superkix

This was a bit of a dumb ole pissing contest between two dudes who are so evenly matched in a lot of ways, although Ohtani is the more compelling of the two in this case. That simple narrative was the crux of this match -- the dueling legwork, the one count suplex swaps, the token face washes -- neither guy really having a clear advantage over the other. I liked Ohtani getting cheeky with the slaps on the ropes but not giving Kanemoto the pleasure. And when Kanemoto breaks out the kicks, Ohtani does the obvious and takes out the leg with a dropkick to set-up the groundwork. Ohtani does such a good job of bringing the focus back to the leg, adding little flourishes like the headbutts to the knee, but for the most part, Kanemoto blows off the legwork. Loved the dragon suplex teases on the floor and off the apron but then there’s also some dumb spots, like the “duh” missed springboard dropkick. It wouldn’t be an Ohtani match without the facewash but when he goes back to the well for a second, Kanemoto catches the foot and capture suplexes him in a neat spot. The dueling legwork nulled itself out as the finishing stretch quickly ramped up with big nearfalls. An evenly matched contest unevenly wrestled.

Preferred both semi-finals (and Okada/Suzuki) to the final itself.

This was 85% Osamu schooling Liger on the mat, working the leg like a part-time job. I liked his aggressive approach at the outset, whipping it on the apron, throwing a hard elbow, kneebreaking it on the guardrail, plus his silky smooth transitions, going from a kneelock to a grounded ankle hold when Liger flips over onto his stomach. Liger tries firing back with chops and slaps but Nishimura's able to trip him up, going into the Indian deathlock, bridging back with the sickle hold, then finishing with the bow-and-arrow hold. However, Liger doesn't really sell the legwork, which is unfortunate considering Osamu's effort. In fact, he doesn't really get much offense in at all and in the end, the 15:00 time limit expires with Liger in Osamu's manjigatame. A cool story in theory that wasn't very compelling.

Your copy-and-paste opening with Suzuki grappling a bit with Sugiura, trading hard elbow shots, working on the back of Tanaka with Sato. His got his cool killer demeanor, at one point calmly walking into the ring and clobbering Sugiura in the face while he's got Sato in the ankle hold before encouraging his partner. Then it quickly takes a trip down to Bomb City where there are no sold super Falcon Arrows and Sato dusting off the Northern Lights Bomb and nutty head-dropping suplex sequences with Tanaka's neck taking the brunt of the punishment. Down the home stretch, Tanaka busts open Sato with a headbutt and it's all over from there. Overkill, sure, but it's to be expected when you get these four together in a ring slugging it out.

A really good title match with some swank matwork, stiff strikes, and arm brutalization, further complimented by Sato’s great selling. Suzuki wants to incapacitate Sato by any means, kicking the arm, standing on it, and just wrenching it to hell. A good defense against Sato’s brutal elbows. When Sato is able to fire back, he relies on his kicks. There’s a fun little spot where Suzuki is struggling to hit the double arm suplex so he says ‘fuck it’ and hits an Exploder instead. The finishing stretch sees some big time offense from both guys, including a desperation sheer-drop Falcon Arrow from Sato and Suzuki folding him in half with a dragon suplex. Much better than their title match last year, which had a similar story of Suzuki working the arm for 85% of the match until Sato hits a couple of moves and it's over.

Pretty good match. Suzuki is the least experienced of the bunch and he’s largely overshadowed by the Ishikawa/Ikeda exchanges. Those two know each other so well, throwing their stiff as day old catshit strikes. Super Tiger seems motivated but still only lands about five out of every ten kicks. I thought Suzuki's matwork was solid and he does a good job of transitioning and modifying his holds as need be. He gets bullied by kicks and doesn’t really have much of a chance to show off his striking ability but gets in a couple of decent throws, including the double arm suplex into the double wristlock. In the end, he gets clobbered by Ikeda's short-arm lariat and eats a nasty solebutt to end the match.

I'd only seen a clipped version of this a few years ago so it's cool to see it in its entirety. I like Fujinami's hesitation in the face of Hashimoto's unpredictability and how playing too much defense backfired. Fujinami's old man selling was good and of course, his "enough is enough" moment is awesome, with Hashimoto quickly shutting him down with a barrage. As others mentioned, I thought the finish was terrific, with Fujinami really tapping into the fluidity of the sleeper hold, transitioning the different variations depending on Hashimoto's position or attempts to break free. Really good stuff.

I currently have this right above the Kawakami defense but behind three other Hideki Suzuki matches. But I really loved that Kawakami match (I'm probably in the minority there) so it may end up getting bumped down upon re-watch.

