NOAH 3/5 Results - Kobashi vs Rikio

[Tawren 0]

NEW HERO! Takeshi Rikio overcame 2 year GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi to become the 7th champion in todays main events.

 

Today's full results:

 

NOAH, 3/5/05

Tokyo Nippon Budokan

16,200

 

1. Takuma Sano, Jun Izumida & Makoto Hashi beat Tamon Honda, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Kishin Kawabata (15:08) when Izumida used the Mukado Domu on Kawabata.

2. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Takashi Sugiura & SUWA beat KENTA, Ricky Marvin & Low Ki (17:43) when SUWA used the FFF on Marvin.

3. Bison Smith, The Gladiator & Ace Steel beat Akira Taue, Yoshinari Ogawa & Go Shiosaki (15:35) when Steel used a Swinging DDT on Shiosaki.

4. Scorpio & Doug Williams beat Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue (17:17) when Scorpio used the 450 Splash on Inoue.

5. GHC Hardcore Openweight Title: Mohammed Yone beat Naomichi Marufuji © (12:36) with the Muscle Buster to become the 3rd champion.

6. Shinjiro Otani ZERO-ONE MAX & Tatsuhito Takaiwa ZERO-ONE MAX beat Mitsuharu Misawa & Kotaro Suzuki (18:02) when Takaiwa used a Death Valley Bomb on Suzuki.

7. Genichiro Tenryu & Minoru Suzuki Pancrase beat Jun Akiyama & Takeshi Morishima (14:30) when Tenryu used a lariat on Morishima

8. GHC Heavyweight Title: Takeshi Rikio beat Kenta Kobashi © (27:11) with the Muso to become the 7th Champion.

 

Show Notes:

 

-KENTA and SUWA continued to brawl after their match. In a post match interview Kanemaru said when asked what he thought of facing KENTA in a GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title match that he thought it was an interesting idea.

 

-Shinjiro Otani said that since Mitsuharu Misawa was on the losing side of their match that he should appear in Zero-One Max for no performance fee. Tatsuhito Takaiwa referenced Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA's GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title and said that he wanted to challenge for it in the future.

 

-Takeshi Morishima entered the semi-main to Jumbo Tsuruta's theme and in a ten gallon hat. Countering Shinobu Kandori, who was in Akiyama and Morishima's corner, Genichiro Tenryu brought out Akira Hokuto who was instilled in Tenryu & Minoru Suzuki's corner. Kandori and Hokuto feuded outside the ring during the match. In post match interviews, both Tenryu & Suzuki voiced their opposition to Morishima using Tsuruta's theme.

 

-Takeshi Rikio openly wept after defeating Kenta Kobashi for the GHC Heavyweight Title. Almost a year to the day that Rikio was beaten by Kobashi in his first challenge for the belt, Rikio was the stronger man today as his Muso finisher once again defeated Kobashi. A huge "RIKI" chant broke out post match that Rikio thanked the fans for. Rikio said that he wanted to become a champion like Kobashi, one that was loved by the fans.

 

 

Credit: Noah.PuroresuFan.com

 

Sounds like a pretty interesting show with a really surprising main event result. I did not see that one coming at all.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

 

I'm quite surprised and confused by this. At least it wasn't Misawa.

[The Decemberists 0]

GHC Heavyweight Title: Takeshi Rikio beat Kenta Kobashi © (27:11) with the Muso to become the 7th Champion.

 

 

 

Not a huge fan of Rikio to be honest... would rather have kept the belt on Kobashi or even give it back to Misawa if they had to have a title change, as he can still really go when he want, in my opinion anyway.

[Guest jobsquad]

well mabey they took the title off kobashi so they can do the big matches misawa Vs kawada & kobashi Vs kawada without the belts getting in the way of the booking.

 

but perhaps i am ignoring large chunks of dark clouds to concentrate on silver linings

[Guest Joe_G]

Not a huge fan of Rikio to be honest... would rather have kept the belt on Kobashi or even give it back to Misawa if they had to have a title change, as he can still really go when he want, in my opinion anyway.

 

Misawa's body is shot and I really can't see him being the top guy anymore. Rikio's not a great choice but he's probably the best one they have--relatively young, pretty good worker, not super over but the crowd likes him.

