Akira Maeda vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (UWF, 5/12/88)

Main man Kazuo Yamazaki brings his hunger, his speed and counterwork, and the dreaded single leg crab to top boss Akira Maeda. He's able to outmaneuver Maeda at the outset, stunning him with some kicks -- in fact, there's a lot of dueling kicks in this match. Maeda was good here, although it did seem he was brushing off some of the shoot-style ring rust. He was able to plant Yamazaki with his capture suplex, land some extra nasty kicks, and finish him off with the katahajime after catching him with the rolling heel kick. Yamazaki's a perfect underdog here with the crowd behind him throughout. The single leg crabs added some drama to the match, with Maeda's struggle giving the Yamazaki fans some hope for their boy. He's able to hit the German suplex hold and a belly-to-belly before they both start emptying the kick tank down the home stretch. Yamazaki lays Maeda out with beautiful high kick to head but he can't keep him down and in the end, Maeda submits him with the crowd chanting Yamazaki's name. An entertaining return to form with the promotion "ace" taking out the fiery underdog in Yamazaki.

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Akira Maeda (UWF, 11/10/88)

They’re back at it, this time with a little more seriousness and a little less umphs behind the strikes. The slower-paced matwork dominates the opening of the match, with Takada being dominated by Maeda. Takada’s looking for an answer to Maeda’s holds and kicks but can’t find it as Maeda overwhelms him with strikes and keeps him going back to the ropes with the wakigatame. There’s some really terrific selling from Takada in these moments, crumbling from the heavy blows as he desperately tries to fight back, exhausting his outs between the rope breaks and the falls. There’s a glimmer of hope as he levels Maeda with a big kick but Maeda’s able to take back control on the mat, once again forcing Takada to his home away from home with a leglock. Something seems to snap inside Takada as he comes back swinging and kicking, knocking Maeda down with a solebutt and high kick, slamming him with the belly-to-belly. There’s a great little moment when Maeda tries to trap Takada’s arm for the crossface chickenwing and Takada counters with the single leg crab hold to force the rope break. The final minute or so of the match was awesome, as the score is tied and they’re just unloading with big ass kicks. Takada lands a high kick, Maeda collapses, quickly trying to stand on rubber legs but failing as the fans go nuts for Takada’s TKO victory.

Dick Togo vs. Yuko Miyamoto (GUTS World, 5/5/17)

This match exemplified two things: 1) Yuko Miyamoto > Isami Kodaka and 2) Dick Togo still rules. What a terrific opener full of swank matwork and transitions from Miyamoto and Togo selling his ass off. Togo was such a dick here, suckering Miyamoto in for a handshake and immediately Pedigreeing him, flying through the middle ropes with his somersault plancha, laying into Miyamoto with his Kentucky Fried punches. Once Miyamoto is able to get ahold of Togo's leg, Togo's on the rocks, fighting for an escape. I like that he actually tries to fight back during submission holds instead of just laying there, taking the punishment. He collapses on a suplex slipout and injures himself on a Pedigree, which delays the follow-up senton and allows Miyamoto to take advantage. He catches him with a beautiful handspring into a leglock and delivers one of the nastiest Fire Thunder Drivers I've seen in awhile for a two count. Togo's able to block the moonsault with his knees but again, it costs him, and allows Miyamoto to stay in control, dropping Togo with the fireman's carry gutbuster. But in the end, the wiliest motherfucker in Togo scoops the victory with the desperation Gedo Clutch. Go watch this match. 

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (UWF, 8/13/88)

Kazuo Yamazaki rules, he ruled this match. He's such an awesome fiery underdog and of the shoot-style bunch, he's one of the better sellers, especially here. The way he screams and scrambles on the armbar, or rolling out of the ring after the leglock. The crowd was brewing throughout, heating up early on when Takada reaches in during a lock up and smacks Yamazaki. Takada zeroes in on Yamazaki's leg with some nasty kicks and working in the single leg crab hold. When Yamazaki comes at Takada with knees, Takada drops him with a hard right. Takada was Takada here, wrestling like he's got something to prove, but Yamazaki hung on, surviving the belly-to-belly and dragon suplexes. He's able to connect with a high kick but after all that punishment, he collapses in exhaustion. I loved the German spot, with Takada struggling to break out of the rear waistlock and Yamazaki headbutting him to deliver the German suplex hold for two. A couple of high kicks later, the underdog Yamazaki's picked up the victory and the supportive crowd is stoked. Tons of fun.

