Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (NJPW, 8/12/17)

Like the Tanahashi/Naito match from the night before, these two put together the best match of their series by working a simple but effective formula. It was still a nutty Fire Pro Omega match but they managed to work in the spots without being too self-indulgent and it followed the thread of Okada's injured neck and Omega just blasting it with his high-impact offense. Omega as the movez aggressor works so much more than him cartoonishly selling a limb, whereas Okada, who has historically been spotty in his selling, has improved a lot since the Shibata match and his performance here really sold this match for me. The real turning point was the reverse frankensteiner on the floor, which Okada sold beautifully and it injected some drama into the final half with Omega cranking up the aggression on Okada's neck. One of the best parts of the match was Omega repeatedly kneeing Okada in the head with a distraught Gedo on the outside, covering his head. The crowd was buying the nearfalls and of course, both guys were bumping like crazy. I mean, that uranage/side suplex counter to the Rainmaker was awesomely brutal.

Obviously, they were going to ramp it up for the finishing stretch and when Omega hit the double arm piledriver for a nearfall, I thought this was going to either draw or venture into an endless waltz of counters and nearfalls...but it had me guessing and the hot atmosphere of Sumo Hall made it feel important. Omega still isn't my favorite dude in pro-wrestling but he thankfully kept the histrionics to a minimum and by telling a true and tried story rather than trying to impress the pants off of everyone, he wrestled his best match of the year. This was a top notch performance from Okada and yet another shining feather in his cap as he continues to have possibly the best year of his career thus far. Like him or not, you have to at least put Okada's name in serious contention for "Wrestler of the Year"...you know, behind Hideki Suzuki, of course.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 8/8/17)

Without a doubt, this was Minoru Suzuki's best match since returning to New Japan and it blew away their title match from earlier in the year. Was it perfect? Subjectively, no, but it's hard to pull off a flawless 30-minute draw without a little meandering here and there, and they did a damn good job of keeping things moving. What I loved about this match is that it played up Okada's weakness when it comes to his striking ability, with his elbows obviously puny compared to Suzuki's. In fact, Suzuki puts his hands behind his back to allow Okada to fire shots at him and still, Suzuki shuts him down. They got the Suzuki-gun shenanigans out of the way early, which allowed Suzuki to really tap into that "baddest motherfucker around" mentality as he starts in on Okada's injured neck, ripping the protective tape off and ragdolling him into the guardrail. I thought Okada's selling was really some of his best to date, always reminding us that he's fighting through the pain. But the bread-and-butter of this match is Suzuki wrecking the golden boy, between his strikes and him cranking away at the neck. I liked the transitions through the facelock, with Suzuki trapping the arm and going into a crossface and then just using a lot of headscissor variations to bend and twist the neck. Awesome stuff.

The crowd was way into Suzuki being a badass and the Gotch-style piledriver teases were well done, with the crowd eating them up. When Okada delivers the German to set up the first Rainmaker attempt, Suzuki counters with the sleeper, taking him over with that fantastic Saka Otoshi before cinching in the grounded sleeper. When that doesn't work, Suzuki starts paintbrushing him with slaps, jabs, and palm thrusts. Fucking great. Okada's able to hit a weak Rainmaker, holding onto the wrist, but when he tries for another, Suzuki slaps his hand away and then just bitch slaps him hard in the face, repeatedly. Okada does manage a few nasty shots of his own but again, it's nothing compared to Suzuki and Okada really sells the exhaustion and Suzuki's ruthlessness perfectly. There's an amazing moment toward the end when they smile at each other...Okada almost proud he withstood Suzuki's onslaught and Suzuki like "I can do this all day, kid." Then Suzuki smacks the hell out of him, trying once more for the sleeper and while Okada's able to avoid it and deliver another Rainmaker, he's a few drips past empty and can't follow up as the time limit expires. Probably my favorite match of the tournament thus far and a true testament of Okada's versatility on top. There wasn't a reliance on panty-soaking spots or over-the-top antics...I mean, the biggest move was probably Suzuki's Saka Otoshi. It was a terrific contrast of classic vs. modern, similar to what Suzuki did with Tanahashi a few years ago, but with a new ace at the helm.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Satoshi Kojima (NJPW, 7/27/17)