 

It's funny that New Japan has really good young prospects like Tanahashi and Nakemura, but they do so many stupid booking things. NOAH is very careful about booking it's top title, but really has no blue chip prospects.

[Guest Black Tiger]

I'm not sure where I stand yet on the title change. On one hand, its good to see them finally giving a younger guy the ball, and its logical since Rikio got that win over Kobashi in the tag tournament. I've never been personally fond of Rikio, but I understand he's stepped his game up a lot since his 3/6/04 challenge, which wasn't really that great, but it was definitely on the higher end of the Kobashi defense spectrum.

 

This was definitely a step in the right direction with NOAH have so few wrestlers who are legit top contenders, I think that they may as well go all the way with Rikio. Even if it fails like Ogawa did back in 2002 (ironically enough Rikio's first GHC Challenge was to Ogawa) then at least the attempt was made. I personally think Rikio's first challenge needs to be Misawa. If Rikio goes over Kobashi twice and then Misawa. He will definitely be made as a big name.

 

I'd also like to see Rikio defend against Honda. Honda vs Akiyama was shockingly good, and Honda vs Kobashi was probably Kenta's 3rd best defense (behind Takayama and Akiyama). So if nothing else defending the GHC against Tamon Honda will give you a good match under your belt. Rikio vs Morishima and Akiyama also seem likely. Plus Tenryu will probably challenge at some point, although I'd personally rather he stay away from the belt and either have his big money matches with Misawa and Kobashi. Or team with Suzuki or Koshinaka for the GHC Tag Titles.

 

The whole show looks very good, and its nice to see the token junior six man got plenty of time. I'm looking forward to KENTA vs Kanemaru, as hopefully Kanemaru, the enternal placeholder champion will lose it, to the man who probably should have won it from Lyger in the first place. With KENTA and SUWA keeping their feud up, I also look for a KENTA/Marufuji vs Takaiwa/SUWA defense (where SUWA goes over KENTA, and sets up a GHC Jr. Title match). The Z1 vs NOAH tag looked like tons of fun, with the NOAH Junior killer Takaiwa getting to add Suzuki to his list of victims (Marufuji, Kanemaru, and Kikuchi in 2001. KENTA in 2002, and now Suzuki in 2005).

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

NOAH is very careful about booking it's top title, but really has no blue chip prospects.

That is why the GHC Title is probably the most credible major title in wrestling. Challengers are built up well, and the matches are all usually good to great, with clean finishes. Nothing stupid happens with the title, and fans take it seriously, which is why title matches draw so well.

[Guest JebusNassedar]

NOAH is very careful about booking it's top title, but really has no blue chip prospects.

That is why the GHC Title is probably the most credible major title in wrestling. Challengers are built up well, and the matches are all usually good to great, with clean finishes. Nothing stupid happens with the title, and fans take it seriously, which is why title matches draw so well.

NOAH "COME AND WATCH IN ARIAKE", 4/7/02

Tokyo Ariake Colosseum

12. GHC Heavyweight Title: Yoshinari Ogawa beat Jun Akiyama © (4:20) with a modified inside cradle to become the 3rd champion.

 

Other than that, yeah, the GHC title is treated well.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

While that idea looks bad on paper, it did have a certain logic to it. NOAH fans, like All Japan fans, weren't popping for anything in the top matches until the 15:00 minute mark, because they 'knew' it wasn't going to end yet. Therefore, what better way to educate them to not taking anything for granted by having a GHC Title match end in less than 5 minutes ? Sure, it might have hurt the GHC Title a little, but if fans see the top title changing in sub-5 minute matches, it better educates them to other top matches possibly ending at any time.

[Guest JebusNassedar]

While I see the point of the move, I dont think that Ogawa should have been the man to do it. If they did this with someone like, say, Honma, I'd buy that a lot more. Because Ogawa beating Akiyama would be like Benoit losing the World Heavyweight Title to a returning X-Pac. The intent is good, but the execution leaves something to be desired.

 

Or maybe I'm just bitter that Akiyama hasnt been given a chance to run with the ball ever since then.

