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.
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