BEST/WORST/MOST OVERRATED/MOST UNDERRATED: PRO WRESTLING NOAH, Here it comes, mama! Options

[DEAN]

This should be good.

BEST:
WORST:
MOST OVERRATED:
MOST UNDERRATED:
MOST IMPROVED:
MOST DETERIORATED:

[Ultimo Tiger]

BEST: Jun Akiyama. Seems to be having a lot of good matches and such. Never seems to be lazy or such.

WORST: Mitsuo Momota. Well he is in his late 50's.

MOST OVERRATED: Takeshi Morishima. I like him but I don't think he's God by any stretch of the imagination.

MOST UNDERRATED: Takeshi Rikio. A really solid worker who doesn't get his due.

MOST IMPROVED: Go Shiosaki. He will be the future of this company, mark my words.

MOST DETERIORATED: Misawa. He has just become so badly broken down. I feel really sorry for the guy.

[Ryan]

BEST: Naomichi Marufuji
WORST: Kentaro Shiga
MOST OVERRATED: Takeshi Morishima, and I really like him.
MOST UNDERRATED: Jun Akiyama
MOST IMPROVED: Atsushi Aoki
MOST DETERIORATED: Mitsuharu Misawa

[xDean]

BEST: Kenta Kobashi. Just his presence alone is adding so much to matches it is ridiculous. His next singles match is going to be incredible.
WORST: Do the Briscoes count?
MOST OVERRATED: Taiji Ishimori. He might be improving but he's still spotty and boring to me.
MOST UNDERRATED: Takeshi Rikioh. He's a good super-heavy but he gets shit on by EVERYONE. He was GREAT in the 4/1/07 GHC Tag Title match, and he definitely adds to the main event scene.
MOST IMPROVED: Naomichi Marufuji. Went from flashy jr. to flashy jr. in heavy matches to a legitimate contender.
MOST DETERIORATED: I guess Misawa is the default answer here.

[Misteriorana]

BEST: Kenta Kobashi without a doubt. The companies hugest draw and hasn't missed a step since he came back.
WORST:Ippei Ota
MOST OVERRATED: KENTA
MOST UNDERRATED:Ricky Marvin. Probably what most excites me about NOAH these days. My favorite junior for sure.
MOST IMPROVED: Atsushi Aoki. Definately one of the quickest learners.
MOST DETERIORATED:Misawa. Most of his GHC title runs last year were duds.

[Mike_187]

BEST: Misawa - Now that he's dropped the title he'll fade away into the background, but I really enjoyed his reign.
WORST: Shiga's completely worthless.
MOST OVERRATED: Kenta Kobashi - He can still sell, but when on offense looks like a comedy wrestler.
MOST UNDERRATED: Kawabata - Very solid wrestler, has some nasty basic looking offense.
MOST IMPROVED: Aoki - Seems to be one of the more interesting juniors over there.
MOST DETERIORATED: Kenta Kobashi

[Ultimo Tiger]

I didn't think the Burning Hammer was a comedy move?

Mike you cruel man. You've shattered the dreams of indy wrestlers everywhere who rip it off! :(

[Johnny Dynamite]

BEST: Half of the enjoyment I get out of NOAH comes from Go Shiozaki slowly becoming the most manly of men. Lookatim' chop fools. That's a fucking hand. And that's also some sunabitches' chest sounding like Keith Moon's snare and toms.
WORST: RD for not updating the fucking site's results since 2005.
MOST OVERRATED: Eh, idunno. I still think Ishimori's a worthless little punk.
MOST UNDERRATED: Marufuji has a bunch of awesome smart-ass crafty matches with heavies every year, I think he needs more credit for being a dirty little weasel. I mean, he isn't Tanahashi good at it, but shit.
MOST IMPROVED: I like some of those rookies. Who's the big one, Taniguchi? He's getting good.
MOST DETERIORATED: Makoto Hashi for going from being one of my favorite wrestlers ever to just some dude who likes getting injured and taking falls instead of old people.

