Kobashi & Akiyama vs Misawa & Taue, 2/3 falls, 8/5/00. Main event on the debut show that sets the table for the rest of the year. Keep watching after the finish.

Kobashi vs Akiyama, 8/6/00. From NOAH's second show ever, this match does a lot to establish that these two are the top guys in the promotion and that Akiyama is no longer in Kobashi's shadow. Good action, interesting middle-point between the kind of match they'd wrestle today and the kind of match they'd wrestle in All Japan. Kobashi isn't completely broken down at this point and it really shows with the amont of *wrestling* he does; probably his last big singles match before he became semi-immoble Chopbashi.

Akiyama, Takayama & Kanemaru vs Kobashi, Rikio & Kikuchi, 9/15/00. Despite appearances this isn't a random 6-man at all. Rookie Rikio is all kinds of fun, Kikuchi has his best showing in years, and we get our first good Kobashi vs Akiyama 6-man.

Akiyama & Takayama vs Kobashi & Kikuchi, 9/16/00. I'm not going to pretend like the outcome is much in doubt, but it's the journey, not the destination.

Akiyama, Takayama & Shiga vs Kobashi, Rikio & Kikuchi, 9/25/00. Not quite as good as the one from 10 days earlier, but close. Rather unusual finisher.

Takayama vs Kikuchi, 10/7/00. Granted, these two can only have 'so' good a match given the size difference... but it can't NOT be good either.

Kobashi vs Omori, 10/11/00. Kobashi doesn't need functional knees to murder you.

Akiyama, Morishima, Shiga & Kanemaru vs Kobashi, Rikio, Kikuchi & KENTA, 12/2/00. Yes, friends. Yes.

Aoyagi vs Marufuji, 12/15/00. Pretty sure this match is from an alternate universe.

Kobashi, Kikuchi & KENTA vs Akiyama, Shiga & Kanemaru, 12/15/00. Burning vs Sternness, always good times. It's kinda remarkable how much the Kanemarus of the roster stepped up in NOAH.

Shiga, Morishima & Kanemaru vs Inoue, Rikio & Sugiura, 12/23/00. Sugiura's debut and a really solid 6-man considering the randomness. 130 MB.

Hashimoto vs Omori, 12/23/00. Hard-hitting, to-the-point. I included some nifty pre-entrance backstage footage. 94 MB.

Misawa vs Vader, 12/23/00. Old guys huckin' bombs at each other.

Kobashi vs Akiyama, 12/23/00. Took way too long to post this, finally a kind soul gave it to me. This was the main event of the first big NOAH show, and it was the last big singles match Kobashi would have for two years. He's an absolute wreck but still gives it his all, and tries to put Akiyama on the shelf in the process.

Misawa & Ogawa vs Hashimoto & Otsuka, 1/13/01. Misawa and Hashimoto DESPISE each other. Hashimoto makes Ogawa his woman and it's everything wonderful about Shinya Hashimoto. Pre-debut Zero-One almost starts a riot in NOAH-land. Glorious.

Akiyama & Vader vs Kobashi & Taue, 1/13/01. Kobashi is about to go out for knee surgery. So imagine this as the scene early in a cop movie right after the old veteran says he's retiring in a week.

Kobashi's face on 1/18/01 in the aftermath of the big matches he had in the previous weeks. The real reason to download this short clip is the preview of the GHC title. Especially the 'G' part.

Kobashi & Taue vs Misawa & Marufuji, 1/18/01, JIP. Young Marufuji has something new and special up his sleeve for the veterans. Also, this is Kobashi's last match before the knee surgery.

Misawa vs Marufuji, 3/3/01. The day after Marufuji's big coming out party in Zero-One, he faces his mentor and throws out everything he's got.

Akiyama, Morishima & Shiga vs Ogawa, Rikio & Marufuji, 3/18/01, some clipping. I never expected a 6-man featuring Ogawa as a team leader to be heated, let alone one taking place in Differ Ariake, but this match proved me wrong! And man, there was just no going wrong with Morishima vs Rikio at this point.

Akiyama vs Omori, GHC Heavyweight Title Tournament. A year earlier Omori beat Akiyama for the first time in a matter of seconds with an axe bomber flurry. Akiyama wants revenge, but Omori has progressed to the point where he can win in non-fluke fashion.

Misawa vs Akiyama, GHC Heavyweight Title Tournament semifinal. Their first match in NOAH, and it was assumed from the start that one of them would win the tournament.

Misawa vs Takayama, GHC Heavyweight Title Tournament final. Takayama has been pinned just twice in the last year, both times by Kobashi. His German suplex and kneelift have been enough to put down everyone, including Kobashi, and he beat Taue in a singles match with a roundhouse. That said, he's facing Misawa. HQ cap.

Misawa vs Takayama, 4/15/01. Lesser VQ but more pre and post match.

Misawa vs Taue, 5/18/01. First-ever GHC title defense. Somewhat low-key but still good. Watch for Taue's jumping boot, which put Misawa away in their last match.

Rikio vs Izumida, 5/25/01, JIP. I've seen Izu singles matches against the likes of Kobashi and Kawada in All Japan, and none of them had near this good a finish.

Akiyama vs Morishima, 5/25/01. By far the biggest match of Morishima's career to date, headlining a mid-size venue in a singles match. Akiyama wants a shot at Misawa and won't hesitate to pull out the big guns.

Rikio & Morishima vs Akiyama & Saito, 6/9/01. The first time Akiyama and Saito teamed up. The big boys only had a couple matches together, so both teams have something to prove. They really go at it, and the finish sets up another match later in the tour.

Akiyama & Saito vs Omori & Sugiura, 6/16/01. Only the second match for the Akiyama/Saito team. Sugiura is, as usual, most interesting when going against heavyweights. Oogly finish.

Misawa, Ogawa, Ikeda & Marufuji vs Akiyama, Saito, Shiga & Kanemaru, 6/20/01. Wave vs Sternness!

Ogawa vs Modest, 7/27/01. Modest is so great in this, and Ogawa is really the best opponent to show off his technical ability.

Misawa vs Akiyama, GHC title, 7/27/01. Having split the last two matchups against each other, and with a draw before that, this could go either way. Both debut big moves for the occasion of NOAH's first show at Budokan Hall.

Rikio vs Hashi, 8/15/01. Hashi should be a piece of cake even for rookie Rikio, but Hashi's spunk and skull make him competitive.

Morishima vs KENTA, 8/15/01. Before they were awesome, but after they were good. If that makes sense.

Akiyama, Saito, Shiga & Kanemaru vs Misawa, Ogawa, Sano & Marufuji, 8/15/01. The match gets by on sheer force of talent. Hey, remember when Shiga was good?

Akiyama, Saito & Hashi vs Rikio, Morishima & Ikeda, 8/27/01. Some clipping, but I did patch in some extra footage by merging the TV and comm tape versions. Rikio, Morishima and Ikeda are all in a four-man contenders tournament later in the tour, so that means Akiyama is an even bigger target than usual.

Akiyama, Saito & Shiga vs Vader, Modest & Morgan, 8/28/01. A really fun match that focuses on Modest.

Takaiwa vs KENTA, 8/31/01. KENTA, having just over a year of experience, is smart enough to realize that unless he starts things to his own advantage he won't stand a chance.

Akiyama, Saito & Shiga vs Takayama, Omori & Asako, 8/31/01. Asako is just a few days from his first (and only) GHC junior title challenge, so he riles up champion Kanemaru who's at ringside to support his stablemates. Oh yeah and also Akiyama and Takayama are in this. Whatever, you know and I know that you're here to see some Asako.

Akiyama vs Honda, GHC title, 9/5/01, JIP. How well can Honda do in his first singles title bout? This is a good preview of what was to come in '03 from Honda.

Ohtani & Omori vs Rikio & Morishima, 10/6/01. Not mind-boggling, but there's hate and stuff.

Misawa & Ogawa vs Ohtani & Omori, tag title tournament, 10/12/01. It's Ohtani's world and we're just living in it.

Modest, Morgan & Slinger vs Ogawa, Marufuji & KENTA, 10/16/01. These guys in a match in 2001 is a good thing. So watch it.

Ohtani, Omori & Asako vs Akiyama, Saito & Kanemaru, 10/16/01. Akiyama and Ohtani go at it in Korakuen!

Ohtani vs Shiga, 10/17/01. Ohtani doing what he does best.

Akiyama & Saito vs Misawa & Ogawa, tag title tournament, 10/17/01, JIP. Third meeting between the teams in just four months, and in the first two Misawa and Akiyama traded pins. Who will take it now that something is on the line?

Modest & Morgan vs Takaiwa & Hoshikawa, 11/18/01. APW versus Zero-One, with a finish that came as a big shock to me.

Akiyama, Shiga & Kanemaru vs Rikio, Morishima & KENTA, 11/18/01. An interesting matchup, because Double Takeshis would beat Akiyama & Shiga but Kanemaru solidly trumps KENTA at this point. Yet another solid match from a largely overlooked period for the company.

Takaiwa & Hoshikawa vs Marufuji & KENTA, 11/30/01. Ah, the days when KENTA was a weak link, gas was $1.25 a gallon, and nobody knew who Zac Efron was. Those were good times.

Takayama vs Morishima, 11/30/01. What happens in this one? They play hopscotch, WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENS.