I've said it before but smug shiteating ace, Kazuchika Okada, is the best Okada. He brings much more personality to his match when he's turning the heel knobs up a bit and against the lovable Satoshi Kojima, you want to boo Okada along with the fans. The way he mock claps for Kojima, only to turn around and attack him. Or how he goads Tenzan and grins like a total dick when Tenzan's forced out of the ring. The shitty boots to Kojima's back as he plays to the crowd. There's a lot to love about his performance here and of course, it all builds to Kojima getting some payback. Kojima channels his partner with the Mongolian Chops. When he's machine gunning him in the corner, the look on Okada's face is priceless. Kojima's able to hit a top rope Koji Cutter and a brainbuster but it's that final stretch that solidified this as one of the more memorable matches in the tournament thus far. Kojima strips the elbow pad and goes for the lariat, but Okada ducks it, delivering the German suplex to set-up the Rainmaker but Kojimda counters with a lariat to the back of the head and when Okada tries for it again, Kojima blasts him with the lariat for a nearfall. He's able to duck another Rainmaker attempt, connecting with a rolling elbow, but the ace is able to tombstone Kojima to deliver the Rainmaker nail in the coffin. Great stuff. 

Kazuchika Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata (4/9/17)

Hands down, New Japan's best match of the year and my personal MOTY for 2017. Such an impassioned performance from Shibata, putting his life on the line (perhaps literally) to try and defeat the easily frustrated Okada, who tried to man up to Shibata's stiff ways only to get beaten down in glorious fashion. I mean, from start to finish, this was Shibata pissing all over Okada's gold rug. From the early matwork, with Shibata hiking his leg just because he can, to the Rainmaker-tease into a straight bitch slap, Shibata made Okada his bitch for nearly 40 minutes. Quasi-heel champ Okada was great here, drawing the ire of the NJPW fans with his dirty breaks, which only further fuels Shibata's stiff-as-fuck beatings. Was it a perfect match? No. I mean, it could've benefited from a little fat trimming, especially in the midsection of the match, but the build to the finish was well-executed, with Shibata working the Rainmaker arm to weaken the impact and in perhaps the most spectacular (and cringe-worthy) moment of the match, Shibata withstanding the Rainmaker and thunking Okada with that blood-busting headbutt.

When you put Okada in a different situation, he becomes so much more enjoyable to watch in the ring. He had to fight for every one of his signature spots, even though some of his offense looked pathetic compared to the heat behind Shibata's elbow strikes, and his selling during the submission teases really added a dose of drama to the bigger narrative. I loved his little temple flareups throughout. But this was Shibata's match, the way he goads Okada into striking with him, the zero respect boot scrapes to the back of the head. The no sold "strong style" rush of back-and-forth offense was pulled off so well, with Okada unable to follow up after that German suplex. Okada takes one hell of a beating here, getting dumped on his head a number of times with suplexes. I don't how he keeps doing it. The wrist play stuff was excellent, with Shibata holding on as he just drills him repeatedly with those kicks to the shoulder. Such a brutal visual accompanied by those shotgun acoustics. I thought it would've been awesome had Shibata dropped down into the cross armbreaker but Okada was able to take over control of the wrist and pull him into a weakened Rainmaker. The final nail-in-the-coffin Rainmaker looked absolutely nasty but I loved how Shibata was still trying to fight back, going for an elbow as he gets hooked with the killer final blow.

