Daisuke Ikeda & Katsumi Usuda vs. Yuki Ishikawa & Sho Funaki (PWFG, 5/19/95)

Sho Funaki working in a shoot-style environment is just about as awkward as you’d expect it to be. While he’s not quite the striker, he does manage some decent takedowns and works the mat well enough. But he’s mostly a punching bag for Ikeda and Usuda here, which is fine, too. Usuda snaps off kicks and throws out some nasty open hands, while Ikeda’s a little more gritty with his stomps and kidney punches. Poor Funaki gets dumped with a German suplex and that’s the last we see of him before Ikeda and Ishikawa shut it down like you’d expect. Plenty of snug shots and grunty matwork, with Ikeda wrenching at his face and choking him out for the win. Fun tag.

Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NOAH, 10/19/01)

This little doozy of a match-up truly embodies what a gratuitous bomb-fest should be. You've got Takwai, one of the best no selling shitkickers out there, and Kanemaru, who proves he can scramble brains with the best of them. Within the first five seconds of the match, Takaiwa turns Kanemaru's world upside down with a big boy lariat. They're both being really shitty, with Takaiwa throwing the ref out of the way and Kanemaru using that to his advantage and low blowing Takaiwa. They choke each other with tape before opening up the arsenal and dropping just about every bomb they have in reserve. Brainbusters, Death Valley Bombs, including the best spot where Takaiwa catches Kanemaru off the apron and plants him on the floor, lariats, Takaiwa Drivers -- even one of my favorite video game finishers, the double powerbomb INTO the Death Valley Bomb. They steal each others moves, executing them to brutal perfection, and of course, Takaiwa being Takaiwa pops up after taking three consecutive brainbusters like it's nothing and spikes Kanemaru with the Takaiwa Driver. What a prick. But sometimes you just have to sit back, shut off your thinking capabilities, and enjoy a brainless (maybe literally) but awesome bombs away match.

Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (AJPW, 1/27/91) + BONUS TAG!

Although these early All Japan six-mans can become a little hard to distinguish from one another, the formula works so well and the characters play their roles engagingly. Once again, the seasoned dad wrestler Jumbo Tsuruta showed terrific resilience against that fiery shitkicker Toshiaki Kawada, who pesters him throughout. I mean, the opening exchange sees Kawada bump like hell off a kitchen sink knee -- Jumbo hits him so hard he hurts himself. At one point, Kawada keeps peppering Jumbo with his shitty face kicks and Jumbo snaps, unloading a barrage of big daddy elbows on him and continuing the punishment on the floor with chairshots. Fuchi's the prematurely old dick head, Misawa the young hero, Kikuchi the underdog, and Taue does what Taue can to ensure his team comes away victorious, getting shit from the fans for breaking up puns but ultimately scoring the pinfall with the powerbomb. To quote all the cool little Twitter owls, this was a HOOT!

Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW, 2/23/91)

This match was clipped to the end of the six-man and what we get is a doozy. The heat between Kawada and Taue is sizzlin'. The match cuts in with Taue delivering one hell of a shoulderblock to Kikuchi before we get to the bloodshed. Once again, Taue with his fresh haircut, is being nastier than usually, busting open Kawada or tossing Kikuchi out of the ring onto Kawada. The fans are way into Kawada's general pissy-ness as he and Taue just slap each other silly heading into the finishing run, and they bite onto most of the nearfalls before Kawada finally puts Ogawa away with the powerbomb.

Daisuke Sekimoto & Kohei Sato vs. Daichi Hashimoto & Hideyoshi Kamitani (BJW, 10/15/17)

This was a hell of an opener, and what I'd consider to be one of Daichi Hashimoto's best performances to date in Big Japan. You had the young team showing a ton of fire at the outset, prematurely attacking Sekimoto and Sato before the bell, and putting Sekimoto on the rocks early on before the hardened vets take over on offense. Daisuke is so good at playing the heel-ish taunting bully and of course, Sato's just plain nasty in there against Daichi, elbowing the snot out of him. Daichi's full of fighting spirit and won't back down, despite getting his clock continually cleaned by Sato -- just terrific selling on Daichi's part as he takes a beating. Kamitani does a good job of throwing his weight around in there and gets a taste of Sato's punishment, taking some brutal kicks to the chest and a big headbutt. But he's able to clobber Sato down with a lariat, tagging in Hashimoto to conclude his story. Loved the visual of Sato and Sekimoto standing over Daichi like schoolyard thugs as he futilely tries to fight off both. That heart and determination pays off for him in the end, and after blasting Sekimoto with a Shining Wizard, Daichi's able to put him away with a big brainbuster DDT. Yet another example of tag team wrestling done right in BJW.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima (U-STYLE, 4/6/03)

