Yuji Nagata vs.Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (NJPW, 5/14/05)

A shout out is in order to Kelley Denham's The Forgotten Inokiists for bringing attention to Tsuyoshi Kohsaka's brief but cool run through New Japan from 2002-2005. In March 2005, Kohsaka faced and submitted Yuji Nagata at Nexess V in a short but sweet little match-up. Two months later at Nexess VI, the two had a rematch in what is possibly Kohsaka's best match in NJPW. Nagata is fired up from the ring of the bell, landing a big rolling kick in the ropes before delivering an overhead suplex and a penalty kick. They work the mat in some slick exchanges that result in Kohsaka securing a triangle. Nagata's able to escape the hold and they trade snug face slaps before Nagata attempts the running boot, TK ducks it and slaps on a sleeper hold. When Nagata tries to counter out with an over-the-shoulder armbreaker, TK turns the attempt into a ura-nage and goes right back to the sleeper hold. Nagata is finally able to break away and in a cool moment, he blasts TK with that climbing corner knee before they both collapse in exhaustion. The finishing stretch is great, with them trading more nasty slaps and Nagata countering a front necklock with an Exploder. He dumps Kohsaka with a release dragon suplex and when TK tries once more to lock in the sleeper, Nagata turns it into a killer backdrop hold for the pinfall. Definitely a terrific sub-ten minute match worth checking out.

Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Yuji Nagata (ZERO1, 3/2/01)

News flash: Jun Akiyama rules. He rules now, he ruled then, and he's the standout of the inaugural ZERO1 main event. I really liked the opening between he and Yuji Nagata, but more importantly, I loved Akiyama harassing Hashimoto on the apron, only to get German suplexed from behind by Nagata. Once Hashimoto gets the tag, he batters Akiyama out of the ring and Jun's a little hesitant to return. The exchanges between those two are the most heated throughout the match. Akiyama and Nagata have fun throwing Exploders and taking each other's signature submissions. Misawa's fine here and gets in his usual spots but I would've liked to have seen his exchanges with Hashimoto be a little more...grumpy. Everyone drops some bombs toward the end but Hashimoto is more concerned with Akiyana than winning the match -- even after Misawa pins him, Hashimoto immediately goes back to attacking Akiyama before all hell breaks loose. FUN STUFF!

Toshiaki Kawada & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka (NJPW, 12/14/00)

Easily, one of the best tag matches of 2000. It hits a lot of highs, never any lows, although there's a decent little plateau (mesa) in there at parts. Everyone had a role to play: Iizuka the tough underdog with a thing for sleepers, your asshole Uncle Fuchi, proud dad Nagata, and the man, Toshiaki Kawada. I really loved his messy mat scramble with Nagata to open their exchange before they start throwing each other at themselves with boots and elbows. Iizuka's on the rocks for much of the match, as Fuchi starts breaking him down at the knees, catching a wave in the corner on his Iizuka surfboard. Kawada picks up where he left off with the stomping single leg crab and when he's got Iizuka in the bow-and-arrow, Fuchi pops in to stand on Iizuka's throat like a shithead. 

Iizuka gets bullied inside the ring, Nagata's bullied outside -- and some of his facials are incredible. At one point, it looks like he takes a little cat nap on the ring apron. Iizuka's trying to fight back but can't overwhelm the AJPW team, and when he finally gets a break, he tries to grab the sleeper again on Fuchi. But he tags in Nagata, and Nagata and Kawada go at it. On a whole, I think their exchanges could've used an extra dab of Cholula, but whatever, it was fun. Loved all the enziguris and Kawada's selling before Nagata hits the German suplex hold. They each lock in their submissions, and each submission is broken up by their wounded partners. Really good selling from both Fuchi and Iizuka there at the end. There's stereo submissions from both teams, a dope dropkick to the knee by a stumbling Fuchi, and, and a final kick and face slap exchange between Nagata and Kawada to heat it up just before it cools down on the time limit draw. Draws are hard to pull off, especially tag draws, and I think this had it right for the most part. 

