This was a bit of a dumb ole pissing contest between two dudes who are so evenly matched in a lot of ways, although Ohtani is the more compelling of the two in this case. That simple narrative was the crux of this match -- the dueling legwork, the one count suplex swaps, the token face washes -- neither guy really having a clear advantage over the other. I liked Ohtani getting cheeky with the slaps on the ropes but not giving Kanemoto the pleasure. And when Kanemoto breaks out the kicks, Ohtani does the obvious and takes out the leg with a dropkick to set-up the groundwork. Ohtani does such a good job of bringing the focus back to the leg, adding little flourishes like the headbutts to the knee, but for the most part, Kanemoto blows off the legwork, which unfortunately takes away from the overall quality. Loved the dragon suplex teases on the floor and off the apron but then there’s also some dumb spots, like the “duh” missed springboard dropkick. It wouldn’t be an Ohtani match without the facewash but when he goes back to the well for a second, Kanemoto catches the foot and capture suplexes him in a neat spot. Then he catches another springboard dropkick attempt with a calf hold. The dueling legwork nulled itself out as the finishing stretch quickly ramped up with Ohtani hitting his Spiral Bomb and trademark dragon suplex for nearfalls. Then Kanemoto hits his tiger suplex hold and follow-up moonsault press for the victory. An evenly matched contest unevenly wrestled…if that makes any sense.
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