This really didn't pick up for me until the end and even then, it felt a little bloated and it's obvious now that Naito needs to come up with something other than the Destino to use as his "big match" finish. I did like the general sloppiness of this match as opposed to a squeaky clean Omega spotfest, with the "botched" piledriver off the table and ringpost DDT adding something of an unstable element to the overall narrative. Naito's performance underneath was terrific, especially in the backhalf...that fainting spot during the knee strikes was awesome. But in the end, this was exhausting and a little too self-indulgent for my tastes. I preferred Okada/Omega 3 much more to this and even last year's Naito/Omega spectacle.

This was essentially a glorified squash match but masterfully executed by both guys, with TAKA trying to outwrestle Suzuki to no avail as each counter is promptly reversed. I love the way Suzuki ragdolls TAKA on the mat, picking at all limbs and working in 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 really heat up in the backend and when TAKA tries to get cute, Suzuki slaps him silly and unloads on him in the corner. I liked the abruptness of the finish, with TAKA starting to build up to his finisher and then Suzuki quickly grabbing him and putting him away with the piledriver like playtime's over.

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.

The final contest in their trilogy of matches, and quite possibly, my favorite of the bunch. Tanahashi and Naito have such good chemistry together, and it really worked here, with the Sumo Hall pro-Naito and Tanahashi turning the crowd early with a couple of bad boy slaps to Naito's face in the ropes. Kiss that ace guitar bye-bye. Then he attacks Naito during his tranquilo pose and it's on, with some nasty open hands exchanged in the corner and Naito taking the first seat behind the wheel with an awesome basement dropkick counter to Tanahashi's rounding body press. I like dueling limbwork when it's done well and thankfully, these two make it work. Tanahashi's torn bicep has been the story of his G1 run and Naito being Naito exploits that injury. On the other side, Tanahashi is looking to submit Naito with the cloverleaf hold he used to win the IC title back at Dominion, using his variety of dragon screws, and when's finally able to lock it in, it provides the most memorable moment of the match. A simple story told exceptionally without the need to drift into the usual NJPW main event overkill territory. Great stuff.

Jumbo vs. Mil Mascaras!

Nomination: Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki (8/8/17) Easily Suzuki's best performance since returning to New Japan.It's hard to pull off a flawless 30-minute draw without a little meandering here and there, but I thought they did a pretty damn good job of keeping things moving forward. 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. 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 just wrecking the golden boy. I really 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. Suzuki countering the first Rainmaker attempt with the sleeper into the Saka Otoshi was awesome and while Okada's able to follow up with a weakened Rainmaker, Suzuki slapping the hand away on the third attempt and just bitch slapping him in the face was incredible. Toward the end, Okada sold the exhaustion and Suzuki's ruthlessness so well. 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 in 2013, but with a new ace at the helm.

Yeah, this is really all about that third round, where the mask comes off and Liger wrecks Aoyagi's Christmas.

This had moments of future greatness for sure but also its fair share of slog and slop, with really long control segments from Kobashi and not enough on Kawada's part to convey the extent of all that legwork. The opening was pretty great though, like Kawada whiffing on the plancha, Kobashi kicking him over the guardrail, some rando kid patting Kawada's ass as he stands up before he gets taken out with a big swandive from Kobashi. I really liked their pissy exchange in the corner that ends with Kawada forearming a grounded Kobashi in the face. Kawada's a real grunt on top but once Kobashi takes over, it's snoozeville and Kawada doesn't do much else in the match. The finish sucked.

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

Yeah, this ruled and is probably my favorite match of the tournament. It's easily Suzuki's best performance since returning to New Japan.It's hard to pull off a flawless 30-minute draw without a little meandering here and there, but I thought they did a pretty damn good job of keeping things moving forward. 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. 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 just wrecking the golden boy. I really 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. Suzuki countering the first Rainmaker attempt with the sleeper into the Saka Otoshi was awesome and while Okada's able to follow up with a weakened Rainmaker, Suzuki slapping the hand away on the third attempt and just bitch slapping him in the face was incredible. Toward the end, Okada sold the exhaustion and Suzuki's ruthlessness so well. 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 in 2013, but with a new ace at the helm.

Murakami's wild and unpredictable, coming right out of the gate kicking and swinging for the fences, Ishikawa does all he can to quell the maelstrom of Murakami's violence by avoiding the big blows and trying to take Murakami down to the mat. But once Murakami's able to cinch in the choke, the momentum shifts and Murakami lands some nasty shots, busting Ishikawa's mouth. The chaos on the outside is awesome, with Murakami getting the better of Ishikawa and leaving him a bloody mess on the floor. I liked Murakami's choke counter to the armbreaker attempt and how Murakami's contant pestering really triggers something in Ishikawa so that he foregoes the groundwork to try and take out Murakami by any means necessary. A shorty but a hard-hitting goodie.

