urgency of both to pounce on each other's mistakes. Then it devolves into who will back down first in an elbow where neither gives an inch. Akiyama wins the battle and then slams Miyahara onto the parquet floor. I love Akiyama jawing with the ref while wrenching Miyahara's head around the railing. Akiyama has so many ways to hurt you and they were all on display as he kicked some Miyahara ass. Miyahara wins a suplex struggle and begins a comeback, but just does not have much in the tank. I have to say Akiyama seems to lost his ability to sell well. This is the guy who made Tenzan tolerable by selling, I would have liked to seen more of that selling here. Stuff like Akiyama walking over to hit a superplex just killed the spot for me. I don't mind more explosive type cutoffs like his Exploder off the apron. Then were selling issues with Miyahara who takes a huge knee to the chin and then armdrags out of an Exploder to hit a nice scissors kick, but before you know it Akiyama is back on offense. It is not like these cutoffs felt like they were fighting through something rather they were just false momentum shifts and they were used a couple times too many. I have decided against giving away the finish because the finish is what takes the match to the next level. What I will say it is the perfect credible ending to to how match had been built at that point. Akiyama rocked on offense per usual. Miyahara gave a pretty good young lion performance, he definitely has a lot of potential. I think what was missing was a more rousing comeback for Miyahara, who I think has it in him. There were too many momentum shifts for their own good. Still that finish takes this from a very good match to a great match. ****

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

I really enjoyed Suwama in the two matches I watched for the Best of Japan in the 2000s and the trend continued here. Suwama understood Shiozaki's greatest asset to be his energy. He continually sapped that by effectively using the sleeper. This did not achieve the level of the famous sleepers match between Pegasus Kid and Black Tiger in 1996, but it was a perfect use of the sleeper. The sleeper/chinlock is best used to drain the energy of an explosive babyface and let a heel regain his wind. Too often it is misused and thus triggers people's attention to drift. Shiozaki is all about those chops, but Suwama is going to make sure there is nothing behind those chops after the sleeper. You see how Suwama modulates his selling. Suwama sells the chops at the beginning of the match, but after the sleeper he stands tall. Shiozaki did a great job selling the first sleeper as really knocking him out. He is great at peppering in the hope spots, but his selling leaves a lot to be desired. He just does not have enough emotion. As good as Shiozaki's chops look, Suwama's double chop is so sick and maybe my favorite move in wrestling now. Suwama was wrestling perfectly. He took his time and was cocky when it was time, but anytime Shizaki started to fire off, he would immediately snuff the fire out with  a double chop or a powerslam. Go finally mounts a bit of a comeback and is looking for a macho pissing contest so Suwama says fuck that and grabs him by the hair and applies a sleeper. Suwama is my hero. Suwama obliterates Shiozaki with a lariat and then a belly to belly suplex. With the match firmly back in his hand, Suwama looks to polish him off with his powerbomb. Shiozaki escapes and looks for refuge on the apron. Suwama comes flying across the ring with a HUGE dropkick and follows up with a suicide dive. Suwama returns to the sleeper to set up the powerbomb, but Misawa-rana. Man copying Misawa AND Kobashi, now that is just not fair! Suwama immediately clamps on a sleeper. I love Suwama's urgency. Suwama tries to gain the pin three times. Go busts out the classic collapse on a rope run and he really exaggerates his chops not having much. This is some really good shit here. Suwama is all over him, but looks to get a running start and Go roars out of the corner with a lariat. Ruh roh! Shiozaki hits a big lariat to send Suwama tumbling out and HUGE plancha by Go! Shiozaki goes all in on the lariat. Suwama is not going down without a fight, but he is on jelly legs. Suwama is selling like a boss. The double chop crushing a roaring burning lariat attempt was awesome! Eventually, Go hits a big time lariat to set up the Go Flasher & Limit Break for the win.

