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.
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