A Re-Evaluation of Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Samoa Joe
Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Samoa Joe NOAH 10/27/07
ER: I know this match got written off as a disappointment in 2007, and because of that I never actually watched it. I absolutely loved NOAH from inception to around maybe '08, arguably my favorite overall fed in pro wrestling during those years. Segunda Caida were definitely high votes on Unforgiven Misawa era title matches, both of us loving his running on empty charisma. His Bison Smith defense several months prior was really great, and it just feels like I need to see Misawa vs. Joe with my own eyes. Were people at the time disappointed because it didn't have the same aura as Kobashi vs. Joe? Or was it genuinely just a bad style clash with a dash of "off night"? Even though Misawa passed away 18 months later and worked a full schedule up to then, he was clearly winding things down in a way. He had less than 10 singles matches after this match, and that's notable. It might be a very fun/very sad project to look at the very last Misawa singles bouts (two vs. Nakajima, one vs. Sugiura, a Makoto Hashi match I'd love to see, and obviously one vs. Keith Walker - the most important of the Misawa singles). This match vs. Joe turned out to be a big deal as it was his last successful title defense.
Misawa was only 45 in this match, but moved and reacted many years older. Part of the allure at the time of this era Misawa was his natural surliness played more like pain and weary vulnerability. We knew he was tired as hell from holding this company up on his back, but I don't think any of us actually expected what happened. Watching Misawa from this era now, and it all just plays sympathetically. He's a guy who more HAD to be there than actually wanted to be there, but that attitude combined with his still present charisma made him a unique character, a guy punishing people for the punishment he had to endure, due to cultural obligation and occupational choices.
This was not a great match, but it sure had plenty of moments. It appeared like they were billing this as a kind of interpromotional dream match, with Joe representing TNA. That's really weird! In retrospect I assume Joe only got this title match due to the hype from facing Kobashi, but that doesn't make much sense as it was literally 2 years prior and hadn't happened in Japan. How did Joe get a GHC title shot? Those didn't happen frequently, and Joe was hardly a known star in Japan. When this match happened, Joe hadn't worked Japan in several years, and wasn't ever a major part of Zero-One during his stint there. Samoa Joe is one of the weirder NOAH main event title contenders in the first 8 years of NOAH. Were fans supposed to be excited that a wrestling journalist really liked his match against Kobashi 2 years prior? What was the actual reasoning behind Samoa Joe: GHC Title Contender?
I think there was a good match in here, but the layout needed to be a little different. This was pretty unimaginative, just Joe dominating for the first 75% of the match, until a switch flips and he gets pummeled by Misawa for awhile. Those kind of frontloaded dominant matches are probably my least favorite layout, and would only be made interesting by the dominant guy convincingly selling exhaustion from dishing out a beating. I'm not sure I've seen someone do a very good "my fists and legs are tired from punching and kicking you" sell, but it's something I'd like to see. I liked Misawa's selling during Joe's assault, dug Joe scraping that boot across Misawa's face and seeing Misawa repeatedly check his nose for blood after. Old Misawa excels at selling during submissions, his seemingly constant pain expressed well when Joe locks in a nasty twisting facelock, and we get a good nearfall when Joe has the gall to plant Misawa with his own emerald flowsion. This all of course builds to a big Misawa comeback, which was not as big as they used to be, but not without its charms. Old retired gunslinger Misawa still had a shooter's chance, and could throw elbows as hard as anyone, and it's a joy watching him light Joe up with left right combos. I liked that Joe got to kick out of Misawa's emerald flowsion, because the actual finish right after was much cooler: Joe sits up after kickout out, framing his head perfectly for a hard Misawa elbow right to the back of the head.
So, no, this was not a great match and people at the time probably were not unfair to it. But it's a match that obviously has different meaning and sympathy now than it did then, which boosted the drama in unfortunate ways. And I still really wish the Keith Walker match had been taped.
