The Navigation Log 4.15.07: KENTA vs. Marufuji

Posted by Matt Short on 04.15.2007

We're taking an in-depth look at a match between two of NOAH's top Jr. Heavyweights. These guys would have 2006's Match of the Year in Japan, but how did it compare to this meeting. Also we'll look at the success of American mid-carders in Japan and I'll point and laugh at CZW.

This has been the week from hell let me tell you. Classes have restarted and thus the new school year is upon us here. But after spending my three years in college I have finally understood why freshmen, of any culture, suck. This is because they know nothing about how the school works they mess everything for everyone. There is no other explanation as to why the bus line looped around the station three times. Also, do not fuck with radical, far left, Japanese nationals who were born in Japan. They are fucking crazy and they will kill you.

NOAH's still in the middle of their Spring Navigation as I write this and as of yet nothing major has happened since Akiyama and Rikioh took the GHC Heavyweight tag belts the opening night. Bryan Danielson is on this tour, but so far aside from making Atsushi Aoki his bitch a couple of times. The other foreign talent I wanted to mention is from WLW, Ted DiBiase Jr. While I haven't seen him wrestle yet, I will say it's great to see the DiBiase name still out there.

Not much information yet on the card for the Budokan show that will close out the Navigation. Aside from both the Jr. Heavyweight title and Heavyweight title defenses, a special attraction six-man has been signed. It's going to be NOAH vs. Dragon Gate as Marufuji, Ricky Marvin, and Ippei Ota take on the Typhoon stable members CIMA, Yokosuka, and Anthony W. Mori. Will this match rock? Short answer yes.

So this week I promised a review of a NOAH match. And I shall deliver. This week we're looking at a GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title match from January of 2006. The match up was KENTA defending against his long time rival and tag team partner Marufuji. They played up the fact that KENTA was junior to Marufuji in terms of experience and that he had lost his debut match against him. KENTA had something to prove and was looking for a crushing victory over his sempai. Playing off the senior-junior conflict, these two put on a great match and had the crowd eating out of their hands by the end.

1-22-06 GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KENTA (c) vs. Naomichi Marufuji

Lights dim, generic Power Rangers hero music hits, its time for a title match baby! Marufuji comes out first to some techno rock in his pre-match mosquito mask. I love that. "The Champ Is Here" starts and here comes KENTA, who's smoke machines get a good pop. His hair reminds me of Nigel Tufnel from Spinal Tap. We get the reading of the title match contract and the introductions. Bell rings and were down to business.

Tie up to start and they run the ropes. Marufuji gets a pair of arm drags, head scissor for KENTA, which Marufuji gets out of. They rise and trade forearms before backing off. Tie up again. KENTA backs Marufuji into the ropes and slaps him at the break. Back to the center of the ring and KENTA offers a free shot. Marufuji obliges and they trade slaps until KENTA starts throwing kicks. Another forearm strike-fest until Marufuji lands a dropkick that gets a 2 count. Marufuji decides to keep it on the mat and maneuvers KENTA into a mounted position. KENTA covers up against strikes so Marufuji just grabs a headlock. KENTA gets back to his feet and works Marufuji into the corner and unloads with a series of kicks and chops. Marufuji blocks a suplex, then an armbar, before KENTA positions him for a nice butterfly suplex for 2.

Series of kicks to the back then a heel kick to the face. KENTA makes the one-foot cover that only gets a count of 1. He's taunting Marufuji now with toe kicks right to the face. Marufuji gets back up and they exchange forearms until KENTA stops that with a spinning side kick. Jab right to the throat draws the ref over and a nice comedy spot of KENTA apologizing and bowing. This ref is awesome by the way. KENTA dumps Marufuji outside and throws him into the guard rail, then kicks him over. KENTA brings him back to the ring and gets a 2 count. Marufuji hung up on the ropes. KENTA comes off the ropes and chops him on the back of the neck for another 2 count. Marufuji then uses FIGHTING SPIRIT! to take KENTA's kicks and come back with chops and forearms. That gets halted with another spinning sidekick. Snapmare into a camel clutch by KENTA who then starts smacking Marufuji on the forehead. KENTA break the hold and tries to send Marufuji to the corner. He's reversed, but catches a charging Marufuji with a boot to the face. Set up for a tornado DDT and KENTA snaps Marufuji's throat off the ropes. This is the set up for a swan dive dropkick but Marufuji counters and baseball slides into KENTA's knee and they go to the floor.

