RIP Tadao Yasuda

 

Tadao Yasuda vs Tatsumi Fujinami, NJPW 8/13/1999

Great little sprint from the G1 Climax. I love how it immediately establishes the tone of the G1, everything matters. That is felt very strongly here just from the way Fujinami would move about the ring before locking up, really putting over Yasudas massive size and lumbering danger. They don’t waste a second in letting you know what they are all about, Yasuda rushing with sumo palm strikes, Fujinami always trying to grab a leg and twist it off. I love how Yasuda started pounding away whenever Fujinami tried for the dragon screw, and his own modified dragon screw ruled. Nifty finish. More pro wrestling should be like this.

Tadao Yasuda vs Kensuke Sasaki, NJPW 8/10/1999

Kensuke Sasaki in 1999, already a former IWGP champion. Tadao Yasuda, middle aged, late starter at wrestling, and rocking a sleazy mustache. But fuck all that, this match is all about Yasuda being an explosive surprise. Sasaki goes down for a Yasuda shoulderblock, proving Yasuda is indeed bigger and more massive, and then Yasuda proceeds to stomp a mudhole in him. Really dug Yasudas of the sumo palm strikes in this, even getting the better of Kensuke during a strike exchange, and of course the big one that he caught Sasaki right to the mush with. Sasaki looks really contemptful like he is pissed that this old sumo fart just gave him a beating. Even picking him up for a torture rack just to overcompensate. The crowd is all there rallying behind Yasuda for a possible upset and while it’s not anything deep it’s really fun big boy pro wrestling.

Tadao Yasuda vs Keiji Muto, NJPW 8/14/1999

More Yasuda G1 magic. Normally there is no way Yasuda stands a chance in hell against Muto, but it’s the G1, and Muto is super banged up and barely gets a thing going. This allows Yasuda to really give Muto a stomping further banging on his leg, with an enthusiastic crowd willing him all along the way. Yasudas facial expressions are so great, he’s like a man praying to god when he locks in those boston crabs, like he really wants that shit to work. Yasudas jumping elbow drop where it looks like a fridge was dropped on Mutohs leg is really great. I also love them teasing Yasuda losing in the same way he did to Fujinami earlier, and Mutoh does pull off a really really choice finish. Can’t ask for much more from a 5 minute match.

Tadao Yasuda vs Satoshi Kojima, NJPW 8/13/1999

The biggest match for Yasuda in this G1, because Kojima is about the one guy in his block that he has a chance of beating. As such the match is less about Yasuda the Underdog and more Yasuda standing tall and beating the dogshit out of Kojima with his awesome straight sumo palm thrusts, with Kojima selling in amazing fashion. Kojima had a bit more of a punk heel vibe here, snarling at the audience and trying to do damage to Yasudas limbs, which I think suits him very well. While the build of the match is not mind-blowing greatness it’s a lot of fun, serious pro wrestling enhanced by their eccentrics. Yasuda totally makes the second half of the match with his awesome selling and mannerisms, and the crowd gets behind him in a big way. Kojima slipping behind and struggling for a german suplex is a good example of why slowing down can sometimes make things a lot more epic. Kojima trying to damage Yasudas shoulder, with Yasuda trying to hang on and somehow get the win felt pretty epic, almost like a Hashimoto match. It made sense and paid off the story of the match. Loved Kojimas unique arm submission and his cluster attack at Yasudas shoulder felt like some of the best work he’s done, and Yasudas fire and trying to gut it out was just pro wrestling perfection, felt so raw and real. Yasuda brings such a fun vibe, while his Inokification was good stuff it would have been really interesting to see had he kept up what he was doing here into the 2000s.

Tadao Yasuda vs El Gigante, NJPW 5/1/1994

Not many match ups spark my interest anymore these days. But Tadao Yasuda vs El Gigante? Fuck yeah I’m watching Tadao Yasuda vs El Gigante. Yasuda is very at the beginning of his late blooming career. He has black trunks and lacks his signature mustache and looks a bit like an illegitimate son of Takashi Ishikawa and Osamu Kido. But boy he already has something to him. Enough that this massive crowd breaks out in a big ‘Yasuda’ chant to will him into taking on the Gigante, and popping big when Yasuda just goes into a sumo stance that the giant promptly mocks. Gigante looks comically huge – even next to the very large Yasuda. His build is just that of a fairytale giant. Not much happens here, but you get Yasuda sumo palm rushing Gigante to the crowds delight. Gigante takes some shoulder blocks from Yasuda – in a way that made me think he had no idea how to take shoulderblocks. Yasuda eye rakes to get on offense and goes for another sumo rush in the corner but Gigante stops him with a big boot and calls him a ‘fucking sumo’. The brain claw seals the deal. Guess they were really trying to do something with El Gigante here, but Yasudas triumph would come later.

