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NOAH "Great Voyage 2015 in Tokyo"
A Review by Kevin Wilson Date: March 15th, 2015 I try to review most events for each promotion in order, but sometimes there is a big event that requires me to skip ahead a bit. This is one of those events. We have a full blown Suzuki-gun invasion here, as every Championship match is being defended or challenged by the invading faction. Tenzan and Nakanishi have matches as well, basically making this a NOAH vs. New Japan event even though it really wasn't advertised as such since unofficially Suzuki-gun are their own posse and not all are affiliated with New Japan. Here is the full card: - Hitoshi Kumano vs. Mitsuhiro Kitamiya This will be a long one so lets hop to it. Hitoshi Kumano vs. Mitsuhiro Kitamiya Mohammed Yone, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Taiji Ishimori, and Captain NOAH vs. Yoshinari Ogawa, Zack Sabre Jr., Super Crazy, and Jonah Rock Captain NOAH tags in Nakajima and Nakajima kicks Rock in the chest. Sabre comes in but Nakajima kicks him as well before booting Rock in the corner. Nakajima goes up top and he hits a missile dropkick on Rock for a two count. High kick by Nakajima but Rock hits a belly to belly suplex. Rock tags in Sabre while Nakajima tags in Ishimori, and they trade pin attempts. Ishimori kicks Sabre back and he hits a Code Breaker for a two count. Ogawa and company run into the ring and take turns attacking Ishimori, Sabre applies an ankle hold but Yone breaks it up. Ishimori kicks Sabre back and Sabre tags in Super Crazy. Pop-up face crusher by Super Crazy and he hits an elbow drop on Ishimori for a two count. Scoop slam by Super Crazy, he goes up top but Ishimori rolls out of the way of the moonsault. Irish whip by Super Crazy but Ishimori hits a handspring kick to the head. Scoop slam by Ishimori, he goes up top and he nails the 450 Splash for the three count. This wasn't long enough to really get into a groove, and Captain NOAH is about as interesting as Captain New Japan is. Probably not the best gimmick to steal from another promotion. Just a filler undercard match, nothing special about it. Score: 4.0 Akitoshi Saito and Quiet Storm vs. Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi Side slam by Saito but Okabayashi hits a powerslam before they both lariat each other and fall to the mat. Sekimoto and Storm are tagged in and they lariat each other until Sekimoto levels Storm with one. Sekimoto goes off the ropes but Storm returns the favor, he picks up Sekimoto as Saito comes in and they both attack Sekimoto in the corner. Powerbomb by Storm, but Okabayashi breaks up the cover. Okabayashi lariats Saito, Storm attacks both Okabayashi and Sekimoto with chops but Strong BJ regain the advantage. Storm goes for another double lariat but this time it doesn't work and he eats a double vertical suplex. Sekimoto applies a STF to Storm but Saito breaks it up. Sekimoto picks up Storm, Sekimoto applies a waistlock but Storm rolls him up for two. Headbutt and chops by Sekimoto, and he hits an enzigieri. Big lariat by Sekimoto, he picks up Storm and plants him with the German suplex hold for the three count! This was a really fun match. Sometimes Saito and Storm get on my nerves but the didn't here, they went toe to toe with Sekimoto and Okabayashi and it never seemed forced or out of place. I love these matches as every spot seems big, just knocking your opponent off their feet is a major accomplishment. Just a fun clubbin' strong style match, it really delivered. Score: 7.5
Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Manabu Nakanishi vs. Takeshi Morishima and Maybach Taniguchi Calf branding by Tenzan but Morishima kicks out of the cover. Morishima hits a suplex on Tenzan, he goes off the ropes but Tenzan hits a heel kick to his midsection and tags in Nakanishi. Chops by Nakanishi and he hits a lariat in the corner. Nakanishi catches Morishima and hits an overhead slam, he powers up for the big lariat and levels Morishima. Cover, but Morishima gets a shoulder up. Nakanishi gets Morishima up in the Argentine Backbreaker (even I am impressed), Taniguchi comes in the ring and Nakanishi throws Morishima at him. Tenzan hits a diving headbutt on Morishima, cover by Nakanishi but it only gets two. Nakanishi picks up Morishima, he goes off the ropes but Taniguchi hits him from ringside. Taniguchi comes in with his pole and he whacks Nakanishi with it, body press by Morishima but Tenzan breaks up the pin. Morishima drops Nakanishi with a lariat, he picks him up