Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Shuhei Taniguchi (NOAH, 11/2/19)

Short, brutal and a total blast. Shuhei smacking Fujita on the ropes and shrugging it off was top-notch, right before punt kicking him and planting him with an apron backdrop. Tons of big strikes, including a big blood-bursting headbutt, with an incredible visual of a crimson faced Shuhei no selling a Death Valley Driver so he can continue elbowing Fujita. And then Fujita's finishing run looked brutal, between the big open hands, the folding powerbomb, the punt kicks, and a final choke sleeper.

Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (NOAH, 12/23/00)

EPIC!

This was one of the very first NOAH matches I remember seeing during my initial exposure to Japanese pro-wrestling and, at the time, my high school brain was like "whoooa, dude, what the hell did I just watch?". So having rewatched this, what does my married brain think? It's still pretty damn epic. Is it too much? Yeah, probably, most likely, but it isn't necessarily done for the sake of indulgence. It's young brash Jun Akiyama trying to dethrone King Kobashi with everything he's got and Kobashi...well, dropping Jun on his head a lot and Akiyama with the will to survive. It's long though, and you know, I struggle with overly long, bloated matches. To open, Kobashi pops him with a big chop to the chest to set the stage and mood, encouraging Akiyama to bring it, which Akiyama has to seriously consider after those Kobashi chops. When they lock up, Akiyama does a little swanky maneuvering to turn the tide on Kobashi, taking him over with a double wristsault into the front mount, peppering him with slaps and then trying to lock in a rear choke before Kobashi gets to the ropes. Akiyama doesn't immediately let go and Kobashi lets him having it with more chops, catching him with a rolling backchop in the corner.

Loved Akiyama’s driving elbows in the corner and when he hits that running elbow smash on the ramp, he turns Kobashi's left eye into a swollen mess. But he works through it, focusing on Akiyama's neck after a few DDTs, using a front necklock and deadlifting it into a suplex. Akiyama turns the tide with a nasty dropkick to the knee, allowing himself a breather before they trade suplexes and Akiyama starts in on picking Kobashi's arm apart. But that's what we call filler...well-executed, sure, but filler nonetheless. Soon, Kobashi is dumping him with a sleeper suplex or a half nelson suplex on the rampway. Then Akiyama comes back and hits an Exploder to Kobashi on the floor (sold like death by Kobashi) and tries to set-up for his front necklock finish. When Kobashi grabs the ropes immediately, Akiyama hits the wrist-clutch Exploder for a terrific nearfall. Kobashi lariats his way out of a SUPER EXPLODER, and they're both obviously exhausted by this point in the match. Even when Kobashi hits another lariat, it's a collapsed pin attempt, his eye the size of a grapefruit. Akiyama survives the short-range lariat and when he tries to elbow back, Kobashi stuns him with the spinning backchop and unleashes the ultimate finisher in the Burning Hammer to finally put him away. A really good match, awesome in parts, with a great build and tons of bombs. But why so long?

Jun Akiyama vs. Kenta Kobashi (NOAH, 8/6/00)

This kind of "main event" match structure is why I enjoyed the Okada/Omega G1 Climax match-up so much: it simplifies the bombastic formula, condenses it, utilizing offensive targeting to build drama without dragging out the nearfalls in order to produce excitement for the sake of excitement. In other words, I really enjoyed this. The hero, Kenta Kobashi, comes into the match with a taped right knee but he's still able to say "not today, kid" with the opening exchange. Kobashi controls early on after taking over on the outside, chopping Akiyama over the barricade and powerbombing him onto the floor. He works a slower, more methodical pace, bringing him back into the ring with a great stalling suplex from the apron before trying to wear him out with a facelock. Then he'll explode with chops on Akiyama, breaking down his defense for the half nelson suplex.

