Daisuke Harada vs. Kinya Okada
I was looking forward to seeing what Harada could pull out of the rookie and unfortunately the answer is: not much! Grey, lifeless house show vibes for most of this. An overabundance of rest holds and Okada aimlessly nagging at Harada’s arm for what felt like an eternity are not the kind of party tricks you should bring to your opening match. They eventually managed to force a reaction from the crowd by bombarding them with near-falls, but I had already logged off by then. Disappointing. **
Mohammed Yone vs. Masa Kitamiya
While not great or anything, this had way more personality than the opener and I was on board for pretty much all of it. Both guys showed character, hit hard and pulled in the crowd organically. That’s all I need from a NOAH midcard match, man. Better yet, Masa never disappeared in the shadow of his opponent like he often does against grizzled vets. He responded to Yone’s deadly disco technique by throwing a bunch of sweet muscle poses and I was right there for it. Fuckin’ go for broke, Masa. **3/4
Takashi Sugiura & NOSAWA Rongai vs. Naomichi Marufuji & YO-HEY
A bit on the long side considering the randomness of the pairings, but shockingly decent all the way through. Sugiura and Maru are always a safe bet together, so I’m happy to report that their exchanges took up a good chunk of the match. A healthy dose of angry forearms and chest-ripping chops, with a zest of thigh-slappy kicks for seasoning. NOSAWA was charmingly incompetent for most of the match and I actually laughed at his dumb Shining Wizard joke, even if it completely derailed the finish. A true comedian, this guy. **1/2
Atsushi Kotoge, Hajime Ohara & Seiki Yoshioka vs. Tadasuke, Haoh & Nioh
Pro Wrestling NOAH, please sort out your match lengths. Shit is out of control. This was occasionally very fun but most of these guys don’t have the personality or workrate chops to have a fully-compelling 20+ minute 6-man tag. I don’t mind Full Throttle’s goofy shtick because the crowd eats it up, but the Kongo juniors heel beatdowns are an absolute bore. Tadasuke is so non-committal about his pseudo heel turn that you can barely tell he’s a villain. At least his RATELS character was clear-cut. Best part of the match was the finish between Haoh and Yoshioka: tight chemistry between these two. **1/2
Go Shiozaki, Kaito Kiyomiya & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Yoshiki Inamura
Go’s entrance and tense staredown with former husband Katsuhiko was more gripping than anything in the previous match. I had my doubts about the AXIZ breakup, but thanks to this again-overly-long-but-mostly-very-good-wrestling-match, I’m now sold. Katsu held nothing back here and absolutely laid into his former BFF like their photobook adventures were only some imagined fantasy. The ENDLESS HATE kick combo with Kenoh was just heartbreaking to watch if you’ve ever been invested in Go and Katsu.
Shiozaki’s facial expressions and selling were right on the money, displaying both the crushing sadness and growing frustration needed to put this wild angle over the top. The rest of the match was supplemented by Kaito and Kenoh’s always-quality rivalry and vigorous displays of meat-eating from Taniguchi and Inamura. Interesting sidenote: bookerman NOSAWA attentively watched the entire AXIZ soap opera from behind the crowd. This motherfucker’s master plan is now fully in motion. ***1/4
