Hideki Suzuki vs. Takuya Nomura (BJW, 6/20/18)

This is wrestling. This is what makes for a compelling story, full of heart and fire -- not fluff and glitter. The classic tale of the student trying to best the teacher. If you go back and watch the matches between Hideki Suzuki and Takuya Nomura, you begin to see the flowering of Nomura as a wrestler. In each match, Nomura learns something new and applies it to the next, and with each new match, Hideki dominates him less and less. Nomura knows Suzuki better than almost anyone in Big Japan. He knows if you try to tangle with him early on over a lock up, you're toast. So he keeps his distance, peppering the leg with kicks and then when he finds an opportunity, he goes for it. In this case, he's able to escape the front facelock with a go behind into the rear waistlock but when he tries to go for the arm, Hideki is quick to take over and exert his dominance. Nomura smartly pops him in the ribs with a punch to escape a headlock and fights for a leglock, and you see the pain in Hideki's face when Takuya cinches in, forcing the champ to grab the rope. Selling. Hideki again re-asserts himself on the ground, squeezing Nomura in a scarf hold for a rope break. Then Nomura starts with the kicks, targeting the arm. He goes for an armbar and digs his fucking thumb into Hideki's eye in order to break his resistance and get a reverse armbar. Awesome. You can see the inexperience but at the same time, the fighting spirit, as Nomura's trying grab the arm and hold on in some kind of submission.

When Hideki is back on his feet, he's at his most vulnerable. Nomura backs him into a corner with strikes, taking him down with palm thrusts and kicking him when he's down. Of course, that only pisses off Hideki, who mounts him and lands a few palms of his own as Nomura tries to defend himself. Then, when he sees an opening, he punches Nomura in the side of head. Again, Nomura finds an opportunity with an exposed arm and tries for a double wristlock but he can't hold on and goes back to what worked before: the strikes. He lays into Hideki with some kicks, some knees, throws him with a German suplex and then lets loose on Hideki against the ropes with slaps. This is when the champ realizes if he's going to keep his belt, he needs to shut this down quick. He shoves Nomura back, laying into him with a rare (low) high kick and punts him in the face. Suzuki, lip busted, waits and then knocks him out with another punt kick. And just like that, Nomura's shot is over...but, if anything, Nomura was one of the few to find a chink in Suzuki's armor and in the next time they face each other, Suzuki is going to have to fight even harder to remain the master.

Hideki Suzuki & Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe (BJW, 5/13/18)

Oh baby, what a tag team match on paper and boy does it live up to my expectations! Tons of neat little things throughout, nasty strikes and suplexes, blood, finger biting, and zero shits given from the man Hideki Suzuki. Takuya Nomura opens the match against Daisuke Sekimoto and I love how he keeps slapping away Sekimoto's hands as he's trying to reach in...only to then straight up slap Daisuke in the face. When Fuminori Abe's in there against Suzuki, he's trying to get something on him but Hideki is too big so it's easy to get out. There's an awesome counter out of the armbar by Abe but when he tries for the armbar, Hideki maneuvers up to his feet and stomps Abe's face to break the hold, which may or may not have busted open Abe's lip. Hideki's still a dick from the apron, kicking Abe's foot off the ropes while he's in there against Sekimoto and then coming in and giving him some more shitty little kicks while he's down. Abe stuns Hideki with a spinning solebutt in the corner and when Suzuki tries for his strike combo, Abe counters the European uppercut with a leglock takedown, forcing Suzuki to the ropes.

Hideki biting Abe's fingers and casually tagging out to Sekimoto was a definite highlight of the match. Oh, and Sekimoto trying for a baseball-style lariat but sadly missing. Abe does a good job of slipping out of Hideki's single leg crab attempt and tags in Nomura, who comes at Hideki with kicks until Hideki catches a leg and capture suplexes him. Loved Nomura's pissy strikes in the corner, with him straight punching Hideki in the face! There's a pretty sweet double team into the reverse armbar by Nomura, with Abe climbing onto Sekimoto with an octopus hold. But Sekimoto powers over to kick Nomura off Hideki before dumping Abe. Then it's total destruction time for the big boys, as Hideki kills Nomura with a release dragon suplex, they Steinerize Abe to eliminate him form the equation, and finally finish off Nomura with the Sekimoto German into the Hideki double arm suplex.