The crowd was hot for Shibata and this was a career performance for him as he put his body on the line for our enjoyment. It was hard to watch him try to make it to the back on his own post-match knowing the full extent of his injuries but that's Katsuyori Shibata for you. There was so many little things to love about this match, simple things, like Okada trying to block the figure-four attempt or Shibata's British-inspired counters in the first few minutes. Hell of a performance from Red Shoes, as well. Great, great match.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Tiger Mask W (NJPW, 3/6/17)

I don't watch Tiger Mask W, I don't know what the "W" stands for, but I do know that Kota Ibushi personifies him. I also know he's wearing a much better mask than the plush cosplay version. Viewed within an animesque bubble, I had a blast watching this match. The age-old story of the young punk ass Tiger Mask trying to keep pace with the big money champ was well told and I love that Tiger Mask W is basically Kota Ibushi playing a fiery Satoru Sayama. The hiccups occur when they try to overdo it with some elaborate spot and it comes off looking awkward and out-of-place. But the basic execution is great and a big part of the visual presentation is Ibushi's bumping. This match also made me excited to see Okada in 10 years. 

A simple start to the story, with TMW showing he can keep pace with the champion, boosting his confidence a little until Okada shuts him down. Okada's flying crossbody over the guardrail was a thing and beauty and he starts building that ace swagger as he slingshots in across TMW with the senton. When Tiger starts to heat up and show off, Okada cools him back down. I liked his neckbreaker counter to the first Tiger Driver attempt but when he tries to put him away early with a Rainmaker, Ibushi fires back on offense. He tries for a tiger suplex but the champ fights out, in turn looking for a tombstone, but Ibushi slips out and cracks Okada upside his head with the high kick! 

Pissy ace Okada is terrific and Tiger Mask's heelish response to the bullying is with the closed-fists and pesky kicks to the face while the referee is admonishing him. When Tiger counters the Rainmaker with his Rainmaker-style high kick, I'm now in favor of Tiger Mask actually defeating the champ and challenging him for the title in this weird parallel NJPW universe. Love his Super Tiger Sayama attitude as he puts the boots to Okada's arm to set-up the Last Ride or the knee response to Okada trying to fight out of the tiger driver. That corner spot was an absolute mess and nearly killed the match, with Okada corpsing as he re-positions Ibushi. Personally, I thought Tiger beating Okada in a non-title match with that Super Tiger Driver would have been a great route to go, with TMW emerging as a star and the two building to a title match down the road. But Okada hits his trio of Rainmakers to trounce Tiger's chances this time around. Despite some of the miscommunications, I thought Okada and Ibushi had really good chemistry and I'd love to see a title match in the future, even if it's inside the same anime bubbleverse. 

Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 2/5/17)

Minoru Suzuki rules. There’s no disputing that. Modern wrestling doesn’t get much better than Suzuki dismantling fools limb from limb, taking pleasure in the pain of others while leering and cackling like the sadistic fuck he is. That being said, Minoru was great in this match, between his focused legwork, vicious strikes, and terrific expressions. He’s such a bully here, showing zero respect for the champ as he grinds his heel into the knee, boots Okada’s face, slaps him silly. I liked the idea of the match. I’m a sucker for limb-focused matches and they established Okada’s injury early on and Suzuki exploiting it, which was great. I didn’t necessarily have a problem with the length of the match but more so the pacing of the match, the start-stop momentum, and the placement of the submission teases, which were needlessly milked to eat up minutes. Kazuchika Okada rarely deviates from a game plan and that became painfully obvious here where Suzuki had already attacked the injured leg but Okada starts implementing offense which specifically uses that injured knee, i.e., the neckbreaker onto the knee or using the knee during the cutthroat stretch. Or even the style over substance spot of kipping up to his feet. Logic says a defending champion wouldn’t purposely aggravate an already injured knee but do whatever you can do to protect that knee. I thought Okada’s retaliations looked weak in comparison to Suzuki’s stiff offense and it wasn’t until they start trading slaps that Okada really puts some heat behind his strikes. 

