Akira Maeda vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF, 8/13/89)

You've got the old guard of UWF dueling in a game of shoot-style chess. Fujiwara shows early on what happens when you back a grizzled dog into a corner, blasting Maeda's grill with some hard headbutts. When Maeda tries to sweep Fujiwara's leg, Yoshiaki smartly holds onto the ropes to maintain his balance. Maeda's strategy is straightforward: get Fujiwara into a corner and strike him down. As the match continues, you can really see the frustration mounting in Fujiwara, the way he slaps the canvas when he's forced to the ropes or the tired look on his face as he sits in the corner, biding his nine count. After Maeda dumps Fujiwara on his head with a backdrop suplex, he tries to grab the dazed Fujiwara in crossface chickenwing but he can't cinch it in. In a neat little counter, Fujiwara wrenches Maeda's ankle while he's in the bodyscissors and Maeda starts grasping for the ropes, the crowd buzzing. Fujiwara lays into Maeda with some bodyshots against the ropes but he's exhausted, collapsing into Maeda with headbutts as Maeda tumbles out of the ring. With the tank empty, Fujiwara keeps falling to Maeda's kicks in the corner and the referee calls the match, awarding Maeda the TKO victory. Fujiwara's performance in this match was fantastic and he really had my sympathy there at the end.

Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (NJPW, 8/10/89)

This may very well be my favorite example of limb selling in a match, if anything within a junior heavyweight match, where the high spots often take priority over sustained selling. I mean, you got Jushin "Thunder" Liger wearing fucking American football shoulder pads to protect the shoulder but Naoki Sano doesn't let deter him. If anything, it's a giant target on Liger -- like, hey Sano, I'm hurt, please don't attack me here. Sano goes after the arm early on, pissing off Liger, who annihilates him with a rolling koppou kick. But when Sano gets a hold of it, he really does a number on the arm, kicking and stomping and stretching it to make Liger his (rarely seen) bitch. Liger essentially wrestles this match single-armed, the injured one hanging limp at his side. He tries to lock up but Sano overpowers him. When he tries for the surfboard, he has to switch things up to a leg scissored armbar before...well, his arm is jacked. In perhaps my favorite moment of the match, Sano whips the arm and it's sold beautifully by Liger...just the way it drags along the canvas as he crawls. Awesome.

Liger's finally able to turn the tide with a very conscientious top rope suplex to the apron and a follow-up plancha. He sidesteps Sano's dive and Sano crashes, giving Liger some much needed time to rest up. When Sano returns to the ring, he's bloodied up and Liger smells it, attacking him with boots and at one point, kicking Sano in the face. He delivers a quasi-Gotch-style piledriver and then piledrives Sano on the floor because he's Liger. Again, he uses his recovery time wisely and continues to target Sano's neck. Sano's able to snag the arm a few times with armbars but Liger's able to make it to the ropes. When Liger tries for the brainbuster, Sano again takes him down with the wakigatame, forcing Jushin back to the ropes. Assuming Liger ain't tapping, Sano hits a German suplex hold and when that doesn't do the trick, he hits a super backdrop for the win. A fantastic match and perhaps the shining example of how you can make sustained limb selling compelling from start to finish. Liger really is the best junior heavyweight.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Shigeo Miyato (UWF, 8/13/89), vs. Akira Maeda (UWF, 10/25/89)

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Shigeo Miyato (UWF, 8/13/89)

Ahh, a fresh-faced Kiyoshi Tamura, ready to rock the shoot-style world...almost. He needs to get rocked a few times first. Miyato played the aggressor here and kept on him with kicks and groundwork, forcing Tamura back to the ropes. He dumps Tamura on his head with a backdrop suplex and Tamura's selling hard but the fight's still in him. Miyato keeps shutting him down with strikes, hitting solebutt, a high kick and hard knees to keep him down for the TKO win.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Akira Maeda (UWF, 10/25/89)

This was a little over two minutes and it ruled. Tamura isn't kidding around this time and barrages Maeda with open-hands in the corner. Maeda's able to trip him up and goes after the leg but Tamura is quick to the ropes. Then Maeda decides playtime is over and starts destroying Tamura's face with some Muay Thai knees. He nonchalantly blocks Tamura's desperation dropkick and continues kneeing him until the referee calls the match. Oh well...better luck next year.

