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Puro Reviews: Pro Wrestling NOAH Great Voyage in Osaka
Loading...Pro Wrestling NOAH Great Voyage in Osaka 2015
September 19th, 2015 | Osaka Edison Arena in Osaka, Japan | Attendance: 2,800
With these Puro Reviews, I won’t only be covering New Japan Pro Wrestling, but anything I can get my hands on. What I have here is a pretty highly touted Pro Wrestling NOAH event. I remember first hearing of NOAH when I got into Ring of Honor and saw guys like Naomichi Marufuji, KENTA and Takeshi Morishima. Despite this, I have never seen a full show of theirs from start to finish until now. This review will be less play-by-play and more of a recap style overview.
Akitoshi Saito, Mohammed Yone, Quiet Storm and Yoshirio Takayama vs. Captain NOAH, Cho Kibou-Gun (Hajime Ohara and Kenou) and Genba Hirayanagi
As expected coming into this show, I am unfamiliar with everyone in this match. First I would like to point out that the green ring is something I’ve always liked. Forgive my ignorance, but this seems like heavyweight guys battling junior heavyweights. That makes for an interesting match as it’s not something I see often in Japan. There are a few comedy spots like when a kendo stick is brought into play and one of the junior guys sells it hilariously. The heavyweights win following a muscle buster in a match that was kind of just there.
Winners: Akitoshi Saito, Mohammed Yone, Quiet Storm and Yoshirio Takayama in 8:09
This wasn’t the best opener as it just never seemed to click and was too one-sided for my taste. I get that the heavyweights had to stay strong but it could have been a bit more competitive. *½
Kota Umeda and Mitsuhiro Kitamiya vs. Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado and TAKA Michinoku)
Hey, I saw a familiar face here in TAKA Michinoku. His team holds the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles because Suzuki-Gun has a firm hold on all of the titles in NOAH at this point. Suzuki-Gun are clearly the heels, cutting the ring in half. Screw not knowing names, I’m doing some research. I see that Umeda is the guy that takes the heat here. It is standard heat except that Umeda gets absolutely no offense which you don’t see often. He finally hits a dropkick and makes the mild tag. Kitamiya does his thing and applies a torture rack that gets broken up. He is pretty impressive with some of his offense as his team rallies. Suzuki-Gun turns things around by keeping Kitamiya out of the ring and focusing on Umeda. El Desperado just keeps hitting big offense on the kid. A frog splash ends it.
Winners: Suzuki-Gun in 10:33
Relatively fine tag team match here. Poor Kota Umeda did next to nothing on offense and was there to take a beating while his partner got to hit the cool offense. Suzuki-Gun worked well as a heel duo but this was nothing too special. **
NOAH Junior Tag League Block B
Billy Ken Ki and Buffalo vs. Hitoshi Kumano and Super Crazy
It looks like this is part of NOAH’s Jr. Tag Tournament. HE’S SUPER! HE’S CRAZY! HE’S SUPER CRAZY! With that out of the way, let’s get into the match. The fight starts quick and sees a dive to the outside within the first minute. When things calm down, Kumano gets worked over by his opponents. Super Cray doesn’t fare much better and ends up having to tag back in his partner. They certainly make for an odd looking pairing. They do work well together, busting out some team up moves and scoring a few near falls. They even use the old Kings of Wrestling swing/dropkick combo. Unfortunately, Kumano eats a pin after an electric chair driver.
Winners: Billy Ken Ki and Buffalo in 8:10
Another decent tag match. I found this more fun than the previous one. The double moves were fun and I really enjoyed the pairing of Super Crazy and Hitoshi Kumano. The winning team was less impressive but still not bad. **½
NOAH Junior Tag League Block A
Masamune and Taiji Ishimori vs. Yoshinari Ogawa and Zack Sabre Jr.
Zack Sabre Jr. has quickly become one of my favorite people to watch in pro wrestling. He seems to be pretty over here. Ogawa starts with Masamune and they do some alright back and forth. Things pick up when Sabre and Ishimori come in and have a better exchange. Everybody gets a chance to work with everyone, with neither team gaining a clear advantage. Man, Sabre continues to just be so much fun to watch work. Ishimori ends up getting a bit of a hot tag and hitting some fast paced offense that the crowd gets behind. Sabre backflips with a Northern lights suplex, going right into an armbar though it is quickly broken. Sabre ends up in an ankle lock, but uses his free foot to kick off right into a headlock, only for Masamune to turn that into a capture suplex for two. Masamune and Ishimori hit a nice double team move for two. Sabre goes back and forth with Masamune and ties him up in an incredibly strange way, forcing him to submit.
