EL DANDY~! Tape Review-NOAH Departure

-After this, expect me to sit down and review some comps I’ve made here on my computer with matches I have both downloaded and procured (there’s that word again) from others. I’m also getting a big batch in here some time next week, so that’ll be some stuff to look forward to.

–June 16, 2000-After much deliberation and under heavy scrutiny from the traditionalists in the puroresu world, Mitsuharu Misawa, the ace and booker of All Japan Pro Wrestling, decides to leave All Japan and form his own federation. With him, he takes all but two natives from All Japan, only leaving Toshiaki Kawada and Masanobu Fuchi behind. He also takes three gaijin (non-natives) with him, including Vader. The decision sends shockwaves not only in Japan, but worldwide, as one of Japan’s most prestigious wrestling companies is all but drained of it’s talent pool. Along with this move, All Japan’s Triple Crown title, held by Kenta Kobashi at the time, is vacated, leaving All Japan not only drained of it’s talent, but drained of it’s dignity and tradition a little bit as well.

–July 10, 2000-Misawa announces NOAH’s first show, “Departure,” and it’s announced for Differ Hall, a place where All Japan did many of it’s shows in the past. Misawa plans to take NOAH into the future as the number one promotion in Japan, and if you ask many people today, you won’t get much of an argument from them, although New Japan is doing very well for itself in this down time.

-You can also see how people waited the day before outside so that they can see this thing, but I say we get to the wrestling.

Day 1: 8/5/2000

–Takeshi Morishima vs. Makato Hashi-These are two guys who have something to prove. And what better chance they have than to do it right now. Morishima takes over early with a tackle. The two trade elbows and Morishima connects with a running elbow and a jumping high kick to send Hashi outside. A whip is reversed, and Hashi takes over with a facecrusher. Hashi with double chops and headbutts, and then the 200-ft shoulder to the gut. Cute spot. Hashi works the arm back in and I like this match. Morishima comes back and works the leg. Now a hammerlock. Hashi reverses and takes over, which makes sense since he worked the arm beforehand. Armbar into a keylock, and then he armdrags him down, keeping it on. He works it some more. Hiptoss into a short armscissors. I’m liking this from the young’ns. Into a cross-armbreaker, but Morishima makes the ropes. Hashi with a headbutt rush to the shoulder, and he’s doing a number on it right now. Hashi charges, but gets caught and slammed. He’s whipped in and eats a Kitchen Sink kneelift. He does it again for 2. Now a neck crank into a chinlock for a 2 count. Now a Cobra Twist. He releases for 2. Double choke toss into the corner pops the crowd a bit, and now Morishima chops down Hashi. Nice spinkick to the stomach, but Hashi’s in the ropes. Whip in, but Morishima eats boot. Mongolian chop and headbutt follows, but Morishima nosells and hits an elbow. He comes off the ropes and eats a double chop from Hashi. They start dueling headbutts which is REALLY neat, and of course Hashi wins. Nice spinning heel kick in the corner sets up a facecrusher for 1 because Morishima has SPIRIT. Morishima with some elbows, but Hashi gets a Fisherman Suplex for 2. Big headbutt, and then a dropkick on a downed Morishima. Outside, Hashi snapmares and then comes off the apron with a diving headbutt. This is some neat stuff right here. Hashi with a Mongolian Chop rush and goes up top, hitting the Swandive Headbutt for 2. Hashi goes up top again, but Morishima catches him (kinda) and slams him down. Morishima hits a split legged facebuster and then an Electric Chair Drop for 2. Hashi flips out of a backdrop and school boys him for 2. The crowd is into this. Morishima with elbows, but Hashi with headbutts. Hashi reverses a whip and eats a high kick, and then a BIG TIME lariat for 2 from Morishima. He calls for the end, and he indeed finishes with a Nodowa Facecrusher at 14:05. The crowd was thoroughly behind these guys, and wouldn’t you know it, they’re doing very well for themselves right now. Very nice opener for a change. **3/4

Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Jun Izmuida, and Haruka Eigen vs. Takeshi Rikioh, Mitsuo Momota and Rusher Kimura-Ah, NOAH, bringing out the old people for comedy. It’s comedy. It’s funny. LAUGH. Rusher is older than dirt, and he’s still in this. At least Rikioh and Kikuchi can still work, with Kikuchi having a HELLUVA series with the NJ Juniors just recently. Rikioh had a killer 30 minute draw with Morishima earlier this year. Just a bunch of really stupid stuff. I don’t feel like reviewing it. At least the crowd enjoyed it. Kikuchi took a nice piledriver. Rikioh pins Izmuida after an Ace Crusher at 13:08. I guess I’ll rate it. 3/4*

Naomichi Marufuji and Kentaro Shiga vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Masao Inoue-Marufuji and Kanemaru are the big stars now. You could tell from the get go in NOAH. Shiga and Marufuji look like brothers. If Steve Corino was Japanese, he’d be Kanemaru. Yes, he’s THAT grungy. Inoue has “Star Fucker” on his tights. OHMYGOD~! Kanemaru and Marufuji start out. Kanemaru complains about a clean break, so he eats an elbow. Armbar from Marufuji, reversed, and he Owen Harts out of it. He does one of those overly elaborate lucha spring board armdrags and dropkicks Kanemaru outside. Kanemaru takes over with elbows on the ramp, but gets hoisted into the ring. He eats an elbow and then a slingshot headscissors. Jumping headlock takeover, but Kanemaru headscissors and both men miss a dropkick. Tag Inoue, who gets elbowed and dropkicked. Tag Shiga, and he snapmares into a dropkick. He pounds away in the corner on Inoue, but Inoue comes back. Shiga whips him in and hits a big splash in the corner. Chinlock procured. Inoue gets to the ropes and takes over before tagging Kanemaru in. Kanemaru offers a handshake, but he suckered Shiga in. Slam, into the Eddy senton for 2. Kanemaru cheats, but Shiga comes back with a Juji-gatame. Tag Marufuji, who whips Kanemaru in and misses his dropkick. They trade elbows and Kanemaru gets a Euro Upper and tags Inoue. He gets a back body drop for 2. He tosses Marufuji and Kanemaru works him over, doing a sick springboard stomp to the head off the guardrail. I lub cheating. Ref FINALLY figures it out and Marufuji grabs an UMBRELLA. Inoue still takes over and Kanemaru is in now for 2. Tag? Slam for Marufuji. Inoue comes in and does 2 more for a 2 count. Sideslam gets 2. Tag Kanemaru as Marufuji tries to elbow back, but he’s stopped soon enough. Kanemaru gets a Camel Clutch in, and grabs the nose, of course. He hangs Marufuji in the Tree of Woe and hits a SICK vertical dropkick on him that gets 2 as Shiga saves. Tag Inoue, who slams Marufuji into the KAIENTAI dropkick/Camel Clutch combo. Inoue with the Boston Crab, as Kanemaru pulls back the ropes so he can’t break, but Shiga breaks it up and eats a tackle. Tag Kanemaru, who stomps, and chockes and stuff. Kick to the chest gets 2. Tag Inoue, who gets a suplex reversed on him. He stops the tag as Marufuji does the “I’m exhausted” sell job in the corner. Inoue eats boot and a rana before Shiga tags in. SICK Tornado DDT for Inoue, and a slam for Kanemaru. Shiga then works over Inoue and hits a running Ace Crusher for 1 as Kanemaru saves. Tag Kanemaru, and a double corner whip see Inoue eat a dropkick and *gasp* Poetry in Motion. Marufuji with the PHAT AIR Missile Dropkick for 2. Slam and Frog Splash gets 2. Kanemaru gets a cheap shot so Inoue hits a fallaway slam, and then a lariat for 2, complete with Marufuji oversell. Side backbreaker and now Inoue goes for the Olympic Slam, but Shiga breaks it up. Tag Kanemaru, but the heels miscommunicate and he eats a lariat. Tag Shiga, who hits an elbow and eats an over the top headscissors. Kanemaru lands on his feet off the moonsault, and hits the LOW BLOW OF DOOM. Some nice double teaming leads a splash for 2. Kanemaru wants another low blow, but Shiga avoids it, so he settles for a German. Shiga then comes back with a cross-armbreaker out of nowhere for the win at 19:30. Not a bad match, but knock some time off of that and it’s fine and dandy. **1/4.