Tadao Yasuda vs Tatsumi Fujinami, NJPW 2001/8/5

Yasuda lost miserably as an underdog just 2 years before, but now he got the Inoki power upgrade and is a dangerous shooter type, so the dynamic is completely reversed. Fujinami looks very aged but has grown out his curls to mid length just to flex on everyone with his hair genetics. Yasuda throws Fujinami and works him over with some pretty hard knees on the ground and pounding on his head with punches, but Fujinami can always hit a dragon screw and turn the tide. They even reference the finish from the 1999 match in a cool spot. Similiar affair as before but with vastly different roles and it’s cool.

Tadao Yasuda vs Kazunari Murakami, NJPW 2001/8/10

Inokiist dream match! Man these G1s just used to be packed with awesome matches. This is more about Murakami than Yasuda, though Yasuda makes for a cool elder tough guy to the rabid pitbull that is Murakami. Murakami may be the greatest ever at these evil glares and sudden violent explosions. It feels almost a bit like a Wahoo vs Johnny Valentine match. Murakami is so aggressive and unhinged that Yasuda becomes the underdog and has to try and surprise him with something, though I loved how he just threw Murakami over the guardrail.

Tadao Yasuda vs Yuji Nagata, NJPW 6/4/2001

By 2001 Inokiism was fully there, and they both have MMA gloves for this. Much like all your best Tadao Yasuda matches, this is short and sweet. It’s basically nearly full blown shootstyle. Yasuda is big and hard to takedown but tenacious Nagata manages to do it anyways. Nagata bitch slaps Yasuda in the ropes and this triggers an angry sumo rush and signature long legged stomping from Yasuda. However, the more energetic Nagata is able to suplex Yasuda on his neck and then quickly put him to pasture with a series of kicks. Impressive showing for Nagata.

Tadao Yasuda vs Manabu Nakanishi, NJPW 8/6/2001

Killer monster battle with a quick pace. Nakanishi is a total caveman here and he is mauling Yasuda with angry palm strikes and throwing him around. Yasuda can always catch someone with a punch though or choke them out. He is a bit of a weird guy to book as a submission artist but it kind of works. Early 2000s NJPW ‘anything can finish’ factor makes this really compelling and I loved the nifty details, such as the way Nakanishi would use a lariat to the leg to set up his stretch muffler, or hit a spear to Yasudas bad leg, as well as the finish.

Tadao Yasuda vs Yuji Nagata, NJPW 8/8/2001

Nagata is like a hyena here mauling a bigger lion. He’s just all over Yasuda, who is totally backed into a corner, as Nagata takes him apart with relentless takedowns, faster kicks, and trying to tear his arms out. All Yasuda can do is try and go for a choke and maybe punch Nagata in the face and hope for the best. Intense stuff that works mostly because you buy Yasuda could come back with just one submission. There are few wrestlers in wrestling history who had that kind of believability in a basic front choke or sleeper, and for Tadao Yasuda to be that guy is just incredible. Another intense little match and Nagata looked like a killer.

 

Tadao Yasuda & Shinya Hashimoto vs Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue, ZERO1 4/18/2001

 Awesome match. It's early Zero1 vs NOAH so we get heated interpromotional action filmed at glorious dutch angles. This was all action in the best way, just 4 guys constantly going at each other. The early Yasuda vs Honda match up is pretty great, just two big guys pummeling each other and trying to go for chokes, with Honda throwing the bigger man around, even hitting a sweet dead end later. Obviously Hashimoto is really great here and Inoue is great as an outmatched guy throwing everything he has at a monster in sheer desperation, these guys just did this match perfectly as Hashimoto ends up mauling Inoue into oblivion with Inoue unable to continue. Yasuda does look great in this kinda match and he does bust out the old sumo palm strike even with the gloves. It's a bit of a different side to him than the cowardly heel shooter stuff and he is quite suitable here.

