Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yuji Nagata (NJPW - 4/13/2007)

YES. Has a good shot of making my list. Haven't seen it in years but I remember it being my MOTY for 07 and probably my all time favorite match for both guys.

I love me some Tanahashi his best formula match of the 2000s. His formula when it is on produces killer classics.





IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Yuji Nagata - NJPW 4/13/07



In a surprisingly loaded year, Tanahasi and Nagata pull ahead of everyone else to be the most likely Match of the Year for 2007 and a potential Match of the Decade with a superbly worked championship bout. So few matches in puroresu in the 00s used that escalating, championship style match. Not only is the layout refreshing for the time period is executed nearly perfectly to deliver one of the most satisfying matches of the decade. Nagata has been the Ace for New Japan during the interim period between the Musketeers and Tanahashi & Co. He is built in the image of Inoki. He is pro wrestler that excels at striking and counterwrestling. If shoot-style imitates MMA, Nagata imitates shoot-style. Tanahashi is a move in a flashier and for lack of a better term a more American direction. In the year 2007, Tanahashi is coming in the champion, but he is by no means The Man, yet. Nagata is mighty over with the crowd and seems very intent on taking down this punk and proving why he is Mr. IWGP.



It was a sight for sore eyes to watch a well-worked feeling-out process that was not just strike exchanges. As expected Nagata dominates on the mat and with strikes. Tanahashi can keep up, but he won't be able to win if he lets Nagata dictate this style of match. He needs to use quick strikes to set up openings for his moves. He does just that and Nagata escapes to the floor. Tanahasi poses and knocks him off apron. Bad move, brutha. Nagata takes this as a slight and is madder than a hornet when he gets back in. Nagata tears into Tanahasi with kicks, knees and elbows. It is quite the beating. Nagata moves to the arm and looks for a cross armbreaker, but Tanahashiy gets to the ropes and powders. Nagata looks to get his receipt by kicking Tanahashi off the apron, but Tanahashi catches and Dragon Leg Screw across top rope. AMAZING TRANSITION! Nagata looks to stay in control with a suplex, but Tanahashi gets a quick neckbreaker and is on that knee like his life depends on it. In a lot of ways it does. He was overmatched in so many ways that this opening reallty levels the playing field and he really exploits it. Nagata to his credit does some great selling including a Flair Flop and the Kawada collapse halfway cross the ring. Still it feels like Tanahashi is only tenuously in control. Nagata is able to get a flash submission hold applied (crossface), but Tanahashi survives. It is the knee in the corne that puts Nagata back in top who rattles off an Exploder and Shining Wizard. Nagata's knee gives way on the third brainbuster and here comes Tanahashi. Now he is going for finishing blows using Sling Blade to set up the Dragon Suplex and High Fly Flow, but High Fly Flow eats knees and Nagata gets a dramatic two count. However, High Flow Fly did land on the injured knees so Nagata can't capitalize right a way. Tanahashi goes for another Sling Blade, but Nagata hits a wicked back drop driver and it is all knotted up in the fourth quarter. Tanahashi with headbutts on his knee and a quick German with all his weight on legs on the cover, but for two. You really get a sense how much winning this match means to Tanahashi. Winning the match is important??!?!?!?!? I love this match!!! Tanahashi goes for the Dragon Suplex, but Nagata breaks out. A desperation, but wicked roundhouse kick rocks Tanahashi and two back drop drivers do Tanahashi in. Nagata wins the IWGP Championship and proves that he is still The Man!


Excellent match where my minor quibbles stem from one too many suplex here and there and that last Nagata transition could have been done a little more creatively. Still as a match that showcases a young champion against an experienced veteran challenger there are not many better. Tanahashi gets cocky early over a small victory and Nagata made him pay. Tanahashi had to resort to lucky break to even up the match. Still, Tanahashi looked pretty much fucked from all the head shots and here comes Nagata again. The finish sequence was very dramatic and I was hanging on more than one nearfall. This falls just short of my Top 5 and I would say with confidence this will be in my Top 10. Tremendous and must watch. ****3/4

Second.

This is Nagata’s first title shot since the end of his first reign in 2003, and he delivers a superbly constructed and worked title bout. This is a match where knowledge of their previous history helps immensely. They had met in the New Japan Cup in each of the previous years, with Nagata destroying Tanahashi before getting disqualified in 2005 and beating Tanahashi in 2006. This year, Tanahashi isn’t in the Cup due to being IWGP champion, and Nagata earns a shot at the belt by winning the tournament. In each of those matches, Nagata targeted Tanahashi’s arm with kicks and submissions. Also in each of those matches, Tanahashi countered Nagata’s kicks with dragon screws, but only to give himself a breather rather than a setup to leg work. Since that last meeting, Tanahashi has adopted the High Fly Flow as his finisher. He thus has extra incentive to go after the leg since the most obvious counter is to put the knees up. In fact, I believe this is the first instance of Tanahashi incorporating heavy leg work into a match. Tanahashi knows that Nagata will go after the arm, and he also knows that Nagata can be baited into catching his leg on the top rope. So after making the ropes on an armbar, he sets the trap by rolling to the apron. He then lands a dragon screw and begins a full-fledged assault on Nagata’s leg. With a new finisher and a more focused attack, it appears that Tanahashi may have finally solved the puzzle. But although Nagata sells the leg impeccably, he's still more than capable of fighting back with a bad wheel. Tanahashi can’t help himself from getting into a strike battle, and Nagata ends up taking his head off with a kick from his good leg. Cool finish as Nagata performs a bridging backdrop with a unique bridge that takes the pressure off his injured leg.

Third