(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: KENTA vs. Naomichi Marufuji – NOAH, January 22, 2006

If you’ve ever wondered who you should thank for creating the modern indy-inspired wrestling style, it’s KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji.

During the 2000s these two were pushing the boundaries in pro-wrestling like no-one else. At the time critics were comparing their singles and tag matches to what the Dynamite Kid and Tiger Mask were doing in the 1980s. They were called revolutionaries and many times they stole the show even when they weren’t in the main-event.

Previously I was writing for a site called TJR Wrestling and now this series is coming to Blog of Doom. For now you can check out the series in its entirety here.

In fact, one of their matches, from October 29, 2006, is considered by some people to be the greatest ‘smaller guys’ match in decades. And IF you take the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards at face value, then this match came a close second to being voted MOTY for 2006 (somehow it lost to that absurd Dragon Gate Six-man that featured six guys on speed).

But that was only one great match between two of the most influential wrestlers of the past 25 years. Was that match the only truly great one they had, or did they have an entire series of great matches like other famous pairings in wrestling history? Read on to find out.

The story

KENTA and Marufuji were more or less joined at the hip for years. Both of them trained in AJPW’s dojo, with KENTA having his debut match only a few weeks before the NOAH exodus. Both of them continued training throughout the early 2000s and eventually became tag partners. They were put together because of necessity (NOAH’s list of new recruits was pretty damn small), similarity to each other, and because both of them were being compared positively to their respective mentors Misawa and Kobashi (though KENTA wrestled more like Kawada than Kobashi).

Anyways, these two went on a tear as a team, becoming the first GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and held those titles for almost two full years. Then in mid-2005 it became time for them to split up and move up the ranks. Because he had seniority (and maybe an extra ten pounds on him), Marufuji was the first to “graduate” to the heavyweight division and began wrestling bigger opponents. He even teamed with Minoru Suzuki of all people and held the GHC heavyweight Tag Titles with him.

Yet Marufuji was a heavyweight on paper only; physically he was still a junior and stylistically he was faster and more agile than he was strong or beefy. So it was a hard sell for many people to believe that Marufuji could compete in a division with guys like Jun Akiyama, Akira Taue, Takeshi Rikio, Takeshi Morishima, and a revolving door of equally-big freelancers. And if those same fans struggled to believe Marufuji belonged among the heavyweights, one can only imagine how they’d feel when KENTA would presumably go through the same “graduation”.

As an aside, this is one of those perplexing concepts; some people just don’t belong in the heavyweight division no matter how much they get marketed or pushed as such. Marufuji, KENTA, Will Ospreay, and a slew of others around the 180-210-pound mark, were pushed as heavyweights often to their own detriment. If fans have a hard time believing them as heavyweights, why not keep them as juniors and make them into junior heavyweight legends? Look at Rey Mysterio, he’s a lifelong cruiserweight, his “heavyweight” championship reign in 2006 was fumbled so badly WWE didn’t even call him “World Heavyweight Champion” but “World Champion”, and he’s remembered more for his cruiserweight stuff anyway? Same with Jushin Liger; he rarely wrestled heavyweight save for the odd special occasion and went on to become the god of cruiserweights in Japan, where he made a comfortable living collecting junior heavyweight titles and became so revered that even his heavyweight peers respected his accomplishments.

Anyway, Marufuji ended up stuck in limbo between the junior heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. Still needing to convince people that he could excel in both, he was booked to challenge KENTA for his Junior Heavyweight title. KENTA was being positioned as the ace of that division, having dethroned Yoshinobu Kanemaru the prior July.

Since NOAH’s wrestling product took stats seriously and tried to present a realistic wrestling product, wins and losses actually meant something. KENTA was the champion but Marufuji had history on his side, having beaten Marufuji in all of their prior singles matches, including KENTA’s first ever one-on-one match and his most recent in his Trial Series in 2004. And since Marufuji was the first of the two being groomed for the heavyweight spot, there were at least some people that believed that Marufuji could take the junior title with him to the heavyweight division as some sort of proof that he was a bigger deal than his lack of stature suggested.

