NOAH's 6/6 show at Nippon Budokan

[GlobalHonored]

Here's the line-up as of 5/23:

1. Makoto Hashi vs. Kotaro Suzuki
2. Rusher Kimura, Takeshi Rikio, Mitsuo Momota & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Haruka Eigen, Masao Inoue, Jun Izumida & Kishin Kawabata
3. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Sugiura vs. Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA
4. Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Takeshi Morishima
5. Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda
6. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Takuma Sano
7. Akira Taue vs. Yuji Nagata
8. GHC Tag Team Title: Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito (c) vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda

My thoughts:
-Hashi vs Suzuki will showcase some of the young NOAH juniors in singles action. This could be the start of a major push for one of these guys, likely Suzuki if he is able to perform despite being recently injured. If Suzuki rises to the level of KENTA then NOAH will have four legitimate junior stars in he, KENTA, Kanemaru and Marufuji as well as foreign champ Modest, former heavy champ and tweener Ogawa, Super J participant Sugiura and the veteran Kikuchi to really fill out a solid division. That's enough for NOAH to provide a potentially great JR Tag Tourney with just a little outside help.
-Match two is the bathroom break opportunity. Tha family elders mixed in with some mid-card guys who obviously find themselves in limbo as far as their booking is concerned. Nothing new here, with Rikio or IZU likely to get pin for their team unless Inoue steals one for himself. At least we'll get the Rusher head butts that are as over as it gets, well as o ver as Eigen's saliva showers
-The junior tag looks awesome. MArufuji & KENTA make up the most exciting junior team going today. They face off against Super J man Sugiura and top junior Kanemaru in what could be the show stealer.
-The battle of the beasts pits IWGP/NWF Champ Takayama in a slugfest with fellow stiff gian Morishima. This could be an old fashioned "slobber-knocker" AJ 90s style. This could be the first of many classics between these two in the years to come.
-Ogawa-Ikeda. Tough one. Ogawa is on the way down the ranks, Ikeda has been drifting along for a while now. This could just be another win for Rat Boy or a chance for Ikeda to get a decent push up the ladder. Ogawa did fall to Scorpio recently, look where that's got him? I don't foresee to much from these two, but who knows. At least there is some sense of uncertainty in this match up.
-Sano-Misawa. Potentially a fantastic match up if Misawa brings his big show game to the ring and Sano can put together more than 10 minutes of effort. Sano, like Ikeda, has found himself in the crossroads of a decent push for a long time, I don't see him going over Misawa, but a good showing here could do a lot for him in the near future.
-Perhaps the most anticipated match of the tour. NJ ace and former IWGP champ Yuji Nagata steps in the ring with one of the 4 Corners of Heaven and past Triple Crown Champ Akira Taue. Nagata is in his prime and Taue is attempting to hold on to his big name status. Taue looked good in his last singles match with Kobashi. If Nagata can draw that out of the big guy and can match styles with the NOAH/AJ vet, then this one should be quite exciting. The post-match events could be even more important than the confrontation itself. What or who is next for Nagata?
-Tha Main Event: Kobashi-Akiyama in a tag title match up. This will likely be a Honda pin on Saito or Akiyama on Honda for the result according to who gets the win. Akiyama & Saito have been terrific champs and there is no reason to put both heavy belts on Kobashi despite Honda's super push. The big NOAH match of Akiyama vs Kobashi is still to be saved for much later so there is no reason to expect this to provide anything but a lead in for that future match up unless Kobashi's knees are a problem which has not been reported.
-Overall this looks like an excellent show, more so IMO than the NJ card to be held there a week later. Two Junior matches that look entertaining, Nagata against one of the big guns, Takayama in action with a legitimate opponent, Misawa-Sano, and Kobashi and Akiyama squaring off in the ring. This looks nice! And hopefully will lift up a rather mundane tour.

[GlobalHonored]

Just hours away from "Big" Budokan show. Nagata, Takayama, Kobashi, Misawa, Taue & Akiyama will all compete.

[Luds]

Kobashi & Honda defeated Akiyama & Saito in 26:54 when Honda used the Olympic Hell Special on Akiyama!

Also, Nagata defeated Taue in 15:53 with the Nagata Lock III

Misawa > Sano in 15:21 With the Emerald Frozion

Takayama killed Morishima in 5:12 with a triangle choke hold


So Akiyama is heading to NJ in after a big loss!!!

[GlobalHonored]

FULL RESULTS

1. Makoto Hashi beat Kotaro Suzuki (10:12) with the Gory Thunder.
2. Takeshi Rikio, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Mitsuo Momota & Masashi Aoyagi beat Masao Inoue, Jun Izumida, Haruka Eigen & Kishin Kawabata (12:31) when Rikio used a lariat on Kawabata.
3. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Sugiura beat Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA (15:36) when Kanemaru used a brainbuster on KENTA.
4. Yoshihiro Takayama beat Takeshi Morishima (5:12) with a triangle choke hold.
5. Yoshinari Ogawa beat Daisuke Ikeda (7:54) with an inside cradle.
6. Mitsuharu Misawa beat Takuma Sano (15:21) with the Emerald Frosion.
7. Yuji Nagata beat Akira Taue (15:53) with the Nagata Lock III.
8. GHC Tag Team Title: Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda beat Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito (c) (26:54) when Honda used the rolling Olympic Hell Special on Akiyama to become the 6th champions.

[Jason]

Is Takayama actually being shown a little respect by Misawa? That's a pretty quick win over someone of Morishima's stature.

[edgehead1984]

May someone clarify what a olympic Hell Special is.


Takayama won too quickly.