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF, 10/25/89)

What a swanky little contest that really made the rope break/downs system engaging. The sense of struggle between this two was terrific as they vied for submission opening and fought for takedowns, sometimes in desperation. Once again, Fujiwara's bony old man head is a major factor in this match and early on, he lunges in with a nasty headbutt and Takada collapses to the canvas, even with Fujiwara holding onto him. Takada's kicks are his weapons of choice and he keeps chopping out the legs of Fujiwara to keep him down. At one point, Fujiwara executes a fantastic kneebar takedown but Takada is able to slip out into a single leg crab hold to force him to the ropes. Fujiwara's selling post-single leg crab is fantastic. Takada is again able to take him out at the leg and Fujiwara fires up with some big slaps and the two unload on each other in the corner. Fujiwara cranks on a crossface to force Takada to the ropes but Takada again comes back with the kicks and the two start racking up the downs between the kicks, the headbutts, the slaps and the punches. Fujiwara manages on last exhausted headbutt to even the score but in the end, Takada takes him out in beautifully dominant fashion, rocking him with hard sweeps and sweeping the leg to score the TKO victory. Loved this.

Masakatsu Funaki vs. Yoji Anjoh (UWF, 6/14/89)

This wasn't quite the jam Funaki's bout with Nakano was but this was decent, with plenty of wild and loose strikes from both sides. There was some slop to this match but Funaki had some cool takedowns, including a nasty reverse cravate and the double arm suplex into the butterfly lock. The most compelling stuff came during Anjoh's legwork, which was sold well by Funaki and had Anjoh circling with kicks like a shark in bloody waters. Funaki gets a little revenge with some big spinning back kicks but when he tries to finish Anjoh off with a German suplex, Anjoh snags an arm and takes him down with the double wristlock for the submission win. Not bad but the most engaging match.

Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW, 4/13/07)

A little over ten years ago, Yuji Nagata defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win his second IWGP Heavyweight Title. At the time, I loved the match and now, having re-watched it, I still love it. It remains one of Nagata's best singles performances, if not my personal favorite, and Tanahashi does such a good job of channeling his inner douchebag ace. In the opening exchange, Tanahashi shows that he's not a kid anymore while Nagata shows he's not an old man and he can keep pace. At one point, Nagata just starts kicking Tanahashi instead of locking up with him, done with the games. He doesn't have time for the plancha attempt either, walking off and taking a breather on the outside. Tanashi responds by attacking Nagata in the ropes and Nagata snaps on him, pummeling Tanahashi into a corner, laying into him with stiff kicks and shoving Red Shoes out of the way. They start throwing hard slaps, with Tanahashi really squeezing the mustard on, but Nagata shuts him down and starts in with the pissy strikes, just trying to wear the ace down. He goes after Tanahashi's arm, cranking on a reverse armbar and keeping hold of the arm after Tanahashi reaches the ropes. He goes back to it in little ways throughout the match but I think for the amount of time spent on it, Tanahashi's selling was fine.

