Section 1- Results
All Japan: Notable results from the tag league include both Akebono and Suzuki pinning Mutoh, Doering pinning Kojima, Suwama pinning Choshu, Akebono/Hama over Kea/Suzuki, and a big upset as tag champs Kea & Suzuki lost to Nishimura & Sanada.
Dragon Gate: 11/23 saw Tanizaki, Shingo & Yamato, and Doi all retain.
NOAH: Bison Smith pinned both Shiozaki and Sugiura in tags early in the tour, but that was to set up Sugiura beating him in a singles bout. Go pinned Smith later as well. Yone beat Taue, Sano and Hero in singles matches, possibly to set him up as a challenger early next year. Morishima beat Rikio in singles and I expect him to challenge before too long.
Section 2- News
All Japan: Kojima, Doering and Sanada had to cancel from the tour (mostly for H1N1), so most other teams are in contention heading into the last day of round-robin bouts on Saturday. Mutoh & Funaki has clinched a spot in the finals thanks to byes; other spot will likely be Suwama/Kono or Kea/Suzuki.
Dragon Gate: King of Gate has been put off until spring. Tanizaki defends against Shisa on the 10th. Doi defends against someone to be named on the 13th, most likely Magnitude Kishiwada (who pinned him in an elimination match). Two matches are set for the year-end show on the 27th: Shingo & Yamato defending against CIMA & Gamma, and a 6-way ‘survival cage’ match between Yoshino, Dragon Kid, Saito, Mazada, Hulk and Dr. Muscle (who is likely Yokosuka). The last person in the cage will lose his hair or mask. Seems like Hulk/Muscle will likely be the final two.
New Japan: Gedo is out with a concussion, so the junior tag challengers on Friday will be Kanemoto and a young lion.
NOAH: Both Kobashi and Akiyama had to take leave of the tour, so the 12/6 tag title match changed to Sasaki/Morishima vs Rikio/Yone.
Section 2a- Meltzer News
All Japan: They sold out Korakuen for the first tag league show there. I note this because promotions are struggling to sell out Korakuen without a title match, tournament final or ‘dream’ tag, and AJ was well short of a sellout for several big tag main events earlier in the year.
DG: Despite Abdullah the Butcher not meshing with the company’s image, he sold a ton of merchandise. The 11/23 Osaka show was a legit sellout despite a somewhat weak card.
HUSTLE: Lots of material because of their demise.
-At one point they were in serious talks to bring in Steve Austin as a regular.
-Meltzer claims they made Razor Ramon HG a celebrity, but in fact HG got popular months before and was told by his agents not to hurt his image with pro wrestling. But because HG is a life-long wrestling fan and did semi-backyard wrestling in his youth (alongside pre-dojo Tanahashi), HG stuck with HUSTLE. And it’s probably for the best, because his gimmick almost certainly had a short pop culture shelf life, while he was able to get years of paychecks from HUSTLE. Meltzer adds that WWE forced him to drop the “Razor Ramon” part. Which leads me to an aside that’s random but too good not to bring up. Back in the days of black-and-white television, Rikidozan had his own (very campy) show. In one episode, a young Inoki was on an episode as an evil Native American… named Razor Ramon. Thus the use of that name predates it association with Scott Hall by several decades, but WWE had the trademark first. THE MORE YOU KNOW~
-Their paid attendance of late (at Korakuen) has been around 500 a show.
-Akebono left the company over money issues.
New Japan / J-Cup: The first J-Cup show sold out weeks in advance despite being opposite the sold out Champions Carnival final at Budokan, and there was a women’s show at Korakuen too. The second J-Cup led to Jericho getting signed by WCW. Meltzer claims that the second J-Cup ‘revitalized’ the Japanese career of lucha legend Dos Caras, when he’d already been heavily featured in Michinoku Pro’s big singles tournament months before (and he beat Sasuke to win it). The third J-Cup in 2000 drew 7000 at Sumo Hall. That was disappointing at the time but would be a triumph today. Ultimo and Sasuke were behind it, but New Japan forced them to have Liger win it, since without New Japan the tournament would be seen as indies-only. The fourth show in 2004 drew 5500 at 16000 seat Osaka Castle Hall, but it also had very little star power due to being a youth-only tournament concept.
New Japan: The 11/8 Sumo Hall show drew 5500, the worst big-show draw in Japan in several months.