and nails the Backdrop Suplex for the three count. I must say that these guys get an "A" for effort. Nakanishi is limited these days (hell, he was always limited) and while some of the offense looked awkward they were going so hard at it that I can't even hold it against them. Morishima and Taniguchi played the match perfectly, cheating whenever possible but not using outside interference, and there was no wasted time with nerve holds like you see sometimes in these types of matches. I enjoyed it in spite of myself, I didn't think I would, but the effort level just impressed me too much. Score: 6.0 Shelton Benjamin and Takashi Iizuka vs. Takashi Sugiura and Masato Tanaka Sugiura knees Iizuka in the stomach and both wrestlers tag in their partners. Tornado DDT by Tanaka, cover, but Benjamin kicks out. Jumping elbow by Tanaka but Benjamin hits a swinging kick. Tanaka hits a DDT on Benjamin and tags in Sugiura. Sugiura boots Benjamin in the corner and hits a running knee. Ankle hold by Benjamin but Sugiura reverses it. German suplex by Sugiura but Benjamin hits one as well. Superkick by Benjamin and he tags in Iizuka. Iizuka stomps on Sugiura and he hits an atomic drop. Sugiura is double teamed in the corner and Benjamin drops Sugiura with a powerbomb. Iizuka gets his Iron Claw but Sugiura ducks it and hits a spear. Tanaka comes in and they both strike Iizuka at the same time for a two count. Tanaka and Sugiura both elbow Iizuka, cover by Sugiura but it gets a two count. Olympic Slam by Sugiura, and he picks up the three count. This was utterly not exciting, instead of doing a heated brawl they did a slow motion beatdown match instead. Iizuka isn't a good wrestler at this point but he can do brawls, this was just structured in the least exciting way possible. Clearly they didn't watch the last match to see the right way to do it. Probably the most disappointing match with Sugiura and Tanaka ever. Score: 3.5 (c) Kenou and Hajime Ohara vs. Daisuke Harada and Genba Hirayanagi vs. TAKA Michinoku and El Desperado Chops by Ohara but Harada picks him up and spins him over before kneeing Ohara in the face. Harada picks up Ohara, suplex hold by Harada but Kenou breaks it up. Kenou picks up Harada and he hits a high kick followed by a dragon suplex hold for two. Hirayanagi comes in, Kenou throws Hirayanagi into the corner but Hirayanagi kicks him back and hits a lariat. Hirayanagi picks up Kenou, schoolboy by Hirayanagi but it gets two. Kicks by Kenou but Hirayanagi nails the Shoryu Genba. Ohara runs in to help and he hits a Backstabber. Muy Bien by Ohara to Hirayanagi but it is broken up. Kenou kicks Hirayanagi in the head, he picks him up and he hits a PK. Michinoku drops Harada with a superkick, Desperado comes off the top with a diving body press to Hirayanagi and he picks up the three count. New champions! The structure of this one was just all over the place which made it hard to get invested into. The action itself was solid, everything was hit well, it was just incredibly random. It also ended really suddenly, with all the long-ish matches on this card it seemed off to have this one be shorter and end with Desperado literally stealing a victory after doing nothing all match. Good action, questionable layout. Score: 5.5
(c) Atsushi Kotoge vs. Taichi Superkick by Taichi to Kotoge and they trade kick attempts. Headbutts by Kotoge, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and he hits a diving body press. Swinging kick by Kotoge, cover, but Taichi gets a shoulder up. Kotoge goes for the Killswitch but Michinoku gets up on the apron to distract him. Taichi kicks Kotoge low and he applies the Gedo Clutch for a two count. Kick to the head by Taichi, he picks up Kotoge and he hits a sit-down powerbomb for a two count. Taichi gets the championship belt but Kotoge ducks when he tries to hit him with it and hits a headbutt. Kotoge picks up Taichi and he hits a pair of swinging leg kicks. Killswitch by Kotoge, cover, but Desperado pulls the referee out of the ring. They run in to double team Kotoge but Kotoge finally gets some help. Taichi avoids Kotoge's jumping elbow, superkick by Kotoge but Taichi hits Kotoge with the title belt. Taichi picks up Kotoge and he nails the Black Mephisto for the three count. New champion! There was a lot not to love about this match. I know that they are setting up a long-term angle here but unfortunately this match got sacrificed in the process. Taichi isn't good, we know that, but with all the stalling and constant interference that the referee did nothing about (even