Takayuki Iizuka vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 3/15/89)

This is a handheld so the quality isn't the greatest but the match itself was very solid. Suzuki is already so slick here, maneuvering around the mat, and the sense of struggle throughout was great. Iizuka fighting for the snapmare, Suzuki working through various armbar setups and takedowns, Suzuki's selling of the leg as Iizuka goes after it in the second half. Of course, this all builds to Suzuki's eventual comeback with a sick high corner kick to the head, a big corner dropkick to the face, and some neat judo throws. They slap it out before Suzuki brings Iizuka down with the armbar takedown into armbar for the submission.

Josh Barnett's Bloodspot (GCW, 4/4/19)

Jonathan Gresham vs. Masashi Takeda

Takeda is soaking it all up and it's a blast to watch. He outwrestles Gresham in the opening exchange, headbutts the floor, and picks a fight with Gresham, whom I haven't seen much of, but clicked well with Takeda, who can do everything when it comes to professional wrestling. The last few minutes encapsulate the pro-wrestling love -- crazy slaps and flying armbars out of nowhere, pounding away at bloody eyeballs and a KO finish that looked like a KO finish. Can't think of a better sprint in 2019. 

Hideki Suzuki vs. Timothy Thatcher

A very good match, with Hideki's control and/or fighting for control being the best part of it, as Thatcher works sell well underneath. Slow build but a hot finish. Suzuki's shitty boots, face kicks and elbows alway look so insane, and Thatcher can cut loose when he wants to - that Hideki sell off the European uppercut was especially great. Super strong finish for Hideki, who comes into U.S. looking like a master.  

Minoru Suzuki vs. Josh Barnett

The early tradeoffs on the mat were very good, and the cool little Suzuki nuances added to them - I really liked his punch to set-up the leglock. And Barnett's good at throwing his weight into the exchanges - him tossing Suzuki like a sack of potatoes to get out of that snug side headlock was great. When Suzuki is forced to wrestle, he's still top-notch. His transition into the crucifix kneebar was slick. But the match stumbles a bit following the piledriver tease and doesn't have nearly the same chaos factor at Takeda/Gresham until they're wildly slapping each other to a draw. The highs are high enough and it's probably Suzuki's best singles performance of the year. 

Minoru Suzuki vs. Wayne Shamrock (PWFG, 9/28/91)

Whereas Kenny Wayne Shamrock's match with Masakatsu Funaki from the month prior was hampered by dull matwork, this had a little more excitement on the ground thanks to Minoru Suzuki's speed. His quick counterwork and reversals made for much more compelling submission wrestling. You got the sense that they really had to fight for everything here. They each, more or less, went after each others' legs with Suzuki getting the upper hand on Shamrock. When Shamrock starts clobbering on Suzuki, Suzuki gets him in the rear waistlock, and in order to hit the German suplex, he has to deliver this awesome little combo of strikes to break Shamrock's defense. The finish was awesome, with Suzuki struggling to break out of the rear waistlock by grabbing the arm, and just when you think he's got it, Shamrock puts him in the full nelson and dragon suplexes him for the KO. The fact that Shamrock was using the dragon suplex to knockout his opponents in 1991 is incredible. Really cool match.

PWFG "One For All And All For One" (7/26/91)

Mark Rush vs. Kazuo Takahashi

If you like mat wrangling, then this is the match for you. Mark Rush is a burly individual with an amateur background and for over ten minutes, he and Kazuo Takahashi jockey for leverage on the ground, with Rush using his size to his advantage. Takahashi's focus is the arm and the struggle for armbar is a reoccurring and often compelling theme of the match. There's a couple of slams throughout but this mostly takes place on the ground, and finishes on the ground, as Mark hits a powerslam and taps Takahashi with a nice snug side headlock.