NOAH: The 10/31 show at JCB Hall wasn’t a sellout, but it came close. For comparison, the Inoki Genome show with Ogawa vs Takayama a few days later was well short of a sellout. Sasaki & Morishima vs Kobashi & Akiyama was the match NOAH was counting on to draw on 12/6, thus the booking of a somewhat weak Shiozaki vs Sugiura main event. That’s why changing to Rikio & Yone as the tag challengers is such a blow. Akiyama was checked out by a doctor after the first show of the tour and was immediately pulled. Meltzer reports that it’s an unspecified ‘illness’. Worth noting that something like H1N1 would merit yanking him from the tour, because Japan is such a dense country and outbreaks are a big problem. Saito suffered a broken orbital bone.
Other: Taka Michinoku will promote a show on New Year’s Eve with a 108 man battle royal, which will be a record for Japan if not the world.
Section 3- SHILL OF CONFUSION FINAL
A discussion of man-on-woman violence.
Section 4- Media Corner
Best of 2001 wrap-up
The DVDVR vote results. Not a lot of voters, but I doubt the top six would change much with more participants. The last column covered a tag I liked that didn’t do well, plus four Misawa matches that wound up in the top twelve. Here are five more for you to watch. Also, in the coming months I will do a couple columns to focus on other years in anticipation of ‘best of the decade’ votes. Be an informed voter and watch some incredible matches!
Kawada vs Kojima, New Japan June 6th 2001.
There’s a temptation to assume that this match is yet another Kawada carry-job. WRONG! Kojima’s energy and personality makes this top-ten material, while Kawada’s selling isn’t up to his normal standard. A really enjoyable heavyweight clash.
Tenryu vs Mutoh, Triple Crown, All Japan June 8th 2001.
They wrestled at least four times before this, Tenryu having won three of those. Their previous encounter was in December ’99, when Tenryu took the IWGP title from Mutoh. A lot changed in the following year and a half, with Tenryu returning to All Japan and Mutoh shifting to his current Shining Wizard persona. This is definitely the best of their battles, and it’s a wonderful showcase of two of Japan’s most charismatic wrestlers.
Tenryu & Fuchi vs Kawada & Araya, All Japan June 30th 2001.
Boy-oh-boy do I love this match. Out of all the top ten finishers this is definitely the one that came out of nowhere, having gotten hardly any attention at the time. There’s a decent chance that most of you aren’t familiar with Araya. He got his start in Tenryu’s WAR promotion and went to All Japan shortly after the split to help fill out the roster. At first he was fodder, even putting over old man Fuchi in a singles match. But as things progressed (especially with Tenryu’s arrival) he got put to better use. He’s a loveable underdog, kinda flabby and a bit on the homely side but with lots of SPIRIT. Tenryu/Fuchi is an almost perfect team for an underdog to go up against, and you can’t ask for better backup than Kawada.
Three-Way Tag, Toryumon August 14th 2001.
It’s sprintacular! And, if I might say so, it’s almost a completely different style from what you’ll see on Dragon Gate USA.
Tenzan & Kojima vs Barton & Steele, Tag League finals, New Japan December 11th 2001.
Bart Gunn and “Jungle†Jim Steele in a MOTYC. No seriously. This is done in classic tag formula style, but with a big Japan-style finish. Barton and Steele had some decent matches besides this but nothing on this level. They bested TenKoji during the round-robin part of the tournament, and to make matters worse they had to beat Nagata & Nakanishi earlier in the night while the gaijin duo come in fresh. This is the consensus pick for the best TenKoji match, and it came in a deserving 3rd place in the vote.
Section 5- Misawa’s Career, The Conclusion
Over the last five years of his career (and life), Misawa was increasingly worn down by the toll of injuries that he wouldn’t get treated. He did slow down, but what he needed more was surgeries and time off. Misawa took it easy on small shows and in 6-man tags, but as you’ll see he was still pretty reliable when it counted most. I’d like to point out that even though it’s not in here for copyright reasons, I enjoyed Misawa vs KENTA from ROH and I might have included it were it eligible. It doesn’t hurt that I was in the front row.
53. Misawa & Ogawa vs Mutoh & Kea, GHC tag titles, NOAH July 10th 2004.
Importance: The first and only Misawa vs Mutoh encounter. At the Tokyo Dome. ‘Important’ isn’t the half of it. There’s also a backstory between Ogawa and Kea, who did battle during Kea’
Uniqueness: Not only is Misawa vs Mutoh a one-time matchup, but Misawa against a ‘grown up’ Kea is also interesting.