Post-match, Hideyoshi Kamitani comes out like a total dweeb to challenge Hideki AGAIN but Hideki's like "fuck you, get out of my ring." Then Nomura says Suzuki is scared to put the title on the line against him and Suzuki responds that if the fans want it to happen, it will happen. Fuck yeah.

Hideki Suzuki vs. Daisuke Sekimoto (BJW, 5/5/18)

While not as good as their first time limit draw, this match did a lot with very little, putting the emphasis on the struggle of applying and maintain holds, and powering out of a situation. It's a slow and steady burn of classic psychology, where the champ, Hideki Suzuki, isn't able to manhandle Daisuke Sekimoto on the ground like everyone else in his title matches. Sekimoto is able to hold his own, using his strength to suppress Hideki. If you don't like Hideki Suzuki going into this match, chances are, you won't like him any more coming out of this match but he really sold well for Sekimoto, making Sekimoto's simple holds look debilitating. I love how Suzuki corners his opponents as a means of intimidation. Sekimoto uses his power to try and control Hideki, wearing him down with holds like the bear hug, which sees Hideki go limp when he tries to fight out. Hideki really works the cravate, keeping it cinched in as Sekimoto tries slamming him off, finally turning it into a neckbreaker. He manipulates the fingers of Sekimoto in order to get the cobra twist locked in, wrenching on the head and neck before Sekimoto staggers over to the ropes and dumps him outside.

Sekimoto works the back awhile, and again, some great selling by Hideki on the corner whips. At one point, Hideki needs to re-lace his boots, they shake hands, and continue their wrestling match, getting the fans invested in a traditional contest of holds. There a lot of neat touches to this match, like Sekimoto holding onto the armwhip attempt and forcing Suzuki to his knee, or rolling through with Hideki's escape attempt to maintain control. At one point, Hideki uses a cool but clunky headscissors takedown, trying clever pin attempts when he finds openings. I love how Sekimoto headbutts the leg to set up the single leg crab. The escalation in offense isn't done at the pull of trigger but builds in the same fashion as the rest of the match. Strikes are limited to a few chops and open hands and the build to Sekimoto's German suplex hold was really well done. Suzuki tries to unbuckle the deadlift German suplex attempt and Sekimoto just slams him down. When Sekimoto tries to suplex him off the ropes, Suzuki uses a low blow to escape before beating on him and hitting the scoop tombstone for a two count. Oh, and Sekimoto hits the double arm suplex and Hideki kicks out at one like "bitch, that's my move." By the end, they're sluggish and can't quite hit everything they need to in order to win the match. Sekimoto's able to finally hit the German suplex hold but Suzuki is barely able to slip out of the pin as the time limit expires.

Easily the best Suzuki match of 2018, and a definite throwback match structure that was able to draw in the fans through simplicity and struggle. Oh yeah, and Takuya Nomura ATTACKED Hideki after the match along with Fuminori Abe so...fuck yeah, we're getting a Suzuki/Nomura title match at some point.

Dick Togo vs. Takuya Nomura (BJW, 2/18/18)

Welp, I forgot to talk about a match that most definitely will be among my favorites of 2018: slick Dick Togo versus Takuya Nomura in Big Japan. I love Togo, all the little things he does, and of course, my love for Nomura is never in doubt. He understands pro-wrestling better than guys with twice his experience. Savvy matwork to start from both guys, with Togo's experience getting the edge over the younger Nomura. After Nomura kicks the ringpost outside like a dope, Togo supelxes him onto the floor, hits a running senton off the apron to the floor, and continues working the leg inside the ring, putting Nomura in the figure-four. I love how he keeps Nomura's hand away from the leg and ducks the slap attempts. Really good selling of the leg from Nomura, even when he's laying in the kicks. He's able to pull out a flash armbar off a punch attempt and then peppers Togo with some snug open hands. Really liked Togo's first crossface lock off the roll up, and then the finish, catching the PK attempt, sweeping the leg and floating up into the crossface, rolling back when Nomura reaches for the ropes to submit him. Simple formula, good psychology, an invested crowd, and under 15 minutes. This ruled.

