By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
There are few things I like more in my wrestling than a big wrestler who uses their size to their advantage. As the wrestling world mourned the loss of Vader in recent times, some solace for fans of a sizeable guys who can often defy expectations with what they were capable of in the ring could be found yesterday as Takeshi Morishima announced his return to the ring. This came three years after what was initially announced as an illness-related retirement, though seemingly was revealed in time to be that Morishima wasn’t in fit state either mentally or physically. Luckily for the wrestling world at large, whatever barriers that halted him in the past are gone or are at least sidelined, though outside of a Riki Choshu-produced show, where else he may end up is still open to speculation.
When I did the ‘Wrestling 365’ project, Takeshi Morishima showed up four times, a pretty significant amount for considering the vastness of wrestling history. It spoke a lot about the impact he had on wrestling – his time spent in NOAH and ROH both showcasing an almost supernatural ability to mix size and athleticism – and the impact he had on me. Whilst not a fan who often checks out Japanese promotions outside of New Japan, I sought out Morishima matches more so than any puro wrestler for a long time when he was in his heyday. He stood head and shoulders above other wrestlers in terms of my interests at the time and it wasn’t even close.
Below are the four columns I wrote, each charting a key match in Morishima’s history. Some he won, some he lost, but all were worthy showcases of a wrestler that has left a significant mark on the sport as a whole. Whether he is able to rise to the heady standards he set before will be left to the future, but a chance for him to go out on his own terms has to at least be a better way for his career to eventually end.
Homicide © vs Takeshi Morishima 2/17/07
ROH World Heavyweight Title Match
At the time that Takeshi Morishima was booked to take on Homicide in an ROH World Heavyweight Title match, Morishima had only competed in the company for one day. Following a squash of Pelle Primeau in eight seconds, Morishima went on to lose a much more competitive contest against Samoa Joe. With a sequence of shows dubbed ‘The Fifth Year Festival’, the tour moved from New York City to Philadelphia and Morishima would find himself in the main event gunning for the gold.
It was Homicide who had ended Bryan Danielson’s year plus title reign, and had begun to build a decent streak of title defenses. Chris Hero, Samoa Joe and Jimmy Rave would all be dispatched in the first fifty days, leaving Morishima the next man in line for Homicide to have to defeat.
With Homicide himself known as a man who was willing to go to any extreme to win, Morishima took a play out of his book and jumped the Notorious 187 during his entrance. A whip into the barricade and a DDT on the concrete floor instantly had the champion struggling at ringside, a position not helped by kicks and knees against the guard rail. Finally, both men made it into the ring and the match would officially begin.
Homicide was always going to need to hit hard and fast against a man who held a significant size and power advantage, and he would quickly halt the onslaught with a tornado DDT and a tope con hilo, much to the enjoyment of Julius Smokes at ringside. This time, Homicide utilised the barricade to whip Morishima into, though this time the barricade would give way and send Morishima into the crowd. Smokes also got involved, meeting an Irish whip by Homicide with a lariat that barely moved the challenger, before an attempted double clothesline in the ring was blocked and led to a double lariat by Morishima to take control.
Very few wrestlers used their bulk as impressively as Morishima. After the double lariat, a cartwheel avalanche in the corner was followed up by Morishima just standing on Homicide to press all his weight down on the champion’s chest and a rolling body attack to get the first nearfall. A sunset flip saw Morishima use a vertical splash to further target the champion’s ribs, before a modified camel clutch and head scissors would slow the pace right down.
To further sell the legitimacy of Morishima, a back and front lariat – a move that defeated Samoa Joe – would only manage to get Homicide a two count. Smokes involvement would once again allow his man to get back into the match after a Morishima body slam, the manager blocking an attempt by the challenger to climb the top rope and allow Homicide enough time to turn it into a big time superplex. As the match progressed, all of Homicide’s moves and combinations – a drop toe hold, neckbreaker and senton splash off of the top – never truly slowed down his opponent, whilst an STF didn’t force the submission victory.
