Jushin Liger vs. Virus (NJPW, 1/24/16)

Two well-seasoned maestros rolling around on the mat for a little over eight minutes, slickly transitioning from hold to hold, stretching and countering one another, teasing strikes. Loved the spot where Liger tries for the Romero Special, Virus scrambles to the ropes, and Liger wags his finger at him, as if to say "don't underestimate the Thunder, bub." No doubt, Liger more than held his own against Virus but this felt more like a short showcase of Virus for the Korakuen crowd. Virus was great here but in the end, Liger showed that he's got just a little more experience, submitting Virus with la mecadora. A fun hidden gem. 

Yuji Nagata vs. Manabu Nakanishi (NJPW, 12/17/16)

Part of me wishes they would’ve held off on this match until Wrestle Kingdom and made it Nakanishi’s retirement match because I doubt we’ll get anything this good out of him again. This was by no means a great match; however, it was a GOOD Nakanishi match. He gave it everything his increasingly immobile body could muster, including a plancha, a top rope dropkick and that awesome superplex spot, not to mention taking a top rope Exploder from Nagata! I liked the narrative early on, as Nakanishi gets the advantage on Nagata and Nagata resorts to attacking Nakanishi’s weakness in the knee – great selling in that moment by Nakanishi.  But that storyline is soon abandoned in favor of Nakanishi getting in his signature spots, which works for this match and the crowd was really behind him. Nagata pins him after using the rare wrist-clutch Exploder. Nakanishi’s annual good match was a lot of fun and I don’t know if we’ll get anything like this out of him again, which is why this may have worked better on a bigger stage. 

Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato vs. Hideki Suzuki & Takuya Nomura (BJW, 12/18/16)

This match ruled! It was easily the best match on an otherwise decent Death Vegas card and it may be my favorite Japanese tag match of the year but perhaps more importantly, it served a great platform for Takuya Nomura to showcase what he’s learned over the past year. His selling was fantastic for his experience level, from his facials to the desperation in his strikes. And he gets so excited from kicking, he sometimes slips and falls. Suzuki wasn’t phoning it in either, coming in for some suplex saves. One of the things I like about Suzuki, and it showed in his early touch-and-go with Ishikawa, is the way he’s continually moving, not allowing Ishikawa a solid grip, but shifting and feeling for a weakness or an opening. Of course, Twin Towers were brutal as always and held nothing back in their exchanges with the spunky Nomura. Sato throws the best elbows in pro-wrestling and Ishikawa and Nomura working themselves into a “shoot” was awesome. Loved Ishikawa turning one of Nomura’s kicks into a stretch muffler airplane spin.

The final confrontation between Nomura and Sato was the icing on the cake. Nomura unloads on Sato with everything he has, kicking him harder and harder, his eyes wild as he’s thinking “damn, how hard do I have to kick?!” before Sato finally collapses with his spasmodic selling. Again, Nomura shows the little things he’s picked up along the way, like when he has Sato in the cross armbreaker and he grabs the leg as Sato struggles, turning it into a pin attempt. Suzuki makes a great save after Sato hits a nasty elbow and while Nomura survives the Falcon Arrow, the follow-up piledriver is enough to put the rookie phenom down for good. Post-match, Nomura says “fuck your handshake” to Ishikawa. Awesome stuff. 

Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Minoru Suzuki (NOAH, 12/2/16)

Going into this match, Nakajima's 2/24 match against Suzuki is still the top contender for my "Match of the Year" (although the great re-watching begins soon). Superb performances from both of those guys, playing their respective roles to the fucking hilt. Fast-forward to December and Nakajima is no longer the spunky baby-faced fighting underdog but now stands on top of the promotion as the GHC Heavyweight Champion. He doesn't approach this fight with the same timidness but looks confident with his hair back and love tapping Suzuki after a tie-up in the ropes. The look on Suzuki's face is priceless. Whereas the focus of the first match was on Suzuki destroying Nakajima's arm, here he's focused on Nakajima's leg, although it never quite gets the level of the 2/24 match. Suzuki's awesome awareness is once again on display, as he jumps at the opportunity to attack the leg after Nakajima gets hung up in the ropes. When Nakajima tries to fight back a little later on, Suzuki slides underneath a kick attempt and gets control of the leg again, forcing him down in a leglock. Nakajima always sells so well for Suzuki, whether it's from elbow shots or submission holds. The desperation of him grabbing onto the referee was great. 

Suzuki survives one brainbuster and in a great callback to the first match, Nakajima highkicks Suzuki in the head, seemingly KO'ing him in the process. The referee tries to keep Nakajima back as he checks on Suzuki's condition and when Nakajima tries to pull Suzuki up to his feet, Suzuki's nothing but dead weight. But Suzuki was trolling Nakajima and after he chases him down with a dropkick, Suzuki has that evil grin on his face. He doesn't hold back with the strikes as he unloads on Nakajima with elbows, slaps, and jabs, eventually wearing him down with a sleeper hold for the Gotch-style piledriver attempt but Nakajima fights it off. They trade elbows and when Suzuki knocks down the ref, he straight punches Nakajima in the face twice before calling for Suzuki-gun to no avail. Loved Suzuki's reaction to no one coming to his aid. The final strike battle was a thing of beauty, with Suzuki's perfect selling, the slowed elbows to the point where he's just tapping Nakajima.  In the last minutes, Nakajima is trying to once and for all slay the dragon in Suzuki but Suzuki won't stay down. He finally lands another high kick to the head and delivers the nail in the coffin with a second brainbuster.

Awesome stuff. Like their previous meeting, the performances ruled this match, with both guys selling their asses off for each other. Without having re-watched the 2/24 match, it's hard to say whether this one eclipsed it or not. No doubt, they're the two best NOAH matches this year. If anything, this serves as the perfect companion piece and completes the story between these two. Hail Nakajima, as he vanquishes Suzuki-gun from NOAH and takes his place as the rightful ace of the promotion. 

Katsuyori Shibata & KENTA vs. Akira Taue & Go Shiozaki (NOAH, 9/9/06)

The pairing of Shibata with KENTA works on so many different levels. It’s a shame we only got three tag matches out of them. When Shibata teamed with KUSHIDA for a few matches earlier this year, it reminded me of the Takeover as they complement each other well. But they’re not the same disrespectful little pricks. Hot opening as Big Taue chicken-steps around the ring and Shibata tries to bully the vet with elbows and boots. Taue slaps him silly and gives him a coconut crush to the entertainment of the fans. They eat up Taue’s dive tease. Shibata really brings out the best in the veterans, which is probably why his series with the New Japan Dads was so enjoyable to me. He gives zero fucks. Shiozaki makes for a good whipping boy, especially against a pissed off Shibata. They have great chemistry together. But when Go and KENTA are in their, the match cools off a little. It feels like they’re just going through the motions. KENTA pestering Taue on the apron was awesome though.

Shibata mocks Taue with a couple of coconut crushes over his knee to Shiozaki and oh boy, Taue is pissed, shaking the ropes. Shibata puts Taue in the octopus hold and when Go comes in and breaks it up, Shibata pedigrees him! They try to set Taue up for the Doomsday Device but he chops his way out. He catches KENTA with a great chokeslam counter to the springboard before chokeslamming Shibata and hitting a sit-out powerbomb for a huge false finish. KENTA and Shiozaki bring things to a close, cooling the crowd down again as they trade two counts off suplex holds. After Shibata takes down Taue with the sleeper hold > PK combo, they finish off Go with the brutal springboard Doomsday Device for the win. Probably the best Takeover match of the three and a hot crowd for the Shibata/Taue exchanges.

Katsuyori Shibata & Kota Ibushi vs. Naomichi Marufuji & Takeshi Morishima (BML, 6/18/06)

Katsuyori Shibata & Kota Ibushi vs. Naomichi Marufuji & Takeshi Morishima (BML, 6/18/06)

Well, this was a hot mess. Marufuji and Ibushi weren’t at their bests here, with Ibushi looking especially ungainly. Marufuji just didn’t seem to care much at all. That being said, I loved the shoot interactions between Shibata and Morishima. During the match, Shibata tags in Ibushi but Morishima completely blows off Ibushi’s kicks to continue fighting with Shibata and when Ibushi finally gets his attention, Morishima clobbers him with an elbow and tags out. Team NOAH work on the lower back and legs of Ibushi for a bit, keeping him distant from his partner, but once Shibata gets the tag, he goes completely nuts on Marufuji with strikes in the corner and poor Marufuji doesn’t have a prayer. It’s an awesome moment in an otherwise unawesome match. In the end, Morishima pins Ibushi after a backdrop. 

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (BML,4/19/06)

Ah, a pudgy, teenaged Nakajima slugging it out with Shibata. What a super fun little match. Tons of great strikes, good counterwork, and crowd-supported hope spots for Nakajima. I loved Shibata’s Cobra Twist counter into the shoot pin attempt and Nakajima’s mini-elbows. When Nakajima begins a comeback, Shibata cuts him off the hard way with a piledriver! Nakajima fires off a big roundhouse kick and a German suplex hold but Shibata comes out of the two count with a double wristlock on Nakajima. Shibata follows that up with a PK to the arm, a kick to the chest, and he’s right into the armbar off the kickout. Nakajima tries to escape but when he slips, Shibata sinks his teeth in and it’s over quickly. Probably my favorite Shibata BML match so far. 