Takuya Nomura vs. Yuya Aoki (BJW, 3/21/18)

What a little banger of a match. Bulked up Takuya Nomura has been doing his best to channel Akira Maeda, incorporating things like the capture and half hatch suplex, and the crossface chickenwing, in addition to his stiff kicks. Here, he comes out of the gate throwing kicks, catching Aoki upside the head with one of them. They scramble around the mat a bit, with Aoki more than holding his own. The strike exchanged were snug and fiery, and we get some of that signature bad boy attitude from Nomura. At one point, he has Aoki in a sleeper, doesn't immediately let go in the ropes, Aoki pops him in the forehead with a kick, and Nomura gets pissy with him. I thought Aoki did a good job of playing the underdog and getting in his moments to shine, including folding Nomura in turn with a release German. They heat up the final strike exchange before Nomura hits the headbutt and submits him with the cross armlock.

Takuya Nomura vs. Fuminori Abe (BJW, 1/17/18)

I watched this match a few weeks ago, really liked it, re-watched this match last night, loved it. I mean, it's bati-bati in Big Japan, with Fuminori Abe putting on one of his best singles performances to date and, at times, overshadowing Takuya Nomura. Abe's awareness shines through early on, as he rolls through the snapmare to prevent the typical "I kick your back" spot that he did to Nomura -- loved that. His strategy is simple: keep Nomura on the ground. That's arguably Nomura's weak spot, his matwork, and Abe's able to stay on his leg, taking him to the ropes a couple of times. Nomura will get in a slap or a kick here, and he's able to catch an Abe kick and plant him with the capture suplex before going into the armbar. But just as Nomura starts heating up his strikes, Abe counters with a beautiful legscrew. In the last few minutes, they start laying in the hard strikes -- the punches, kicks, slaps, elbows -- both showing exhaustion as they stumble around the ring. I like how they lunge with into their strikes.  Nomura peppers him with a little flurry of palm thrusts, slaps on a calf hold by chopping out Abe's leg, but in the end, Abe is able to break out and trap Nomura in the manjigatame for the submission. Very cool match worked in a style that is, sadly, rarely worked these days.

Hideki Suzuki & Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato (BJW, 1/2/18)

We get our annual Twin Towers tag match to kick off the new year and of course, it delivers. Maybe not on the same level as last year's blood-spattering match against Strong BJ, but it was still a “banger”. Sekimoto gets stuck between a rock and a hard place…the rock being Sato’s kicks and elbows and the hard place being…well, Ishikawa’s elbows. When he gets the hot tag to Suzuki, Hideki comes in with a bunch of suplexes, including a big release German that folds the Big Dawg in half, before and Ishikawa take each other out when the knee meets the elbow. Poor Daisuke gets put back between the rock and hard place, as the Twin Towers lay into him with knees and sandwich elbows. Ishikawa neutralizes Hideki with another gnarly elbow, allowing Sato to pin Sekimoto following the piledriver. Can’t complain about a ten minute slugfest.

Hideki Suzuki & Takuya Nomura vs. Kohei Sato & Kazuki Hashimoto (BJW, 12/30/17)

This is nearly seven minutes of Takuya Nomura showing off what Hideki Suzuki has taught him about being a real tough man. Suzuki has a fun leglock sequence with Sato and throws a couple of suplexes but this was mostly Nomura pissing off Sato. He immediately comes into this match kicking and smacks Sato hard across the face. Of course, Sato dishes everything back twice as hard but Nomura doesn't back down. He's able to work the mat a little with Hashimoto and looks good doing it, but he'll still throw the slaps when he can. He and Kazuki proceed to stiff each other with kicks until Nomura stops it with a nasty headbutt. Suzuki lets him finish it out against Sato and he gets him in the armbar, continuing the work the arm until Sato finally piledrives him for the win. Short and violent.

Hideki Suzuki vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani (BJW, 11/1/17)

This marks Hideyoshi Kamitani’s second shot this year against Suzuki. During the first match, Kamitani easily wrestled his best singles performance since his MOTY against Yuji Okabayashi last year. But we’ve all seen how Suzuki treats those he’s defeated before (for reference, see the Kawakami title match). This was perhaps Suzuki’s most heel performance to date, although “heel” may not be the right term, as he’s colder and more calculated here, making Kamitani look like a young lion. The opening sets the stage perfectly, as Suzuki coolly side-steps Kamitani’s hot-headed rush. Kamitani looks nervous and hesitant in there, his takedown attempts almost timid, seemingly knowing that Suzuki is such a matwork master that there’s about a 0.00002% chance of outwrestling him.  He comes off like a child at times, an example being Suzuki’s drop down and Kamitani delayed reaction, which elicits giggles from the Korakuen crowd. Then, as if feeling sorry for him, Suzuki lays down…only to further taunt Kamitani on the mat. Kamitani awkwardly climbs on with headlocks or choke attempts but Suzuki’s able to counter each, attacking the arm with a vicious European uppercut.