Akiyama vs Rikio, 11/30/01. A year earlier, rookie Rikio faced NOAH's best in a series of matches. He lasted longest against Akiyama, but fell to the front neck lock. Now Akiyama is champion, while Rikio has three times as much experience and loads of power. Isn't exactly a match of the year but it has its moments.

Taue, Honda & Inoue vs Saito, Shiga & Hashi, 2/17/02. Sternness fights without their leader. HASHI~ steps up big-time, marking the start of his good run.

Liger & Wataru Inoue vs Kikuchi & Kanemaru, 2/17/02. New Japan invades and it is AWESOME. 162 MB.

Misawa & Kobashi vs Akiyama & Nagata, 2/17/02. Kobashi's return from the big knee injury. The reunion of the Misawa/Kobashi team that dominated All Japan for years. Nagata's first match in NOAH. Akiyama's first chance to show up Kobashi after winning the GHC title. Accordingly, everyone kicks it up a notch.

Vader vs Morishima, 3/14/02.

Akiyama & Hashi vs Ogawa & Marufuji, 3/14/02. Lead-in to two tour-end title bouts, Akiyama vs Ogawa and Marufuji vs Hashi. Heck of a match, the first standout performance from Hashi. This wound up being considerably better than the payoffs.

Akiyama vs Hashi, 3/24/02. Hashi wants nothing more than to prove himself to Akiyama. It's Akiyama's job to make that as difficult as possible.

Akiyama vs Shiga, 4/6/02. Shiga has had it with being the 3rd man on Akiyama's crew, and he takes it right to the champ.

Modest, Morgan, Slinger & Superstar Steve vs Honda, Inoue, KENTA & Suzuki, 4/7/02. Fast pace, and the gaijin make it fun.

Liger & Minoru Tanaka vs Kikuchi & Kanemaru, 4/7/02. New Japan juniors heel it up like there's no tomorrow! Kanemaru fights fire with fire! Kikuchi Comeback 2002 continues!

Misawa & Ogawa vs Akiyama & Hashi, 5/11/02. Akiyama and Hashi have only one option: go all-out.

Morishima vs Hashi, 6/5/02.

Rikio vs KENTA, 6/5/02.

Kobashi & Kotaro Suzuki vs Inoue & Kanemaru, 7/5/02. Kobashi's Korakuen return during his first comeback, and really his proper return after the aborted February match. Once again it's all about the Kobashi/Kanemaru interactions.

Kobashi & Kikuchi vs Scorpio & Slinger, 7/14/02, JIP. I clipped out a slow first half so you can get the quite good second half. Niigata loves them some Kobashi.

Akiyama & Kanemaru vs Taue & KENTA, 7/14/02. It's all about baby KENTA taking it right to Akiyama.

Morishima & Ikeda vs Takayama & Bison Smith, 7/26/02. Lotsa BEEF.

Sano & KENTA vs Akiyama & Suzuki, 7/26/02. KENTA once more taking it to Akiyama makes this well worth your time.

Misawa, Kobashi & Asako vs Taue, Inoue & Hashi, 7/26/02. Asako's retirement, featuring retro-tights for Kobashi and a feel-good ending.

Rikio & KENTA vs Kobashi & Suzuki, 8/14/02. Clipped. Kobashi squares off with a more grown-up Rikio! The first ever Kobashi vs KENTA interaction! Also featuring Kotaro Suzuki as Loss Post Pete.

Rikio, Morishima & KENTA vs Misawa, Sano & Suzuki, 8/15/02. Clipped. A battle in the pouring rain!

Kobashi & KENTA vs Misawa & Suzuki, 9/1/02. The first time Misawa and Kobashi got to face off after Kobashi's return, and they do so alongside their students.

Kobashi, Shiga, Kikuchi & KENTA vs Akiyama, Saito, Kanemaru & Hashi, captain's fall elimination, 9/5/02. The first proper Burning vs Sternness tag, and it's the longest of the feud! We only get about half of it though. Shiga looks to prove he's capable of being a #2 after leaving Sternness in the spring. He just took Nishimura to a 30 minute draw. For Akiyama, it's his 10th anniversary of debuting in the same building against Kobashi. For Kobashi, it's his first big match after the summer '02 return. Lots on the line, and with a guarantee of Kobashi or Akiyama taking a fall!

Ogawa vs Takayama, GHC title, 9/7/02. For some reason, Ogawa saved his best for the end of his title reign. He uses some very nice strategery in contrast with Takayama's full-steam-ahead approach. 177 MB.

Kikuchi & Kanemaru vs El Samurai & Naruse, IWGP junior tag titles, 9/23/02. Big crowd heat as usual for the NOAH vs NJ feud, nice compact match that keeps up the momentum through the hot finish. 129 MB.

Rikio & Morishima vs Akiyama & Saito, tag titles, 9/23/02. It's important to put this match in context. This is the first really high-end match for Wild 2, the GHC tag titles, and (for my money) Saito. They absolutely tear the house down. Go out of your way for this.

Takayama vs Misawa, GHC title, 9/23/02. Really stiff, to the point where Misawa injured Takayama with elbows. I don't recall any other match where that happened.

Kanemaru & Kikuchi vs KENTA & Sugiura, IWGP junior tag titles, 10/12/02. The first big NOAH vs NOAH junior tag. Not quite on the level of what they were doing a year later but certainly a big step up.

Kobashi & Shiga vs Akiyama & Kanemaru, 10/17/02. Very famous (or infamous) finish.

Akiyama & Saito vs Kobashi & Shiga, tag titles, 10/19/02. Shiga was bumped from his spot as Sternness' number 2 in favor of Saito. Now with Kobashi's help he has a chance to make good in the biggest match of his life!

Akiyama & Saito vs Kobashi & Shiga, tag titles, 10/19/02. Complete match from the original TV airing.

Lion, Marufuji? & Kevin Mask vs BLAZE, Sasakaman & HALIMAO, 10/31/02. Halloween, NOAH-style. I especially love all things having to do with 'Marufuji'. 86 MB.

Kobashi, Shiga & KENTA vs Akiyama, Saito & Kanemaru, 11/20/02. I spent quite a lot of time scouring the internet to find every last Burning/Sternness match that got taped. This is maybe the most obscure one, and it's good enough to justify the effort.

Kobashi vs Taue, #1 contenders match (I think), 11/24/02. Kobashi's first big singles match since returning, and their first singles match in three and a half years. Taue brings out the big guns in a way he hasn't since NOAH began. 102 MB.

Kobashi & Shiga vs Misawa & Sano, 12/1/02. Both teams lost in a tag title challenge in the last few months, and thus need a win to have any hope of getting another. Also, Kobashi is fresh off a win over Taue and can make an impression on the champ.

Kikuchi & Kanemaru vs Jado & Gedo, IWGP junior tag titles, 12/7/02. You can imagine how this one goes. Really satisfying finish. 154 MB.

Misawa vs Ogawa, GHC title, 12/7/02. Misawa's losses tend to be by knockout after a high-impact finisher. Ogawa clearly isn't going to win by turning the lights out. However Ogawa tries the rarely-used strategy of trying to *wrestle* Misawa, and it pays dividends because 2002 Misawa isn't exactly the mat-wrestlingest guy around.

Kobashi & Taue vs Misawa & Chono, 1/10/03. Kobashi and Chono take it to each other. Big Match Taue delivers the goods as only he can. Misawa does his thang. This dream match delivers.

Akiyama & Saito vs Ohtani & Tanaka, tag titles, 1/10/03. Emblem, fresh off reaching All Japan's tag league final, get to headline Budokan Hall. That makes it the biggest match the tandem ever had. Sternness will have all they can handle to keep the belts from going to Zero-One.

Kobashi & KENTA vs Ohtani & Tanaka, 1/13/03. This was a few months before such a match would be a 25 minute plus main event at Korakuen, but still it's nifty enough. Kyoto KBS Hall sure looks badass.

Kobashi & KENTA vs Misawa & Marufuji, 1/26/03.

Kikuchi & Kanemaru vs Liger & Kanemoto, IWGP junior tag titles, 1/26/03. JIP. The climactic conclusion to round 1 of the NJ vs NOAH juniors feud. 101 MB.

Hidaka & Orihara vs Takaiwa & Y. Sasaki, Differ Cup '03 round 1. The best match of the first night of the tournament was, somehow, this. Orihara can go when he wants, Hidaka can go under almost any circumstances, and Takaiwa is at his wrecking-ball best. Well worth watching despite the lack of, you know, NOAH.

KENTA & Kotaro Suzuki vs Mikami & KUDO, Differ Cup '03 3rd place match. The tiny DDT juniors go toe-to-toe with the big-shot NOAH guys. Lots of disrespect and stiffness and then a ladder comes into play.

Ultimo Dragon & Yoshino vs Takaiwa & Y. Sasaki, Differ Cup '03 final. Yoshino goes from being a T2P guy who does freaky submissions to Ricky Morton rather well. Takaiwa was born to put pretty-boys in peril. That Ultimo guy, he's okay too.

KENTA & Sugiura vs Kanemaru & Hashi, 2/16/03, JIP. This match and its aftermath would form the foundation of NOAH's junior division for years to come.

Kobashi, Honda, Kikuchi & KENTA vs Akiyama, Saito, Kanemaru & Hashi, 2/18/03. Honda's second match as Shiga's replacement in Burning, and it's in his hometown with his mom watching! He meshes darn well and this really is a heck of a match. Just loads of hate.

