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Here we are back in Pro Wrestling NOAH! It's 2002 and the matches this year is known for are the NJ vs NOAH Jr tags. I did some digging and found the reviews - yay! I'll mix those in with this week's new stuff. Per the 2001 posts, this is mainly going to be stuff that is a little under the radar. The exceptions are Akiyama, Yuji Nagata vs Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa (02/17/02) & Misawa vs Takayama rematch from 09/02. I only ever saw highlights and dammit this is the time to finally see the whole matches! Tsuyoshi Kikuchi/Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Jushin Liger/Wataru Inoue (2/17/02) This is full of stiff shots and heat. It’s getting hot in here! Like Nelly! Remember him? The guy with the bandages on his cheek and gold fronts. Yeah, now you remember…unfortunately. Where was I? Oh! Wrestling!! This was a fun fire building match especially when you pick a side. I picked NOAH. I like Liger but, most of the NJPW roster at this point in time is unremarkable. Inoue is a good example of that. Anywho…It was great seeing Kikuchi of yore. I mean this dude stood toe-to-toe with the likes of Jumbo and Kawada in the early 90s. He brings what remains to this match. Kanemaru is fun but certainly needs that surly old goat to help him out against the likes of Liger and Watery Inoue. ----- Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio vs Yoshihiro Takayama & Takao Omori (02/17): Wild Two vs No Fear! A heavyweight super battle. This is the match I knew that they could have. No quarter given and none expected. The strikes were hard enough to crack concrete. Then some if the big moves were so sick looking because the guys are so big...they can't roll through with the momentum like a smaller guy. Rikio's Germans were especially nasty looking. A classic match for sure! Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata vs Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa (02/17/02): Here's one that I have wanted to see for a long while. This is a great match and probably what I'd consider a near classic. This had a lot going for it. I really dug Akiyama as champ not backing down or tagging out too soon. The rest was very good but not exceptional. And maybe that's an expectation thing...It definitely had some really sick moments. As a part of the NJ vs NOAH feud thing, this definitely is very good stuff and feels like the start of something rather than an awesome endgame encounter. I wish there was more to it than this...I think Nagata's NOAH stuff in '03 goes really well with this and probably was supposed to take place in '02. This definitely feels like it in a few ways however I believe Kobashi gets hurt during this or isn't quite 100% recovered (this is his return match from knee surgeries/rehab) and is off until the middle of '02. I've seen a **** rating and I'll agree with that. Akitoshi Saito vs Kentaro Shiga (04/07/02): Oh man the Shiga indie hero dream lives on This is really fun stuff as Shiga looks to have left Sterness and is squaring off against Akiyama's enforcer Saito. He doesn't stand a chance or does he? It's under 10 minutes and is a blast. Shiga has the worst chops ever but makes up for it by throwing stiff ass elbows... Saito is a bull and incapable of not hitting somewhat stiff so yeah this was really good. Jushin Liger/Minoru Tanaka vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi/Yoshinobu Kanemaru (04/07/02): Liger is he such a jerk-ass heel! Man does he punk the hell out of old Kikuchi and fancy pants Kanemaru. This was pretty good but, the NOAH team was out classed and outmatched. That doesn’t stop them from laying in some shots. I’m a bit of a Minoru fan so, this was a fun one. He was such a dick here! This isn’t so much a puro-style match as a fun American heel-babyface type tag match. ----- Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kodo Fuyuki (04/07/02): Very good match that I appreciated more than many of the fans. I think many of them were like "who's this fat guy making noises?" And that raises a good point, AJPW and NOAH can be pretty dry sometimes. When watching Fuyuki in other promotions, his noises aren't out of place at all. In a NOAH ring, I was taken a back. So this definitely is one I'm glad I got to see as a Fuyuki fan. It's got a little "garbage wrestling " which again fans didn't know what the fuck to do with Like do you people ONLY watch NOAH? You've seen a table get broken, right? It's 2002! Kenta Kobashi & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Masao Inoue & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (07/05/02): A fun match but it looks like a few minutes were chopped out (pun intended). No bother, you're watching this for Kobashi to hit people hard! Kotaro is super young here and looks to occupy the same ecological niche that KENTA did in 2001. Kobashi gets a 2nd comeback match. This one is way less taxing and he thankfully is back for awhile. KENTA & Takuma Sano vs Jun Akiyama & Kotaro Suzuki (07/26): KENTA #1 vs KENTA #2 to start things off and nice junior offense to open up with! I don't know if this is the first instance of surly KENTA vs veterans but it's a damn good one. Akiyama is so good in knowing when to no sell and when to sell here...he's probably the best of the big guys from AJPW in working with younger guys. Sano doesn't make a giant impression here because he knows that's not what the match is about. He does his job well in neutralizing Akiyama and,putting the hurt on he & Suzuki when he needs to. This is a great tag match. We really get to see the KENTA we come to know here both in attitude and move set. Suzuki really shined here as well. These 08/29 matches are in NJPW but I'm including them here: KENTA vs. Wataru Inoue (8/29/02) – This is wrestled like you typical early 2000s junior match. There’s a lot of stiff elbows to no real effect, there’s fun spots but, the match isn’t awesome or anything. It’s a quick small show match with two youngsters. I love me some KENTA and if you’re a fan then you’ll like this one. He bleeds from his mouth…and he wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s pretty good for two rookies. Solid but, unremarkable. By the way the cross-arm bar and the mounted elbows are really big in 2002 it seems. Koji Kanemoto vs. Makoto Hashi (8/29/02)- Hashi goes up against king prick Koji! The thing is that Koji thinks he’s tough shit but, Hashi is from NOAH- the hardest hitting, biggest bomb dropping-est (what?) promotion in the world. That’s good for Hashi since Koji figures he’ll practice his kicks on young Makoto’s lumpy head. Makoto remembers he eats kicks for breakfast…Kid tested mother approved…and chops and head butts the piss out of Kanemoto. I mean Hashi brings his ‘A game’ to take out the then IWGP Jr. champ. I’m always rooting against that smirking bastard! I love to hate him. The Noah Doughboy does me proud. Now that I think about it this match reminds me of the early 90s NJ vs. WAR feud. It’s very good stuff. Fuckin' love Koji... ----- Jushin Liger/Minoru Tanaka vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi - (8/29/02) – Seiji Sakaguchi’s out there. Hey! Why don’t you whisper into the mic some more? I kid! Liger comes out in some red long johns like he’s my grandpa. The costume change must be meaningful because he’s full of the piss and vinegar I keep hearing about. He didn’t count on Kikuchi and Kanemaru drinking jugs & jugs of old apple cider though! They bring the business to the NJ Jr. belt holders. Who’s tough now Liger? Hahaha! It doesn’t stop Minoru from being smug…and I love it. But, the story of this match stems from the man with the Rising Sun on his pants. To address this, I present a series of questions. What words does Kikuchi croak out of that cigarette and sake scarred gullet? Is it ‘Kill me?’ I ask this because if this is his wish, Liger is the genie of the lamp! Your wish is my command! Oh, tag out Kikuchi! We get it! You’re tough!! I love it though. These men deserve a round of applause; this is the match you wanted all along. Near Classic stuff! 2002 is definitely a year that gets overlooked in NOAH history but so far it's pretty darn great stuff! The junior stuff is fantastic as many people have said but what I like about it is that NOAH feels like WAR for the 2000's. It's not getting by on these amazing classic singles matches alone. The company is striving to have more complete cards with the junior matches being as interesting as the heavyweight stuff. I know I have read that Misawa was a big proponent of this and you see that here. I also really dig the evolution of Wild Two Rikio & Morishima. Their match vs Omori & Takayama is a fine example of how they have grown since their 07/2001 bout vs No Fear. More good stuff is on the way for next time as we conclude 2002. Thanks for reading!!

