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.
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