A lariat attempt by the champion was reversed into a backdrop driver and a lariat of Morishima’s own. To be fair to the crowd, who had been quiet up until then outside of the odd chant, they popped hugely for the nearfall that followed. Unfazed by Homicide’s kickout, Morishima picked him up and dumped him hard once again with another backdrop driver for the three count and the title. More out of shock than anything it seemed, the crowd were on their feet, probably not expecting to see the title change hands.
At the time, the Morishima title victory wasn’t necessarily universally accepted by the ROH faithful. Many thought it a shame for Homicide to drop the title so early, whilst others queried the quality of what Morishima had to offer in terms of in ring action. What it did allow for the promotion was the ability for them to add further credence to the idea of the title being a World belt, as Morishima would go on to defend it in Japan as well as the US before dropping it to Nigel McGuinness.
Takeshi Morishima © vs Nigel McGuinness 10/6/07
ROH World Heavyweight Championship Match
One memory I have of a time period where I used to follow ROH much more closely was how divided people were about the Takeshi Morishima reign. I loved Morishima, so was happy to have any opportunities to see him on a more regular basis; many complained that he just wasn’t very good and shouldn’t have been put over as champion so early on in his run with the company. Whichever camp you sat in, ROH had done their best at turning him into a monster. Morishima defended his title twenty times in a reign that lasted over two hundred days, taking on the best of both ROH and Japan.
Morishima would defeat Bryan Danielson twice, KENTA, Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kevin Steen among others. Another wrestler he had managed to defeat twice was Nigel McGuinness. Ever since McGuinness had transitioned from an initially comedy driven feud with Colt Cabana – which eventually became more violent – into one with Bryan Danielson, he had progressed up the card and was a viable contender for the gold. After feuding with Jimmy Rave and Chris Hero, McGuinness won the right for the title shot by defeating Hero, Claudio Castagnoli and Naomichi Marafuji in a four-way match. However, he had already failed to put away the monster from Japan twice already. Was third time going to be lucky?
As often was the case in the main event of an ROH show, the crowd was split between both wrestlers. Early attempts at the Jawbreaker lariat and the backdrop driver saw both trademark moves blocked, with a second Jawbreaker lariat seeing Morishima use the momentum to turn it into a sidewalk slam. McGuinness aimed to gain some composure by heading to ringside after a rolling champion coming off of the ropes crushed him with a body attack, but Morishima was there to keep the pressure on. A unique third attempt at the Jawbreaker lariat saw him use the ropes as Morishima tried to throw him into the ring for leverage, but it failed once more and earned McGuinness a beating at ringside with the arm the target.
The mixed loyalties faded away as the champion’s assault on McGuinness’ arm saw the fans beginning to get behind the British star. Armbars and strikes kept McGuinness under the champion’s control whilst also potentially taking the Jawbreaker lariat out of his offensive arsenal. In a misguided attempt to fight back, McGuinness aimed several slaps at Morishima’s face; a forearm across the chest sent the challenger flying back onto the seat of his trunks.
A reversed back drop driver into a crossbody earned McGuinness a one count but more importantly allowed McGuinness to try and gain some traction in the contest. His lariat based offense didn’t seem significantly weakened by the attacks from the champion, but a fourth Jawbreaker lariat was blocked. Morishima was soon back on top with an avalanche in the corner and a missile dropkick for two. Another blocked backdrop driver played into Morishima’s hands as he sat down on McGuinness’s attempts to turn it into a sunset flip gaining another two count.
Morishima’s first big mistake was to dive off of the top rope into a McGuinness lariat, but it wasn’t long before a lariat of his own set up the backdrop driver, only for McGuinness to kick out. The challenger wasn’t out yet and would drive Morishima into the mat with a superplex before trying to chop him down with multiple clotheslines. A sequence that saw McGuinness hit his first Jawbreaker lariat after rolling through a backdrop driver had the fans up expecting the title change, but Morishima would kick out at two.