KENTA & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki (NOAH, 12/4/05)

I guess this is where the “heat” between Shibata and Shiozaki took root. Shibata kicks the crap out of Shiozaki to open this match and calls out Misawa like a badass. Hell of a way to start the match. Similar to the previous KENTA & Shibata tag match, this was pandering at times but felt more consistent from bell to bell. Misawa took some major bumps (Jesus, that springboard Doomsday Device) and the interactions between he and Shibata felt unique but it’s a lot of Shiozaki getting dominated – those alternating kicks against the kicks looked painful.  Shiozaki doesn’t look bad in there and he’s always been a good seller. Love Misawa snapping on KENTA when he comes at him with those disrespectful shit kicks in the corner. The story here is Shibata REALLY wants to put Misawa to sleep and defeat him. He dangerously backdrops Misawa on his head after a sleeper hold and slaps it right back on, tiring him out for the PK. Shiozaki breaks it up and immediately pays for it. Misawa/Shiozaki rally back with a tiger driver into the German suplex combo and there’s a great moment where Shibata is fighting against a German but Shiozaki delivers it anyway. That KENTA save from across the ring after the moonsault was awesome. In the end, Shiozaki survives the PK but not a few brutal kicks to the head. Another good to great tag match with plenty of fun moments. 

KENTA & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Takeshi Morishima & Mohammed Yone (NOAH, 11/5/05)

This was like a greatest hits match, with a lot of cool spots and moments, but no real cohesion. Mohammed Yone was the lame duck and the match lost a bit of its steam when he was controlling on offense.  KENTA and Shibata were a fun pairing, and pissed off Baby Huey Morishima was awesome, especially in his interactions with KENTA. After KENTA hits the tag-in springboard dropkick, his shitty little face kicks only aggravate Morishima, which leads to a beat down and Morishima tossing him out of the ring. Shibata/KENTA looked great on offense against the cut off Yone, using plenty of hard strikes and some fun fake-out double teams. But Yone’s selling wasn’t good at all. Morishima’s volatility, however, was the best thing about this match, in my opinion. When KENTA goes to fuck with him on the apron, Morishima yanks him out of the ring and throws him over the barricade! Things slow down when Morishima/Yone are on offense, though I loved the smaller KENTA throwing himself at both guys in an attempt to fight them off. Shibata worked in some good strikes and arm control on Morishima. I loved him coming in and booting Morishima over the ropes to the outside to set up the big springboard Doomsday Device. The final stretch was a mess but the finish between KENTA and Morishima was brutal. Not a great match by any means but plenty of great moments.

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kazunari Murakami (BML, 9/11/05)

This is the inaugural Big Mouth Loud show, Shibata’s vanity promotion following his departure from New Japan, and who better to battle the face of the place than big bad boss, Kazunari Murakami. This was an alright match. The strikes looked good and hard, and it felt as if they were building to something much bigger, but the finish was abrupt and unconvincing. Ideally, the legwork from Murakami should have had a more prominent role in this match, as it felt like a logical approach and Shibata’s selling of it was solid. The midsection of the match stuck out to me the most. Shibata catches a kick attempt and tries to suplex Murakami, who hangs onto the ropes, building to the corner attacks and dropkicks from Shibata. When Murakami re-enters the ring, he has that evil grin on his face and the two try to outkick each other for our enjoyment. Good stuff. Murakami ends up winning with a running knee but again, it felt like the wrong guy won here. 

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Genichiro Tenryu (NJPW, 11/13/04)

In his last match with New Japan, Shibata faces Genichiro Tenryu, who promptly exits the ring to meet Shibata on the entrance ramp and throws him down into some chairs before returning to the ring. Awesome. This was all kinds of ridiculous in maybe the best way possible? I don’t know. They trade finishers maybe half a dozen times before Tenryu tries to kill him with a rope-hung DDT from the apron to the floor. Holy shit. Shibata comes back pissed and stiff with strikes. He connects with the second PK of the match but Tenryu’s not going out like that. He DDTs Shibata through the slaps and nearly KOs him with a front necklock. Loved the look on Tenryu’s face after Shibata kicks out, followed by a barely coherent Shibata stumbling into a pair of guh! punches for the finish. 

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Toshiaki Kawada (NJPW, 11/3/04)

This is Shibata's second-to-last match in New Japan before his exodus and it's against the Triple Crown Champion, Toshiaki Kawada! It isn’t much but what we get is Shibata trying to get in as much offense against Kawada as he can, riffing some of Kawada’s own signatures, before Kawada snaps and goes apeshit on him, chopping him in the throat and backdropping him on his head! Surprisingly, Shibata is able to wear Kawada down with the sleeper for a big PK for two but that’s as close to victory as Shibata is able to taste. The finish is something else as he and Kawada go at it until Kawada rocks him silly with shots, including a KO punch, which Shibata mistakenly sits up from so Kawada kicks him in the head and drops the knee for the three count. Kawada's selling made this thing all the more enjoyable. A sub-10 minute match with a great back half. 

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hayato "Jr." Fujita (Michinoku Pro, 12/17/06)

Is there nothing more satisfying than watching Hayato "Jr." Fujita get his ass beat? Maybe not. In continuing down the post-New Japan Shibata road, one of his last stops before heading off to MMA land is Michinoku Pro, home to resident shooty punk Fujita. I thought this was fun for what it was, with Shibata quickly taking control of the situation after Fujita tries to rush him before the bell with kicks. Shibata stiffs him with his own kicks and slaps, suplexes him a couple of times onto the hardwood floor and even encourages Fujita to try and bring some fire before shutting him down. Fujita's comeback was actually my favorite part of the match, as he kept right on top of Shibata, transitioning from move to move in accordance with Shibata's actions. When Shibata struggles against a sleeper, Fujita German suplexes him and eventually goes back to the sleeper. When Shibata gets too close to the ropes, Fujita backdrops him on his head and applies a hanging front necklock. Again, Shibata fights it off so Fujita DDTs him and re-applies it on the ground. Fun stuff. Alas, Fujita's hope spots run out as he eats a big slap and a running knee from Shibata to set up the PK. But Shibata's not ready to end Fujita's punishment. He spikes him with a Pedigree, holding on for a brutal powerbomb follow-up before locking on a crab hold for the quick submission win. Well worth the 10 minutes.  

Daisuke vs. Mr. Gannosuke (GUTS World, 5/8/16)

Another top notch performance from Mr. Gannosuke in what may be my favorite GUTS World match of the year so far. Great energy and hustle from Gannosuke, awesome old man armwork, and a hot finish. Can't ask for much more. Daisuke was good here, too, with decent selling throughout and a fun callback to his earlier work in the match. But the narrative here was Gannosuke showing off some of that hard-earned wrestling wisdom and experience. Once he took control of Daisuke's arm after banging it around the ringpost, the match really fell into place. He swanks it up with a fireman's carry into the armbar. He wrecks it old school with some grinding elbows and stiff, ole-fashioned wrenching.I could watch this all day long. The way he manipulates Daisuke's fingers while he has him in the armbar. Pulling Daisuke's elbow pad off, tossing it into the crowd and kicking the arm. I loved the running armbreakers. Just relentless work from the veteran. 

Daisuke fires back with some elbows using his good arm and gets in some offense, including a cool slingshot corkscrew splash, but Gannosuke turns the lights off on the party, attacking the bad arm to escape a top rope move and superplexing Daisuke. He hits a gutwrench suplex and a tribute Falcon Arrow but Daisuke avoids the Fire Thunder and goes back to the leg he worked in the beginning, hitting a dragon screw legwhip and locking in the figure-four. When he tries for a sliding elbow, Gannosuke counters and hits another pair of running armbreakers before forcing him down with the wakigatame, really putting his weight into it. Daisuke gets a little frog splash crazy there in the end, hitting two back-to-back and trying for a third, clearly exhausted. Gannosuke blocks it, release germans are exchanged, before the vet clobbers Daisuke with a hard lariat. The champ survives a powerbomb and a Fire Thunder Driver but Gannosuke hits him with a second one and it's lights out. A very well-earned victory for Mr. Gannosuke. 

Tatsuhiko Yoshino vs. Mr. Gannosuke (GUTS World, 3/22/16)

Continuing on my journey through GUTS World, I really enjoyed this match-up for the most part, especially the performance from Mr. Gannosuke and the Hayabusa tribute spots. Yoshino takes control early on after a big somersault plancha to the outside, staying on Gannosuke’s neck with neckbreakers and holds. Good selling from Gannosuke throughout, going back to remind us of Yoshino’s previous work. Gannosuke does a tremendous job of working over Yoshino’s back and dictating the flow of the match, smartly taking breathers and forcing Yoshino back into his game. Really neat transition from the surfboard stretch into the single leg crab. Yoshino’s failed comebacks were well-sold but some of his selling down the stretch left something to be desired, particularly on those back-to-back German suplex spots. I loved Gannosuke’s use of the full nelson slam into the Nirvana Strangle as a wear down mechanism for the dragon suplex. Yoshino gets off one last gasp with a Michinoku Driver after escaping the Fire Thunder Driver but when he misses the Firebird Splash, Gannosuke delivers vicious lariats to the back of the neck and front, setting up the kneeling powerbomb for two. When that doesn’t do the trick, he relies on the trusted Fire Thunder Driver to get the job done. Really fun match!