Wayne Shamrock vs. Duane Koslowski 

Duane Koslowski is about as Wonder Bread as they come, looking like 1990's Steve Rogers come to life. Wayne is Kenneth is Ken, and he brings a lot of aggression to this match, which I'm okay with. He tries to keep his distance with strikes while Duane looks to sneak in for a suplex. After taking a couple of shots to the head, Duane finally hits an All-American belly-to-belly suplex and tries for a double wristlock on the mat. He's able to bridge out of a choke and they get into a little spat of open hands before Duane belly-to-bellies him once again. At one point, Duane gives Shammy a love tap slap across the face and boy, does Wayne not like it. He soon finishes him off with the Shamrock Special #2 aka the Northern Lights suplex into the leglock. I want to see more Duane Koslowski.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Naoki Sano

SPOILER ALERT: This is a 30:00 minute time limit draw. However, it's one of the best time limit draws I've seen and the pace these two work throughout is incredible. Right from the get-go, they scramble around with the crowd buzzing, trying to get something locked in long enough without getting thrown off. Suzuki keeps going for the armbar but Sano isn't give him an inch. He'll slap at Sano's thigh, trying to break open the armbar, but no dice. I loved Suzuki's slap to the face>fireman's carry takeover into the armbar attempt, and when he tries for the double arm suplex and Sano resists it, he piledrives him instead. The stand-up striking feels very heated at times, and some of the open hands and palms exchanged look/sound real nasty. Exhaustion begins to rear its ugly head about 15-20 minutes in but Suzuki is dead set on getting the armbar. He hits a German suplex on Sano, but Sano is able to snag an arm off the bridge. At one point, Sano has Suzuki in a rear naked choke and Suzuki is slapping himself to stay coherent, it's great. Finally, Suzuki says "enough with the armbar" and grabs a single leg crab, but he can't maintain it and the time limit expires with them fighting over a leglock. High recommendation for this one.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Masakatsu Funaki

This wasn't great but it wasn't bad. It was SOLID. They work the mat to start, mostly fighting over leglocks, before Funaki starts in with the smacks and kicks, knocking Fujiwara on his ass. He comes at him with a big flurry of kicks and while Fujiwara's able to a catch a leg, he can't follow up with the leg trip and Funaki ends up taking him back down to the mat. One of the best moments of the match comes when Fujiwara's trying to get a hold of Funaki's leg while he's on the ground and Funaki pops him in the face with a defensive shin, once again dropping Funaki on his ass. Funaki doesn't let up, catching him with a hard slap in the face against the ropes and a kick to the face for another knock down. Then he unloads a barrage of body shots, open hands, kicks, but Fujiwara's a resilient and wily old fuck and won't fall. So when Funaki goes for the double leg takedown, Fujiwara snags his arm with his leg for the submission victory. Of course, Fujiwara pulls it out in the end.

Hirooki Goto vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 1/4/18)

Incredible performances from both men in a no-nonsense contest that really played to their individual strengths. Minoru Suzuki was at his most callous without the Suzuki-goons bringing him down, and Hirooki Goto did a fantastic job of selling that classic Suzuki sadism. In a night that was mostly about trying to outdo the overdone, this was simple, brutal, and under twenty minutes. My kind of my match. Immediately, they stagger each other with hard slaps to the face before Suzuki grabs the sleeper and hangs Goto from the turnbuckle with it -- the visual of Goto's body going limp in the corner and lying motionless on the mat was unbelievable. Suzuki doesn't let up, throwing Goto out of the ring, cracking him with a chair, then swatting him in the face while he's down. Goto tries fighting back but Suzuki only cackles and levels him with an elbow. I loved how the sleeper hold > Gotch piledriver set-up played into the match, and Suzuki connects with one of the most awesome dropkicks I've seen in quite some time. The way he unloads on poor Goto with that never-ending combination of slaps and jabs, busting open his lip...so so good. Goto is finally able to build some momentum heading into the finishing stretch, reversing the top rope sleeper into a super Ushigoroshi. He hammers Suzuki with elbows, stopping him mid-swing with a lunging headbutt, before putting him down for the count with the GTR. My current 2018 MOTY, kiddos.