You just know a match is gonna be good when it starts with Kobashi getting his plancha attempt to the outside countered into a nasty powerslam by Dr Death lol. Williams works his back over more by slamming him into the ring post, as well as slapping on a few working holds on top. Kikuchi tries to help out but Doc's more annoyed than actually threatened by the poor guy. Ace tries to continue the trend with some corner shots but Kobashi counters his second one into a big backdrop, which was a well timed spot and quite unexpected. This gives enough room for his partner to take charge, but eventually Kikuchi goes back to his natural role as the whipping boy of the Super Gen. Ace also does that unique bit where he has the guy in the Tree of Woe position, but then goes outside to choke him. It's nothing special, but I like the visual of it and Williams stomping the poor lad while this is happening just looks mean; it doesn't actually help their chances any, they just do it for the sake of bullying the guy. Ace isn't as perhaps explosive as his counterpart but his nasty stiff boots and kicks do get a lot of sympathy for Kikuchi's struggle as well. Eventually Kikuchi counters a suplex but gets grabbed for a Ace Crusher. Kobashi gets in the way, managing to stun him good enough for Kikuchi to land a flush calf kick out of it. Kobashi gets tagged in and has a awesome spot with Ace where he's trying to get his Machine Gun Chops started, but Ace keeps interrupting with his own, even doing a parody of them at one point to set the guy off. Kobashi later takes over with a loose lariat and a weird Dominator-lite move where he gets him in position for the move, but then just runs and then abruptly drops him on his back while there, basically like a Jackknife but instead of a powerbomb position it's a backbreaker instead. It's feels like a botch yet gets a big near fall, which makes me think this was Kobashi trying something new like his infamous "Diamond Head" attempt. Lead to finish has Williams and Kobashi go at it with chop exchanges and a brutal German by the former. He tries for a Oklahoma but Kikuchi dropkicks him mid-attempt. Kikuchi tries virtually everything to save the team, including taking Williams surprisingly close to his limits as well as getting near falls on Ace with a superplex and a big German, but both are kicked out of. He tries for a top rope move but gets reversed into a big Ace Crusher, which only just gets saved by Kobashi! Great timing on that sequence, it got the crowd really going. Kobashi's luck runs out as Kikuchi is pinned with a Doctor Bomb from Ace, being too slow to stop the pin on the outside. All in all, a solid outing and better than the Misawa 6-man. This has some great tension, Kikuchi gets a nice moment in the sun after a drop-off in recent years, being a great underdog and playing up his more agile style perfectly: this is probably his best match for....honestly a good few years, barring his singles with Kobashi or his mythical "lost" match he had with Ogawa in 2000; he doesn't get much big stages to shine after this. Kobashi and co put on expected performances all in all: as much as you'd expect from them at this point but for a beginning of year show there's a lot of just good old-fashioned intensity. Ace carries his share of the match well and steps up to the occasion, which was cool to see given he's a pretty good wrestler when not being insanely overshadowed most of the time.