This was a terrific little match-up, with Mishima showing off his quasi-capoeira style and judo takedowns against Tamura's slick-as-catshit counter and matwork. Mishima manages some hard slams and I really liked his takedown into the headscissors, transitioning into the jujigatame. Of course, Tamura's great here as the veteran, tip-toeing out of trap attempts and scoring takedowns>submission holds. The struggle on the ground was conveyed well, although Tamura's king and at times, he looks bored at Mishima smothering his leg. Heading into the finish, Mishima comes at him with a palm thrust but Tamura is able to take him down into a necklock, flipping him over into the armbar and cranking for the submission win.

Minoru Tanaka vs. TAKA Michinoku (PWFG, 5/19/95)

Holy shit, this rules. It’s liquid hot magma right out of the gate as Minoru immediately starts slapping at TAKA, and then they scramble fiercely around the mat, fighting over a leglock, getting pissy in front mounts with their strikes, including some well-placed palm thrusts from Minoru. Minoru delivers an awesome shoot package Gotch-style piledriver…I don’t even know how else to describe it (see above)…then transitions into the single leg. He may be without his glorious locks here but Minoru’s still swanky as fuck, with his smooth leg trap counter into the kneebar. He’s either taking TAKA to the bottom rope or he’s stuffing him with kicks.  They trade suplexes (love TAKA’s snap belly-to-belly) but when TAKA tries for the German, Minoru answers with the wakigatame takedown and when that doesn’t do the trick, he just stomps TAKA in the back of the head. He tries to finish off TAKA with a high kick but TAKA’s able to counter into the single leg and crank it back to submit Minoru. Love this match.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. TAKA Michinoku (PWFG, 8/26/95)

Yoshiaki Fujiwara, as awesome as he is, doesn’t have time for TAKA Michinoku’s shit. Who does? But Fujiwara especially. No matter what TAKA tries on the mat, Fujiwara finds a way of countering and schooling TAKA in the art of old man grappling. When he’s not forcing TAKA to the ropes with a leglock, he’s smacking or headbutting him, naturally. At one point, TAKA sends him headfirst into the corner, but of course, Fujiwara no sells it to re-adjust his socks because his head is notoriously unbreakable. But bless TAKA, he keeps trying. When he attempts to boot out of a hold, Fujiwara snags the boot and screws the ankle, and when he’s had enough, Fujiwara cranks him into submission and doesn’t let go. What a crabapple.

Akira Taue vs. Jun Akiyama (NOAH, 1/22/06)

This is perhaps Akira Taue’s last great epic encounter and what a lovely match to bow out on as defending GHC Heavyweight Champion. Against Akiyama, he isn’t too proud to rake the eyes in order to gain control and he slowly wears Jun down the only way Taue can, coconut crushing and big booting. And it wouldn’t be an Akiyama match without knees everywhere – off the apron, onto the guardrail, front, back, top rope, you name it. He keeps putting the knees and elbows to the back of Taue’s head to set up the front necklock, but when Taue’s able to get to his feet, he destroys Akiyama with a backdrop counter. Taue’s offense isn’t always the most hard hitting but I loved that he really seemed to let loose here, chokeslamming Akiyama on the ramp, hacking away at him with his meat cleaver hands, and planting him with a sheer-drop powerbomb. He hits the Ore ga Taue for two but when he tries for a top rope version, Akiyama’s able to shove him off into a jumping knee > running knee > Exploder, going right back into the front necklock off the two count. In the final minutes, they’re both running on fumes, fighting over the chokeslams and the Exploders, before Akiyama starts again with the knees. It isn’t the epic finishing stretch of endless head drops but it’s the relentlessness of Jun and his knees that get the better of Taue, and in the end, the pillar crumbles. A simple but beautifully told story.

