So, the weekend before last, I woke up early on Sunday morning and was just in the mood to watch some wrestling. I have probably around 20 wrestling DVDs I've never watched. From WWE, to TNA, to ROH, to FIP, to Puro, to Shoot Interviews... I buy this shit and it just sits there. Perhaps the biggest flaw about me is that I buy things just to buy them. Don't know why, I just do it.
Anyways, among the DVD collection was NOAH's 10/29 Budokan Card. Now, I've had this for nearly four years now. I bought it to see KENTA vs. Naomichi Marufuji, after hearing boat loads of praise for it. I saw their match against each other in January of 2006 before I bought the DVD, and dug it a lot, so when I heard this match blew that one out of the water, I went ahead and bought the DVD.
But, of course, I never got in the mood to watch it. So, the weekend before last, I saw it sitting there and figured fuck it, I'd finally give it a shot. And boy am I glad I did because the KENTA/Marufuji match was just spectacular. Better than I could have ever imagined. It completely blew me away.
I watched it again this past weekend, and man... I have to say, I don't think I've ever seen a match better. The storytelling, realism (even the staredown before the match is epic), selling, big spots... the match is simply breath taking. Forget all about HBK vs. 'Taker, Angle vs. Benoit, Kobashi vs. Misawa, Flair vs. Steamboat, Hart vs. Austin, RVD vs. Jerry Lynn, Joe vs. Punk... this match right here, in my opinion, is the greatest match in professional wrestling history.
Now, the match is entirely on Youtube, but since I know there's no chance of any of you actually sitting through the entire thing, no matter how much I praise it, I'll just ask you instead to watch this awesome tribute to the match. It's just below five minutes, so there's no excuse not to just check this out. You'll get at least a little grasp on how great this match truly was. Enjoy:
One last thing, before someone jumps in with the, "Japanese wrestling sucks, you just love everything from Japan, blah, blah blah." Let it be known that if I list off my top ten favorite matches, this would be the only Puro one on the list. I'm not some biased fan who thinks all Puro is better than everything American wrestling has ever had to offer. Far from it. I just really, really, REALLY loved this match, more than I have loved a match in a VERY long time.
Anyways, among the DVD collection was NOAH's 10/29 Budokan Card. Now, I've had this for nearly four years now. I bought it to see KENTA vs. Naomichi Marufuji, after hearing boat loads of praise for it. I saw their match against each other in January of 2006 before I bought the DVD, and dug it a lot, so when I heard this match blew that one out of the water, I went ahead and bought the DVD.
But, of course, I never got in the mood to watch it. So, the weekend before last, I saw it sitting there and figured fuck it, I'd finally give it a shot. And boy am I glad I did because the KENTA/Marufuji match was just spectacular. Better than I could have ever imagined. It completely blew me away.
I watched it again this past weekend, and man... I have to say, I don't think I've ever seen a match better. The storytelling, realism (even the staredown before the match is epic), selling, big spots... the match is simply breath taking. Forget all about HBK vs. 'Taker, Angle vs. Benoit, Kobashi vs. Misawa, Flair vs. Steamboat, Hart vs. Austin, RVD vs. Jerry Lynn, Joe vs. Punk... this match right here, in my opinion, is the greatest match in professional wrestling history.
Now, the match is entirely on Youtube, but since I know there's no chance of any of you actually sitting through the entire thing, no matter how much I praise it, I'll just ask you instead to watch this awesome tribute to the match. It's just below five minutes, so there's no excuse not to just check this out. You'll get at least a little grasp on how great this match truly was. Enjoy:
[YOUTUBE]G5fOy0lrqJA[/YOUTUBE]
One last thing, before someone jumps in with the, "Japanese wrestling sucks, you just love everything from Japan, blah, blah blah." Let it be known that if I list off my top ten favorite matches, this would be the only Puro one on the list. I'm not some biased fan who thinks all Puro is better than everything American wrestling has ever had to offer. Far from it. I just really, really, REALLY loved this match, more than I have loved a match in a VERY long time.
