Post by Agent Kev on May 14, 2004 21:20:48 GMT -5
Juventud Guerrera vs. Kotaro Suzuki
This was an interesting opener that really didn’t come off as well as I expected it to due to Juvi not really taking the lead role in the match. Parts of this were very interesting but overall it was a disappointing opener as I was hoping Juvi would show us more of the talents he has been showing of late. Instead we get an average opener that could have and should have been much better. Juvi wins with a nice Juvi-driver.
Masashi Aoyagi/Mitsuo Momota vs. Donovan Morgan/Richard Slinger
This was a pretty by the numbers tag-match that was just kind of there. Momota has to be pushing 60 years old so he is more of a novelty act at this point. On a funny note Donovan’s tights looked just like one of the Holly’s, we’ll call him Donovan Holly.
Daisuke Ikeda/Kishin Kawabata/Mohammed Yone vs. IZU/Scorpio/Bison Smith
This was really the first match that showed the intensity, the forearms, and the stiffness that I am used to in NOAH. This was also the first match that the crowd reacted to. IZU, Scorpio and Bison are definitely the odd couple. One is black, one is a muscle man with a mo-hawk and one is a Japanese wrestler with face paint and odd orange sunglasses that he wears throughout the match. I really dug Scorpio in this match. He has lost a step but he still has that energy and magnetism that has always made him fun to watch. Bison’s team takes this one home after Bison hits a claw-slam and then the Styles Clash.
Masao Inoue vs. Naoki Sano
I was mesmerized during this match by Sano’s mullet. The move of the match was a tremendous tope con mullet by Sano where he planted his mullet full-force in Inoue’s chest and drove him back into the steel barricade. Good stuff. Overall, this was a well worked but bland match that focused on Sano working over Inoue’s knee and then abandoning that in favor of power moves and stiff kicks. Sano winds up winning by TKO via a stiff kick. Inoue did a tremendous job selling Sano’s offense and especially his kicks.
Tamon Honda/Akitoshi Saito/Takashi Sugiura vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru/Yoshihiro Takayama/Akira Taue
This match featured four of the ugliest combatants ever to lace up the boots (Honda, Saito, Takayama and Taue). That being said I liked this match a lot. There wasn’t anything spectacular in this match just solid work all around. The ending came a little abruptly when Suguira was caught by a Takayama knee lift, then a Taue choke slam and then a Kanemaru moonsault for the 1-2-3. Good stuff.
Jun Akiyama/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi/Takeshi Morishima vs. Makoto Hashi/Kenta Kobashi/Takeshi Rikio
I liked this one a lot as it had some good back-stories to it. Makoto Hashi had left “Sternness” (which is Akiyama’s group) so there was back tension between them. Also it was interesting to see Rikio and Morishima on opposite sides of the ring as they are tag-team partners (NOAH does this sometimes to mix things up). Plus we have Kikuchi on the opposite side from Kobashi (both are members of Kobashi’s “BURNING”). Add this to the fact that Akiyama is the heir apparent to Kobashi’s GHC Global Crown and we have ourselves a match.
The bulk of the match was the heat between Akiyama and Hashi as Akiyama challenges Hashi early and puts him in his place by no selling a ton of Hashi slaps to the face before putting a beating on Hashi. Hashi then comes back at the end of the match when Akiyama is down and gets in some good shots and some near falls. Akiyama ends up getting the pin following an exploder and a nice Boston crab submission that ended Samoa Joe style.
This was an interesting opener that really didn’t come off as well as I expected it to due to Juvi not really taking the lead role in the match. Parts of this were very interesting but overall it was a disappointing opener as I was hoping Juvi would show us more of the talents he has been showing of late. Instead we get an average opener that could have and should have been much better. Juvi wins with a nice Juvi-driver.
Masashi Aoyagi/Mitsuo Momota vs. Donovan Morgan/Richard Slinger
This was a pretty by the numbers tag-match that was just kind of there. Momota has to be pushing 60 years old so he is more of a novelty act at this point. On a funny note Donovan’s tights looked just like one of the Holly’s, we’ll call him Donovan Holly.
Daisuke Ikeda/Kishin Kawabata/Mohammed Yone vs. IZU/Scorpio/Bison Smith
This was really the first match that showed the intensity, the forearms, and the stiffness that I am used to in NOAH. This was also the first match that the crowd reacted to. IZU, Scorpio and Bison are definitely the odd couple. One is black, one is a muscle man with a mo-hawk and one is a Japanese wrestler with face paint and odd orange sunglasses that he wears throughout the match. I really dug Scorpio in this match. He has lost a step but he still has that energy and magnetism that has always made him fun to watch. Bison’s team takes this one home after Bison hits a claw-slam and then the Styles Clash.
Masao Inoue vs. Naoki Sano
I was mesmerized during this match by Sano’s mullet. The move of the match was a tremendous tope con mullet by Sano where he planted his mullet full-force in Inoue’s chest and drove him back into the steel barricade. Good stuff. Overall, this was a well worked but bland match that focused on Sano working over Inoue’s knee and then abandoning that in favor of power moves and stiff kicks. Sano winds up winning by TKO via a stiff kick. Inoue did a tremendous job selling Sano’s offense and especially his kicks.
Tamon Honda/Akitoshi Saito/Takashi Sugiura vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru/Yoshihiro Takayama/Akira Taue
This match featured four of the ugliest combatants ever to lace up the boots (Honda, Saito, Takayama and Taue). That being said I liked this match a lot. There wasn’t anything spectacular in this match just solid work all around. The ending came a little abruptly when Suguira was caught by a Takayama knee lift, then a Taue choke slam and then a Kanemaru moonsault for the 1-2-3. Good stuff.
Jun Akiyama/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi/Takeshi Morishima vs. Makoto Hashi/Kenta Kobashi/Takeshi Rikio
I liked this one a lot as it had some good back-stories to it. Makoto Hashi had left “Sternness” (which is Akiyama’s group) so there was back tension between them. Also it was interesting to see Rikio and Morishima on opposite sides of the ring as they are tag-team partners (NOAH does this sometimes to mix things up). Plus we have Kikuchi on the opposite side from Kobashi (both are members of Kobashi’s “BURNING”). Add this to the fact that Akiyama is the heir apparent to Kobashi’s GHC Global Crown and we have ourselves a match.
The bulk of the match was the heat between Akiyama and Hashi as Akiyama challenges Hashi early and puts him in his place by no selling a ton of Hashi slaps to the face before putting a beating on Hashi. Hashi then comes back at the end of the match when Akiyama is down and gets in some good shots and some near falls. Akiyama ends up getting the pin following an exploder and a nice Boston crab submission that ended Samoa Joe style.