Jun Akiyama vs. Minoru Suzuki (NOAH, 3/5/06)

Minoru Suzuki’s rocking the pure white, a clear indication that he’s gone good, and I loved the teased confrontations, knowing that Suzuki is going to turn heel within the match at some point but initially, he’s wrestling clean with some reluctance. Then he locks on the jujigatame and refuses to let go, the bastard, and the referee nearly throws himself atop Suzuki to break it up. Having shown his true colors, Suzuki uses a hanging sleeper on the ropes and it’s sold like straight death by Akiyama – in fact, Suzuki grabs him, yells “wake up!” and slaps him in the face. He’s nasty with his boots and chokes, shoving the intervening referee out of the way, but Akiyama equally as nasty with his knees and likewise tosses the ref out of the ring! Akiyama’s weakness in the taped ribs is exploited in the dirtiest of fashions by Suzuki, and throughout, you get the impression that Akiyama is legitimately hurting here. I can’t recall ever seeing a top rope octopus hold but Suzuki pulls it off, cackling like a Batman villain before double stomping Akiyama. He tenderizes him with snug kicks before really working that octopus hold, digging the elbow in, stretching him on the mat, then toe punching the ribs. Really good selling from Akiyama as always and when Suzuki tries to sneak in with a sleeper hold, Akiyama quickly backdrops to set up a little run of offense. But again, Suzuki is able to exploit those ribs, ducking a running knee and blasting Jun with a knee to the midsection before spiking him with a delayed Gotch-style piledriver.

Then the match shifts gears…and perhaps, that shift is a little too discordant for some, I hear you. But come on, they basically work in their version of the infamous Kobashi/Sasaki chop exchange…but with face slaps. They slap and slap and slap themselves silly, with Suzuki heating up, then Akiyama with the spicy mustard, slapping to the point of exhaustion. Akiyama finally abandons the slaps for the knees, taking Suzuki down. Suzuki’s selling is terrific here as he crumbles to the canvas, screaming defiantly in Akiyama’s face when he Jun picks him up, only to get shhhhhmacked and finished off with the wrist-clutch Exploder. This is probably a polarizing match for some as the first half of the match is hunked out the window in exchange for endless slap action but I loved Suzuki’s character work.

Kenta Kobashi vs Minoru Suzuki (NOAH, 1/8/05)

I can see why people may be turned off by this match, as it isn’t really structured like a traditional Kenta Kobashi “epic special fantastical”. That being said, I love this match, not only because of Minoru Suzuki’s performance but Kobashi’s selling of the arm. The systematic destruction of a body part is one of my favorite stories in pro-wrestling and Suzuki’s fantastic at it. Obviously, Kenta’s going to be chopping and lariating a bunch so it makes perfect sense to take that arm out of the equation. I love Suzuki’s initial hesitation to lock up with Kobashi, utilizing his cat-like speed and agility to bob and weave around Kobashi’s chops, bitching slapping Kenta when he as a chance and then promptly attacking the arm. Of course, when Suzuki does get caught with chops, it’s wonderful. But I could watch Suzuki dismantling somebody’s arm all day long, just trapping and stretching limbs, and Kobashi’s selling is perfect here, especially the missed chop and Suzuki’s finger wagging. Suzuki’s such a badass that he hits the Gotch-style piledriver and decides to stand on Kobashi’s head rather than pin him. Even when he’s getting rocked with brutal suplexes and powerbombs, Suzuki finds a way to snag the arm and further inflict damage, not giving Kobashi an inch. His only real effective offense are his suplexes and when he unloads on Suzuki with backdrop after backdrop suplex, it’s brutally awesome – not to mention Suzuki’s last stand, as pathetically slaps away at Kobashi before crumbling in defeat.  Terrrrrrrrific.