KENTA vs. SUWA (NOAH, 9/18/05)

When you think of the “great” junior heavyweights of Pro-Wrestling NOAH, SUWA’s name is often left out of that list in favor of someone flashier like Marufuji or Ishimori, or everybody’s favorite angsty junior, KENTA. But SUWA, putting in the bad dude performance of a lifetime, managed to bring perhaps the very best out of KENTA, as he dragged his boot heel across the line in the sand. The lost art of being heel. He wants in and out of this match pronto, so he attacks KENTA with the timekeeper’s bell and an equipment case, cheering himself on as he thinks he’s somehow done it but the match is ruled a no contest and restarted as he’s heading up the rampway. Pissed with this decision, SUWA gets in Joe Higuchi’s old man face but Higuchi ain’t no stooge and he’s ready to fight, stripping off the sports coat. Back in the ring, he chokes KENTA with tape, smacks the referee with the turnbuckle pad before hucking it at Higuchi – love Higuchi point at him like “watch it, punk!”. As KENTA starts building momentum, SUWA deliberately shoves the ref into the ropes as KENTA attempts to springboard off the ropes, causing him to crash and burn. Awesome. They fire on all cylinders heading into the back half of the match, flip-flopping on offense, with KENTA taking out some that brimming aggression in the corner with his stomps. They dive, throw bombs, KENTA counters the FFF with the Go 2 Sleep, and then he just annihilates SUWA with back-to-back-to-back head kicks and high kicks and the running knee to finish him off.

Kenta Kobashi vs Minoru Suzuki (NOAH, 1/8/05)

I can see why people may be turned off by this match, as it isn’t really structured like a traditional Kenta Kobashi “epic special fantastical”. That being said, I love this match, not only because of Minoru Suzuki’s performance but Kobashi’s selling of the arm. The systematic destruction of a body part is one of my favorite stories in pro-wrestling and Suzuki’s fantastic at it. Obviously, Kenta’s going to be chopping and lariating a bunch so it makes perfect sense to take that arm out of the equation. I love Suzuki’s initial hesitation to lock up with Kobashi, utilizing his cat-like speed and agility to bob and weave around Kobashi’s chops, bitching slapping Kenta when he as a chance and then promptly attacking the arm. Of course, when Suzuki does get caught with chops, it’s wonderful. But I could watch Suzuki dismantling somebody’s arm all day long, just trapping and stretching limbs, and Kobashi’s selling is perfect here, especially the missed chop and Suzuki’s finger wagging. Suzuki’s such a badass that he hits the Gotch-style piledriver and decides to stand on Kobashi’s head rather than pin him. Even when he’s getting rocked with brutal suplexes and powerbombs, Suzuki finds a way to snag the arm and further inflict damage, not giving Kobashi an inch. His only real effective offense are his suplexes and when he unloads on Suzuki with backdrop after backdrop suplex, it’s brutally awesome – not to mention Suzuki’s last stand, as pathetically slaps away at Kobashi before crumbling in defeat.  Terrrrrrrrific.

Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue (AJPW, 1/15/91)

Good lordy, this match was unexpectedly tumultuous, with an uncharacteristically brutal and bloody-faced Akira Taue. Even before the streamers are let loose, Kawada is throwing chairs and repeatedly ramming Taue’s forehead into the guardrail, busting him open after a few jabs of the chair. The blood only seems to invigorate Taue, who counters Kawada’s kick by just shoving his leg into the guardrail, and then goes to work on it. I love how Kawada uses his boots in submission situations but when he tries booting the back of Taue’s head, Taue says “fuck this” and starts peppering Kawada with slaps. Taue’s legwork is real grunty but effective, as he uses the timekeeper’s table or a chair to fuck up Kawada’s leg. Kawada’s selling is almost non-existent throughout but it doesn’t really matter because Taue keeps cutting off his rebuttals, headbutting him or spiking him into the canvas. Kawada finally snaps in the end, shitkicking Taue on the mat and then clobbering him with the enzui-lariat to pick up the win. Loved this!

Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Takashi Iizuka (NJPW, 12/13/90)

A hot blast of tag team action featuring power babies Iizuka and Sasaki, Koshinaka’s booty-based offense, and Hase swanking the place up -- loved his early mat exchange with Koshinaka. He’s such a dick here, it’s fantastic. After a fairly pedestrian start, with Iizuka established as the underdog, he and Koshinaka try working over Hase’s leg but Hase escapes Iizuka’s shitty leglock with some well-placed boots and flattens him with an awesome rolling heel kick. The fans aren’t happy about Iizuka getting bullied but Hase doesn’t care and sits back all cool-like with a killer crab hold. When Koshinaka gets the big tag, he hip attacks his way to a brutal powerbomb on Hase. Izuka’s able to hit the BLIZZARD SUPLEX HOLD, his greatest contribution to the game, but Hase comes in and nonchalantly kicks out his leg on the bridge. Fuck yes. The finishing stretch becomes quite the suplex party, with Koshinaka scoring a nearfall off a dragon suplex hold and Hase countering Iizuka’s lariat with the uranage. In the end, however, it’s baby Kensuke that comes away with the win after a judo throw on Iizuka.

Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue (AJPW, 12/7/90)

Misawa wants Jumbo, wants him real bad, but first, he and Kawada have to deal with Taue and his incredible hair. When Misawa gets his hands on Jumbo, he uses his youthful speed to his advantage, overwhelming the veteran before tagging in Kawada. The pissed off Jumbo takes it out on Kawada with some nasty kitchen sink knees but Misawa’s able to temporarily extract Jumbo from the tag equation after blasting him with a big running elbow from the apron. With Jumbo out, Taue ain’t got nobody as Misawa and Kawada take turns bullying. Jumbo emerges to break up a hold but Kawada starts attacking him to jeers from the All Japan fans. Kawada’s the biggest shithead in this match and it’s awesome. Loved his climbing corner kick to Taue’s face – such a jerk. When Jumbo finally gets the tag, he gives it to both punks and damn near decapitates Misawa with a jumbo-sized lariat. Again, Kawada keeps spoiling Jumbo’s offense but Taue gets his revenge, hitting a dive to the outside and bodyslamming Kawada on the floor. His offense never looks that great but he’s such a loveable underdog. In fact, Jumbo comes in and tries to help him out by elbowing Misawa and backdropping Kawada but it’s still not enough to get Taue the pinfall. The final minute or so of the match is built around Kawada’s powerbomb and it’s fantastic, as both sides are scrambling, the crowd is losing it, I’m losing it, and finally, Taue loses it via Kawada’s powerbomb.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW, 10/9/17)

I like these two guys -- no, no, I love these two guys. I'm still not tired of Naito's tranquilo persona, in and out of the ring, and Ishii is one of the last tough men left in New Japan. Unsurprisingly, these two have good matches together, sometimes great matches, and this was no exception. However, it's getting harder for me to distinguish the matches as they follow a similar blueprint. Naito coolly works the leg, Ishii sells and bumps well, Naito goes back to the leg to escape shitty situations, and Ishii fights through to pain to punish Naito. This time, however, Ishii says "okay, lemme work that leg" and cuts off Naito with a big dropkick to the knee. He doesn't put in a whole lot of work but Naito's selling is terrific throughout. When he catches Naito, Ishii pummels him relentlessly in the corner, chopping at his throat, not giving him any reprieve before suplexing him. Loved Ishii's big saito suplex.

Naito attacks the injured leg to get out of a top rope predicament and pisses off Ishii, which leads to Ishii German suplexing him into a corner and hitting a Last Ride-style powerbomb. Naito retaliates with a koppou kick and a German suplex hold but his knee gives out, so he hits a frankensteiner and a release dragon suplex to make up for it. He busts out a leg submission with the rear calf hold, which hiccups the momentum, but drills him with one of the best looking pumphandle drivers he's delivered. Naito hits the first Destino of the night off a brainbuster counter but when he tries to finish him off, Ishii hangs on and turns it into the brainbuster for an awesome nearfall. The transition into the second Tranquilo was sloppy but Naito follows up with a proper one for the pinfall. Good stuff, with some neat new moments, but I still think my favorite over the past year was their 2016 New Japan Cup match, which hits that sub-twenty sweet spot.