Takayama vs Masao Inoue, 3/1/03. All kinds of fun. Inoue is completely out of his depth and fights accordingly; Takayama is game to have a good match with anyone. 175 MB because I couldn't find a way to shrink it, but it's in DVD quality.

Music/entrances before Misawa vs Kobashi 3/1/03. Now that's a hot crowd.

Misawa vs Kobashi, GHC title, 3/1/03.

Morishima, Rikio & Ikeda vs Akiyama, Saito & Izumida, 3/16/03. An unexpected amount of hate and intensity makes this all kinds of entertaining. 148 MB.

Saito vs Honda, #1 contenders match, 3/30/03. Honda has developed quite an array of finishers, but Saito is hungrier because he hasn't had a title shot.

Morishima & Marufuji vs Akiyama & Hashi, 3/30/03. Morishima and Marufuji are a week away from a tag title shot against Akiyama and Saito. So they're going to get a lead-in win by steamrolling Akiyama and his young sidekick, right? Not if MAKOTO HASHI has anything to say about it.

Kobashi, Sano & Kikuchi vs Takayama, Ikeda & Sugiura, 4/5/03. You might look at that list of individuals and say to yourself "well there's six men who have no qualms about getting hit really really hard and hitting really really hard in exchange." And you would be correct.

Akiyama & Saito vs Morishima & Marufuji, tag titles, 4/5/03. Biggest match of Marufuji's career to this point, and he leaves it all in the ring. Flabby in the middle (not unlike some of the participants) but a very hot finish.

Takayama vs Rikio, NWF title, 4/13/03. Really simple, effective superheavyweight match.

Kobashi vs Tamon Honda, 4/13/03. Kobashi's first title defense. Kobashi doesn't do anything you couldn't see in a dozen other of his 'big' matches from the last ten years. But Honda, ah, now he's the story. A jobber in All Japan with a strong amateur background, dumpy ol' Tamon has been quietly on a tear and has developed an extensive set of finishers. He's finished off some very notable NOAH names with techniques ranging from knockout suplexes (the Dead End German) to cradles (fireman's carry pin) to submissions (shoulder hold). He's also quite tenacious on the mat. He also bumps like an absolute maniac for Kobashi's suplexes. This set up everything Honda did since. 222 MB.

Takayama, Ikeda & Sugiura vs Kobashi, Honda & KENTA, 5/9/03. Takayama has just won the IWGP title, which makes Korakuen red-hot for the prospect of him tangling with Kobashi. 244 MB.

Kikuchi, KENTA & Kotaro vs Sugiura, Kanemaru & Hashi, 5/11/03. KENTA is in this the least and it's still really good thanks to Kikuchi being surly and going through walls. 159 MB.

Honda/Kobashi/KENTA/Kikuchi vs Saito/Akiyama/Kanemaru/Hashi, Captain's Fall Elimination, 5/14/03. A team loses if either its captain (in this case Honda and Saito) or 'everyone else' drops a fall.

Kobashi, Honda, KENTA & Kikuchi vs Akiyama, Saito, Kanemaru & Hashi, 2/3 falls, 6/1/03. Part 1. Last of the really big Sternness vs Burning stable battles.

Kobashi, Honda, KENTA & Kikuchi vs Akiyama, Saito, Kanemaru & Hashi, 2/3 falls, 6/1/03. Part 2.

Marufuji & KENTA vs Kanemaru & Sugiura, 6/6/03. A preview of the junior tag division.

Misawa vs Sano, 6/6/03. Solid heavyweight match.

Takayama vs Morishima, 6/6/03. Short but very sweet. And by sweet I of course mean brutal.

Taue vs Nagata, 6/6/03. Taue is ridiculously awesome here, dishing out hell from bell-to-bell to stop recently-deposed IWGP champ Nagata.

Akiyama & Saito vs Kobashi & Honda, tag titles, 6/6/03. Following Honda's career performance against Kobashi on the last tour, he was welcomed into Burning as the #2. Over the course of this tour the Burning vs Sternness feud has been rekindled, and they traded wins in two big stable vs stable tags (with Honda and Saito getting falls on one another in the process). Now, Honda is in his first and only Budokan main event and he has to step up now or likely return to mediocrity for the rest of his career. Akiyama, of course, has no desire to lose the tag titles to Kobashi. Dirty little secret: Honda beat Akiyama seven months before this in a 4 minute singles match. Akiyama isn't about to let that happen either. 230 MB. Mega.

Liger, Murahama & Ricky Marvin vs KENTA, Marufuji & Kotaro Suzuki, 6/29/03. Lead-in to the junior tag tournament. Good as you expect.

Takayama, Makabe & Sugiura vs Akiyama, Saito & Hashi, 7/1/03. Makabe hates NOAH, and Akiyama, and Kobashi, and you. YES YOU!

Takayama, Makabe & Sugiura vs Kobashi, Honda & KENTA, 7/2/03. Lead-in to Takayama & Makabe challenging Kobashi & Honda for the tag titles. Makabe is despised by the NOAH crowd and he feeds off it. Tons of heat, tons of hate.

Akiyama vs Nagata, 7/16/03. Nagata, having recently had his year-plus long IWGP reign ended, bounced back with a win over Taue. Now he's got Akiyama, who downed him on the biggest stage in puro the year before. Akiyama needs a win if he wants a shot at Kobashi any time soon; Nagata needs a win to keep from being a 1-hit wonder in NOAH.

KENTA & Marufuji vs Liger & Murahama, 7/16/03. Finals of the junior tag title tournament, which headlined the show ahead of Akiyama vs Nagata and a heavyweight tag title match. Hot crowd, somewhat of a trailblazing match in terms of being the first 'epic' junior tag match in NOAH. Quite the harrowing finishing sequence.

Kobashi, Honda, KENTA & Marufuji vs Akiyama, Saito, Kanemaru & Hashi, 8/23/03. I wasn't sure that Marufuji would fit in with the Burning vs Sternness style, but he does very well. Doesn't hurt that they're at Korakuen, a building that appreciates multi-man tags like no other.

Marufuji, KENTA, Suzuki & Momota vs Kanemaru, Sugiura, Kikuchi & Hashi, 9/6/03. Not sure why Kikuchi is on the heel team. Not a blowaway match but it's worthwhile for fans of NOAH juniors, and it does a good job of building towards KENTAFuji vs Kanemaru/Hashi.

KENTA & Marufuji vs Kanemaru & Hashi, 9/12/03. The first tag title defense for KENTAFuji, and it's a doozy. Tons of action, escalating nearfalls, the works. 120 MB.

KENTAFuji vs Kanemaru & Hashi, junior tag titles, 9/12/03. Higher bitrate.

Kobashi vs Nagata, GHC title, 9/12/03. A really huge match, as Nagata just came off his long IWGP reign and had the never-escaped Nagatalock III at his disposal, not to mention the reliable backdrop hold and a bevy of hard kicks. Kobashi holds nothing back, nor does the crowd.

Kikuchi vs Aoyagi, 10/5/03. Very unique match as Kikuchi does a lot more shoot-flavored stuff to counter the martial arts of Aoyagi. They beat the tar out of each other while Differ Ariake watches mostly in silence because it's Differ Ariake. Friggin' Differ.

KENTA, Marufuji & Kotaro vs Kanemaru, Sugiura & Hashi, 10/5/03.

Kobashi, Akiyama & Rikio vs Misawa, Taue & Morishima, 10/5/03. Not as good as it could be, but there's still too much talent to deny.

Takayama & Sano vs Misawa & Rikio, 11/1/03, JIP. Not sure *why* they clipped it, because it seems fine to me.

KENTA & Marufuji vs Guerrera & Marvin, junior tag titles, 11/1/03. One might go so far as to say the amount of spots in this match is a veritable festival.

Morishima vs Yone, WLW title, 11/1/03. They go all-out here and not only do you get the usual awesome Morishima stuff but you also get Yone back when he was still pretty good. Very compact match as well. 113 MB.

Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa, 11/1/03. I hated this match the first time because I just wanted to see Kobashi dumping Ogawa on the skull, and it never happened. I loved this match the second time because it's good in a different way; they play roles and develop a story. Still could use a skull-dumping or two though.

Kobashi, Honda, KENTA & Kikuchi vs Akiyama, Saito, Kanemaru & Hashi, 11/16/03. How can this possibly not be good? I think I have yet to be let down by a Burning vs Sternness tag.

Takashi Sugiura vs KENTA, 11/30/03. The first title match of the more grown-up KENTA we're familiar with today. Solid, very competitive match with a real 'big match' feel. 106 MB.

Sugiura vs KENTA, junior title, 11/30/03. Upgrade, though incomplete.

Kobashi vs Yone, 12/6/03. I just love Yone's reaction to the finish. And the finish itself.

Nagata & Tanahashi vs Rikio & Morishima, tag titles, 12/6/03. Eeeevil Team New Japan has the belts. Can our chunky heroes save the day?

Kobashi, Rikio & Hashi vs Akiyama, Morishima & Kikuchi, 1/10/04. Kobashi vs Morishima rocks. Kobashi vs Akiyama rocks. Morishima vs Rikio rocks. But the real reason why you get this is HASHI, as this marks the first time he's in a big match opposite Akiyama. Plus Kikuchi gives him a skull-puncturing headbutt. Trust me on this one.