Akiyama's able to dropkick the bum knee out from Kobashi and I love the follow-up dropkick just as Kobashi had struggled back to his feet. With the follow up submission attempt, Akiyama turns the sasori-gatame into the STF, and then starts trying to hamper Kobashi from making the break by grabbing the arm and covering his eyes. And after he makes the break, Jun immediately pulls him back to the middle with a cross kneelock. The frustrated boots to the knee after Kobashi makes it to the ropes shows Jun's hunger. Kobashi counters the Northern Lights suplex attempt with a necklock>necklock suplex, then catches him in the sleeper>sleeper suplex. Kobashi puffs up again with his offense, and even after Akiyama delivers a German suplex hold, he quickly grabs a kimura off the bridge, which was unexpected but awesome. In the end, however, Akiyama is younger, healthier, and the more aggressive, dropping Kobashi with three Exploder suplexes before cinching in the front necklock for the huge submission victory, not letting go after the referee calls it as if he wants to be sure he's actually beaten Kobashi. Great stuff.

Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kazunari Murakami (NOAH, 6/8/07)

Every Kazunari Murakami match has blood in it -- I mean, how else are you going to get him to lick it up? From a visual standpoint, it works. When you look at Murakami, with his wicked smile, you expect him to bust somebody open, possibly himself, and revel in it. Before Marufuji can even make his grand entrance, Marukami has already bloodied him. He takes him down to the ring and rams him headfirst into the ring post before showing off the carnage to the fans and licking the blood from Marufuji's forehead. What a nutjob. He tries choking Marufuji with a chair but once Marufuji gets a hold of it, he cracks it over Murakami's head a couple of times before getting him into the ring, where he starts paintbrushing him with slaps in the corner and choking him with his boot. He dumps him with a couple of German suplexes and they go back-and-forth with the slaps as the match momentum shifts into the next gear and Marufuji heats up on offense. He lands a couple of superkicks with the crowd behind him but...then Murakami hits back-to-back STOs and a lariat and it's over. Anti-climatic finish but a fun match while it lasted, with a post-match bonus beatdown from Murakami.

KENTA vs. Ricky Marvin (NOAH, 10/15/09)

This has to be the best sub-3:00 match, right? I mean, they managed to pack a 25:00+ minute main event into two minutes and some change. Ricky “Livin’ La Vida Loca Extreme” Marvin, really wants to win this, hitting the John Woo dropkick, the powerbomb, the thrust kick, before KENTA no sells it all to obliterate Marvin with a rolling lariat. For the most part, Marvin has answers to KENTA’s big offense, countering the first Go 2 Sleep attempt with the rana, but the second attempt connects and KENTA blasts him with the punt kick to win.

Jun Akiyama vs. Masao Inoue (NOAH, 4/23/06)

A polarizing match but one of my favorites for sure, as Masao Inoue truly excels at making the most of his in-ring limitations, putting in the underdog heel performance of the year – yeah, he’s a blatantly classic heel but the crowd favorite against Akiyama. Before the streamers can even fly, Inoue lariats Akiyama and immediately dumps his ass with a cobra clutch suplex! Of course, Akiyama quickly gets the situation under control, wearing Inoue down with a front necklock for an Exploder but Inoue bails before Akiyama can hit what would be the first of…well, many, many knees. When Jun rolls him back in, Inoue promptly rolls back out to avoid him, remaining patient on the outside until he finds an opening to attack and he does so in the shittiest (I say that with love) way possible, scouring Jun’s face with taped wrists and forearms, running it along the ropes, then along the apron. This pisses off Akiyama, who in turn, dirty rubs his forearms across Inoue’s face…and gets booed for it! Loved how sloppy Inoue’s figure-four on the rampway is but the purpose behind it more than makes up for the execution, as he’s trying to get Jun counted out.

When Akiyama finally puts Inoue in his place, calf branding him from the apron into the guardrail and piledriving him onto the floor, the fans continue to shit on him, which is awesome, as Inoue’s clearly the sympathetic dirty dog here. Inoue tries to build a little momentum, trying a couple of flash pin attempts, but when he goes up top, Jun cuts him off with a super Exploder…and the look on Inoue’s face is incredible. Inoue manages a few last gasps, including the torture rack and a powerbomb, but Akiyama slips out of the backslide and hits the first successful running knee. After an Exploder, the knee party really kicks off, but Masao’s not going down, not rolling over, stiff-legged. After ten knees (the number of completion), Akiyama delivers another Exploder for a big nearfall but the wrist-clutch variant is the final nail in the coffin for Inoue.