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Akira Maeda (UWF, 6/11/88)

I love this match wholeheartedly. This is two guys going out there with something to prove. In the case of Maeda, he's the reigning king of shoot-style, the face that runs the newborn place. He's got a status quo to maintain and Takada's the pesky teenager trying to the keys to dad's car. The striking in this match is no joke, the takedowns and suplexes awesome, and mixed into the groundwork are some really neat moments. After a couple of love taps to warm up the fans, Takada goes in for a takedown and Maeda catches him with an "it's all in the reflexes" kick before taking him to school with the educated feet. Maeda's takedowns and counters are almost self-regulating, and he's able to slip out of a lot of Takada's submission attempts on the canvas. When Takada looks like he's in control, Maeda slaps on the cross armbreaker early on and Takada freaks his way to the ropes and retreats to the corner, only for Maeda to follow the trail of blood and get back in the hunt. When they're on their feet striking, Maeda catches the leg and slams him with a capture suplex in almost one fluid motion (see above).

The selling in this match is pick and choose -- it's blatant at times and good when it needs to be but you know, that's mas o menos the standard for shoot-style wrestling. Takada is more of the offender in this case but Maeda does a terrific job selling the leg as Takada relentlessly attacks it with kicks and holds. The way he grabs a leg and steps into the opposite leg before laying back with the hold was sweet. One of the best moments of the match came after Maeda takes a rolling solebutt to the midsection, with him climbing back to his feet on rubber legs, fists raised in defiance. Takada's on it in the final minutes, as he's able to block another capture suplex attempt, cracking Maeda with a high kick to the head, slamming him with the belly-to-belly, and locking in the reverse armbar. He counters a German suplex hold with another armbar and gets a nearfall off of a dragon suplex hold but the king still wears the golden crown. When Takada tries to take him out with a rolling kick, Maeda catches the attempt and hits his German suplex hold, transitioning into the crossface chickenwing to tap Takada out. Perhaps not as pure "shoot-style" as their follow-up match in November but definitely the most entertaining match of their rivalry.

Yuki Ishikawa vs. Carl Greco (BattlARTS, 6/9/08)

Hey girl, wanna grapplefuck? Yuki Ishikawa and Carl Greco do. For fifteen minutes -- no strikes, one suplex, lots of grappletime. Look, I'm not even going to pretend to know the names of all the hold variations. Greco's swift and sneaky, able to evade a lot of Ishikawa's gruff old man attempts. They're both largely looking for chokes with Greco quick to apply the leg scissors. When Greco tries for the out-of-nowhere leg takedown, Ishikawa's able to snag an arm with his legs and get the cross kneebar on but Greco uses a rope break. Ishikawa throws Greco with a German suplex but can't capilize as Carl's able to put him in a swanky scissored armbar and then a front necklock to force him to the ropes. The way Greco cranks his legs around Ishikawa's neck during the follow-up guillotine is awesome but the veteran grabs an arm and lays back, forcing Greco back to the ropes. They stand, they mutually grab the ropes because they want this to end, and the last couple of minutes are about as aggressive as this match gets, with lots of cool holds and slip outs. In the end, Greco cinches in a cravate and picks up the impressive win over Ishikawa. I like matwork as much as the next guy and this was as good as shoot-matwork gets but I miss the strikes.