I thought the turning point of this match should’ve come after Gedo thinks about throwing in the towel after Suzuki counters the first Rainmaker attempt, as Okada can barely stand after this and it’s his best selling performance of the match. The subsequent figure-four leglock sequence made little sense, we get Suzuki-gun’s interference, which is expected, but could’ve been limited to Taichi being a dick on the outside, and then Okada hits the superstar dropkick. I liked the idea of him teasing the Gotch-style tombstone but then we get another tedious submission sequence and the momentum of the match is feeling really jerky. Having skipped all that nonsense, the match could’ve really picked up with Okada fighting back with the slaps, stunning Suzuki and leading to the comeback and the final Rainmaker dance with Suzuki's counter attempts. I liked the set-up to the finish, with Suzuki trying to slap and headbutt his way out of a wristlock only to eat another Rainmaker, which leads to the German suplex > Rainmaker combo. A good match with an established storyline but with too much time to kill and some irrational decisions by the champ that only further exposed himself and put himself in jeopardy. Already I'm spent. 

NJPW "WRESTLE KINGDOM 11 IN TOKYO DOME" (1/4/17)

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: KUSHIDA (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi 

This was wacky and haphazard, with some miscalculated spots that added a sense of urgency and unpredictability to the match. It fits Hiromu's 'time bomb' crust punk character and I think it initially forced KUSHIDA to work at that breakneck pace, nearly killing himself with the top rope somersault senton on the outside. They blew the 'rana over the ropes but Takahashi made up for it by hitting his own somersault senton from the top. KUSHIDA then snaps out of it and catches Takahashi's apron senton with a cross armbreaker on the outside. I loved KUSHIDA pissed off armwork with the hair-grabbing and kicks. The Hoverboard Lock struggle, along with Hiromu's selling, fleshed out the frantic nature of the match. The finishing stretch saw the champ's desperation in full effect as he tries in vain to hold onto his title, only to fall to Hiromu's Time Bomb finish. Structurally, this thing was a mess but maybe that's a big part of it's charm. Hiromu is like bizarro-KUSHIDA and I love it. 

NEVER Openweight Title: Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Hirooki Goto

Out of every match on the show, this one had me hooked from start to finish. I understand that stylistically, these NEVER Openweight Title matches are polarizing but for me, it's a style I enjoy when the violence doesn't feel overly indulgent. This had the right balance, the crowd was fully invested, and it was awesome to watch Goto's mounting frustrations reach a tipping point as Shibata gives zero fucks and makes him work his kind of match. The strikes were stiff, as expected, and Shibata in is full 'Goonies never say die' mode, kicking, elbowing, headbutting Goto without regard. I don't even think Shibata cared if he kept the title or not, he just wanted Goto to show some fire and when Goto finally exploded, it was amazing. The build to that final headbutt exchange made it feel special and Goto's headbutts looked like a million bucks. I loved that shot of Shibata's zombie-fied face after Goto hits that final headbutt and plants him with the inverted GTR before finishing him off with the regular GTR. This is exactly the kind of win Goto needed and he looked like a total badass with that finish. I enjoyed this more than both of Shibata's matches with Ishii last year, as it felt fresh, not like a retread of old territory, and the performance from a reinvigorated and pissed off Goto was one of his best. I think this is my MOTN on first viewing. The end result was the absolute right decision and I can't wait to see what Goto does with the title while Shibata begins his road to winning the G1 Climax. 

IWGP Intercontinental Title: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

This was good and would likely have been even better if Tanahashi put more into his selling. That being said, veteran ace Tanahashi does a masterful job of setting the pace of this match and I thought the storytelling was really good, with the dueling legwork, the callbacks to previous encounters, and Naito's mostly shenanigans-free approach to wrestling. The crowd was still hot from the previous match and bought what these two were selling. I'm a big fan of Naito's limbwork and his use of the injured leg to escape predicaments and squash momentum. When Tanahashi started going after Naito's leg, Naito's selling eclipsed Tanahashi's. When it comes to sustained selling, I'm a nitpicker and in a match like this, where Naito's legwork is a primary focus, Tanahashi didn't put enough into his performance to make me care. Things like him using the cloverleaf hold, which puts a lot of stress on the knees, and then running around to hit High Fly Flows without much of a limp in his step. The slingblade on the apron was a cool spot though. By the end of it, it felt a little puffy and should've ended on that first Destino but they kill a few more minutes, allowing Naito to hit a couple more to retain. A good slow-burner with a great underlying story and performance from Naito. The result makes sense considering the result of the main event and now LIJ is dominant as fuck. 

IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchida Okada (c) vs. Kenny Omega

Woof, this match. I mean, I think the reason Naito/Omega worked so well is that they kept it under 30 minutes and the downtime only added to the narrative, with Omega working around his bum knee. Here, the first 20 minutes felt like complete, sleep-inducing filler and then they suddenly ramp it up from a 2 to an 11, to the point where it felt artificial and mechanical. There's no doubt these two busted their asses for the second half of the match and some of the spots were nutzo but maybe they were trying a little too hard to re-create the 'epic', jaw-dropping nature of the Naito/Omega match. Even if they had shaved off 15 dull minutes, I still don't think this would've reached the much-hyped "MOTY" label everyone was hoping for...at least from my perspective. Lots of indulgent, finish-worthy spots, like the top rope dragon suplex, that were inconsequential thirty seconds later. That being said, I did like the finishing stretch, with Omega landing some vicious knees, including the Rainmaker knee, and Okada managing to counter out of every attempt at the One-Winged Angel, preserving the danger of it and laying the groundwork for the rematch. The spinning tombstone > Rainmaker combo was the cherry on the sprinkle-coated frosting of this cake and the exclamation point on Okada's dominant ace role while still making Omega look strong as a title challenger. This match skipped the appetizers and went straight to the dessert bar at the Golden Corral. 

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 8/6/16)

On paper, I wasn’t overly excited about this match-up but Ishii is such a maestro in the ring, crafting a really fun underdog tale (although I don’t know if I would call a stone pitbull an underdog) and making Okada’s offense look like a million bucks (i.e. the guardrail-hung DDT). There’s something satisfying about watching Ishii bully Okada with chops, boot scrapes and headbutts. Okada realizes he can’t hang with Ishii in the striking department so he’s got to tap into his movez database to try and defeat him. Okada is fine here, he gets in his usual spots, but Ishii elevates this thing to another level. Little things like the chop during the Rainmaker post and stomping on the foot to get out of the tombstone piledriver attempt. And that finishing stretch was something else, with Ishii ducking and dodging the Rainmaker attempts before landing the big headbutt and ultimately pinning the champ following the brainbuster. Great stuff.

New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom 10 (1/2/16)

Wrestle Kingdom 9 was the best pro-wrestling event of 2015. Hands down. The K. Ibushi/S. Nakamura match topped many a folk's end-of-the-year lists, with Tanahashi/Okada easily in the top 5 and a pretty awesome Suzuki/Sakuraba squabble. Enter 2016. Wrestle Kingdom 10. Is this already show of the year? Probably.

NEVER Openweight Title: Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata

We knew this was going to be awesome. We knew that when these two went at it, it would be sometimes hard to watch. The sound effects would make you cringe. The emotion would be high, the fighting spirit undying. The tag match from 12/19's Road to Tokyo Dome show gave us an awesome preview of what would come in one of the best tag team matches from last year. Did it deliver? Hell yeah. This was a contest of pure endurance and pain tolerance. Early on,  these two were begging for pain, trading shots until Shibata went Happy Gilmore on Ishii's back with a kick. But Ishii's a Stone Pitbull. He's like New Japan's version of the Absorbing Man. He chops Shibata like firewood and Shibata's forearms are nutzo. After kicking the shit out of Ishii, he gladly cleans it off his face with the side of his boot in the corner. He's polite about his violence, and god, does it look painful. Lariats, kicks, suplexes, and we all fall down. Ishii wants to keep his NEVER title and folds Shibata up with a powerbomb for two -- the first pin attempt of the match. Lariat? Count one. Sliding lariat? Count two. And those thunking headbutts are the stuff of nightmares. More lariats from Ishii, more kicks from Shibata...and a nasty flying knee kick, a front kick, and the PK for the Shibata victory! A surprising finish to a non-stop match in which the competitors didn't have time to think about the consequences of their actions, or the degradation of the human biomass. Life is short. Let's fuck each other up and call it art. A+