[edotherocket 0]

Has anyone had a chance to see the Kobashi/Rikio match yet? Was it any good?

[Mystery Eskimo 0]

I saw it...was ok. They seemed to spend more time teasing powerbombs onto the ramp then anything else though.

[iggymcfly 0]

How, credible can the title be when it's held by some short pudgy bald guy with zero muscle mass? Honestly, that guy looks about as athletic as Paul Heyman.

[Guest Joe_G]

How, credible can the title be when it's held by some short pudgy bald guy with zero muscle mass? Honestly, that guy looks about as athletic as Paul Heyman.

 

Yeah, they should put it on Chris Masters!

 

Rikio's listed as 6'3 (not sure if that's legit, but I wouldn't call him short). And he is a beefy guy, but he gets around the ring just fine.

[Sass 0]

I needed some time to think about this match. I have not seen the match yet and I hope to soon. With that said...

 

Tenryu or Sasaki should have beaten Kobashi for the belt. Not Rikio.

 

Rikio does not have a top dog "aura" or presence to him when he steps into the ring. Morishima shows more personality and fire than Rikio and has garnered louder pops than him on many shows. It shows. The fans believe in Morishima more than Rikio and that's how it'll stay unless Rikio gets a personality overhaul. Kobashi's first title match against Rikio was elementary. He wasn't going to lose. Rikio should have gone 0-2 instead of 1-1 with this last win being the most important.

 

It's not his time.

 

Kobashi should have beaten Rikio. Kobashi's next challenger could have then been Morishima. Neither guy has a singles or tag pinfall against the other (IIRC). They have a clean slate. Morishima swears retribution against Kobashi for the defeat of his partner at Kobashi's hands. Sure, Rikio would be 0-2 against Kobashi but he's like the Lance Storm to Morishima's Chris Jericho during their Thrillseekers days. That's just how it should be booked. Morishima has more upside than Rikio does and that plays a huge role in how fans will perceive a wrestler turned champ. Misawa gave the belt to the wrong Takeshi here. Morishima is the guy who could convince fans he's the champ and not look like a transitional errand boy.

 

What could have *really* made NOAH some bank was if Kobashi entered into a feud with the Sasaki Office. Kobashi vs. Kensuke Sasaki, Genichiro Tenryu & new recruit Toshiaki Kawada would pique people's interests. Especially the Sasaki match. Kobashi already wrestled Suzuki, who was a special member of the group, so the gears for a feud could be set right there.

 

Kobashi should just have beaten both of the Takeshi's and then lose the belt to Tenryu or Sasaki in his next title defense. None of NOAH's regulars are strong enough to beat Kobashi. The outsiders are the only ones with the chance to dethrone him. That storyline could have worked. From a business standpoint, the money matches would lie with Kobashi/Akiyama/Misawa vs. Sasaki/Tenryu/Kawada in singles and tag team matches. Bring in Suzuki and some other Sasaki Jr. proteges and NOAH could have a 1 to 2 year money boat trip on their hands within the Heavyweight and Jr. divisions.

 

Once champ Tenryu or Sasaki cut down guys like Kobashi, Akiyama, Misawa, Taue, Sano, and Ogawa is when one of the Takeshi's should be made the champ. It'd have more importance if the "younger" guys did something that the aging veterans were unable to do. Then the "younger" Takeshi's, preferably Morishima, can do the same thing and beat the older guys and *hopefully* get the fans to believe that they're the future and really *are* the champions of NOAH.

 

Wins, wins, wins, and wins are crucial towards building up someone strong. Rikio has never had important singles matches against NOAH's upper tier guys like Kojima and Kea have had in All Japan against guys like Kawada, Muto, Tenryu, etc. Now, Kojima can go out and collect the heads of those who stood in his way of a title win.

 

Satoshi Kojima has a top dog aura and presence to him. It's why I think his title reign will help AJPW out now that Kawada is going to be a free lancer. If Muto can keep himself from getting bent over by NJ then Kojima should be the future ace of AJ that many people felt he could have become under NJ's banner. Time and extremely strong booking will be what makes or breaks Kojima's AJ/NJ title crown reign. He won the mother of all title matches in Japanese history. That still does mean something to fans even if NJ's top belt has been booked like shit over the last year or so.