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Jun Akiyama (WRESTLE-1, 8/4/05)

This is Shibata post-NJPW, bottled full of spitfire and ready to make someone bleed. That someone just happens to be daddy Akiyama and when he bleeds...well, he ain't too happy about it. Holy shit this match. I first watched this nearly 10 years ago in college but re-watching it today has only reaffirmed my love for these two bad dudes. Non-stop savagery. The one downside to this match is the shitty camerawork and poorly-timed cutaways.  Shibata is brutal right out of the gate, rushing Akiyama with a dropkick before backdropping him on his pre-bald head. He gives him a little love tap kick to the face before busting him wide open with a follow-up shotgun blast of a kick (see photo above). Shibata only pisses him off and Akiyama starts throwing elbows and knees and chairs on the outside. Back inside, the two slap it out but when Akiyama sneaks in a backdrop, Shibata smartly holds on and turns it into a sleeper upon impact. What a visual of the blood draining from Akiyama's face in this moment. The sleeper wears him down and Shibata drills him with the PK. But he doesn't want to pin Jun,  he just wants him back on his feet so he can continue dishing out the pain. Love that fight. 

Shibata with a big running knee to Akiyama's gut while he's using the ropes for support. The referee does everything he can to prevent Shibata from going after Akiyama on the outside but Shibata's not having it. He misses a kick and connects with the ringpost, allowing Akiyama to take advantage and backdrop Shibata on the commentary table. Takayama is sitting there like "what the fuck, you guys?" Akiyama kills Shibata's knee with repeated chairshots on the guardrail, exposes the cold concrete and proceeds to piledrive him. But he's not quite done and goes back for the chair, laying into Shibata with some shots to the head. Jun welcomes him back to the ring with a running knee, kicking and kneeing him in the face before delivering another backdrop. Shibata kicks out at one so Akiyama cinches in the front necklock. Such great psychology from Akiyama throughout.

I love the desperation in the strike exchanges, with Akiyama throwing himself at Shibata. I love Shibata teasing the Exploder and in turn, planting Akiyama with the STO into a neck crank. When he tries for the sleeper, Akiyama's in the ropes so he tries for a full nelson suplex but Akiyama struggles...so he settles for a quick German suplex instead. The toukon no sold rush of back-and-forth offense was inserted perfectly into this and yeah, Shibata is blowing off most of Akiyama's neck work but he works in such an adrenaline-frenzied way that it takes a couple of head-drop Exploders to really faze him. Good counterwork from Akiyama as he catches a kick, elbows the knee and hits another Exploder before going right into the facelock. A pair of knees gets a one count and Akiyama lays into Shibata with some vicious slaps. He hits a sheer-drop Exploder and a running knee, finally putting Shibata to bed with am awesome Exploder '98 for the win. Comfortably in my top 3 Shibata matches of all time, just balls to the wall from bell to bell. Probably WRESTLE-1's greatest match to date. 

Daisuke vs. Buffalo (GUTS World, 4/24/16)

Buffalo did a fantastic job in his role as the dominating heel, continually cutting off the champ’s efforts to turn this thing around in his favor. I liked his use of the low blow to escape the German suplex attempt and the referee not making the count because of it. On the receiving end of Buffalo’s beatdown, Daisuke isn’t the most compelling guy to watch. His selling is okay at best. He gets busted open after a fat chairshot to the head and Buffalo proceeds to bully him for the next ten minutes or so with piledrivers, lariats, and a tiger driver. The majority of this match felt very one-sided, with Buffalo unloading everything in his arsenal and Daisuke surviving it all. The last quarter of this match was filled with big offense and a ton of kick-outs, as well as a couple of cool spots (including a deadly plastic bin being smashed over Buffalo’s head). After no selling a German suplex, Buffalo delivers a killer sliding lariat to the back of Daisuke’s neck, which could easily be the finish of the match, but nope – Daisuke holds on. He kicks out of a backdrop driver and another lariat, managing to throw Buffalo into the turnbuckles with a release German. After a dragon suplex hold, Daisuke hits two sliding elbows to finally defeat Buffalo and retain his title. Kind of a quick turnaround for Daisuke after taking the brunt of Buffalo’s offense and not really selling the long-term physical exhaustion.  

NOAH "GREAT VOYAGE 2016 IN YOKOHAMA VOL. 2" (10/23/16)

NOAH vs. Suzuki-gun: Minoru Suzuki vs. Kaito Kiyomiya

I love when Suzuki toys with the young boys. Let them think they’re getting somewhere then quickly shut them down and out when they overstep their boundaries and piss him off. Same reason I love the other Suzuki (Hideki). Give them an inch and when they take a mile, kill them. This is exactly what happened here with poor Kiyomiya. He comes out red hot with elbows but Suzuki doesn’t let it spiral out of control and hits back even harder with his own elbow shots. We get the expected rope-hung submission spot from Suzuki before he introduces Kiyomiya to some chairs. Kiyomiya sells Suzuki’s offense well enough and mounts a little bit of a comeback as he tries to wear Suzuki down with dropkicks and crab holds. But this only pushes Suzuki to the breaking point, and he unloads on Kiyomiya. Loved Suzuki picking Kiyomiya back up whenever he collapses from exhaustion only to keep paintbrushing him with slaps before ultimately ending his misery with the Gotch-style piledriver. Fun little rookie punishment match with Kiyomiya getting a bit of control time in before dying at the hands of Suzuki.

NOAH vs. NJPW Special Singles Match: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Go Shiozaki

This is a match that’s been built-up nicely since Shibata’s violent interactions with the NOAH boys and Shiozaki’s NEVER Title challenge fake out. I admit, my expectations were high going into this and maybe I was left a tad bit disappointed by the end of it but following the awesome post-match shenanigans, I’m certain this is only the first of several interactions between Shibata and Shiozaki, possibly leading to Shiozaki challenging for the NEVER Title at Wrestle Kingdom. As an introduction, though, this was a pretty fun Shibata formula match with some blatant no selling, awkward German backdrops, tons of elbows, tons of chops from Shiozaki that left Shibata’s chest raw meat red. Go’s offense can often be underwhelming but I thought everything was executed well, from the fisherman buster to that gnarly lariat -- hell, even the Go Flasher looked as devastating as it can. I thought the busted nose only added to the match, with Shiozaki sniffing back the blood. The sleeper hold into the sleeper suplex was also a neat, fitting spot given the environment and set up the finish nicely. I didn’t love this like some of Shibata’s NJ matches from earlier in the year but it was good and I’m certain they’ll deliver much more come January.

GHC Heavyweight Title: Takashi Sugiura (c) vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima

I may be in the minority here but I enjoyed this more than the Shibata/Shiozaki match and in my opinion, it was a definite improvement upon their match from earlier in the year. Nakajima’s just so good playing the baby-faced, underdog burning spirit and his selling of the injured back and selling those elbows like death really added something special to the narrative. It’s a slow burn, no doubt, and could’ve benefitted with a few minutes trimmed off the total runtime but it didn’t feel like a chore to sit through like with Sugiura’s previously defenses. Loved Nakajima almost KO’ing Sugiura early on after Sugiura tries to cheap shot him against the ropes, a nice callback to his match with Suzuki and Suzuki trying to punk him like he’s still Kensuke’s towel boy. None of that bullshit, sir. After Sugiura hits an overhead suplex on the walkway, he starts working over that injured back, at one point using a chair. Shuichi Nishinaga is one of my favorite officials to watch because he ain’t scared to get in there and cut out the nonsense. Nakajima took some nasty elbows from Sugiura but kept asking for more and eventually fired back with some of his hard kicks, building to a PK and a brainbuster for two. I feel like Nakajima’s brainbuster should be reserved as the nail in the coffin but it didn’t take away too much here and Sugiura got to hit one of his own. When the Olympic Slam isn’t enough, Sugiura tries for the top rope variation only for Nakajima to blast him with a big fat headbutt to knock him off. So great. After a couple of quick thrust kicks, Nakajima hits a smooth-as-silk deadlift German for two before connecting with back-to-front PKs, a thrust kick to the head and the brainbuster for the biggest win of his career. Let’s hope he gets a proper reign to cement his status as the ACE of NOAH. Probably the “best” NOAH show of the year from what I saw

Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Takuya Nomura (BJW, 9/19/16)

This is everything I love about Takuya Nomura, coupled with Sekimoto's solid backwork and BJ Strong intensity. Right out of the gate, Nomura tries the overwhelm strategy, hitting a dropkick, elbowing away in the corner, snapping off kicks to the chest. Sekimoto quickly squashes this and clobbers away at Nomura. But Nomura is that birthday candle you can't quite blow out on the first couple of tries. The crowd's in his corner so he keeps on bringing the fight to Sekimoto. Sekimoto starts working over his back with kicks, elbow drops, scoop slams, a camel clutch, trying to immobilize Nomura. Nomura's strikes look really good here, especially the kicks. The home stretch was a lot of fun, with the two trading elbows -- Sekimoto with his clobbering shots and Nomura throwing elbows as hard as he can. When Sekimoto catches the leg, Nomura lets loose with the slaps but as he comes off the ropes, Sekimoto catches him with a Rock Bottom-style backbreaker before slapping on his shitty Sharpshooter. Nomura holds out for a bit but the referee ultimately calls for the bell. Good stuff!

Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Hideki Suzuki & Takuya Nomura (BJW, 9/22/16)

My dark horse team of the tournament -- rookie phenom, Takuya Nomura, alongside his trainer/mentor, Hideki Suzuki, taking on STRONG BJ. Going into this, I knew Suzuki/Nomura had zero chance of winning this thing but that didn't stop Nomura from giving Sekimoto and Okabayashi hell. I loved his fire in this match, especially in his initial exchange with Okabayashi, where he stuns the big boss with elbows, kicks, and a headbutt. Okabayashi chops him down and makes the tag out to Sekimoto, having had enough of Nomura's spunk. Nomura keeps bringing it no matter the odds, never letting Strong BJ bully him too much. Suzuki didn't get too much time to shine here but he and Sekimoto did have a fun exchange which resulted in some suplex throws. Hell of a performance from the young Nomura, who ultimately took the fall for his team after a top rope suplex/frog splash combo from Strong BJ. 

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Shuji Ishikawa (DDT, 8/28/16)

The last time these two met in singles action, it was a sub-five minute match, in which Takeshita defeated Ishikawa in a short spurt of bomb-tastic offense. This match, in a lot of ways, is similar to that shorty but goody – an epic-style bombfest that was red hot right out the gate. After Ishikawa powerbombs Takeshita onto the apron early on, it becomes painfully (literally) obvious that Takeshita will have to empty the tank and tap into his reserves in order to keep the title. They go back and forth, trading strikes and throwing bombs. Takeshita gets a run of offense, including a dragon suplex and Blue Thunder Bomb, but when he tries for the deadlift German, an exhausted Ishikawa elbows his way out and hits a cool backdrop-style backbreaker onto the knees before locking in a cloverleaf hold. Ishikawa, more or less, targets the back throughout, trying to deplete Takeshita’s fiery energy. Fatigued, Takeshita tries to fight back but can’t and Ishikawa sees the weakness and looks to finish the job with a sleeper hold, transitioning into a sleeper-style slam and a running knee for a two count. 

There’s a nice call back to their tag match from earlier in the year when Takeshita tries taking him down with those cheap plastic lightsaber lariats and finally manages a wind-up lariat to level him. Takeshita nearly puts the big dog down with a deadlift German but Ishikawa won’t die. In a great moment, Takeshita goes for the arm trap but Ishikawa busts out and hits a big Fire Thunder Driver! Takeshita’s desperation to hold onto the belt is bleeding into the final stretch with his strikes, to a point where he just starts punching Ishikawa in the face! In the end, the champion’s will to survive is strong, as he takes just about everything in the big dog’s arsenal, but ultimately, Ishikawa is able to hit the Giant Slam to become the new KO-D Openweight Champion. Great finish, with both guys dog-tired but still slugging away, having poured out everything into this match. Hard-hitting action from start to finish, with very little downtime. I’m a little sad to see Takeshita’s reign end, as I was hoping they would build to a rematch between he and Endo, but I’m a big fan of Ishikawa so we’ll see what he does with the belt. Super fun match!

Toshiaki Kawada vs. Hiroshi Hase (AJPW, 5/2/99)

Dipping into the archives with this one. I like both of these guys a whole lot but this wasn’t great. This was Kawada’s first match back from injury and while there was some decent drama surrounding the forearm, especially after Kawada hits the lariat, I felt like they could have milked it a bit more here. Lots of early fire right out of the gate and some great selling from Kawada after Hase plants him with the uranage but then they slow things down…a  lot. The ground game wasn’t all that compelling and when Hase switches his focus to Kawada’s leg, Kawada more or less no sells it to land a bunch of kicks. I loved Kawada trying to slap his way out of the giant swing and the sheer-drop brainbuster finish was molten hot but otherwise, a disappointing match-up considering the two guys involved. 

Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenny Omega (8/13/2016)

This match was ridiculous in all the best ways possible. I'm not a fan of Kenny Omega and although some of his silly histrionics pop up, I thought this was easily his best performance and his selling was, for the most part, top-notch. I could nitpick a few of his bonehead decisions like hitting the fisherman buster onto the injured knee, but he did a lot to balance that and show the effects of Naito's impeccable legwork. The high drama surrounding the One-Winged Angel played out really well and Omega did some small things that I appreciated, like actually trying to protect himself against the elbow shots and hitting that knee counter to the kneebreaker attempt. Naito was so good here, being the unbearable thorn in Omega's side as he attacks the leg at any given opportunity. His facials are always great and you gotta love that shit-eating grin during the final slap battle. I wish I had stayed spoiler-free heading into this but even knowing the end result didn't affect my enjoyment of that finishing stretch, which was absolutely nuts and beautifully overkill. Fun fun fun! 

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 8/6/16)

On paper, I wasn’t overly excited about this match-up but Ishii is such a maestro in the ring, crafting a really fun underdog tale (although I don’t know if I would call a stone pitbull an underdog) and making Okada’s offense look like a million bucks (i.e. the guardrail-hung DDT). There’s something satisfying about watching Ishii bully Okada with chops, boot scrapes and headbutts. Okada realizes he can’t hang with Ishii in the striking department so he’s got to tap into his movez database to try and defeat him. Okada is fine here, he gets in his usual spots, but Ishii elevates this thing to another level. Little things like the chop during the Rainmaker post and stomping on the foot to get out of the tombstone piledriver attempt. And that finishing stretch was something else, with Ishii ducking and dodging the Rainmaker attempts before landing the big headbutt and ultimately pinning the champ following the brainbuster. Great stuff.

Yuji Nagata vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (NJPW, 7/30/16)

My girlfriend watched part of this with me and asked "are they really slapping each other?" Yup. Hard. This was a lot of fun, with Nakajima heeling it up early on and getting the jump on Nagata. Both guys sold so well, especially with Nakajima taking some of those knees, and Nagata wasn't holding anything back. Stiff elbows and knees and that slapfest near the end was a great way to cap it off. Grumpy Nagata is the best and the ref can hardly contain him. I liked Nakajima's leg-based strategy, sometimes using it as almost a cheap means of getting out of a hairy situation. If he can take out the old man knees, he can avoid the old man knee strikes. He's able to turn the tables in his favor and finish off Nagata with the PK > brainbuster combo. As good as this was, it suffered from some pretty bad camera work. Nakajima's matured so much and I would love to see him out of the NOAH cesspool and into New Japan. 

Kento Miyahara vs. Jun Akiyama (AJPW, 7/23/16)

This was easily Kento Miyahara's best title defense, and probably his best match of the year so far. It's still a Kento Miyahara match though. Still the same "ace" tropes, the convenient selling, the no-sold superplex rush, but the dynamic between he and Akiyama made this feel special. The grizzled ace that never was, love tapping Miyahara on the face like "let's do this, kid." And the new cocky ace returning the favor like, "here we go, old man." The danger of the front necklock was built well into the match as Akiyama does a number on Kento's neck in preparation, like his piledriver, a reverse DDT on the apron, and a brainbuster. I love his elbow strikes to the neck. Miyahara's selling was okay at best, but he sold in other ways that helped flesh this thing out. The aftermath of the apron spot and Miyahara just barely making it back into the ring only to be met with a running knee and deep front necklock. Great stuff. Akiyama brings the best out of Miyahara's performance, and he was near perfect in this. The risky headbutt during the elbow exchange, his disbelief in Miyahara surviving the EXPLODER '98! and his sad final stand (not literal), crawling through the knee strikes until Kento finally puts him down like a lame horse with last shot. Miyahara's hardest fought defense and a damn fine performance from Akiyama. 

Yuji Okabayashi vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani (7/24/16)

Oh man, here we go. The culmination of all those shoulder blocks and chops, plus Kamitani rocking a spiffy new haircut (and still missing his tooth from the brutal 6/29 six-man encounter). This was about as raw as it gets. There was nothing pretty or flashy about it. Just two dudes slugging it out. Okabayashi clobbers Kamitani with a lariat early on, and Kamitani sells it like death on the outside. Okabayashi is too much of a big boss for Kamitani in the early goings and even when he manages to hit the scoop slam, it takes a lot out of him. Okabayashi continues to try and break the baby-faced killer's spirit, derailing any momentum Kamitani starts building. When Kamitani comes back after a gutwrench slam, he tries putting the big boss to sleep but Yuji fights out and goes ape shit on Kamitani with chops in the corner. Kamitani explodes out with a lariat and lands some brutal shots to the face but again, Okabayashi cuts off his momentum and tries a finishing run of a lariat, a brainbuster and the Golem Splash but Kamitani ain't dying today and Okabayashi can't believe it! I loved Kamitani's counter to the powerbomb with baby boots to the face. Hard slaps, big headbutts, a minor mishap with the powerbomb counter, but Kamitani won't let that little fuck up derail him and he manages to put the big boss down for good after two backdrops! A slow build but plenty of fire and brutality heading into the finishing stretch. Great stuff! 

Evolution of Takuya Nomura

Evolution of Takuya Nomura

Takuya Nomura first caught my attention in his 5/12 D-RIZE tag match against Aoki & Sato. He showed a lot of potential at the outset but lost some of his confidence after Sato bullies him. Upon reviewing some of his matches from the past month or so, you can definitely see an evolution of confidence as he begins to find his comfort zone as a ground-and-pound wrestler. For only having debuted in April of this year, Nomura has a promising future. 