IWGP Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. AJ Styles

So these two are leaving New Japan, heading to WWE in a quasi-surprising move, and instead of going the Goldberg/Lesnar route and not giving two shits, they gave like 4 and a half shits. This was easily my favorite AJ Styles New Japan match, and when Shinsuke wants to be solid, he's above and beyond. A slower build, which suits the 18-year veteran Styles well. The high flying shenangians are in still in his repertoire but he's picked up a few new tricks along the way that don't jeopardize his chances as much. There's also a franticness to this match. You can see it in their movements and counters. AJ's a former IWGP Heavyweight Champion so in his mind, this is beneath him. But Nakamura's swallows his final piece of Bullet Club lead and Styles quickly needs to coat check the ego. He does beautifully with a Styles dropkick (one of the best still) but when he plays opossum in the corner, he pays for it with a backbreaker and a sick high knee strike in the corner. Shinsuke looks like a lunatic and I'd be happy to see a Shinsuke Nakamura/Dean Ambrose match in his WWE future. Styles sells the back with the suplex lift attempt and goes low with the snap suplex in the corner. He works over Nakamura's leg, trying to weaken the Boma Ye, but it doesn't seem to be working. Once Shinsuke connects with that murdering second-rope Boma Ye, the momentum shifts. AJ lands his own Boma Ye and goes old-school with the Firebird Splash and Nakamura goes old-school with the cross armbreaker counter. A one-armed Styles Clash from AJ isn't enough to dethrone the foppish king. He hits the Bloody Sunday set-up to another Styles Clash...wait, fuck that, Super Styles Clash is the better decision. But his ego comes back to haunt him and after Nakamura counters off the top with the Landslide, he nails AJ with one of the most brutal Boma Ye knees to the back of the head, followed by a second Boma Ye to retain. Awesome stuff. A+

IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Rewind to Wrestle Kingdom 9, Tanahashi was still ace. He defeated Okada to keep his belt and his pride intact -- well, relatively intact and then lost it to Styles. Okada had to wade through the Bullet Club bullshit to finally reclaim what was taken from him at Wrestling Dontaku 2014, and now, the stage is set for the final battle to decide Japan's top pro wrestler. Tanahashi goes for the leg early on because, let's face it, he likes the Texas Cloverleaf. Unfortunately, Okada's selling of the limb work left something to be desired in this match, and while it didn't necessarily detract from the match as a whole, the inconsistency made you realize that Kazuchika Okada is human and not a wrestling god. It was what you would expect from these two, with a little more salt and pepper here and there, some big nearfalls, the 'Hey, I respect you but I'm going to try and beat you with your own finisher' game, and one of the best finishes I've seen in awhile. Tanahashi, the consummate samurai, strikes out with a final flash of steel: a Sling Blade, a dragon suplex hold, and back-to-back High Fly Flows. But Okada won't go down. He can't go down. The passion for this rivalry is deafening within the Tokyo Dome, and maybe Tanahashi lets that get to him because in his heart-of-hearts, he knows that Okada is now the master. He tries for the third HFF but Okada shows him the best dropkick in the world! After Okada's German suplex, Tanahashi slaps Okada! He's got nothing left at this point and Okada won't let go -- literally. Three Rainmakers and it's goodnight, sweet prince Tanahashi. A+ And with this win, Okada fulfills his destiny. He becomes the embodiment of New Japan; the modern evolution of pro wrestling art. Here's to 2016!