[Go2Sleep v.2]

Best - Naomichi Marufuji: I've always liked him, but now I finally feel comfortable calling him the best in the company. I don't think they have a more diversely talented guy on the roster. Over the last two years, he's shown he can work face/heel, HW/JHW style, Big/Small opponents, Old/Young opponents, Singles/Tag etc. His matches are always among the best on the show, and his only subpar big match I can recall was the recent one with Misawa who was dropping him all over the place. He had a helping hand in making both tag divisions exciting again last year, and had a couple good singles bouts with Saito and Morishima, after coming off a very successful singles year in 06. No reason to think he won't continue to be Mr. Reliable in 08.

Worst - Kentaro Shiga: You could pick quite a few guys from the "curtain jerk rotation" in NOAH for this (dis)honor. Momota, Kikuchi, Izumida, Kawabata, and Inoue are all pretty bad, but in each case, I could find at least one positive thing about them. Shiga... Not really. His offense is terrible, he looks like a rat, and doesn't help make any match he's in better. Along with Kawabata, he actually managed to create a bad tag match with Akiyama/Rikio last year... And Kawabata was at least trying to make it decent.

Overrated - Mitsuharu Misawa: I understand him being in the top spot, and I didn't really have too much of a problem with it last year due to his popularity, but I find his work to be massively overrated during that time. I thought his match with Bison and Sano were ok, and the Morishima match was booked exactly like it should've been, but I can't offer much praise beyond that. Most of his matches have been subpar, lacking in heat, and plagued with botches or weak execution. I just can't get behind much of his recent singles work, let alone call anything of his a "MOTYC."

Underrated - KENTA: He's kind of been lost in the shuffle the last couple of years, but last summer, he found a nice niche as the jr division ace. I can totally dig him stiffing all the jr's and new guys since there isn't much room for him at the top of the card. He's not quite as diverse as Maru is at this point, but he can still mix it up fairly well with the heavies. Nevermind that his matches have been consistently good, even if unimportant, and his ring work has been somewhat slept on over the last year.

Improved - Taiji Ishimori: Used to be a pretty bland jr guy with cool moves, but his team with KENTA has helped him a lot. He still has plenty of room for improvement, but his pacing and timing have been a lot better recently. He also botches less, and he gets to spend more time taking bumps (which he does pretty well) now that he's the designated whipping boy in tag matches.

Deterioriated - Mitsuharu Misawa: Hate to list the same guy twice, but there's really no other answer here. It's shocking how much more he could do even in 2006 compared to now. You could apply Shawn Michaels' "Old Yeller" promo here.

[Joshua H]

Best: Kenta Kobashi. You could take away KENTA, Marufuji, Morishima etc individually and not really miss them that much. But when Kobashi's gone, NOAH does not feel like NOAH. As soon as he came back, as well, the number of quality matches being put out went straight up. Nobody I'd rather see.

Worst: Honestly I don't watch enough of the undercard stuff to really if anyone's particularly bad. I tend to feel that everyone has their place. If I had to pick it would probably be one of the terrible gaijin they bring in like the Briscoes or Rocky Romero.

Overrated: Overrated has become such a harsh word. I guess maybe Morishima, but I still think he's very good in ways.

Underrated: Some of the midcard guys get far too much criticism. Maybe someone like Tamon Honda. When Misawa was giving title matches and big singles matches to all and sundry last year, I would've liked to have seen a Misawa/Honda GHC Title match. Couldn't have drawn any less than that Bison Smith match.

Deterioriated: Kentaro Shiga. It's sad to see how much shit he's getting in this thread, because before he was injury riddled he was absolutely awesome.

I think people are being a bit OTT about Misawa as well. I'd find it hard to be so critical of anyone who has had as many good matches as he has in the last eighteen months or so. But then, Misawa will always be Misawa to me and as long as he can still fuck people up with elbows, he's fine with me.

WORST: RD for not updating the fucking site's results since 2005.
MOST OVERRATED: Eh, idunno. I still think Ishimori's a worthless little punk.