Takuya Nomura & Yasufumi Nakanoue vs. Hideki Suzuki & Atsushi Maruyama

 (BJW, 6/20/16)

Nomura and Maruyama are more supporting characters for the heated feud between Suzuki and Nakanoue, which rears it beautifully ugly head midway through the match. Nomura and Suzuki get in a bit of groundwork before Nakanoue gets the tag and immediately goes after the departing Suzuki, elbowing him off the apron. But Suzuki manages to keep his cool. Nomura and Suzuki get one more exchange, in which Suzuki forcefully wrenches the arm and takes him down to the mat. When Nakanoue and Suzuki square off in the ring, Suzuki finally lets loose and we get some awesome, pissy strikes. As the fight spills to the outside, I find myself paying more attention to the brawl then what's happening inside the ring between Nomura and Maruyama. In fact, they also seem a bit distracted by what's going on. Maruyama pins Nomura after a buzzsaw kick but Suzuki and Nakanoue still go at it until they're finally pulled apart. You're in this for the Suzuki/Nakanoue encounter but on a whole, decent tag action and work from Nomura. 

Takuya Nomura vs. Hideki Suzuki (BJW, 6/29/16)

This was a fun little tango with Suzuki. Nomura is still a little green and at times, looks lost when working the mat with Suzuki, but his fire and intensity is great. Suzuki plays more of a defensive role here as Nomura comes at him early with slaps. There’s a nice counter by Suzuki out of the rear waistlock but when he encourages Nomura to work the mat with him, Nomura responds with a leaping double stop. There’s a fun spot as Nomura slaps his way out of a leglock and a little later, he counters a European uppercut with an armbar takedown. I like that he stays on top of Suzuki, going right back to the armbar after Suzuki kicks out of a PK. After wearing Nomura down with a killer crab hold, Suzuki hits a big backbreaker for the win.

Takuya Nomura vs. Hideki Suzuki (BJW, 7/9/16)

In his follow-up match with Suzuki, Nomura is fiery and super confident; a constant thorn in Suzuki’s side. He doesn’t let up, persistently slipping through Suzuki’s fingers, who again, works more of a cautious defense. Nomura’s mat and counter work continues to improve. He again tries to hard slap his way out of a leglock and smoothly gets to a front neck chancery on Suzuki. There’s an awkward moment as Suzuki rolls through to a front mount but doesn’t do anything and Nomura escapes. In a great spot, Nomura easily counters a European uppercut with a backslide and fires off a PK, a suplex, and a second PK. Eventually, Suzuki catches him with a backbreaker, and after wearing him down with a crab hold/single leg crab, Suzuki hits a big double arm suplex for the win. Nomura will only get better and better, and 2017 could be a very interesting year for him.

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yuko Miyamoto (DDT, 7/3/16)

This was easily Takeshita's strongest performance of the year, and the best KO-D Openweight Title match of 2016. Even though you didn't have the strong sense Miyamoto was going to win this thing, he sure gave Takeshita hell, smartly working the leg with Takeshita doing a good job of keeping it relevant. Even during questionable offensive runs, only one of which came to mind, he still acknowledges the bum leg. Miyamoto's leg-focused attacks looked crisp and effective, from the initial chopping down of Takeshita with dropkicks to simple things, like an elbow drop to the back of the knee. After Takeshita escapes the calf hold, we get some big offense, including a dragon suplex, a German suplex hold counter, and a desperate out-of-nowhere Fire Thunder Driver from Miyamoto. But when he goes for the moonsault, Takeshita sacrifices his bad leg to block it. The final elbow battle was fun. Miyamoto gets a shot in that knocks Takeshita down but he half mad-dogs, half collapses into Miyamoto's elbows in a great moment, before accessing his crazy elbow side. There's a couple of counters and pin attempts before Takeshita ends up hitting a beautiful roll-through German suplex hold for the win. Really fun match, thanks to the focused legwork from Miyamoto, the competent selling of Takeshita, and some big main event-style offense. 

Ayato Yoshida vs. Kyu Mogami (K-DOJO, 5/5/16)

Since watching the one day Super  J-Cup qualifying tournament in K-DOJO, I’ve been wanting to check out some more of Ayato Yoshida. His 5/5 K-METAL LEAGUE match-up with Mogami was a pure and simple textbook wrestling match, with nothing too pretentious. It was a back-and-forth struggle of the sleeper hold/chickenwing facelock versus Mogami’s butterfly lock, supplemented with strikes. Ayato had some particularly hard-hitting open hands and a great looking high kick to the head.  After a flash pin attempt, Mogami smartly rolls right back into his butterfly lock. Unlike most of the Super J-Cup tournament matches, the finish wasn’t rife with poorly executed “junior movez”. After blocking the fisherman buster, Ayato outslaps Mogami, hitting another high kick to the head before dumping him with a big backdrop for the win. Simple, effective, and fun...my kind of match. 

Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato vs. Daichi Hashimoto & Kazuki Hashimoto (BJW, 2/7/14)

This was a fun spitfire underdog match with tons of heavy striking for all your heavy striking needs. You've got Surfer Sato destroying K.Hash with big bad elbows, Ishikawa manhandling D.Hash with a stretch muffler. Twin Towers do a good job of bullying K.Hash, inflicting a little punishment and making the quick tags. Effective. Little D.Hash gets in a bunch of snappy kicks and an especially head-droppy back suplex on Sato. I really liked Ishikawa's arm-trap headbutts into the arm-trap suplex. After K.Hash finally topples Sato, he and Daichi trade kicks before Kazuki lands a nasty PK. The ankle hold didn't make much sense for this kind of match as there was no real sense of danger. The failed submission attempt leads to a final onslaught by Sato, including his piledriver and a German suplex hold for three. Good stuff. 

Kazuhiro Tamura vs. Hiroshi Watanabe (HEAT-UP, 5/14/16)

Hey. I really enjoyed this. Although at times, it felt like I was watching technically-proficient wrestling in slow motion, and the emotion factor didn’t peek in until the end, this match felt genuine. Small things like the way Tamura maneuvered himself over for a rope break. The strikes were hard and heavy, especially from Tamura, and Watanabe had some great throws. After Watanabe tweaks his knee following a top rope knee drop and blows the German suplex bridge, Tamura goes after the leg, which becomes the focus of the final act. Great finishing stretch and selling from Watanabe as Tamura blasts his leg with kick after kick, taking him down for the ten count only for Watanabe to spirit back to his feet. He tries to retaliate with some weak-looking headbutts only to have his leg cut out from him again, and when that doesn’t work, Tamura submits him with a leglock. Even the 20 people in attendance lit up in the end. Solid, focused wrestling. 

Yuji Okabayashi vs. Ryuichi Kawakami (BJW, 6/5/13)

I love these under 20 minute “modern strong style” match-ups. It feels compact and vicious, without dragging out into overkill territory. This was big boss golem Okabayashi doing a damn fine job of trying to keep the feisty Kawakami down, clubbing, chopping and lariating him silly. Whenever Kawakami gets a whiff of retaliation, Okabayashi cuts him off. The finishing stretch to this thing is outright nasty, with Okabayashi paintbrushing Kawakami with slaps and Kawakami firing back with rapid-fire elbows and a big rolling elbow. He hits a couple of Germans and a brutal half nelson suplex but Okabayashi will not die. So Kawakami unleashes the Scarlet Flowsion~! to put the nail in the coffin and earn his shot at the title. Fun stuff!

Kengo Mashimo vs. Hiro Tonai (K-DOJO, 9/14/14)

I’m catching up on matches from 2013-2014, since I wasn’t watching much of anything. But this…this is my kind of match. Tons of meaningful submission work, great counters and reversals, and a satisfying finish. After some touch-and-go to open, Tonai tries to get the flash pin with a cradle and follows it up with a Shining Wizard for a two count. I like that Mashimo alternates between working the arm and the leg, and Tonai does a good job of selling, especially the leg. It’s a sound strategy that actually plays into the finish. There’s a great little back-and-forth sequence around the leglock and cross armbreaker, with some fun, innovative arm work by Tonai. In the end, Mashimo has Tonai in the scissored armbar and as Tonai works his way over to the ropes, Mashimo traps the leg, preventing the escape and ensuring the submission victory. Excellent stuff all around! 

Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato (BJW, 5/28/15)

Time limit draws can be tiresome. The pacing can be off, there's often a lot of needless filler to eat up minutes and the action can feel subdued. Not here though. All four guys put their bodies through hell and back for the duration of the match. Uber-stiff and brutal at times, it was well-paced and organic, sometimes feeling a little too real, as both Sato and Okabayashi get busted open the hard way. Things got a little chaotic and messy at times, but it never got out of control and they always reeled the action back in. I liked the early struggle by Sato with the cross armbreaker and Sekimoto trying to power out to his feet, forcing Sato to re-think his strategy and attack the leg. 

Okabayashi was a beast in this and the strike exchanges between he, Sato and Ishikawa were nuts -- those Sato elbow shots were especially nasty. There's one point in particular where Okabayashi blocks Ishikawa's headbutt with his hand and then nearly lariats him out of his boot. But Ishikawa would exact his revenge toward the end of the match hitting one of the gnarliest headbutts on Okabayashi I've seen. 

Sekimoto did a great job selling the beat down Twin Towers issued out. No matter how hard he fought back, they kept swatting him back down. At one point, they block his double lariat attempt and pound him with stereo headbutts. There's two different lay out spots with all four men but they didn't necessarily feel shoehorned it, more like a steady build toward the bomb fests. By end of this thing, Sato and Okabayashi are on wobbly knees slugging it out in desperation. Okabayashi hits one final powerful lariat, trying in vain to get the pin over and over again before the time limit expires. What a tag team match and a modern strong style classic! 