When Kamitani taps into that raw manchild power, scoop slamming Suzuki and throwing his baby fat around with elbow drops, the fans finally give him something in return. But Suzuki continues to bite. As champ, he wrestles like he doesn’t have time for anyone, the way he kicks Kamitani over for a pin attempt. He cuts off Kamitani’s momentum with a big top rope front suplex and when Kamitani decides to sling elbows and headbutts, Suzuki slings the strikes back even harder. Kamitani staggers him with some big boy slaps and catches him with a low enziguri but when he tries for the lariat, Suzuki goes from octopus hold > full nelson > German suplex > dragon suplex hold, which sees Kamitani immediately try to escape since Suzuki can use it as a submission. The problem with Kamitani is that his offense doesn’t look all that impressive, aside from some of his clobbering blows and his backdrop finish. At one point, he hits a lariat and then goes into a shitty crab hold…why?

Suzuki’s able to elbow out of the backdrop attempt, spiking Kamitani with a scoop slam tombstone, then cracking him with his deadshot elbow. He uses a running knee he probably learned from Shuji Ishikawa and then goes into a front necklock. Poor Kamitani tries to muscle out but Suzuki clenches down, forcing him to pass out before he’s castoff in disgust. The look on Hideki’s face as Daichi Hashimoto checks on Kamitani is the look of a man who gives zero fucks. The final image of Suzuki chilling up on his throne in the corner while Hashimoto’s desperately trying to get at him was awesome. I’ve said it before but Big Japan has done such a terrific job of establishing Suzuki as the ultimate final boss, and while I wouldn’t necessarily call the match itself great, I thought Suzuki’s performance re-iterated that.

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.

Hideki Suzuki vs. Ryuichi Kawakami (BJW, 7/17/17)

Sometimes a champ's gotta choke a fool to really cement his legacy as a badass. Big Japan has already done such a fantastic job of establishing Suzuki as the outsider, a volatile force of nature swallowing up the Strong Division and spitting out broken challengers. Suzuki already beat Kawakami at his game back in February so here, like in all of his title defenses, Suzuki forced Kawakami to play his game. But Kawakami wasn't really having it and what ensured was perhaps the most "shoot-style" of any match I've seen this year, full of violence and disdain. This was awesome in a lot of ways but, above all, it felt personal. The most personal of any of Suzuki's title matches. As defending champion, he was put into a lot of uncomfortable situations but he was equal parts the aggressor, sometimes sacrificing his honor to grind an elbow in Kawakami's forehead or throw the first slap. And this was easily Kawakami's best performance since returning from injury last year, having fully embraced the inner shithead with his grinning attitude. 

From the opening exchange, you get a sense of what's going on here. They test the waters, looking for the right opening, and when Suzuki gets it, he takes down Kawakami, slaps him and grinds the elbow in his face to establish dominance. Kawakami answers back with slaps, spits at Suzuki, and nonchalantly works a top wristlock. When Suzuki regains control with a full nelson, Kawakami walks into the ropes to break the hold but Suzuki stays right on him, right in his face, until Kawakami slaps him again, smiling. There are plenty of cheap shots thrown from both opponents, the added jabs and smacks, but Kawakami was the big jerk here. At one point, Suzuki has to elbow him off of him while they're on the ropes but Kawakami still sneaks in an elbow of his own to further piss off Suzuki. Or he's straight-up punching Suzuki in the corner. The striking in general is about as stiff as it comes, with Kawakami's nose getting busted open at some point. 