Suwama totally outclassed Shiozaki here carrying him to a great match and the second best AJPW match of the year. Suwama was wrestling at such a high level. He was using the sleeper to debilitate his opponent and set himself up for the powerbomb. He was cocky when it was time and snuffed out Go when appropriate. Go Shiozaki needs more emotion and his selling for the majority of the match left a lot to be desired. The finish run was typical late 2000s puroresu and was fine for what it was. Suwama is underrated and this is a great showcase for him. ****1/4

Suwama: Master of the Sleeper

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Wild Burning (Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori) vs. Xceed (Go Shiozaki & Kento Miyahara) 

AJPW 12/6/14

There have been strecthes in all these 2014 AJPW matches where they are wrestling at a ***** level and it feels like you are watching 90s AJPW again. The action is explosive, urgent, but also with a sense of purpose directed towards winning the match. The best example of this high-caliber of work is towards the beginning. Miyahara has out worked the bigger, older Omori exposing a midsection weakness. This was not enough for Miyahara who was became obsessed with getting his shots in on Akiyama on the apron. Of course, he paid for his negliglence in the form of a wicked big boot by Omori. Akiyama without missing a beat, seized Miyahara and flung him outside to whip him in the railing. He explosively DDTs him all over the floor. It was like nothing else you would see in modern wrestling landscape. Maybe Brock is that explosive, but that is the only thing that comes close. The problem is unlike 90s AJPW they can not maintain the caliber of wrestling throughout a match rather these are fleeting moments of excellence. These stretches elevate the matches from the usual late 00s NOAH fare. I would say the matches are more similart to early NOAH than anything else.

Back to the match, I am 100% sure now that Akiyama was the best offensive wrestler in the world last year. It is scary how deep his arsenal is, but without Misawa, Kobashi, and Taue it is going to waste. Akiyama blasts Miyahara with knees and hits a piledriver in short order. When he does not get the pin, he tags out with authority. I am sure Akiyama has a chip on his shoulder regarding Miyahara. Omori bouncing Miyahara head off the top of the steel post for the super back suplex was the best thing Omori has ever done. Miyahara is such a great young talent. I love how when he gets piledriven he is searching for the bottom rope because he knows he does not have the power to kick out. That is a wrestling acumen very few ever reach. As always, since 2000, a suplex struggle signals Miyahara hitting a hard-fought suplex to tag Shiozaki. I will give Akiyama-Miyahara their suple struggles look hard-fought and having seen a lot of perfunctory suplex struggles I am appreciative of it. Miyahara does the smart thing and tags in Shiozaki.

I like Shiozaki's hot tag. It is simple but effective. His chop is the great equalizer. It is the only thing Akiyama has consistently sold all year so it feels like a real weapon. He actually blasts through both Akiyama and Omori. I like Akiyama's desperation to stop the bleeding with one of his bombs but Shiozaki has too much spunk to go for that. Shiozaki is looking lariat but eats a knee and Akiyama clamps on a choke. That is good shit. Shiozaki looks to put his team firmly in position to win, but gets caught quickly. Shiozaki powers out. I like how they are putting over Go. Omori comes in and hits his generic offense and the heat dissapates quickly. Shiozaki chops Omori's lariat arm and tags out to Miyahara.

After the tag to Miyahara he trades some moves with Omori. One second Miyahara eats a superplex and the next he is kicking off someone's head with a scissors kick. Once Akiyama is in, he is looking for the win and the match kicks into the big finish stretch. I like Akiyama looking for the Exploder seeing Go coming so he lets go to cut him off, but it is too late and eats the lariat. Miyahara gets a flash triangle and his scissor kick/deadlift German combo as nearfalls. He goes for his kill finish the Butterfly Piledriver, but nothing doing and Omori BLASTS him with a wicked lariat. Omori is good for something. I liked the Boma Ye knee/Lariat combo to a sitting up opponent. Go saves. Akiyama runs through his usual offense of knees to the head and an Exploder head drop to polish off the young hotshot.

Easily my favorite of the touted 2014 All Japan match as this one combined a ton of action with the great Akiyama/Miyahara story. Omori dragged shit down a bit. I thought Go wrestled well in the beginning and was a decent hot tag. I liked how they treated his chop and his interactions with Akiyama were good. Still, Akiyama/Miyahara made this match special. If they could just replace Omori with the recently retired Sasaki or someone like that, this match would have a real shot at match of the year. As is, it stands as the one All Japan match that can hang with the best of New Japan. ****1/2

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AJPW Triple Crown Champion Joe Doering vs Go Shiozaki -  AJPW  01/03/15

Hansen vs Kobashi 2014?