Team No Fear vs. Daisuke Ikeda, Masahito Kakihara, and Toshinari Ogawa-Team No Fear cuts a great promo before this match starts and it’s in a different language but I still love it because they do the “TEAM NO FEAR!” salute after it’s done. They’re bleach blonde now, too. Whatever…Ogawa is some TRAILA TRASH, but he’s also one of Misawa’s faves, so he’s always up there with the rest of them. Ikeda ain’t bad, and Kakihara is quite good most of the time. He’s sporting REALLY tiny pants. JOHNSON~! Satoru Asako, the other member of Team No Fear in this match, starts off with Ikeda. Lockup, nothing. Ikeda gets a tackle, eats some elbows, but kicks back, so Asako hits a CAPTURE SUPLEX like a minute in and an elbow. Ikeda is down. He stands on his head. He works over Ikeda and tags Omori in. Triple team goodness from No Fear in the corner, and Ikeda is finally brought out to eat a Euro Uppercut. Omori with a dropkick RIGHT in the mush for 2. That was like a vintage Steve Regal dropkick. Chinlock PROCURED. Ikeda turns a suplex into a Fujiwara armbar, and then a seated reverse armbar, so Takayama kicks him in the back. Tag Kakihara, and he wants to shoot, and he punches like a MADMAN on Omori. Omori is down in the corner and stunned …and bleeding. So Kakihara kicks the crap outta him now. Omori eats a kick and tags Takayama, and NOW, we have a UWF standoff. Takayama takes over with knees, and then some big bombs in the tecnico corner before getting out of there in a hurry. Back to that face corner, and Ogawa tags in, STILL with those ugly-ass tights. Corner whip, and he whips Ikeda into a lariat, and then eats one himself. Tag Asako, who works the arm. Tag Omori, who does the same. Hiptoss into a legdrop onto the arm into a short armscissors. I like the chain wrestling. Ogawa then eats two back elbows and a high knee from Takayama, and Team No Fear completes the triple team with a powerslam from Omori. Some more elbows and then a kneedrop get a 1 count. More triple team. Tag Asako, who works Ogawa over in the corner, hits the ref in the windpipe on accident, and eats a thumb to the eye from Ogawa. Cute. Asako wins the suplex battle. Tag Takayama. Whip in, Ogawa looks for a sunset flip, but Takayama double chokes him. Ikeda breaks it up, and they whoop Takayama’s ass for a while as he stumbles outside. Ikeda does the 50 foot lariat on the ramp, then hits like an 82 foot nothing, because Takayama booted him in the face. Ogawa, too. Tag Omori, who gets a spinebuster turned into a neckbreaker by Ogawa. Tag Ikeda, who hits a jumping front kick, and then a snapmare into the chinlock. Ikeda gets knocked down as Omori looks for a cheap shot. Nothing there. Tag Asako, who snapmares into a snap legdrop. Ikeda comes back and tags Ogawa, who eats a NICE spinning headscissors from Asako, and thne a facecrusher. Ikeda eats a sidekick, and then Asako feigns a dive on Ogawa, only to EAT a lariat from Ikeda. Tag Kakihara, who mounts Asako. Omori comes in and has some words. Tag Ogawa, who slams and double stomps. Tag Ikeda, and they hit a double team elbow. Ikeda with a HIGH angle backdrop, almost a backdrop driver, that only gets 1. Asako tries hulking up, but it doesn’t work. Tag Ogawa. Kakihara is like the best worker in this match and he’s getting NO time. Ogawa’s crappy offense sure is. Suplex gets 2. Tag Kakihara, and he and Ogawa miscommunicate something. Kneebar, but Asako gets to the ropes. Tag Ikeda. I think Kakihara is pissed off about something. Ikeda goes for the knee with kicks, and tags Ogawa. Asako kicks out of a suplex attempt, literally, and tags Omori, who runs over Ogawa and Ikeda, but not Kakihara. Swinging neckbreaker gets 2. They trade shots before Omori absorbs a lariat from Ikeda, and then ducks another one, which hits Ogawa by mistake. Full Nelson Slam gets 2. Kneedrop misses, enzuigiri doesn’t for Ogawa. Tag Ikeda, who gets a jumping front kick. And another. Omori falls out of a DVD, and then hits a Euro Uppercut. Takayama tags in, and a No Fear double tackle/elbow drop gets 2. High knee in the corner, and then a butterfly suplex, segues into the cross-armbreaker. Takayama has Jumbo-sized his offense, I see. Ikeda was supposed to duck a roundhouse kick, but ended up taking it RIGHT in the mush, which gets 2. Takayama with some more kicks, but Ikeda gets a backflip giri, and tags Kakihara, who pounds away on Takayama with rights. Omori comes in to complain again. Kakihara and Takayama trade bombs, and Takayama wins with a big kick, and tags Asako, who comes in and hits a German with some help from Takayama. The faces hit backdrops as Kakihara works over Asako. He gets 2, segued right into a cross-armbreaker for the tapout at 23:46. I didn’t understand the ending, but everything throughout was pretty OK, if a little bit longish. **Ѕ

