superkix

Nominating - Hideki Suzuki vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani (BJW, 5/25/17). My thoughts are here.

Hideki Suzuki as BJW World Strong Heavyweight champion has been my favorite thing in 2017 and this match brought out the best iteration of Hideyoshi Kamitani -- the fired the fuck up baby-faced underdog. This was easily Kamitani's best singles performance since his awesome match against Okabayashi last year. The way he waylays Suzuki with his big boy weight early on and when Suzuki's finally able to counter something with his Billy Robinson-style backbreaker, it feels huge. The overall sense of struggle in this match is fantastic and there's such a raw, brutish aesthetic to the exchanges. The way Suzuki traps limbs, bending and laying into the holds with all his weight. There's a great visual of an exhausted Kamitani hanging onto Suzuki's waist, trying to lift him or fired off tired strikes, only for Suzuki to keep beating him down. Suzuki's striking in this match is unreal -- some of the best European uppercuts and elbows I've seen thrown in a pro-wrestling match. At one point, he hits a running elbow that looks like a baseball player swinging a bat. Again, this match has the little Suzuki nuances that makes him such a cool champion -- the little knees here and there, the nasty counter to the stretch plum, slipping into an octopus hold when he notices Kamitani struggling to stand. Kamitani's unable to deliver the backdrop hold but he does improvise and hits rolling uranages, which was cool to see. He doesn't have enough in the tank to finish off Suzuki and Suzuki's submission finish was unexpected but really neat. A brutal battle and easily one of my favorite matches of the year.

Yeah, I agree. This was my favorite match of the tournament. They managed to put together a really energetic match-up without being overly bombastic or mindlessly spot-tastic. Some of the submission swapping was a little silly but it, more or less, played into the competitive nature of the match. I really enjoy when KUSHIDA is working the more grounded "arm killer" role and some of his takedowns and counters were silky smooth. His frustration at Taguchi being able to keep pace played a fun role in the match with him being more aggressive with the armwork and pulling off dick moves like hand stomping. Taguchi had his big boy boots laced tight and I loved their slap exchange with them getting cheap shots in to the injured limbs. It didn't drag on, wasn't overkilled, and once again established KUSHIDA's new finish as the "Game Over" screen.

You can't ask for a much better opener than this. Fast-paced and concise with a well-established story and terrific selling from Togo. Miyamoto is one of the most underpraised wrestlers today and he unfortunately gets overshadowed by his tag partner Kodaka but he's definitely the more versatile of the two. He's silky smooth and focused on the mat or with his counters and transitions. He works the leg here and Togo really does a lot to add depth to a simple story, like the buckling on the suplex escape or injuring himself on the Pedigree. One of the things that Togo does so well is convey a sense of struggle when he's in a submission hold. He's trying to find a counter or fight his way out instead of just laying there and absorbing the punishment. The way he takes that Fire Thunder Driver was gnarly and I loved how him using the knees to block the moonsault press felt like a real sacrifice. I'll take a simple story with great care for small details, rather than something so ridiculously convoluted that it takes you out of the match entirely.

YES to Okabayashi/Suzuki. Thoughts here.

The power vs. technique dynamic is one of my favorite match types in all of pro-wrestling and Big Japan pulls it off better than most. As much as I like Suzuki's matches against Sekimoto, Okabayashi conveys so much more emotion to his matches. He was fantastic against Suzuki, hossing his way out of Suzuki's fingertips as the champ tries to bend him to his will. Suzuki's armwork was brutal and he does such a good job of staying on it, even with Yuji trying to shake him. One of the best spots of the match came when Yuji puts Suzuki in a camel clutch -- Suzuki is trying to snap his fingers while Okabayashi wrenches back with a one-handed variation. Yuji's able to avoid the double arm suplex throughout the match but in the end, he gets trapped in a modified octopus hold and has no choice but to submit. Great match, terrific selling from Okabayashi, and plenty of Suzuki's no-nonsense awesomeness.

I thought this was Jake Lee's best singles match to date. He looked fired up in there against the champ and really threw his weight into his offense. I liked Kento snapping on Jake and being a prick before the match it settled nicely into Kento's ace formula to finish it out. A fun way to kick off the tournament.

Yeah, this felt like a really solid TV show main event. Juice looks/acts like a dweeb, so it's hard for me to take him too seriously, but he plays a good, wild-eyed babyface with fiery comebacks. His offense was the most impactful I've seen from him but he also had a great dance partner in Naito, who played the pooper to Juice's party, exploiting the injured leg whenever he could. I love Naito's nonchalant legwork and Juice does a good job selling it -- that leg clip spot looked especially nasty. I liked the finish too, with Naito having Juice's finisher scouted and thwarting each attempt. The best Juice Robinson match yet.

This was a blast. I like when Suwama is playing the bully in his matches and he was a lot of fun with his pissy sleeper hold on the ropes and ragdolling Mashimo with suplexes. Mashimo's so good at working a body part and here, he chooses the leg and works it over to set up the finish. Terrific selling from both guys, and I especially liked how Suwama used suplex throws for recovery time. His lariats looked extra gnarly and I thought the finish was neat, with Suwama trying to boot his way out of an Achille's tendon hold and Kengo trapping the leg, forcing him to submit. One of the better matches in otherwise meh tournament.