 

Rikio's title reign future does not look sunny at this point unless Misawa starts feeding him top tier guys for the next 8 to 12 months. Hell, Misawa held onto the Triple Crown for 2 *years* during his first run as champ. That's what kind of reign Rikio will need in order to thrive as champ.

 

Misawa is at least trying with Rikio here...

[Guest Black Tiger]

I'd have agreed with you about Morishima, a year ago Sass. But he missed the last half of 2004 with some sort of knee injury.

 

Rikio does not have a top dog "aura" or presence to him when he steps into the ring.

 

Its common in wrestling, that people have to grow into their roles. In WWE did Randy Orton look like a compatent IC Champion when he first won it? No. But in four months he was getting clean and convincing wins over Mick Foley, and looking like the next big star.

 

Kobashi's 1st GHC Title defense against Honda. An awesome match, but it showed Kobashi didn't fully understand the concept of being the top dog. Provided he's given ample time to develop, we'll see how Rikio handles his newfound status.

 

Misawa's first Triple Crown reign. He wasn't accepted as the ace until he beat Hansen in May of 1993.

 

What could have *really* made NOAH some bank was if Kobashi entered into a feud with the Sasaki Office. Kobashi vs. Kensuke Sasaki, Genichiro Tenryu & new recruit Toshiaki Kawada would pique people's interests. Especially the Sasaki match. Kobashi already wrestled Suzuki, who was a special member of the group, so the gears for a feud could be set right there.

 

That can all still happen. Kobashi being GHC Champion isn't required. The key to interpromotional feuding is to NOT involve titles right away, then it means that much more when they do get involved. Misawa could bring in a huge dome crowd for Kobashi vs Tenryu, and then follow up by selling out Budokan for Rikio vs Tenryu for the gold.

 

Wins, wins, wins, and wins are crucial towards building up someone strong.

 

Like pinning the GHC Champion in the finals of a tag team tournament. Which was the first time said champion has been pinned in NOAH, in well over a year.

 

I'm not jumping on the "I told you so" bandwagon. But I'd been saying a few years ago that I thought Misawa had big plans for Rikio. Off the top of my head, the following comes to mind:

 

Rikio is chosen as Misawa's partner for the second Zero One PPV main event.

Rikio has gotten 3 GHC Title shots, and an NWF title shot.

Rikio also got a GHC Tag Title shot as part of the Takeshi RikiMaru team.

 

Number of high profile main events Morishima participated in: 0

Number of GHC Title shots for Morishima: 0

Number of NWF Title shots for Morishima: 0

Number of GHC Tag Title shots without Rikio as partner: 0

[SinToxic 0]

I completely agree with BT.

 

The matches are what make wrestlers into stars in Japan, especially in NOAH where booking is very thought out and sensitive regarding win/loss and Rikio was kept pretty strong in that department.

 

With the GHC title Rikio can now score pinfalls that he would maybe only score in tag matches, which is pretty neat since Rikio is relatively new in the sport and has many things to prove in the main event scene. It's risky and refreshing to push someone with the belt instead of making them into a huge star before getting the belt.

 

For example Rikio with the belt facing Sasaki for the 1st time will hold more interest of the fans than Rikio fighting Sasaki in a non title match, even if Rikio would have been slated to win.

 

and even if you look at the recent polls reported by RD from Green Destiny 25% of fans want Rikio to make his 1st defense against Morishima. Clearly NOAH fans want the new generation to step up and no matter how sluggish Morishima has become fans were made to care about him and Rikio.

 

This is from GD:

 

Tokyo Sports ran two polls to follow up on Takeshi Rikio's GHC Heavyweight Title win at the Tokyo Nippon Budokan. Firstly, the fans were asked to vote on what they hoped Rikio's reign would mean for both Rikio and NOAH; 56% of fans hoped it would represent a generation change.

 

The second question was who the fans wanted to see Rikio make his first defence against; 25% of fans wanted to see Rikio's Wild II partner Takeshi Morishima be Rikio's first challenger, 18% Takeshi RikiMaru stable member Naomichi Marufuji, 14% Mitsuharu Misawa, 11% Genichiro Tenryu, 9% Jun Akiyama & finally 7% wanted to see Satoshi Kojima face Rikio.