KENTA & Marufuji vs El Samurai & Wataru Inoue, junior tag titles, 1/10/04. NOAH vs NJ juniors action is so reliable. Wataru manages to do 2000% better in NOAH than he typically does in NJ. El Samurai, on those occasions when he's on, rules. KENTA and Marufuji at this point are in the middle of their peak as a team. Good match? You betcha.

Kobashi, Honda & KENTA vs Taue, Sano & Hashi, 2/20/04. Background: Taue vs Rikio is taking place in a few days to determine Kobashi's next challenger. Taue is thus all fired up and out to show that he'll be the guy to dethrone the champ. However the real star of this match is Makoto Hashi, who doesn't hesitate to go toe-to-toe with Kobashi himself and who generally does what he does best.

Akiyama vs Hashi, 2/21/04. Two years earlier, Akiyama toughened Hashi up before a Hashi junior title shot. Now it happens again, and this time Hashi does quite a bit better against his mentor. Slow early on but intense down the stretch.

Morishima, Taue & Sano vs IZU, Takayama & Akiyama, 3/6/04. This match is insanely fun. Izumida and Morishima are the core, with Izu going after the leg and overcoming his own general crappiness with the help of his teammates. Morishima sells like a champ, leading to a rewarding finish.

Kobashi vs Rikio, 3/6/04. Rikio's first shot at Kobashi. Some nice exchanges and clubberin' and so forth.

Morishima vs IZU, WLW title, 3/13/04. Building off the 6-man a week earlier. IZU has a shot at the biggest win of his career, but that's quite a hill to climb. Lots of beef, lots of... psychology?! 131 MB.

KENTA & Marufuji vs Yoshinari Ogawa & Kotaro Suzuki, junior tag titles, 4/3/04. Ogawa slums it in the junior division. Some jumbo nearfalls and a big result.

Akiyama & Hashi vs Rikio & Suzuki, 4/25/04. Heck of a match, probably the best of Suzuki's career to that point and still one of his best today.

Misawa & Ogawa vs KENTA & Marufuji, 4/25/04. Lot going on here. You have an all-juniors team making a challenge to the heavyweight tag straps, you have Misawa and Ogawa being total pricks to the young'uns, and you have a spectacular finish. Widely considered one of NOAH's best tag title matches ever.

Kobashi vs Takayama, 4/25/04. King-sized heavyweight war with all the hard hits and head drops you expect out of these two.

Akiyama vs KENTA, 5/14/04. Akiyama mixes it up a bit, with some nasty looking knee strikes and exploders. KENTA = KENTA.

Kobashi & KENTA vs Taue & Sugiura, 5/21/04. Rather evenly matched teams, though Double Kenta has the edge on experience with each other. KENTA and Sugiura match up so well.

Morishima vs Ikeda, WLW title, 6/1/04. Morishima is able to force Ikeda into Battlarts-level stiffness, for our enjoyment.

KENTA & Marufuji vs Ricky Marvin & Kotaro Suzuki, 6/1/04. That ol' KENTAFuji magic. 160 MB.

Marufuji & KENTA vs Kotaro & Marvin, junior tag titles, 6/1/04. Higher bitrate.

KENTA vs IZU, 6/11/04. IZU manages to rip off both Hashimoto and KENTA in hilarious fashion.

Rikio & Morishima vs Takayama & Izumida, 6/23/04. I'm not gonna gush over this, but I liked it.

Kobashi, Honda & KENTA vs Akiyama, Saito & Hashi, 6/23/04. The final Burning vs Sternness match, and appropriately enough it's used to build to the feud's ultimate climax.

Kobashi, Rikio & Marvin vs Akiyama, Morishima & Hashi, 6/27/04. Plenty of interesting matchups, and of course this builds to the '04 dome main event.

Takayama vs KENTA, 6/27/04. In a word, stiff. In two words, really stiff.

Modest & Morgan vs Kotaro Suzuki & Ricky Marvin, 7/10/04.

Modest & Morgan talk smack after their win at the Tokyo Dome.

Taue & Sano vs Ikeda & Yone, 7/10/04.

Marufuji & KENTA vs Sugiura & Kashin, junior tag titles, 7/10/04. Clipped to the big second half.

Takayama & Suzuki vs Morishima & Rikio, IWGP tag titles, 7/10/04.

Misawa & Ogawa vs Mutoh & Kea, GHC tag titles, 7/10/04. Fun match thanks to the Misawa vs Mutoh sections and a good effort by Kea. And also Misawa nearly kills Kea a couple times but let's not focus on that.

Kobashi vs Akiyama, 7/10/04. Dare I say that this needs no particular explanation? Yep.

An unlikely duo forms. AND THE WORLD WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME.

Akiyama & Hashi vs Honda & Shiozaki, 7/24/04. Go Shiozaki's debut match, and very interesting to see how well he does right from the get-go.

Kobashi, KENTA & Marvin vs Misawa, Marufuji & Kotaro Suzuki, 7/24/04. Fun match thanks in large part to the juniors switching up from their usual partners.

Takayama vs Sano, 8/1/04. Hard shots, nasty suplexes. This match was so rough that it almost single-handedly put Takayama on the shelf.

Misawa vs Taue, 8/1/04. The two of them are 1-1-1 in their last three matches. Whoever comes out on top is almost certain to be Kobashi's next challenger.

Kobashi & Honda vs Saito & Inoue, 8/20/04. Both teams are gunning for a tag title shot. Can Dark Agents overcome a team far stronger on paper?

Akiyama, Rikio & Kikuchi vs Kobashi, Sano & Kanemaru, 8/28/04. Lots of unusual matchups here as a result of the unusual matchmaking.

BAH GAWD IT'S BREAKING LOOSE IN DIFFER.

Misawa vs KENTA, 8/28/04. This one is almost entirely about KENTA, between throwing everything he has out there and doing his best Misawa impression. Plus, the debut of a big move.

Sano & Izumida vs Yone & Trevor Rhodes (Trevor Murdoch), 9/10/04. Trevor in NOAH equals fun. Plus IZU~.

Akiyama & Shiozaki vs Rikio & Hashi, 9/10/04. Works off the strength of Go and Hashi in the underdog role.

Kanemaru vs Low Ki, 9/10/04. One of the better juniors singles matches from Japan in recent years, because it manages to mesh big moves with logical selling and psychology. They don't go overboard with finishers but manage to keep it entertaining.

Misawa & Ogawa vs Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue, 9/10/04. You know the big heavyweight names: Misawa, Kobashi, Taue, Akiyama. They go back to All Japan. But what about the guys you don't hear about? Masao Inoue is one of those. He debuted in the early '90s and hardly ever made a commercial tape or a TV airing. Not much to look at, no particular physical gift, not much in the psychology department... Masao was most notable for being on the floor and watching great matches rather than being in them. But not this night, oh no. This night Masao Inoue gets his chance to shine. He fights his little heart out and says "I'm not doing a routine job tonight! You have to beat me!" while Saito urges him on. Granted he's still Masao Inoue during the match, but damned if it isn't the performance of his career by a factor of ten.

Kobashi vs Taue, 9/10/04. Taue goes after Kobashi's title with a vengeance, bringing as many bombs as he can along with some new mid-range offense. Taue's annual great performance, and Kobashi is Kobashi. Nasty finish.

Kobashi vs KENTA, 10/9/04. Kobashi gives his boy a lot of punishment but also lets him look like he belongs.

KENTA & Marufuji vs SUWA & Ricky Marvin, 10/22/04. SUWA's first big match in NOAH as he becomes Marvin's third partner within a year to take a shot at the straps. Really lays out the groundwork for the KENTA vs SUWA match eleven months later.

Kobashi vs Saito, GHC title, 10/24/04. I didn't like this the first time I saw it, but the second time (with better video quality) it holds up. Saito brings the kind of performance he needs to: hanging with Kobashi in exchanges, controlling things effectively, tossing out credible offense and surviving some big bumps. Kobashi's final response to Saito's striking is icing on the cake. There are big nearfalls without going overboard, and the match is consistent enough that it beats out the last few Kobashi defenses for space on the site.

Marufuji vs Shiozaki, openweight title, 11/21/04. Go gets a title shot, and all he has to do is last 15 minutes. Quite fun.

Akitoshi Saito, Yoshinari Ogawa & Haruka Eigen vs KENTA, Kishin Kawabata & Kikuchi, NOAHFUL GIFT IN DIFFER 12/24/04. A match not so much memorable for its wrestling as... well, you'll just have to see.

Marufuji vs Eigen, Openweight title, 1/23/05. Eigen wins if he can take it to a 10 minute draw OR by countout in addition to pins and submissions. Match is like 95% about Eigen and that's why it works.

Kobashi vs Shiozaki, 1/23/05. End of Shiozaki's singles match 'trial series' on the first tour of '05. Kobashi, the champ, gives Go the most time of anyone. And I'm assuming the most chops.

Kobashi, Yone & Shiozaki vs Rikio, Morishima & Marufuji, 2/20/05. Grudges! Suplexes! Tauntings!

SUWA, Kanemaru & Sugiura vs KENTA, Low Ki & Marvin, 3/5/05. Very unique match with several frenzied exchanges and an injury angle.

Misawa & Kotaro Suzuki vs Ohtani & Takaiwa, 3/5/05. Zero-One in NOAH means two things. One, a fabulous Misawa vs Ohtani section. Two, a fabulous 'Kotaro dies' section. 80 MB.