Hey if you are going to imitate, then imitate the best and there ain't much better than Hansen/Kobashi. Shiozaki is not nearly as histrionic as Kobashi and Doering is not as wild as Hansen, but together they still put together a great match. Unusual for a puroresu match, the eventual winner actually takes most of the offense in this one, but it still feels like Doering was a big mountain to climb. Early on, Go just could not get anything going with his vicious chops. Doering would just steamroll him with shoulder tackles and overwhelm him with power. Go got pissed off after one too many shoulder tackle and took it to Doering with some rapid fire chops. A thrust kick to the head finally stuns the big man. The one thing Doering really captured from Stan was always moving forward. Even when wounded, he was still coming at Shiozaki and you always felt like Go was in trouble. Three DDTs were not enough to keep the champion down because he just kept coming. Finally, Shiozaki threw a lariat so fierce that Doering just collapsed. It was one of the best sell jobs of the short year of 2015 so far with him just hanging out on the middle rope only to topple over. Doering tries to regroup with tag partner, Suwama, but is obviously discombobulated. Shiozaki lets him back in the ring, what a gentleman, only to dump him back over with a lariat and hitting a monster plancha over the top rope. I don't like the Frankensteiner at all during a comeback sequence. As a transition fine, but in the middle of the sequence, it just does not make sense. First Go Flasher only gets two and when he goes for Limit Break (put away Suwama back in September), Doering pushes off and hits a spinebuster to level the playing field. Doering gives Bray Wyatt a run for his money in the best cross body department. He hit two vicious ones. Shiozaki teases the Burning Hammer, which gets the announcers, the crowd and me excited, but he just hits a normal slam. Lame. Doering collapses on his own powerbomb and things do not look good for the champion. Go Shiozaki pays tribute to Kobashi with spinning back chops and a Burning Lariat to win the match and his first Triple Crown Championship.

There were way too many strike exchanges in this one for me. I thought Doering outworked Shiozaki, but Shiozaki had looked like the lesser of the workers in all his matches of the past year. Doering sold the wounded animal lashing out really well and you really believed that one of his big bombs could take out Go. Go was able to persevere, keep him at bay, until he could crush him with a Burning Lariat. Go is just bereft of emotion and the needless strike exchanges keep this from being a true classic, but Doering is awesome and this is a great match. ****

Rabbit Fighter: Shuji Kondo, Katsuhiko Nakajima, KENTA, Daniel Bryan (Japan Juniors 2007)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Adding to accolades such as 2000 Thompson Elementary School Geography Bee Champion, 2012 & 2014 Best Dressed in Cambridge, and 2006 Time Person of the Year, I am the first, undisputed Champion of BRAINBUSTER!. the first ever pro wrestling podcast trivia game show. What did I win? The honor and distinction of being the first, undisputed Champion of BRAINBUSTER!. the first ever pro wrestling podcast trivia game show.

Honey, my list of accolades goes on and on and on and on and on...

A couple men or should I say Ants that do not seem afraid of hard work are Fire & Silver Ant. Wait, Martin ain't this blog about the state of Japanese junior heavyweight scene in 2007. It is and it is, but first I want to discuss my first Beyond Wrestling show in Providence, RI. It was definitely a unique ambiance with a pro wrestling ring set up in the middle of a bar with fans surrounding the ring as if they were lumberjacks. Even me who is a pretty aware person was almost wiped out twice just from wrestlers falling out the ring. It was cool and different, but just speaking for me, I felt like some of the magic was removed by being that close. Walked in on a garbage tag team match that was all filler and no killer. The next two singles matches featured The Ants, who became two of my favorite wrestlers at the end of the night.