The match

This match originally took place on January 22, 2006. It was rated ****1/4 out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

This is for KENTA’s GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship. High-speed criss-cross to start things off. Marufuji hits some armdrags and KENTA lands a big boot. Other kicks get avoided leading to a stalemate. They lock-up and KENTA bitchslaps Marufuji, then he dares Marufuji to do the same. Marufuji obliges, leading to a slap exchange, followed by some stiff kicks and forearms. KENTA charges to the ropes but runs into a dropkick which gets him a two-count. Marufuji grounds KENTA and applies various holds on the mat. KENTA fights to a corner to force a ropebreak and then punishes Marufuji with another stiff strike combo.

Marufuji blocks both a vertical suplex and a Fujiwara armbar so KENTA resorts to a butterfly suplex for a two-count. KENTA hits two stiff spine kicks, Marufuji tenses up expecting a third, and KENTA fakes him out with a mocking light kick to the face. KENTA continues his mocking kicks and foot taps and when Marufuji fires up KENTA shuts him down with a massive spinkick to the gut.

KENTA sends Marufuji into the ringside barricade and then kicks him over it. Back in the ring, KENTA covers for a two-count, slingshots him into the top rope, lands more kicks to the ribs, teases a dive, but then changes his mind and clubs Marufuji’s neck for another two-count. Marufuji loses another strike exchange as KENTA almost caves his chest in with kicks. KENTA applies a camel clutch with a face crank because he can’t help but be a dick to everyone including his former tag partner. KENTA blocks an attempted corner counter and lands his tornado hotshot onto the apron. He’s about to springboard when Marufuji lands a sudden elbow smash. Marufuji charges and dodges a retaliatory forearm with a basement dropkick that sends KENTA onto the ring apron. It looks like he hits his knee on the edge of the apron on the way down, which must hurt no matter how thick his kickpads are.

Seeing KENTA sell his knee, Marufuji goes after it by smashing KENTA’s shin into the ringpost. He wraps KENTA’s leg through gaps in a piece of barricade, kicks it several times, and then dropkicks it from the apron. KENTA hobbles into the ring but Marufuji cuts him off with a dragon screw leg whip through the ropes. KENTA rolls to ringside for safety and gets a few seconds to recover/sell the knee more. In the ring he kicks out of a cover so Marufuji starts working the leg over on the mat. KENTA resists a Romero Special so Marufuji copies Danielson by stomping onto the back of KENTA’s knees. Marufuji gets another two-count and then wraps KENTA’s knee through some ropes in a corner. KENTA tries fighting out but Marufuji keeps him trapped with back elbows. KENTA blocks a top-rope Frankensteiner so Marufuji punishes him with a dropkick to the bad knee and an avalanche dragon screw. Then Marufuji locks in a Figure-4 leglock. KENTA writhes in pain, tries to roll over to reverse the pressure, fails, but does manage to get a ropebreak.

Marufuji starts giving KENTA a taste of his own medicine with some mocking foot taps to the head which fire KENTA up. They get into another strike exchange and Marufuji takes him down. He teases a close-fisted punch but the ref holds him back (AFAIK NOAH follows the AJPW principle with close-fisted punches being strongly discouraged/banned, similar to in other combat sports). Marufuji sends KENTA into a corner but KENTA blocks one charge with a boot and a second with a powerslam, but not before taking another kick to the chin.

KENTA starts his second wind with a single-leg dropkick off the ropes for a two-count. He lands a kick combo and despite having his leg worked over minutes earlier he starts jumping and lands a springboard dropkick for a two-count. He must have some Senzu Beans under his wrist tape or something. KENTA follows with several corner high kicks, more roundhouses to Marufuji’s chest, and a fisherman suplex for another two-count. KENTA escapes a waistlock and boots Marufuji to the ropes. Marufuji ducks down to send KENTA to ringside and then hits a running dropkick over the top rope and to the floor. And this is from a man who had reconstructive knee surgery four years earlier.

Back in the ring, Marufuji hits two corner elbow splashes followed by kicks to the head and a back suplex with a jackknife cover for a two-count. A diving dropkick to the side of the head gets Marufuji tow once more and then he teases a thrust kick. But KENTA blocks it and then both men begin trading light-speed counters and reversals until KENTA hits a jumpkick to send Marufuji down from the top turnbuckle. KENTA goes for another kick but Marufuji counters with a capture suplex. More signature moves get dodged or blocked until Marufuji hits KENTA with his own Busaiku Knee. Marufuji kicks KENTA and teases a quebrada but KENTA blocks and lands a Death Valley Driver on the ringside mats.

