Matches in chronological order; everything is HERE. Front page only has the last few months of updates.

Tenryu vs KENTA, 10/8/05. Let's see, what do we want from Tenryu vs KENTA. Stiffness? Check. No restholds? Check. Total lack of respect and sportsmanship? Check. More stiffness? Sure, why not. Oh and it's at Korakuen to boot. Somewhat anticlimactic, but that can't be helped. Repost.

Kobashi & KENTA vs Shiozaki & Ito, 8/2/09. Man alive that is some loud chopping from Kobashi and Shiozaki. I mean, some SERIOUSLY crazy chops. Ito shows some fire! Atta boy. Too bad he retired shortly afterwards. Not overly deep, but I think it's energetic and entertaining in a straightforward enough way to please pretty much anyone who can enjoy a Chopbashi match. Repost.

Bison Smith vs Taniguchi, 9/27/09. One of those rare matches where two inconsistent wrestlers both click at the same time. Bison looks like a beast; Taniguchi looks impressive in being able to pull off some significant offense on him. Both of them look much better by the end than they did coming in, thanks in part to the fast pace and responsive crowd. Repost.

Sasaki, Morishima & Nakajima vs Tenryu, Ogawa & Suzuki, 9/27/09. Tenryu is 59 and a half years old, and he RULES. There are three main elements to the match. One is "Morishima the monster", because nobody on the other side can handle him physically. Two is "Tenryu as quasi-Misawa", where he does some teamwork with Ogawa in the vein of the Misawa/Ogawa team (since this is a Misawa tribute show). Three is Tenryu's fighting spirit as he tries to go toe-to-toe with Sasaki, who was too much to handle when Tenryu was a spritely 49 and is more so now. Repost.

Akiyama & Kobashi vs Sasaki & Kitamiya, Diamond Ring 2/11/12. Kensuke Office has rebranded itself as Diamond Ring. Kitamiya is a new Sasaki trainee, and he really gets put through a wringer. Kobashi's chops are one thing, but the absolute highlight is how Akiyama schools him in very basic ways. Akiyama was a top-class amateur wrestler but he rarely shows that side in the ring. In this bout he stuffs takedown attempts and dominates the mat with ease; I wish he'd show that kind of effort/mindset more often. Anyway, the 'young lion shows his fighting spirit' story is strong here, so if you're at all a fan of that story you should watch.

Nakajima, Ishimori, Marvin & Satoshi Kajiwara vs Yasu Urano, Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada & Kenbai, 10/30/10. Sprinty! Rather than giving them 15-20 minutes and forcing structure on guys who aren't good at it, we get an under-10-minute action-fest. The finish might seem out-of-place on paper, but the bump off of it is more than enough for it to be a fitting end. Repost.

Takayama vs Sugiura, 10/3/09. Stiffffffff. But also a very 'complete' match within an under 10 minute frame. It never ceases to amaze me how often they get put in main events for 25+ minutes, when they can just go out and tear the house down *every time* if they aren't forced to fill a bunch of time. Bottom line: *this* is the two of them doing what they do best. Respost.

Kobashi vs Akiyama, GHC title, 7/10/04. Dare I say that this needs no particular explanation? Yep, but here's one anyway. The first two thirds are good stuff, bottom line. The start has proper 'big main event' pacing; wonderful use of the test of strength and the first strike exchange to get the crowd into it; REALLY effective transition to Kobashi working the neck; a REALLY good extended sequence for Akiyama's transition; and Akiyama's control segment escalates things without delving into finishers. The last third is what makes the match famous, but to me is the weakest part. If you're big on AJ '90s style, the first chunk of the match is as good an example as you got in NOAH. If you're big on head drops, the last chunk is right up your alley. Keep in mind, I'm *more critical than average* about this match.