Jun Akiyama vs. Minoru Suzuki (NOAH, 3/5/06)

Minoru Suzuki’s rocking the pure white, a clear indication that he’s gone good, and I loved the teased confrontations, knowing that Suzuki is going to turn heel within the match at some point but initially, he’s wrestling clean with some reluctance. Then he locks on the jujigatame and refuses to let go, the bastard, and the referee nearly throws himself atop Suzuki to break it up. Having shown his true colors, Suzuki uses a hanging sleeper on the ropes and it’s sold like straight death by Akiyama – in fact, Suzuki grabs him, yells “wake up!” and slaps him in the face. He’s nasty with his boots and chokes, shoving the intervening referee out of the way, but Akiyama equally as nasty with his knees and likewise tosses the ref out of the ring! Akiyama’s weakness in the taped ribs is exploited in the dirtiest of fashions by Suzuki, and throughout, you get the impression that Akiyama is legitimately hurting here. I can’t recall ever seeing a top rope octopus hold but Suzuki pulls it off, cackling like a Batman villain before double stomping Akiyama. He tenderizes him with snug kicks before really working that octopus hold, digging the elbow in, stretching him on the mat, then toe punching the ribs. Really good selling from Akiyama as always and when Suzuki tries to sneak in with a sleeper hold, Akiyama quickly backdrops to set up a little run of offense. But again, Suzuki is able to exploit those ribs, ducking a running knee and blasting Jun with a knee to the midsection before spiking him with a delayed Gotch-style piledriver.

Then the match shifts gears…and perhaps, that shift is a little too discordant for some, I hear you. But come on, they basically work in their version of the infamous Kobashi/Sasaki chop exchange…but with face slaps. They slap and slap and slap themselves silly, with Suzuki heating up, then Akiyama with the spicy mustard, slapping to the point of exhaustion. Akiyama finally abandons the slaps for the knees, taking Suzuki down. Suzuki’s selling is terrific here as he crumbles to the canvas, screaming defiantly in Akiyama’s face when he Jun picks him up, only to get shhhhhmacked and finished off with the wrist-clutch Exploder. This is probably a polarizing match for some as the first half of the match is hunked out the window in exchange for endless slap action but I loved Suzuki’s character work.

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Takeshi Morishima (NOAH, 3/5/06)

I'm back from my honeymoon and back to revisiting Pro Wrestling NOAH, in all its glory. Baby Huey is such a loveable hangry mess here and old man Misawa bumps like crazy for him, making the clobberin’ slop look like absolute barbarism. When Misawa pops him in the schnozz with an elbow, Morishima snaps, lobbing elbows and rocking him with back-to-back-to-back lariats. Look, finesse isn’t a part of Morishima’s repertoire but that’s part of the charm, as he’s vicious with his clubbing forearms in the corner and flattens Misawa with a nasty lariat on the outside, just dominating the legend. Misawa gets a little reprieve with some snug elbows and a big tope suicida through the ropes but the big baby takes over again on offense, powerbombing Misawa. Knowing Misawa’s fate, this is a cringeworthy match for sure, considering the amount of physical abuse both guys endure, and at times, it’s hard to watch Morishima continually fold him up with backdrops and a gnarly uranage. And of course, Misawa tiger driving Morishima’s big ass off the fucking ring apron. Morishima’s nose is a bloody mess but that doesn’t deter Misawa from elbowing the shit out of him in the corner and on the ground, the ref hopelessly trying to intervene only to get shoved back. At one point, Morishima challenges Misawa to fire off more elbows, which isn’t the smartest idea, and after running and rolling and more grounded elbows, Misawa puts him away with one final lunging elbow shot. Brutal warfare.

Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NOAH, 10/19/01)

This little doozy of a match-up truly embodies what a gratuitous bomb-fest should be. You've got Takwai, one of the best no selling shitkickers out there, and Kanemaru, who proves he can scramble brains with the best of them. Within the first five seconds of the match, Takaiwa turns Kanemaru's world upside down with a big boy lariat. They're both being really shitty, with Takaiwa throwing the ref out of the way and Kanemaru using that to his advantage and low blowing Takaiwa. They choke each other with tape before opening up the arsenal and dropping just about every bomb they have in reserve. Brainbusters, Death Valley Bombs, including the best spot where Takaiwa catches Kanemaru off the apron and plants him on the floor, lariats, Takaiwa Drivers -- even one of my favorite video game finishers, the double powerbomb INTO the Death Valley Bomb. They steal each others moves, executing them to brutal perfection, and of course, Takaiwa being Takaiwa pops up after taking three consecutive brainbusters like it's nothing and spikes Kanemaru with the Takaiwa Driver. What a prick. But sometimes you just have to sit back, shut off your thinking capabilities, and enjoy a brainless (maybe literally) but awesome bombs away match.

