Puroresu Roundtable: All Japan & NOAH Results/Aftermath

Features, Roundtables

All Japan and NOAH’s big weekend events are now on the book. Were the results palatable? What about the respective tournaments in their wake?

All Japan:

-Suwama over TARU

Clark: Went exactly as I thought it would with it getting what I believe was the right amount of time to get the message across.

Mulligan: I believe much tomfoolery was involved, but you have to like this decision. Suwama is likely headed to a Triple Crown shot, at least, some time this year so keeping him strong is definitely the way to go. Also, I expect him to make a great run in the upcoming Champions Carnival, and this is a great way to kickstart that.

-Silver King over Nakajima

Clark: I haven’t seen any of Silver King so I don’t know what to think considering I’ve seen enough of Nakajima to know that he’s a phenom in training, but if they can make this feud the center of the junior division and keep putting together well received matches (singles or tag as the tourney coming up would suggest), who am I to have a problem with it?

Ditch: Again with the weirdness and making Silver King into a big deal for no apparent reason. He’s talented, don’t get me wrong, but a little more build and backstory would do wonders. The seeming goofiness of the finish (was it a proper 3 count or wasn’t it) doesn’t help matters.

Mulligan: I had a feeling one Kensuke Office guy would win while the other fell, unfortunately, I predicted the wrong way. After his loss to Morishima last year, Nakajima said he aspired to bulk up to heavyweight, so I suppose putting the Jr. belt on him wouldn’t be that smart. Plus, he is scheduled for a number of NOAH/SEM dates coming up, so putting the belt on him could have lead to conflicts in the future. Again, no problem with the booking here.

-Mutoh & Tanahashi over Kawada & Kea

Clark: I’m a bit disappointed that Oudou didn’t come out on top, but the match looked to be good and since I’m a fan of everyone in it (yes even Mutoh) I’m not doubting that it was good.

Ditch: Predictable result. Kawada and Tanahashi mixing it up makes me want to see them one-on-one. Kawada might finally give the sort of great performance we’ve been missing.

Mulligan: Tanahashi is a huge name outsider, Mutoh’s a legend, and Kea isn’t hurt by taking the fall, so this is 100% the right decision, in my opinion. Plus, Tanahashi is sticking around for the Carnival, so keeping him strong within the promotion is a must. Yet again, no problems here.

-Dory Funk Jr & Nishimura over Tenryu & Fuchi

Clark: Went exactly the way I thought it would, and the way it should’ve gone. Not much more to say than that. Have a happy retirement Dory.

Ditch: Nice sendoff for Dory. That’s how you do it.

Mulligan: Much like the last match, jobbing Fuchi out means nothing, and no one here really “needed a rub”, so another good call. This was said to be extremely emotional, and hopefully Dory getting the win with the spinning toehold was a great moment for All Japan. The fans definitely left this one happy, so yet again, great call on the booking.

-Sasaki over Kojima

Clark: This was the right move and a 20+ minute bloody war that saw Kojima stretchered out was the right way to continue the Kensuke Office/VM feud, but the problem now becomes finding a suitable guy to win the belt from Sasaki down the line as Kojima was the most qualified of the Voodoo Murderers to be Triple Crown champion.

Ditch: I just don’t know what to say. The match revolved around dueling armwork, which is not their strong suit and not really what you want to see from Sasaki vs Kojima. The booking is baffling, though I have a guess as to why they did it. Kojima isn’t “buried” or anything like that, and I think they can do a rematch later in the year with Kojima winning, but this was really the time to pull the trigger on heel Kojima as champ. I dunno, I’m just so tired of being let down by All Japan main events.

Mulligan: This is the one decision I have to question. Kojima had a number of strong face challengers he could have taken on, be it Mutoh, Kensuke in a rematch, Tanahashi if NJ was willing to job him, Suwama, Kawada if they wanted, etc. Kensuke, however, just murdered the main heel of the promotion (Kojima was stretchered out) and has already defeated MiSu in a match no one really wants to see a rematch of. I guess they’ll just go the “dream match” route with him, and maybe a defense against Suwama, but I’m not sure where everything will lead now that he’s dismantled the main heel, Kojima. Hey, maybe they have something up their sleeves we will see soon, but until then, I have to question this decision.