2/3 Falls-Kenta Kobashi and Jun Akiyama vs. Mitsuharu Misawa and Akira Taue-Seeing Misawa and Taue on the same team is just plain weird. Seeing Kobashi and Akiyama tag means BURNING REUNION, BABY!!! Fireworks!!! Akiyama and Misawa start. For the record, Kobashi’s tights rock it HARD in this match. Akiyama is now wearing white. They go to the mat and then Akiyama eats an elbow. Ah, some things never change. Akiyama looks for an EXPLOIDAH right off the bat, but instead they go to the mat again, with Akiyama getting a sleeper in. Taue breaks it up, so Kobashi absolutely DESTROYS Taue with a lariat. I mean BOOM! Then he hits a sleeper on Misawa, and makes him eat a TEQUILA SUNRISE SUPLEX (sleeper suplex, yes, SLEEPER SUPLEX) GOD DAMN! Misawa is DONE. The Double-arm DDT and the Akiyama Lock is just a foregone conclusion. Akiayama gets the duke at 2:00 in for the first fall. And the crowd is SHOCKED. Misawa is like, OUT. Looks like some things change after all. He takes a good minute to get ready again. Taue needs that minute, too. This was just a bludgeoning from the get-go. When Misawa comes to, he’s like, “I got choked out by WHO? Oh, THAT’S IT!”