Kobashi vs Rikio, GHC title, 3/5/05, JIP. The full match drags pretty badly, but the conclusion is both important and exciting.

Kobashi, Misawa & Akiyama vs KENTA, Marufuji & Hashi, 4/2/05. The old guard versus the new. Grumpy vets versus spunky upstarts. You know the drill. Drags a bit during the middle, but there's plenty of fire and stiffness and hope spots to make up for that. 129 MB.

Scorpio vs Shiozaki, 4/3/05. My favorite Scorp-in-NOAH match, as he has to be focused in order to guide young Go.

Akiyama vs Hashi, 4/3/05. The Akiyama/Hashi relationship continues.

Kobashi, KENTA & Marvin vs Misawa, Sugiura & Kanemaru, 4/3/05. As near as I can tell, KENTA and Sugiura have both come to the conclusion that the other must die. The result is a stepped-up, super-hot 6-man.

Kobashi & Shiozaki vs Misawa & Yone, 4/17/05. GoBashi = reliable goodness. Misawa & Yone work out pretty good for a totally random one-shot.

Marufuji, KENTA, Marvin & Suzuki vs Kanemaru, Sugiura, SUWA & Hashi, elimination match, 4/17/05, JIP. I clipped out most of what happens before the first fall because it's pretty dead, but afterwards there's a lot of quality action.

Tenryu & Akiyama vs Kobashi & Shiozaki, 4/24/05. Tenryu and Akiyama beat the crap out of Go, and Kobashi beats the crap out of them. It's the circle of NOAH.

KENTA & Marufuji vs KUDO & Kota Ibushi, Differ Cup '05 round 1. Similar to the 2003 third-place match in that KUDO and KENTA have interpromotional hate. Different in that Kota has a real breakthrough performance, busting out some great highspots. 157 MB.

KENTA & Marufuji vs Kaz Hayashi & Spanky, Differ Cup '05 round 2. Here, KENTAFuji must deal with a 'peer' team that's very capable of putting the match away. 89 MB.

KENTA & Marufuji vs Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita, Differ Cup '05 final. Top junior teams face off. KENTAFuji go mostly heel despite being in NOAH's home building and somehow it works.

Kikuchi vs Hashi, 5/13/05. Oh the headbutts. Dear lord the headbutts.

Akiyama, Tenryu & Shiozaki vs Rikio, Yone & KENTA, 5/17/05. Tenryu and KENTA utterly despise each other and go at it. And it's awesome.

Kobashi & Honda vs Minoru Suzuki & Marufuji, 5/17/05. Honda gets targeted as the weak link on Burning, but he damn sure isn't going to be anybody's victim.

Kobashi & Kikuchi vs Honda & Shiozaki, 7/2/05. Burning vs Burning! Kikuchi is a loon! Honda takes one of his rare (for good reason) mega-bumps!

Minoru Suzuki & Marufuji vs Akiyama & Hashi, 7/18/05. The biggest match of Hashi's career, as he goes after the tag titles at NOAH's biggest show ever. Match is great in its Hashi-ness, and it adds to the also-great 8/19/05 Korakuen main event. 261 MB.

Kobashi vs Sasaki. Epic slugfest to end all epic slugfests, including the endless chop battle to end all endless chop battles.

Misawa vs Kawada, 7/18/05. Their first meeting in 5 years, quite possibly their last. Watch for the Kawada post-match promo, which because it was unscheduled during a live broadcast caused he and NOAH to have a falling-out.

Akitoshi Saito, Takashi Sugiura, Kishin Kawabata & Mushiking Joker vs Yoshinari Ogawa, Low Ki, Richard Slinger & Mushiking Terry, 8/19/05. This match blows on paper, like numerous throwaway NOAH undercard matches. Yet somehow, some way, they make it work. Dark Agents do an effective beatdown on Terry for the body, the pace is kept up, and the Slinger vs Kawabata finishing stretch fails to suck despite all logic. I was amazed to see that this holds up on tape.

Rikio vs Inoue, 8/19/05, JIP. This was supposed to be Mike Awesome, but he got hurt. Crafy veteran Inoue survives a lot more than you'd expect.

Morishima vs SUWA, 8/19/05. SUWA is heading into a title match and needs to brush up on his cheating skills. And his 'not getting obliterated' skills.

Taue & Sano vs Misawa & Shiozaki, 8/19/05, JIP. Go gets to look darn good here.

Bison Smith & Scorpio vs Izumida & Kikuchi, 8/19/05. Kikuchi hates Scorpio's mask! Can Bison's claw hold work on the thickest skulls in Japan?

Minoru Suzuki & Marufuji vs Honda & KENTA, 8/19/05. This was such a great show, and this here is a fine semi-main match. From what I can tell, Suzuki ran over KENTA's mother and fed her to a wood chipper, based on KENTA's seething hatred. Oh and some old lady in the crowd tries to cause a rift between the tag champs. I love Korakuen.

Kobashi & Hashi vs Akiyama & Kanemaru, 8/19/05. This was an amazing match live and it sure does hold up on film. Hashi and Akiyama had just lost a tag title shot so Akiyama ended his long tough-love partnership with Hashi. Hashi, however, hasn't given up on proving himself. Red-hot Korakuen Hall gets behind him and everyone plays their role perfectly.

Kobashi & Taue vs Akiyama & Tenryu, 9/18/05. Another one of those 'Taue is awesome' matches, plus 'Kobashi and Tenryu hate each other' and 'Akiyama is also in the match'.

KENTA vs SUWA, 9/18/05. I can't think of a match in recent years that was loved so universally and unconditionally. Everything just clicks, with a great batch of old-fashioned heel work from SUWA to focus a GHC junior title match.

Tenryu vs KENTA, 10/8/05.

Akiyama & SUWA vs Kobashi & Hashi, 10/22/05. Not super-mega-awesome like it could be, but good because it can't not be.

Minoru Suzuki & Marufuji vs Akiyama & Koshinaka, 11/5/05. Lots of cheap shots and Koshinaka-flavored fun and then Marufuji tastes the canvas.

Sasaki & Nakajima vs Kobashi & Go Shiozaki, 11/5/05. Kobashi and Sasaki come off their chop war for the ages, while the young guns had both impressed in the first ten months of '05. The result here is my current match of the year, one that I think will hold up better than a number of bouts getting hype as 'five star'. Great action, as every single pairing brings a lot to the table and everyone clicks and the crowd is hot and... geeez. Honestly I can't think of a wrestling fan who couldn't enjoy this. 245 MB.

KENTA & Shibata vs Morishima & Yone, 11/5/05. Great match with a bunch of hatred and stiffness and huge bumps, plus it's paced well. Everyone does what they're best at.

Rikio vs Taue, 11/5/05. Can Taue, aided by a rabid Budokan crowd, end the tyranny of the Takeshi Rikio title reign? Well, can he? More 'emotional' than 'good' due to Taue's physical limitations (and Rikio's for that matter), but Taue really does go all-out.

KENTA & Kikuchi vs SUWA & Kanemaru, 11/18/05. Stemming from KENTA vs SUWA. And, accordingly, 'tis good.

Akiyama & Koshinaka vs Kobashi & Shiga, 11/18/05. Another fun match much in the same vein as other Koshinaka matches.

Akiyama vs Sugiura, 11/27/05. Sugiura tries to hit above his weight class and does quite well for himself, as Akiyama has to throw out just as much offense here as he did two months later against Taue.

Taue, Kobashi & Misawa vs KENTA, Marufuji & Mushiking Terry, 11/27/05. Similar to the old vs young 6-man in April, only this is a bit more on the 'fun' end of things. Taue, having just won the title, is a good sport not to murder Terry about a minute into this.

Kobashi & Izumida vs Tenryu & Koshinaka, 12/4/05. As soon as I saw the 12/4 card I knew I'd like it. Nothing was out-of-this-world great, but it had matches like this that to me are just enjoyable. Witness Koshinaka's ass-power going against Kobashi's chops. Witness Tenryu being his usual grumpy self. Witness IZU taking his lumps like a man and doing his best.

Sasaki & Nakajima vs Akiyama & Kikuchi, 12/4/05. Not blowaway-great like the tag from 11/5, but still nifty because each matchup brings something to the table. Good ol' Kikuchi.

Shibata & KENTA vs Misawa & Shiozaki, 12/4/05. Once again, not anything to make you go gaga over, but plenty good thanks to the matchups. Sadly this was Shibata's last match in NOAH and Shiozaki got his jaw busted a month later... by KENTA. 78 MB.

Taue vs Morishima, 12/4/05. A decidedly better match than Taue vs Rikio, since Morishima is a decidedly better wrestler. Morishima's first big chance and he makes the most of it, while Taue is forced to debut a new finisher in the hopes of fending off his chunky challenger.

KENTA & Ricky Marvin vs Marufuji & Kotaro Suzuki, 1/8/06. Regular partners go against each other. Some interesting spots.

Taue, Izumida & Kikuchi vs Akiyama, Kanemaru & Shiga, 1/8/06. Lead-in to the Taue vs Akiyama title match. I'm of the mind that the value of this match is almost entirely derived from Taue's team, but then I'm an IZU mark.

Kobashi & Izumida vs Akebono & Rikio, 1/22/06. Fun match with the most ungodly finish in the history of wrestling.

KENTA vs Marufuji, junior title, 1/22/06. JIP.

