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.
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