Yuji Nagata vs. Kazunari Murakami (NJPW, 1/4/06)

This didn't quite hit the same highs as their 2002 match, but it was still fun for the most part, especially in the back half. It's kind of a mess to start as they scramble around until Nagata's able to fire off an Exploder after dodging a penalty kick. Nagata's kicks and knees look good, and he's able to bust Murakami's mouth with a knee on the outside...but on the flip, some of his strikes look weak as hell. Of course, it wouldn't be a Murakami match without blood and the image of it dripping out of his mouth is rather frightening. Nagata unloads on him in the final few minutes, hitting a brainbuster and a head kick. Murakami's gassed at this point, desperately swinging for the fences and missing, which allows Nagata to hit a nasty backdrop, followed by the backdrop hold for the pinfall.

Yuji Nagata vs. Kazunari Murakami (NJPW, 12/12/02)

One of the most interesting aspects of any Kazunari Murakami match is watching how his opponents manage his rabid dog-style in the ring, and for the most part, the strategy is predictable: let the dog tire himself out and then sink in a submission hold. Yuji Nagata, IWGP Heavyweight Champion, uses the same approach, absorbing Murakami's wild swings and stomps before taking control of the situation with a suplex and finding some leverage on the ground. Of course, when jerkface Murakami's able to get an armbar takedown, he refuses to let go in the ropes, which leads to some shenanigans on the outside.

When Nagata's returned to the ring, he's a red mess and Murakami continues punishing him on the mat, at one point, licking Nagata's blood from his forearm because why not? Nagata dripping blood while Murakami's wrenching back with the facelock is quite the visual. Nagata's finally had it and he lays into Murakami with some good looking knees and starts disarming him with his patented reverse armbar, breaking it down in between holds with armbreakers on repeat or stripping the elbow pad and stomping away. In one final act of desperation, Murakami tries to sneak in a sleeper hold off the interference, foaming at the mouth (not literally) as he tries to defeat Nagata. But Nagata dumps him with a belly-to-back suplex, then using the armbreakers to set-up three consecutive wrist-clutch Exploders to put down Murakami. Pretty great match.

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.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Yuji Nagata (UWFi, 4/19/96)

Sloppy and erratic, full of awkward takedowns, hiccups in momentum, and yawn-inducing matwork. Sounds like a shitshow, right? Well, not really…the scrappiness is somewhat endearing and the match really sizzles when they’re wildly missing strikes and Nagata is throwing suplexes. The beginning and end are pretty great. Nagata clubs the hell out of the back of Kakihara’s neck to get him off the ropes and folds him in two with a German suplex. When Yuji gets him in the jujigatame, Kaki freaks…love a good submission freak out. Kakihara looks to submit Nagata with a heel hold but Nagata’s positioned too close to the ropes so when he stands up, Kaki clobbers him with what looks like a short-arm lariat. He comes at Nagata with knees but Nagata is able to dump him with a dragon suplex. Nagata tries to finish him off but Kaki’s able to pull off that familiar roll-up kneebar for the submission win.

Masahito Kakihara, Hiromitsu Kanehara, Kennichi Yammamoto & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Yuji Nagata, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Shinjiro Otani & Tokimitsu Ishikawa (NJPW, 2/3/96)

They lit the furnace under the ring and boy, oh boy, did they let loose on each other here, with Takaiwa slangin’ elbows and a maskless Kendo Kashin being an especially dirty ditty, swelling up Kanehara’s eye real good with a headbutt. Being a 2/3 Falls match, the falls felt unpredictable, the first occurring early on after Takaiwa plants Sakuraba with a Death Valley Bomb and submits him with the crab hold. I thought Nagata was the standout here, as he brought awesome intensity to his interactions, dumping Yammamoto and Kakihara with suplexes and blasting Sakuraba with a sweet rolling heel kick in the corner. But as much momentum as Yuji builds, Kaki’s able to snag him with the kneebar out of nowhere to submit him and even the score…but they continue heating it up well into the third fall. Yammamoto, who looked a little rough around the edges throughout, finishes the match in beautiful fashion, delivering a perdy German suplex hold before using a kneebar takedown to submit Takaiwa. Not a very cohesive match on a whole but plenty of fiery exchanges

Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (7/23/17)