BJW/Masahito Kakihara Produce "KAKI RIDE" (8/14/17)

Big Japan helped produced this special event as a way to support Masahito Kakihara, who has been suffering from malignant lymphoma since 2014. The event saw the return of Kakihara to the ring, in a sparring session with grapple legend, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, but everything else was fought under "UWF Rules", meaning points deducted for rope breaks, knockdowns, and in the case of Minoru Suzuki, penalties. On a whole, this was a really fun show and something I'd love to see BJW produce more often. Nothing super high end but I did have a few notes on the show. 

- In his sparring session, Kakihara tapped to Fujiwara a total of ten times. There wasn't much to this, some neat little tricks by Fujiwara, but the best moment came when Fujiwara smoked and ashed an imaginary cigar while had Kakihara in a headlock. Oh yeah.

- Minoru Tanaka managed to wrestle his best match of the year in just under 3:00 against Masakatsu Funaki. Funaki immediately whaps him in the forehead with a kick, and then they scramble around the mat with a real sense of urgency, trying to sink something in. Minoru's able to escape an armbar attempt but gets caught in a triangle and taps out.

- Tatsuo Nakano, still rocking that badass mullet, fought Daisuke Nakamura in a match that definitely over delivered. You've got Nakamura flying fancy round the mat and Nakano being Nakano just knees him in the face, dumps him with an armtrap release German, and submits him with the single leg crab. 

- Hideki Suzuki once again took former student Takuya Nomura to school on the mat, being real nasty with his forearms to the face and knees to the throat. I love the way he manipulates Nomura's arm with the wristlock in order to assert dominance. It seems Nomura's learned a thing or two from their match earlier in the year, where Suzuki basically smothered him into giving up, as he's able to avoid getting suplexed by sitting down and maintains arm control long enough to force Suzuki to the ropes. He's able to let loose a little flurry of strikes but Suzuki's too good, and the finish was swanky as fuck, as Suzuki counters out of the waistlock with a front necklock and then goes into the double arm suplex hold for the submission. 

- Rocky Kawamura (sans boxing gloves) always find a way of pissing off Minoru Suzuki. Suzuki was pretty great here. After landing a few slaps, he tries for the Gotch-style piledriver because you might as well and when Kawamura avoids it, Suzuki grabs the leg and cranks away, forcing Rocky to the ropes. When Rocky uses a jujigatame on Suzuki and doesn't let go after Minoru makes the ropes, the "oh no you didn't" look on Suzuki's face is fantastic. He tries to choke out Rocky, then starts kicking, stomping, and headbutting away, receiving a couple of yellow cards from the ref. Rocky fires off a few jabs but Suzuki's able to snatch an arm and wrench in the wakigatame for the submission. 

- Naomichi Marufuji doesn't have a whole lot of experience wrestling under "UWF Rules" and when he keeps revisiting the ropes on the ground, it becomes obvious that the only way he's going to beat Takaku Fuke is via strikes. He is able to secure a keylock but that's about as close as he gets to submitting Fuke. In the end, Fuke starts laying in the slaps and knees in the corner and out of nowhere, Marufuji connects with the Koo for the KO victory. Cool shorts, Maru. 

Minoru Suzuki vs. TAKA Michinoku (K-Dojo, 11/13/12)

