(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Akira Taue vs. Yuji Nagata – NOAH, June 6, 2003

I’m taking a break from translating Japanese books go back to reviewing matches. But this time the two topics are related since one of the comments on my Akira Taue book reviews suggested this as a “hidden gem” and “an absolute blast of a sprint”. And you know what? He was right.

Most of Taue’s best matches, according to some critics, have been tag matches. As a singles star he often gets dismissed as less skilled or less accomplished compared to the other Four Heavenly Kings. His only Dave Meltzer 5-Star match was against Misawa in 1995 (though to be fair that match is still amazing) but little else stood out. Then again, as we have seen in more recent years Meltzer’s idea of what makes a match great is extremely niche, even by wrestling’s already niche circles, so it’s always better to have more voices talking about the same topic. And with that let’s look at this purportedly great match of Akira Taue’s.

The Story

NOAH and New Japan had a working relationship at the time and Nagata was arguably NJPW’s biggest star. A month earlier he lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Yoshihiro Takayama after holding it for 392 days, which was very impressive at the time. After losing that title Nagata entered contention for NOAH’s GHC Heavyweight title, which was held by Kenta Kobashi. But before “Mr. IWGP” could face “Mr. GHC”, the New Japan guy had to prove himself. And who better to do that than one of the company’s most reliable utility players in Taue?

The Match

This took place on June 6, 2003. It was rated ****1/2 out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

The bell rings and the crowd are exceptionally loud, like an American crowd cheering local boy Taue and booing the shit out of outsider Nagata. They tease locking up and then go for a knuckle-lock. A test of strength ends with a Taue hook kick. Nagata takes his arm but Taue frees himself via Baba brain chop. Taue does a “haha you’re can’t reach this high” spot which angers Nagata so he lands a barrage of strikes. Taue shoots him off the ropes and a shoulderblock ends in a stalemate. Then they trade kicks and blocks, leading to another standoff and a huge pop from the crowd. Both guys slap each other hard. Nagata rushes for a clothesline and…ORE GA TAUE!

Nagata rolls to ringside to avoid getting pinned but Taue drags him back in anyway. Taue goes to shoot him off the ropes but he collapses after taking two steps forward. The ref checks to see if he’s out and concludes he’s not so Taue hits a chokeslam and covers. One, two, Nagata kicks out. Taue goes for a Cliff Nodowa to finish him off. Nagata holds on for dear life. Taue boots him off the apron, removes some of the ringside mats, and chokeslams Nagata onto the floor.

Taue drags Nagata into the ring and guillotine drapes him across the top rope. A high kick to the back of the head gets him a two-count so he applies a sleeper with bodyscissors. Nagata gets a ropebreak with his foot so Taue drags him into a corner and unloads a barrage of sumo palm thrusts. He sends Nagata into the opposite corner and charges. Nagata sidesteps and lands a Backdrop suplex.

Nagata fires up with kicks to the chest and spine and an over-the-shoulder armbreaker. He kicks that same arm and locks in his Nagata Lock I (a stepover armbar) and when Taue gets a ropebreak Nagata’s slow to let go. Taue bails to ringside but Nagata boots him over the barricade and drives him shoulder-first into a post. Then he locks in another armbar from the apron and Taue’s got nowhere to escape to.

Back in the ring Nagata lands another armbreaker followed by an enzuigiri, but the latter doesn’t drop Taue, just makes him stagger. Taue elbows out of another Backdrop and lands a DDT followed by a Dynamic Kick for two. Nagata blocks another chokeslam so Taue sends him into a corner and hits yakuza kick followed by an avalanche chokeslam. One, two, Nagata survives. Nagata blocks another chokeslam but can’t avoid them forever as Taue connects with the next one for another near-fall. But wait, there’s more. Taue follows with a Ligerbomb but only gets two. He tries the Ore Ga Taue again. Nagata escapes, ducks a lariat, and lands an Exploder suplex. Taue fights to his feet. Nagata kicks his arm to block a chop and locks in his Nagata Lock II (crossface). Taue crawls and crawls and manages to get a ropebreak.

Taue hits back and charges but runs into an overhead release belly-to-belly. Nagata covers for two and goes for his (at the time) never-before-escaped Nagata Lock III (scissored armbar/Brutalizer/Stu lock/Rings of Saturn). Taue resists so Nagata switches to the Dis-Arm-Her style armbar as before but Taue gets yet another ropebreak. Another kick exchange sends Nagata cross the ring into a corner. Both men rush each other. Nagata hits first with a wheel kick followed by a corner kneelift. Then Nagata hits an avalanche Exploder. One, two, Taue kicks out. Taue blocks one Backdrop but can’t block the next one. But just for good measure Nagata lands one more after that and bridges for two. Nagata Lock III applied. Taue has nowhere to go so he submits. Nagata wins!

Winner via submission after 15:53: Yuji Nagata

Review

This was WAY better than I was expecting it to be. Despite only going about sixteen minutes long they packed plenty of action and story into it. Taue hit first with a barrage of awesome, high-impact finishers but Nagata survived. And from there Taue the bigger man threw everything he had at this outsider and despite having a hometown psychological edge he couldn’t keep Nagata down long enough. Part of Taue’s failure was that, despite hitting hard with some truly awesome offense, he didn’t come into this with as much strategy as his opponent. After weathering Taue’s initial storm Nagata began targeting Taue’s arm which both softened it for his many arm submission holds and made it harder for Taue to spam his chokeslam variations.

And while Taue was ambidextrous being limited with one arm and shifting to the other do compensate made him easier to predict which made things easier for Nagata. And although Taue had a strong arsenal of powerful moves to add onto the massive bombs he dropped during the first three minutes he just couldn’t keep the pressure consistently enough once his arm started troubling him. Nagata was able to turn things into his favor by applying the simplest, most basic psychological strategy and it worked wonders both in terms of match progress and match story. So even if Nagata’s movements weren’t the biggest or flashiest everyone, even those watching in the nosebleeds, could follow along, understand, and appreciate the tale being told.

Final Rating: ****3/4

This was and still is an excellent match that anyone can enjoy. It’s fast-paced with plenty of action packed into it and it had a fun story that played out of a wild crowd. Taue showcased his chops as an expert in laying out and structuring matches which, all things considered, might be more important than the actual techniques he executed. He knew his purpose here: to get Nagata over ahead of an even bigger match ahead against NOAH’s top star and he succeeded. He did everything in his power to make Nagata look good and got the audience invested enough to want to pay for a ticket to see Kobashi crush him down the line. And yet it wasn’t that predictable of a match or a conclusion: it was so even that Taue stood a chance of winning down to the final minute. There’s something to be said of wrestlers who can make both the journey and the destination feel both fun and meaningful and that’s what these two guys did here.

Thanks for reading.