Koji Kanemoto vs Yoshihito Sasaki-ZERO-1 10.10.2005.

Kanemoto is such a great prick invader, it's a joy to watch. He completely overwhelms Sasaki in what is a near squash match just blasting him with slaps, kicks and knees. Sasaki does a pretty great job of someone defiant yet outmatched, like when he reaches for *anything* while he's stuck inbetween the ropes and in his childish facial expressions. Kanemoto is just above everyone here, and doesn't really care about the ref or any of Sasaki's pals that consistently yell at him ringside. My favourite moment may have been when Sasaki hit his first hope spot, started celebrating and Kanemoto quickly and swiftly took him down and trapped him in an Ankle Lock. Kanemoto's (running) knee cut offs ruled and the match had a brutal finish of Kanemoto just face punching Sasaki's lights out in a full mount. ****

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Josh Barnett-U-STYLE 23.11.2005.

I really enjoyed the opening portion with them battling for positions and Barnett attempting a few cool leglocks but the match just went into another dimension once Tamura hit Barnett with a big counter knee. Barnett just unloads on Tamura here, hitting some of the most beautiful suplexes I have ever seen that combined a perfect combination of power and technique. The matwork is exactly what you'd want out of a big Tamura match, there isn't anything I find as beautiful in pro wrestling as Tamura's lightning quick seguences on the mat. Tamura's kicks provided a great means of feeding for Barnett's throws, and even something as nonsensical as them saying to hell with it and starting to kick away at each other with guards down managed to fit in, as just seconds later Barnett attempted a high kick which pointed to high fatal playing around in dick measuring contests could be. Finish was about as perfect as it could've been, as Tamura finally managed to counter Barnett's throws and lock in one final Jujigatame to seal the deal. ****1/2

Minoru Suzuki vs Alexander Otsuka-NJPW 14.5.2005.

Gave this a rewatch, the opening amateur wrestling sequence was insane but the rest of the match didn't really live up to my memory of it being a possible best <5 minute match candidate. The intensity of Suzuki's offence unfortunately didn't match Otsuka's selling, it's not that it was bad or even mediocre but Otsuka was really going out of his way to make Suzuki look as good as humanly possible. Otsuka's German Suplexes during his brief comeback overshadowed Suzuki's knees and slaps, just beautiful technique on his part. The Bow And Arrow into a Sleeper was a badass transition, really something that you believe could catch a wrestler off guard and set up a finish. ***1/4

Kenta Kobashi vs Kensuke Sasaki-NOAH 18.7.2005.

Such an amazing spectacle, kinda like Hogan vs Warrior if they were both great wrestlers. I was surprised by how much I liked this, it left a much stronger impression on me than the first time I saw it. They're absolutely phenomenal at commanding the crowd, and everything from the lock-ups, the staredowns to them getting back in the ring feels like an iconic event. The chop battle is kinda like Maradona's goal vs England at the world cup, there have probably been many better, but the combination of time and place realy makes it more iconic than any other. The match is really held together by their selling that never allows the match to go from a battle of stupid male determination into sheer stupidity. Kensuke getting up from a Superplex got a huge reaction, but if he suplexed Kobashi outside the ring instead of eating a Half Nelson one straight away the quality of the match would've been much different. The chop battle perfectly encapsulates how they kept the crowd involve-they didn't just stand there and throws two hundred chops in a row, even if that's how you might remember it. They fired up, got in each other's face, pushed each other into the corner, channged the pace of the chop throwing and so on. In a way the pop-ups eliminate the nearfalls-there are a couple near the end, but nothing near the amount you might expect. Any match that captivates me so much is going to get a high rating, and I'm really struggling to come up with any valid criticisms of it. ****1/2

Kazuyuki Fujita vs Toshiaki Kawada-NJPW 14.8.2005.

Neat match. My only complaint would be that some of Kawada's transitions were a little predictable, I'm a giant Choshu supporter so the headlock>backdrop spot isn't something that bothers me, but the way it was done here with Fujita grabbing a headlock after hitting two big knees was nonsensical, and it can be pretty clear he's going to kick an opponent that's bouncing off the ropes. The violence is what makes this-even the dreaded elbow exchanges work, as you have Fujita push Kawada into the corner and then Kawada fight back and both guys try to win the damn battle instead of just standing there and exchanging strikes with five second pauses. Kawada's last hooray where he just went off and punched Fujita in the face before being put away ruled, as did his sell in the post-match where he made it look like he didn't know where he was, and the awesome Guillotine Choke sequence perfectly showcases all the possibilities of naturally intertwining moves without making them lose credibility, even if they are escaped/countered. ***3/4

Kazuyuki Fujita vs Tatsutoshi Goto-NJPW 4.8.2005.

This was a blast, Goto really took it to Fujita, busting out a bunch of nasty Backdrops together with Lariats and other offence you'd expect from a lumpy old guy who worked WAR. The match was essentially a three minute long finishing stretch, Fujita played FIP for most of the match and couldn't go all out with the violence because of who his opponent (the clubbing blows to the back and stomps don't really suit him) was but he still managed to throw a brutal counter forearm and a Frankensteiner of all things. ***

Minoru Suzuki vs KENTA-NOAH 27.8.2005.

KENTA attacking Suzuki before the bell here was very well done, he just dashed at him and booted him in the head, and Suzuki's towel blocking his vision made for a great detail. KENTA brought great fire and his offence was as crisp as I remembered it to be. I loved the transitions Suzuki would use-the Front Necklock/Guillotine where he left KENTA hanging in particular was a fascinating visual, and he was at home when it was time to stretch KENTA, but I wasn't in love with the portions in the match where in the middle where he was outstriking KENTA. Due to their difference in stature KENTA had to sell really big for Suzuki and he did, but Suzuki isn't big enough and didn't hit hard enough that it'd make those long moments of selling after every strike fitting. The match went into another gear when they moved onto the finishing stretch and started working more evenly, Suzuki's Leglock counters were awesome as was him busting out a Giant Swing out of Half Crab and they smoothly worked them into the match since KENTA has enough kicking offence he doesn't have to to pointless rope running of doom with no moves being attempted in them, and the final slap battle was perfectly done with Suzuki evading KENTA's strikes and gaining a bigger and bigger advantage until finally just nuking him and putting him away. ***1/4