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This is second match on the card. Kikuchi is in his karate pants for teaming up with Aoyagi. Nobody would look at this match on paper and expect a great match, but what we get is really fun with each guy bringing their trademarks. The ending run is ridiculously fun as Aoyagi goes crazy spin kicking everyone and the crowd being really excited for him potentially winning this meaningless undercard match. Honda didn't do much except really squeezing people with headlocks, teasing the Dead End and having some cool selling after eating some nasty leg kicks from Aoyagi & Kikuchi. Sometimes, less is more.

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The first Slinger match that I know of that received some modest hype. I'm not sure if the consensus on Slinger was that he sucked or that simply nobody paid attention. Anyways this was an unexpectedly intense scrap with some gnarly submissions. I wonder if AJPW did sudden finishes on houseshows a lot at this time because the crowd really bites on the holds (granted these guys were really stretching eachother to the max). Add a constant feeling of struggle and both guys being willing to kick the shit out of each other and you have an enjoyable match in the vein of a stiff undercard fight. There was an awesome backslide spot too that was one of the better "wrestling" spots I've seen in a match in a while.

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Just another night in All Japan Pro Wrestlings greatest period. Taue and Kawada are OBSESSED with beating the hell out of eachother and it's awesome! Kikuchi takes a beating! Grass is green! This is probably not a must see piece, but still so much fan to watch. Taue and Kawada are exactly fighting each other like two guys in a heated feud should - constantly derailing the match to beat eachother up. There is a good FIP secton on Kikuchi - he doesn't take one of his biggest beatings (thankfully), but still gets slammed and kicked around good - and in a funny moment he gets heel heat when breaking up a pinfall right after surviving said heat section. Nothing mindblowing, but I'm always glad I checked out a match which ends with Kawada punching Taue in the mouth repeatedly.

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Random as hell match that I saw at the RealHero Google Drive. Ikeda and Ono come in and get a really nice reaction, then Kikuchi and Ogawa kind of eat their lunch. Kikuchi was uncooperative to the max and didn't sell a thing. Ogawa just did his usual spiel. There were some stiff as hell moves here, including Ikeda dishing out some of his stiffest shots I've ever seen on Kikuchi, Kikuchi firing back like a madman and Ono responding to Ogawa's pro style punches with shoot strikes, aswell as a brutal series of german suplexes to Ono. Fun match, but I would've liked a real match and not something borderline unprofessional. This was about the only match of Ikeda in AJPW where he was treated as anything special. I wonder if this was some sort of test as lot of AJPW guys were watching from the side.