In the ring, KENTA lands another springboard dropkick followed by a bridging German suplex for another two-count. Another strike exchange ends in a Tiger suplex attempt from KENTA but Marufuji lands on his feet. The next strike battle ends with Marufuji hitting an armtrap bridging German of his own for yet another two-count. Marufuji goes to the top rope but KENTA pulls a Shelton Benjamin, leaps to the top rope and hits a diving Falcon Arrow! One, two, Marufuji kicks out. Martial arts rush by KENTA. Marufuji lands a superkick to block a Busaiku Knee. KENTA no-sells the kick and attempts a German. Marufuji lands on his feet, lands two superkicks, and attempts the Shiranui. KENTA blocks and lands a bridging Tiger suplex for still yet another two-count.

KENTA lands more roundhouses and charges for a Busaiku Knee. Marufuji sidesteps and hits a bridging low-angle Tiger suplex for two. Another single-leg dropkick. Two-count. KENTA hits a bucklebomb and one of those powerbomb facebuster moves. He goes for a third powerbomb but Marufuji counters into a headscissor attempt that breaks apart mid-move, forcing Kenta to fall to the floor on his own power. More exchanges at ringside and on the apron. Marufuji teases a Shiranui using the post and KENTA teases a German suplex to the floor. Marufuji blocks KENTA with another superkick and connects with a Shiranui using the post from the apron to the floor.

KENTA re-enters the ring at the count of eighteen at which point Marufuji hits him with a coast-to-coast dropkick and a hammerlock Brainbuster for a 2.9-count. Marufuji tries the Super Shiranui but KENTA blocks and tries an avalanche Backdrop suplex. Marufuji lands on his feet, lands two more superkicks, and connects with a second Shiranui. One, two, KENTA survives. Marufuji attempts a top-rope Spanish Fly. KENTA blocks it and lands a top-rope diving Fisherman Buster! But that’s still not enough for a three-count so they trade slaps and forearms once again. Those forearms look and sound like they turn into punches, indicating that both men have thrown caution and rules to the wind. Ludicrous kick/miss exchange. KENTA hits a Busaiku Knee for another two-count. the crowd, which was watching respectfully earlier on, is now reacting to each move, clapping loudly, and stomping their feet in unison. Go 2 Sleep connects! One, two, and – no, Marufuji survives. KENTA hits three more Busaikus, one to the back of Marufuji’s head, one against the ropes, and one with a full running start behind it. That third one sends Marufuji careening across the ring. KENTA covers. One, two, and three! KENTA retains his title and beats Naomichi Marufuji for the first time in his career!

Winner and STILL GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion after 29:19: KENTA

Review

I know it’s a bit of a bad idea to look back at this match knowing their October match exists but it’s good to have a ludicrously-high standard to compare this to. With that being said, this match is just as insane as their October match. Despite having a quieter crowd (at least at first), the action was still as high-octane and brutal as one would expect. Both men hit each other as hard as they could at times. It looked like a real fight could start several times throughout the match given the steely looks both men had on their faces and the aggression in their movements. They combined martial arts, big power moves, mat wrestling, and high-flying into one hybrid style that has had many copycats in the years since. It’s definitely an entertaining match, but nothing truly world-class.

Despite having so many impressive moves, there wasn’t much of a story outside “two guys doing anything and everything under the sun until one stops moving”. That translated into a wildly inconsistent match that was slow at some points and blistering at others. Storytelling was mostly done in broad strokes with very few moments that were anything but ‘performance’. The closest we got to seeing any personality from either man were with small gestures from KENTA and during the strike exchanges that grew in both frequency and intensity as the match went on.

The rest of it, though, was just moves. Cool moves, but moves nonetheless. And moves done without purpose or just in a void might be good for a 5-minute highlights video explaining a wrestler, but not for a main-event-level match.