Yes.

[Robert S]

BEST: Kenta Kobashi is the obvious answer
WORST: Jun Izumida, at least Shiga has Kawabata, who makes him look acceptable every now and then
MOST OVERRATED: I don't remember anyone getting much praise, which he doesn't deserve
MOST UNDERRATED: Kishin Kawabata, he is often mentioned along the other old undercard guys (like Shiga or Izumida), but he is one of the better heavyweight wrestlers in the roster, he often works pretty hard (especially if compared to other undercard guys), especially in the match vs. Shiga (easily the best Shiga singles match since his return)
MOST IMPROVED: Go Shiosaki, he was pretty good to begin with, but in 2007 in developed more ring presence
MOST DETERIORATED: Makoto Hashi

[ProWrestlingLove]

BEST: Akiyama. He doesn't do the Noah "style" the best but is the best overall wrestler in the company and entertains me more than anyone else on a consistent basis.
WORST: Saito. I hate everything about him and he bores me to tears.
MOST OVERRATED: Hard to say since there are so many KENTA hardly ever entertains me outside of exchanges with Takayama, Misawa is just awful now and so is Kikuchi. Whoever gets praised more I guess.
MOST UNDERRATED: Shiga. Just because he gets way more hate than he deserves he isn't nearly the worst guy on the undercard and I enjoyed the Pen Pals. Backslide>Backflip elbowdrop.
MOST IMPROVED: Aoki. His new found character has won me over I really didn't get why people praised the guy while he was still the epitome of the generic junior.
MOST DETERIORATED: Misawa.

[Ultimo Tiger]

Yeah the Shiga hate baffles me. Really I don't hate any of the older guys in the undercard but Shiga was so badly fucked up physically it's a miracle he ever came back. It pains me to see him bashed for at least trying which is more than some veterans do. He's better than half those generic indy wrestlers out there.

[destinyhammer]

Best: Kobashi. Joshua H said it good. Without Kenta Kobashi, NOAH just would be the same. The guy is amazing and I can watch him handle his business in the ring all day long.

Worst: I havent seen a lot of Shiga's work post knee injury, and oddly enough I liked a lot of his work in 2002. Mohammed Yone, however, is someone Ive never really been able to get into. I dont think I've seen a match of his that made me feel like he was very good. Its a shame becasue I want to like him.

Overrated: Morishima is able to kick out some good matches, but I've found a lot of his stuff hit or miss. Maybe its just me tiring of his act, but I surely dont think he is as good as the reputation he has.

Underrated: Its past time that KENTA moved up the card.

Improved: I love watching Shiozaki. If there is anyone on the roster that I feel has gotten better each time he is put on the spot its Shiozaki.

Deteriorated: Misawa has slowed down. I can still enjoy a lot of what he does, but most of his stuff tends to drag.

[jaedmc]

BEST: I'd normally say, Kobashi, but I'm going by the last year alone. So I'd say Marafuji. He seemed to be consistently on the whole year. Morishima had plenty of iffyness this past year, and two of his best matches came from...Marafuji.
WORST: I'm going to say Kanemaru, despite him having one of my favorite matches from last year. He gets my worst pick because he should be good but he manages to be crappy in nearly everything. Then he teases you by busting out some awesomeness and then goes back into his Cave of Apathy. What an ass.
OVERRATED: Sadly, I have to say Morishima. I love this guy. More than most of the roster, but I think some people are mistaking his unbelievable potential to be great for being great now.
UNDERRATED:Akitoshi Saito. He doesn't bore me. And he had some of my favorite matches from last year.
MOST IMPROVED: Aoki. He plays a great second to a bigger name in tag matches.
MOST DETERIORATED: Misawa.

