Pro-Wrestling NOAH - "THE FIRST NAVIGATION 2011"

[Necroyeti]

Pro Wrestling NOAH "THE FIRST NAVIGATION 2011"
Various shows.

1/15/2011 (Day 2, Osaka, Osaka Prefectural Gym)
01. Akira Taue, Yutaka Yoshie & Ricky Marvin vs Masao Inoue, Taiji Ishimori & Masashi Aoyagi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DAGQZ9P-Pw)
02. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Genba Hirayanagi vs Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do3P5Rxgcrc)
03. Kotaro Suzuki & Yoshinari Ogawa vs Eddie Edwards & Bobby Fish (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQJ8eISyEq0) (Part 2) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWQRiDpaAbA)
04. Takeshi Morishima vs Mohammed Yone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrDMJCxWbOc)
05. Takuma Sano vs Kensuke Sasaki (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16A-9ycNnwY) (Part 2) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJTgR5_fn9s)
06. Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs Go Shiozaki & Shuhei Taniguchi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLvGQYYhzE8) (Part 2) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh7CoSWLdek)
07. KENTA vs Yoshihiro Takayama (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiioooECFRE)
08. GHC. Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Naomichi Marufuji & Atsushi Aoki (c) vs Daisuke Harada & Atsushi Kotoge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ili03QbNhk4) (Part 2) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc8UdmsO-Vc)
09. GHC Heavyweight Title: Takashi Sugiura (c) vs Bison Smith (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6YIYklqx8M) (Part 2) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vydXhUo4Vrs)

1/23/2011 (Day 8, Fukuoka, Acros Fukuoka)
01. Genba Hirayanagi vs Kentaro Shiga (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV8ufjrmSaM)
02. Masao Inoue & Ricky Marvin vs Mohammed Yone & Yoshinbou Kanemaru (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBK2TnbxFJk)
03. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takuma Sano (c) vs KENTA & Taiji Ishimori (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53GrzAx_scY) (Part 2) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MYKF44_tVA)
04. Takashi Sugiura (c) vs Atsushi Aoki (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PaRjDsTW3I)
05. Jun Akiyama, Naomichi Marufuji & Shuhei Taniguchi vs Kensuke Sasaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zdgTVikLkM) (Part 2) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nby01vP1X3g)
06. The Pink Gordy (Takeshi Morishima & Yutaka Yoshie) vs Akitoshi Saito & Yuto Aijima (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LttP1T_M5pM)
07. Go Shiozaki, Yoshinari Ogawa & Kotaro Suzuki vs Bison Smith, Eddie Edwards & Bobby Fish (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZIzCMz2IW4) (Part 2) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H25YVh9UgCQ)

1/29/2011 (Day 11, Tokyo, Tokyo Korakuen Hall)
01. Akira Taue & Kentaro Shiga vs Masao Inoue & Takashi Okita (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbqAArnT7FA)
02. Akitoshi Saito & Yutaka Yoshie vs Ricky Marvin & Bobby Fish (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X4UyyeNIEs)
03. Takuma Sano vs Taiji Ishimori (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IauYLXLasrg)
04. Go Shiozaki, Yoshinari Ogawa & KENTA vs Mohammed Yone, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Genba Hirayanagi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFV-_A1JZII)
05. Takeshi Morishima & Shuhei Taniguchi vs Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRhyzr24GGk)
06. Takashi Sugiura, Naomichi Marufuji & Atsushi Aoki vs Yoshihiro Takayama, Jun Akiyama & Bison Smith (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH65N0xAhhk)
07. GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title: Kotaro Suzuki (c) vs Eddie Edwards (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWKzdsRF_VE)

I've only watched the 1/29 event so far, and the main event is bloody awesome. If you watch only one of these matches, that one would probably be a good bet.

[Kashdinero]

Well done for this Necro!! Haven't really been following NOAH recently, only on paper. I think I'll have some of this when I get home from work!

Side note: what's your opinion of Takeshi Sugiura? For someone who started out as a bit of a Kurt Angle impersonator, I think he's fucking brilliant! His title reign has been epic, from what I've seen and read about!

[Necroyeti]

Suguira is pretty fuckin' cool like, though I kinda hope he drops the title to Morishima sometime soon. Dude's pretty nippy/brutal for a gutlord.

Halfway through the Fukuoka show right now, and I don't think I'm awfully fond of NOAH's tag matches compared to Dragon Gate's or New Japan's tbh. (Not a huge tag mark as it is though) Kenta/Ogawa/Shiozaki was pretty awesome though. KENTA turns heel! Also disappointed that Akira Taue is pretty much reduced to comedy tag matches these days :( Really digging the gaijins Ricky Marvin and Bobby Fish though (I saw Fish once before in EVOLVE 1 like, last week, but couldn't remember much about it... hyped for his match against Danielson now!)

You aware NOAH are going to Wolverhampton (and somewhere else in England) in May? Kinda annoyed though cuz it's on the day of my exams :(

[Kashdinero]

I'd like to see KENTA end Takeshi's reign, but the positively awesome Morishima would be my second choice.

Completely forgot about European Navigation (I must have read about it somewhere... Surely ;))
The line up looks great though, KENTA, Sugira, Suzuki, Nakajima and Chris FUCKING Hero!!!
Don't know if I'm gonna go though... I'll think on it. There's also the question of what show to go to!

