Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

[2000-01-09-AJPW] Yoshihiro Takayama vs Jun Akiyama


soup23

Recommended Posts

These two are strongholds with NOAH in a lot of ways but I can’t recall that many singles encounters with them over the years. Takayama starts off dismantling Akiyama but Akiyama isn’t going to stand for that. He grabs Takayama’s leg and starts working it over in a huge way on the guardrail. I loved the way Akiyama goes into the ring and runs through a sharpshooter, figure four, and STF in quick succession to really crank on the leg. Takayama isn’t someone that is going down with a fight though as the “Hound” character in All Japan. He starts retailiating and really clobbers Jun including cranking his arm over the top rope in effectively painful fashion. Exceptional resourcefulness shown by Akiyama as with him really reeling, he goes back to the leg well and then throws in an Exploder to get a nearfall. He attempts a second one but then gets two crafty rollups and the second one is enough to put Takayama away. This was a load of fun to watch. ***3/4

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Only 10:39 but they did a lot with the time. Akiyama has always worked over a leg really well and that's what he did to Takayama here. Takayama only really sold it when he felt like it, which brought it down some considering that Akiyama returned to the leg a few times, but I would still put this on any short list of strong sub-10 minute matches considering the match's positives. Takayama countered by going after Akiyama's bullseyed arm, which was bandaged up. Efficient as a wrestling match could be, where everything both guys did counted from the opening bell. Good stuff. ***1/2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I liked this a bunch, though it probably stood out more because it was atypical for the promotion. I'm a fan of UWFI Takayama, but this was probably the earliest I've seen him look like the major star he would become. That combination of heavy hitting, competent matwork and selling just enough vulnerability would become his trademark. They really packed a lot into 10 minutes, and I dug the way Akiyama pulled it out using guile more than force.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Takayama looked like a wrecking ball in the early parts of this, especially with the big boot followed by the huge knee. Akiyama working a body part is always good stuff and I liked the leg work a lot. Also liked how Takayama responded by going after the taped up arm, which in true Takayama form often meant plain old big nasty boots to the elbow. Nice match, though like Childs I think it sticks out in part because of its un-All-Japan-ness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a non-believer when it comes to Akiyama. He just doesn't have the tools that I admire in a wrestler. I reserve the right to change that opinion in a year or two, but for now I thought the only positive he showed here was some solid selling. He had a couple of pretty dropkicks, but his dropkick was pretty from his rookie year on. He executed the finish well. But as for going toe-to-toe with Takayama and making you think it's a war? Not the worker to do it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I absolutely love Takayama. His offense looks so explosive and aggressive, just sheer brutality. While not fast, he has a sneaky suddenness to his game that adds another unique wrinkle. This match was about as great as can be given roughly 10 minutes to work with. You had Tak work as this destructive force who Akiyama tries to pick apart through limb work when not getting toyed with. They even build a really great near fall, all the more impressive by having so little time to get there. The finish worked for this particular match and the direction they were going, but I"m a finish guy and this finish will almost always hold a match back a bit for me. Still one of the most fun watches of the month.

 

***3/4

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Seeing the words 'efficient' and 'compact' used to describe this match sums up my thoughts on it. Takayama looks really good in it, his knees were sold awesomely by Jun. I like that Takayama was beat with a roll up rather than put down with an exploder, as it keeps him strong and he seems to be building momentum in the new decade after just floationg though the 90's.

 

***1/4

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

Started off really nice, had me hoping for a more action-packed sprint given the time length, but they slowed it down and had a full match in the short amount of time. Akiyama is one of the better guys I've seen at controlling a workover though given the two guys never meeting in NOAH despite being corners of the promotion I was hoping for something a bit more dramatic. Still pretty fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Between this and the Vader match later Akiyama is really showing how well he can work against big monster opponents. Akiyama comes off like a total badass here, even though hes smaller, standing up to Takayama and really cranking some legwork. When Takayama eventually takes over after working Aliyamas arm, Akiyama resorts to kicks to chop down the big man. I didnt expect Akiyama to win here either so this was a total surprise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, this was good stuff and an easy watch. I like that Takayama was firing heavy early on and Jun's too slick a cat for that shit and he dropkicks Takayama's knee out from under him to set-up the legwork. I always love when Akiyama is working the hell out of a limb -- that apron dropkick to the guardrail was awesome. Loved Takayama's double arm suplex hold. For a big man, he pulls it off so well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Woo boy this was great, but it helps that I love both men and I love both men In the year 2000. Going into this year, my pick and expectation Is that Akiyama is WOTY and Im expecting to be validated and this short little match puts him at a good start.

 

Fwiw, I love Takayama. I love that he bumbles around and is so rough around the edges. I get that it can be unbelievable to some, but it makes it MORE believable to me. I love technical wrestling but having Takayama in there with the all time greats just wrecking shit is super believable to me.

 

Not a blow away match but one that is super solid and features a nice array of work from the guys. Some of Akiyamas dropkicks to Takayamas leg and knee are really brutal (love the one off the apron).

 

I tend to get upset or mark matches down that end with a forward rollup, as even opposed to a schoolboy or cradle, it just looks super unconvincing - would have loved to see the leg put into play for the finish (maybe a cradle that requires Takayama to use his leg to escape?) but thats small grapes. Excited to watch these guys throughout the year (and really any year).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Outside of his amazing 1996 tagging with Misawa, I've never been able to consistently connect with Akiyama. I do however appreciate him when he's ON, and is he ever on in early 2000 (the Vader match on 1/23 rules, and the Misawa match on 2/27 is one of the best matches of the entire decade). Takayama I basically always appreciate and is a constant contender for my top 10 favourite wrestlers of all time.

They quickly ditch the nonsense trading blows (Akiyama standing toe-to-toe in a slugfest with Takayama lmaooooooo no) and make way for Takayama to do what he does best - MAUL A FOLK. Akiyama's selling overall was excellent, reminded me of John Cena at his best. He sold a knee to the gut by spinning in this weird way and it looked amazingly awesome. He sold another one on the outside by shooting his left leg to the side and that also looked really great. This was actually a bit of a WWE/Cena-style match in a way, with Akiyama taking a beating an then finding a desperate opening so he could work the big guy's leg, gradually chopping the tree down. Pretty unlike All Japan to run a match like this.

Match only went 10m39s and they maximized almost every second they had, which is maybe my top compliment for a wrestler/match. I loved it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

This started like it was going to be a sprint, but it wasn't really even though it only lasted 10 minutes. They utilized every second. I thought Akiyama came off as very believable in how he struck down Takayama and got the victory. Good stuff here.

 

***1/2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • GSR changed the title to [2000-01-09-AJPW] Yoshihiro Takayama vs Jun Akiyama
  • 1 year later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...