[Jingus 0]

My first reaction to this: "Who the hell is Rikio?" I haven't watched much recent NOAH, and I had to go back and look at some internet results just to remember who he was.

 

A question to anyone who's been keeping up with the promotion: had they built up to this big win in any way, or was it a complete surprise ending to what was otherwise presented as a typical title defense? If it's the second one, uh-oh, since "midcard nobody randomly wins da belt" storylines rarely tend to draw money (see Simmons, Ron).

 

But everything else aside... at least it ain't Ogawa.

[SinToxic 0]

Black Tiger got Rikio's highlights listed in a post before mine, the main indicator being the pin he scored over Kobashi in a tag match which showed that he is very much capable of overpowering Kobashi.

 

I must say I was more sure of Rikio winning the title than I was of Kojima getting the triple crown. NOAH does not rely heavy on main event freelancers/outside talent compared to AJPW that have booked these guys under Kawada's reign when he was the champ; Foley, Hashimoto, Tenryu, Tenzan and Sasaki.

 

With that said Kobashi had many worthy and not so worhty opponents beaten during his reign and it was clear that NOAH wasnt gonna waste the belt on an outsider or on someone who had already held the belt.

 

I guess when Kobashi was making his defense against Taue some people saw the chance of a title change but they probably had Rikio in mind as a future champ already and it would look better for him to beat the very long reigning champ Kobashi rather than slow and often comedy match oriented Taue.

[Mystery Eskimo 0]

The second question was who the fans wanted to see Rikio make his first defence against; 25% of fans wanted to see Rikio's Wild II partner Takeshi Morishima be Rikio's first challenger, 18% Takeshi RikiMaru stable member Naomichi Marufuji, 14% Mitsuharu Misawa, 11% Genichiro Tenryu, 9% Jun Akiyama & finally 7% wanted to see Satoshi Kojima face Rikio.

Does Kobashi not get a rematch??

[SinToxic 0]

Does Kobashi not get a rematch??

I doubt he will. Unlike how it's done in WWE/TNA former champs almost never immediately chase the newly crowned champion, especially in NOAH booking since title matches end decisively (no dq, count out or even draw finishes). In Rikio's case it took him over 8 months to get another shot at the match with Kobashi.

[Sass 0]

Well then, I stand corrected. Nice work guys, I tip my hat to you all.

 

I thought Morishima had teamed up with Misawa at the Zero-1 PPV instead. One note, Kobashi has and never will understand how to project himself as the ace of a company. He's had over 10 years to figure it out and he hasn't.

 

I knew about Morishima's knee injury, torn cartilage, but I still figured he was really over with the fans when he came back. At least that's what I had gathered during his return match from a couple months ago.

 

Misawa has always had plans for the Takeshi's since they jumped ship with him to start up NOAH in '00. Rikio got a push practically out of the gate by teaming up with Misawa against Hashimoto and Ogawa in the big co-company tag team match. It was just a matter of telling when Misawa was going to pull the trigger on their singles pushes. They had a 7 month tag team title reign after beating No Fear for the belts and lost them to the Sterness team of Akiyama and Saito. That's not bad company to be next to in the title brackets with.

 

The Rikio tag team tourney win signaled, to me, Misawa finally pulling the trigger on a Rikio push. But I was skeptical as to whether Misawa felt Rikio could hold himself up as the top dog of the company. It appears he does believe in Rikio and possibly Morishima who hasn't gotten pinned since returning to the company.

