Jushin Liger vs. Virus (NJPW, 1/24/16)

Two well-seasoned maestros rolling around on the mat for a little over eight minutes, slickly transitioning from hold to hold, stretching and countering one another, teasing strikes. Loved the spot where Liger tries for the Romero Special, Virus scrambles to the ropes, and Liger wags his finger at him, as if to say "don't underestimate the Thunder, bub." No doubt, Liger more than held his own against Virus but this felt more like a short showcase of Virus for the Korakuen crowd. Virus was great here but in the end, Liger showed that he's got just a little more experience, submitting Virus with la mecadora. A fun hidden gem. 

Yuji Nagata vs. Manabu Nakanishi (NJPW, 12/17/16)

Part of me wishes they would’ve held off on this match until Wrestle Kingdom and made it Nakanishi’s retirement match because I doubt we’ll get anything this good out of him again. This was by no means a great match; however, it was a GOOD Nakanishi match. He gave it everything his increasingly immobile body could muster, including a plancha, a top rope dropkick and that awesome superplex spot, not to mention taking a top rope Exploder from Nagata! I liked the narrative early on, as Nakanishi gets the advantage on Nagata and Nagata resorts to attacking Nakanishi’s weakness in the knee – great selling in that moment by Nakanishi.  But that storyline is soon abandoned in favor of Nakanishi getting in his signature spots, which works for this match and the crowd was really behind him. Nagata pins him after using the rare wrist-clutch Exploder. Nakanishi’s annual good match was a lot of fun and I don’t know if we’ll get anything like this out of him again, which is why this may have worked better on a bigger stage. 

Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato vs. Hideki Suzuki & Takuya Nomura (BJW, 12/18/16)

This match ruled! It was easily the best match on an otherwise decent Death Vegas card and it may be my favorite Japanese tag match of the year but perhaps more importantly, it served a great platform for Takuya Nomura to showcase what he’s learned over the past year. His selling was fantastic for his experience level, from his facials to the desperation in his strikes. And he gets so excited from kicking, he sometimes slips and falls. Suzuki wasn’t phoning it in either, coming in for some suplex saves. One of the things I like about Suzuki, and it showed in his early touch-and-go with Ishikawa, is the way he’s continually moving, not allowing Ishikawa a solid grip, but shifting and feeling for a weakness or an opening. Of course, Twin Towers were brutal as always and held nothing back in their exchanges with the spunky Nomura. Sato throws the best elbows in pro-wrestling and Ishikawa and Nomura working themselves into a “shoot” was awesome. Loved Ishikawa turning one of Nomura’s kicks into a stretch muffler airplane spin.

The final confrontation between Nomura and Sato was the icing on the cake. Nomura unloads on Sato with everything he has, kicking him harder and harder, his eyes wild as he’s thinking “damn, how hard do I have to kick?!” before Sato finally collapses with his spasmodic selling. Again, Nomura shows the little things he’s picked up along the way, like when he has Sato in the cross armbreaker and he grabs the leg as Sato struggles, turning it into a pin attempt. Suzuki makes a great save after Sato hits a nasty elbow and while Nomura survives the Falcon Arrow, the follow-up piledriver is enough to put the rookie phenom down for good. Post-match, Nomura says “fuck your handshake” to Ishikawa. Awesome stuff. 

Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Minoru Suzuki (NOAH, 12/2/16)

Going into this match, Nakajima's 2/24 match against Suzuki is still the top contender for my "Match of the Year" (although the great re-watching begins soon). Superb performances from both of those guys, playing their respective roles to the fucking hilt. Fast-forward to December and Nakajima is no longer the spunky baby-faced fighting underdog but now stands on top of the promotion as the GHC Heavyweight Champion. He doesn't approach this fight with the same timidness but looks confident with his hair back and love tapping Suzuki after a tie-up in the ropes. The look on Suzuki's face is priceless. Whereas the focus of the first match was on Suzuki destroying Nakajima's arm, here he's focused on Nakajima's leg, although it never quite gets the level of the 2/24 match. Suzuki's awesome awareness is once again on display, as he jumps at the opportunity to attack the leg after Nakajima gets hung up in the ropes. When Nakajima tries to fight back a little later on, Suzuki slides underneath a kick attempt and gets control of the leg again, forcing him down in a leglock. Nakajima always sells so well for Suzuki, whether it's from elbow shots or submission holds. The desperation of him grabbing onto the referee was great. 

Suzuki survives one brainbuster and in a great callback to the first match, Nakajima highkicks Suzuki in the head, seemingly KO'ing him in the process. The referee tries to keep Nakajima back as he checks on Suzuki's condition and when Nakajima tries to pull Suzuki up to his feet, Suzuki's nothing but dead weight. But Suzuki was trolling Nakajima and after he chases him down with a dropkick, Suzuki has that evil grin on his face. He doesn't hold back with the strikes as he unloads on Nakajima with elbows, slaps, and jabs, eventually wearing him down with a sleeper hold for the Gotch-style piledriver attempt but Nakajima fights it off. They trade elbows and when Suzuki knocks down the ref, he straight punches Nakajima in the face twice before calling for Suzuki-gun to no avail. Loved Suzuki's reaction to no one coming to his aid. The final strike battle was a thing of beauty, with Suzuki's perfect selling, the slowed elbows to the point where he's just tapping Nakajima.  In the last minutes, Nakajima is trying to once and for all slay the dragon in Suzuki but Suzuki won't stay down. He finally lands another high kick to the head and delivers the nail in the coffin with a second brainbuster.

Awesome stuff. Like their previous meeting, the performances ruled this match, with both guys selling their asses off for each other. Without having re-watched the 2/24 match, it's hard to say whether this one eclipsed it or not. No doubt, they're the two best NOAH matches this year. If anything, this serves as the perfect companion piece and completes the story between these two. Hail Nakajima, as he vanquishes Suzuki-gun from NOAH and takes his place as the rightful ace of the promotion. 

Katsuyori Shibata & KENTA vs. Akira Taue & Go Shiozaki (NOAH, 9/9/06)

The pairing of Shibata with KENTA works on so many different levels. It’s a shame we only got three tag matches out of them. When Shibata teamed with KUSHIDA for a few matches earlier this year, it reminded me of the Takeover as they complement each other well. But they’re not the same disrespectful little pricks. Hot opening as Big Taue chicken-steps around the ring and Shibata tries to bully the vet with elbows and boots. Taue slaps him silly and gives him a coconut crush to the entertainment of the fans. They eat up Taue’s dive tease. Shibata really brings out the best in the veterans, which is probably why his series with the New Japan Dads was so enjoyable to me. He gives zero fucks. Shiozaki makes for a good whipping boy, especially against a pissed off Shibata. They have great chemistry together. But when Go and KENTA are in their, the match cools off a little. It feels like they’re just going through the motions. KENTA pestering Taue on the apron was awesome though.

Shibata mocks Taue with a couple of coconut crushes over his knee to Shiozaki and oh boy, Taue is pissed, shaking the ropes. Shibata puts Taue in the octopus hold and when Go comes in and breaks it up, Shibata pedigrees him! They try to set Taue up for the Doomsday Device but he chops his way out. He catches KENTA with a great chokeslam counter to the springboard before chokeslamming Shibata and hitting a sit-out powerbomb for a huge false finish. KENTA and Shiozaki bring things to a close, cooling the crowd down again as they trade two counts off suplex holds. After Shibata takes down Taue with the sleeper hold > PK combo, they finish off Go with the brutal springboard Doomsday Device for the win. Probably the best Takeover match of the three and a hot crowd for the Shibata/Taue exchanges.