Essentially a glorified squash match but masterfully executed by both guys, with TAKA Michinoku trying to outwrestle a pudgy Minoru Suzuki to no avail as each counter is promptly reversed. After a little touch-and-go, Suzuki asserts his dominance with a cravate, maintaining control through TAKA's bridge attempts and then hooking the leg, looking for the manjigatame. Suzuki ragdolls TAKA on the mat, stretching all limbs and working in the aggressive legscissors. When TAKA tries to slip out and slide into a headlock, Suzuki immediately puts him back in the legscissors. Knowing he can't outwrestle Suzuki, TAKA employs his usual tactics, grabbing Suzuki's top knot, or smacking Suzuki in the ribs when he's got him on the ground, that shit-eating grin on his face. The strikes pick up in the backend, with some snug open hands exchanged and Suzuki chopping TAKA in the throat. TAKA tries for the classic eye poke but opts for the shin kick, only to get slapped silly in the face and unloaded on in the corner with some bad boy slaps. I really enjoyed the abruptness of the finish, with TAKA starting to heat up on offense but when he tries for the Michinoku Driver, Suzuki grabs him and puts him away with almost a stump Gotch-style piledriver. Play time's over, TAKA. A sweet showcase for Suzuki and TAKA being the gnat buzzing round his intricately shaved head.

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.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Osamu Nishimura (NJPW, 1/4/04)

A short and sweet little affair between surfer dude Minoru Suzuki and Osamu Nishimura, with Suzuki hyper vigilant with his armwork, snatching it at any given opportunity. After a clean break in the corner, Suzuki reminds Nishimura who he is with a smack across the face. Oh boy. They work the mat a bit, running through some counters and reversals. When Nishimura tries for his patented headstand escape, Suzuki snags the prone arm and lays back with a cross armbreaker. Simple but awesome. Suzuki continues to target the arm with kicks and stomps but Nishimura catches a stray, taking him down with the dragon screw legwhip and going into the spinning toeholds to set-up the figure four. But when he goes for it, Suzuki counters again into another armbar. He delivers the Gotch-style piledriver but opts for the submission attempt instead with a reverse armbar. Nishimura's able to survive and tries a few desperate roll ups but on the final backslide, Suzuki seizes the arm with yet another cross armbreaker. The dude's on fire...until the end, when he tries for another takedown and Nishimura's able to pin him with the backslide. Suzuki at his best here.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Sanshiro Takagi (DDT, 6/1/2017)

I don't like comedy matches. That being said, this was the best comedy match I've ever seen. I haven't unintentionally laughed this much in a pro wrestling context. In addition to being a certified badass, Minoru Suzuki is also pure comedic gold, between his looks, his smirks, his interactions with everyone around him. As a match, I don't know how to rate this...but as a collection of moments, this was amazing.I mean, I can't help but list my favorite moments from this once in a lifetime spectacle:

• Minoru Suzuki's imaginary ring entrance, kicking at an imaginary young boy along the way.
• Suzuki trying to hide his smirk during when Aja Kong walks out for the National Anthem. 
• Takagi and Suzuki playing to a crowd that doesn't exist.
• Bases break submission holds.
• Suzuki bullying Super Sasadango Machine's PowerPoint presentation and Takagi dousing them both with the fire extinguisher. 
• Suzuki destroying Gota Ihashi multiple times. 
• Gota Ihashi laughing as he futilely chops Suzuki.
• Gota Ihashi napping on the stairs.
• Suzuki trying to throw Takagi from the upper deck. 
• The look Suzuki gives Ladybeard.
• Jun Kasaki moonlighting as a janitor. 
• The random encounter kickboxer in the corridor and the way Suzuki tiptoes past him. 
• Danshoku Dino's hounding friends. 
• The way fake Nakamura bumps into the door.
• Tenryu fistbumping Suzuki and Suzuki's giddy reaction.
• Meiko Satomura's trying to throw a baseball and failing. Miserably. To the point where she's literally standing in front of Suzuki.
• Suzuki's wind-up chop and Takagi's missed lariat from the outfield wall. 

So many gems, my god. Thanks for the laughs, DDT! This is, without a doubt, my comedy match of the decade. 

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. 

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. 

