Furious Flashbacks: NOAH Global League 2014 Day 11

NOAH Global League Day 11

 

7^th November 2014.

 

We’re in Niigata, Japan. This is the final Global League tour show before returning to Tokyo for the finals. 1,200 in attendance. I’m not really feeling the tournament like I did with G1. G1 has a handy habit of not only producing awesome matches but the outcome is meaningful too. Winning the Global League will get you a title match and it’s a close competition but there’s significantly less excitement. This show aired live on Samurai TV, so unfortunately there’s no clipping of the undercard.

 

Hitoshi Kumano vs. Pesadilla

 

If there’s a guy who could be sacrificed to Kumano to get his career going it’d be Pesadilla. That’s the only way anything interesting would happen in this match. Instead they do a few counters in front of polite applause. Kumano looks clunkier than he has in months and is perhaps being ground down by NOAH’s insistence at leaving him as an opening match jobber. Naturally Pesadilla wins and nobody cares. Top booking, NOAH.

 

Final Rating: ½*

 

Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Super Crazy vs. Mitsuhiro Kitamiya

 

Ogawa seems to have been abandoned to the junior division, which is a slight cause for concern as the division is pretty good and if anyone in NOAH could ruin it single-handedly it’d be him. Crazy’s usual insistence at planning out the match to make it worthwhile runs headlong into Ogawa’s total inability to work a three-way match. It is a goddamn mess. They do manage to get a decent three-way strikefest going and even have Kitamiya winning with a double spear but that’s about as good as it gets. Crazy misses a moonsault onto the ramp allowing Ogawa to roll Kitamiya up for the win. Again, a booking decision met by silence and disinterest.

 

Final Rating: ½*

 

No Mercy (Daisuke Harada & Genba Hirayanagi) vs. Cho Kibou-gun (Kenou & Hajime Ohara)

 

This would make more sense if Harada’s next junior title defence was against Kenou or Ohara but it’s Kotoge. After doing such a sterling job of booking the build up for Harada vs. Sabre Jr. you’d think they’d want to do a similar job on the Kotoge title shot. Obviously Harada against anyone is good and both of the CKG guys are solid wrestlers. Harada has a fine time kicking it out with Kenou and grappling with Ohara. Unfortunately they switch to CKG getting heat on Genba, with his groin-grabbing comedy, and it takes the sting out of the bout. This, combined with the usual kendo stick bullshit from Kenou (where he uses it like Triple H uses a sledgehammer), tanks a promising contest. Genba gives up to the Muy Bien and that’s the match. Cho Kibou-gun’s tag matches are getting increasingly erratic and nonsensical. The kendo stick should be banned from ringside. Force Kenou to actually wrestle a match for once.

 

Final Rating: *1/2

 

BRAVE (Muhammed Yone, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Taiji Ishimori & Atsushi Kotoge) vs. TMDK, Chris Hero & Zack Sabre Jr.

 

This is a nothing throwaway match for a bunch of guys that NOAH has no better use for this evening but luckily there are some motivated wrestlers out there; most notably Zack Sabre Jr. He’s buzzing after a great match with Harada on Day 10 and it shows every time he gets in there. He even makes Ishimori’s more bullshitty spots look worthwhile. It’s the mark of a good wrestler when he can make the stupid look capable. Dean Malenko used to be a master of it. Sabre is in that ballpark. Mikey Nicholls abandons his ‘heel’ approach from Day 10 here, and does a lot of tag stuff with Shane Haste. A vast improvement. Chris Hero has had a strong Global League, maybe not results-wise, but performance-wise. That’s reflected in small doses here but Sabre Jr. is the real star. He’s at the centre of everything that works and looks to put Kotoge in his place and position himself as top contender again. This backfires as Kotoge plants him with the Unprettier, after an assist from Ishimori. I’m a bit sad to see Sabre Jr. taking so many jobs when he’s wrestling out of his skin at the moment. It does make logical sense though as Kotoge overcomes the last challenger to strengthen his own claim on the Junior title. Albeit with an assist.

 

Final Rating: **3/4

 

Into the Global League itself then. Here are the Blocks:

 

BLOCK A

Daisuke Sekimoto 8

Katsuhiko Nakajima 8

Satoshi Kojima 8

Naomichi Marufuji 4

Shane Haste 4

Akitoshi Saito 4

Takeshi Morishima 4

Colt Cabana 2

 

This Block is looking tight. There’s an interesting contrast between the top three guys; all from promotions other than NOAH (as long as you still consider Diamond Ring a thing). All with different approaches to wrestling. Nakajima appeared in the last match so it’s a chance for Sekitmoto and Kojima to seize control.

