Puroresu Show Reviews

Part Two
The second half of the East VS West themed show was a 12-man team elimination gauntlet captained by Kobashi and Akiyama.

Team Kobashi (Kenta Kobashi, Daisuke Ikeda, Mohammed Yone, Takashi Sugiura, Makoto Hashi & Go Shiozaki) VS Team Akiyama (Jun Akiyama, Takeshi Rikioh, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Masao Inoue, Kishin Kawabata & Haruka Eigen) Elimination Gauntlet

Haruka Eigen VS Makoto Hashi
It was interesting to see Eigen in a more or less serious match here. At least it was serious until they went outside and did his signature “spit into the crowd” spots! I don’t think it helped Hashi much either since it took him so long to put away the old guy. This was a fun match overall though.
Match Rating: **

Makoto Hashi VS Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Kanemaru more or less squashed Hashi here who was tired from going almost ten minutes with Eigen. I’d really like to see what would happen if Hashi wizened up and stepped up his game to challenge Kanemaru for the GHC Jr Title.
Match Rating: **

Yoshinobu Kanemaru VS Takashi Sugiura
Never thought I’d see the day that these two would be pulling comedy spots on each other! It started with Sugiura stealing Kanemaru’s GHC Jr title belt, then posing in the ring for photographers as if he just won the title! Later on, Kanemaru would sneak the time-keeper’s bell into Sugiura’s trunks and act as if he was hit by it! A page out of the Florida Bros playbook for sure, but Kanemaru didn’t get a DQ win. The beginning of the match was fun, but the middle was a bit dull due to the mat work and rest holds, but the closing minutes was fun as the paced picked up again.
Match Rating: ***

Kishin Kawabata VS Muhammed Yone
Good back and forth match here. There really isn’t anything about Kawabata that stands out, so Yone’s striker offense at least adds something watchable to the match.
Match Rating: *1/2

Muhammed Yone VS Takeshi Rikioh
This was a quick near squash for Rikioh who totally pummeled and destroyed Yone, who got in minimum offense, but Rikioh sold them well so Yone didn’t look completely useless against the big guy.
Match Rating: **

Takeshi Rikioh VS Daisuke Ikeda
This was short, but what they did was just great! I really would like to see a proper singles match between these two as what they did in the short amount of time here was very hard-hitting and entertaining. Probably the best match in the series up to this point. Too bad about the ending though.
Match Rating: ***

Masao Inoue VS Go Shiozaki
My first look at Shiozaki and he was quite impressive. The man definitely has a future in NOAH and it will be interesting to see him breakout in the future. Inoue was the right guy for his to face off with I guess as Inoue let Shiozaki get in a fair amount of offense to look credible, yet still rookie like.
Match Rating: **

Masao Inoue VS Kenta Kobashi
It was pretty obvious the plan here was for Inoue to get himself counted out with Kobashi so that Akiyama could win by default! It was fun to watch, even the brawling out into the crowd parts. One really cool spot was when Inoue had Kobashi in a figure four out on the ramp, trying to get them both counted out, and Kobashi used his upper body strength to drag BOTH OF THEM back to the ring by his hands! I would have been preferred a better ending to the match though.
Match Rating: **

Kenta Kobashi VS Jun Akiyama
They may have been given only ten minutes, but they used that time to the max! They both managed to hit their signature spots and Kobashi even used a new modified half-nelson exploder at one point! The way the match ended may be a bit disappointing, but it at least shows that Akiyama is still the top heel in NOAH. Great match to end the show.
Match Rating: ***

Overall: Both shows overall was all about the wrestlers having fun. Don't set your expectations to high and hope for some great wrestling or you might be dissapointed. Nothing here would rate as a classic, but definately entertaining.

Labels: NOAH