Suzuki's the clear mat technician but Kawakami brings a real gruntiness to his matwork and there's a real sense of struggle for control. I thought the pacing and the placement of the big moves was organic -- if you have an opening, why not hit a dragon suplex hold? Suzuki even busts out a fucking hurricanrana -- not the prettiest one ever but totally unexpected. He tries for the double arm suplex but Kawakami starts squirming so Suzuki hooks his leg and starts cranking on him with a hold. Kawami wails on Suzuki with a bunch of hard elbows but the second he tries for the Hurricane Driver, Suzuki knees him in the head and quickly shuts him down. When Kawakami survives the double arm suplex, Suzuki smiles, almost as if to say "you really should've stayed down", and then promptly destroys him with elbows and puts him to sleep like a bad, bad dude, throwing Kawakami out of his ring as he's handed his crown. Unstoppable. 

The post-match interaction with Daichi Hashimoto was terrific as well, setting up a future title match between the two. I'm hoping Suzuki's able to pull a big time performance out of Hashimoto similar to what Okabayashi did for Kamitani last year. I love this match. It felt like a fight from beginning to end. I get why people may not like this style of match, or Suzuki's style in general, but this felt unlike any other BJW World Strong title defense and I'm happy Big Japan is letting Suzuki do his thing. 2017 is definitely his year. 

Hideki Suzuki & Yoshihisa Uto vs. Ryuichi Kawakami & Kazumi Kikuta (BJW, 6/28/17)

Now, this is how you build to a title defense. This was a really good K-Hall tag match with great transitions and plenty of heat between Suzuki and Kawakami. Suzuki really wants Kawakami early on but Kawakami feeds him Kikuta instead. Since Kikuta's changed up his ring gear, he's really been impressing me with his ability to take a beating...I mean, Suzuki's clawing his face, slapping and kicking at him. He elbows the arm to set-up the armwork section for Uto and Uto fills in the black for a bit before Kawakami comes in, suplexes him onto his knee, and kicks him over to Suzuki. Hideki comes in suplexing and when he puts on the octopus hold, he really sells the effort to apply it, first grinding his elbow into the spine to get the arm, then manipulating the wrist to be able to trap it. In the details, man.

 Kawakami kicks Suzuki in the grill and then starts in with some hardass chops. Suzuki tries to block them so Kawakami starts punching him instead! Loved the elbow exchange -- some real hard shots from both guys. Suzuki manages to hit a Robinson-style backbreaker...and then just clubs Kawakami out of frustration before collapsing. Kikuta gets to shine a little bit against Suzuki in the end but Suzuki shuts him down, hitting the scoop tombstone and then that awesome falling elbow strike. In a great moment, Kawakami hits the big elbow on Suzuki and wants the tag from Kikuta to finish off the champ but Suzuki cuts off the hot tag, snatching Kikuta in a full nelson, wearing him down before hitting the dragon suplex hold, using it as a submission to finish Kikuta off. I'm loving these suplex hold submissions. Before this match, I was lukewarm on Suzuki/Kawakami at Sumo Hall but I'm all in now. Can't wait!

Hideki Suzuki vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani (BJW, 5/25/17)

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.

Hideki Suzuki vs. Yuji Okabayashi (BJW, 5/5/17)

The power vs. technique dynamic is one of my favorite match types in all of pro-wrestling and Big Japan pulls it off better than most. As much as I like Daisuke Sekimoto, Yuji Okabayashi brings so much more emotion to his matches. He was fantastic here against Hideki Suzuki, hossing his way out of Suzuki's fingertips as the champ tries to bend him to his will. When Yuji tries to chase Suzuki on the outside with his big boy chops, Suzuki's able to attack the arm with the help of the ringpost. Back inside, he goes to work on it with some nasty elbow shots, trying to stretch Yuji who uses his raw meat power to fight Suzuki off. When Yuji tries to put Suzuki in a camel clutch, Hideki tries snapping his fingers while Okabayashi wrenches back with a one-handed variation. Suzuki, as always, does such a good job of staying on the injured arm, even when Okabayashi is able to shake him off. Up top, Suzuki goes after the arm to counter a suplex attempt and when he puts on a sleeper, Yuji slams him down from the top. Suzuki fires off some suplexes, battles Okabayashi's chops with elbows, and hits his kneeling tombstone > deadshot elbow combo. Yuji's able to avoid the double arm suplex throughout the match and after he clobbers him with a lariat, he decks him with a running shoulderblock and tries for the Golem Splash. But Suzuki blocks the splash and goes right back to the arm, trapping it with a modified Octopus Stretch and submitting Okabayashi. Terrific match, with terrific selling from Okabayashi and plenty of Suzuki's no-nonsense awesomeness as he destroys Yuji's arm throughout to set up the finish. 