KENTA's favoring his left knee now and that's now Marufuji's target. Not a bad strategy as it takes away KENTA's strongest weapon. Marufuji rams KENTA's knee into the ring post then wraps it around the guard rail. He jumps to the apron and dropkicks the knee. That was sick. Marufuji back to the ring and KENTA slowly follows. Marufuji stops him, pulls his leg through the second ropes and hits a DRAGON SCREW. KENTA tumbles back to the floor and tried getting some feeling back in his leg. He rolls back into the ring where Marufuji pounces on him for a cover of 1. Marufuji back to the leg and slaps on a toe lock. He drops the elbow onto the knee, but KENTA tries to grab a chinlock. Marufuji forces him to let go, turns him over into a surfboard position. KENTA lays on his arms so Marufuji can't get the hold so he simply jumps on the back of KENTA's thighs. Ow. Cover and KENTA kicks out at 2. More leg work in the corner, then Marufuji throws some back elbows right into KENTA's face. Marufuji positions him on the top rope, but KENTA tries fighting back. Marufuji responds by dropkicking the knee again. SUPER DRAGON SCREW FROM THE TOP! The crowd's getting more into this as the high impact moves are coming out. Marufuji holds onto the leg and turns it into a figure four! Awesome sequence. KENTA tries to roll it, but the angle it's locked in looks awkward. KENTA drags himself to the ropes, but they can't untangle themselves. Comedy pop as KENTA tells the ref to hurry up and get them free.

Now Marufuji's throwing some kicks to the face to taunt his opponent. KENTA stands and they trade slaps until Marufuji uses a double-leg take down. He cocks his fist, but before he throws the punch, the ref grabs the fist. After a couple seconds he tells him to open it up. This is hilarious. Marufuji goes into a cover, but can't get a count at all. KENTA taken to the corner and dropped with another slap. Whip to the other corner. Marufuji charges and gets caught with a boot. KENTA runs back and gets hit with a boot by Marufuji. Marufuji runs in but gets nailed with a powerslam. I guess since the focus isn't on the knee any more KENTA's stopped selling it. Irish whip off the ropes and KENTA hits a dropkick. Cover for 2. Series of kicks, followed up by KENTA going to the ropes and nailing the swan dive dropkick he wanted earlier which gets 2. Thrust kick sends Marufuji to the corner. KENTA backs up and hits a yakuza kick. All the way to the other corner and hits a jumping high kick. Roundhouse kicks to Marufuji, who's just propped up in the ropes right now. Sweet fisherman's buster gets 2. KENTA looks for a German suplex, but Marufuji fights him off. A high kick staggers Marufuji back to the ropes, but when KENTA charges he falls to the outside. Marufuji sizes him up and lands a high jump style flying kick! He caught KENTA on the head with that. He rolls him back into the ring and covers for 2. Irish whip to the corner and Marufuji hits a diving back elbow. KENTA drops to the mat, so Marufuji hits a second. Roundhouse kicks by Marufuji now and he hits a backdrop. Marufuji holds onto the leg and jackknifes it into a cover for 2. Marufuji heads to the tope rope as KENTA tries to get up. MISSLE DROPKICK to the side of the head while KENTA is still on his knees. That gets 2. Marufuji says that's it and sets up for a super kick. KENTA blocks it and tries for a suplex. Marufuji floats over, holds on, turns it around and sets up for the Shiranui. KENTA throws him off into the corner, charges and catches a boot. Marufuji goes to the top, but KENTA jumps up and hits an enzigiri to the side of the head. He's completely ignoring all the work done to his leg, but the crowd doesn't give a damn right now. A Death Valley Driver by KENTA gets 2. Marufuji catches a kick and throws KENTA with a capture suplex. He looks for another dropkick to the head but misses. KENTA whiffs with a huge roundhouse. Marufuji connects with a strong diving dropkick that sends KENTA out.

Marufuji heads to the apron. He was looking for a moonsault, but KENTA sweeps the legs and hits a DVD ON THE FLOOR. I mark for the DVD. They both lie like they're dead for a bit before KENTA throws Marufuji back into the ring and hits another swan dive dropkick. He picks him back up and hits a bridging German for 2. KENTA with some forearms then a tiger suplex attempt. Marufuji flips out, forearm strikes, then crosses KENTA's arms and hits a German of his own for 2! Marufuji heads to the tope rope, but KENTA follow. Leap of faith into a holy shit FALCON ARROW! 1…2… NO! The crowd's going nuts now. KENTA hits some strikes and a backfist and looks for his diving knee finisher. Marufuji tries a kick, KENTA blocks and goes for another German. Marufuji flips out and scores with the super kick. Another! He's going for the Shiranui once more, KENTA counters into the TIGER SUPLEX! Only 2! KENTA begs Marufuji to get back up and throws some hard kicks to the side of his head. He looks for the diving knee again, but Marufuji dodges. He rolls KENTA through, holds on, hooks the arms for a tiger suplex then just rolls back into a pin that gets a 2 count. I wonder if Doug Williams suggested that. Marufuji comes back off the ropes, but KENTA lands a jumping kick to the face and gets a 2 count. KENTA powerbombs Marufuji into the turnbuckle. He positions him for another, but uses an alleyoop move instead. One more time and Marufuji fights out and hits what was supposed to be a hurricanrana over the ropes. He didn't hold on, so KENTA had to just tumble out after him.