Akira Taue vs. Jun Akiyama (NOAH, 1/22/06)

This is perhaps Akira Taue’s last great epic encounter and what a lovely match to bow out on as defending GHC Heavyweight Champion. Against Akiyama, he isn’t too proud to rake the eyes in order to gain control and he slowly wears Jun down the only way Taue can, coconut crushing and big booting. And it wouldn’t be an Akiyama match without knees everywhere – off the apron, onto the guardrail, front, back, top rope, you name it. He keeps putting the knees and elbows to the back of Taue’s head to set up the front necklock, but when Taue’s able to get to his feet, he destroys Akiyama with a backdrop counter. Taue’s offense isn’t always the most hard hitting but I loved that he really seemed to let loose here, chokeslamming Akiyama on the ramp, hacking away at him with his meat cleaver hands, and planting him with a sheer-drop powerbomb. He hits the Ore ga Taue for two but when he tries for a top rope version, Akiyama’s able to shove him off into a jumping knee > running knee > Exploder, going right back into the front necklock off the two count. In the final minutes, they’re both running on fumes, fighting over the chokeslams and the Exploders, before Akiyama starts again with the knees. It isn’t the epic finishing stretch of endless head drops but it’s the relentlessness of Jun and his knees that get the better of Taue, and in the end, the pillar crumbles. A simple but beautifully told story.

KENTA vs. SUWA (NOAH, 9/18/05)

When you think of the “great” junior heavyweights of Pro-Wrestling NOAH, SUWA’s name is often left out of that list in favor of someone flashier like Marufuji or Ishimori, or everybody’s favorite angsty junior, KENTA. But SUWA, putting in the bad dude performance of a lifetime, managed to bring perhaps the very best out of KENTA, as he dragged his boot heel across the line in the sand. The lost art of being heel. He wants in and out of this match pronto, so he attacks KENTA with the timekeeper’s bell and an equipment case, cheering himself on as he thinks he’s somehow done it but the match is ruled a no contest and restarted as he’s heading up the rampway. Pissed with this decision, SUWA gets in Joe Higuchi’s old man face but Higuchi ain’t no stooge and he’s ready to fight, stripping off the sports coat. Back in the ring, he chokes KENTA with tape, smacks the referee with the turnbuckle pad before hucking it at Higuchi – love Higuchi point at him like “watch it, punk!”. As KENTA starts building momentum, SUWA deliberately shoves the ref into the ropes as KENTA attempts to springboard off the ropes, causing him to crash and burn. Awesome. They fire on all cylinders heading into the back half of the match, flip-flopping on offense, with KENTA taking out some that brimming aggression in the corner with his stomps. They dive, throw bombs, KENTA counters the FFF with the Go 2 Sleep, and then he just annihilates SUWA with back-to-back-to-back head kicks and high kicks and the running knee to finish him off.

Kenta Kobashi vs Minoru Suzuki (NOAH, 1/8/05)

I can see why people may be turned off by this match, as it isn’t really structured like a traditional Kenta Kobashi “epic special fantastical”. That being said, I love this match, not only because of Minoru Suzuki’s performance but Kobashi’s selling of the arm. The systematic destruction of a body part is one of my favorite stories in pro-wrestling and Suzuki’s fantastic at it. Obviously, Kenta’s going to be chopping and lariating a bunch so it makes perfect sense to take that arm out of the equation. I love Suzuki’s initial hesitation to lock up with Kobashi, utilizing his cat-like speed and agility to bob and weave around Kobashi’s chops, bitching slapping Kenta when he as a chance and then promptly attacking the arm. Of course, when Suzuki does get caught with chops, it’s wonderful. But I could watch Suzuki dismantling somebody’s arm all day long, just trapping and stretching limbs, and Kobashi’s selling is perfect here, especially the missed chop and Suzuki’s finger wagging. Suzuki’s such a badass that he hits the Gotch-style piledriver and decides to stand on Kobashi’s head rather than pin him. Even when he’s getting rocked with brutal suplexes and powerbombs, Suzuki finds a way to snag the arm and further inflict damage, not giving Kobashi an inch. His only real effective offense are his suplexes and when he unloads on Suzuki with backdrop after backdrop suplex, it’s brutally awesome – not to mention Suzuki’s last stand, as pathetically slaps away at Kobashi before crumbling in defeat.  Terrrrrrrrific.