NOAH "GREAT VOYAGE 2016 IN YOKOHAMA VOL. 2" (10/23/16)

NOAH vs. Suzuki-gun: Minoru Suzuki vs. Kaito Kiyomiya

I love when Suzuki toys with the young boys. Let them think they’re getting somewhere then quickly shut them down and out when they overstep their boundaries and piss him off. Same reason I love the other Suzuki (Hideki). Give them an inch and when they take a mile, kill them. This is exactly what happened here with poor Kiyomiya. He comes out red hot with elbows but Suzuki doesn’t let it spiral out of control and hits back even harder with his own elbow shots. We get the expected rope-hung submission spot from Suzuki before he introduces Kiyomiya to some chairs. Kiyomiya sells Suzuki’s offense well enough and mounts a little bit of a comeback as he tries to wear Suzuki down with dropkicks and crab holds. But this only pushes Suzuki to the breaking point, and he unloads on Kiyomiya. Loved Suzuki picking Kiyomiya back up whenever he collapses from exhaustion only to keep paintbrushing him with slaps before ultimately ending his misery with the Gotch-style piledriver. Fun little rookie punishment match with Kiyomiya getting a bit of control time in before dying at the hands of Suzuki.

NOAH vs. NJPW Special Singles Match: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Go Shiozaki

This is a match that’s been built-up nicely since Shibata’s violent interactions with the NOAH boys and Shiozaki’s NEVER Title challenge fake out. I admit, my expectations were high going into this and maybe I was left a tad bit disappointed by the end of it but following the awesome post-match shenanigans, I’m certain this is only the first of several interactions between Shibata and Shiozaki, possibly leading to Shiozaki challenging for the NEVER Title at Wrestle Kingdom. As an introduction, though, this was a pretty fun Shibata formula match with some blatant no selling, awkward German backdrops, tons of elbows, tons of chops from Shiozaki that left Shibata’s chest raw meat red. Go’s offense can often be underwhelming but I thought everything was executed well, from the fisherman buster to that gnarly lariat -- hell, even the Go Flasher looked as devastating as it can. I thought the busted nose only added to the match, with Shiozaki sniffing back the blood. The sleeper hold into the sleeper suplex was also a neat, fitting spot given the environment and set up the finish nicely. I didn’t love this like some of Shibata’s NJ matches from earlier in the year but it was good and I’m certain they’ll deliver much more come January.

GHC Heavyweight Title: Takashi Sugiura (c) vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima

I may be in the minority here but I enjoyed this more than the Shibata/Shiozaki match and in my opinion, it was a definite improvement upon their match from earlier in the year. Nakajima’s just so good playing the baby-faced, underdog burning spirit and his selling of the injured back and selling those elbows like death really added something special to the narrative. It’s a slow burn, no doubt, and could’ve benefitted with a few minutes trimmed off the total runtime but it didn’t feel like a chore to sit through like with Sugiura’s previously defenses. Loved Nakajima almost KO’ing Sugiura early on after Sugiura tries to cheap shot him against the ropes, a nice callback to his match with Suzuki and Suzuki trying to punk him like he’s still Kensuke’s towel boy. None of that bullshit, sir. After Sugiura hits an overhead suplex on the walkway, he starts working over that injured back, at one point using a chair. Shuichi Nishinaga is one of my favorite officials to watch because he ain’t scared to get in there and cut out the nonsense. Nakajima took some nasty elbows from Sugiura but kept asking for more and eventually fired back with some of his hard kicks, building to a PK and a brainbuster for two. I feel like Nakajima’s brainbuster should be reserved as the nail in the coffin but it didn’t take away too much here and Sugiura got to hit one of his own. When the Olympic Slam isn’t enough, Sugiura tries for the top rope variation only for Nakajima to blast him with a big fat headbutt to knock him off. So great. After a couple of quick thrust kicks, Nakajima hits a smooth-as-silk deadlift German for two before connecting with back-to-front PKs, a thrust kick to the head and the brainbuster for the biggest win of his career. Let’s hope he gets a proper reign to cement his status as the ACE of NOAH. Probably the “best” NOAH show of the year from what I saw

Minoru Suzuki vs. Yukio Sakaguchi (DDT, 3/21/16)