 

BLOCK B

Masato Tanaka 8

Takashi Sugiura 8

Maybach Taniguchi 6

Chris Hero 6

Yuji Nagata 6

Mikey Nicholls 4

Mohammed Yone 4

Quiet Storm 2

 

Taniguchi has a big chance to enter into a tie for the lead of the group this evening if he can beat whipping boy Quiet Storm. Nagata faces the same opportunity if he can overcome Sugiura. That’s tonight’s main event. Sugi meanwhile can virtually wrap up the Block with a victory as Masato Tanaka is on a rest day. Big main event then!

 

Maybach Taniguchi vs. Quiet Storm

 

Storm, and his massive biceps, is aiming to play spoiler here, which wouldn’t be a bad thing as Taniguchi sucks the life out of big singles matches. The tournament has taken its toll on Storm, who has taped ribs and Taniguchi goes after them before the bell. It’s confusing as to why NOAH’s officials let Cho Kibou-gun get away with such egregious cheating. You’d think someone would have spotted how much they get away with and asked the ref’s to keep an eye on it. I like logic in wrestling and there’s no logic in the booking of Cho Kibou-gun. The injury angle, combined with Taniguchi being fucking awful makes this a real drag. Taniguchi is only ever useful while bumping around for big babyfaces and indeed this match is at its best when Storm is landing a bunch of chops. Even with these brief asides into entertainment the match grinds its way through 8 minutes. Kenou manages to walk into the ring and hit Storm in the ribs with his kendo stick, preventing a superplex, and Taniguchi finishes with a Superfly Splash. How on Earth does the referee keep missing this Cho Kibou-gun nonsense?

 

Final Rating: *

 

Colt Cabana vs. Takeshi Morishima

 

Morishima is done already in this tournament but recorded an energised win over Marufuji to make sure it wasn’t a total loss for him. Colt has not been treated well by NOAH’s booking, having him job most of the time and merely used as a comedic aside. Considering CKG’s antics in the last match, Kenou should definitely be banned from ringside. He’s not. He’s here, kendo stick in hand. Colt plays this cute, waving at girls timidly, doing a bit of dancing, wanting to keep the presentation flowers, trying to scare Ohara and so on. It doesn’t put Morishima off. Morishima tries to play along with Cabana’s cuteness and the mat counters but isn’t great at it. He’s a bit too surly and isn’t prepared to give off a different vibe, like Akitoshi Saito (who at least has a sense of humour). Morishima only has a sense of hungry and an aversion to shaving properly. The usual slack Morishima shows up here, because he’s not going over, and his selling and bumping are severely lacking. It makes Colt’s job a lot harder than it needs to be and this becomes a clash of styles. A collision of styles, even. Eventually Cabana has to be the one to crossover or the match will continue to be two ideologies butting heads. Colt ends up winning with a fluke roll up. Match sucked and it’s squarely Morishima’s fault for turning up with such a lazy attitude.

 

Final Rating: *

 

Akitoshi Saito vs. Satoshi Kojima

 

This is probably a better match up for Kojima to have than Sekimoto. While Saito & Seki are similar in size, it’s easier to believe Kojima besting the veteran Saito. Which of course will mean NOAH booking the exact opposite. Saito tries to bully Kojima, which might work against other wily veterans but Koji has a habit of cutting off such shenanigans. The trading is far more believable here with one of Sekimoto’s major weaknesses as a worker being his inability to look weak. Some guys are fine working around that but Kojima didn’t. Here they trade and it comes across as 50-50. Saito can sell stuff that Sekimoto couldn’t, including silly spots like the Machine Gun chops. It’s Kojima’s bone-headed determination to continue battering Saito that proves to be his undoing. This is never more evident than when Saito suckers him into chopping the ring post. Neither man is really known for their strategic ability but Saito makes a fair effort of deliberately working over Kojima’s lariat arm. Of course he’s not the first man to think of this tactic, nor the first Kojima has completely ignored but it’s pleasing to see an aspect of strategy taking place. At one point he goes nuts on that appendage with kicks, elbows an assortment of other abuse. Kojima’s response? A lariat with the injured arm. You FUCKING moron. As he’s rolling around on the mat with his bad arm Saito has time to recover and kick Kojima in the head for the win. And the crowd goes mild. The only reason Saito won here is because if he didn’t then Kojima would win the Block, and he’s not booked to. Similar to the booking of Tanahashi & Davey Boy Smith Jr. in the G1. Only Davey Jr. earned that damn win in the G1. Here Saito won because Kojima is an idiot.