As for Akira. I've noticed that no matter how great a wrestler in Japan once was, if he chooses to stick around well past his sell-by-date then they end up in opening 6-ManTag matches, as opposed to being forced out of a company. I guess it's a Japanese honour thing, which is nice for the wrestler but bad for the fan.


Side note: What did you think of Kota Vs Davey?

[Necroyeti]

Side note: What did you think of Kota Vs Davey?
I guess it wasn't quite the incredible masterpiece I thought it was gonna be, but it was still very very good and the best match on the card by miles. Short but sweet. Good mix of stiff striking (DEM KICKS) and high flyin', and plenty of sick spots/sequences. (last 5 minutes or so is a thing of beauty)

Like a lot of the other matches on EVOLVE 1 though, it was a little too brief/fast-paced to tell a good story, not to mention a bit no-selly. (To be expected from a Davey Richards match though, I guess)

[Kashdinero]

I suppose the last bit of the match sold it for me, and the finish was brutal! I like to liken EVOLVE to an Indy version of NJPW, in the sense of it's no sell, striking orientated matches (just a little shorter), and DGUSA to, well, DG! Gabe has got a good thing going on with these two Puro inspired promotions, and I for one hope it lasts for a long time to come.

Also, I haven't watched any of the shows you posted yet but I intend to watch at least a few of the matches tomorrow. KENTA Vs Takayama and Suzuki Vs Edwards sound great!

[Kashdinero]

I watched the first show, and I've got to say I quite enjoyed it, and pretty much got entertainment out of every match. Nothing spectacular, just good old fashioned puroresu, which is something I'm quite fond of, so nothing to moan about there.
Stand out matches for me were, Morishima Vs Yone (nice while it lasted), Sasaki Vs Sano (I've always thought Sano's top rope double stomp was one of the most painful moves in Japan), Takayama Vs KENTA (brutal exchanges from these two as usual) and the GHC heavyweight title match. I know he's a bit cumbersome, but I really like Bison Smith! I've seen this guy evolve into a legitimate main event level talent, and with all that extra weight he's carrying it just adds to his monster gaijin gimmick.

I will say this though.

Having followed Puro for a long time through magazines, I finally found the internet, and tape traders, and started watching Puro a little while before Misawa led the revolution and "saved" 90% of All Japans roster by leading them away to create Pro Wrestling Noah. It was exciting times, and upon viewing their very first two show's it instantly became a favourite promotion of mine. Over the years I've watched quite a few of their bigger shows, both Tokyo Dome shows, loads of episodes of their show that was on The Wrestling Channel and countless matches on YouTube, and I have to say I've never seen Noah in such a poor state, while it's still greatly entertaining it's a shadow of it's former glory :(

Also, Jun Akiyama looks bloody awful!!! He's lost a step or four in the ring aswell (obviously, he's getting on a bit now), his day in sun seems to be over :( and its unlikely he'll ever lift the GHC heavyweight title again :(

[SilverGhost]

Damn! I just remembered I was supposed to watch the GHC Jr. Heavyweight match!

I am doing it now!

[SilverGhost]

That was a hell of a match! Both guys were impressive!

[Kashdinero]

I seriously need to watch the last two events.... But there's just not enough hours in the day for the amount of wrestling, TV shows and Movies I need to watch.

[Necroyeti]

I hear that. I've devoted way too much time to indy and Japanese wrestling lately and given myself a huge backlog of movies/albums/ebooks to get through.

[Kashdinero]

I hear that. I've devoted way too much time to indy and Japanese wrestling lately and given myself a huge backlog of movies/albums/ebooks to get through.

I haven't even finished watching RoH 9th anniversary! Although that has as much to do with GFL's dodgy upload speed, as it has with me being overly ambitious with my viewing habits.

[SilverGhost]

Nothing wrong with watching a bit more Japanese wrestling! xD

Still....I was very irritated in the Mistico thread.... :\

[Kashdinero]

Nothing wrong with watching a bit more Japanese wrestling! xD

Still....I was very irritated in the Mistico thread.... :\

I could tell.

Remember SG, different strokes for different blokes!

[SilverGhost]

I could tell.

Remember SG, different strokes for different blokes!

Still. "I won't watch wrestling because its in a different langauge." = bullshit ._.

[Necroyeti]

Pretty glad I totally ignored that thread.

[Kashdinero]

Pretty glad I totally ignored that thread.

I do that. A lot.

@SG your a legend for putting up with some of those guys lol!

For the record: I've seen Puro with English commentators, and it's the equivalent of watching a poorly dubbed anime... Just awful!
Granted, it was nice to hear a bit of background on the wrestlers but that's as far as it goes. There's nothing like hearing LLLAAARRRIIIOOOTTTOOO!!! Classic stuff!!!

[SilverGhost]

I do that. A lot.

@SG your a legend for putting up with some of those guys lol!

For the record: I've seen Puro with English commentators, and it's the equivalent of watching a poorly dubbed anime... Just awful!
Granted, it was nice to hear a bit of background on the wrestlers but that's as far as it goes. There's nothing like hearing LLLAAARRRIIIOOOTTTOOO!!! Classic stuff!!!

I am just glad that Necro, you and me finds Japanese wrestling all kinds of awesome. It doesn't really matter to us if they are in Japanese, wrestling is one language.

As for me, I take Japanese wrestling more serious than WWE.