[Evil Otto]

BEST: Marufuji. Moreover, Marufuji and Sugiura as a team.
WORST: Awww, now after reading this thread, I feel guilty..but yeah, Shiga.
MOST OVERRATED: No one is that overrated, I suppose, but I'm going to go with Rikio here, as some people sure seem to love him. Quite simply, he doesn't do much for me.
MOST UNDERRATED: Saito. Had a pretty great 2007. Seems to be more than willing to work with the upcoming guys and make them look great. Liked his team with Bison, because it makes sense, those two manhandling folks. He's not GHC title material, but he ain't so bad.
MOST IMPROVED: This is by far the most intriguing category, as I'd love to say "the booking" (nyuk nyuk), but it's not completely true, although it has gotten better recently. One very postive thing for NOAH these days is LOTS of guys have stepped it up in the past year or so. Aoki gets the nod here, though. Mainly because of how quickly he improved. He's already a Jr. title contender, and brings something to every match he's in.
MOST DETERIORATED: Misawa.

[RandomAct]

Best: I'm going to say Marufuji, for pretty much all of the reasons already mentioned. He's the one guy that I consistently look forward to.

Worst: Saito...I've never liked anything he has done outside of the Sterness tag team, and his singles match with Marufuji last year.

Most Overrated: Morishima. He's not bad, but I'm not buying the hype. I do see where there is potential, but as JR used to say, you can't make a living on potential.

Most Underrated: It's a toss up for me between Sugiura and Yone. I guess Sugiura gets the love that he should, but he's just completely awesome to me. Yone is a guy that gets ripped apart by everyone, but I've enjoyed quite a bit of his work, and he had a singles match with Hashi back in 2005 that I thought was the bee's knees, as well as a good singles match with Minoru Suzuki.

Most Improved: I thought about going with Shiosaki here, but he's always been awesome. I will cosign on the Aoki love, though. This guy is going to be the top junior in the company one day, count on it.

Most Deteriorated: I'm going to say Hashi. This is a guy that I was sure was going to be in the upper midcard by now, and probably have a win over Akiyama under his belt, but ever since that big injury a year or so ago, he's been awful. He's lost that great underdog charm he had, he's put on weight, and is just bad in the ring nowadays.

[dannykeyz]

Best: Marufuji. He's pretty damn good at everything and he has slowly built himself into a top guy. I think the heavy tag run with Suguira has really helped them with confidence as heavies. Oh and he's even fun when he is dying. Watching Morishima kill him was just too fun and I don't think many could have pulled that off so well. I look forward to the day he doesn't sell Misawa's elbows quite so much though :) I would pick Kobashi but he hasn't been back that long and there has been no evidence that he will be able to cut it in singles matches anymore. More on that later.

Worst. Izumida or Inoue. They both do some nice comedy schtick but that's about all. Inoue seems well liked and not completely awful but a lot of his offense just looks embarrasingly week, like his clotheslines in the corner. He's not exactly Baba level over to make people have to sell for that is he?

Most Overrated. Rikioh. I haven't seen enough of him to have too much of an opinion but nothing I have seen has ever entertained me. I've gotten more joy out of current Shiga than Rikioh.

Most underrated. Within the company, maybe KENTA. He can really go if asked and is great as guy trying to get in the face of the older guys. If he was a bit bigger he could have been given a spot as Kawada level ass kicker. Unfortunately, he's probably stuck as the stepping stone out of Junior/Rookiedom for the bigger guys that come up.

Most deteriorated. Has to be Misawa or Kobashi. Kobashi has been f'd up for quite a while now, obviously, but since he's come back I think he's lost just enough maneuvarability to make him a liabilty in singles matches. Any stand up and fight sections in the middle of the ring have looked pretty poor in places, ala against Takayama in the recent tag match, where when they were "brawling" on the ramp it was pretty slow mo. Compare that to the chop fest against Sasaki and you can see a problem in credibility. I think even the crowd has started to get over the "awesome, Kobashi is back" phase and is starting to think, "oh man, he really seems more beat up than we remember". I guess I will find out if he goes up against Morishima.

[H-A-G-E]

Is there really a majority of people pimping Rikioh?

[Ultimo Tiger]

Seems to be. He is good after all.