Kenta Kobashi vs. Tamon Honda (NOAH, 4/13/03)

Oh boy, this is one of my favorite Pro-Wrestling NOAH matches ever and I love the shit out of Tamon Honda. When you look at Honda, the gross pawn shop ponytail and facial hair, the loose singlet, the scraggy arms…well, he doesn’t look like much. The way he moves around is awkward at best but when he’s on the mat or transitioning into a hold, Honda’s a bona fide killer elite.  He’s the ultimate best-est underdog against Kenta Kobashi, and almost immediately gets dominated by the alpha…you know, until he delivers a third rope German suplex onto the rampway. This time, Kobashi’s bandaged limb is the arm and Honda zeroes in on it, locking in a jujigatame off a legdrop and refusing to let go on the rope break, the desperation to beat Kobashi stinking off. Loved Honda’s rolling counter to the half nelson suplex attempt, re-establishing in the armlock.  Honda doesn’t let up until Kobashi pops off spinning backchops and dumps Honda with gnarly half nelson suplexes. Honda drops some bombs of his own too, including a top rope German suplex. When he applies the STF, he uses his heads to trap Kobashi’s arm and then transitions into the anaconda vise. Kobashi looks dead in that hold and it’s such a terrific visual. His facials in general are pretty great, including when he’s getting yanked off the ropes by Honda’s German suplex. Incredible finishing stretch as Honda counters the short-range lariat with a cradle for an awesome nearfall and then proceeds take Kobashi’s brutal sleeper suplex like a champ-e-on, finally succumbing to the Burning Lariat. Love this match.

Jun Akiyama vs. Hiroshi Hase (AJPW, 5/1/98)

Well, based on the two best dudes involved in this match-up, I went into this fully expecting something fan-fuckin-tastic but I was left more than disappointed. Between shitty pacing, meaningless* matwork, which, unfortunately, the low energy of it permeated into the crowd, and an awkward vibe that I can’t quite put my finger on, this match had a lot working against it. That being said, this match wasn’t bad. I liked the subtle one-up manship throughout, the smacks traded, and the crowd-poppin’ suplex exchange. This was, more or less, the Hase Show, as he works in his giant swing after Akiyama unsuccessfully tries to slap his way out of it. I love watching Hase deliver suplexes and he gets in quite a few toward the end, including a Northern Lights suplex hold (*where the prior legwork comes into play) and a big dragon suplex for a nearfall. But Akiyama’s comeback is ridiculously fast after taking about five suplexes in a row and he hits a sheer-drop Exploder for the win. This was okay, which pains me to say.

Jun Akiyama vs. Tamon Honda (NOAH, 9/5/01)

Another great Tamon Honda underdog tale. I’d previously only seen the last seven minutes of this match before but seeing it in its entirety really fleshes it out.  Here, Honda’s the dopey but mat dangerous Deputy Dawg. They work the opening few minutes to a stalemate, before Akiyama DDTs Honda on the rampway and continues working the neck, using his knees, legscissors, and at one point, slapping on a rear headlock and cranking Honda around into a modified front facelock. Akiyama is able to keep cutting off Honda's momentum – hitting an Exploder in response to Honda’s backdrop and then putting him in a crossface hold – but eventually, Honda breaks out, delivering a couple of awesome slow German suplexes, yanking Akiyama off the ropes, then he goes to the ground with the STF and anaconda vise. Alas, Akiyama’s the man, and he goes back to that neckwork he established so well, utilizing the front necklock, dropping Honda with Exploders to break him down even further before finishing him off with that necklock.

Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshinari Ogawa (NOAH, 11/1/03)

Once again, Ogawa proves to be one of the sliest weasels out there, this time pissing up the wrong tree with babyface supreme, Kenta Kobashi. He spews water in Kobashi’s eyes, blindsiding him, assaulting him and grinding the heel of his boot in his face while playing to the crowd. Of course, he promptly pays for this when Kobashi chops him all the way down to the ground and then some. After some fancy maneuvering on the mat, he comes away with Kobashi’s arm and continues clinging onto Kobashi like some kind of parasite, only to get chopped off. He goes after Kobashi’s taped left knee and targets it whenever the situation gets a little sticky icky. After the referee gets taken out, Ogawa attacks the knee with the timekeeper’s bell. Kobashi’s selling is terrific here as he hobbles to a comeback on the outside, blasting Ogawa with a spinning back chop into the ringpost that turns Ogawa’s face into a bloody nightmare. The punishment only continues for Ogawa and likewise, his selling is fantastic as he gets chopped and punched and powerbombed. He’s finally able to sneak in a low blow to catch a breather but It’s not enough to keep Kobashi down for long. I loved how Ogawa was able to avoid the half nelson suplex, using cradles and school boys to try and come away with a victory, but after Kobashi hits a…I don’t even know, a half nelson Exploder?...the babyface supreme finishes him off the Burning Lariat.

Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (NOAH, 9/7/02)

Yoshinari Ogawa is the perfect grimy ring tech, who, in addition to looking like the Chairman from the original Iron Chef, reminds me of Daisuke Sasaki, or rather, Sasaki reminds me of Ogawa with a “bad boy” edge. He plays the sneaky pants David to Takayama’s blonde Goliath, and Takayama’s Goliath is a real brute, body pressing Ogawa off the pin attempt, punishing him with kicks and knees, ragdolling him with suplexes, grinding his boot into Ogawa’s face. At one point, Takayama bodyslams him and yells “come on, champion”…because Ogawa is champ. It says so on his trucks… “GHC Champ”, in case people couldn’t quite believe Ogawa was champ. When Takayama gets hung up on the ropes, Ogawa puts him in the TREE OF WOE and pummels the hell out of him with punches and stomps before going to work fulltime on the arm. Takayama powers Ogawa up out of an armbar and sets him up top…but Ogawa’s able to take him back down to the mat with the arm in tow. Ogawa’s a jerk to Takayama on the ropes with his stomps and Takayama can’t seem to catch a break, his momentum hitting shitty brick walls built by Ogawa. Ogawa hits a total of four backdrops on Takayama, holding onto the fourth for a two count before going right back into the armbar, kicking Tayama’s hand away to cinch it in. Takayama finally breaks the wall doooooown with a big knee and follows up with a big German suplex hold for a nearfall. Loved Ogawa’s final desperate flash pin attempts at hanging onto his title with Takayama countering the last small package, brutalizing Ogawa with the knee strike and putting him away with the big German to capture the title.

Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata (NOAH, 2/17/02)

This was the very first Pro Wrestling NOAH match I was exposed to when I was beginning my journey into Japanese puroresu in 2001-2002. I had seen three of the four guys on a “Best of Japan” DVD-R, which invigorated in me a new love of professional wrestling, so NOAH was the next logical step to follow their progression on the modern graps landscape. On re-watch, this match is still a total blast of testosterone-fired aggression. Kobashi is specially lit, as is the crowd, and when he’s in there against Nagata, the fans really lap it up. Nagata keeps spurring him on with cheeky slaps to the face until Kobashi wrecks him with chops and smacks in the corner. Akiyama’s the consummate technician in there with his swank takedowns and counters, and of course, Misawa’s in there to throw elbows and tiger drive someone. The first tiger driver attempt on Akiyama is countered with an Exploder but he’s able to hit it on Nagata. This turns into quite the suplex party, with Kobashi throwing out the half nelson and sleeper varieties. Loved Kobashi’s selling off the one count Exploder as he’s hanging onto the ropes, trying to swat at Akiyama with chops before Akiyama hits him with another Exploder and puts him away with the wrist-clutch variation for the big win.

Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Michael Modest (NOAH, 7/21/01)

Michael Modest is a largely underrated early-to-mid 2000s junior heavyweight whose “thumbs up” schtick was over like rover with the NOAH fanbase. Against another under-the-radar talent in Yoshinari Ogawa, these two put on quite the entertaining match-up. After a little showboating to open, Modest starts in with his meathead armwork, hitting a nasty armwhip onto the mat before tearing at Ogawa’s shirt and the bandaged shoulder or throwing a steel chair at Ogawa’s arm. Ogawa’s sells it well, making the ole “pull on the arm” trick look like Modest is trying to yank it out of socket. Of course, the early 2000s was all about absurd offense so we get a bit of that from Modest but we also get some cool tricks, like the bridging top rope fisherman suplex. Modest, being the little Mr. Clean gronk he is, breaks his own pin attempt to deliver the Schwein and then poses, allowing Ogawa to put his foot on the ropes before Modest can cover him. This costs him the match, as Ogawa hits the backdrop hold for a nearfall and then cradles him up for the pinfall. A bit on the silly side but a solid breeze through worth checking out.