HARASHIMA vs. KUDO (DDT, 5/13/18)

These two had one of my favorite DDT matches of 2017 and once again, these two proved that their in-ring chemistry is a key to success. I've always had a soft spot for HARASHIMA's matwork, which usually doesn't go anywhere but when it's happening, I dig it. His leg trip to KUDO from the ground was especially neat. HARASHIMA is also one of the more frustrating sellers but when he's on, he's on, and here, he was on. He eats a spinning back kick to the face and I loved him immediately bailing to the outside after making it to his feet before the ten count...only for KUDO to take him out with a big dive! KUDO kicks hard and he kicked a lot in this match. His head kick toward the end of the match looked real nasty. In fact, there were quite a few strike exchanges throughout, from elbows to kicks to slaps, but everything was snug. KUDO is able to hit the hanging double knees, HARASHIMA hits the reverse frankensteiner. I really liked pulling a page from Yuko Miyamoto's playbook and spiking KUDO with the Fire Thunder Driver before finishing him off with the Somato. One of my favorite DDT matches of 2018.

HARASHIMA vs. KUDO (DDT, 9/24/17)

This ruled, reminding me a lot of HARASHIMA’s 2010 match against Hikaru Sato. There was a blatant and endearing familiarity between these two that pervaded the match from the initial lock-up to the grinning snug exchanges. HARASHIMA was being quite nasty here, especially with his stompy legwork, which is never fancy, but always looks excruciating, whether it's uppercutting into a leg crank or just wrenching the ankle into precarious angles. When KUDO resists the suplex lift, HARASHIMA slapping that bad leg in order to hit the Falcon Arrow -- very cool touch. I guess if I had one minor quibble, it's that KUDO's selling could've been a little more profound but his in-the-moment stuff is pretty great and at times, he would just throw himself at HARASHIMA.

The legwork didn't do enough to deter KUDO from using his stiff kick-and-knee-based offense, and they soon unload on each other with a ton of kicks and dueling high kicks. HARASHIMA's able to pull off the reverse frankesteiner to set-up the corner Somato but when he tries to drive the nail home, KUDO counters with the knee press. Loved KUDO's duck>slap>smile strategy against HARASHIMA and HARASHIMA's lunging headbutt to answer. The escalation into the finishing stretch was terrific, with both guys bumping like crazy. HARASHIMA smiles big after he spikes KUDO with the over-the-shoulder piledriver and KUDO follows that up with a rope hung double knee drop onto the apron (and a slingshot one to the floor for good measure). By the end of it, they're smacking each other silly, HARASHIMA especially, but after a couple of spin kicks and a buzzsaw to the side of the head, KUDO puts HARASHIMA away with the diving double knees. Hell of a performance from both guys (who are both in their 40s, mind you), and they managed to do a lot with the time allowed, creating an "epic" in under 20:00 -- KUDOS!