Good Lord, this match. I never had a chance to view this last year for whatever reason but wow, what a manly modern spectacle. Sloppy at times and a wee bit overkill, it wasn't the elusive "perfect match" but it felt perfectly organic and brutal. I mean, everything looked brutal in execution. And it has one of the best false finishes in recent memory. Sekimoto is the yoked workhorse who won't lay down for the champ. Great heart and energy, great selling for the most part, especially in the facials. He wrestles with this sense of urgency throughout. I loved the early suicide dive after Ishikawa gets extra saucy with his elbow shots. And Ishikawa is such a great super bully champ in this, constantly cutting Sekimoto off at every opportunity and just laying into him fully with everything in his arsenal. The full nelson ring post smash was nuts and I genuinely felt bad for Sekimoto's head and neck as Ishikawa went took him to Murder Town. At one point, Ishikawa's got him in a full nelson lock, and Sekimoto is screaming and powering his way out and Ishikawa headbutts any hope he had of escaping to hell.
One minor grievance: Sekimoto's Scorpion Deathlock looks like shit and it always seems to come out of nowhere. There's no logistical build to it. Anyway, he has such a great crab hold that looks way more devastating and makes sense for his style of offense. The final stretch of this thing was pretty epic. After Ishikawa goes on a mini-run after kiboshing another Sekimoto comeback, Sekimoto clobbers him with a lariat counter to the running knee, They trade suplexes, clash lariats, and then Sekimoto pulls away with his meat cleaver chops, a gamengiri, a lariat, and a big deadlift German suplex hold for HUGE nearfall. The crowd is fully invested at this point, Ishikawa's mouth is bloody, Sekimoto can't believe it. We get the dying breath of the great champ here, as Ishikawa pulls out every brain-scrambling move in the book and still can't beat Sekimoto. In a great moment during the final slapoff, Ishikawa unleashes a flurry of slaps and the only way Sekimoto can stop him is to just punch him in the face. Ishikawa gets a last gasp one count after a lariat, but a second lariat and a deadlift German suplex hold are too much. Doesn't get much better than this when it comes to modern strong style.
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