Tamon Honda Matches

 

GHC Tag Title Match: Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs. Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue, NOAH 1/24/2003

Really good match from Honda & Inoue. Akiyama and Saito were pretty much coasting for the first 20 minutes or so. The beginning was fun with Honda and Inoue immediately trying to choke Akiyama out and deal him some damage. We then get a segment where Honda gets his leg worked over which lead to some fantastic selling. Unfortunately Akiyamas selling of the opening beatdown on him was nowhere near as good. Inoue had his working boots on and gave a spirited underdog performance. Saito and Akiyama did nothing special when they were beating on him, but Inoues act kept things interesting. I loved how Akiyama tried to blow off Inoues hits only to get his eyes raked. When Inoues not raking peoples eyes, he has to hit them like a dozen times just to set up a move because he’s so weak, and that rules. The spot where Inoue was able to put Saito in the torture rack for a heated nearfall was really really nice. We also get some cool spots of Honda and Inoue helping each other out, and Honda killing people with Dead Ends. The focus was on Inoue at the end so we didn’t get any cool Honda counters, but his valiant effort was cool and Akiyama and Saito finally came alive to finish him off with some impressive moves. Good stuff which proves guys like Honda and Inoue could bring it even outside of their more heralded matches.

Tamon Honda & Jun Izumida vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Takuma Sano, NOAH 6/8/2003

4 hard dudes in a match. Everyone was cool here, you had Sano obliterating dudes with solebutts and double stomps, plus Ikeda and Honda having some awesome exchanges. Their brief mat exchange where Honda caught Ikeda in some impossible to escape hold was really damn good and damn do I want more of that stuff. Izumida also had his working boots on, being a hard headed bastard dropping people with chokeslams and STOs. I really liked the finish where Izumida was stuck in an achilles hold trying to survive until the time limit only for Sano to turn him around and tap him with a nasty heel hook.

Tamon Honda vs. Naomichi Marufuji, NOAH 6/11/2004

Marufuji was doing a semi comedic act and scuzzy heel tactics here. It was kind of mid but also made me think that he would have made an effective Anjoh-like heel if he had embraced the bailing and cheap tactics more. There was also a brief distraction where Danshoku Dino came out and got chopped by Kobashi. Kobashi gave him about the most hateful glare I’ve ever seen Kobashi give anyone. All that aside, every single thing Honda did here was awesome. It’s not hard to do a bunch of awesome things in a short match but Honda is special. Just the way he cradled Marufujis boot when Maru tried to kick him was outstanding and something only someone with the head of Honda could do. Another highlight was Honda ragdolling Marufuji when he tried going for the legs. Beautiful beautiful finish. That’s about all there is to say.

GWE Watching: Tamon Honda

 Tamon Honda vs. Daisuke Ikeda, NOAH 3/29/2001

Their KBS hall match is more famous and probably better, but this match was beastly in it's own right. There wasn't much matwork, but Ikeda was landing FUTEN level kicks to Hondas face and Honda hit all these beastly throws and counters. Both guys selling was just great, Ikeda would make a random leglock or Honda falling on top of him look deadly, and Honda sold a chokehold as if he was poisoned. Ikeda limping while getting up after a leglock and then rushing over to kick Hondas big head like a football was awe inspiring. I also loved Hondas reversal of the Russian Legsweep and Ikeda hitting the move later in the match was amazing due to the timing and buildup. The crowd for this was at the beginning so quiet you could hear a pin drop but the match won them over and they were popping big at the end so you know it ruled. Also, NAGAI KILLER and some brutal high kicks for the finish.

Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue vs. Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito, NOAH 9/2/2001

Honda is set to face Akiyama for the title, so the purpose of this match was to make him look like a beast. And well, that they do. Honda does some fun grappling with Akiyama, then catches him in a nasty guillotine. Akiyama seems to make a comeback but then Honda just snatches him and dumps him hard with the Dead End. Saito tags in and Honda chokes him out in 20 seconds. Badass show, which is made more badass by how useless Inoue was in the match. Afterwards Inoue raises Hondas hand like „that‘s my boy!“. Great shit, short, neat, told its story perfectly.