A 30-minute Ultimate Submission match featuring Dick Togo. What else do you need to know? Togo puts on one of his best performances since returning to wrestling, at least from what I've seen, with Sasaki's weasel heel shtick kept to a minimum. Both men were terrific but Togo really shined here as he largely fought from underneath, selling the leg and working in some hot comebacks to take the champ to the limit. There's a great visual of Togo scooting around on the mat to avoid Sasaki. There are plenty of fun crossface teases and a few good punch exchanges. Sasaki's an underrated Naito-lite with his legwork and cool transitions. I love his diving elbow drop into the figure-four leglock. Heading into the final minutes of the draw, they struggled to get something locked in and Togo finally slaps on a cross armbreaker but it's too little, too late. Really good match.

I probably liked this match more than most based on who's involved in the match but here's what I wrote about it:

Easy YES to Shibata/Okada. Wrote about it here.

This was a condensed version of their time limit draw from earlier in the month, with the same sense of struggle and sluggishness in the back half. Suzuki once again displays his awesome in-ring awareness. I love the way he manipulates Sekimoto's fingers in order to lock him in the stretch plum. Even when Sekimoto manages to escape, Suzuki stays on him with a cravate, holding onto it after Daisuke tries to slam his way out, and then working that into a neckbreaker. He does such a good job of staying on top Sekimoto, not giving him much room to breath if any. Sekimoto was pretty great here too, selling Suzuki's strikes so well. I really like how he uses a sleeper to distract Suzuki long enough to hit the German suplex hold. I can't wait to see what Suzuki does with the belt. He feels like such a special attraction and when he's wearing the purple trunks, you know he's got his working boots on.

This is a low-burning match that really heats up in the home stretch. Overall, it felt very "wild" in the sense that they're flying all over the place offensively and there's this wick of bitterness that flares up every now and then. Takada comes at Koshinaka with the stiff kicks and spends a lot of time on the ground trying to set-up the chickenwing. Takada's dragon suplex bridge is nuts.He blows off some of Shiro's offense but his selling toward the finish was great. Koshinaka was terrific in this, between his selling, his fun runs of offense and smart defense. I loved the finish, with Koshinaka attacking the fingers as a counter to the chickenwing and working the shit out of Takada's hand to set-up the submission finish. A buzzing atmosphere and a really good match with an odd pace and/or structure.

I like Go Shiozaki. I feel a bit sorry for him but he’s one of my favorites guys to watch in NOAH. He works hard, busts his ass in-and-out of the ring. He’s a terrific seller and he’s become a lot more aggressive with his offense. Sadly, the NOAH fans don’t give a shit. In a bubble, this was a really good, hard-hitting match with the chop vs. kick theme established early on. Nakajima as the bratty champion is a lot of fun but I still think he needs to show a little more confidence to resonate better with the fans. Shiozaki sells hard for the kicks and in general, he looked really strong throughout. The fans at least pop for the chops. Nakajima was really good here, as well – I loved his sell after the extensive chop vs. kick battle, when he finally succumbs to the pain. At one point, Shiozaki just starts clobbering Nakajima back-to-front with little lariats before decking him. The strikes came hard and often, and Nakajima lands an especially nasty kick to the side of the head to set-up the brainbuster finish. I’d love to see Go in this year’s G1 Climax with motivation and a more conducive environment. As it is, he seems dead in NOAH waters.

This was a solid but disappointing match. It was there, it happened, but that's about it. The exchanges often felt forced and what it lacked was a greater sense of chaos and animosity. I liked the idea of Suzuki utilizing the sleeper hold over Shibata and forcing Shibata to find another route to defeat him, which I thought played out well with the finish. Maybe we'll get a G1 rematch later in the year.

I thought this was on par with their matches last year. I probably liked it a little better than their WK match. With these two, you know what to expect going into it: lots of strikes, bouts of no selling, pissing contests, and suplexes. The first few minutes are forgettable but once Shibata starts testing the patience of Ishii, it really picks up. Loved the pop-up lariat spot from Shibata and Ishii confusing Shibata with surprise offense was a lot of fun to watch. Ishii's definitely the MVP of the tournament. His selling in this match was fantastic, especially at the end and post-match. Shibata heads into the final looking unfuckablewith.

This was a blast. It's DDT's "big match" formula with a good mix of psychology, counter tangos, and high-impact offense. Takeshita working with a little more attitude was great -- loved the pursed lips and head shake at HARASHIMA's handshake offer -- and he was especially focused on HARASHIMA's neck and back to set up his shutdown German finish. Some of the execution was off (Omega = Croyt's Wrath) and selling sometimes gets shelved in favor of high spots but Takeshita does a really good job of bringing it back around, especially in the final minutes. He's got the physical sell down and HARASHIMA's facials were terrific as always. HARASHIMA works the leg to set-up the...Somato. I don't know but it looked vicious and I liked the leg lariat catch into the kneebar. They both bump around like hell and HARASHIMA drops Takeshita with a couple of gnarly bombs. Great selling and spirit by Takeshita in the end and a strong finish.