Tanahashi transitions into the leg control with a dragon screw legwhip in the ropes. The fans turn on Tanahashi as he begins working on the leg, using the ring post and the ropes. Nagata tries to fight back but Tanahashi catches a kick attempt and nearly drops him on his head with a capture suplex. After a beautiful dragon screw legwhip, Tanahashi holds on the leg and when Nagata starts trying to kick him off, Tana legwhips him into the mat. Great stuff. Nagata starts firing off some nasty slaps but Tanahashi takes the nastiness to another level with his slaps and coldcocks Nagata, who face plants in a terrific moment of selling. In fact, Nagata's selling throughout is great, between his facials and the legwork. He delivers back-to-back snap brainbusters but when he tries for the spiral brainbuster, his knee gives out. Tanahashi takes advantage of the injury, hitting a slingblade and a dragon suplex, but Nagata sacrifices his knees to block the High Fly Flow. Loved Nagata's saito suplex counter to the second slingblade attempt. You can see the seams coming loose on the ace as he repeatedly headbutts Nagata out of frustration and hits a German suplex cradle and a shutdown German for a nearfall. He's able to stun Nagata with a slap but reacting almost on reflexes, Nagata blasts him with a high kick to the head. Two backdrops later, holding onto the second, Nagata pins Tanahashi to become the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion before the pro-Nagata crowd. A fantastic match and one definitely worth revisiting.

Atsushi Onita vs. Masashi Aoyagi (FMW, 10/6/89)

Anytime Atsushi Onita is involved in something, chaos ensues. The same goes for the so-called "Different Style Fights" and this was no different, taking place on the inaugural FMW show. Onita is such a little shit in this match, only gaining some sort of advantage by cheap shotting Masashi Aoyagi. He attacks him from behind like a coward, avoiding most of Aoyagi's kicks and managing a few takedowns and outlasting the first round with a single leg crab hold. Aoyagi exacts his sweet revenge in the second round, knocking Onita out of the ring with his big flurry of karate kicks. Onita keeps getting pummeled into the corner and when the referee intervenes, Onita takes advantage and clobbers Aoyagi with a lariat.

There are plenty of cheapshots in the ropes and even Aoyagi doesn't care anymore and he's just putting the kicks to the grounded Onita. Onita firs off a backdrop, Aoyagi responds with a koppou kick. The Gi comes off and after Aoyagi spin kicks Onita out of the ring, he follows him out, taking the fight to Onita's familiar grounds, and he comes back busted open. The last few minutes of the match see Onita just getting destroyed by kicks in the ring. Whenever he's able to get up, he's stumbling, hanging onto the ref, before Aoyagi shuts him down again. After Aoyagi takes him out with a big kneel kick, the towel's thrown in and Aoyagi wins via TKO...but Onita ain't happy about it. A wacky, wild clash of styles and Onita being the scummy, low blowing Onita we've all come to love.

Jushin Liger vs. Dick Togo (NJPW, 6/17/96)

This was Jushin Liger really bringing the thunder to full head of hair Dick Togo with tons of high-impact offense. Togo gets the advantage early on after a little touch-and-go, taking out Liger on the outside with a tope suicida and a DDT to the exposed concrete. Back inside the ring, he hits a big diving double stomp but whoops, that only unleashes the "god beast" in Liger. He launches Togo with a release German suplex and splats him on the canvas with a powerbomb. Liger's just a dick here, between his pissy armwork, his charismatic swagger, chopping the shit out of Togo and Togo's in the moment selling is terrific.

When Dick looks like he could possibly be heating up, Liger coldcocks off the top rope and hits a big ole top rope plancha to the outside. After a brainbuster inside, Liger's back on the arm, forcing Togo to the ropes. Again, Togo heats up with a beautiful slingshot senton from the inside to the floor but when he tries for a diving headscissors from the apron, Liger kills him with a powerbomb on the floor and delivers a second one for good measure. Togo has to resort to a low blow and after a powerbomb, he hits back-to-back diving sentons but he can't complete the trio and Liger dropkicks the arm and he's back on it with a jujigatame. Togo's just flat out-Ligered here and after two fisherman busters, including a SUPER version, Liger hits the shotei for the win. Aggressively action-packed junior work from Liger with Togo taking quite the beating. This is how you do a spotfest.