More stiff shots were traded, including multiple slaps by McGuinness, but Morishima kicked out of the resulting lariat at one. This show of fighting spirit couldn’t last and a hip attack sent McGuinness back into the ropes for the sixth Jawbreaker lariat, the second to connect. This time, McGuinness was able to hold Morishima down for the three count and become the new ROH World Heavyweight Champion.
Not only did this feel like the culmination of a gradual rise to the top from a wrestler who the fans wanted to win the gold, it also started the longest reign (to date) of any ROH World Champion. It would be over five hundred days before McGuinness dropped the belt, eclipsing Morishima’s number of title defenses with thirty eight in total, several as a heel and a couple over long term nemesis, Bryan Danielson. By the time he lost the belt and earned his chance of a run in TNA, few could suggest he didn’t deserve it.
Takeshi Morishima © vs Kensuke Sasaki 9/6/08
GHC World Heavyweight Championship Match
As the movement between the two main puro promotions, New Japan and All Japan, began to become a more common occurrence, whether through working together or stealing talent, the amount of people who had won both the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the Triple Crown slowly increased. However, with the rising popularity of Pro Wrestling NOAH, there was a third feasible route to becoming a world champion in Japan. This also meant that to have won all three belts, you needed to have been somewhat itinerant and been willing to throw caution to the wind, moving from promotion to promotion.
This is the type of freedom that is mostly afforded those who are already a star, comfortable in terms of their legacy and probably their money as well. By 2008, Kensuke Sasaki definitely fell within that category. Having started twenty years prior in All Japan, Sasaki had spent the bulk of his years in New Japan, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. As he broadened his schedule from 2004 onwards to incorporate matches across a huge range of promotions in Japan and abroad, he would win the Triple Crown in 2007. By the time he met Takeshi Morishima for the GHC World Heavyweight Championship, Sasaki was in a position to become the first wrestler to win all three major world titles in Japan.
This was Morishima’s first title reign and he had cultivated a reputation as a bull who stampeded over all of his opposition with a range of strength and athleticism. Whilst not exactly an athletic slouch, Sasaki was definitely in a position to match him in terms of raw power, with a decided edge in experience giving the match an intriguing edge: the veteran on the verge of breaking ground versus the ever-improving native champion.
The first collision which saw Sasaki bounce off of Morishima before both men teed off was all about making it clear that Morishima had it in him to match power for power if that was how Sasaki chose to proceed. The initial burst of offense also highlighted that both men could strike, but Morishima was able to knock Sasaki down with a dropkick, an offensive move not likely to feature heavily in Sasaki’s offense. Could Sasaki compete against someone who felt like he could physical best him in almost all regards?
Morishima pummelled Sasaki in the opening stages, even launching himself through the ropes with a huge suicide dive. A cartwheel forearm in the corner and a top rope dropkick saw Sasaki overwhelmed by Morishima’s complete offensive package, but some grandstanding by the champion allowed Sasaki a route into the match. Blocking a ramp way charge with a lariat, Sasaki followed up with a neckbreaker on the ramp and a lariat to the back of Morishima’s head, with further pain caused by an impressive suplex that almost saw Morishima counted out.
A Sasaki leglock with front facelock combination aimed to slow the bigger man down, but the size once again became an issue as a vertical splash twice halted Sasaki’s offense – once after a failed powerbomb attempt in the ring, the second after an ill-advised decision to try the same move to the ringside floor saw Morishima crush Sasaki back and neck first against the apron with his backside.
Sasaki was going to have to pull out all the stops and a succession of offense saw him land a top rope frankensteiner, top rope bulldog and top rope clothesline to finally cut Morishima down to size. A fourth top rope move was perhaps one step too far; the champion caught Sasaki and drove him into the canvas with a superplex. Not to be completely outdone, Sasaki would subsequently catch Morishima on the turnbuckle and land a back superplex for a two count.
Back suplexes, chops and lariats weren’t enough, nor was the Northern Lights bomb for Sasaki. Both men would trade lariats with little success, before Sasaki had the presence of mind to roll away from a Morishima moonsault. Surviving one last scare after a Morishima backdrop driver, it would finally take six lariats, a German suplex and a Northern Lights bomb for Sasaki to make history by becoming the first wrestler to win all three major world titles in Japan.