Another issue that many people have already noted on this match in other places was KENTA’s lack of leg selling, which has been a central theme of his since his career took off. The man will sell damage to his arms, legs, neck, back, and anywhere else, but not his legs. This doesn’t make sense when one takes even five seconds to pause and think about what they’re seeing: this man is a kickboxer who likes to use his legs for, well, everything. He kicks, sprints, dives, and knees people at the highest speed possible. It’s completely logical for any sensible wrestler to think “if I don’t want this guy to break my ribs with his kicks then the first thing I’m going to do is weaken his leg”. Logic would further dictate that KENTA would sell any damage to his legs consistently and overcome pain slowly and dramatically. Instead, he brushed it off here without so much as a second thought. No stabbing his knee to get feeling back into it à la Mankind at IYH10. No sense of urgency or caution after Marufuji smashed his leg into a ringpost. No switching to elbows or even desperation dropkicks to create space long enough for him to actually show recovery. Just magically went from selling his leg to not selling at all as he began his second wind, hence the Senzu Bean comment earlier.

It wouldn’t be farfetched to call KENTA the male version of Manami Toyota, an equally-well-known Japanese wrestler with a penchant for hitting moves with little to no consideration for their placement or timing in a match.

Simple things could’ve added more depth to this story by giving weight to limbwork instead of ignoring it because it interfered with the spots that followed it. When Hiroshi Tanahashi destroyed Kazuchika Okada’s lariat arm in 2013 it took Okada a very long time to be able to anything offensive, which made his heroic comeback more exciting and more believable. When Kenta Kobashi destroyed Toshaki Kawada’s knee in a 1993 tag match, Kawada couldn’t even pull off a simple bridge on a German suplex and had to break up his own pin. When Jun Akiyama destroyed Kobashi’s knee in a title match, Kobashi couldn’t use any of his power moves without struggling both before and after the move landed.

This issue aside, the match was still fun if you’re willing to suspend disbelief and conclude that you shouldn’t take either guy all too seriously. If you just want to see wrestling as an exercise in absurdity then you’ll have a great time here. These two did exciting stuff, to be sure, but it was very much a surreal experience.

It was like the pro-wrestling version of the running gag of Peter Griffin versus Ernie The Giant Chicken from Family Guy: a ludicrous concept from the start that escalates in both intensity and violence over time, leading to greater risks and casualties, all while requiring anyone watching to just accept the craziness of it knowing it’s all just for show.

Final Rating: ****1/4

This is an accurate rating for this match: it’s good enough that it warrants revisiting but even the most casual of viewer will be able to find something off about it. Whether that involves the limbwork that went nowhere, the stiff strike exchanges that created an industry-wide cliché, or the moments of absurdity that make you ask aloud if something was even necessary, only for responses of “maybe, but it looked cool” to fly your way.

When fans talk about KENTA & Marufuji and their best work, they’re talking about matches like this one. Both of these guys are clear examples of wrestlers who not only peaked early but wrestled in styles that each had a limited shelf life. Marufuji was so high-risk and frenetic and he crammed so much into a specific timeframe that his 2000s matches stand head and shoulders above almost everything he did 2010-onwards. He’s had some great matches since then but his only truly outstanding match outside of the 2000s was his 2016 KOPW match against Kazuchika Okada (If you know of any others I’d love to hear about them).

As for KENTA, history hasn’t been kind to him. His whole I’m-going-to-hit-you-as-hard-as-I-can-and-there’s-nothing-you-can-do-about-it philosophy was confined to a specific company at during a specific time period. Even in the hardnosed, tough-it-out world of Japanese wrestling, that style was bound to anger the wrong person and lead to potential professional disputes (this segment in a tag match strongly suggests that KENTA got a “receipt” for being too stiff, even by Japanese standards).

Why do you think he was such a flop in WWE? Aside from having his biggest moves stolen by people already there and having badly-timed injuries, no-one was going to work with him on a nightly basis if he was going to hit like he did in NOAH. In doing so he was robbed of his whole gimmick: how can the guy who had spent a decade carving a reputation as the guy who hits people unreasonably hard because he has a little man complex now wrestle in front of an even bigger audience without doing the one thing that made him semi-famous in the first place?

Influence can good or bad and what you think about these two wrestlers’ influence on the wrestling industry is a matter of personal taste. Some would call them geniuses who made wrestling evolve out of necessity into something crisper, flashier, and more style-drive. Others would deride them for being ridiculous, hyper-unrealistic, and way too quick to ever be believable as wrestlers.

Either way, they had a good match here, but their October match was better. If you’re going to watch any Marufuji/KENTA match, pick that one. It has wilder moments, crazier risks, and a bit more realism to it. Not much, but enough to make it more believable than the almost cartoon-like exchange this was.

Thanks for reading.