Virus vs. Hechicero (Lucha Memes, 5/15/16)

Silky smooth matwork and transitions, with such fluidity to the reversals and counters. One of my favorite moments of the match, which may seem minor, was the way Virus maintained arm control even when Hechicero was kipping up to his feet in an escape attempt. The progression from the grappling to the striking to some of the bigger spots, like Hechicero’s Muscle Buster or the great rope-hung dropkick, felt natural, building to a finish that brought the match back to its roots. The hammerlock counter into the submission finish was a pretty awesome display of power from Hechicero. As a largely non-lucha guy, this is the engaging kind of match I can get behind. Some of those 2-out-of-3 falls matches can feel little disjointed and take away from the momentum and build. 

Daisuke Sasaki vs. Yukio Sakaguchi (5/8/16)

Daisuke Sasaki is one of the smarter indie workers in Japan and a personal favorite of mine. A few hiccups aside, this was a pretty good match with some little things from Sasaki that added to the narrative. Yukio with zero respect for Sasaki in this. There's some cat-like action to start with Yuji swinging for the fences with his kicks. He wants this on the ground and Sasaki does his best to try and stay on top. Sasaki goes in with this defensive stance and in a great moment, Yukio tries to take off his arm with a kick and then promptly knees the fuck out of him. Sasaki works the underdog role against Yukio's ground-and-pound shoot-style approach. Yukio drapes him in the corner for the running knee but Sasaki smartly slips out to the apron and catches him with a dragon screw legwhip into the ropes. When they do that spot again, it's in a way that makes sense. There's a couple of nonsensical set-ups and stalling in this but nothing too offensive. Yukio's strikes look really solid and impactful in that snappy Shibata-like way. When he's got Sasaki in the choke sleeper, he smartly traps the arm and forces him to use a foot for the rope break. 

Sasaki's good at stringing together his offense in a realistic way. For example, Sasaki comes back with a dragon suplex, a superkick and fisherman driver for two before quickly transitioning into the crossface hold, not giving Yukio a moment's relief. Some great selling from Sasaki as well, especially when Yukio is blasting him with knees. There's a little bit of tomfoolery leading to the finish as Sasaki tricks Yukio into kicking the ref before hitting a deliberate low blow and a diving elbow drop, only to realize the ref is still down. A funny moment but one that made sense for the match, as Sasaki seemed like he was in danger of losing his title and desperation set in.  He then goes on to hit a beautiful dropkick, a top rope Pedigree and the super indy Vietnam Driver II for the win. Fun stuff!

Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Shuji Ishikawa (BJW, 3/31/15)

Good Lord, this match. I never had a chance to view this last year for whatever reason but wow, what a manly modern spectacle. Sloppy at times and a wee bit overkill, it wasn't the elusive "perfect match" but it felt perfectly organic and brutal. I mean, everything looked brutal in execution. And it has one of the best false finishes in recent memory. Sekimoto is the yoked workhorse who won't lay down for the champ. Great heart and energy, great selling for the most part, especially in the facials. He wrestles with this sense of urgency throughout. I loved the early suicide dive after Ishikawa gets extra saucy with his elbow shots. And Ishikawa is such a great super bully champ in this, constantly cutting Sekimoto off at every opportunity and just laying into him fully with everything in his arsenal. The full nelson ring post smash was nuts and I genuinely felt bad for Sekimoto's head and neck as Ishikawa went took him to Murder Town. At one point, Ishikawa's got him in a full nelson lock, and Sekimoto is screaming and powering his way out and Ishikawa headbutts any hope he had of escaping to hell. 

One minor grievance: Sekimoto's Scorpion Deathlock looks like shit and it always seems to come out of nowhere. There's no logistical build to it. Anyway, he has such a great crab hold that looks way more devastating and makes sense for his style of offense. The final stretch of this thing was pretty epic. After Ishikawa goes on a mini-run after kiboshing another Sekimoto comeback, Sekimoto clobbers him with a lariat counter to the running knee, They trade suplexes, clash lariats, and then Sekimoto pulls away with his meat cleaver chops, a gamengiri, a lariat, and a big deadlift German suplex hold for HUGE nearfall. The crowd is fully invested at this point, Ishikawa's mouth is bloody, Sekimoto can't believe it. We get the dying breath of the great champ here, as Ishikawa pulls out every brain-scrambling move in the book and still can't beat Sekimoto. In a great moment during the final slapoff, Ishikawa unleashes a flurry of slaps and the only way Sekimoto can stop him is to just punch him in the face. Ishikawa gets a last gasp one count after a lariat, but a second lariat and a deadlift German suplex hold are too much. Doesn't get much better than this when it comes to modern strong style. 

Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Ryuichi Kawakami (BJW, 6/30/13)

This is what I wanted out of this match. Kawakami is this hyperviolent ball of spitfire and Sekimoto works in this sort of frustrated energy with his facials, the way he looks at the ref, some of his offense choices, like switching from the crab to the STF and the snake eyes into the German suplex. He also really sells well for Kawakami's offense, which gets epic in his last gasp run. I really like the way they open with the aggressive, almost frantic back-and-forth grappling. Kawasaki more than held his own in the slugfests with Sekimoto. His elbows looked brutal and Sekimoto sold them in a staggering way. They play human bumper cars awhile and Sekimoto unleashes these cleaving chops but when he tries for the gamegiri, Kawakami blocks it and unleashes hell on him with suplexes and a gnarly snap Emerald Fushion for a nearfall. Kawakami doesn't know what else to do and in their final elbow battle, he's able to stun him with a shot but Sekimoto hits this massive reaction lariat! Even in his final death throes, Kawasaki shows this sense of desperation as he so close to the ropes as Sekimoto is deadlifting him...yet, too far. Awesome stuff! 

KUSHIDA vs. Jushin Liger (5/3/16)

For the most part, I really liked this match and the callbacks to their recent tag team matches. Liger's still so good at what he does and it was great seeing him show off a little in the beginning with the stretches. KUSHIDA switched on arm killer mode early on and it played a significant role building to the finish, thanks to Liger's selling. There was great continuity as KUSHIDA sold the leg damage on the tilt-a-whirl landing and for the most part, kept it up throughout. Liger's such a rudo leg bully, bashing it against the guardrail and ringpost, then hitting a fucking brainbuster onto the explored floor before waiting for the count out back in the ring. I liked the dramatic trip up by KUSHIDA at 19. Some of KUSHIDA's mid-match glitz felt shoehorned in but it was brief and they went back the story after Liger countered the moonsault and cinched in his own Hoverboard Lock, although the Liger armwork wasn't as compelling as the legwork. I liked when he grapevined the ankle lock to prevent KUSHIDA's escape and a desperate KUSHIDA grabs onto Liger to try and break up the hold. The last leg felt somewhat rushed at times. After a big Liger nearfall off the brainbuster, KUSHIDA hits the rolling elbow and gets in the Hoverboard Lock for the submission victory. Really good juniors match and probably second to Lee/Kamaitachi's NJPW match, although that's a different beast entirely.

Katsuyori Shibata & KUSHIDA vs. Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger (4/27/16)

Another awesome tag, another awesome build to Dontanku. They built upon their last match, which was a more structured, smartly worked tag, by injecting the HATE into this. This felt personal. The veterans are pissed off but so is Shibata, and he sucks up most of the crowd’s energy. He and KUSHIDA get the early jump and Nagata ain’t got time to get his t-shirt(s) off. So Shibata uses it against him with his chinlock. He mocks Nagata with the saluting leglock. But that only leads to the vets getting revenge. Lots of elbows thrown on the outside, Liger cracking Kushida’s knee with a chair. Liger’s a great leg bully here and KUSHIDA does a solid job selling, desperately clinging to the ref to escape the leglock. When KUSHIDA comes in later off the fresh tag, he sells the tilt-a-whirl landing,  keeping the work relevant. A nice and easily overlooked nuance.

Nagata and Liger are such a fun pairing.  After some more rudo chairshots, Liger puts KUSHIDA back in the leglock and Nagata just stands there vigilant by his side. I liked how Shibata so calmly avoids Nagata’s apron attacks. Lots of friendly hate between these two. I mean, Nagata eyefucks Shibata so hard he trips over KUSHIDA during the single leg crab. Shibata’s snappy kicks in the corner were cringy, capping them off with a sliding kick and the hesitation dropkick. Nagata sells Shibata’s offense so well, especially during the elbow exchange, and his knee strikes looked extra stiff. The traded suplexes were a great exclamation point to their happy little exchange. In the end, the Shelley Clutch finish came by surprise but it’s the logical finish, building off their last tag and heading into Dontaku. Great tag team wrestling, and not just a repeat of their last tag but a new, hateful facet. 

Katsuyori Shibata & KUSHIDA vs. Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger (NJPW, 4/23/16)

Fantastic build for Dontaku and one of the better tag matches I’ve seen this year. Emotions were high between Shibata and Nagata, and their heated exchanges brought the right amount of impact to wet your whistle for their NEVER title match. Arm killer KUSHIDA was excellent, and the submission work on Liger played well into the story, with Shibata picking up where KUSHIDA leaves off. They work really well together as a unit, complimenting each others' style where Shibata brings the stiffness and KUSHIDA works the mat. Of course, Nagata and Liger are a fun pairing, with Liger playing the downtrodden veteran.

