The Navigation Log 7.08.07: Summer Navigation Check Point
Posted by Matt Short on 07.08.2007
New challenger's are named to the GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Titles and Davey Richards is on NOAH rookie bitch detail. Also, a quick thought on Japan's hardcore scene.
In a weekend of frivolity and magic, I managed to elbow someone right in the face at a concert. Which is pretty much the extent of the past seven days for me. My days are winding down in Japan so I'm on a mission to get as much stuff done between now and the end of the month so that I have no regrets about my year here. That means a couple of things. First, a spending spree of last minute gifts. Second, I will have to embark on the bender of all benders to mark the last time I will be able to pay ten bucks to drink as much as I want for three hours with no limit. My liver will love me when I'm 30.
NOAH has been quite busy with the Summer Navigation. Which is news to me since they never announced any of the cards for their events outside of the NTC matches and Misawa vs. Taue. Though really there's nothing bigger going on at the moment.
Tag Title War
In September, Kentaro Shiga won the Global Hardcore Title. Eventually Kishin Kawabata became his tag team partner and the title became a tag team title. They're been pretty successful since then, having defended the belts three times. However, these belts aren't what one might call… respected. They aren't even recognized on the Japanese NOAH website. But Shiga and Kawabata have been racking up wins as they've gone along and recently felt that they deserved more recognition. They issued a challenge to Jun Akiyama and Takeshi Rikio for the GHC Heavyweight Tag Team titles. So a match was made for July 3rd. Shiga and Kawabata would put their tag titles on the line against Jun Akiyama and Shuhei Taniguchi who had challenged before and lost. If they retained they would become number one contenders to Akiyama and Rikio. If they lost they'd not only loose their title but their bid for a title shot would be denied.
So through various means, Shiga and Kawabata came out on top. And so at the 7/15 Budokan show it will be Shiga and Kawabata vs. Akiyama and Rikio for the GHC Heavyweight tag team titles. Alright, to puro fans the outcome of this will be pretty obvious. Akiyama wasn't going to win the Hardcore tag titles, he's way beyond that. And I just don't see Shiga and Kawabata as double champions. BUT!
The way I see this, is that it's a way to elevate some new guys in NOAH. Shiga and Kawabata might not be the most technically sound guys in the company, but they have been pretty entertaining when I've seen them and people enjoy watching them, especially Shiga. While the odds of them winning the titles are slim to none, the hope is that having them hang with two former champions in Akiyama and Rikio will give them the rub they need to move up to that level some day. NOAH's idea of pushing new guys after all is by having them lose a lot. For example, look at the trial series that were held for Rikio, KENTA, and Go Shiozaki. They lost all of their seven matches against NOAH's old guard (except KENTA winning one), but are considered important stars in Japan today. Well, Shiozaki is debatable but he's still done well for himself.
I'm looking forward to this little match to see how it goes. I'm hoping that they at least make Shiga and Kawabata look like they're able to win the belts away from the champs.
NTC Standings
The Nippon Television Cup is off and running. These are the results so far:
7/1
Rocky Romero & Atsushi Aoki beat Bryan Danielson & Davey Richards
Naomichi Marufuji & Kota Ibushi beat The Briscoes
7/2
Marufuji & Ibushi beat Danielson & Richards
7/3
The Briscoes beat Romero & Aoki
Ricky Marvin & Kotaro Suzuki vs. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori went to a 30 minute draw
7/6
Marvin & Suzuki beat Romero & Aoki
The Briscoes vs. KENTA & Ishimori went to a 30 minute draw
Man, if it wasn't Richards' first tour of NOAH he and Danielson might have at least gotten one point. I'm not much of a Richards fan, but I'm just saying. But he's on NOAH rookie bitch detail. I've got some new appreciation for how Japanese bookers set up these round robin tournaments. It's one thing to just push a guy through brackets, but figuring out all these points and how they're going to fall is amazing. I can't imagine what it's like planning out a bigger tournament.
Nigel and Misawa vs. Taue
NOAH has been doing their best to make Nigel McGuinness look awesome heading into the ROH in Japan title match. He's gotten three pin falls on the four nights of the Summer Navigation so far, two of them in singles matches. I saw his match with Kotaro Suzuki, which was decent at best, but got home the point that Nigel will lariat the shit out of you.
As for Misawa vs. Taue I read in Puroresu Weekly that they had a brawl at one of the events. I forget which one. Misawa came out on top, choking Taue with a chair. Misawa the heel? He is, after all this is all over him insulting Taue's puppy. This is like Al Snow vs. Big Boss Man without Misawa feeding the puppy to Taue.
