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.

Masanobu Fuchi vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJPW, 2/28/93)

Welcome to the original Suplex City, Kikuchi-bitch. I remember the first time I saw this match back in high school and my prayers went out to Kikuchi’s neck. Short, violent match, with Fuchi brutalizing Kikuchi with at least 10 belly-to-back suplexes. Fuchi tries to bully Kikuchi early on but Kikuchi ain’t having it and he unloads with forearms and a German suplex hold for a believable early nearfall. Great running dropkick from the apron, a series of snap suplexes and a big diving headbutt. A busted open Fuchi reels toward the ropes as Kikuchi stalks him for another German and counters the attempt with an awesome armbar takedown. At one point, he just wrenches the arm and punches Kikuchi in the trapezius. Kikichi gets in a couple of more suplex two counts before Fuchi goes to town on Kikuchi with back suplex after back suplex after back suplex. Kikuchi wants to survive, he’s trying to survive – he hooks the leg to block another attempt and grabs the ropes but Fuchi connects with an enziguri and dumps him on his head again. I loved the desperation of Kikuchi as he crawls around on the canvas, looking for a way out, but the merciless Fuchi continues to backdrop him until there’s nothing left in the tank. These two have such great in-ring chemistry and watching Fuchi's hyper-aggressive onslaught is something to behold.