Yoshinari Ogawa & Tamon Honda vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takashi Sugiura, NOAH 8/24/2002

Really fun story driven tag. Rare instance of a match where not much special happens early on and it adds to it. Ogawa as this unimpressive champion who keeps ratting his way to victory was just great. All his interactions with Takayama were awe inspiring. Ogawa would rake Sugiuras eye and then taunt Takayama („Clean Fight!!“) only to back off, then try to rush Takayama with punches when he tagged in. Then, he would get isolated and tortured by Takayama and Sugiura. Takayama tagging in Sugiura and then sprinting across the ring to have a go at Ogawa was another really amusing moment. Also, all the olympic grappling exchanges involving Honda where great and the finish between him and Sugiura was awesome.

Tamon Honda & Takeshi Morishima vs. KENTA & Akihiko Ito, NOAH 8/23/2009

Really good undercard tag which was a reminder that NOAH was a pretty fun promotion once upon a time. All of Hondas exchanges were so cool here, he rarely works like a beast but he was a slovenly monster here, really establishing that it‘s hard to get him off his feet. His unorthodox grappling exchanges with young Ito were really cool and his brief sections with KENTA really hinted against a great singles match between them. He Dead Ends KENTA hard, and the bit where he snatches Ito and almost strangles him was grizzly. Morishima is really effective in his role of fat dude who tries to ring peoples bell and crushes them with his fatness. Ito is also a really spry fun guy with really good execution, too bad he retired but I guess he dodged a bullet by dropping out of this promotion. Also KENTA bodyslamming fat Morishima onto Honda was such a fun little spot, totally makes a match like this stand out.

2002 MOTY Project Update #13

 

6. Elimination Match: Mitsuharu Misawa & Naomichi Marufuji & Takuma Sano & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Akitoshi Saito & Jun Akiyama & Makoto Hashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru, NOAH 1/20/2002

Really great elimination tag which was exemplaric of what made 2002 NOAH so good: unique characters, interesting match layouts, and everyone playing their role to perfection. Great start with Sterness trying to rush only for crafty Ogawa to attack Akiyamas injured shoulder. Marufuji is mostly pinballing around here, and doesn‘t do anything stupid. I loved Hashi here, as a low ranked guy who can hit really heavy thanks to being gifted with an indestructible skull, and how he would fly into the ring with random headbutts like a bomb dropping. The crowd reaction to him rushing Misawa with headbutts was awesome. Kanemaru was also surprisingly effective as a scuzzy heel junior. Everything that came after the match turned into a 4 on 1 was damn near perfect and just brilliant pro wrestling. Ogawa rules so hard and this teamwork with Misawa was on par with their peak Untouchables work. Akiyama trying to let his junior partners pin Misawa as a fuck you only for it to backfire was a nice touch. Great selling and they had the crowd going bonkers without any head drops or dangerous bumps at all.

52. Masao Inoue & Tamon Honda vs. Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikioh, NOAH 1/20/2002

Really great Masao Inoue performance. And also a nice reminder that heavyweight wrestling can be smart and not just shoulderblocks and strike exchanges. Double Takeshis try pulling a 2 on 1 on Honda to start only for Inoue to come in and save the day with eye rakes. Some entertaining guardrail shenanigans ensue. Inoue and Honda trying to choke out Morishima was really great, as was the random apron bulldog Honda busted out. Inoue hitting a neckbreaker after the chokehold just makes so much sense. I really liked how Morishima and Rikioh tried avoiding Hondas headbutts. Then, in a great spot, Rikioh grabbed Honda by the head and just flung him across the ring. Rikioh and Morishima punishing Inoue wasn‘t super interesting in terms of what they did, but was made entertaining by Inoues excellent selling. Inoue manages to look pathetic even when he‘s hitting offense as he just kind of awkwardly staggers across the ring and then flops into his opponent. Hondas hot tag was great as he just hit an out of nowhere crowbar lariat and immediately went for the Olympic Hell. Inoue trying to prevent Morishima from making safes was also really entertaining. Crafty Inoue during the finishing stretch trying to upset the big boys and building to his Torture Rack finisher was excellent and I like how Inoue can make smart decisions even when his plans don‘t work out. Morishima doing the axe bomber to piss off Takao Ohmori was a nice touch.

2002 MOTY MASTER LIST