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The Navigation Log 2.01.09: Korakuen Shenanigans, Kobashi’s Return and New Japan News

February 1, 2009 | Posted by Matt Short

There’s a little sporting event taking place tonight, maybe you’ve heard of it? The Super Bowl? Yeah, football. Maybe it’s just because I’m a horrible person, but I never cared for the sport much. I always found it boring because of the commercials. But the Super Bowl… the Super Bowl is more than a football game, it’s a damn spectacle. Plus, it’s a great excuse to get together with folks to drink and eat a load of junk food. And for that, I salute you NFL.

Onto the Navigation Log

NOAH: First Navigation Fallout
The Korakuen Hall tour finale came and went, with mostly positive reviews. And just looking at the notes of the show, hints that NOAH is trying to do something new this year.

We’ll start with the main event. KENTA vs. Kotaro Suzuki is generally a Jr. Heavyweight match that is going to have some degree of quality. But when I sat down and watched the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title match from last weekend, I was completely surprised by the final products.

KENTA came out backed up by Taiji Ishimori while Suzuki came down with Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Genba Hirayanagi. The match started as usual and then all hell broke loose. KENTA and Suzuki would brawl into the audience and all over the ringside area until KENTA was bloodied and Suzuki was seconds away from starting shit with GHC Chairman Joe Higuchi. It was wild, I thought I was watching a Muscle Outlaw’z or GBH match. Suzuki heeled it up in ways I never thought he could. Earlier in the tour Suzuki stole a DQ win from KENTA in a tag match by faking a foul. He tried again twice in this match, faking another low blow and then using a blood packet on himself to try to draw a DQ via chair shot. Suzuki tossed the ref around when it suited him and in a very impressive pinfall escape, grabbed the ref by the arm to prevent him from counting 3.

While there were a lot of shenanigans, the build toward the ultimate end of the match was impressive and very fun to watch. Not exactly a work rate classic, but it was unquestionably something completely different from anything NOAH has done in the past few years. It was chaotic, it was hard-hitting, and it was FUN.

From a storytelling perspective, this wasn’t the only thing different from this show. Former GHC Tag Team Champions Takeshi Morishima & Mohammad Yone defeated Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli in a standard tag match, but the real fun came after the bout. Morishima’s former Wild II partner Takeshi Rikio came to the ring. He then joined with Yone and beat down Morishima, and the two announced their unity in a new war against the former GHC Heavyweight Champion. I’ve got no other explanation for this turn just yet, but like Suzuki and Kanemaru joining forces it looks like we’ve got another new pair forming with some hopefully awesome heel moments. From the main event and the events surrounding Morishima, it seems like NOAH is starting to move in a new direction with their product. It’s almost a necessity at this point and it might just pay off. Go ahead and watch KENTA vs. Suzuki and watch how the crowd reacts.

Outside of the interesting story developments, there was solid build in the main event picture. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima took on Jun Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi in a tag match on this show. The match got some good reviews, but the story behind it was Sasaki pinning Taniguchi with Akiyama’s signature Exploder Suplex. This obviously did not sit well with the always grumpy Akiyama and now his title match with Sasaki for the GHC Heavyweight Title is finally set. They will meet at the first Budokan show of the year on March 1st. Lots of people are anxious to see this match and many think Akiyama has Sasaki’s number here. I’m in the camp that disagrees. If NOAH books right, they can have quite a few more big title matches from Sasaki. He’s really almost been wasted up until now with defenses against Yone and Akitoshi Saito. Neither of these are money matches. But against Akiyama, Sasaki is facing his first major threat and NOAH can really cash in with this if the rest of the card is just as strong. Then there is always the potential match against Mitsuharu Misawa that would draw reasonably well, even if the match itself turns out to be less than stellar. The point is to make money and Misawa vs. Sasaki would make NOAH some much needed cash. Maybe not as much as if the bout were happening 10 years ago or more, but still it would arouse fan interest.

The NOAH vs. Kensuke Office feud is going to continue to build beyond Sasaki vs. Akiyama. Katsuhiko Nakajima is officially the next in line for a shot at KENTA’s GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship. These two tried to kill each other multiple times in 2008 and this will be their first time facing each other with the belt on the line. This is going to be one of the most anticipated junior’s matches in Japan for the coming month. The match is set for 2/11 and is going to be on Nakajima’s home turf in Kensuke Office.

Speaking of arousing fan interest, NOAH’s got something else up their sleeve for the March 1st Budokan. Kenta Kobashi will be returning from his arm surgery and is intending to make it a full-time return this time. How long this lasts is anyone’s guess, since Kobashi is about 90% cyborg at this point after all his surgeries, but if there is anything in the world that sets a Japanese wrestling fan’s soul on fire, it’s Kenta Kobashi. Look for the Budokan to fill up nicely for this show.

New Japan: Back in Action
New Japan was light on the news last week, but they came back in a big way this week. A double-header at Korakuen this weekend with lots of news coming out of the company.

The new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Tiger Mask was awarded a new belt this week as he prepares for his first defense against the legendary Jushin Thunder Liger. Liger meanwhile managed to score a win over his opponent in a match teaming with Hirooki Goto against Tiger Mask & Yuji Nagata. Judging how Liger is currently on a major role and in his 20th Anniversary year, I give him very good odds of beating TM for the belt. I think he’s earned it, as he’s done great work enhancing the young members of the juniors division. Though he holds the record for most title reigns with the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight belt, he hasn’t held the title since 1999. I’d say he’s very overdue for another title reign and I certainly hope he does, because it’s way more interesting than another Tiger Mask reign.