Fire & Silver Ant both excelled at the critical details of pro wrestling. Fire Ant literally guided his opponent (struck me as a Ricochet ripoff, adding a back handspring to every move) his chain wrestling sequence and made it look convincing. Silver Ant provided the best strikes in any match before the main event. By using strikes and wrestling, both Ants let their opponents spots breathe and made the spots more meaningful. Also, I witnessed for the first time the current hot indy trend of intergender matches which on paper I am 1000% against, but in practice they may have swayed me just for this one time.

The intergender match was the only match until the main event, I watched that felt like I was watching pro wrestling. Everything before just had too much of a smattering of being too self-aware or a spotfest. Here I was watching a clear pro wrestling showcase. The male heel (Thank God, if the man was not the heel, I don't know what I would do), came out and let me know that his ex-girlfriend (Kimber Lee) sucks a ton of dicks and so does Tom Brady. We all booed. The babyface Kimber Lee came out and kicked his ass. To this dude's credit, he bumped, sold and stooged for this chick. To this chick's credit, she was a great fired up babyface. They were not great at executing the offense, but the layout was pitch perfect. Guess which match stuck with me better a match that told a great story or someone doing a bunch of back handsprings. There were some great spots like the dude (I am sorry, I really don't know his name) going to punch Kimber Lee and whacking his hand hard into the steel post. Also, him flopping around in the streamers was amusing. The heat segment on Kimber Lee with the chops made me wince, but a heel being a heel was refreshing. It was also the only match where the crowd solidly behind the babyface wrestler and did not worry about the quality of the wrestling. I think that is my biggest hang up with current wrestling is forget about the quality so to speak and invest the characters like you do real sports and more often than not the quality will take care of itself. It is also sad that only way it seems to have a conventional wrestling match is to have a man fight a woman because man on man action had become so passe. The guy tapped out clean to Kimber Lee and you have to give everyone credit, she was presented every bit his equal and everyone bought into it. Kimber Lee sticking out her hand to extend an olive branch was stupid. He did not earn her respect and he was a douche to her. So that was bullshit. I know it was to set up the kick to the back of her hand, but he should have extended the hand because she earned his respect and then he is an asshole about it. Anyways, JT Dunn, remember the Savior of Pro Wrestling, comes to her aid. A fan actually did a pretty good commentary job by stating things out loud like "That is his current girlfriend" and "Is this the end of the Juicy Product?". It sounds like we have a love triangle on our hands too bad it involves JT Dunn.

BIFF! BIFF! BIFF! BIFF! BIFF!

Chris Hero ran right by me to break up the fight because he couldn't afford to have his tag partner injured going up against Biff Busick and Drew Gulak. Unfortunately, due to standing,  it getting late and  becoming first, undisputed Champion of BRAINBUSTER!. the first ever pro wrestling podcast trivia game show, I was a little tired and had a hard time focusing on all the details. Much like AJ,  Hero's presence commanded such a respect that the self-awareness was effaced and I felt like I was watching pro wrestling. Overall, I thought the match had a real classic Japanese tag feel to it. Hero set himself much like a Misawa or a Kobashi would as a force of nature that could change the complexion of the match once he entered the ring with his skull-crushing blows to the head. He was also a great cheerleader from the apron and his investment in the match made it all worthwhile. JT Dunn was serviceable first taking heat and then nothing memorable in the finish. I have heard a lot of people talk up Gulak, but I didn't get a good feel for him. I liked the beginning of the match with Hero's cravat versus Gulak's toehold and they worked some great spots around it. Other than that, nothing sticks out. Biff Busick, on the other hand, is just plain awesome. His connection with the crowd for any indy wrestler is incredible, "Biff! Biff! Biff". His timing is impeccable. Everything he does looks like it is motivated by his desire to win. Drew Gulak played face in peril, which sets us up for what we all wanted the Biff Busick hot tag and then in a total shocker he forced Chris Hero to submit to a rear naked choke.

Unlike me, Chris Hero did not come out on top on January 31st, the day I became first, undisputed Champion of BRAINBUSTER!. the first ever pro wrestling podcast trivia game show.