I agree that the midsection of the match is a little long-winded and that it could've benefited from a few more pissy interactions, i.e. their previous six-man, but this was still a great match with Daddy Jumbo in the "I'm too tired for this shit" mode and Misawa playing the disrespectful teen incessantly looking to snatch away dad's pick-up truck keys. There are plenty of moments to love on, like the plancha tease>apron dropkick and the look on Jumbo's face after Misawa slaps him on the ropes. The longer the match goes on, the clearer it becomes that Misawa ain't laying down easy. This is especially evident after Jumbo powerbombs Misawa as dad's getting a little frustrated that Misawa's staying up past his bedtime. I liked the finishing stretch, with Jumbo bouncing off the ropes with the missed dropkick, allowing Misawa to score the miracle pinfall.

I love Tatsuo Nakano matches because you know things are going to get real ugly and real scrappy, and that's exactly what you get here with a bloody-nosed shitkicker Nakano, who just pounds on Yamazaki until the more proficient Yamazaki can find an opening and sink his proverbial submission teeth in. Nakano throws a lot of gnarly headbutts and some great suplexes throughout the match. Things cool down on the mat as they work some holds and Nakano isn't quite as skilled at the submission game but I like how he'll throw an elbow or two, or just grab a leg and start bending. Nothing pretty but it all looks painful. Yamazaki's strategy is to try and tap Nakano with a leglock and he goes for it a number of times, supplementing the holds with kicks. But Nakano just wants to bash Yamazaki's skull in with the headbutts. At one point, he takes Yamazaki down with a dragon screw legwhip but doesn't really know how to follow up, other than trying to get back to that front mount to dish out more blunt force trauma. Yamazaki's able to suplex him off or catch him with a hard knee in response to a headbutt but Nakano's relentless at times, climbing onto his back with guillotine choke or German suplexing him onto his head. Nakano's such a squat little prick, it's fantastic -- he'll snap Yamazaki over with a suplex and immediately slap him in the face. Yamazaki's finally able to land some stiff kicks to the head and leg, wearing Nakano down enough to snag hold of the leg and really crank in the submission for the win. Awesomely brutal match.

If you liked their 2017 Champion Carnival match-up, odds are, you'll like this, as its just as heavy on the bombs. Early in the match, Suwama showed signs of being a total dick and I was hoping that would be the narrative in this match, with him ditching the honor to do whatever he can to keep the Big Dog down. On the outside, he goes to attack Ishikawa with a chair but referee Wada prevents him and back in the ring, he puts Shuji in a sleeper hold in the ropes and refuses to let go, forcing Wada to pry him off by handfuls of bleached blonde hair. Unfortunately, that bad dude attitude dissipates as the match settles into the familiar bombfest scenario. Tons of suplex throws, knees, and lariats, including a brutal one to Ishikawa's face that leaves him with quite the swollen eye socket. I liked Suwama's selling toward the end of the match, with Ishikawa grabbing his wrists and pulling him into the knee strike. I'd rate this below both the Miyahara and Lee title matches but this was still a good, stiff bruiser battle.

I'm not familiar with Takuya Wada or Tadashi Matsumoto but these guys were the highlights of this match. Of course, Fujiwara still showed that he's the wiliest old man around, grabbing limbs and cranking guillotines when and where he can, ultimately picking up the token submission with the haragatame. Iwamoto looked pretty good here in this setting, utilizing some neat takedowns, including his judo throw. When Matsumoto and Wada were in there grappling, it was awesome. Matsumoto rolling around on the mat, trapping body parts while Wada showed his strength with some throws. Just lots of cool takedowns and reversals. It's always a treat to see Fujiwara on the mat and the other three guys brought the energy he may lack at 68.

This rules. You had Kazuo Yamazaki throwing strikes where he can, with the wily Yoshiaki Fujiwara weathering the storm to snag a limb and bend. He keeps turning the tables on Yamazaki, escaping his holds or countering with a hold of his own to force Yamazaki to the ropes. There are plenty of swanky takedowns from both men but the patience and experience of Fujiwara proves to be an advantage over the more aggressive Yamazaki. At one point, Yamazaki is just kneeing the fuck out of Fujiwara's head to try and shake him off the arm but it's Fujiwara, dude, he headbutts for a living. Yamazaki's finally able to grab something, a single leg crab, but Fujiwara breaks the hold and unloads on Yamazaki in the corner with a flurry of pissy old man strikes. Awesome finish and Yamazaki's post-match celebration is the icing on the cake.