Second Fall: Misawa blocks an Exploder with an armdrag and then takes the Burning to Elbow City with a nice helping of Elbow Fries. Akiyama eats the elbow rush and then the SWANK Indian Deathlock/Butterfly Lock as Kobashi and Taue exchange chops. Kobashi breaks it up, showing the continuity between the team, as Taue couldn’t do it for his team when Misawa was in trouble. See, it’s the little things like that. Tag Taue, who brings the BABA OFFENSE and a Dragon Sleeper. Corner whip reversed, and Taue eats a high knee. Tag Kobashi. Chop. Ouch. Taue kicks. Ouch. Taue chokes. Tag Misawa, who hits a dropkick for 1. Front chancery, and they trade strikes. Chop by Kobashi, elbows by Misawa. Misawa wins this battle. Tag Taue, who eats a DELAAYED Vertical Suplex from Kobashi. Gets 2. Tag Akiyama. Double whip, double elbow gets 1. Sleeper by Akiyama. High knee sends Taue out, and Kobashi has his way with him. Back in, Akiyama grabs a headscissors. Tag Kobashi, who kicks and chops into everyone’s hears, including Taue’s, who comes back with his own chops. Taue hits an enzui-knee and a legdrop and tags Misawa. He jump kicks, but gets caught and chopped. Running kitchen sink, and a kick to the stomach follow. Kobashi drops the leg for 2. Tag Akiyama, who hits a gutbuster, and another, then drops an elbow. Misawa wins a suplex battle, and tags Taue. Now boys and girls, watch as before your eyes, Taue becomes SUPER TAUE. Two HUGE running high kicks, and then a Nodowa Otoshi (chokeslam) on the ramp. Taue thinks its 1995 or something again…He hits a tossing backdrop from the ramp into the ring, and then hits a slam, AND THEN A FLYING SPLASH. WHERE DID THIS COME FROM??? It gets 2 as Kobashi saves. Tag Misawa, who hits two sentons for 2. He wants the Tiger Driver, but Akiyama blocks. He eventually gets it for 2. Tag Taue, who hits the SWANK reverse double underhook suplex, but Akiyama gets the ropes. Corner whip, high kick, and now he goes for a super Nodowa, but Akiyama armdrags out of it and hits a jumping knee. Tag Kobashi, and he’s chop crazy. URAKEN, now the neck chops. He blocks two Nodowas, gets his Half Nelson blocked, and eats a knee to the gut. Tag Misawa, Missile dropkick. Spinning lariat gets 2. Tiger Driver, no, German, yes, for 2. Uraken ducked, elbow hits, uraken hits. Half nelson applied, but Misawa battles out after Akiyama tags in. Tag Taue, who hits a running high kick on Akiyama, and prepares for the Nodowa off the apron, but Kobashi saves. Misawa stops Kobashi, and now Taue has all the time he needs. Akiyama elbows out, but still eats a kick off the apron. Back in, Taue gets a Nodowa for 2. Dynamic Bomb time, but Kobashi saves at 2. Misawa cuts him off, but eats a Turnbuckle Powerbomb. WOOT! Kobashi then hits Taue with a German, and then a lariat. Misawa catches him and SPIKES him with EMERALD FROSION. EXPLOIDAHx2 for Misawa, and then Akiyama hits the jumping knee in the corner, and an EXPLOIDAH finishes Taue at 17:45. Fun fun fun for everyone, as Taue brought the work boots with him. Akiyama got BOTH falls. Short, but very, very good. ***3/4 Afterwards, Akiyama turns on Kobashi with a backdrop, which sets up the main event for the next day. AND THE PUSH TO THE MOON BEGINS!

Day 2: 8/6/2000

–Kenta Kobayashi vs. Satoru Asako-KENTA is your lord and savior of the NOAH juniors right now. In fact, he’s so great, he shortened his name to just, KENTA. Asako is still blonde and such. Basic stuff to start out. Headlocks, rope running, chinlocks, armbars. Kenta focuses on the arm, Asako on the leg. They trade hammerlocks and such. Asako breaks up the mat stuff with a chop. More basic stuff, and Kenta hits a dropkick to send Asako outside. Back in, Kenta is elbowing away and stomping. Still stomping. Still elbowing. They mess up a toss outside and Kenta gets sent to the railing. He then get slammed on the ONE PART OUTSIDE that doesn’t have a mat on it. That’s smarts. Kenta sunset flips in for 2. Asako works the back now with an elbow and a back body drop for 2. The two trade shots but Kenta eats a sidekick for 2, and it was a NICE one, too. Lightning legdrop gets 2. Kenta tries a sunset flip, avoids the punch, and hits two dropkicks for 2. Crossbody gets 2. Victory Roll gets 2. He misses a missile dropkick and Asako gets 2. Asako gets the Boston Crab. Kenta gets to the ropes. Kenta flips out of a backdrop, tries a German, misses a Northern Lights, and eats a kick, a facecrusher, and then submits to a Camel Clutch at 10:53. This really wasn’t much. 3/4*

–Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, and Haruka Eigen vs. Makoto Hashi, Mitsuo Momota, and Rusher Kimura-Bleh, not only is this a comedy match, but they have the NERVE to put in Kanemaru and Hashi, two good workers. Ah well. Pretty much the same match as from day 1. Eigen slaps the taste outta Hashi’s mouth before the match starts. Cute. Kikuchi then forcefully shakes his hand. Whatever. Those are the only redeeming qualities. That and Kikuchi working his butt off to give the match SOME workrate. Mimota rolls up Kanemaru at 13:32. *

–Takeshi Rikioh and Naomichi Marufuji vs. Takeshi Morishima and Masao Inoue-The Takeshi’s teamed together for a while and were quite good together, actually, just doing a lot of really nice power spots during their tenure. This should be alright. Nobody really gets an advantage or anything. Inoue tosses Marufuji to start twice, but Marufuji always gets right back in to avoid anything outside. He even does his cool moonsault feign, too. Gymnastics to get out of the armwringer by Marufuji and both teams tag out. The big men exchange bombs before Morishima hits a running elbow for 1. Rikioh uses the hammerlock, and then tags Marufuji, who hits a slingshot elbow for 2. Chinlock procured. Jawbreaker breaks, tag Inoue. Double team, then to the corner, where Marufuji eats elbow. Marufuji avoids a charge and tags Rikioh. He tackles Inoue hard and kicks him out of the ring. Not too much wrestling, really. A whole lot of cheating and punching and stuff, but it’s not really a brawl, so I’m not digging it. I think I’ll wait until a wrestling move occurs. Morishima tags and gets a neck crank…Rikioh hits a high kick and three lariats. THAT’S better. Morishima hits a plancha. Morishima thinks it’s over, but Marufuji breaks, and they hit a double suplex. Tag Marufuji, who dropkicks Morishima out and follows him out. And now, the 50 foot charge of DOOM, so that Morishima can backdrop him into the ring again. The heels bodyslam Marufuji for 2. Morishima hooks a Boston Crab after a slip-up. Rikioh breaks. Marfuji sunset flips Inoue for 2. He hulks up and starts fighting back, so Inoue rakes the face. Morishima is in, and he eats a neckbreaker and a dropkick. Tag Rikioh, who cleans house, hits a bearhug suplex on Morishima, and then tackles and sumo rushes Morishima in the corner. Two-handed chokeslam gets 1 as Inoue saves. Morishima hits a Bossman Slam, and then Inoue tags in and hits a lariat for 2. Rikioh reverses a suplex. Sumo lariat, tag Marufuji. They do the dropkick Hart Attack for 2. Marufuji eats boot, and then gets tossed on a Super Rana, but dropkicks Inoue on the way down. BIG OL’ missile dropkick gets 2. Cutback cradle gets 2. Spinning crab hold gets 2. Inoue eats a superkick but hits a sideslam for 2. Cobra Clutch Legsweep gets 2 as Rikioh saves. Morishima takes him outside, and they battle as Inoue hits a backbreaker. Inoue with the Torture Rack for the submission at 19:30. This just didn’t pick up at all. *3/4

–Team No Fear vs. Jun Izumida and Akira Taue-Not much to start. Izumida starts out by winning a tackle battle with Takayama, but Tak comes back with a dropkick and tags Omori in. He does Euro Uppercuts and such, but Izumida comes back and tags Taue. Omori works the arm and No Fear double teams in the corner into the chinlock. Taue jawbreaks out, but Omori tags. The big men trade high kicks, and Taue wins that battle. Tag Izumida, and they double team. He trades shots with Takayama, but Tak wins and tags Omori. Nice dropkick gets 2. Omori misses a charge in the corner and eats post, but reverses a whip into the rail. He tries an Axe Bomber, but he misses and hits the post instead. Tak takes care of Izumida as Taue posts Omori’s shoulder. Back in, Omori takes over, then tags Tak. Double suplex gets 1. Belly to belly, but a second is countered. Tak kicks him down and tags Omori, who drops a knee for 2. Cobra Twist applied. Taue comes in, but Omori is all like, “NO FEAR!” He pins for 1. Ippon Seionage from Izumida, and then a tag to Taue who high kicks and DDTs Omori for 2. Tak stops a Nodowa, and then he stops the Dynamic Bomb. No Fear Double Tackle, and Tak Russian Leg Sweeps for 2. Tak with some knees and then some kicks for 2. He misses a high kick in the corner, and Taue backdrops out. Tag Izumida, who hits two tackles for 1. Sumo toss, and then some headbutts. Corner charge, and Izumida eats a knee to the kitchen sink. Omori hits a missile dropkick, and then the No Fear Neckbreaker/Backdrop for 2. Axe Bomber, and then Omori remembers the arm being hurt. Taue blocks and hits a clutching double arm suplex. Nodowa for Tak, and then he Nodowas Izumida for the diving shoulder drop for 2. Shoulder drop and a keylock get the submission for Izumida at 15:08. Meh, Omori didn’t know how to sell the arm well enough, and there was too much Izumida, and not enough Taue. *3/4