Top 10 Matches of 2017

Here are my top 10 matches of 2017. 

1. Kazuchika Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata (NJPW, 4/19/17)
2. Hideki Suzuki vs. Yuji Okabayashi (BJW, 5/5/17)
3. Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 8/8/17)
4. Hideki Suzuki vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani (BJW, 5/25/17)

5. Hirooki Goto vs. Katsuyori Shibata (NJPW, 1/4/17)
6. Dick Togo vs. Daisuke Sasaki (DDT/DAMNATION Produce, 4/14/17)

7. Hideki Suzuki vs. Daisuke Sekimoto (BJW, 3/5/17)
8. Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 8/12/17)

9. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito (NJPW, 8/11/17)
10. Shuji Ishikawa vs. Kento Miyahara (AJPW, 8/27/17)

Hideki Suzuki vs. Takuya Nomura (BJW, 4/10/17)

This is the master Hideki Suzuki at work, the teacher schooling the student. In the past, the Suzuki/Nomura matches played out like sparring sessions but this was the most "shoot-style" of the series. It was a glorious squash as Suzuki is all over Nomura like white on bread and Nomura is outmatched in about everything but his kicks, which he doesn't really get the chance to show off. Suzuki was in dominant, no shits given champ mode, grinding his taped wrists across Nomura's face, getting heat from the crowd for covering Nomura's mouth with his hand or teasing a straight choke. When Nomura cries out, it sounds legitimate as Suzuki bends and twists him to his will. There's a great spot where Suzuki hooks Nomura's leg in order to pry him open from his defensive position to apply a choke sleeper. When he rolls Nomura up for a two count, he catches the leg Nomura kicked out with and immediately starts manipulating it. There's no choreographed fluidity to it. Each hold looks like it's a struggle to apply.

They did a really good job of getting the crowd invested in the matwork, with the fans hopeful Nomura can get something on Suzuki.  When nearly gets a cross armbreaker on him but Suzuki uses his head to break it and spoil the crowd's anticipation. Finally, Nomura starts laying in with the kicks but the smart champ gets to a corner, then drops down to the mat to bait him in. Nomura starts kicking at Suzuki on the mat and in a nice little callback, tries and misses with that leaping double stomp. At one point near the end, Suzuki eases up on Nomura and as they fight over a leglock, he tells Nomura to fight harder. Suzuki finally ends the suffering, taking him down with the double wristlock and submitting him. I loved this. I probably enjoyed this more than most based on who was involved in the match but it felt authentic and it's fun to see a dominant Suzuki shooting on his baby-faced student.

Hideki Suzuki vs. Daisuke Sekimoto (BJW, 3/30/17)

This was a condensed version of their time limit draw from earlier in the month, with the same sense of struggle and sluggishness in the back half as they clobber away at one another. Suzuki once again displays his awesome in-ring awareness, turning a stalemate test of strength into a small package hold or the way he manipulates Sekimoto's fingers in order to lock him in the stretch plum.  Even when Sekimoto manages to escape, Suzuki stays on him with a cravate, holding onto it after Daisuke tries to slam his way out, and then working that into a neckbreaker. He does such a good job of staying on Sekimoto, not giving him much room to breath if any.

When neither man can find an opening, they begin throwing 'bows and forearms and chops. There's a great counter by Sekimoto, dumping Suzuki to the outside, but when he tries for the follow-up dive, Suzuki catches him with an elbow to the chin. Suzuki's offense rules. He hits a top rope overhead suplex, connects with some straight up nasty elbow strikes, and I love his dragon suplex > deadshot elbow combo. Sekimoto was great here too, selling Suzuki's strikes so well. I love how he uses a sleeper to distract Suzuki, allowing for the German suplex hold. In the end, Suzuki stuns Sekimoto with an enziguri and hits his beautiful double arm suplex for the well-deserved win. I can't wait to see what Suzuki does with the belt. He feels like such a special attraction and when he's wearing the purple trunks, you know he's got his working boots on.

Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Hideki Suzuki (BJW, 3/5/17)

Hideki Suzuki rocking the purple for his big title match. I love Hideki Suzuki. He's one of the most engaging wrestlers to watch in the ring but works in such a cool-headed, almost nonchalant way, reserving most of his energy to unleash these micro-explosions of offense throughout. There's very little downtime with Suzuki and his spontaneity is incredible as he's quick to take advantage of an open door. The small package on a doubled over Sekimoto, the sleeper hold off the pin attempt, and kneeing Sekimoto off when he tries to cover him. Because Suzuki's such a maestro on the mat, I think I underrated him as a striker but he throws great strikes -- some of the best snap elbows and I love the way he lays into his uppercuts.

This story was technique vs. power, with the hyper-alert challenger taking the powerhouse champ a few clicks past empty. Suzuki immediately sells Sekimoto's strength in their first lock-up but he's able to shows off his ring smarts early on with some take downs and ground control, leaving Sekimoto huffing. When he tries to strike with Sekimoto, it backfires and Suzuki aborts by belly-to-bellying the wild Sekimoto over the top rope. Suzuki chills a minute and then sinks Sekimoto with an elbow on the outside. They do a really good job of teasing Suzuki's suplexes, whether its the double arm or the dragon suplex, and when he tries for the first, Sekimoto counters with a side suplex.The match loses a little bit of steam when Sekimoto takes over on offense but he's still as intense as always and heats up to a double suplex of his own. There's some great counter sequences and ultimately Suzuki comes back out on top and starts targeting Sekimoto's head and neck, drilling him with a scoop piledriver and some nasty deadshot elbows.

This became a war of attrition as they empty bombshells and slug away at each other in exhaustion. This is where Suzuki's energy reserve comes into play as he tries to capitalize on Sekimoto's lack thereof. He's finally able to deliver the dragon suplex but it's not enough to put the champ away. Sekimoto collapses into Suzuki with a lariat for two and hits a sitout powerbomb for another nearfall. Suzuki's selling when he's getting rocked with Sekimoto's beefy elbows was great and he's able to come back with some brutal strikes of his own. In the end, they're both so drained, they don't even have the energy to effectively execute their respective finishers. Maybe this wasn't the match I was hoping for but it became a match I really enjoyed. There wasn't a particularly loud crowd but that's been the trend with these BJW Strong Heavyweight title matches. I won't be shocked if Sekimoto retains in their rematch but Suzuki came away looking like a true badass.

Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi (BJW, 1/2/17)

Yay, the first Twin Towers/Strong BJ match of the New Year...and hopefully, the last for 2017. I love both of these teams and no doubt, they have great chemistry together and can produce awesome, hard-hitting tag matches but I don't want this to tread Strong BJ vs. Big Guns territory because these two teams clashing should feel like a special occasion. That being said, this was a perfectly enjoyable match, although I preferred their match from the Saikyou Tag League for its condensed and explosive violence. I loved the interactions between Ishikawa and Sekimoto throughout, and if I were a betting man, I'd wager that Ishikawa will challenge for the BJW World Strong Heavyweight title in the first half of 2017. Ishikawa busts out the headbutts against Sekimoto early on, which leads to Sekimoto playing the FIP to the elbow and knee bullying Twin Towers, trying to fight back with chops only to get pounded back down. We get plenty of double teams and a triple German suplex. On a side note, I'm always so amazed at how effortless Sato's Falcon Arrow looks on a big hoss like Okabayashi. I also enjoyed Okabayashi fighting off Twin Towers with alternating chops before he gets pummeled back into the corner with elbows and knees.

But let's be real, this match was forehead punishment for Sekimoto. When he's got Sato in a crab hold, Ishikawa comes in and headbutts him off. The Prison Lock with the arm-trap baby headbutts of doomed turned Sekimoto's forehead into ground beef but it wasn't until that final running shoot headbutt from Ishikawa that Sekimoto's forehead burst like a tick. Just a nasty, nasty spot. Sekimoto's draining blood as he finishes Ishikawa off with a lariat and the follow-up deadlift German suplex hold for the pin. Kind of your standard fun Strong BJ vs. Twin Towers match-up with some extra brutal headbutts from Ishikawa and great selling from Sekimoto. Best tag match of the year so far. Can't wait to see the inevitable match between Sekimoto and Ishikawa but for now, I think I'm satisfied with seeing these two teams try to kill each other. 

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.