Best Triple Crown reigns since the split?

[Ringo Is My Name]

I was thinking about this as I was browsing the Kojima thread. The majority seem to have been very down on his TC reign. The likes of SUWAMA and Kea hardly got rave reviews either and I'd imagine a lot of folk would look upon those reigns as "failures", or at very least, disappointments.

So which reigns of the current decade have actually been good? In terms of both booking and match quality? How did people like Sasaki's? Suzuki? What was the general consensus of Kawada's epic 03-05 run?

We could also use this to discuss and give our views on each TC reign since the split. The good bits and the bad bits, what could and should have made them better etc.

[DefLeppardVanHalen]

Kensuke Sasaki's Triple Crown run was as good as his IWGP and GHC title reigns.

[Giff Hoyt]

My favorite is easily the Minoru Suzuki reign.

[Eivion Thanatos]

None of the reigns have really been total failures or anything since they drew within expected numbers I want to say.

Only been watching since 04, but here is what I got from each reign from when I started.

Kawada - Seemed to draw within expected/acceptable numbers and most of the matches were decent or more. My favorite defense is the Nishimura match. Most would choose his Hashimoto defense.

Kojima - Ok reign. Don't think it succeeded in making him the next ace like they hoped though as he was pretty unmotivated during it. Most of his defenses managed to be decent still. Drawign wise sort of the same as Kawada in acceptable/expected numbers.

Kea - Didn't really have a real reign. He held the belt for two months, made one good defense against Kawada, then lost the belt in what most considered a shitty match with Suzuki.

Suzuki - His defenses against Nagata and Mutoh were good. The Mutoh defense was the best as a match and draw. His Kojima defense is ok. His other two defense were against poor opponents even if you like the matches and didn't draw anything decent.

Sasaki - Reign was ok, but kind of forgettable. Sort of long for only two defenses. Matches were nothing bad, but nothing special.

Suwama - Short reign that did its job as establishing as a top guy. His defense against Nihimura was one of my favorite matches from the last year. The Kea draw was a good 20-25 minute match spread out into an annoyingly boring 60 minutes.

Great Muta - Just a short term deal to pass the belt on to Takayama. His match with Suzuki sucked bad. Muta.

[LARMORE]

Really enjoyed the reigns of Kawada, Kea and Suzuki.

Hated Sasaki's reign with a passion.

[manjiimortal]

The Kawada/Nishimura match was awesome!
And it could have been even better if Kawada sold his leg...

[MutoFan83]

Nish needs to be the one to dethrone Tak.

[LUKIE]

TAKA's Triple Crown reign was interesting from a booking standpoint. I remember looking at all the matches he was having, and trying to work out how the belt losses would have worked.

[thom.]

Wait...what? TAKA?

[Eivion Thanatos]

He held three belts from AJPW, M-Pro, and K-dojo at the same time. Even defended them all at once a few times (all should his defense against Togo from this period)

[The Hater]

He held three belts from AJPW, M-Pro, and K-dojo at the same time. Even defended them all at once a few times (all should his defense against Togo from this period)

That match was pretty good... I still want to look for the Mochizuki defense.

[Sir-C4]

Muto's reign in 2001-2.

[Alex]

It's kind of sad that Kawada sleepwalking through a win and 10 defences has been the best post split reign

[The Diamondhead]

His defense against Hashimoto alone warrants that title... though fervant fans of Minoru Suzuki might say otherwise.

[L.G Rod]

Shinya Hashimoto. Nuff said. Close thread.

[manjiimortal]

Shinya Hashimoto. Nuff said. Close thread.

Wouldn't mind seeing his TC matches. Vs Muta, Vs Arashi and Vs Kojima.

[DefLeppardVanHalen]

Hashimoto's Triple Crown reign was not bad; if not for his injury, his reign would've lasted longer than it did.

[manjiimortal]

He was gonna face Kawada before the injury, so i don't think he would get by that challenge.

[Mike Campbell]

Kawada by a long shot, IMO. The Hashimoto match was probably his best one. I haven't the Nishimura match that ET was mentioning, but I remember really digging his defense against Omori.

[dofixer85]

i would think sasaki reign was pretty good.

[jgdc74]

I think Mutoh's reign in 2001-2002.
He won it in a great match against Tenryu, defended it against Williams, Hall, Chono, Fujinami, before losing it to Kawada. I thought most of these matches were good.

[LARMORE]

i would think sasaki reign was pretty good.

No, it was a hunk of shit.

[AttitudeAJ nevermind the M]

Sasaki never seemed to fit in All Japan.

[LARMORE]

He was solid in tag matches with Nakajima, but I never enjoyed many of his singles.

[Stone Cold Amigo]

Sasaki never seemed to fit in All Japan.

Yet he seems to fit in quite well with NOAH. Probably because his repeated big offense style is quite similar to most big NOAH matches.

[LARMORE]

Exactly, and a good portion of NOAH's fanbase equate chopfest overkills to quality wrestling.

[25:17]

I go with Kawada and Mutoh, Suwama's was OK because it pushed him to the top position, Suzuki was OK also

Kojima, didn't see it
Sasaki, I didn't like it
Muta's first and second, didn't like them

Takayama should be another long good reign, and I don't want him losing the Triple Crown yet

[L.G Rod]

Takayama should be another long good reign, and I don't want him losing the Triple Crown yet

[Anwin]

Takayama should be another long good reign, and I don't want him losing the Triple Crown yet

Too late...

Now, as a way to revive this topic...let's tweak it a little bit:

Which has been the best Triple Crown Championship match since the split?

[AKINAN]

I havnt seen many TC Matches but i really enjoyed TARU vs. Kojima in 2006.

[KingMuta]

I think Kawada's reign (2003-2005) has been the best since the split.

For best TC match since the split, I'd have to say Tenryu/Kojima from July 2002. That match was pure awesomeness. Although that's a hard choice because the Tenryu/Kawada match from October 2000 was pure awesomeness as well. So either one of those two matches would be my choice for that question.

[LARMORE]

Kawada vs. Hashimoto.

I was also personally quite fond of Kawada vs. Kea in 2006.

[manjiimortal]

Kawada vs Nishimura rocks your world. And lets not forget Suwama vs Nishimura that was also great quality wrestling. Nishimura really steps-up when going into the big-time matches.