Yuji Nagata has been busting his ass for his final G1 Climax appearance and this was easily his best match and performance of the tournament (and a personal favorite of mine). These two have great chemistry together. You had Tanahashi heeling it up with his limbwork, tossing the proverbial ace guitar out of the ring to focus on attacking the veteran's leg. Nagata was as spirited as ever, with the crowd firmly behind him. Tanahashi starts in on the leg, kicking the knee when he can and embracing the boos. Nagata fights through the pain to land some stiff kicks and slaps, his facials always so terrific. Tanahashi tries going after the leg again with the cloverleaf hold but Nagata fights him off, going after the arm and building to a big top rope Exploder. He tries to finish Tanahashi off with the backdrop but Tanahashi counters with a crossbody and once more cuts off Nagata at the knee. That final slap exchange is awesome, with Nagata getting busted open and his exhausted swings and misses before collapsing face-first on the mat. Tanahashi's able to put Nagata away with the High Fly but Nagata wasn't going down without a fight. Loved this match. 

Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW, 4/13/07)

A little over ten years ago, Yuji Nagata defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win his second IWGP Heavyweight Title. At the time, I loved the match and now, having re-watched it, I still love it. It remains one of Nagata's best singles performances, if not my personal favorite, and Tanahashi does such a good job of channeling his inner douchebag ace. In the opening exchange, Tanahashi shows that he's not a kid anymore while Nagata shows he's not an old man and he can keep pace. At one point, Nagata just starts kicking Tanahashi instead of locking up with him, done with the games. He doesn't have time for the plancha attempt either, walking off and taking a breather on the outside. Tanashi responds by attacking Nagata in the ropes and Nagata snaps on him, pummeling Tanahashi into a corner, laying into him with stiff kicks and shoving Red Shoes out of the way. They start throwing hard slaps, with Tanahashi really squeezing the mustard on, but Nagata shuts him down and starts in with the pissy strikes, just trying to wear the ace down. He goes after Tanahashi's arm, cranking on a reverse armbar and keeping hold of the arm after Tanahashi reaches the ropes. He goes back to it in little ways throughout the match but I think for the amount of time spent on it, Tanahashi's selling was fine.

Tanahashi transitions into the leg control with a dragon screw legwhip in the ropes. The fans turn on Tanahashi as he begins working on the leg, using the ring post and the ropes. Nagata tries to fight back but Tanahashi catches a kick attempt and nearly drops him on his head with a capture suplex. After a beautiful dragon screw legwhip, Tanahashi holds on the leg and when Nagata starts trying to kick him off, Tana legwhips him into the mat. Great stuff. Nagata starts firing off some nasty slaps but Tanahashi takes the nastiness to another level with his slaps and coldcocks Nagata, who face plants in a terrific moment of selling. In fact, Nagata's selling throughout is great, between his facials and the legwork. He delivers back-to-back snap brainbusters but when he tries for the spiral brainbuster, his knee gives out. Tanahashi takes advantage of the injury, hitting a slingblade and a dragon suplex, but Nagata sacrifices his knees to block the High Fly Flow. Loved Nagata's saito suplex counter to the second slingblade attempt. You can see the seams coming loose on the ace as he repeatedly headbutts Nagata out of frustration and hits a German suplex cradle and a shutdown German for a nearfall. He's able to stun Nagata with a slap but reacting almost on reflexes, Nagata blasts him with a high kick to the head. Two backdrops later, holding onto the second, Nagata pins Tanahashi to become the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion before the pro-Nagata crowd. A fantastic match and one definitely worth revisiting.

Yuji Nagata vs. Manabu Nakanishi (NJPW, 12/17/16)

Part of me wishes they would’ve held off on this match until Wrestle Kingdom and made it Nakanishi’s retirement match because I doubt we’ll get anything this good out of him again. This was by no means a great match; however, it was a GOOD Nakanishi match. He gave it everything his increasingly immobile body could muster, including a plancha, a top rope dropkick and that awesome superplex spot, not to mention taking a top rope Exploder from Nagata! I liked the narrative early on, as Nakanishi gets the advantage on Nagata and Nagata resorts to attacking Nakanishi’s weakness in the knee – great selling in that moment by Nakanishi.  But that storyline is soon abandoned in favor of Nakanishi getting in his signature spots, which works for this match and the crowd was really behind him. Nagata pins him after using the rare wrist-clutch Exploder. Nakanishi’s annual good match was a lot of fun and I don’t know if we’ll get anything like this out of him again, which is why this may have worked better on a bigger stage. 