ER: I know this match got written off as a disappointment in 2007, and because of that I never actually watched it. I absolutely loved NOAH from inception to around maybe '08, arguably my favorite overall fed in pro wrestling during those years. Segunda Caida were definitely high votes on Unforgiven Misawa era title matches, both of us loving his running on empty charisma. His Bison Smith defense several months prior was really great, and it just feels like I need to see Misawa vs. Joe with my own eyes. Were people at the time disappointed because it didn't have the same aura as Kobashi vs. Joe? Or was it genuinely just a bad style clash with a dash of "off night"? Even though Misawa passed away 18 months later and worked a full schedule up to then, he was clearly winding things down in a way. He had less than 10 singles matches after this match, and that's notable. It might be a very fun/very sad project to look at the very last Misawa singles bouts (two vs. Nakajima, one vs. Sugiura, a Makoto Hashi match I'd love to see, and obviously one vs. Keith Walker - the most important of the Misawa singles). This match vs. Joe turned out to be a big deal as it was his last successful title defense.
Misawa was only 45 in this match, but moved and reacted many years older. Part of the allure at the time of this era Misawa was his natural surliness played more like pain and weary vulnerability. We knew he was tired as hell from holding this company up on his back, but I don't think any of us actually expected what happened. Watching Misawa from this era now, and it all just plays sympathetically. He's a guy who more HAD to be there than actually wanted to be there, but that attitude combined with his still present charisma made him a unique character, a guy punishing people for the punishment he had to endure, due to cultural obligation and occupational choices.
This was not a great match, but it sure had plenty of moments. It appeared like they were billing this as a kind of interpromotional dream match, with Joe representing TNA. That's really weird! In retrospect I assume Joe only got this title match due to the hype from facing Kobashi, but that doesn't make much sense as it was literally 2 years prior and hadn't happened in Japan. How did Joe get a GHC title shot? Those didn't happen frequently, and Joe was hardly a known star in Japan. When this match happened, Joe hadn't worked Japan in several years, and wasn't ever a major part of Zero-One during his stint there. Samoa Joe is one of the weirder NOAH main event title contenders in the first 8 years of NOAH. Were fans supposed to be excited that a wrestling journalist really liked his match against Kobashi 2 years prior? What was the actual reasoning behind Samoa Joe: GHC Title Contender?
I think there was a good match in here, but the layout needed to be a little different. This was pretty unimaginative, just Joe dominating for the first 75% of the match, until a switch flips and he gets pummeled by Misawa for awhile. Those kind of frontloaded dominant matches are probably my least favorite layout, and would only be made interesting by the dominant guy convincingly selling exhaustion from dishing out a beating. I'm not sure I've seen someone do a very good "my fists and legs are tired from punching and kicking you" sell, but it's something I'd like to see. I liked Misawa's selling during Joe's assault, dug Joe scraping that boot across Misawa's face and seeing Misawa repeatedly check his nose for blood after. Old Misawa excels at selling during submissions, his seemingly constant pain expressed well when Joe locks in a nasty twisting facelock, and we get a good nearfall when Joe has the gall to plant Misawa with his own emerald flowsion. This all of course builds to a big Misawa comeback, which was not as big as they used to be, but not without its charms. Old retired gunslinger Misawa still had a shooter's chance, and could throw elbows as hard as anyone, and it's a joy watching him light Joe up with left right combos. I liked that Joe got to kick out of Misawa's emerald flowsion, because the actual finish right after was much cooler: Joe sits up after kickout out, framing his head perfectly for a hard Misawa elbow right to the back of the head.
So, no, this was not a great match and people at the time probably were not unfair to it. But it's a match that obviously has different meaning and sympathy now than it did then, which boosted the drama in unfortunate ways. And I still really wish the Keith Walker match had been taped.
Labels: Mitsuharu Misawa, NOAH, Samoa Joe
posted by EricR @ 10:00 PM
1 Comments:
Not that it makes Joe's contendership any more logical but the Kobashi match was shown on NOAH TV with Japanese commentary (they also did this with one of the KENTA/Danielson matches).
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