I really don't have much to add to the hodgepodge of junior heavyweight match from 2007 in Japan as there is no real overarching theme. I would like to key in on two points. First, Nakajima vs Kondo was tremendous and a really interesting looking at evolving strategies within the context of a single match. Second, is a comparative analysis of Briscoes vs. Kotaro Suzuki & Ricky Marvin against KENTA & Taiji Ishimori vs Naomichi Marufuji & Kota Ibushi. Both are prototypical of the 2007 landscape in being athletic junior heavyweight spotfests, but are divergent in quality from my viewpoint. Watching them juxtaposed will show the difference between a fun spotfest and a bad one. 

Match Listing:

GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champions Briscoes vs. Kotaro Suzuki & Ricky Marvin - NOAH 1/21/07

Worst Japanese match of the decade and one of the worst matches I have ever seen. 

All Japan Jr. Hvywt Champion Shuji Kondo vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - AJPW 2/17/07 ****1/2

#48 out of 100 - Must Watch

Incredible strategical wrestling. Nakajima attacks arm, but injures his neck. Switches gears to use headshots to stay in the match. Kondo is the best junior powerhouse of the decade.

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Minoru Tanaka vs Ryusuke Taguchi - NJPW 07/06/07 ***1/4

Minoru Tanaka is  a great arrogant heel. The Funky Weapon is pretty bland. They drop arm psychology.

KENTA & Taiji Ishimori vs Naomichi Marufuji & Kota Ibushi - Budokan 7/15/07 ****

#91 out of 100

Great juniors spotfest. Better than most Dragon Gate/Toryumon matches. Great eye-candy

Bryan Danielson vs Go Shiozaki - ROH In Tokyo 7/16/07 ***1/2

Exhibition of what makes Danielson great offensively. Shiozaki is bland in this contest.

Great Sasuke vs Ultimo Dragon - M-Pro 8/30/07 ***3/4

Sasuke wrestling at a high level, but Dragon is too spotty in this great junior bout.

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GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champions Briscoes vs. Kotaro Suzuki & Ricky Marvin - NOAH 1/21/07

Nothing screamed 2007 more than a double 619 until they busted out the Springboard Shining Wizard Doomsday Device. If I see another dropsault it will be too damn soon. The excessive jumping into moves is incredibly annoying. Was the Briscoe basically doing a moonsault before the back drop driver even finished supposed to be a bad social commentary joke on the state of 2007 wrestling? I could have sworn the ring said NOAH, but why I am watching TNA. These four give clubbering a bad name. They treat every forearm, stomp, kick, slap as a perfunctory device to get them to their next inconsequential highspot. Watch Yoshihiro Takayama or Dragon Gate! Either make every move count or just commit to a spotfest don't try to pretend to be having a wrestling match when you want to have a gymnastics competition. The best spot of this match was when a Briscoe shoved Marvin out of the ring for breaking up a pinfall. It is the only time I thought I was watching an actual contest where someone wanted to win. It actually had heat to it. Instead they needed to get in every shitty move ever invented after 2000 instead of building heat. The match sucked as a spotfest and as a pro wrestling match.

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All Japan Jr. Heavyweight Champion Shuji Kondo vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - AJPW 2/17/07

Boy Wonder!

Strategy in pro wrestling is often reduced to being very one dimensional. You work a body part to set up your finishing move. You attack an opponents' strength to neutralize their finisher. I am not saying all good pro wrestling needs more advanced strategy or this specific strategy. What this match offered was a rare instance of a multi-faceted strategy. Nakajima established early that his intention was to neutralize Kondo's strength advantage and his lariats by knotting up his arm. However, Nakajima did not have a finishing hold to directly translate this strategy into a victory. In addition, Nakajima took a nasty spill onto the guardrail that severely fucked up his neck. In a nice touch, Hokuto checked on Nakajima. It can not be underestimated how much Sasaki and Hokuto added to the match by being on the outside cheering on Nakajima. It felt like parents cheering on their kid.