Kenta Kobashi vs. Tamon Honda (NOAH, 4/13/03)

Oh boy, this is one of my favorite Pro-Wrestling NOAH matches ever and I love the shit out of Tamon Honda. When you look at Honda, the gross pawn shop ponytail and facial hair, the loose singlet, the scraggy arms…well, he doesn’t look like much. The way he moves around is awkward at best but when he’s on the mat or transitioning into a hold, Honda’s a bona fide killer elite.  He’s the ultimate best-est underdog against Kenta Kobashi, and almost immediately gets dominated by the alpha…you know, until he delivers a third rope German suplex onto the rampway. This time, Kobashi’s bandaged limb is the arm and Honda zeroes in on it, locking in a jujigatame off a legdrop and refusing to let go on the rope break, the desperation to beat Kobashi stinking off. Loved Honda’s rolling counter to the half nelson suplex attempt, re-establishing in the armlock.  Honda doesn’t let up until Kobashi pops off spinning backchops and dumps Honda with gnarly half nelson suplexes. Honda drops some bombs of his own too, including a top rope German suplex. When he applies the STF, he uses his heads to trap Kobashi’s arm and then transitions into the anaconda vise. Kobashi looks dead in that hold and it’s such a terrific visual. His facials in general are pretty great, including when he’s getting yanked off the ropes by Honda’s German suplex. Incredible finishing stretch as Honda counters the short-range lariat with a cradle for an awesome nearfall and then proceeds take Kobashi’s brutal sleeper suplex like a champ-e-on, finally succumbing to the Burning Lariat. Love this match.

Jun Akiyama vs. Tamon Honda (NOAH, 9/5/01)

Another great Tamon Honda underdog tale. I’d previously only seen the last seven minutes of this match before but seeing it in its entirety really fleshes it out.  Here, Honda’s the dopey but mat dangerous Deputy Dawg. They work the opening few minutes to a stalemate, before Akiyama DDTs Honda on the rampway and continues working the neck, using his knees, legscissors, and at one point, slapping on a rear headlock and cranking Honda around into a modified front facelock. Akiyama is able to keep cutting off Honda's momentum – hitting an Exploder in response to Honda’s backdrop and then putting him in a crossface hold – but eventually, Honda breaks out, delivering a couple of awesome slow German suplexes, yanking Akiyama off the ropes, then he goes to the ground with the STF and anaconda vise. Alas, Akiyama’s the man, and he goes back to that neckwork he established so well, utilizing the front necklock, dropping Honda with Exploders to break him down even further before finishing him off with that necklock.

Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshinari Ogawa (NOAH, 11/1/03)

Once again, Ogawa proves to be one of the sliest weasels out there, this time pissing up the wrong tree with babyface supreme, Kenta Kobashi. He spews water in Kobashi’s eyes, blindsiding him, assaulting him and grinding the heel of his boot in his face while playing to the crowd. Of course, he promptly pays for this when Kobashi chops him all the way down to the ground and then some. After some fancy maneuvering on the mat, he comes away with Kobashi’s arm and continues clinging onto Kobashi like some kind of parasite, only to get chopped off. He goes after Kobashi’s taped left knee and targets it whenever the situation gets a little sticky icky. After the referee gets taken out, Ogawa attacks the knee with the timekeeper’s bell. Kobashi’s selling is terrific here as he hobbles to a comeback on the outside, blasting Ogawa with a spinning back chop into the ringpost that turns Ogawa’s face into a bloody nightmare. The punishment only continues for Ogawa and likewise, his selling is fantastic as he gets chopped and punched and powerbombed. He’s finally able to sneak in a low blow to catch a breather but It’s not enough to keep Kobashi down for long. I loved how Ogawa was able to avoid the half nelson suplex, using cradles and school boys to try and come away with a victory, but after Kobashi hits a…I don’t even know, a half nelson Exploder?...the babyface supreme finishes him off the Burning Lariat.

Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (NOAH, 9/7/02)

Yoshinari Ogawa is the perfect grimy ring tech, who, in addition to looking like the Chairman from the original Iron Chef, reminds me of Daisuke Sasaki, or rather, Sasaki reminds me of Ogawa with a “bad boy” edge. He plays the sneaky pants David to Takayama’s blonde Goliath, and Takayama’s Goliath is a real brute, body pressing Ogawa off the pin attempt, punishing him with kicks and knees, ragdolling him with suplexes, grinding his boot into Ogawa’s face. At one point, Takayama bodyslams him and yells “come on, champion”…because Ogawa is champ. It says so on his trucks… “GHC Champ”, in case people couldn’t quite believe Ogawa was champ. When Takayama gets hung up on the ropes, Ogawa puts him in the TREE OF WOE and pummels the hell out of him with punches and stomps before going to work fulltime on the arm. Takayama powers Ogawa up out of an armbar and sets him up top…but Ogawa’s able to take him back down to the mat with the arm in tow. Ogawa’s a jerk to Takayama on the ropes with his stomps and Takayama can’t seem to catch a break, his momentum hitting shitty brick walls built by Ogawa. Ogawa hits a total of four backdrops on Takayama, holding onto the fourth for a two count before going right back into the armbar, kicking Tayama’s hand away to cinch it in. Takayama finally breaks the wall doooooown with a big knee and follows up with a big German suplex hold for a nearfall. Loved Ogawa’s final desperate flash pin attempts at hanging onto his title with Takayama countering the last small package, brutalizing Ogawa with the knee strike and putting him away with the big German to capture the title.

Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata (NOAH, 2/17/02)

This was the very first Pro Wrestling NOAH match I was exposed to when I was beginning my journey into Japanese puroresu in 2001-2002. I had seen three of the four guys on a “Best of Japan” DVD-R, which invigorated in me a new love of professional wrestling, so NOAH was the next logical step to follow their progression on the modern graps landscape. On re-watch, this match is still a total blast of testosterone-fired aggression. Kobashi is specially lit, as is the crowd, and when he’s in there against Nagata, the fans really lap it up. Nagata keeps spurring him on with cheeky slaps to the face until Kobashi wrecks him with chops and smacks in the corner. Akiyama’s the consummate technician in there with his swank takedowns and counters, and of course, Misawa’s in there to throw elbows and tiger drive someone. The first tiger driver attempt on Akiyama is countered with an Exploder but he’s able to hit it on Nagata. This turns into quite the suplex party, with Kobashi throwing out the half nelson and sleeper varieties. Loved Kobashi’s selling off the one count Exploder as he’s hanging onto the ropes, trying to swat at Akiyama with chops before Akiyama hits him with another Exploder and puts him away with the wrist-clutch variation for the big win.

Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Michael Modest (NOAH, 7/21/01)

Michael Modest is a largely underrated early-to-mid 2000s junior heavyweight whose “thumbs up” schtick was over like rover with the NOAH fanbase. Against another under-the-radar talent in Yoshinari Ogawa, these two put on quite the entertaining match-up. After a little showboating to open, Modest starts in with his meathead armwork, hitting a nasty armwhip onto the mat before tearing at Ogawa’s shirt and the bandaged shoulder or throwing a steel chair at Ogawa’s arm. Ogawa’s sells it well, making the ole “pull on the arm” trick look like Modest is trying to yank it out of socket. Of course, the early 2000s was all about absurd offense so we get a bit of that from Modest but we also get some cool tricks, like the bridging top rope fisherman suplex. Modest, being the little Mr. Clean gronk he is, breaks his own pin attempt to deliver the Schwein and then poses, allowing Ogawa to put his foot on the ropes before Modest can cover him. This costs him the match, as Ogawa hits the backdrop hold for a nearfall and then cradles him up for the pinfall. A bit on the silly side but a solid breeze through worth checking out.

Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Minoru Suzuki (NOAH, 12/2/16)

Going into this match, Nakajima's 2/24 match against Suzuki is still the top contender for my "Match of the Year" (although the great re-watching begins soon). Superb performances from both of those guys, playing their respective roles to the fucking hilt. Fast-forward to December and Nakajima is no longer the spunky baby-faced fighting underdog but now stands on top of the promotion as the GHC Heavyweight Champion. He doesn't approach this fight with the same timidness but looks confident with his hair back and love tapping Suzuki after a tie-up in the ropes. The look on Suzuki's face is priceless. Whereas the focus of the first match was on Suzuki destroying Nakajima's arm, here he's focused on Nakajima's leg, although it never quite gets the level of the 2/24 match. Suzuki's awesome awareness is once again on display, as he jumps at the opportunity to attack the leg after Nakajima gets hung up in the ropes. When Nakajima tries to fight back a little later on, Suzuki slides underneath a kick attempt and gets control of the leg again, forcing him down in a leglock. Nakajima always sells so well for Suzuki, whether it's from elbow shots or submission holds. The desperation of him grabbing onto the referee was great. 

Suzuki survives one brainbuster and in a great callback to the first match, Nakajima highkicks Suzuki in the head, seemingly KO'ing him in the process. The referee tries to keep Nakajima back as he checks on Suzuki's condition and when Nakajima tries to pull Suzuki up to his feet, Suzuki's nothing but dead weight. But Suzuki was trolling Nakajima and after he chases him down with a dropkick, Suzuki has that evil grin on his face. He doesn't hold back with the strikes as he unloads on Nakajima with elbows, slaps, and jabs, eventually wearing him down with a sleeper hold for the Gotch-style piledriver attempt but Nakajima fights it off. They trade elbows and when Suzuki knocks down the ref, he straight punches Nakajima in the face twice before calling for Suzuki-gun to no avail. Loved Suzuki's reaction to no one coming to his aid. The final strike battle was a thing of beauty, with Suzuki's perfect selling, the slowed elbows to the point where he's just tapping Nakajima.  In the last minutes, Nakajima is trying to once and for all slay the dragon in Suzuki but Suzuki won't stay down. He finally lands another high kick to the head and delivers the nail in the coffin with a second brainbuster.

Awesome stuff. Like their previous meeting, the performances ruled this match, with both guys selling their asses off for each other. Without having re-watched the 2/24 match, it's hard to say whether this one eclipsed it or not. No doubt, they're the two best NOAH matches this year. If anything, this serves as the perfect companion piece and completes the story between these two. Hail Nakajima, as he vanquishes Suzuki-gun from NOAH and takes his place as the rightful ace of the promotion. 

Katsuyori Shibata & KENTA vs. Akira Taue & Go Shiozaki (NOAH, 9/9/06)

The pairing of Shibata with KENTA works on so many different levels. It’s a shame we only got three tag matches out of them. When Shibata teamed with KUSHIDA for a few matches earlier this year, it reminded me of the Takeover as they complement each other well. But they’re not the same disrespectful little pricks. Hot opening as Big Taue chicken-steps around the ring and Shibata tries to bully the vet with elbows and boots. Taue slaps him silly and gives him a coconut crush to the entertainment of the fans. They eat up Taue’s dive tease. Shibata really brings out the best in the veterans, which is probably why his series with the New Japan Dads was so enjoyable to me. He gives zero fucks. Shiozaki makes for a good whipping boy, especially against a pissed off Shibata. They have great chemistry together. But when Go and KENTA are in their, the match cools off a little. It feels like they’re just going through the motions. KENTA pestering Taue on the apron was awesome though.

Shibata mocks Taue with a couple of coconut crushes over his knee to Shiozaki and oh boy, Taue is pissed, shaking the ropes. Shibata puts Taue in the octopus hold and when Go comes in and breaks it up, Shibata pedigrees him! They try to set Taue up for the Doomsday Device but he chops his way out. He catches KENTA with a great chokeslam counter to the springboard before chokeslamming Shibata and hitting a sit-out powerbomb for a huge false finish. KENTA and Shiozaki bring things to a close, cooling the crowd down again as they trade two counts off suplex holds. After Shibata takes down Taue with the sleeper hold > PK combo, they finish off Go with the brutal springboard Doomsday Device for the win. Probably the best Takeover match of the three and a hot crowd for the Shibata/Taue exchanges.