Shuji Ishikawa vs. Jake Lee (6/11/17)

Jake Lee's star-making performance came against Miyahara on the opening night of the 2017 Champion Carnival. While I prefer that singles performance for Lee, this firmly established him as a player in the Triple Crown scene. He was firing on all cylinders here, getting in a stunningly large amount of offense against Ishikawa, most of which looked good -- you know, apart from whiffing on his big jumping kick by about a mile. A "Holy Shit!" moment comes early in the match when Lee narrowly escapes a powerbomb on the apron only to get German suplexed on the floor! Referee Wada smacking Lee's face, trying to get him back into the ring was an amazing little moment. Ishikawa works on Lee's neck for a bit, hitting some big elbows and a corner Russian legsweep. But after he fights for a suplex, the match turns into the Jake Lee show as he gets in a nice rush of offense against Ishikawa.

 He puts on a sleeper hold and Ishikawa climbs the ropes, falling back to momentarily stun Lee but Jake latches back on with the sleeper. He hits a nasty running knee with Ishikawa draped on the apron and an apron PK. I loved when Lee really turned up the aggression in the final quarter of the match, blasting the champ with some nasty big boots, stomping away at Ishikawa's head and shoulder in the corner and later, delivering those hand-held kicks to the arm reminiscent of Shibata against Okada. He's able to stagger Ishikawa with a big boy elbow, beautifully sold by Shuji, before kneeing him some more. He's able to execute the backdrop but it isn't enough to put the Big Dog away. After a few running knees and a Fire Thunder Driver (kicked out at one by Lee!), Ishikawa tries for the Giant Slam but Lee resists it, forcing Ishikawa to headbutt and elbow him down before finishing him with the Giant Slam. A strong performance from Lee and a solid defense for Ishikawa. 

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (UWF, 7/24/89)

This was more of a methodically-paced defensive contest, with both guys wary of strikes, backing into corners and trying to wear each other out on the canvas. It may not be as "exciting" as other UWF bouts but it's worked smartly. The don Fujiwara lets Yamazaki know just how hard his forehead is early on as he lunges in with a headbutt during a lock up. Yamazaki's able to avoid some of Fujiwara's signature offense but he can't manage any traction either. They try to chop each other down with kicks but in a nice move, Yamazaki holds onto Fujiwara's legs to prevent the down. Yamazaki misses a lot of his big kicks and at times, it appeared as though he was holding back. But Fujiwara, as always, is an absolute joy to watch in the ring.

When he's got Yamazaki in a leglock, he holds on through Kazuo's kicking. When he catches a foot against the ropes, he hangs on and turns it into a fisherman suplex, not letting go upon impact. When Yamazaki tries for a sleeper hold, Fujiwara snatches a foot and twists, then grabs the other and does the same thing. He dodges a solebutt attempt and curtsies. A lot of the knock downs come from body shots in the corner or against the ropes and there's quite a bit of back-and-forth legwork. They spice things up in the final few minutes as they trade punches, slaps, kicks, with Fujiwara sandbagging after he eats Yamazaki's knee. Yamazaki's able to deliver the German suplex hold but he can't maintain the bridge as he's wore the fuck out. He signs his own death certificate when he headbutts Fujiwara because...well, Fujiwara is going to headbutt you right back and after he conks him with one, he picks up the TKO victory. A differently worked/paced match but still a pleasure, thanks to Fujiwara's appeal.

Masakatsu Funaki vs. Tatsuo Nakano (UWF, 7/24/89)

Holy shit, this ruled and when it comes to hate in wrestling, this is a prime, heated example. Funaki, sporting quite the Jheri curl, tries to be cordial with a handshake but Nakano ain't having it and away we go. The crowd's nuts for these two beating the shit out of each other. Funaki keeps trying to land knees and Nakano is going after the leg and whenever he gets him on the ground, Funaki smacks him repeatedly until he lets go. When Nakano catches a foot and tries for the dragon screw legwhip, Funaki blocks it and busts him open with a hard slap. Yikes. Funaki's downright nasty in this match with his little punt kicks and shoot headbutts. At one point, Nakano's draining blood and they have to halt the match to check on him but he's a fighter and by gawd, he's gonna fight.