–The Untouchables (Misawa and Ogawa) vs. Kentaro Shiga and Daisuke IkedaThe Man and The Man I Love to Hate. This is just SO one sided before the match even starts. Ogawa looks all badass and such, well, as much as he can. Misawa still kicks lots of ass, even if 80% of his offense is all elbows. Shiga works over Ogawa’s arm to start off, and they run the ropes, with Ogawa elbowing Shiga down. Shiga comes back with a dropkick. Tag Ikeda, who hits the chinlock. Ogawa comes back with right hands and tags Misawa. Ikeda takes over with elbows in the corner and tags Shiga, who hits two dropkicks for 1. They trade elbows. Shiga down. Tag Ogawa, who hits a jawbreaker. They go out to the ramp, where Ogawa telegraphs a back body drop and gets tossed back in. He beats up his opponents in their own corner, but eventually succumbs. Tag Ikeda, and Ogawa eats a kick and a lariat, and then a double cross armbreaker. Ogawa tries fighting back again, but he can’t do it. Tag Ikeda, who hits the camel clutch. Middle kick and a suplex gets 2. Ogawa hotshots him and tags Misawa. Usual Misawa strikes and then a slam and a senton for 2. Chinlock, and Ikeda gets to the ropes. Two elbows and a back elbow get 2. Tag Ogawa, who gets a sleeper. He tosses Ikeda, but gets whipped into the rail. Back in, Shiga tags and gets a back elbow for 2, and then he elbows Misawa. Naughty boy! Dropkick, and then ANOTHER elbow to Misawa! He’s SO asking for it. He whips Ogawa in and gives him a back elbow, but this time, Misawa elbows HIM. Then he tosses Shiga outside and Ogawa slams him on the ramp. Back in, Misawa tags. Elbow war, and Shiga goes down after one. Elbow rush, and then another elbow. Two elbowdrops get 2. Misawa tags Ogawa, who hits a diving Double Stomp, and then a regular one. He knocks Ikeda off the apron, and hits his backdrop for 2. Tag Misawa, who hits a spinning kick for 2. Misawa’s suplex is blocked, and he eats boot and a springboard kick. Tag Ikeda, who hits a leg lariat. Mid kicks, high kick, and then a spinning wheel kick. Misawa reverses the German attempt, but eats a backflip giri for 2. Ikeda locks in the Octopus Hold, and Ogawa does the Three Stooges eye gouge bit to break. Ogawa tags in, an hits a double stomp and an enzuigiri. Rope straddle gets 2. Ikeda blocks the backdrop and they trade shots be fore Ogawa gets a shot to the eye. Ikeda hits a mid kick, and each man’s whip is reversed until Ikeda gets a Russian Leg Sweep. Double team chop, and then Ogawa ducks Shiga, but eats a kick and a Leaping Tornado DDT for 2. Shiga with a Fujiwara Armbar, but Ogawa is in the ropes. Whip is reversed, and Shiga lands on his feet on a backdrop attempt, but eats a Dangerous DDT. Double teaming leads to a 2 count on Shiga. Same double team knocks Ikeda to the outside. Shiga blocks the Tiger Driver, but eats a Butterfly Suplex. Misawa eats a back kick, and then a Spinning DDT. He blocks a German into a Tiger Driver for 2 as Ikeda saves. Running Elbow finishes Shiga at 20:41. Techinically sound, but not mindblowing or anything. **Ѕ