as he himself was attacked) just made this match borderline unwatchable. It is like nothing happened, it was a 19 minute match with maybe 5 minutes of actual wrestling with the rest being stalling and silly interference. I get what they were going for but it just wasn't fun to watch, even though I think Kotoge is fantastically entertaining in most situations. Score: 3.0 (c) Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls They pick up Archer and go off the ropes, but Haste is pulled out of the ring and Archer hits a swinging side slam on Nicholls. Smith comes in the ring and he trades elbows with Nicholls until Smith hits a jumping knee. Tiger suplex hold by Smith, but it gets a two count. Scorpion Deathlock by Smith, Archer comes in the ring and Nicholls is hit with an assisted lariat. Archer and Smith slam Nicholls to the mat, cover, but Haste breaks it up. Haste dropkicks Smith, and Smith is dropped with an assisted DDT for a two count. Smith is picked up but Archer runs back in the ring and hits a monster chokeslam on Haste. Smith grabs Nicholls and hits a running powerslam for a two count. Archer throws Nicholls into the corner but Nicholls fights them off. That doesn't last though as Smith kicks Nicholls in the chest and they nail the Killer Bomb for the three count. Archer and Smith are still your champions. I am not sure I've ever seen a match that went over 15 minutes where one team only had one tag out the entire match. This was a good match, the leg work on Haste went a bit long but it was sold the rest of the match so I can't complain too much. The ending almost felt sudden, it was built up to well but I guess for a title match it felt like something was missing. Still a lot of fun. Score: 7.0 (c) Naomichi Marufuji vs. Minoru Suzuki Irish whip by Suzuki but Marufuji kicks him in the stomach. Suzuki quickly applies a short armbar but Marufuji gets a foot on the ropes. Marufuji rolls to the apron and Suzuki applies an armbreaker over the top rope. Marufuji falls out of the ring and Suzuki kicks him in the chest from the apron. Marufuji throws Suzuki into the railing and he snaps his neck over the guard rail. Back in the ring, Marufuji puts Suzuki on the top turnbuckle but Suzuki headbutts him. Jumping kick by Marufuji and this time he is able to hit the superplex. Marufuji goes for the Shirai but Suzuki pushes him off and applies a sleeper. Marufuji armdrags out of it, they go off the ropes and they trade boots. Thrust kick by Marufuji but Suzuki punches him in the face. Marufuji kicks Suzuki to the mat as both wrestlers are hurt, Marufuji goes for the Shirai but Suzuki blocks it and applies a sleeper. Marufuji spins out of it and tries to hit a Shiranui off the referee but it doesn't really works since the referee weighs 100 pounds. Shirai out of the corner by Marufuji, cover, but it gets a two count. Marufuji picks up Suzuki but Suzuki gets out of the Pole Shift. Superkick by Marufuji, he goes off the ropes but Suzuki nails him with a dropkick. Suzuki picks up Marufuji and he applies the sleeper hold, Iizuka hits Marufuji with the Iron Claw and Suzuki slaps Marufuji. Suzuki picks up Marufuji, he nails the Gotch-Style Piledriver and he picks up the three count. Suzuki is your new champion! This match didn't feel epic like I was expecting. The atmosphere was there but the action in the ring mostly felt pedestrian. I didn't help one of the 'cool spots' they had planned didn't work, and these two have very different styles, but something didn't mesh. That isn't to say it was a bad match or anything, the match flowed very well and the interference was kept to a minimum to allow Suzuki and Marufuji to shine, it just never broke through to that next level for me. Score: 6.5
Final Thoughts: This event had tons of potential, and while in some ways it lived up to it, in others it was lacking. They were successful in their overall goal, with Suzuki-gun winning all the titles now NOAH is united together against them which should hopefully lead to some fun brawls going forward. Unfortunately some matches here were sacrificed to get to that end goal, especially Taichi/Kotoge. It is unfortunate the match I enjoyed the most wasn't even related to the bigger storyline, but the main event was definitely good, it just wasn't the must-see match I was hoping for. Overall the event was entertaining, it just failed in some key areas so I can't give it my highest recommendation. Grade: B-
Back to Pro Wrestling NOAH Reviews review completed on 3/21/15
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