He gets some revenge on Funaki with his own slaps and punt kicks -- Funaki's selling off one of the kicks is amazing. Nakano delivers a beautiful half hatch suplex into the double wristlock but when he goes after the leg again with a takedown attempt, he pays for it with more stomps to the head. Funaki hits a funky armtrap side German suplex (no idea, if somebody knows what this is called, please @ me). After Nakano breaks a single leg crab, they almost call the match because of Nakano's bleeding but no way, Jose, Nakano's still in it and he knocks down Funaki with a pair of big boy kicks. He spikes Funaki with a snap suplex and Funaki comes at him with a maelstrom of strikes, but Nakano keeps knocking him down. He hits a German suplex and goes into a single leg crab of his own but Funaki escapes. In the end, Funaki slams him down Alabama-style and puts on a badass crab hold to submit Nakano. If you like pissy violence and Funaki being a bad motherfucker, watch this match.

Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (NJPW, 7/13/89)

Late 80's "God Beast" mode Jushin Liger is one scary motherfucker. The OG mask was creepy enough but this one is straight out of a horror movie. Naoki Sano's jacked and ready to show off his stuff. This was a super duper juniors exhibition, with lots of slick back-and-forth mat-tastics and a bubbling aggression that didn't quite pop. Instead, they unload almost all of their offense and it's pretty great. Liger drops a boss diving elbow, suplexes Sano from inside the ring and drops him to the ground, and then follows that up with a fucking somersault senton from the top rope to the floor like he's 2017 KUSHIDA. Not to be outdone, Sano rallies back with lots of kick variations and he goes up top and uh, maybe slips or maybe kicks Liger on the floor. Some of Sano's stuff isn't as squeaky clean as in later matches but he's trying everything, hitting a German suplex hold and a dope arm trap suplex floatover for a two count. They both collapse on the top rope backdrop attempt and the match ends on a double KO. Weird finish but it works and sets up the subsequent rematch.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW, 6/11/17)

I thought this was shade under their Wrestle Kingdom match but still probably the match of the night, with a fantastic performance from Naito and Tanahashi doing his best to sell the injured arm. I thought Tanahashi’s selling was good at best but for the amount of work Naito put into the arm, it could have been much better – especially during the home stretch. Naito in true Naito fashion latches onto the arm and goes back to it time and again in moments of weakness or desperation. He exudes arrogance throughout the match in the good times and panic during the bad, to a point where he overshadows Tanahashi on an expressive level. Tanahashi’s offense seems like a reprieve from Naito’s onslaught, with his release German and dragon screws, but the legwork didn’t really add much to the match.

As Tanahashi’s offense ramps up heading into the final minutes, the injured arm doesn’t feel like much of a factor, like when he’s catching Naito off the ropes and planting him with a swinging side slam. He’s able to counter the swinging DDT with back-to-back whiplashes but misses the High Fly Flow. They trade hard slaps and Tanahashi ducks a swing and delivers the shutdown German suplex for a nearfall. There’s a hiccup or two during their final dance-off but otherwise, a decisive win for Tanahashi. After a big Naito German suplex, he tries for the Destino and Tanahashi counters with a release dragon suplex. Two slingblades and a High Fly Flow later, Tanahashi has him in the elevated Texas cloverleaf hold, putting the pressure on Naito’s back. To nitpick, it’s a hold that requires a lot from the applier’s arms, especially at that angle, but…whatever, Naito ruled here and the submission finish was a cool surprise.