Taue vs Akiyama, GHC title, 1/22/06. Rather than throwing bombs, which Taue showed a remarkable ability to take, Akiyama focuses on knocking him out. Taue is his usual loveable self. They make sure to work in the 9/18/05 tag finish as well.

Kobashi, Tamon Honda & Kanemaru vs KENTA, Morishima & Yone, 2/17/06. Kobashi and KENTA have a match upcoming on March 5th so they decide to attempt to soften each other up. By that I mean they maul each other every chance they get. Morishima is awful surly as well, including post-match violence. Honda spikes Yone on his noggin a couple times to round things out. 70 MB.

Kobashi, Honda & Kanemaru vs Morishima, Yone & KENTA, 2/17/06. Better VQ, though some post-match stuff is missing.

Taue vs Marufuji, 3/5/06. Marufuji really steps up here, perhaps being reeled in by Taue. Smart, fun match; one of the best of '06.

Misawa vs Morishima, 3/5/06. Morishima rocks and Misawa actually makes a good effort himself. Also Morishima kills Misawa with his backdrop a bunch. 213 MB.

Kobashi vs KENTA, 3/5/06.

Rikio & KENTA vs Morishima & Sugiura, SEM 3/21/06. About the match you'd expect out of them. You need more Morishima. We *all* need more Morishima.

Kobashi & Kikuchi vs KENTA & Marufuji, 4/2/06. Not quite the epic inter-generational dream match this would have been a few years earlier, but yet at the same time it IS a dream match.

Akiyama & Kanemaru vs Kobashi & Honda, 4/16/06. Kanemaru is in way over his head but fights admirably, and creates some fun interactions with Kobashi. Plus a decent amount of Kobashi vs Akiyama is to be had herein.

Kobashi vs Marufuji, 4/23/06. Marufuji makes with the high-spotting and the actual wrestling. Kobashi makes with the Kobashi-ing.

Akiyama vs Inoue, GHC title, 4/23/06. Masao gives MAXIMUM EFFORT~ and the crowd rallies behind him, with sometimes funny and sometimes awesome results. Godawful booking behind this match but it's so much better than it has any right to be.

KENTA & Kikutaro vs Scorpio & Marvin, SEM 5/7/06. It's a Kikutaro match. You know what you're getting.

SUWA, Kanemaru & Low Ki vs KENTA, Marufuji & Ishimori, 5/19/06.

KENTA vs Sugiura, 6/4/06. Stiff exchanges, some nifty spots, and a rarely-seen finish (at least in NOAH).

Morishima & Yone vs Kobashi & Honda, tag titles, 6/4/06. This is allllllll about Morishima. Somewhat plays off what they did in the six-man earlier in the year too. But mostly it plays off of Morishima being awesome.

Rikio, Morishima, Yone & Shiozaki vs Kanemaru, Sugiura, KENTA & Marufuji, 6/9/06. A Captain's Fall elimination match with over-the-top also causing elimination. Match ends when Rikio or Kanemaru is eliminated. This is more of a 'fun' match than a typical big-moves-and-stiffness NOAH main event. Note that Sugiura vs KENTA for the junior title took place just before this. 297 MB.

SUWA vs Momota, 7/16/06. All that is right about professional wrestling. Plus post-match antics!

Taue & Nakajima vs Ogawa & Ippei Ota, 7/16/06. The young lions are pretty good in this, but Taue is so completely king-sized and awesome that he's veritably Jumbo-esque (albeit a gangly, awkward Jumbo). Trust me, you'll enjoy this.

Rikio & Morishima vs Marufuji & KENTA, 7/16/06. You've just gotta love Morishima.

Akiyama & Misawa vs Takayama & Sasaki, 7/16/06. He's BACK, baby.

Sano & SUWA vs Honda & Kikuchi, 9/9/06. SUWA and Kikuchi going at it, of course it's good!

KENTA & Shibata vs Taue & Shiozaki, 9/9/06. KENTA, Shibata and Go are all bright young stars with good-looking offense and crowd support. But this is the Taue show, and everyone else is along for the ride.

Morishima & Rikio vs Takayama & Sugiura, 9/9/06. Junior double-champ Sugiura shows NO FEAR amidst Japanese giants, and when you start to realize just how much of a very physical match he wrestles he comes off that much better.

Akiyama vs Marufuji, 9/9/06. Marufuji is only there because Kobashi got struck with cancer. Akiyama has never been pinned by one of the NOAH juniors. Yet somehow, some way, Marufuji hangs with Akiyama and evades big moves long enough to actually have a real chance of winning. The last ten seconds are something else.

Misawa, Sugiura & Ota vs Murakami, Usuda & Hara, 10/6/06. Hate and a bit of un-cooperativeness on display in this one as the shoot-stylists INVADE. 129 MB.

Akiyama vs Kikuchi, 10/13/06. After Akiyama's title loss to a mere junior, old grumpy Kikuchi told him to MAN UP. Just not in those words. They smack each other pretty freaking hard with elbows because Kikuchi is there to force Akiyama to ratchet up the stiffness.

Takayama & Sano vs KENTA & Saito, 10/13/06. So there's just A LITTLE stiffness in this. A tad. A wee bit.

Marufuji vs KENTA, 10/29/06. It's what you expect. Many MB.

Shiozaki, Nakajima & Sugawara vs Sai, HARASHIMA & KAZMA, GPWA, 11/14/06. GPWA is essentially run by NOAH so I'm putting it here. I was glad to see lots of hate and fire and stiffness in this rather than just a trillion overwrought spots.

Morishima & Yone vs Rikio & Sugiura, 11/17/06. Good in that Morishima-y Sugiura-ish kinda way.

Akiyama, Hashi & Kanemaru vs Ohtani, Murakami & Takaiwa, 12/2/06. Plenty of hate and plenty of Hashi goodness and even hardway blood. 169 MB.

KENTA vs American Dragon, 12/2/06. Two points against this match: slow start and lethargic crowd. Two points for this match: hot finish and its participants.

Morishima & Yone vs Takayama & Sano, 12/2/06. Even Yone ratchets up the stiffness in this one, so there's plenty of brutal shots and exchanges to go around.

Morishima vs Go Shiozaki, 12/10/06. Go is ambitious, taking it to the big man and trying to end the match quickly. Morishima isn't interested in losing in five minutes, but does share the desire to go home early.

Akiyama & Hashi vs Saito & Taniguchi, 12/10/06. In addition to the usual Hashi fun, Taniguchi shows a lot of heart and spirit and so forth. The Akiyama/Hashi interaction is especially good.

Taue, Mushiking Terry, Ishimori & Aoki vs SUWA, TARU, Kondo & Yasshi, 12/10/06. Voodoo Murders Max can heel it up like nobody's business, and the NOAH team makes it clear that they are not welcome. Taue has not stopped being Taue.

Rikio, KENTA & Yone vs Minoru Suzuki, Takayama & Sano, 12/10/06. Not quite wall-to-wall awesome, but still plenty of hard-hitting action.

NOAH Christmas Fun-Time Special Compilation. This... this is two hours of GOLD, spanning 2000 through 2006. And superb quality for the length and size (228 MB). Stick with it through the slow parts because the hits just keep on coming.

Akiyama vs Go Shiozaki, 1/21/07. Akiyama shows that he respects Go's strength after their initial exchange by focusing on ripping apart the right arm, which sets the base of the match.

SUWA, Takayama & Minoru Suzuki vs Marufuji, KENTA & Rikio, 1/21/07. SUWA's last match in NOAH. Lots of hate and stiffness and then SUWA decides he wants the spotlight all to himself. 135 MB.

Shiozaki, Honda & Kikuchi vs Kawabata, Inoue & Aoki, 3/4/07. Closing minutes. Probably the best minutes of wrestling in Kawabata's career.

Bison Smith, Chris Hero & Bobby Fish vs Rikio, Saito & Ricky Marvin, 3/4/07. Really fun 6-man thanks to Bison and Marvin.

Takayama & Sano vs Taue & Marufuji, 3/4/07. Can't go too wrong with this combination.

Akiyama vs Yone, 3/4/07. It's a sprint! Just the match these two should have. 76 MB.

Morishima vs KENTA, 3/4/07. So first they work the headlock, then they do a nice series of headscissors spots, and... oh who am I kidding, you know what happens here.

KENTA, Saito & Ota vs Danielson, Joe Legend & Ted DiBiase Jr, 4/1/07. Ah the fun Korakuen 6-man, how I've missed you. Ted junior looks great and is a fine tribute to his father. Just Joe is no slouch. Ota is a good underdog, especially after taking a certain bump a bit too hard. Danielson returns and doesn't seem to have missed a step. That KENTA guy is in this one, too. 161 MB.

Morishima & Yone vs Akiyama & Rikio, 4/1/07, tag titles. First time a NOAH heavyweight title gets defended in Korakuen, and the crowd is accordingly hot. What might be a lifeless affair elsewhere is good as a result. 210 MB.

Kotaro Suzuki vs Tsutomu Hirayanagi, SEM 4/4/07. Hirayanagi totally makes the match, heeling it up like crazy and getting actual fire out of the uber-bland Kotaro. Good match to fill a few minutes with.

Danielson & Ishimori vs Marufuji & Aoki, SEM 4/4/07. It's all about Danielson vs Aoki.

KENTA, Saito & Aoki vs Danielson, Bison Smith & Ricky Marvin, 4/14/07. Very slightly clipped. Some good stuff in here. 137 MB.