 

The future looks *much* more brighter for AJPW and NOAH than it does for New Japan right now. There 3rd Young Lions generation is in total free fall with Shibata ditching the company for BIG Mouth and putting Nakamura and Tanahashi at the top of a 1/4 Tokyo Dome show that had no hope of drawing a good crowd. Tanahashi should be the one to have Inoki's blessing for taking the Title Crown from Kojima, not Nakamura. He failed against Bob Sapp who got killed and beaten by both Sasaki and Fujita. That doesn't put Nakamura in a good light to beat Kojima. At least Tanahashi pushed Muto to his limit in their recent singles match. Kojima basically got the rub of his career in his match against Misawa by gaining the upper hand with some offense against the aging legend and the fans reacted to Kojima accordingly. Kojima vs. Misawa at the Tokyo Dome could *maybe* draw a crowd. Maybe. But the booking would have to be top notch. Kobashi vs. Akiyama at 7/10 was elementary because of the shitty and plot hole filled build-up the match had. Perception is everything and good booking could maybe net AJ and NOAH some mint if the two sides started working with each other. Misawa vs. Kawada would be a bust in-ring quality wise but it'd draw if they were willing to work with one another.

 

The polls are a good sign to read about with Rikio's reign. His win does signal a changing of the guard. Hopefully.

[Mystery Eskimo 0]

Does Kobashi not get a rematch??

I doubt he will. Unlike how it's done in WWE/TNA former champs almost never immediately chase the newly crowned champion, especially in NOAH booking since title matches end decisively (no dq, count out or even draw finishes). In Rikio's case it took him over 8 months to get another shot at the match with Kobashi.

Ah, I thought that might be the case. After years of dabbling in puro I've just started getting into it properly. Well, NOAH anyway.

 

Bison Smith amuses me, on a random note.

[Sass 0]

Kobashi starts out at the bottom of the contender ladder. He'll have to work his way up unless Misawa has no other challengers and just starts feeding guys to the champ (Saito, Awesome, Sano, etc.)

 

A re-match between the two could be a draw though.

[Guest Black Tiger]

The WILD II tag title reign goes further than that Sass. WILD II were the fourth champions, but the one who stabalized the titles. Vader/Scorpio, Misawa/Ogawa and No Fear, each lost them in their first defense.

 

Morishima who hasn't gotten pinned since returning to the company.

 

He just got pinned on the 3/5 show, but I think that's been his first loss since coming back. And his return match kicked all sorts of ass. I'm hoping for a Rikio vs Morishima GHC Title match.

 

Kobashi also just gave interview where he stated that he doesn't want a rematch just yet. He'll probably get his win back, by pinning Rikio in a tag or six man tag.

[Sass 0]

...I thought Akiyama got pinned instead of Morishima.

 

I'm losing what's left of my damn senses here.

 

The Takeshi's reign as tag champs did give the division stability. 7 months as champs? That's not too bad. I think losing them to the Akiyama and Saito tag division institution team didn't hurt WILD II either. Only because the guys they lost the belts to really did prove they were the better tag team by beating practically every team NOAH had to throw at them. That does look strong for the former champs.

[Guest Black Tiger]

Losing to STERNNESS didn't hurt WILD II at all. If anything it raised Akiyama and Saito's stock. Because they'd challenged before and come up short.

 

WILD II's reign included wins over Vader/Scorpio (the first champions). Nakanishi/Yoshie (two NJ guys. I don't want to say important NJ guys, but Nakanishi is relatively up there). Akiyama/Saito (a former GHC Champion), and then Misawa/Sano (once again, a former GHC Champion). They were the team who actually MADE the GHC Tag Titles into somthing more important than hot potatos.

 

Sass, did you see Rikio's match on the same show as the Morishima return match? I thought he looked great in that match. Taking Tenryu to the limit and only getting in trouble when Koshinaka jumped him. He also got the win himself, unlike the rat boy (Ogawa) who's big thing was just to crawl over after Misawa did the work.

[Sass 0]

I haven't seen any of the 3/5 show yet. I hope to soon since I'm curious about how Morishima looked now.

[Guest Black Tiger]

I haven't seen any of the 3/5 show yet. I hope to soon since I'm curious about how Morishima looked now

 

If you mean how he physically looked, I posted a pic of him in "post pictures of puroresu" thread. The Morishima return match wasn't the 3/5 show, it was the 1/8 show, the same one with Kobashi's GHC defense against Minoru Suzuki.

 

If I had a better connection than my AOL 56k Dial up, I'd have already downloaded the 3/5 show.

[SinToxic 0]

If I had a better connection than my AOL 56k Dial up, I'd have already downloaded the 3/5 show.

Is that from a personal hook up or you know a place that has the show hosted?