Koji Kanemoto vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (NJPW, 5/27/00)

This ruled. Stiff strikes, focused legwork from Kanemoto with some uncharacteristically great selling from Takaiwa, neat little nuances here and there, and a few bombs for good measure. Even with a couple of minutes missing, we got the complete story. Kanemoto promptly shotguns him with a kick to the left leg and Takaiwa sells hard for it, before he starts trying to clobber his way to the driver's seat. The lariats into the guardrail were great but then he gets caught with the overhead suplex on the floor and Kanemoto goes to town on the leg. Fun stuff like Takaiwa grabbing the ref's shirt while in the figure-four or Kanemoto backhanding him in the face after he drops down with the spinning toehold. I love that when Takaiwa tries for his own figure-four, it's immediately reversed and he's put on the rocks. Then Kanemoto pulls off the knee pad and starts punching the bandaged knee. Takaiwa is able to work around the bum knee and throw some bombs, including a sweet Death Valley Bomb hold off a tiger suplex attempt. His double powerbomb is obviously weakened because of the leg and he knows it so he pulls Kanemoto up instead of pinning him and clubs him with a lariat. The finish was cool, too, with Kanemoto rolling through his own frankensteiner into an ankle hold to submit Takaiwa. Everything I want out of a sub-15:00 junior heavyweight match.

Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NOAH, 10/19/01)

This little doozy of a match-up truly embodies what a gratuitous bomb-fest should be. You've got Takwai, one of the best no selling shitkickers out there, and Kanemaru, who proves he can scramble brains with the best of them. Within the first five seconds of the match, Takaiwa turns Kanemaru's world upside down with a big boy lariat. They're both being really shitty, with Takaiwa throwing the ref out of the way and Kanemaru using that to his advantage and low blowing Takaiwa. They choke each other with tape before opening up the arsenal and dropping just about every bomb they have in reserve. Brainbusters, Death Valley Bombs, including the best spot where Takaiwa catches Kanemaru off the apron and plants him on the floor, lariats, Takaiwa Drivers -- even one of my favorite video game finishers, the double powerbomb INTO the Death Valley Bomb. They steal each others moves, executing them to brutal perfection, and of course, Takaiwa being Takaiwa pops up after taking three consecutive brainbusters like it's nothing and spikes Kanemaru with the Takaiwa Driver. What a prick. But sometimes you just have to sit back, shut off your thinking capabilities, and enjoy a brainless (maybe literally) but awesome bombs away match.

Masahito Kakihara, Hiromitsu Kanehara, Kennichi Yammamoto & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Yuji Nagata, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Shinjiro Otani & Tokimitsu Ishikawa (NJPW, 2/3/96)

They lit the furnace under the ring and boy, oh boy, did they let loose on each other here, with Takaiwa slangin’ elbows and a maskless Kendo Kashin being an especially dirty ditty, swelling up Kanehara’s eye real good with a headbutt. Being a 2/3 Falls match, the falls felt unpredictable, the first occurring early on after Takaiwa plants Sakuraba with a Death Valley Bomb and submits him with the crab hold. I thought Nagata was the standout here, as he brought awesome intensity to his interactions, dumping Yammamoto and Kakihara with suplexes and blasting Sakuraba with a sweet rolling heel kick in the corner. But as much momentum as Yuji builds, Kaki’s able to snag him with the kneebar out of nowhere to submit him and even the score…but they continue heating it up well into the third fall. Yammamoto, who looked a little rough around the edges throughout, finishes the match in beautiful fashion, delivering a perdy German suplex hold before using a kneebar takedown to submit Takaiwa. Not a very cohesive match on a whole but plenty of fiery exchanges

Shinjiro Ohtani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Hideki Suzuki & Keisuke Okuda (ZERO1, 7/30/17)

Sometimes you don't need a bloated 30+ minute "epic" and the old standby story of a promotion nobody getting put in his place by the promotion's surly dad is plenty. This ticked a lot of my personal preference boxes when it comes to a pro-wrestling match: grumpy old dude (check), disappointed tag partner (check), a well-sold beatdown (check), Hideki Suzuki (check). Ohtani looked his best here and right out of the gate, he's got zero time for Okuda, laying it in with nasty slaps and knees, shoving Okuda's kicks out of the way in order to dish out more punishment. Takaiwa played the gruff uncle to Ohtani's dad role, being a little more reserved with the bomb-throwing but still kicking ass. And Suzuki, despite not getting much in-ring time, ruled here as reprimands his own partner with shitty little kicks and motivational smacks. I thought Okuda took the beating well -- that facewash to the outside looked especially rough -- and when he got the revenge tag, he brought the fire to Ohtani with some terrific machine gun-style elbows in the corner. He goes on to mock Ohtani by walking through the chops but that doesn't impress the old man, who in turn, dumps Okuda on his head not once...but twice with a release dragon suplex to put him away. Good stuff.