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[2006-03-05-NOAH-Navigate For Evolution] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takeshi Morishima


Loss

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  • 4 months later...

This was good. Morishima's early offense consists of clubberins and lariats, but it works. Misawa, well, he uses lots of elbows. I thought the match relied too much on bombs, but only by a small margin. Morishima would need to drop tons of bombs to put away Misawa. I'm not a huge fan of the match, but I think it could show up in the 70-75 range.

 

Edit: Morishima is huge in this match. He keeps up with Misawa in the stiff strikes, sells really well, delivers big with the bombs late and bumps his ass off. Also, he goes from the top turnbuckle to the floor. At over 300 pounds that is a feat.

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Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takeshi Morishima - Budokan 3/5/06

 

At a Budokan show that featured four old guard vs new guard matches, Takeshi Morishima looked to shine against the resilient Mistuharu Misawa. Early on, Morishima looked like an unstoppable force in the ring. His lariat was crisp and I wished that would his strike of choice. His elbows are fine, but Vader-esque forearms tends to leave a lot to be desired. Still he was showing great energy and mobility for a man his size. I have always loved Morishima's look and the Japanese commentators compare him to Terry Gordy. The match told the classic Misawa story of rope-a-dope with Misawa letting his opponent punch himself out and time his comebacks. Misawa hits a diving elbow, but takes more out of Misawa and Morishima hits a shoulder block from the top rope to the floor. While some of these spots looked impressive, Morishima felt like a plug-in-play wrestler in the Misawa formula and was not bringing that extra spark to separate himself from the pack of young guns. Morishima is bleeding from the nose for no apparent reason and hits a powerbomb. He looks for another on the ramp, but silly Morishima you can't powerbomb Misawa twice and Misawa-rana follows. Misawa goes offense with his usual aerial spots. He hits the Tiger Driver and then goes for the Tiger Driver off the apron, but Morishima throws him off the apron. Morishima is confident when hitting the lariat. Sometimes he look lethargic and indecisive in the ring.

 

In the big spot of the match, Misawa hits a Tiger Driver off the apron onto the floor. So much JIGGLE~! on the slow-motion replay. The count is on, but Misawa rolls him in. Morishima hits him with a wild forearm. Morishima runs through his big offensive run: back drop driver, exploder, lariat and back drop driver. The final kick out gets a big pop and we all know it is over for Morishima. Misawa roocks him huge with a massive elbow in corner. Misawa relentless with elbows throwing the ref off. Morishima makes a final stand, but succumbs to the Elbow Onslaught.

 

Misawa by the number is a great formula and produces enjoyable matches. Morishima went on offense early and Misawa peppered in his hope spots. Then Morishima got one big run before the eventual Misawa elbow barrage. It is up to the opponent to make them something special and memorable out of this well-designed formula. Morishima gave an uneven performance. There were some great spots, but there was something lacking in charisma and selling. Outside of the lariat, he did not seem to having anything he could fall back on. Morishima has the look and good fundamentals to build on. He just needed more time to mature. Unfortunately, 2006 was pretty much now or never for the NOAH young guard and no one was ready. Misawa pitched him a softball and Morishima hit a double. Aint nuthin wrong with a double except when you needed that home run. ***3/4

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  • 4 months later...
  • 2 years later...

Really good match and a showcase for Morishima. He absolutely batters Misawa for about 70% of this match with Vader-like looping strikes and lariats. Old man Misawa still looks good here as well, occasionally flying but mostly relying on his trusty forearm to wear the big man down. Misawa actually loses his cool twice and just beats the shit out of Morishima with forearms in a "Stay down!" sort of way. Really reminded me a lot of the Misawa-Vader matches with Misawa having nothing but the forearm and roaring elbow to even phase the big man. Misawa gets the win but Morishima looks like a million bucks.

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  • 7 months later...
Baby Huey is such a loveable hangry mess here and old man Misawa bumps like crazy for him, making the clobberin’ slop look like absolute barbarism. When Misawa pops him in the schnozz with an elbow, Morishima snaps, lobbing elbows and rocking him with back-to-back-to-back lariats. Look, finesse isn’t a part of Morishima’s repertoire but that’s part of the charm, as he’s vicious with his clubbing forearms in the corner and flattens Misawa with a nasty lariat on the outside, just dominating the legend. Misawa gets a little reprieve with some snug elbows and a big tope suicida through the ropes but the big baby takes over again on offense, powerbombing Misawa. Knowing Misawa’s fate, this is a cringeworthy match for sure, considering the amount of physical abuse both guys endure, and at times, it’s hard to watch Morishima continually fold him up with backdrops and a gnarly uranage. And of course, Misawa tiger driving Morishima’s big ass off the fucking ring apron. Morishima’s nose is a bloody mess but that doesn’t deter Misawa from elbowing the shit out of him in the corner and on the ground, the ref hopelessly trying to intervene only to get shoved back. At one point, Morishima challenges Misawa to fire off more elbows, which isn’t the smartest idea, and after running and rolling and more grounded elbows, Misawa puts him away with one final lunging elbow shot. Brutal warfare.
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  • GSR changed the title to [2006-03-05-NOAH-Navigate For Evolution] Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takeshi Morishima

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