Nakajima pressed on by kicking the arm to keep Kondo at bay, but Kondo overwhelmed with brute power zeroing in on the injured neck. Nakajima realized that Kondo's arm was too strong and that point of attack would not turn the tide. So he began taking head shots. Finally, Nakajima stymied Kondo's onslaught and with a dive to the outside. He levelled the playing field to finally return to his attack on the arm. He utilized mentor Sasaki's arm drag, but could not get the cross armbreaker as Kondo slammed out on it dropping Nakajima right on the back of his head. As much as this match was about Nakajima, Kondo was amazing at selling the arm the right amount. He was not blowing off Nakajima's work, but at the same time Nakajima really had not done enough to damage the arm so that it was totally useless. Kondo was fighting through the pain in a believable way. Kondo's slams really target Nakajima's neck, who cant seem to get anything started. In a great sequence, Nakajima is deadweighting Kondo on a powerbomb so Kondo blasts him with a elbow. Nakajima's sell would make Kawada proud. Kondo then spikes Nakajima on his head with a piledriver, but Nakajima kicks out. I will say the placement of that move was too early. The big flaw of the match begins here as Nakajima starts selling like Kaz Hayashi meaning he sells after he does a move not as he is doing it, but it is not as egregious.

Nakajima at this point has no hope winning this match via arm work (no real submission game) so he goes for head shots to set up Emerald Flowsion and a flying bodypress. Kondo signals for a lariat and Nakajima kicks the arm reversing into a Human Capture Suplex only for 2. I liked how after all the kicks to the arm that Kondo could use his arm properly on his slam so that the full impact was not delivered. It was good selling. I loved the axe kick on lariat arm. Kondo finally gets lariat, but it is not enough. I totally bit on the Northern Lights Bomb finish with Sasaki right there.  Nakajima wins the match with a German Suplex.

This match had the potential to be a Match of the Decade Contender. The dueling body part psychology, the appropriate arm selling by Kondo, the amazing neck selling of Nakajima, the two-leveled Nakajima strategy all wove together to create a unique, dynamic match. The finish run did depart from this where Nakajima's comeback became a bit incredulous and his selling uneven and the moves excessive. I am not going to penalize the match too much because the base of the match was still there Nakajima defending against the lariat, working through his early match mishap (neck) and using headshots to create big offense. ****1/2

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IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Minoru Tanaka vs Ryusuke Taguchi - NJPW 07/06/07

Five years later and at least the cross armbreaker is still over. I still contend that Minoru Tanaka should have been the biggest junior heavyweight star of the 2000s. I don't think this match is comparable in quality to his incredible 2000-2002 run, but we get to see an entirely different side to him. He was excellent at the cocky heel gimmick. He really gave off that aura that he thinks he is better than you in every shape and way. He was showboating, stalling and cheating better than pretty much every heel in the WWE in the last decade. The best part of this entire match was how red hot the crowd was for bell-bottom-wearing "Funky Weapon" Rysuke Taguchi. Japanese wrestling crowds in native vs. native matches tend to be very similar to tennis crowd insomuch they root for ever is losing to pull them through and continue the match. I don't want to take away anything from Taguchi because my sample size is limited, but to me it was all about Minoru Tanaka. You wanted to see that smug bastard get his ass kicked. People wonder why nobody gets booed nowadays. To me it is because nobody actually tries to get booed when they are wrestling. Sure on the mic they do, but in a match pretty much everybody wrestles it straight down the middle. Minoru Tanaka, once again, proves why he had huge star potential in the way he carried himself in this match and maintaining that heat throughout the match.