Winners: Yoshinari Ogawa and Zack Sabre Jr. in 13:01
Match of the night so far. This was a fun bout that featured some A+ wrestling from everyone involved, especially Sabre. Some of the counters these guys pulled out were top notch. One of the better tag team matches I’ve seen all year long. ***¾
Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Shelton X Benjamin
Shelton X Benjamin, who you all should know, represents Suzuki-Gun here. I’ve heard good things about Nakajima and have always liked Shelton, so I expect good things. Benjamin is aggressive, hitting a stiff spinebuster early on. He continues the trend by swinging Nakajima into the steel guardrails and then some chairs. Back inside, Nakajima looks for a comeback but Shelton is prepared. Benjamin stays in control, just pulverizing Nakajima. He finally begins to make the comeback, lighting Benjamin up with kicks and gets two on a missile dropkick. They end up kicking each other in the head at the same time. Shelton misses one and then Nakajima hits EIGHT superkicks in a row! Benjamin comes back with an ankle lock that Nakajima counters into a rollup for two. He tries a few more rollups to no avail. Shelton nails the dragon whip kick, but Nakajima hits a tornado DDT. We get to see Shelton do his signature leap to the top as he pulls Nakajima off with a top rope belly to belly suplex. Benjamin salivates for the win and connects on Paydirt to get the 1-2-3.
Winner: Shelton X Benjamin in 13:08
A bit disappointing, but a good match overall. Shelton Benjamin seems to be playing the aggressive heel role better than I thought he would and Nakajima played the resilient face well. This seemed to never kick into the next gear though and I feel like there is a better match in them. ***¼
Atushi Kotoge vs. Naomichi Marufuji
I’ve really liked Marufuji for about ten years now. He offers a handshake but Kotoge just slaps it. The early exchanges between the two are very quick and fun. Marufuji is one of those heavyweights that works well with juniors because he’s still pretty quick. They fight outside where Marufuji bulldogs him onto the guardrail. When the match moves inside, it becomes a bit more basic and slows somewhat. The next big spot sees Marufuji springboard dropkick a downed Kotoge. Kotoge gets in a bit of offense but Marufuji just lays him out with a kick. He is surprisingly more aggressive than I thought he would be. There is a ring apron Brainbuster spot that I really thought was cool too. Marufuji wins with the sliced bread.
Winner: Naomichi Marufuji in 14:06
A solid match that could have been better. It got off to a great start, but slowed a bit as the more aggressive Marufuji took over. Kotoge got to look good at times but it seemed like the match made sure to note that Marufuji was a step above him. ***½
No Disqualification
Maybach Taniguchi vs. Takashi Iizuka
I remember watching an Iizuka match from 1992. He’s so different now. Iizuka comes out with a chair and within the first two minutes, there are a bunch of chairs in the ring. Taniguchi wears a mask, which Iizuka rips open. There is quickly blood and Iizuka uses a fork to bring more out. Iizuka is just dominating as Taniguchi hasn’t been able to get out of the blocks. He finally sends Iizuka outside and just stands there, pouring blood. It looks like Iizuka is also bleeding but I’m unsure as it could just be from Taniguchi. Inside, they do the dueling chair spot, which Iizuka wins. These two guys are just beating the fuck out of each other. Taniguchi goes to hit a uranage off the apron through a table, but Iizuka only hits his head on the table, making it look more vicious. Another table is inside and Taniguchi splashes Iizuka through it for the win.
Winner: Maybach Taniguchi in 11:53
This was an absolutely convincing brawl. From the start, it really felt like two guys who just wanted to go to war. There were little touches, like the mask ripping that made it feel so personal. It was a brutal match that felt like a true war. ***¼
GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship
Taichi (c) vs. Daisuke Harada
It looks like Harada won the Junior League and this is his title shot. Taichi uses some Suzuki-Gun distractions to cheat early on with a steel chair and the ring bell hammer. Inside, Harada is able to overcome some of that and get in the driver’s seat until Taichi gets his knees up on a splash. He then rips off his tear away pants and nails a superkick for two. Other juniors seem to come out to help even the odds. Both competitors end up fighting up top only for Harada to hit a Death Valley driver out onto everyone. This causes a double countout tease and Harada gets a near fall inside. Taichi nearly wins with a unique rollup that the crowd bites on. There is a ref bump that instantly brings him TAKA and El Desperado. Desperado wails on Harada with a steel chair, while TAKA kicks away the other juniors. Atushi Kotoge runs out to take out both guys and hits a big front flip out onto them. The match is now just one on one and Harada hits a hip toss into a knee, similar to the GTS, and a bridging German. The referee is down so Taichi is able to kick out. With both guys up, Harada goes for the big knee again, but it’s blocked, so he hits Taichi with the other one for two. Taichi now busts out some kicks that lay out the challenger. Harada counters a powerbomb into a rana for another near fall. Taichi nails shining wizard and the big Undertaker Last Ride but that somehow isn’t enough. They fight to the second rope, where Taichi scores with a huge Black Memphis to retain.