–Jun Akiyama vs. Kenta Kobashi-This was, of course, set up by the antics from the night before. They trade shots with Kobashi getting a tackle and a chop to send Akiyama out. Akiyama gets a double leg into a Boston Crab, but Kobashi powers out of it. Kobashi’s hammerlock is turned into a drop toehold, but he rolls back over into a crossface before Akiyama breaks. Akiyama wins a hammerlock series with a double arm suplex. Kobashi starts chopping away, but Akiyama comes back with elbows and hits his jumping knee. Kobashi rolls outside and reverses Akiyama’s whip to the railing, and then chops him over the railing. Powerbomb on the floor follows. OUCH! That basically said, “I rule. You are NOT going to be the ace of this company, BOY!” Akiyama takes a 15 count before Kobashi grabs him and hits his delayed suplex back into the ring for 2. Facelock applied VERY nicely. He covers for 2. Chop, kneestrike, kick to gut. Torture Style Cobra Twist follows. Akiyama gets to the ropes. Kobashi is just KILLING him. Jun elbows, but eats a Uraken, and then Kobashi clamps on a full nelson. Kobashi is working the neck very nicely. Akiyama gets to the ropes. Chops to both sides of the neck by Kobashi, and then the Half-Nelson Suplex. OUCH! Another full-nelson, and Akiyama gets to the ropes. Another Half Nelson attempt is blocked, but Akiyama’s attempt at a high knee is blocked eventually. Akiyama falls out of a suplex and dropkicks Kenta’s habitually banged up right knee. BOOM. Momentum shifts. And again. Sasukegatime (Sharpshooter) follows, segued into an STF. When Kobashi reaches fo the ropes, he grabs the arm and applies a crossface chickenwing. BEAUTIFUL. Kenta gets to the ropes, but Akiyama pulls back and grabs the reverse kneebar, but Kenta breaks. Another Sasukegatime attempt is rolled through into a kneebar by both men, and Kobashi breaks, but not before Kenta kicks the knee some more. Kobashi rolls out, and back in, Akiyama runs the ropes and hits a dropkick to the knee. Northern Lights Suplex attempt blocked, and Kenta looks for the Chancery Suplex. They fight for it, and Akiyama gets it. SLEEPAH, into the Tequila Sunrise Suplex. So now Kobashi can rest that knee up a bit. Akiyama is out at this point. Jackknife blocked, but Kobashi hits a Uraken into the Jackknife, but Akiyama rolls through it for a 2 count! Half Nelson Suplex gets 2 for Kobashi. LARIAT TIME, BABY! Akiyama blocks with an elbow, ducks another attempt and hits a German, but Kobashi reaches up and keylocks the arm. Cool sequence. Kobashi head scissors the head to prevent Akiyama from getting to the ropes, but Akiyama eventually does. Uraken blocked, Exploder blocked. Lariat, but a second turns into an EXPLOIDAH! LARIATOOOOO from Kobashi gets 2 on the no-sell! Jumping knee to the lariat arm! EXPLOIDAH! EXPLOIDAH! Akiyama says it’s over, and hits another Exploder for 2. EXPLOIDAH! Akiyama hooks on the Akiyama Lock, the move that made Misawa pass out, and defeats Kobashi at 24:25 to become the ace of NOAH. Akiyama actually looked like he belonged in there. Great psychology, nice moves. Akiyama goes all dicklike afterwards with Kanemaru as they beat up Kobashi’s seconds, too. The push is in full force! ***3/4

Conclusion-If you’re looking for a tape full of good matches, this might not be it. The main events though, like most of All Japan’s events in the past, are very good. So those alone might warrant a watching, but if you can get somebody to make you a NOAH comp, then have them put those two matches on there. The rest isn’t really worth it.