Takayama & Sugiura vs Akiyama & Shiozaki, 4/14/07. Takayama and Sugiura bring the pain, Akiyama is awesome in selling the damage, and they keep up the pace rather than go longer just because it's the main event. Big finish. 122 MB.

KENTA, Yone & Ishimori vs Danielson, Ted DiBiase Jr & Daniel Cross, 4/28/07. 127 MB.

CIMA, Yokosuka & Dragon Kid vs Marufuji, Marvin & Ota, 4/28/07. Dragon Gate invades! CIMA targets the new guy! Crowd is stoked! Why is it that the Dragon Gate guys do so much better outside their home promotion lately? 147 MB.

Akiyama & Rikio vs Takayama & Sugiura, tag titles, 4/28/07. The best tag title match NOAH has turned out in quite some time, another great showing for Sugiura, and (until December) the runaway leader for NOAH's best of the year. 216 MB.

KENTA vs Tsutomu Hirayanagi, SEM 5/5/07. Hirayanagi once again brings the goods as a heelish young lion. KENTA beats the crap out of him every chance he gets. Very enjoyable. 103 MB.

HARASHIMA & Kota Ibushi vs Hara & Usuda, Differ Cup '07. All kinds of stiffness. Just gobs of it. 145 MB.

HARASHIMA & Kota Ibushi vs Kagetora & Hercules Senga, Differ Cup '07. Senga doesn't look like a 'Hercules' and takes the beating you expect. More towards the 'cool stuff' end of the spectrum. 95 MB.

Hidaka & Namiguchi vs Kengo Mashimo & Makoda, Differ Cup '07. I've been lukewarm about Mashimo, who is the current ace of K-Dojo. However he wins me over here with his selling, and Hidaka helps make him want to sell. Makoda busts out a must-see move. 153 MB.

KENTA vs Go Shiozaki, 6/3/07. An action-packed second-half of the match as you'd expect from these two.

Murakami vs Marufuji, 6/8/07. Short and intense with action before and after the bell.

Saito vs Shiozaki, 6/8/07. Go had his arm picked apart earlier this year, and thus relishes attacking Saito's cast. The core appeal, however, is that they really lay it in throughout. 122 MB.

Nigel McGuinness vs Kotaro Suzuki, 7/1/07. Nigel has what it takes to drag Kotaro to the best singles match of his (Kotaro's) career. 120 MB.

Morishima, Yone & Hashi vs Sano, KENTA & Ishimori, 7/1/07. This could have been rather bland, but everyone is on-point and there's enough fire to make it special. 147 MB.

Danielson & Richards vs Romero & Aoki, junior tag league, 7/1/07. Not only is it good, it also manages to do so without being a total Danielson carry-job. 157 MB.

The Briscoe Brothers vs Marufuji & Ibushi, junior tag league, 7/1/07. More quality junior-heavyweight action! 139 MB.

Marvin & Suzuki vs Romero & Aoki, junior tag league, 7/6/07. Really good! 153 MB.

The Briscoe Brothers vs KENTA & Ishimori, junior tag league, 7/6/07. I clipped the first 2/3rds or so, and what's left is the exciting conclusion.

Marufuji & Ibushi vs KENTA & Ishimori, junior tag league, 7/15/07. Better than any GHC junior tag title match in a looooong time. 190 MB.

Misawa vs Taue, GHC title, 7/15/07. Compact match with Taue dishing out his biggest shots and Misawa dishing out something especially nasty. 133 MB.

KENTA vs Aoki, SEM 8/10/07. Decent enough match, but it's must-see because of the super-cool location just outside the Tokyo HQ of the TV network. 113 MB.

Marvin & Suzuki & Ota vs KENTA, Ishimori & Romero, 8/19/07. Been a while since the NOAH juniors really clicked in a 6-man. The junior tag league seems to have given the division a kick in the pants, and if this becomes the norm we're in for good times. 159 MB.

Morishima vs Shiozaki, 8/19/07. The big guy sorta goes through the motions. This match is all about Go, as he does a great job of hanging with Morishima in striking, putting together a great strategy, and thinking on his feet. Shiozaki in this match looks very close to being a main event caliber talent. 180 MB.

Takayama, Morishima & Yone vs Misawa, Taue & KENTA, 9/2/07. Clipped to the last half of the match or so. Finish is especially fun. 89 MB.

KENTA & Ishimori vs Kanemaru & Aoki, 9/9/07. Kanemaru carries this. Wait, KANEMARU carries this?! 132 MB.

Akiyama vs Morishima, #1 contendership semifinal, 9/9/07. Morishima has done a fair amount in his career, but he's never pinned any of NOAH's top 5 (Misawa/Kobashi/Akiyama/Taue/Takayama). If he can't do it now, with the biggest win streak of his career, he never will. 162 MB.

Marufuji vs (winner of Akiyama/Morishima), #1 contendership final, 9/9/07. Marufuji would normally be a big underdog, having gone through Saito earlier, but he comes in RIGHT after the finish and clearly got some time to rest. This sets the table for the match, as Marufuji's speed and energy tries to wear down his tougher, stronger opponent. 105 MB.

Misawa, Takayama & Akiyama vs Marufuji, KENTA & Shiozaki, 11/24/07. Dig that old vs young rivalry! Takayama/KENTA is always great, Shiozaki looks like a young Kobashi and gets some respect, I think you'll want to give this a look. 100 MB.

Honda, Shiozaki & Kikuchi vs Sugiura, Yone & Ito, 12/2/07. Burning is back, and Shiozaki looks as good as he ever has. Kikuchi gets surly, Ito goes all-out for the sold-out Budokan crowd, this is good. 127 MB.

Kanemaru & Aoki vs Suzuki & Ota, 12/2/07. I wasn't expecting much, but thanks in large part to the youngins this is a heck of a match. 95 MB.

Kobashi & Takayama vs Misawa & Akiyama, 12/2/07. A match that should need no introduction. Includes full pre and post-match. 309 MB.

Morishima, Izumida the Butt-Biting Bug & Taniguchi vs KENTA, Ota & Fake Ota, 12/24/07. NOAHFUL GIFT IN DIFFER delivers thanks to Fake Ota.

NOAH Christmas Carols '07.

Morishima, Marufuji & Yone vs Misawa, Shiozaki & Ota, 1/6/08. Morishima vs Misawa buildup! Go's chops are absurdly hard! Ota is a loveable screwup, and Yone kicks his head off! 93 MB.

Kobashi, Honda & Shiozaki vs Akiyama, Shiga & Kanemaru, 1/13/08. Kobashi and Shiozaki dish out some chops that are just plain nasty. Kanemaru interacting with Kobashi once again brings out the best in both of them. And Akiyama, well, his neck can't be glad Kobashi is back.

Takayama & Aoki vs KENTA & Saito, 1/20/08. Really any match with Takayama vs KENTA is going to be good. 107 MB.

Sugiura, Marufuji & Shiozaki vs Takayama, Sano & Ota, 2/15/08. Lots of nasty, nasty stuff dished out in this one. 150 MB.

Kobashi, Honda & Taniguchi vs Morishima, Sugiura & Marufuji, 2/21/08. Like I need to hype this. Lotsa MB.

Taue & Izumida vs Hero & Castagnoli, 3/2/08. I'm actually *not* a fan of Chris and Claudio as a team, but this is just way too fun. 108 MB.

Kobashi, Honda & KENTA vs Takayama, Sano & Aoki, 3/2/08. Kobashi and Takayama go AT IT. Aoki shows NO FEAR. And Takayama/KENTA is as awesome as ever. 320 MB.

Misawa vs Morishima, GHC title, 3/2/08. Misawa is the master of coming back from big deficits. Morishima over the last year has learned how to get ahead and stay ahead in the title match. With Misawa's experience and elbows fell the monster one more time, or has Morishima finally become more than the old man can handle? 194 MB.

Marufuji vs Kikutaro, SEM 3/5/08. Kiku does some NOAH trademarks, with varying degrees of success.

Taue, Marvin & Taniguchi vs Inoue, Izumida & Ota, 3/29/08. Enjoyable enough thanks to Ricky and IZU.

Sasaki & Nakajima vs Taue & Shiozaki, 4/4/08. Worth it for Sasaki vs Shiozaki, the rest is icing.

Kobashi, KENTA & Taniguchi vs Sasaki, Nakajima & Yamaguchi, 4/14/08. Now complete!

Kobashi, Honda & KENTA vs Takayama, Sano & Shiozaki, 4/27/08. Progressing from the March 6-man, Takayama's team gets a big upgrade. If you know anything about Shiozaki you know why his addition makes this must-see. 183 MB.

Akiyama & Rikio vs Sasaki & Nakajima, 4/27/08. Akiyama/Rikio delivers quality heavyweight action in the clutch yet again. 177 MB.

Danielson vs Aoki, Aoki trial series, 5/15/08. Not awe-inspiringly great as is common with Danielson, but still quite good. 125 MB.

Kobashi & Kikuchi vs KENTA & Marufuji, 5/24/08. Better than the '06 version. A match that, if this matchup interests you, will hit the spot. 289 MB.

Kobashi & KENTA vs Sasaki & Nakajima, 6/14/08. Great video and audio helps to make the stiffness that much more real.

Kobashi, Takayama & Nakajima vs Misawa, Sugiura & Marufuji, 7/18/08. Kobashi and Takayama pair up after months of clashes. It's a rocky marriage. As with any such partnership it's the kid who suffers.