Marufuji hits a dropkick to KENTA and brings him to the apron. He's looking for the Shiranui, but KENTA blocks it and tries for a German. A thrust kick stops that and… SHIRANUI TO THE FLOOR~! They both look dead. Marufuji gets up first, but the ref's getting close to the 20 count. KENTA somehow gets back in at 18, but Marufuji drills him in the head with a coast to coast dropkick! He picks him up and hits a hammerlock DDT. He lifted KENTA so high for that it looked like a brainbuster, damn. 1…2…kick out! Crowd is going nuts now. Marufuji now positions KENTA on the top rope, he's looking for the Avalanche Shiranui. KENTA fights him off and tries for a super backdrop, but Marufuji flips out of it! Super kick brings KENTA to a knee. There's another one. He's looking for the Shiranui once more and HITS IT! 1…2…NO! Crowd is going nuts for this as Marufuji positions KENTA for the C4 off the top rope. KENTA fights him off and hits a FISHERMAN BUSTER FROM THE TOP! He twisted that in mid-air so they'd land right, good lord. Cover… only 2! They fight back to their feet and start throwing full on punches. They exchange kicks again until KENTA starts with some hard head shots. DIVING KNEE! MARU KICKS OUT! Crowd sense the end is coming, and KENTA calls for the end! GOOOOO TSU SREEEEEEP! The announcer wishes him good night as KENTA goes into the cover! 1…2…NO! KENTA hits the running knee to the back of his head! Another! KENTA gets a ton of momentum and BLASTS Marufuji with one final diving knee! 1…2…3!

Winner and STILL GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion: KENTA

These are two guys who when they're together really don't have a bad match. They can go out and give an entertaining bout any time. That said, this was far from their best match. They blew the hurricanrana spot near the end, but the crowd mostly forgot about it as the match climaxed. In puro terms, this had some good psychology. KENTA no selling the heavy leg work that Marufuji had been doing didn't have much transition. I can deal with the FIGHTING SPIRIT! thing, but when it's done right in puro there's a real transition where you see the guy really fighting through the punishment. Where the good psychology comes in was show in how deep they went to their move sets. A lot of guys have super finishers that they only use to win really big matches. Go2Sleep is a move like that and KENTA using it showed that the match meant something. Same with Marufuji trying so many variations of the Shiranui. It added to the big fight feel of the match, especially when they kicked out of each other's respective finishers. My rating: ***1/4

This rivalry didn't end here. Within the year, Marufuji won the GHC Heavyweight title from Jun Akiyama. He'd go on to defend at the Budokan against KENTA in what was the first ever meeting between Jr. Heavyweights for the GHC Heavyweight belt. That match was named Match of the Year in Japan. These two step up when they have to and even though Marufuji lost the belt the next month, they proved that smaller guys can headline in Japan.

Back Home
I opened last week's Puroresu magazine and I was surprised to see Orlando Jordon being fawned over by the Japanese press. It will forever amuse me that mid-card guys from the WWE, who really didn't have anything going for them, can get so much support from the Japanese fans. Guys like Albert, Tomko, Jamal, Rosey, and now OJ can all get insanely over really fast. There's only a few reasons I can think of for this.

First is that these guys are known. Even over here, the WWE is still incredibly popular and the fans recognize even the lowest stars on the roster. Japanese crowds want to see these guys because the WWE is still the highest any wrestler can get. Hence why Funaki still gets a lot of love in magazines here. Second, these are mostly big guys. Tomko and Albert tower over Japanese wrestlers. They have sizes and body structures that a Japanese crowd can't even imagine. And at the same time they can move fast and still deal out the power moves. It's the kind of thing that people want to see.

It does wonders for the foreign talent as well. Guys who make it here are never really considered to be the most accomplished wrestlers. In some cases they flat out suck. While some people do view wrestlers returning from Japan to be these guys who've had Zen-like experiences and are now much tougher than ever, there's some partial truth there. Gaijin and former WWE workers get put into big matches. They might not mean anything to people who don't follow puro, but these guys are learning how to work big matches and how to play a crowd. It's an experience that they're not likely to get in the WWE.

We've been started to see a few exiles returning to the American wrestling scene. Tomko is in TNA and has a role in the main event picture. While he's yet to catch on fully as a main eventer, he's got enough experience that he could do it. Jamal is in WWE working as Umaga and he's certainly proved himself as a main event monster with his two great brawls with John Cena. 2 Cold Scorpio, who had been working out of NOAH, resigned with the WWE and could be returning to television in a few months. And I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Albert on American TV in the future.

Short Takes
-I find perverse amusement in CZW right now. John Zandig had already been a kind of in-joke between me and my friends, but between firing guys in the ring and then shooting on fans the man is funnier than ever. Great work John, you may have gambled CZW sober but try booking a title match without a run-in now.

-I'd rather see Nigel McGuinness win the ROH title this weekend, but I'd also really like to see him win it in person when ROH comes to Tokyo. Oh I'm torn!

-I cannot watch Beyond the Mat where McMahon is giving Droz the Puke character. That is just hilarious.

-Lockdown looks pretty good, even if it is Russo's wet dream. "You mean I get to put a gimmick inside of a gimmick match?"

-I cannot wait to see CM Punk heel it up on TV now.

That's all I'm going out to lunch. Send the comments and hate mail if you've got ‘em. Love and peace.