Nagata and Shibata open a little nice tussle for leg control, where he sees Nagata bust out a flurry of baby knees and Shibata getting pissed after Nagata reverses the leglock. Lots of angry elbows from Shibata. We get a taste of the impending Dontaku strike fest and Shibata is all fired up, no selling the Exploder (because that's just what people do) and connecting with an STO.  KUSHIDA and Liger get to show off their lucha-inspired skillz, and KUSHIDA gets busy with the arm work. Liger capitalizes off a missed standing moonsault and locks in the Kimura but KUSHIDA is able to reassert the arm control, first with a cross armbreaker and then transitioning to the Hoverboard Lock to prevent Liger's escape. Shibata does a good job at keeping Nagata stretched and at bay while KUSHIDA brings Liger to the middle of the ring. Even when Nagata breaks up the hold, KUSHIDA goes right back to work on the arm like a pitbull. Liger finds an opening on an over-the-shoulder armbreaker attempt, picking up the flash pin victory off a backslide. Great stage-setting finish and I'm stoked more than ever for Dontaku. 

Kento Miyahara vs. Naoya Nomura (AJPW, 4/16/16)

A fun, competitive pairing of Miyahara's energetic aggression and Nomura's spirited won't die attitude. You can see it from the outset as he rushes headlong into a boot from Miyahara, who promptly dispatches him out of the ring as if he can't be bothered. So Nomura rethinks his strategy. After he ties Miyahara in the ropes, he pops off a nasty elbow as if to say...you will be bothered, bitch. The action spills out of the ring, where we get flying elbow butts and floor scoop slams. Miyahara bullies him awhile back inside, and when Nomura shows retaliation, Miyahara responds with a backbreaker and the dreaded crab hold. Even when Nomura gets a little spurt of offense, Miyahara does a good job of neutralizing the situation, putting him back in the crab hold with a little added punishment before cranking in the single leg crab (all day). I loved Nomura's roll-through spear and a second spear gets him a nearfall. He shows a lot of fight during the finishing stretch, and we see the champ sort of snap and elbow him repeatedly. Miyahara stalks him for the running knee to the back of the head, hits a follow-up brainbuster but Nomura survives it! But another running knee is enough to put him away for good. I enjoyed this more than the Sekimoto/Akiyama match from the same show. 

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Hiroshi Hase (NJPW, 8/8/93)

Two of my favorites doing what they do best. Hase is definitely one of the most under-appreciated guys out there, not only rocking the mullet but the 'stache as well. They grapple a bit, fighting over control of the wrist, and when Fujiwara can't maintain it, he gets frustrated and strikes Hase. There's a lot of things to love about this match. The way Hase pulls a trick from Fujiwara's playbook, grinding the forearm and elbow into his face. The grin on Fujiwara's face after tying Hase up in the corner. The time out requests. Fujiwara's busted open head from a comedy spot. At one point, Hase hurts himself trying to headbutt Fujiwara and Fujiwara gives a little strut for good measure. The counterwork was top notch and I loved how Fujiwara kept going back to the armbar in the end, transitioning out of the German suplex hold and then countering the uranage with the armbar takedown. But Hase's counters out of the standing armbar with a beautiful dragon suplex hold for the three count. This match has a little bit of everything, which makes it so much fun to watch. Check it out. 

American Dragon vs. Low-Ki (JAPW, 6/7/02)

This felt like an American indy homage to BattlARTS, with some whacky lucha-esque submissions from the "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson. This was Danielson at his best, fully aware, and in his primal element. His ground game is so organic and fluid, in the sort of spontaneous, uber-aggressive way in which he can counter/reverse into something painful-looking. There weren't really any glitzy submissions for the sake of glitz, as guys like ZSJ are prone to do. Everything looked like it hurt, and Danielson's strategy was clearly to try and snap Low-Ki like a twig in the middle. Like the way he made a simple side headlock look deadly, and the smart way he kept moving his legs and maneuvering Low-Ki away from the ropes. There are tons of little nuances throughout -- like the nose counter, or the supplemental kicks or knees to the submission. 

 Low-Ki can't quite hang in this department but in a frustrated way, he acknowledges shortcoming and has to rely more and more on his striking ability. At one point, Danielson unloads on Low-Ki with slaps, and Low-Ki snaps off a high kick to the head for the takedown. Oh, but Danielson hangouts perfectly in that department. Some of his crossface strikes looked especially vicious. When Low-Ki was working the submissions, he was after Danielson's arm and found ways to keep going back to it, slowly building to the sudden counter finish. They traded submission finishers, as was the trend circa 2000s.

The match could've done away with the out-ring action, as it didn't really add anything to the story -- other than Low-Ki's mild frustration over being outwrestled. But there wasn't any fire to it and Danielson's chops looked a lot more painful than anything Low-Ki did outside. The finish was also on the weaker end. I mean, I loved that Danielson dumped out a bunch of suplexes leading to the Cattle Mutilation. But after Low-Ki fights out of it, there's sort of a disconnect from what was built before. There's a sloppy irish whip reversal, Danielson battling out of the Ki-Krusher and then the hanging armbar from Low-Ki, to which Danielson quickly taps. It was like a late injection of American indie-ism into the ass of this match. Minor criticisms aside, this was one of the better U.S. matches in the early 2000s. A meaningful grapplefuck and a great showcase of Danielson's aggressive submission style. Oh, and Low-Ki as Low-Ki, selling Danielson's submissions by just bending a certain way. 

Hideki Suzuki vs. Kohei Sato (Z1, 3/27/16)

Hideki Suzuki works the arm like a full-time job. He cranks away, armwhips, stomps it, knees it, methodically destroying it with holds and strikes. Suzuki keeps cutting off Sato's offensive rebuttals, continuing to focus his efforts on working the shit out of Sato's poor arm. And Sato sells it pretty well, eventually switching to kicks after failing to use the arm to strike. But when he tries for a piledriver, Suzuki takes him right back down to the mat with an armbar. Suzuki throws a couple of suplexes, Sato gets a quick German suplex hold off of a Suzuki European uppercut. Suzuki tries to strike with Sato and Sato responds with headbutts and a big elbow strike. A piledriver and follow-up German suplex hold were enough to get the win. Loved the armwork by Suzuki but the finish was definitely anti-climatic. I would've liked to have seen the arm work play a bigger role in the end, as it took up 3/4's of the match. The double arm suplex wasn't sold as the potential "Game Over" finish like it has been in his last few matches, and for having been in control for most of the match, Suzuki seemed a little too easy to put away in the end as defending champ. Solid 3/4's but the finish leaves a lot to be desired.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn (NXT, 4/1/16)

This is American puroresu. Tons of emotion, a molten hot crowd, great selling, blood (but not too much), stiff strikes, head droppery. I can't think of a better showcase for Nakamura's debut, and although I was skeptical of Zayn being the man to do the job, Zayn couldn't have been more perfect. He held his own in the striking and slapping department. That elbow battle was something out of an Ishii match, and when Nakamura was hung up in the ropes, Zayn just kicking at him was so great. And man, that Blue Thunder Driver nearfall was so well-timed. Nakamura didn't look like he was holding back either. His shots sounded loud and hurty, and while he missed with that top rope Boma Ye, that final lights out kick looked solid. It's hard to believe we live in a world where Nakamura is wrestling in a WWE ring and Kota Ibushi is watching from ringside. Easily the best WWE match I've seen in a long while. Not a flawless match -- there were a few minor missteps -- but for in-ring debut, a pretty damn awesome exhibition of talent on both sides. The atmosphere was insane. WrestleMania is going to have a hard time following this up.

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Satoshi Kojima (NJPW, 3/19/16)

This was great stuff -- lots to love on. The mounting frustration of Shibata, his great submission counters to the lariat. The early submission stuff was more or less filler  (although the figure-four reversals were fun) but the focused armwork and attack by Shibata was a compelling narrative, and Kojima did a solid job of expressing the exhausted determination. Plenty of stiff shots, too, especially Kojima's elbows.  After Shibata kicks out the arm of Kojima, he smells the blood and gets to work. The missed lariat to the ring post added to the story, and Shibata kept it relative throughout. I loved Kojima's angry apron lariat to the back of Shibata's knee. Shibata's slow grinding boot scrapes are an added touch but he's no Ohtani with his running face washes. There's a fun back suplex exchange and then they go at it for a while with the elbows and Kojima gets especially feisty in the corner. Shibata gets a couple of big spots with a PK and a Death Valley Bomb but Kojima comes back with a top rope Cozy Cozy Cutter. Great spot where Shibata blocks a right arm lariat with a boot so Kojima sucks in the pain and blasts him with his left arm. Shibata counters another lariat attempt with an armbar takedown and although Kojima hits another, he sells the pain and can't finish him off. Nice brainbuster gets a big nearfall for Kojima but in the end, Shibata has him scouted out and counters the final lariat attempt with the sleeper hold, wearing him down enough for the PK to be the nail in the coffin. Awesome performance by Kojima who sacrificed the shit out of his arm to try and take down Shibata but the great ring awareness of the champ allowed him to hang onto his title. 

Minoru Suzuki vs. Yukio Sakaguchi (DDT, 3/21/16)

Nothing bad, nothing outright wonderful. I wanted a little more hatred in this but there wasn't any. Suzuki with an uncharacteristic clean break at the outset set the tone for this match. They work the mat a bit, tease some stomps, trade kicks in the ring and on the apron. It's more or less a Suzuki-dominant match, with him forcing Sakaguchi back to the ropes time and time again. Sakaguchi comes back, controls a bit with strikes, Suzuki comes back, controls again with submissions. I liked Sakaguchi's management of the cobra clutch, trapping Suzuki's arm as he struggles and looking like he was trying to also trap the leg. Suzuki gets a little crazy after a dropkick counter and locks in the sleeper hold. When he tries to transition to the Gotch piledriver, Sakaguchi back bodydrops his way out of it but gets caught right back in the sleeper hold. Suzuki hits the Saka Otoshi to stun him and then re-asserts the sleeper hold for the submission V. Decent! 

Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 4/6/92)

I think I prefer the 6/5 Triple Crown match to this, but then again, there's not much to complain about here. Stiff as hell right from the bat, with Kawada coming at Hansen with machine gun slaps and Hansen kneeing him and tossing him out of the ring to cool off. Hansen always sells so great for Kawada's kicks, and his selling of the legwork was top notch here. Kawada chops out Hansen's legs with kicks and uses a single leg crab (all day) to wear him down. I love that even when Hansen is falling from the bum leg, he still manages to strike Kawada. Awesome leglock spot with Hansen kicking at Kawada's face to get out of the submission hold. Of course, the big desperation powerbomb on the outside was big turning point in the match but the scoop slam onto the guardrail looked even more painful. Loved Hansen's back bodydrop into the elbow drop spot. 

 Kawada's kicks are pretty hellacious and he catches Hansen with a shot to the chin, staggering the bull and turning the tide in favor of Kawada. Hansen keeps missing the elbow drop which ultimately leads to Kawada hitting the elbow drop from the apron the floor. He once again chops out the legs of Hansen, blasts him with an enzui lariat and locks in the sleeperhold. During the finishing stretch, Hansen calls for the lariat but Kawada counters with a jumping high kick. This only pisses Hansen off so he powerbombs him and puts him the Brazos Valley Backbreaker. In frustration, Hansen refuses to break the hold, and you can tell he's ready to end this. Great elbow by Kawada and collapse into the pin but the boss hoss ultimately hits the lariato and it's game over. Another fun, stiff brawl, with a little more substance and structure than the 2/28/93 match. 

Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 6/5/92)

Stan Hansen looks like such a boss hoss and has no shame in whipping at the Japanese fans with his lariato. There's such strong crowd energy heading into this match. They slug it out for a while and when Kawada starts with the kicks, Hansen retaliates with one of his own. Kawada's selling and facials are great throughout and when Hansen smells blood, he immediately begins targeting the leg. It's great to see Hansen relax into the legwork, either on the mat or shinbreaking Kawada on the guardrail. Kawada sacrifices his bum leg to fire back at Hansen, but that only pisses Hansen off more, leading to a nasty cowshit kick and a gutwrench suplex. Hansen sells strong for Kawada after a big kick folds Hansen over the guardrail. Kawada controls for a while, hits a great elbow drop from the apron to the floor, peppers Hansen with machine gun elbows.

The crowd energy builds around the potential for Hansen's lariat. Several times during the match, you can hear the crowd getting excited for Hansen to signal for the lariat but instead, he kicks or elbows him, and the crowd dies down. Hansen's defense is solid, as he blocks a kick with his forearm, or quickly tosses Kawada away when he goes for the Stretch Plum. Kawada instead chops out his legs with kicks and locks in the dragon sleeper, switching arms to prevent Hansen from escaping, until they collapse into the ropes. Awesome. When Hansen finally calls for the lariat, the crowd heats up and he connects with the enzui lariat but he purposely breaks the hold. Throws a little water onto the fire and I get why he doesn't want to end it that way. Hansen's a man. He wants you to see the lariat coming. Great jackknife powerbomb before he just murders Kawada with his lariato. I probably love this match a lot more than most people. Lots of ups and tons as far as crowd energy goes, but it's a smartly worked match for Hansen and one of his best solo performances. 

Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW, 4/6/92)

A fun little build to the backdrop but nothing too exciting in the only singles match between these two legends. A slower start, with Jumbo cheap shotting Fuchi against the ropes. Fuchi gives Jumbo a taste of his own medicine with some low kicks to the knees, smartly retreating before Jumbo can retaliate. Fuchi continues to counter Jumbo's backdrop attempts with submissions, working him on the mat. I like when Fuchi keeps grabbing Jumbo's arm to prevent him from using a rope break. For awhile, Jumbo wears down Fuchi with abdominal stretches and sleeper holds. When Jumbo finally hits the backdrop, he can't immediately capitalize and Fuchi kicks out at two. But Jumbo hits a second one and that's all she wrote. Great selling from both men, and fun build, but a simple and safe tournament match. 

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tetsuya Naito (NJPW, 3/4/16)

Easily the best Nahito match of the year. He's the perfect heel dick weasel here, consistently cutting off and countering Ishii's attacks. He spits in Ishii's face, Ishii's like 'what the fuck?!', and the shit-eating grin on Naito's face just goads Ishii into falling for his trap. It builds the anticipation for when Ishii finally gets his hands on Naito. Naito wears him down Randy Orton-style and as Ishii tries for a scoop slam, Naito worms out and reverse DDTs him. Ishii gives Naito the spit treatment and Naito freaks. The apron lariat is the big turning point for this match, as the crowd explodes and Naito is slumped all dead-like on the apron. Great sell. There is a bit of disjointedness here and there, and they fuck up the Destino counter spot near the end, which sucks, but Ishii rectifies that by hitting a Emerald Flowsion! The second half of the match skips joyfully into overkill land but it's really fun and exciting to watch. There's a point where Ishii ducks and catches Naito after a flying forearm attempt and just dumps him with a release German suplex. Ishii does a pretty good job of selling the exhaustion of impact-after-impact, at times reaching for his non-taped shoulder. I love his Bas Rutten-style shotgun elbows. Some big nearfalls and a great finish, with Naito countering the brainbuster attempt with the Destino. Other than a couple of minor hiccups, this was a great, smartly worked match, with Naito really embracing his heel dick character and letting it translate into his performance, and Ishii continuing to build a strong resume for 2016's MVP. 

Kamaitachi vs. Dragon Lee (CMLL, 3/4/16)

This is going to be one of those divisive matches. On the one hand, it's truly a spectacle, especially during the third fall, where both guys unleash their crazy arsenals in an endless volley of nearfalls. On the other hand, the third fall was an endless volley of slow as molasses two counts. I was pretty tired by the end of it. The New Japan match was a great energetic sprint and a big homecoming for Kamaitachi. This felt like a finale for these two and I really hope it is -- at least, for a while. The stuff that I was amazed by the first couple of times I saw it...is still amazing, no doubt, but just a little repetitive at this point. And the traditional 2-out-of-3 falls stip didn't do this match any favors. So many nearfalls that had zero reaction, especially Kamaitachi's sunset flip piledriver which won him the title to begin with. I think he hit it at least twice here to no avail. An entertaining match to be sure. I liked the monkey flip spot to the floor and Dragon Lee's outside German suplex was nuts. But it was a little too tra-la-la for me to get suckered into thinking it was a great professional wrestling match. I would love to see these two in New Japan's Super J Cup but against some fresh opponents. 

Hiro Tonai vs. Kyu Mogami (K-DOJO, 2/25/16)

Solid submission work throughout, with a great payoff in the end. Some basic 'catch point' wrestling to open. Tonai shows his ring awareness early on with the rolls throughs and maintaining the arm control. Mogami works the neck with a cravate and I like how he incorporates the knees into the hold. Overall great counterwork, especially from Tonai. At one point, he sweeps the leg out from Mogami and hits a gnarly kick to the injured arm. He keeps forcing Mogami to the ropes but Mogami fights back and traps Tonai in like a grounded octopus hold. When he tries for the fisherman suplex, Tonai gets a hold of the arm and Mogami quickly rolls through to escape. After Mogami hits a fisherman suplex for two, they go counter-for-counter with the submission attempts until Mogami can pin Tonai's shoulders to the mat for a believable nearfall. Without missing a beat, Mogami goes right back into the grounded octopus hold. After fighting out, Tonai counters a whip attempt into a cool springboard armbreaker and goes right into the seated armbreaker. Mogami makes one last go at the ropes but Tonai rolls him through and quickly re-asserts the armbreaker, forcing him to submit. The crowd was invested, the matwork technically sound. Really good match. 

Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 2/28/93)

When I think of the word ‘hoss’, Stan Hansen pops into my head. He’s a hoss in the truest sense of the word. One of my favorite Stan Hansen matches is his chaotic brawl with Toshiaki Kawada. Since I watched the Kikuchi/Fuchi match from the same show, I decided to revisit Hansen vs. Kawada. There’s so much to love about tis match. Kawada selling Hansen’s haymakers like death. The way Hansen kicks Kawada like he’s kicking at a piece of cow shit. I love how Hansen throws his weight into offense, like that big back elbow out of the corner or the awesome diving shoulderblock through the ropes. They take turns controlling portions of the match and at one point, Hansen looks a little lost and then really looks lost (as in loss of consciousness) when Kawada's got him trapped in the Stretch Plum. Kawada murders him in the corner with kicks. He chops at Hansen and Hansen just grabs him by the head and slams him down with zero shits given.  After Hansen’s big ole release powerbomb, he signals for the lariat and the crowd is eating it up. Kawada cuts him off but Hansen hits a one of the greatest lariats of all time, the momentum of it carrying him clear out of the fucking ring!  Both men are sluggish with exhaustion, with these glazed over looks in their eyes, and Hansen almost collapses into that final enzui-lariat with enough power to defeat Kawada. Such a Texas hoss match with great psychology, brutal shitkicking strikes, and a super hot crowd during the final minutes of the match (minus the crickets after the ref fucks up a count).  One of the best brawls of all time...and I don't even really like brawls.