-Champions Carnival participants will include Tanahashi and Minoru Suzuki

Clark: Tanahashi and Suzuki in the tournament is a good thing as they both will bring a different attitude (obviously with Minoru) to the table and will act as the foils for the fan favorites home promotion participants. I’m hoping that the Korakuen crowd isn’t burnt out by the time the finals come around though.

Ditch: When I saw that Suzuki was ‘leaving’ All Japan, I wondered where he was going. Looks like nowhere. Tanahashi gives the tournament a big shot in the arm, with plenty of good potential matchups. Just as importantly, they’ve immediately set up Suwama as the guy who wants to get rid of Tanahashi. This does a wonderful job of continuing Suwama’s face push, and a spirited loss to Tanahashi (let alone a win) will do more for Suwama than anything All Japan has done to date. My guess is that Sasaki went over Kojima so that they can do a face vs invading heel Sasaki vs Tanahashi match after Tanahashi wins the Carnival.

Mulligan: I think this is good. Unless NJPW is willing to job him out in a Triple Crown match, Tanahashi isn’t going over, which means SOMEONE will get a rub by beating him (unless he goes to a mass amount of draws), and he’ll draw too. MiSu is a great asset to have, but I don’t really know why they announced him being gone if this was the plan. Overall, the Carnival looks really good to me, and All Japan has been very interesting lately, so hopefully it will outdraw last years and help them grow.

-General show thoughts

Clark: Seemed like an overall fun show with Sasaki/Kojima being the only match (other than possibly the Mutanahashi/Kea & Kawada tag) that would be close to classic material.

Ditch: I might disagree with decisions, but they are set up well to build off the show going forward. It wasn’t a disaster business-wise. That makes it a ‘bottom line’ thumbs up.

Mulligan: Haven’t been able to watch this show yet to be honest, but as far as the booking goes, I love it all outside of the main event, and I really can’t judge where the main event scene is going until the Carnival yet anyway. Thumbs up to AJPW!

NOAH:

-Kobashi, Honda & KENTA over Takayama, Sano & Aoki

Clark: Called it in all forms: the winner and the time given. The fact that this got 30 minutes makes me really want to see it. I mean want to see it REALLY, REALLY BADLY. Somebody please send me a link to see if the time and participants added up to a really great match.

Ditch: Kobashi is already puro MVP and he’s not even touring full-time yet. He brings so much to everything he’s in. Already, NOAH has set up Kobashi as wanting revenge on Misawa for the debut loss, he and Takayama were going at it post-match, Kobashi and Akiyama still have an issue, and to top it off there’s clearly a dream match of Morishima vs Kobashi in the wings. While some of those (especially Takayama) might not lead to singles matches this year, it ensures plenty of anticipated and heated tag matches.

Mulligan: I really liked this match, but have it under the Marufuji/Morishima/Suguira vs. Kobashi/Honda/Taniguchi tag from a week earlier as far as “30 minute Kobashi 6-mans from early 2008” go. Lot of hate established here between Takayama and Kobashi, and a lot of hate carried over between Takayama and KENTA. It was a very exciting match, and Aoki continued to be quite the little prick, which is getting him quite over, and it’s always fun to see Kobashi kill that kind of wrestler. The post match brawl was also really cool. I know Tak can’t really go singles, but hopefully this will all lead to say, Kobashi/KENTA vs. Takayama/Sano in Budokan later this year. As far as the booking, gotta love Kobashi getting his big win in the Budokan, and they continue to set up Takayama’s beef with Kobashi’s crew, so it’s all good there. Definitely check this one out.

-Marufuji & Sugiura over The Briscoe Brothers

Clark: Not a surprise here with Marufuji & Sugiura getting the win after nearly 30 minutes of action. Another match that would definitely be worth a look.

Ditch: I’ve long since soured on the Briscoes, and this match was more of the same. Innovative finish and all, but there isn’t an iota of depth to their stuff. It doesn’t help that this was a glorified junior tag title match (I can’t tell you how many times I saw it referred to as such this week). Thankfully, the tag division is getting a shot in the arm.

