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!
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