Winner and Still GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion: Taichi in 18:37
Holy hell, those final few minutes were pretty great. The early moments were riddled with interference and didn’t work as well as the later moments. I did like Kotoge showing up, as the crowd loved it. I couldn’t understand commentary, but their emotion was clear, which added something to the match. ***½
GHC Tag Team Championship
The Killer Elite Squad (c) vs. War Machine
I watched these two teams face off at ROH Field of Honor, where War Machine won and demanded a title shot. The two teams start with brawling because they are four hard hitting guys. Archer and Hanson try to overpower each other outside by just ramming into one another. The KES do a doomsday device variation with a cross body that doesn’t come off looking too well. The champions start to work the heat on Rowe like a good old school tag team would. Hanson gets a hot tag and cleans house, doing a good job of getting the crowd behind him. He misses a move in the corner and now he starts to take some heat. Now the hot tag is worked to Rowe, who looks pumped up. He does a dead lift German on Archer that was a much better idea than the execution. Like a big madman, Hanson goes up top and somersaults onto the other three men outside. War Machine bust out multiple double team moves but Archer either kicks out or Smith pulls the referee out in the nick of time. The Killer Elite Squad now hit their finisher on both guys for close calls. It takes them hitting it on Hanson a second time for them to retain.
Winners and Still GHC Tag Team Champion: The Killer Elite Squad in 18:40
I’d say this was about on par with their match at Field of Honor. Most of what they did didn’t wow me, but it was a good old fashioned hoss fight, which I can appreciate. Some of the KES offense was a bit dull at times in the middle parts, though I liked the finishing stretch. ***
GCH Heavyweight Championship
Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Takashi Sugiura
The incredible theme of Minoru Suzuki is performed live, giving this a big fight feel. I grew to really enjoy Minoru after seeing him in the G1 Climax 24. The two men start with some basic chain wrestling that neither one gets the advantage of. It escalates into strikes and it’s surprising to see Minoru on the receiving end of some of these. I’m so used to him as the aggressor. Suzuki turns things around by applying an armbar on the ropes and starts to throw Sugiura around outside. He goes to use a chair but multiple officials have to stop him. It’s something small, but having that many people stop him kind of adds to how much of a badass this dude is. After wrapping the arm of the challenger in the guardrail, Suzuki mercilessly goes after it inside. Sugiura tries coming back but Suzuki literally just laughs at his futile efforts. Sugiura fires up and wails on Suzuki with forearms in the corner. Suzuki doesn’t let the comeback finish though, and attacks the arm again. He puts on a ridiculously vicious armbar but Sugiura reaches the ropes. He applies it again, only for Sugiura to reverse it into an ankle lock! He even wraps it up like Kurt Angle used to. Members of Suzuki-Gun try to get involved but they are kept back by officials while Suzuki writhes in pain. He finally makes the ropes and both men are tired. Even so, they just start hammering each other with stiff shot after stiff shot until they both fall. They get up and just go right back at it before falling out again. Again they’re up and again they’re going to war. Suzuki knocks him down and we get a count of eight by the time Sugiura is up. While all of this is happening, the camera catches Suzuki-Gun trying to get in, while a bunch of NOAH guys are on the other side of the ring, ready to stop them. They two fighters go into another exchange of blows, with Sugiura coming out on top this time. Suzuki beats the count by eight so Sugiura nails some Germans. Sugiura connects on one of the sickest knee strikes I’ve ever seen and then hits a second but only gets two. Just when it looks like Suzuki is done, he escapes a move and kicks the arm. Back to a ridiculous slap fight between the two. Suzuki gets him down and hits a big running kick before locking in a sleeper. Sugiura won’t go away, so Suzuki hits a Gotch style piledriver and retains.
Winner and Still GHC Heavyweight Champion: Minoru Suzuki in 29:19
Holy shit, this was incredible. It was exactly the kind of heavyweight fight I was looking for. They did the little things just right, from the earlier note about the multiple officials, to the emotional impact of everybody trying to get involved. Hell, having everyone rabid to get involved but keeping this as a clean one on one war was perfect. The final ten or so minutes are just an absolute war. In a year crowded with great matches, this ranks top ten easily. ****¾