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Hiroshi Hase (NJPW, 2/5/88)

What can I say about Hiroshi Hase that hasn't already been said? Criminally underrated, killer mullet, equally killer mustache, tons of killer suplexes. This was part of the inaugural Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Hase gets punished by Takada early on in this match-up, taking some nasty kicks to the face and really struggling to stay on his feet in a terrifically sold performance. But he goes from nearly being KO'd on the mat to firing off a quick German suplex hold at the snap of a finger. The selling, more or less, goes out the window in favor of back-and-forth offense, with Hase managing to pull off his patented Northern Lights suplex hold for a two count. Takada tries to suplex Hase from the top rope but they end up collapsing to the outside and brawling over the barricade, which results in a draw. This had its moments and these two would go on to have a superior match the following month for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title.

Hideki Suzuki vs. Yuji Okabayashi (BJW, 5/5/17)

The power vs. technique dynamic is one of my favorite match types in all of pro-wrestling and Big Japan pulls it off better than most. As much as I like Daisuke Sekimoto, Yuji Okabayashi brings so much more emotion to his matches. He was fantastic here against Hideki Suzuki, hossing his way out of Suzuki's fingertips as the champ tries to bend him to his will. When Yuji tries to chase Suzuki on the outside with his big boy chops, Suzuki's able to attack the arm with the help of the ringpost. Back inside, he goes to work on it with some nasty elbow shots, trying to stretch Yuji who uses his raw meat power to fight Suzuki off. When Yuji tries to put Suzuki in a camel clutch, Hideki tries snapping his fingers while Okabayashi wrenches back with a one-handed variation. Suzuki, as always, does such a good job of staying on the injured arm, even when Okabayashi is able to shake him off. Up top, Suzuki goes after the arm to counter a suplex attempt and when he puts on a sleeper, Yuji slams him down from the top. Suzuki fires off some suplexes, battles Okabayashi's chops with elbows, and hits his kneeling tombstone > deadshot elbow combo. Yuji's able to avoid the double arm suplex throughout the match and after he clobbers him with a lariat, he decks him with a running shoulderblock and tries for the Golem Splash. But Suzuki blocks the splash and goes right back to the arm, trapping it with a modified Octopus Stretch and submitting Okabayashi. Terrific match, with terrific selling from Okabayashi and plenty of Suzuki's no-nonsense awesomeness as he destroys Yuji's arm throughout to set up the finish. 

Top 10 Matches of 2017

Here are my top 10 matches of 2017. 

1. Kazuchika Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata (NJPW, 4/19/17)
2. Hideki Suzuki vs. Yuji Okabayashi (BJW, 5/5/17)
3. Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 8/8/17)
4. Hideki Suzuki vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani (BJW, 5/25/17)

5. Hirooki Goto vs. Katsuyori Shibata (NJPW, 1/4/17)
6. Dick Togo vs. Daisuke Sasaki (DDT/DAMNATION Produce, 4/14/17)

7. Hideki Suzuki vs. Daisuke Sekimoto (BJW, 3/5/17)
8. Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 8/12/17)

9. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito (NJPW, 8/11/17)
10. Shuji Ishikawa vs. Kento Miyahara (AJPW, 8/27/17)

Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW, 5/3/17)

Hey kids, here's another zany Kenny Omega "main event"-style spectacle for you featuring everyone's favorite stone cold pitbull, Tomohiro Ishii. This was a bit of a roller coaster to say the least, with Ishii taking a page out of KUSHIDA's book by trying to overwhelm Omega out of the gate with a barrage of offense and when Omega tries to bail, Ishii ain't having it and stays on him. Loved the timing with the apron powerbomb, forcing Ishii back into the ring before the count-out but he smartly rolls back outside to recover with a fresh twenty. Great bumping and selling by Ishii throughout, as Kenny works over his neck. He sold Omega's chops like death and when he tries to hulk up, Omega spikes him with a DDT. The action and the crowd heats up as they start throwing endless bombz, Ishii hitting a ton of hard lariats and countering the One-Winged Angel with a reverse frankensteiner...but he can't keep Omega down. Kenny's knee strikes looked/sounded awesome, especially the finishing combo, which was sold beautifully by Ishii before Omega hits a brainbuster and the One-Winged Angel for the three count. A high-end spotfest, another notch on Omega's bedazzled ringpost, and probably Ishii's best performance of the year so far. Weeeeeeeee.