Sasaki vs KENTA, 7/18/08. There are chops and kicks in this professional wrestling match.

Morishima vs Rikio, GHC title, 7/18/08. Lotsa beef and collisions and stuff.

Ishimori vs Hirayanagi, 8/1/08. NOAH is back at the cool NTV open area thingy! Hirayanagi is back doing what he does best, punking out junior prettyboys!

Kobashi, KENTA, Aoki & Ito vs Sasaki, Nakajima, Okita & Miyahara, Survival Tag, SEM 8/17/08. One of the very best of the year. Long, but so worth it. Fired up young lions, fired up Korakuen, and the epic conclusion of another of the year's best tags. 400+ MB.

Briscoe Brothers vs Nakajima & Ibushi, junior tag league '08, 9/6/08. An exciting sprint for your ocular cavities to feast upon.

Morishima vs Sasaki, GHC title, 9/6/08. A match layered with backstory and psychology. Okay I'm lying.

Ishimori vs Takanishi, SEM 9/8/08. Taiji Ishimori: master technician. No really.

Akiyama, Rikio & Ito vs Sasaki, Nakajima, & Okita, 10/5/08. Heck of a tag. Akiyama/Rikio vs Sasaki/Nakajima is proven goodness, and you throw in a couple hungry young lions, you got yourself a fine outing.

Kanemaru & Suzuki vs KENTA & Ishimori, junior tag titles, 12/11/08, JIP. Blood is shed! Genba haunts the outside! Hot finishing stretch!

Akiyama vs Morishima, #1 contenders match, 12/11/08. A sprint in the same vein as their '07 match.

KENTA vs Suzuki, junior title, 1/25/09, JIP. Continuing their feud from the December match.

Sasaki & Ibushi vs Akiyama & Ishimori, Kensuke Office 2/11/09. Jaw-dropping exchanges! Logical limb work! Crowd heat! Big finish!

Kobashi vs Inoue, 3/1/09. Not emotional like the '07 return, but a fun match thanks to Inoue, who is Mr. Clutch.

Ishimori & Ota vs Okita & Miyahara, 3/1/09. Yellow Fever takes on Kensuke Office. Really solid undercard bout.

Shiozaki & Sugiura vs Nakamura & Milano Collection AT, 3/1/09. Milano looks better than he has in YEARS, Nakamura and Sugiura are still great against each other, and the last 8 minutes or so are stellar.

A tour of the NOAH dojo. Note where ring gear is stored and where the young lions sleep.

Kobashi & Ito vs Tenzan & Okada, 5/6/09. A broken-down Kobashi takes down a not-100% Tenzan. Kobashi is a quasi-Baba, cheerleading from the apron and using his presence when needed. Okada, fresh off a good showing the day before, brings it once again.

Sasaki & Morishima vs Misawa & Shiozaki, 5/6/09. De facto final for the tag league. Go wrestles 90% of the match and takes a hell of a beating, but he's still able to bring it at the end.

Akiyama vs KENTA, 5/17/09. Heavy champ versus junior champ. I love the struggle for control at the start. Some hard hits and big bombs. This is Akiyama's best singles match in years.

Sasaki & Nakajima vs Taue & Hirayanagi, 6/4/09. With Taue & Genba you just can't go wrong.

Shiozaki vs Hero, 6/4/09, JIP. Chris Hero finally BRINGS IT in Japan and the crowd responds accordingly.

KENTA vs Marvin, junior title, 6/4/09. Closing minutes of Marvin's biggest singles match to date. Marvin won a #1 contenders match with a powerbomb-to-lungblower, while KENTA of course looks to his trusty bedtime story.

Hero vs Ito, 6/22/09. Aw, lil' Ito. You go after that long-haired gaijin.

Takayama & Sano vs Morishima & Sugiura, 6/22/09. No-nonsense, hard-hitting.

Sasaki & Nakajima vs Shiozaki & KENTA, 6/22/09. An treat for the senses as Kensuke Office battles NOAH's singles champs. Heaping helpings of hurtin' in front of an eager and sold out Korakuen Hall.

Shiozaki vs KENTA, 7/5/09. A legit random draw produced this matchup. KENTA has his second chance to beat a heavyweight champ in a month and a half, and uses a bit of strategy to overcome Go's edge in power. Shiozaki lost their matchup two years earlier, and this is his first big test as champ. Is he up to the task now?

Kanemaru & Suzuki vs Nakajima & Miyahara, 7/12/09, JIP. This one goes too long but the second half is worth watching, and by the end they actually look like they could have gone another couple minutes easily.

KENTA & Ishimori vs Ibushi & Aoki, 7/12/09, JIP. Last year this would be an easy win for KENTA and his insanely jakked-up partner (Ishimori set for a bodybuilding contest soon after this). However, Ibushi and Aoki both went to the semis of the Super Juniors tournament and scored some big wins in the process. They make things more than competitive between Ibushi's flying and Aoki's submissions.

Kobashi & KENTA vs Shiozaki & Ito, 8/2/09. Man alive that is some loud chopping.

KENTA & Ito vs Aoki & Fish, 9/12/09, JIP. Aoki looks to do damage heading into his title shot against KENTA.

Kanemaru & Suzuki vs Nakajima & Miyahara, junior tag titles, 9/12/09, JIP. As in July they take a while to get going. As in July they finish strong.

KENTA vs Aoki, junior title, 9/21/09. Really smart match that builds from their encounters in recent months, and has a hot finish without going overboard.

Bison Smith vs Taniguchi, 9/27/09. Strong dudes tossing each other around.

Sasaki, Morishima & Nakajima vs Tenryu, Ogawa & Suzuki, 9/27/09. Tenryu is 59 and a half years old. And he RULES.

Kanemaru & Suzuki vs Jado & Gedo, 10/3/09, junior tag titles. You know what works good in tag team matches? TAG WRESTLING. I'm not sure why J&G so rarely channel southern-style tactics (as opposed to generic time-killing), but when they do bring their A-game it's almost always worthwhile.

Takayama vs Sugiura, 10/3/09. Stiffffffff.

Kawada & Taue vs Akiyama & KENTA, 10/3/09. Kawada vs KENTA lives up to expectations. And those are some great expectations.

Kobashi, Akiyama, Taue & Honda vs Sugiura, Rikio, Yone & Taniguchi, 10/15/09. Taniguchi takes it to Kobashi! Sugiura takes it to Akiyama! Yone and Honda... um... Sugiura! Yes, let's focus on Sugiura being in this.

Kobashi & Akiyama vs Takayama & Keith Walker, 10/31/09. A lot of huge bumps in not-a-lot of time.

Takayama & Sano vs Sugiura & Taniguchi, 4/10/10. What it lacks in execution, it makes up for in really really hard elbowing. Takayama's strikes are so brutal.

Sasaki vs Akiyama, Global League, 4/10/10. Sasaki suddenly has ultra-effective elbows?! Akiyama makes it work and they put together a match that's about a thousand times better than the title switch a year earlier.

Shiozaki, Saito & Ishimori vs Akiyama, Ogawa & Kikuchi, 4/25/10. KIKUCHI-FEST 2010. He brings the crazy and the awesome while taking it right to Go.

Kawada vs Morishima, Global League, 4/25/10. Eleven years ago, Morishima was a young boy doing ring duty while Kawada was a headliner. Now Morishima is all grow'd up and Kawada has everything he can handle. Perhaps more than he can handle?

Kawada vs Saito, Global League, 5/2/10, very slightly clipped. Can Kawada carry Saito to his first good singles match in ages? Yes. Yes he can.

Takayama vs Morishima, Global League, 5/2/10, JIP. Features the nastiest legdrop in wrestling history. Ye gods.

Takayama, Akiyama & Sasaki vs Shiozaki, Morishima & Inoue, 5/22/10. Mighty Inoue's retirement from refereeing, and Korakuen decides that Masao Inoue should be the focus. The result is that rare super-fun Masao Inoue performance, and when he's not in we get bunches of hard-hitting action.

Takayama, Yoshie & Saito vs Sasaki, Morishima & Okita, 6/6/10. Most of the matchups here are straightforward smash-mouth heavyweight wrestling. Okita adds the 'young guy trying to prove himself' aspect. To top it off, it's got a fast pace because it's shorter than most 6-mans. Check it!

Minoru Suzuki, Takayama & KENTA vs Ikeda, Yone & Hashi, 6/13/10. Suzuki and KENTA hate each other! Hashi in the underdog role! Yone adds nothing! What, did I go back in time to 2005 or something?

Sasaki vs Shiozaki, 7/24/10. It drags in parts, and they botch the only big spot they try for, but when it's clutch time they pull through. The way the match is structured and sold is excellent, and it leaves the door open for a rematch in the way that Kobashi vs Sasaki kinda didn't.

Akiyama & KENTA vs Nagata & Taguchi, 7/24/10. Taguchi is a nonentity. Nagata vs KENTA makes up for this and then some. HOT HOT HATE.

KENTA vs Aoki, 8/22/10. Aoki gets all up in KENTA's grill and KENTA is all "yo get off my grill" and Aoki is all "make me dawg" and they proceed beat the living crap out of each other.

Ishimori & Marvin vs Kanemoto & Tiger Mask 4, junior tag titles, 8/22/10. Kanemoto and a handful of New Japan fans invade NOAH and bring the big-time hatred!