Mulligan: I actually liked this match a lot more than most, and I’m not even a huge Briscoes fan. To start, I’d put it above MaruSugi’s title matches against D’Lo/Buchanan and against Smith/Saito. It’s really exciting down the stretch, and the Briscoes come out looking hella strong, escaping basically everything MaruSugi can throw at them (Pole Shift included) only to lose on what’s basically a fluke reversal. And the finish, as you may have heard, is out-of-this-world insane. The Briscoes came out of this so strong, in fact, that I’m shocked there not in this Global Tag League (I suppose asking ROH to go a month without Dragon and the Briscoes would be too much). Mark, also, showed some really cool selling here, something the Briscoes are not known for. Definitely check this match out, and I expect to hear a lot of raves once this appears on ROH DVD.

-Morishima over Misawa to win the GHC title

Clark: Right decision and the right way for Morishima to win it (the backdrop). I’ll give Morishima and Misawa the benefit of the doubt that they both pulled out more this time around since it was a title change, but I’m also not going to be surprised if they didn’t.

Ditch: The right booking decision and a satisfying win for Morishima. Not top-of-the-year stuff like their ’06 battle, but good enough to get his reign off on the right foot. Now let’s just hope they don’t give him a questionable first defense.

Mulligan: They had to do it. Misawa actually, did have a good amount of challengers left and didn’t NEED to drop the belt for that reason (with Akiyama, Rikio, Saito, and Kobashi defenses he probably coulda got through the year without rematches) but with Kobashi drawing full houses (or close to it) now is the time to showcase Morishima as the future, and get him over. As far as the match, I really liked it, and thought it was about as good as their 2006 encounter. It was very similar to a Morishima ROH title defense, as it started as a heated brawl, then Morishima took control with his holds and strikes, followed by an extremely heated closing stretch of nearfalls, with a Morishima combo winning in the end. Another match you should definitely seek out.

-NOAH announces huge round-robin tag tournament, including Sasaki & Nakajima

Clark: I’m so pumped for this, I’m going to write a Reality on it this weekend. Sorry for the cop out, but I am that intrigued, excited, enthused, and several other adjectives for anticipation and joy that I can’t think of at this moment.

Ditch: What took them so long? Considering that Kobashi isn’t in the tournament, they could have assembled this set of teams at any time. NOAH’s refusal to do big round-robin tournaments made sense in, say, 2001, when they wanted to stand out and had a very thin roster. However, of late there hasn’t been a New Japan tag tournament and the Real World Tag League has underwhelmed after the split. Even if there’s still too much competition for singles tournaments, NOAH can easily pull off the top tag league every year if they continue to deliver this kind of talent roster.

Mulligan: I really like the lineup for this tag league. You’ve got Taue and Go, who will probably end up on the bottom but are always good for a fun match. D’Lo and Buchanan left hella over and with a great match, so a bunch more of there tags can only be good. Rikio/Akiyama are my pick to win, and I expect them to cruise through everyone on the road to their eventual title shot (where hopefully Marufuji will roll up Akiyama for the win, just ’cause). MaruSugi have proven to be a great team so they will be great. And Kensuke Office is awesome, and them in NOAH is always good. I am expecting the final two matches to be at Budokan, and to be MaruSugi vs. Kensuke/Nakajima (Kensuke/Nakajima win to take a one point lead, and earn a future title shot), then Akiyama/Rikio vs. Takayama/Sano (Rikio/Akiyama win to win the league). Then you got two huge tags set up: Akiyama/Rikio as the unbeaten former champs vs. Marufuji/Sugiura, and the winners vs. the outsider Kensuke Office superteam.

-General show thoughts

Clark: Match quality likely has to go to NOAH and I’m going to say that from first glance, NOAH exceeded my expectations for this show, but since I haven’t had a chance to see the show, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a two match show with a great main-event moment in Morishima winning the belt

Ditch: I’m troubled that it doesn’t seem to have been a sell-out, but attendance was good and they have momentum going forward. Even if they were a couple thousand short of selling out the talent cost was low by ‘big Japan show’ standards, so that’s another one in their favor. Plus there was a good Izumida match, always a leading indicator of Ditch approval.

Mulligan: The three matches I’ve seen were all great, and the booking was basically perfect. Huge thumbs up here to NOAH, as their resurgence continues.