Yuji Nagata vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (NJPW, 7/30/16)

My girlfriend watched part of this with me and asked "are they really slapping each other?" Yup. Hard. This was a lot of fun, with Nakajima heeling it up early on and getting the jump on Nagata. Both guys sold so well, especially with Nakajima taking some of those knees, and Nagata wasn't holding anything back. Stiff elbows and knees and that slapfest near the end was a great way to cap it off. Grumpy Nagata is the best and the ref can hardly contain him. I liked Nakajima's leg-based strategy, sometimes using it as almost a cheap means of getting out of a hairy situation. If he can take out the old man knees, he can avoid the old man knee strikes. He's able to turn the tables in his favor and finish off Nagata with the PK > brainbuster combo. As good as this was, it suffered from some pretty bad camera work. Nakajima's matured so much and I would love to see him out of the NOAH cesspool and into New Japan. 

Katsuyori Shibata & KUSHIDA vs. Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger (4/27/16)

Another awesome tag, another awesome build to Dontanku. They built upon their last match, which was a more structured, smartly worked tag, by injecting the HATE into this. This felt personal. The veterans are pissed off but so is Shibata, and he sucks up most of the crowd’s energy. He and KUSHIDA get the early jump and Nagata ain’t got time to get his t-shirt(s) off. So Shibata uses it against him with his chinlock. He mocks Nagata with the saluting leglock. But that only leads to the vets getting revenge. Lots of elbows thrown on the outside, Liger cracking Kushida’s knee with a chair. Liger’s a great leg bully here and KUSHIDA does a solid job selling, desperately clinging to the ref to escape the leglock. When KUSHIDA comes in later off the fresh tag, he sells the tilt-a-whirl landing,  keeping the work relevant. A nice and easily overlooked nuance.

Nagata and Liger are such a fun pairing.  After some more rudo chairshots, Liger puts KUSHIDA back in the leglock and Nagata just stands there vigilant by his side. I liked how Shibata so calmly avoids Nagata’s apron attacks. Lots of friendly hate between these two. I mean, Nagata eyefucks Shibata so hard he trips over KUSHIDA during the single leg crab. Shibata’s snappy kicks in the corner were cringy, capping them off with a sliding kick and the hesitation dropkick. Nagata sells Shibata’s offense so well, especially during the elbow exchange, and his knee strikes looked extra stiff. The traded suplexes were a great exclamation point to their happy little exchange. In the end, the Shelley Clutch finish came by surprise but it’s the logical finish, building off their last tag and heading into Dontaku. Great tag team wrestling, and not just a repeat of their last tag but a new, hateful facet. 

Katsuyori Shibata & KUSHIDA vs. Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger (NJPW, 4/23/16)

Fantastic build for Dontaku and one of the better tag matches I’ve seen this year. Emotions were high between Shibata and Nagata, and their heated exchanges brought the right amount of impact to wet your whistle for their NEVER title match. Arm killer KUSHIDA was excellent, and the submission work on Liger played well into the story, with Shibata picking up where KUSHIDA leaves off. They work really well together as a unit, complimenting each others' style where Shibata brings the stiffness and KUSHIDA works the mat. Of course, Nagata and Liger are a fun pairing, with Liger playing the downtrodden veteran.

Nagata and Shibata open a little nice tussle for leg control, where he sees Nagata bust out a flurry of baby knees and Shibata getting pissed after Nagata reverses the leglock. Lots of angry elbows from Shibata. We get a taste of the impending Dontaku strike fest and Shibata is all fired up, no selling the Exploder (because that's just what people do) and connecting with an STO.  KUSHIDA and Liger get to show off their lucha-inspired skillz, and KUSHIDA gets busy with the arm work. Liger capitalizes off a missed standing moonsault and locks in the Kimura but KUSHIDA is able to reassert the arm control, first with a cross armbreaker and then transitioning to the Hoverboard Lock to prevent Liger's escape. Shibata does a good job at keeping Nagata stretched and at bay while KUSHIDA brings Liger to the middle of the ring. Even when Nagata breaks up the hold, KUSHIDA goes right back to work on the arm like a pitbull. Liger finds an opening on an over-the-shoulder armbreaker attempt, picking up the flash pin victory off a backslide. Great stage-setting finish and I'm stoked more than ever for Dontaku.