Now THAT'S Hardcore
While there are a lot of Puroresu purists out there who hold a great love for the classics like Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid or any of the Kobashi vs. Misawa series or Vader just killing bitches in general. And you would think sometimes that that's all that ever goes on in Japanese wrestling.
Gentleman (and I remember I had one lady email me once), let us not forget the "darker" side to puro. That being the hardcore side. The side that is sometimes looked down upon by some purists for being too over the top or fake.
OK, I'll admit it, I'm not that big a fan of Japanese hardcore as it is. Not so much because the spots in it look fake, but because the pacing is too slow for me. Kick, punch, blade for three minutes, chair shot, etc. isn't always exciting. The C4 matches are bit much sometimes. But it's still a part of the wrestling landscape in Japan and is worth a look at. After all, you can't hear about guys like Mick Foley and Terry Funk without hearing about the hellish matches they went through in Japan. Hell, Foley's ear is practically a dinner conversation starter. We even rate the amount of blood shed in a match based on the Great Muta's legendary blade job in his match with Hiroshi Hase. And that match didn't even have all the explosion gimmicks and flaming barbed wire to it.
While I don't really care for the ultra violent side of wrestling in general, it has its audience and that's fine. Hardcore brawls are damn entertaining when they're done right. If they can be more than just two guys bashing each other with light tubes then the match has been done right. I've seen some pretty violent matches and thought that they came off as pretty damn good because the guys relied on more than just the weapons. Then there's Necro Butcher whose very name can spark violent debate on even the most sane of wrestling forums.
Back Home
Umaga is Intercontinental Champion again. Glorious. The absolute slaughter of Santito Marella for two straight nights was quite the burial for the guy. Some might call it excessive. I do not, for you see if you plan on burying a character you may as well do it completely. They need to repackage Marella back in OVW. Or maybe give him a gimmick that doesn't just work over seas. I'm guessing they didn't let him the Russian character because they thought fans would confuse him with the other Russian who loved Double-Double-E. I apologize for re-using that joke. But Umaga needs a good solid reign with the title this time around. With title defenses and everything. He doesn't even have to pin anyone to win the matches. Since he's a savage and doesn't understand he can just pummel the challenger until the ref has to call off the match. Let him get a string of fast KO wins. That would be awesome.
ECW is still going well despite the recent troubles, to put it lightly. I actually kind of want to Johnny Nitro to keep the title for awhile. For CM Punk to win it right away now seems kind of pointless, especially when they can use the chase to build up Punk and let Nitro gain some more credibility as ECW champion. That way, when Punk does win the title somewhere down the line he'll have at least one legitimate opponent. Getting Lashley off of ECW has done wonders for the brand's title picture. We'll actually get to see some new guys get a chance to main event without the Super Man push to immediately cancel them out.
I will give props to TNA for their rash of good matches on Impact. The show long match was a good idea, but the execution was off. I wouldn't even have minded run-ins that much, but they just happened constantly the whole match. If there's one thing I'll give Vince Russo credit for is that he wants to give everyone something to do, but that just wasn't the way to do it. A solid match regardless. The tag title match from this past week was fun as well and was a good build into Victory Road. I also can't wait for Chris Harris to get his push, I'm really looking forward to his match with Christian Cage.
And while I'm sure Kane vs. Edge is going to have its critics, there's nothing wrong with it. Kane can always be counted on to look like a main event threat, even if the IWC doesn't buy it. I wouldn't mind seeing this for awhile. Though who comes after Kane I wonder? A lot of people think Matt Hardy, but won't Mysterio be back soon? I could see him getting a shot at Edge first.
Short Takes
-God, I love Chikara. It's my favorite promotion from their ability to combine some great action with the most entertaining characters anywhere. It's you know… fun. Something that's missing a lot in US wrestling.
-One week to ROH in Tokyo. I'm actually finding I could care less about seeing Nigel vs. Morishima with that six-man tag on the card. Plus, Delirious vs. Strong.
-Dragon Gate had so much gold get moved around last weekend. CIMA beating Liger was a big deal and even eclipsed the Angle vs. Lesnar match.
-You know Sean Hannity is a hack when Ultimate Warrior comes off as a reasonable guy on your show.
We're out for this week. Next week will be a full preview of the Summer Navigation Budokan show. Also, apologies to anyone confused by my recommendation of the DDT ladder match in last week's column. The match itself is not a ladder match, but rather a match against the ladder. The ladder is the champion you see and it makes for a hilarious comedy match. Sorry for any confusion for anyone looking for a traditional ladder match. Peace folks.
