<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="270" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x1038x7"></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1038x7_kenta-c-vs-takashi-sugiura-noah_sport" target="_blank">KENTA (C) vs.Takashi Sugiura (NOAH)</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/Jahmale_Hepburn" target="_blank">Jahmale_Hepburn</a></i>
Match of the Year buzz for this.
I thought it was good, but not at that level. Lots of hard striking that you would expect from these two. I loved the final few minutes and the overall story being told, but I thought it was a bit too long and dragged in the middle.
KENTA's GHC run had been rather unimpressive up to this point, so at least he has a great match under his belt now. The problem is a lack of challengers. Maybach Taniguchi in March garnered no buzz (even I blew it off, and i'm a KENTA mark of the highest order), and now it looks like Yano (yes, the Yano from New Japan who is one half of the GHC tag champs) is next. That match is fresh, but does little for me.
The problem is he has no fresh matches on the NOAH roster, because he's faced Sugiura & Marufuji a billion times, he just beat Taniguchi who isn't very good anyway, and it's too soon to go right back to Morishima and that isn't exactly fresh either.
This is what happens when you don't debut any new talent for a decade, and then half the roster leaves.
EDIT- the match isnt even close to 51 minutes, it has a ton of pre & post stuff, dont let the time scare you off