NOAH di colosseo 7/3/05 NOAH Differ Ariake SP |
Haruka Eigen vs. Kishin Kawabata 6:03. Eigen did his “classic” AJPW style comedy match, regularly unleashing his feared projectile espectorations. Kawabata didn’t know what to do since he doesn’t possess any comedy spots, and Eigen probably can’t take the majority of his miniscule move set. Kawabata thus settled on winning with a deadly small package. -*
Scorpio & Rick Steiner & Low Ki vs. Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue & Mitsuo Momota 15:51. You have to wonder what the matchmaker was thinking when he put together this mixed bag. Inoue might not be that great, but to a certain extent he’s capable of working with everyone because he’s one of the most unselfish wrestlers in the sport. His segments showcased Scorpio’s offense at the proper temperature, but beyond Inoue I’ve yet to figure out who was theoretically supposed to work well with one another. Everyone kept moving, but they didn’t have great chemistry. Low Ki was about half the size of the others, but managed to get as much offense in as anyone without putting anyone else over. Thus, by default, the natives were stuck doing most of the selling. Momota can’t really bump at his age, so Ki was reduced to utilizing the deadly snapmare! Ki & Saito actually managed to work well together even though neither were willing to sell, as Ki brought so much athleticism to the usual kick sequences they were able to work a few nifty evasions. Steiner did absolutely nothing, and even though he tried, Momota kills a match quicker than anyone in NOAH other than Eigen. There was some impressive action, mainly from Scorpio & Ki, but also some utter crap. **
KENTA & Kotato Suzuki vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Sugiura 15:46. KENTA seemed pissed about losing the GHC Junior Tag Titles to Kanemaru & Suzuki on 6/5/05, coming out with all guns blazing. He was in a class of his own in this match that helped build anticipation for his 7/18/05 GHC Junior Title Challenge against Kanemaru, as he not only displayed major intensity, but also wrestled close to full force. To me, Suzuki can be more exciting than KENTA as he’s better at using his athleticism to evade and counter moves, but while he understands how to take advantage of being a fantastic athlete, he’s not yet experienced enough to get beyond doing the same few impressive sequences every match. Suzuki had good chemistry with Sugiura, including a nice armdrag counter for the Olympic slam before Sugiura caught him with it. ***1/4
Takeshio Rikio & Mohammed Yone & Takeshi Morishima vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa & Richard Slinger 13:44. Underachieving match. It was paced more similar to the 12 minute action match, but while the pace wasn’t bad, no one brought their good offense. I thought the match had 5 minutes left, where they’d start using their regular quality moves, but instead it unceremoniously ended. Even though Misawa used his most pedestrian moves, his offense was on another level entirely do to the preciseness of his execution. Ogawa can run around, but even his quick opening sequences with Yone are limited by the fact he thinks what amounts to a closed fist slap is viable offense. Once these two were done, everyone else quickly settled into uninspired timewasting. Yone did his best to pick up the pace whenever he was in, but his stretches are generally brief. Slinger did his best to pound Morishima, only to incite his ire. *3/4
Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Tamon Honda & Go Shiozaki 21:55. Match was good when Kobashi & Shiozaki were in, with neither showing any love or mercy for the other despite their partnership. Shiozaki did his best to incite his mentor, running to the corner and elbowing him every time he did a move that would keep Kikuchi down long enough. Kobashi eventually came in, but Shiozaki hid behind the rules, forcing the ref to escort Kobashi right out. Kenta soon got his revenge, chopping Go over the guard rail. Kobashi vs. Honda was fine, essentially a battle of chops vs. elbows, with a few suplexes thrown in. Kikuchi was at his most annoying today, even channeling Rusher Kimura. He did about 50 consecutive falling headbutts to Shiozaki’s arm. He actually wanted to stop because, like the audience, he could take no more, but Kobashi kept propelling him down, sore noggin or not. After Kobashi’s half-nelson suplex to Honda, Kikuchi started up again, though thankfully Honda avoided a diving headbutt or Kikuchi might still be at it! **3/4
Jun Akiyama & Makoto Hashi & SUWA vs. Minoru Suzuki & Naomichi Marufuji & Ricky Marvin 19:07. They kept a lightning pace with Marufuji looking great and getting the others to step it up to keep up with him. With his shaved head, Hashi looks like he should be playing a Buddhist monk in a Shaw Brothers flick. He gave one of his high end performances though, doing a better job of hanging with the other juniors than in the captain’s fall match on 4/17/05. Hashi was fighting extra hard because he was looking to earn a spot as Akiyama’s partner against Minoru Suzuki & Naomichi Marufuji on the 7/18/05 Tokyo Dome show. As usual, Marvin did an excellent job showing off some incredible moves, but the match was the best when SUWA was in because he takes far better than any of NOAH’s juniors. The big dropoff was when Suzuki came in, as his act is basically grimacing while applying a leverage hold. Akiyama was in lazy mode, staying on the apron the whole match. In his defense, part of the story was that he wanted a worthy partner, so he was willing to sacrifice this match to make sure he could secure the gold at the Tokyo Dome. At one point, it appeared Akiyama was going to break down and help Hashi out, but he instead began slapping him around to fire him up and instill the fighting spirit. ***1/2