Unfortunately, I was not in the Korakuen Hall on July 6, 2007, but instead was in my living room in United States of America, BABY! on August 26, 2014 so crowd heat alone was not make this match an elite level match it was going to take work. The match started off great like I said with Minoru Tanaka showboating like a champion and getting shown up early. He is able to take control with an eye-rake and then out on the floor targets the arm and a pretty girl to impress. This is a clinic on heel wrestling. Of course, everyone knows that Minoru has the cross armbreaker in his back pocket so targeting the arm increases the crowd tension. There is a really nice exchange where Minoru avoids a dropkick and makes a point to let everyone know how smart he is only to eat a dropkick. This is just classic shit. Taguchi goes the "arm for an arm" route, but unlike the Minoru/AKIRA matches I didn't think they really focused enough time on each other's arm to really build the same drama. Unfortunately, the match goes off the rails at this point as they both pretty much drop the arm selling to suplex each other a lot. It was exciting, but not a lot of glue. Minoru, occasionally reminds you of the beginning of the match, by applying a flash cross armbreaker out of a human capture suplex. The crowd heat and Taguchi's selling were really on point making this a very dramatic spot, but before you knew it they were back suplexing each other. The best spot of the whole match was Minoru goes for the flash cross armbreaker and Taguchi converts into La Magistral cradle. The crowd goes wild! That should have been the finish, no doubt! NOOOOOOOOOO! An elbow exchange??? Et tu, Minoru? Taguchi hits what I believe to be The Funky Weapon twice to finally pick up the victory for his first and only IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.

The hook of the match was twofold: Minoru is an arrogant asshole and the credibility of his flash cross-armbreaker. They did not build the double arm psychology and they just sort of dropped it, with each touching on it here and there. Taguchi, for all his "funkiness", was a pretty bland Japanese, 00-style babyface. I hate to base that off one match, but given he only has one title reign to his name, it looks like New Japan feels similarly. At the day, the crowd was hot for Taguchi so he was doing something right even if he didn't set my world afire. The match started off promising and ended pretty well, but the body was a mess. I recommend this match based solely on seeing Minoru Tanaka work as a heel and how he was badass at doing that too. ***1/4

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KENTA & Taiji Ishimori vs Naomichi Marufuji & Kota Ibushi - Budokan 7/15/07

Briscoes, Marvin and Suzuki, take notes, bruthas, this is how you do a fucking spotfest, baby! Ishimori and Ibushi are the next generation of Japanese junior heavyweight that care even less about strikes and building a strong match. They only care how they can add an extra rotation to any simple move. Standing elbow drop that is so passe. I can do a back handspring, full back flip elbow drop, BABY! If you going to execute those matches, then commit to them and they were committed to having this elaborate gymnastics competition, which made for a great spectacle. It is good eyecandy like a Michael Bay action movie. I don't want to watch a card full of these, but these exhibitions do serve a purpose because they are fun to watch. To me at least, however, they are not very satisfying in the same way a match where opponents are struggling to win a contest. The nice thing about this match is that they laid everything in. They did not treat strikes as givens like in the Briscoe/Marvin&Suzuki. Their transitions still suck like KENTA blowing off leg work to hit a flying knee drop or Ibushi's lame spinwheel kick to exit his heat segment. There was literally no move to move selling. People would take moves, sell, then fly like nothing happened. Even within these segments, they were flying with great highspots. After Ibushi tagged out, it was spots galore with flips and spins on everything. It was like R-Truth, but on steroids. Ibushi's double moonsault gets me everytime because I go years without seeing him, I always forget he has that. I actually enjoyed Ibushi ducking the KENTA strike, kip up and kick KENTA only for KENTA to be wary of it the second time. KENTA went into crazy Ceasro like beast mode to awkwardly catch Ibushi and hit Go 2 Sleep. The past two NOAH juniors tags were what expected all NOAH's juniors match to be like, but really that has not been case. I am curious if this newfound spotfest style is influenced by the rise of Dragon Gate. I will be curious to see Dragon Gate from 2005-2006 and see how similar it is to this. Usually, when something is mimicked the copiers steal the most glaring obvious traits without the subtle details that make the original so good. Ergo, NOAH guys were like people like flips lets give them flips. Dragon Gate may have done a better job building to the spots. I do not know, but we will see. Overall, I did enjoy this spotfest, but I will be sad if this is the way the NOAH's juniors division goes because it was quite good from 2003-2006. Spotfests have a ceiling in my book because of how much emphasis I put on transitions, selling and struggling. I would say this is one of the better ones I have ever seen though. ****

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Bryan Danielson vs Go Shiozaki - ROH In Tokyo 7/16/07

