The Navigation Log 1.27.08: First Navigation Finale and Second Navigation Foreigners

Onto the Navigation Log!

First Navigation Korakuen Hall Finale Results

1. Mohammed Yone & Ippei Ota beat Taiji Ishimori & Akihiko
2. Junji Izumida & Mitsuo Momota beat Kishin Kawabata & Kentaro Shiga
3. Takuma Sano & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat Tamon Honda & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
4. Yoshinari Ogawa, Doug Williams & Masao Inoue beat Bison Smith, Rocky Romero & Davey Richards
5. Akitoshi Saito & KENTA beat Yoshihiro Takayama & Atsushi Aoki
6. Shuhei Taniguchi Ten Match Trial Series – Match One: Kensuke Sasaki beat Shuhei Taniguchi
7. ROH World Title: Nigel McGuinness (c) beat Go Shiosaki
8. Akira Taue 20th Anniversary Match: Akira Taue, Jun Akiyama & Takeshi Morishima beat Mitsuharu Misawa, Naomichi Marufuji & Kotaro Suzuki

I have to admit, this looks like it was a pretty solid card and there’s a few matches I wouldn’t mind seeing from the undercard. Specifically, Saito & KENTA vs. Takayama & Aoki. That combo just looks like it would be fun, especially with Aoki’s rate of improvement. The three other members of this match would probably end up being opponents for Aoki during the rest of his trial series.

Taniguchi predictably lost his trial match against Kensuke Sasaki but he lasted a whole 13 minutes. Okay, maybe that’s not so impressive in the grand scheme of things but at least he wasn’t killed outright. It kind of makes you wonder who they’ll throw at him next since Sasaki is one of those guys right at the top of the mountain. There’s probably good odds of Taniguchi or Aoki facing Kobashi sometime and that will end badly for the rookies, I can assure you.

The ROH World Title match was very well received from what I understand and Go Shiozaki looked strong. As far as I can tell the whole purpose of the match was to showcase Shiozaki in preparation for his coming United States tour. It does put him in a strong position at the top of the card when he debuts, but it also puts some added pressure on him. Let’s not jump the gun on Go here. I’m a huge fan of his, and being trained as Kenta Kobashi’s successor does give him a lot of credibility but he’s still generally unproven. He’s got a lot of hype to live up to in this US tour. The thing about Go is he made that hype himself. Sure, he’s had the backing of NOAH but he performed above and beyond what has been expected of him.

As for the Taue 20th Anniversary match, well that’s just an awesome group they got together. It might not be up there with the Kobashi Return Match, but it looks like it was a lot of fun.

Overall, I imagine that the success of this show was in part due to the venue. Korakuen Hall is my favorite arena in Japan. It offers a really intimate kind of show, but is still big enough that it maintains that “big show” feel. For being right next to the Tokyo Dome you can’t do much better. Aside from the Tokyo Dome of course.

Second Navigation Gaijin
ROH is changing up the stars they’ll be sending to NOAH for the Second Navigation this year. The Briscoes will be making a return for this tour and will likely be in the hunt for a shot at the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team titles. A match between them and Shingo Takagi & BxB Hulk would be impressive.

Changing things up however, Chris Hero will make his second appearance for NOAH (thus giving him more ammo for proclaiming his greatness). In a debut Claudio Castagnoli will be making his own debut in NOAH over the Second Navigation. This is something to get excited about. NOAH has made it pretty clear that Claudio is a big deal, taking special note of his recent victory against Naomichi Marufuji.

Here’s the real deal though people. NOAH booking is different from ROH booking. Except with the ROH Championship, NOAH tends to do as they see fit. Now think about it for a second. If we’re really lucky we could have a Kings of Wrestling reunion in the making. Okay it’s a long shot sure, but come on just imagine it for a second. The Kings of Wrestling vs. Sugiura & Marufuji.

Epic.

Super Hidden Asian Surprise Inside!
ROH is apparently planning on announcing the signing of a newcomer from Japan, from neither NOAH or ROH. WHO COULD IT BE?? Let the speculation begin!

My first choice would be Kota Ibushi. He’s an amazing guy to watch and has a style not quite unlike KENTA. Thus, he could serve as a suitable replacement for a year without KENTA. Ibushi would be a hell of a lot of fun to see in a ROH ring.

There’s a lot of other good choices. Quite a few DDT and K-Dojo stars gained attention from working in Chikara over recent years. Guys like MIYAWAKI and Yoshiaki Yago would be good choices. MIYAWAKI had a highly praised match with Claudio Castagnoli during Chikara’s finale weekend of 2007, not to mention delivering one of the hardest headbutts I’ve ever seen in the first King of Trios. Yago is just as awesome, having a classic against Necro Butcher in 2006.

So who’s it gonna be ROH? You’re not allowed to disappoint now, you’ve got my hopes up.

Your Weekly Puro
This week, we’re going outside of Japan so I can share the epic nature of Yoshiaki Yago vs. Necro Butcher. This style of match is kind of rare in Chikara, but damn this still blew a lot of people away. I know a lot of people dislike Necro, but a lot of the haters tend to forget that pro wrestling wouldn’t exist without a lot of different kinds of performers.

Chikara Tag World Grand Prix 2006: Yoshiaki Yago vs. The Necro Butcher

At Home
Well, I didn’t actually watch any wrestling this week because of my hellacious class schedule. I am sorry I missed it, because it sounded like there was some good stuff this week on all the shows.

The biggest story of the week though was Bobby Lashley leaving the WWE. It was completely out of left field and really just sounded like a lot of crap to be honest. I can understand being upset over the firing of his girlfriend, but if that was the case why wait so long to do it? The answer is because she probably just convinced him now. Women. Dames. Broads. Suzie Q’s. I maintain that it’s no real loss. I never liked Lashley all that much, though he did have some good matches. If he was actually serious about the push he was getting this wouldn’t have happened. Too bad, can’t make any more jokes about his lisp. Carry on the Black Lesnar jokes though.

And shame on TNA for putting the IWGP Champion on Xplosion. Fuck, you can tell he was pissed because he actually said so. Japanese don’t tell you when they’re angry unless they’re really ticked off. SHAME.