YES to Sekimoto vs. Suzuki. I wrote about it here.

AJ VS. SHINSKAY!

The first five minutes or so is a feel out process between Takada and Yamazaki as they bite with strikes and try to maintain arm control on the mat. But when Takada bridges out of a hold, Yamazaki kicks him in the ribs and the match finds its sweet spot as Yamazaki starts unloading on Takada with kicks and knee drops. He works his way back to the arm but Takada is able to fight out, landing a short spurt of kicks and planting Yamazaki with a tombstone piledriver. When that doesn’t work, he pelts him with stiff strikes and pulls out the running jumping tombstone! Yamazaki rules in this match, really kicking it up a notch (literally) heading into the final stretch as he fires back with his own hard-hitting offense, including a great belly-to-belly suiplex. I like the crossface chickenwing teases on both sides, before Yamazaki uses it almost as a distraction to deliver the German suplex hold for the surprise victory. A short and sweet exhibition.

Fujiwara was once again ruled in this match match with his great veteran prowess, time and again forcing Yamazaki back to the ropes as he zeroes in on Kazuo’s arm. Seriously, those ropes became Yamazaki’s second home. When Yamazaki realizes that taking the grap action down to the canvas is a bad idea against Fujiwara, he starts snapping off kicks. It works to an extent but it also serves to further piss off Fujiwara. The build to the arm submission finish was teased throughout, with Fujiwara briefly switching things up to the legs as a way to weaken some of Yamazaki’s kick. Yamazaki's kicks were on point, especially that solebutt, and he puts a little extra spicy mustard behind some of them toward the end of the match. Yamazaki’s able to deliver a low-bridging German suplex but Fujiwara responds with the piledriver, transitioning right into the kimura. Yamazaki again makes it to the ropes but after Fujiwara stuns him with a big slap, he’s back on the arm and quickly submits Yamazaki. An great little "Take Your Kid to Work Day" match.

This match was a blast. I love how he no sells Takada’s high kick early on so he can tie him up in the ropes and give him a good smack. Takada’s kicks look brutal and Koshinaka’s selling is terrific, at one point dropping like a bag of flour. There’s some sloppiness to the match, especially with some of the pin attempts, but it doesn’t take too much away from it. They fire off some bigger offense, Takada with his jumping tombstone and Koshinaka with a German suplex hold. As Takada tries to submit Koshinaka, first with the arm, then the leg, tension starts to build. They start kicking at each other while Takada’s got the kneebar on and then they just explode into a maelstrom of vicious slaps. Koshinaka builds momentum heading into the finish but he misses the diving headbutt and Takada is comes after him with those stiff kicks. After a full nelson suplex hold isn’t enough to put him away, Takada locks in the crossface chickenwing for the submission victory.

Suzuki's one of the most engaging wrestlers to watch in the ring but works in such a cool-headed, almost nonchalant way, reserving most of his energy to unleash these micro-explosions of offense throughout. There's very little downtime with Suzuki and his spontaneity is incredible. There's a lot of great examples of this throughout, like the small package on a doubled over Sekimoto, the sleeper hold off the pin attempt, and kneeing Sekimoto off when he tries to cover him. And because Suzuki's such a maestro on the mat, I think I underrated him as a striker but he throws great strikes -- some of the best snap elbows and I love the way he lays into his uppercuts.The story was technique vs. power, with the hyper-alert challenger taking the powerhouse champ a few clicks past empty. Suzuki immediately sells Sekimoto's strength in their first lock-up but he's able to shows off his ring smarts early on with some take downs and ground control, leaving Sekimoto huffing. They do a really good job of teasing Suzuki's dragon and double arm suplexes. The match loses a little bit of steam when Sekimoto takes over on offense but he's still as intense as always. There's some great counter sequences and ultimately Suzuki comes back out on top and starts targeting Sekimoto's head and neck. It turns into a war of attrition as they empty bombshells and slug away at each other in exhaustion. This is where Suzuki's energy reserve comes into play as he tries to capitalize on Sekimoto's lack thereof. Terrific selling in the end as they're both so drained, they don't even have the energy to effectively execute their respective finishers. Maybe this wasn't the match I was hoping for but it became a match I really enjoyed. There wasn't a particularly loud crowd but that's been the trend with these BJW Strong Heavyweight title matches. I won't be shocked if Sekimoto retains in their rematch but Suzuki came away looking like a true badass.

I like that Tiger Mask W is basically Kota Ibushi playing a pissy Satoru Sayama. 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 of 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.The hiccups occur when they try to overdo it with some of the more elaborate spots and they come off looking awkward and out-of-place, especially that mess with the top rope spot and Okada corpsing as he prepositions Ibushi. But the basic execution was great and a big part of the visual presentation was Ibushi's bumping. This match also made me excited to see Okada in 10 years. Pissy ace Okada is terrific and Tiger Mask's heelish response to the bullying was great. 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.