Hirooki Goto is another man on the war path right now. He managed to get a huge win over Yuji Nagata in a tag match and has vowed to face Nagata one-on-one again and finally overcome Nagata. Goto is one of those guys in New Japan that is just so close to becoming a main event star, but always seems to choke in the big match. He began to change his fortune by winning the G1 Climax last year, but came up very short in his match against Keiji Muto for the IWGP Heavyweight Title. The match is expected to take place at Sumo Hall, though it isn’t official yet. Goto can certainly take advantage of Nagata being tied up with his coming match with Shinjiro Otani for the ZERO1 Heavyweight Title. And now you’ve got to think Otani will get into Nagata’s head with this sudden distraction too.

Quick News
-All Japan’s VoodooMurders are out two members all of a sudden. Along with Shuji Kondo turning face, “brother” YASSHI has also announced that he is planning to take a hiatus from pro wrestling. To fill these two gaps, VM leader TARU has picked Michael Faith and Lance Hoyt as replacements. Seems like Hoyt is going to be a bit of a trade with TNA for Akira Raijin aka Kiyoshi.

-Two more unit changes in Dragon Gate: former El Dorado wrestler KAGETORA is going to Real Hazard and will be getting an Open the Brave Gate title match against Masato Yoshino. KAMIKAZE has added Kenichi Chikano to their ranks and renamed him Kenshin Chikano. I know nothing about this guy.

-Mistico’s match at the 2/15 New Japan Sumo Hall show against Mephisto will be for the CMLL World Welterweight Title.

Weekly Puro
Aaron Hubbard stole my gimmick already used the match I intended to use for the Weekly Puro this week and posted KENTA vs. Suzuki. Head over there to The Wrestling Bard to check it out. Instead, we’re celebrating the return of Kobashi with one of his best defenses of the GHC Heavyweight Title. This match is like a sprint, but it’s fun as hell.

NOAH: GHC Heavyweight Title: Kenta Kobashi © vs. Akira Taue


At Home
I wouldn’t know how to rank this year’s Royal Rumble and that’s only because I didn’t get to watch it on time last Sunday. I decided to order the webcast and unfortunately, when the time for the show came it didn’t work for me. Efforts from WWE PPV support did not help mainly because they all got back to me after the show was over. But I did manage to catch it eventually and I got my money back so all ended up being well. I was a little worried about the refund thing, because I’ve heard some horror stories from fans trying to get their money back from ordering PPV that didn’t work out because of technical difficulties beyond the buyer’s control. But that aside, I enjoyed the show and the Rumble was interesting to say the least. There wasn’t really anyone other than Randy Orton who could have won the match, but that isn’t really a detraction. There was Santino shattering The Warlord’s previous record with the shortest time in the Rumble. There was the meeting between Cody Rhodes and Goldust, which was actually kind of surreal. The ending of the match was very cool and showed how smart Orton was in using Rhodes and DiBiase to his advantage. I preferred that to Orton eliminating them himself. One thing that always annoys me is when partners get into the Rumble and clean house and then one turns on the other. The guy who gets tossed will just sort of shrug it off. It makes sense in some instances, but suppose Randy had done it to The Legacy. When that happens, the very nature of this new stable would mean that Rhodes and DiBiase would be pissed off and immediately cause tension. As it stands now, they are a united force and much stronger because of it.

Then there was the heel turn of Matt Hardy on his brother Jeff. It was very well done, but as soon as he came out it was obvious what was going to happen. Many were upset by the fact that Matt Hardy is in fact not Christian. I actually like Matt’s heel turn better than the plan everyone’s been hearing about with Christian as the one who has been attacking Jeff from the shadows. For one thing it does give up a completely new feud in Hardy vs. Hardy and it’s been something that everyone has been anticipating for years. Now is there still a place for Christian in all of this? I couldn’t really say to be honest. It all depends on what happens at No Way Out. I don’t think Matt vs. Jeff is going to happen on that PPV, but I think one of them will end up in the Elimination Chamber. If the brother vs. brother feud turns for the title and Edge is still in the picture then, yes, I would love to see Christian get involved and we have some kind of four-way match between them. It just doesn’t make sense to me as to why Christian would help Edge though, since they were enemies for the remainder of Christian’s time in the WWE before he left for TNA.

Short Takes
-MVP looks on track to get back into the US Title hunt. I’m eagerly awaiting next week to see what happens next.

-The main event on Smackdown this week was bad. I mean it served a purpose I suppose, but it was one of those matches I just couldn’t like and it bordered into just hating it.

-Man, I regret missing Impact this week. Whether you thought it was hilarious or just bad wrestling television, I think it was probably something worth seeing.

-Come to think of it ECW was weak too. Damn, it’s a damn good thing Swagger is feuding with Finlay, who will make him look good in the end. Because this Tuesday the new champion got his balls removed.

That’s it for this week. Enjoy the game tonight and go easy on the wings, no one needs that much diarrhea. At least consider the people who have to clean up the next day. Peace!

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Matt Short

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