This was Sasaki’s last major title run, with the gold being dropped to Jun Akiyama just under half a year later. Sasaki’s later work was often a joy to watch as you could tell that the decision to open his schedule allowed to him enjoy his work and get involved in angles and matches he really wanted to. The title victories in that time period were recognition for a notable career and a man who was willing to take a risk and enjoy the fruits of his labour.
KENTA © vs Takeshi Morishima 1/5/14
GHC Heavyweight Championship Match
No-one has a crystal ball and can tell the future. Whenever a wrestling company makes a choice to change any title, let alone their World championship, they obviously hope that their new champion works out. Whether that means in terms of storyline, drawing or in ring action, it is unlikely that a promotion has ever stuck a world title with no legitimate reasoning supporting that.
With Takeshi Morishima, NOAH knew what they were getting when they chose to have him end KENTA’s almost year long reign as GHC Heavyweight Champion. KENTA had had an incredibly dominant year, defeating wrestlers who called NOAH home, as well as Toru Yano and Yuji Nagata, outsiders from NJPW. In doing so, he had become the first GHC Champion to ever defend the title eight times in one calendar year. With many men already defeated and brushed aside by the champion, who better to step up than the guy who had dropped the belt to him in the first place? A man who had held the title for almost a year himself back in 2012?
When KENTA and Takeshi Morishima stood opposite each other on the 5th of January 2014, having collectively spent the past two years on top of the pile, to what extent could anyone predict that by January 2015, neither man would find themselves a member of the NOAH roster?
To the match itself. Though Morishima had slimmed down a lot since his run on top in 2008, he still held a reasonable size advantage over the champion. However, nine title defenses in a row can only build up your confidence, and the early going saw Morishima overwhelmed by a fired up, and somewhat cocky, champion. Several times Morishima had to bail to the ringside, overwhelmed by numerous strikes and not able to utilise his bulk to work over KENTA.
NOAH’s big match style over the years has often revolved around big, and some could argue dangerous, spots. The match doesn’t overdo these, though a DDT on the wooden floor is the move that gives Morishima his initial control. This finally allows Morishima to begin to use his size to control his opponent, landing a butt splash at ringside and getting a two count off of a big splash. His size is only one feature of his offense though, as he showed with a top rope dropkick that sent KENTA flying across the ring.
The match could be accused of being somewhat pedestrian up until now, but as KENTA fires up, the pace also quickens. A top rope double foot stomp gets a two count after a boot and a dropkick in the corner has the bigger man downed. KENTA even utilises the Go 2 Sleep twice; one time grazing the arm, the other time catching the chest. Though not completed accurately, this use of his main finishing move twice built an air of desperation – did KENTA have the big guns to dispose of Morishima? This feeling only continued to develop as the Game Over submission isn’t enough to force Morishima to tap.
A desperation backdrop driver earlier in the match had only managed to get Morishima a two count. The second backdrop driver of the contest, following a lariat that swatted KENTA out of midair and a second one for good measure, was enough for Morishima to regain his world title. Not content with just becoming a new champion, Morishima used the post-match interview to turn heel, forming a new stable by turning on his team mates in Brave to become the leader of Choukibou-gun alongside Mayback Tanaguchi and Kenoh.
A match that felt underwhelming feels somewhat prescient of the following year’s developments for Morishima. Losing the title to Yuji Nagata a month later without making a title defense is one thing; being forced into retirement in April due to health concerns at a relatively young age was completely unexpected. With KENTA leaving NOAH for WWE at around the same time, the two men who had led the company for the previous two years as champion were no longer.
Buy Wrestling 365 for over 365 articles that cover a cross section of wrestling as Liam Byrne reviewed one match a day throughout history: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wrestling-365-Liam-Byrne-ebook/dp/B079GRD3X7/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1531327309&sr=8-1&keywords=Wrestling+365