Hideki Suzuki vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani (BJW, 5/25/17)

It's no secret that Hideki Suzuki is my current favorite pro wrestler and I'm sure with enough coffee and imagination, I could create an Excel spreadsheet detailing his greatest attributes. I mean, there's nobody cooler than Hideki Suzuki right now. Slicked back hair, purple Billy Robinson trunks, calm but deadly demeanor, and someone who truly embodies all that made pro-wrestling great "back in the day". As much as I'm tooting Suzuki's horn, this match saw the return of my favorite iteration of Hideyoshi Kamitani. He hasn't had as strong a performance since last year's MOTYC against Yuji Okabayashi. Kamitani is fired the fuck up for this opportunity and he's not waiting to get lured into mat games with Suzuki. He starts throwing his big boy weight into Suzuki. He tries to backdrop him on the floor but Suzuki hangs on so Kamitani shoves him into the ring post, and then into a row of chairs. The champ is rarely on the rocks but Kamitani's got him there, wearing him out with that magnetic side headlock of his and when Suzuki's finally able to counter with his Robinson-style backbreaker, it feels huge.

The sense of struggle in this match is fantastic, with a very raw, brutish aesthetic to the exchanges. The way Suzuki traps limbs, bending and laying into the holds with his weight. Now Suzuki's behind the wheel, wearing Kamitani down, and there's a great visual of an exhausted Kamitani hanging onto Suzuki's waist, trying to lift him or fire off tired shots, only for Suzuki to keep beating him down. He's able to lay into Suzuki with some big shoulders and catch him in a choke but Suzuki cuts him off with some nasty European uppercuts and an overhead suplex. Kamitani's able to counter the first double arm suplex attempt with a suplex of his own and puts Suzuki in the stretch plum. What I love about baby-faced underdog Kamitani is how he makes such a simple offense so effective. I loved Suzuki's knee counter to the stretch plum and he follows that up with some ridiculous elbow strikes -- like seriously, some of the best elbows I've seen. He tries for the double arm again and when Kamitani resists, he delivers a neckbreaker and tries again.

Kamitani's able to evade it and lays into Suzuki with some big boy slaps in the corner, staggering him for a superplex, in which he somehow busts open his back. Suzuki spikes him with the scoop piledriver out of nowhere and lunges in with that deadshot elbow. When he sees that Kamitani is nearly doubled over in exhaustion, he slips into an octopus hold but Kamitani fights out of it, headbutting Suzuki. He tries for the backdrop but improvises in the moment, delivering not one but three uranages. They're not enough to keep the champ down so he lands a few more big headbutts but again, Suzuki's on it, noticing an opening and dumping Kamitani with German suplex into a dragon suplex...but Kamitani's fighting spirit ablaze and he lays out Suzuki with a lariat before collapsing on an empty tank.

In the end, Kamitani doesn't have the strength to execute the backdrop and after some more nasty elbows, Suzuki delivers another backbreaker and hits a double arm suplex lock for the submission victory. Such an awesome finish to an awesomely brutal battle that's easily Suzuki's best of the year, Kamitani's best since last year, and a match that sits just behind Okada/Shibata for my MOTY. Do yourself a favor and go watch this match.

Kento Miyahara vs. Shuji Ishikawa (AJPW, 5/21/17)

This is one of those big title match-ups in which the viewing experience would've been greatly enhanced had the end result not been spoiled. Nevertheless, if you've managed to stay spoiler-free somehow or if not, you're in for a treat. This is the Big Dog at his best and while Kento Miyahara is the same "ace" Kento we've all grown to love, with his convenient comebacks and shoehorned spots, his facial expressions are some of the best I've seen from him as Ishikawa dishes out the punishment. Ishikawa cuts off Kento's momentum early on, catching him off the apron and ramming him into the ring post. He goes to work on Kento's back, scoop slamming him onto the apron, double stomping him, even putting him in my favorite submission hold, the Texas Cloverleaf! Miyahara's in-the-moment selling is always good but when he's on offense, it can be a lapse in and out. Miyahara delivers a ton of Blackout knees in this, including one on the apron.