Nothing bad, nothing outright wonderful. I wanted a little more hatred in this but there wasn't any. Suzuki with an uncharacteristic clean break at the outset set the tone for this match. They work the mat a bit, tease some stomps, trade kicks in the ring and on the apron. It's more or less a Suzuki-dominant match, with him forcing Sakaguchi back to the ropes time and time again. Sakaguchi comes back, controls a bit with strikes, Suzuki comes back, controls again with submissions. I liked Sakaguchi's management of the cobra clutch, trapping Suzuki's arm as he struggles and looking like he was trying to also trap the leg. Suzuki gets a little crazy after a dropkick counter and locks in the sleeper hold. When he tries to transition to the Gotch piledriver, Sakaguchi back bodydrops his way out of it but gets caught right back in the sleeper hold. Suzuki hits the Saka Otoshi to stun him and then re-asserts the sleeper hold for the submission V. Decent! 

Minoru Suzuki vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (NOAH, 2/24/16)

What a match. Awesome performances from both men. Tons of drama, tons of arm brutality, Minoru Suzuki being the best heel in the world, and Baby Naka summoning up the fighting spirit of his ancestors to win this thing. Even from the get go, we see the hesitancy of Nakajima to lock up with mean-spirited ground-and-pounder Suzuki. I don't blame him. The ring awareness of Suzuki was so fun to watch. In the initial arm struggle, Suzuki slickly slips out (five times fast) of a side headlock and gets control of Nakajima's arm. The Fujiwara armbar takedown out of the brainbuster attempt, the complete control over Nakajima as he tries to roll through. He just wrecks poor Naka's arm with that cross armbreaker and when you think Nakajima has a way out, Suzuki slams that escape hatch shut. He's a complete dick in this match.  He bails early to fix his hair and fuck around. He bullies Nakajima on the outside and gives the referee shit but props to the ref, who really controlled this match. That corner tarantula-style armbar was pretty gnarly. The sympathetic Baby Naka and his never-say-die attitude was the perfect contrast to Suzuki's bully. He attacks Suzuki until it hurts (literally). Those kicks to the chest were brutal. Suzuki wanted to break his arm and Nakajima sold it like he did. After the sleeper hold, Suzuki can't even stand him up for the Gotch-style piledriver. But after Nakajima fights out of it, he makes his sudden and triumphant comeback, knowing he can only defeat Suzuki with those big kicks. After three thrust kicks, a pele kick, and a PK, Nakajima puts Suzuki away with the brainbuster. The ending was a bit of a surprise but it sold Nakajima's brainbuster as the killer "Game Over" screen. Very minor drag time for a 25:00 match -- very little that didn't add to the compelling story being told. One of my favorite matches of the year so far, an easy MOTY contender. 

Go Shiozaki vs. Minoru Suzuki (NOAH, 1/31/16)

Welcome back, Go. Yours truly, Minoru. P.S. – This is going to hurt. On paper, I was curious about this match. I like Minoru Suzuki. Go Shiozaki had some pretty good matches in AJPW last year but I’ve yet to see his return work in NOAH. The crowd clear doesn’t care that he’s back. Throughout this match, he tries to get them on his side but they don’t bite. Suzuki is just a DICK and it’s so much fun to watch. Of course, there iares shenanigans in this as its building to Kanemaru’s betrayal but there’s a lot to like here: the Suzuki bitch-style slaps, the screwdriver to the head, the arm work, Shiozaki’s selling. That armbar takedown by Suzuki looks painful as he just wrenches Go to the canvas. Even when Shiozaki manages a little bit of a comeback, Suzuki cuts him off and goes right back to humiliating him. The Go Flasher literally got no reaction but let’s be honest…it’s a pretty lame move to begin with.  In the end, Kanemaru turns, Suzuki defeats Go with the Gotch-style piledriver, and Maybach Taniguchi comes out to make the save, unmasking to become…Shuhei Taniguchi.