 

Final Rating: **

 

Naomichi Marufuji vs. Daisuke Sekimoto

 

These two have a handy background match to work off as Seki recently came up short challenging for Maru’s GHC title. In that match Marufuji only retained due to his sneakiness and speed. Perhaps Sekimoto has learned from that. Marufuji certainly has altered his game and tries to put this in the cooler from the opening bell, perhaps aware he’s not going to win his Block and is eager to avoid Sekimoto taking the group. A draw would hurt Seki but still leave him top. It ends up being a tactical battle, which is a pity. Especially when their match in Yokohama was ****1/4 and one of the best main events NOAH have put on all year. Sekimoto wins me over by continually overpowering Marufuji and reminding the champ that he can’t compete if they go head to head. Marufuji recalls his first win and comes back with speed moves, mainly dropkicks and return to the dynamic of the first match. Yes, that does demonstrate each man’s strengths but also shows they both learned very little during the first encounter. I do like Sekimoto blocking the Shiranui by pulling Marufuji away from the ropes and turning it into a backdrop driver. Maru has to hit and run rather than engaging in grappling and he has far better fortune with kicks and other strikes. Sekimoto seems more at home selling kicks than lariats too. As if the impact avoids his strengths (beefy chest!) and allows him to take a more realistic bump. For all his power, Sekimoto isn’t that great when it comes to strikes. He has chops but nothing in his strike repertoire that looks like it’ll get a pinfall. Just when it looks as if this will follow the same pattern as the title match Marufuji hooks a dragon clutch out of nowhere but Sekimoto is able to power out. The resultant shocked Seki is caught with a rana for the pin. It might have taken 15 minutes but Marufuji switched gears on Sekimoto and found himself able to beat the big man clean in consecutive outings. Finally we have a good match on this shambolic card but it wasn’t a patch on their title match.

 

Final Rating: ***1/2

 

Takashi Sugiura vs. Yuji Nagata

 

These two headlined Great Voyage in Tokyo (****) when Nagata was champion and Sugiura came up short. Nagata’s stock seems to have fallen since then though and during both G1 and Global League he’s almost been an afterthought. Sugiura on the other hand has had a few terrific matches with different styles. Here it’s two tough guys butting heads but unlike with the Tanaka match, Sugi makes it about drama and tests of strength, rather than strike duels. Of course they do strike duels but they’re not the normal protracted deal. Instead Nagata is keen to quickly move on from them, perhaps aware that’s Sugiura’s biggest opportunity to dominate him. Nagata is keen to make this about superior wrestling and he takes over on the mat by working Sugiura’s arm. From there it’s take no fucking prisoners and they start to destroy each other. It’s a herculean effort from both participants as each suplex, each counter becomes a titanic battle of the wills. Every spot seems vital to both men’s approach, as if their very life depended on getting the opponent down. Nagata seems to get the upper hand, through determination and brutality but Sugiura comes back on the next spot; Nagata missing a gamengiri and being hooked in the anklelock. The slow pace of the match just adds to the spectacle they’re aiming for. Nagata again gets the upper hand, by and large because he spends so much time on Sugiura’s arm. The match is an honest fight. A real old-fashioned back and forth with both men giving it their all. Sugiura seems to want it more, digging deeper on volleys of elbow strikes and leaving Nagata to defensive holds. Sugi leaves himself open for the Backdrop Driver though and that’s enough for Nagata to get another big win over Sugiura and leave the Global League wide open going into the final day. Another great Sugiura performance, matched by a hard-working Nagata. These guys might be veterans but they’re still at the top of the card for a reason.

 

Final Rating: ****

5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

An absolutely dire undercard to this show makes it tough to watch in its entirety. The only worthwhile matches come right at the end of the night and for a promotion that seemed to be coming back in a big way during the Global League it’s all a bit disappointing. If you dig NOAH in any way you’ve probably already seen the best two matches on other cards, done much the same way and even with the same outcomes. Like with most Global League shows, it’s best to cherry pick the top matches rather than watch the entire card. Still looking forward to the Finals though as they’ve taken the approach of leaving everything wide open going in. So much so that whoever wins the Global League will do so by wrestling their final Block match on the same night.