The poll is Best In Japan in the 00s, thus any match that took place in Japan qualifies not necessarily taking place on a puroresu card. That being said, Ring Of Honor had a very similar style to Pro Wrestling NOAH. Occasionally this happens to me, I acknowledge I am watching an interesting, well-worked match and it just does not hold my attention. Unfortunately for this bout, I felt that way. I loved Danielson's pacing in this match. He was not flying around and blowing off selling. The beginning of the match showcases Danielson at his best making submission holds look innovative and like they hurt. It is something that is bereft in both WWE and Japan in the 00s. They establish they are equal babyfaces even ending a dropkick simultaneously. Shiozaki takes over with chops and general power, but Danielson catches a break when Shiozaki goes flying into the railing. Again, I loved Danielson's arm work, which effectively used strikes and holds to destroy the arm. When Shiozaki starts to mount his comeback and is still selling might be when I realize what is wrong. Shiozaki is just really bland. He is just a generic, cookie-cutter NOAH wrestler. He is not bringing anything to the table. He is doing the right things, but is nothing special or unique.

Danielson goes flying into the crowd on top of Shiozaki and this triggers Danielson's big spots ending with a crossface chickenwing that ends up in the ropes. Shiozaki was able to crotch Danielson on the top rope and hits a weird slam. Here comes the BOOM! Bombs galore. Shiozaki goes for the kill with a moonsault misses and Danielson immediately applies Cattle Mutilation. Shiozaki is able to fight out, but then end is nigh and Shiozaki succumbs to a second Cattle Mutilation.

Danielson was really demonstrating why he was one of the best in the world at the time. He paced himself well. He is an amazing offensive wrestler (ground, working body part, bombs) and this really showcased his talents. Shiozaki just feels so mediocre in this match and I just could not bring myself to care. Thus I felt like I was watching a Danielson exhibition. ***1/2

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Great Sasuke vs Ultimo Dragon - M-Pro 8/30/07

Is it 1994 or 2007?

Sasuke was wrestling like it was 1994 and giving a MOTYC-level performance. Unfortunately, Dragon was wrestling like it was 1996 WCW and indulging everyone of his bad tendencies. Ultimo Dragon is one of the most infuriating wrestlers. He is such a great offensive dynamo, but I can't think of any wrestler pre-2000 that so egregiously blows off selling. It is too point that when he is in that mood that you should almost just let him be on offense because he drags the match so far down when he randomly decides to stop selling. The negative of that was Sasuke was so amazing on offense. He was violent and breath-taking, which is such a rare combination to see in a match. I loved how he attacked Dragon while he held the ropes open for him with headbutts and nasty body shots. Then when he goes for Asai Moonsault, Dragon violently yanks him down only for that to happen to Dragon when he tries. Based on the first two minutes, I really thought I was going to see something special, before Dragon went back in and did a high-speed tumbling pass. i remembered why Dragon annoys me so much. On the other hand, for as badass as Sasuke is on offense, he was selling for all its worth and bumping like a maniac. Sasuke tried a convoluted reversal out of a Dragon hold, but ended spiking himself on his own head and the way he sold it and the way Dragon sold surprise was really cool. It seemed like a real organic moment. So rarely do you seem someone "fuck up" a reversal and sell it. It was cool feature. Sasuke picked his moments and when Dragon missed a plancha out came the dives. Sasuke starts to go work on the arm, but Dragon blows it off to hit an Asai Moonsault and a gnarly suplex on chairs. That is a crazy bump. Sasuke reverses Dragon into the post and hits two beautiful dives from the top rope to the floor. Dragon ended up whiffing on a dropkick when Sasuke went for a quebrada. Sasuke was able to reverse the Dragon DDT twice, but ended up taking it three times to lose.

I missed a juniors match with spectacular dives and Sasuke is so good at incorporating that into his match. I loved his body punches and general roughhouse style. He took crazy bumps and built his offense convincingly. Dragon looked great on offense and took some hellacious bumps himself, but he killed the flow of the match repeatedly. If Dragon was on point and not just focused on his offense, this is a 2007 MOTYC. As is it is a highly entertaining bout and proof that Sasuke could still go. ***3/4