Why it’s a good match: Pretty much for the Misawa/Mutoh novelty. Going in I wasn’t sure it would work out given how broken down they both were, but they definitely delivered.
54. Misawa & Ogawa vs Saito & Inoue, GHC tag titles, NOAH September 10th 2004.
Importance: The last great Misawa/Ogawa tag, and a career match for Masao Inoue.
Uniqueness: Misawa is used to being the best guy in the ring; the ace; The Man. But this is something else entirely, as he’s up against team that on paper doesn’t stand a chance. This is less about athletic competition and more about pure storytelling.
Why it’s a good match: This is a divisive match. Some love it, some hate it, and there’s not a lot of in-between. The reason is that Saito/Inoue is sub-par when it comes to having good-looking offense or having the heated strike exchanges that are such a big part of Misawa matches. The reason I’m in the “love†category is Inoue as a totally out-of-his-league underdog who keeps plugging away at the champs, and Misawa as the sometimes scornful overdog (is that even a word?) who eventually has a real fight on his hands. If you’re someone who needs a ton of big moves and stiffness to enjoy puro, stay away. Otherwise, give this a chance.
55. Misawa & Kotaro Suzuki vs Ohtani & Takaiwa, NOAH March 5th 2005.
Importance: Zero-One invades! …that’s pretty much it.
Uniqueness: This is more ‘Misawa as icon’ than ‘Misawa as world-class athlete’. Not that he’s BAD in this, but rather that at this point in his career he was so established that he could get by with doing less.
Why it’s a good match: Ohtani being a jerk and Misawa sometimes putting him in his place. Suzuki and Takaiwa can be problematic but they do quite well in their respective roles. The first half is made by Ohtani’s heeling, and the second half is quality action.
56. Misawa vs Kawada, NOAH July 18th 2005.
Importance: Misawa and Kawada. One last time. At the Tokyo Dome.
Uniqueness: Sadly I think what makes this unique is how much Kawada has to carry things. It’s also about as stiff a match as Misawa had in NOAH. Finish is also something different, but it works.
Why it’s a good match: As I allude to before, it’s Kawada and strikes that make this worthwhile. The elbows and kicks are all kinds of brutal, and Kawada has one of his best efforts of the decade. What it lacks in depth it makes up for as an audio/video spectacular, not unlike the Kobashi vs Sasaki match immediately preceding it.
57. Misawa vs Morishima, NOAH March 5th 2006.
Importance: Morishima, who had a lackluster 2005 due to injury, really made an impact here. This was the first of several big matches for him in 2006 that in turn led to his run in ROH and eventually his GHC win.
Uniqueness: Almost a pure slugfest, which means that even though Misawa is the favorite he’s playing into Morishima’s strengths.
Why it’s a good match: As a great man once said, dey be clubberin’. But seriously this is one of the last great Misawa performances and it did a lot to elevate Morishima, so between that and the action it’s must-see.
58. Misawa & Akiyama vs Kobashi & Takayama, NOAH December 2nd 2007. Covered in the Kobashi set.
59. Misawa vs Morishima, GHC title, NOAH March 2nd 2008.
Importance: Misawa’s last title match and his last big singles match.
Uniqueness: More of a conventional Misawa singles match than their 2006 outing. This follows the January 2007 debacle where Misawa was concussed by a powerbomb on the floor and barely made it through.
Why it’s a good match: Hard-hitting, big moves, and an overall sense that neither one will go down until they’re completely spent.
60. Misawa & Sugiura vs Nakamura & Goto, New Japan January 4th 2009.
Importance: Misawa’s last Tokyo Dome match, and final match that’s likely to do well at year’s end.
Uniqueness: Misawa came in with the biggest star reaction of anyone on the show to this point, even more than the young New Japan stars. This has a big fight feel thanks to Nakamura’s interaction with both NOAH fighters.
Why it’s a good match: Misawa puts some STANK on his elbows. Nakamura and Sugiura THROW DOWN. They go 15 minutes, which keeps the energy up while also letting them have a satisfying match. This is by far the most universally enjoyed puro match of 2009 and with Misawa’s passing there’s a fair chance it will be on top in the year-end balloting. I’m so glad Misawa was able to have this last big bang before his tragic demise.
——————————
Next Time: AJ/NJ/NOAH results, probably some 1/4/2010 Tokyo Dome matches, and a look at the best matches from 2006, 2007 and 2008!
