This review was commissioned by @avalanchestyle over on my Ko-fi account. As of this writing commissions are still open, they’re going for $10 a pop. If you want to seek out my specific thoughts on a match that I haven’t gone into yet, this is the way to do it.
Perhaps my greatest struggle with this match stems from the fact that I want the exact opposite of what the bookers want. In this match, Naomichi Marufuji wins the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship for the first time, to a rather strong response from the live crowd. From the structure to the result, this is clearly meant to be a big deal for Marufuji, a major step forward in his young career towards becoming one of the key stalwarts of NOAH’s junior division. In general, viewers are supposed to want him to win.
I didn’t really want Naomichi Marufuji to win this match.
In fact, Marufuji remained one of my main frustrations in this bout, despite having some shining moments. To get the obvious out of the way, his leg selling is just all over the place. It wouldn’t be something I latch onto so much if there weren’t such a lengthy control segment in the second act based entirely around Takaiwa working over the leg. It’s a brutal cut off that kicks off that segment too, with Takaiwa swiping away Marufuji’s legs as the challenger climbs the ropes. There’s even a lengthy figure four spot that Marufuji can’t escape on his own strength, only surviving long enough to make it to the ropes.
Despite this, Marufuji’s comebacks consist entirely of leaping at his competition. Big dropkicks, running, climbing the ropes and springing off to do more kicks. He gestures towards the leg damage with an occasional hop or grabbing at the knee, but it stretches the imagination a little too far for me. It’s not just the limb selling though, his floppy selling of the match’s general damage between spots never quite landed right to me especially when paired against someone as grounded as Takaiwa. It doesn’t help that in general, I didn’t care for Marufuji’s comebacks to begin with. He’s working with a lot of flash and speed here, using it to contrast Takaiwa’s far more subdued and direct style, but it’s a contrast of styles that never quite gels to its maximum effect.
The main problem though is that I just like the stuff Takaiwa’s doing more. He’s not entirely perfect here, some of those holds get locked on for a while, and Marufuji’s certainly not going to put in the work to make those interesting. But Takaiwa’s bigger offense rules. There’s that early string of powerbombs at the bell, even onto the BIG RAMP, then just a constant string of big lariats to cut the spirited challenger down. I even liked how ineffective Marufuji’s early comeback attempts were because of how damaging those first few powerbombs were. Even when he ranas Takaiwa on the ramp or escape Takaiwa’s chain wrestling, he’s still deep enough in the whole that the champion retains his control for the most part.
There’s a few really cool bombs in this too that keep it from being awful. Marufuji’s always good for those and the super powerbomb countered into a rana especially sticks in the memory as the match really starts to ramp up towards the finish. I like too that Takaiwa pays for his complacency towards the end. His cocky attitude gets punished when he breaks up his own pin on Marufuji, and he obviously comes to regret that by the time the match ends.
Much like Marufuji’s performance in this, inconsistent but not awful enough to detract from the moment.
Rating: ***1/2