The match really hits its peak down the home stretch, when Kento goes for another Blackout and Ishikawa ducks it, dumping him with the release dragon suplex and hitting the running knee for a nearfall. Shuji's able to hit the Fire Thunder Driver for two but Kento counters the Splash Mountain Bomb with a rana and connects with back-to-front Blackouts, followed by the stalling German suplex hold for two. He tries to trap Ishikawa's arms for the shutdown German and even as Ishikawa fights to break out, Kento still has control of the arms, forcing Shuji to fight harder. When he breaks out, he hits a couple of knees and the Splash Mountain Bomb but the champ still kicks out! Kento's able to hit one last desperation Blackout but when he tries for the coup de grace, Ishikawa counters with another Fire Thunder Driver and puts the ace down with the Giant Slam. A well-deserved win for the Big Dog and it will be interesting to see if Miyahara can regain the title in the coming months or if Ishikawa gets a nice, lengthy reign with some fresh defenses.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Sanshiro Takagi (DDT, 6/1/2017)

I don't like comedy matches. That being said, this was the best comedy match I've ever seen. I haven't unintentionally laughed this much in a pro wrestling context. In addition to being a certified badass, Minoru Suzuki is also pure comedic gold, between his looks, his smirks, his interactions with everyone around him. As a match, I don't know how to rate this...but as a collection of moments, this was amazing.I mean, I can't help but list my favorite moments from this once in a lifetime spectacle:

• Minoru Suzuki's imaginary ring entrance, kicking at an imaginary young boy along the way.
• Suzuki trying to hide his smirk during when Aja Kong walks out for the National Anthem. 
• Takagi and Suzuki playing to a crowd that doesn't exist.
• Bases break submission holds.
• Suzuki bullying Super Sasadango Machine's PowerPoint presentation and Takagi dousing them both with the fire extinguisher. 
• Suzuki destroying Gota Ihashi multiple times. 
• Gota Ihashi laughing as he futilely chops Suzuki.
• Gota Ihashi napping on the stairs.
• Suzuki trying to throw Takagi from the upper deck. 
• The look Suzuki gives Ladybeard.
• Jun Kasaki moonlighting as a janitor. 
• The random encounter kickboxer in the corridor and the way Suzuki tiptoes past him. 
• Danshoku Dino's hounding friends. 
• The way fake Nakamura bumps into the door.
• Tenryu fistbumping Suzuki and Suzuki's giddy reaction.
• Meiko Satomura's trying to throw a baseball and failing. Miserably. To the point where she's literally standing in front of Suzuki.
• Suzuki's wind-up chop and Takagi's missed lariat from the outfield wall. 

So many gems, my god. Thanks for the laughs, DDT! This is, without a doubt, my comedy match of the decade. 

Jushin Liger vs. Taichi (NJPW, 5/31/17)

It's the end of a legendary era as Jushin "Thunder" Liger wrestles his final Best of the Super Juniors tournament match after over 20 years. Perhaps it's fitting that his final opponent is the obnoxious Taichi and the Suzuki-goons. I mean, what a bunch of dicks. Here is Liger, trying to celebrate his last night, and Suzuki-gun keep shitting on the party. The crowd wants nothing more than to see Liger shotei Taichi's stupid nose from his face but whenever he heats up, Taichi cuts him off. He's choking him with cords, plastic-backed chairs, even the time keeper's hammer. After Taichi starts unlacing the mask, there's an amazing visual of a dazed Liger tumbling from the top turnbuckle. When he finally hits the shotei, he's taken too much of a beating to capitalize and Taichi and his goons are able to continue the assault after Taichi takes out the referee. When he tries to restore order, Taichi shoves Liger into him and then Suzuki-gun really starting pissing on Liger's legacy, tearing his mask, cutting the liger mane, ripping open his outfit. Finally, Taguchi and KUSHIDA make the save and Liger fires on all cylinders, hitting a big shotei, whipping him with a powerbomb and finishing him off with a brainbuster in a span of about 30 seconds. Outmanned, Liger is able to get his revenge on Taichi with the Suzuki-gun storytelling really adding something to the match. Great stuff!