superkix

I'm not as high on singles wrestler HARASHIMA as others but in a tag situation, he's pretty great. This was a very fun, smartly worked tag match, building from Irie's silly mistake of going to the wrong corner for the tag out. HARASHIMA and Ishii keep the tags fresh, working together to keep Irie grounded, cutting off his comeback attempts until Irie is finally able to hit the POUUUNCE! and make the tag to Sakaguchi. The double team spots were clever, HARASHIMA makes a great out-of-nowhere save, and the finishing stretch (which included a great pop-up Fire Thunder Driver from irie) had the right amount of flash and drama. DDT's been a blast this year and although it's sad to see Irie go, I'm sure he'll make a big splash in the west.

This was a lot of fun. Top notch selling from Honda and an awesome finish. You can tell Honda is comfortable striking with Sato and so he tries to find an opening to take him down to the mat, but even then, he still gets caught.

Minoru Suzuki is the baddest motherfucker in Japan today and this "match" is a shining example why. This thing starts off innocent enough. They scrapple for a bit and when Kawamura starts pummeling Minoru with shots against the ropes, Suzuki slaps on the rope-hung armbar and he's now officially pissed off. Outside the ring, Suzuki blasts him with chairshot after chairshot, and when the ref tries to restore some order, that just pisses Suzuki off more and he starts attacking everyone around him. He tries to use the time keeper's hammer on Kawamura but the ref takes it away. So what does he do? Bloodies Kawamura with a fucking retractable pen and brags about it. Minoru's slaps and headbutts are uber stiff but unfortunately, Kawamura's brief comebacks don't have the same fire or intensity. Near the end, Kawamura goes for a takedown and Suzuki just knees him in the throat, and it's all downhill from there. A big ole dose of brutal punishment from MiSu.

This was a strange one. I enjoyed it but at times, it was like watching technically-proficient wrestling in slow motion. There wasn't much emotion until the end but this match had a genuine feel to it. Tamura had some hard-hitting strikes and Watanabe some great throws. Match really picks up after Watanabe tweaks his knee and blows the German suplex bridge, as Tamura goes after the leg. The finishing stretch was a lot of fun as Tamura keeps cutting Watanabe's leg out from him and eventually gets the submission.

I like Kamitani but he's an on/off guy. This is one of those instances where he was on. He looked super comfortable in the ring, sold well for Okabayashi's offense (including the dreaded Argentine backbreaker), and really dialed up the intensity, especially with those open hand shots. This was really all about these two going at it on and off for twenty minutes with Hash playing the enforcer roll well. Lots of heat and drama going into both time limit draws, which is rare. Fun stuff.

This was the finals of the K-METAL LEAGUE. Pretty good stuff here with the butterfly vs. chickenwing struggle. Mogami's roll back into the butterfly after a flash pin attempt was great. Yoshida's a much better striker than mat tech, and it plays into the finish as he abandons the submission strategy. He had some stiff open hands and a particularly nice high kick to the head. Nothing flashy but simple and effective.

I wasn't sold on Honda right away but once he honed in on Yoshida's arm, there was some pretty good work. Not a big fan of Honda's spottier stuff, but I thought Yoshida looked good on offense and acknowledged the arm stuff. I liked his dropkick a lot.

Ikuto Hidaka vs. Ryota Nakatsu - YES

Nominating: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yuko Miyamoto (DDT, 7/3)

Easily Takeshita's strongest performance of the year and probably the best KO-D Openweight Title match of 2016. Although you don't have a strong sense Miyamoto is winning this thing, he sure gives Takeshita hell, smartly working the leg in a crisp and effective manner. I loved his elbow drop to the back of the knee. Takeshita did a good job of keeping the submission work relevant. His offense looked really impressive, and I thought the final elbow battle was a lot of fun, where he half mad dogs/half collapses into Miyamoto's strikes before letting loose with a barrage of angry elbows. Good stuff!

i feel dumber having watched this. that being said, the most enjoyable things about this match/angle: - senor benjamin's birthday present - matt hardy mowing the tribal lawn - the dilapidated boat

Nominating: Shuji Ishikawa vs. Shigehiro Irie (DDT, 6/26)

This year's King of DDT has produced some fun matches but this was really fun. Exactly what I wanted from an Ishikawa/Irie encounter. The build to the katahajime and the story that follows after Irie finally gets it locked in is great. Fun midsection work from Ishikawa supported by some great facials and selling from Irie. At one point, Ishikawa just lifts him up by his leg and boots him int he gut. And they hit each other hard. This match would feel right at home in BJW. The exhaustion of the finishing stretch played out so well. Easily my favorite DDT match of the year.

I like these under 20 minute “modern strong style” match-ups. It feels compact and vicious, without dragging out into overkill territory. This was big boss golem Okabayashi doing a damn fine job of trying to keep the feisty Kawakami down, clubbing, chopping and lariating him silly. Whenever Kawakami gets a whiff of retaliation, Okabayashi cuts him off. The finishing stretch to this thing is outright nasty, with Okabayashi paintbrushing Kawakami with slaps and Kawakami firing back with rapid-fire elbows and a big rolling elbow. He hits a couple of Germans and a brutal half nelson suplex but Okabayashi will not die -- so Kawakami unleashes the Scarlet Flowsion~! to put the nail in the coffin and earn his shot at the title. Tons of manly fun.

Tons of meaningful submission work, great counters and reversals, and a satisfying finish. I like that Mashimo alternates between working the arm and the leg, and Tonai does a good job of selling, especially the leg. It’s a sound strategy that actually plays into the finish. There’s a great little back-and-forth sequence around the leglock and cross armbreaker, with some fun, innovative arm work by Tonai. In the end, Mashimo has Tonai in the scissored armbar and as Tonai works his way over to the ropes, Mashimo traps the leg, preventing the escape and ensuring the submission victory. Excellent stuff all around!

The weak finish hurt this, as Suzuki spends about 75% of the match working Sato’s arm like a full-time job, cranking, whipping, stomping, kneeing, etc., yet he seems a little too easy to put away in the end as the defending champ. Suzuki does a great job of cutting off Sato’s offensive rebuttals, and Sato sells it pretty well, eventually switching to kicks after failing to use the arm to strike. I liked Sato’s German suplex counter off the European uppercut. But it felt like they rushed through the finishing stretch. This could’ve benefited from a few more minutes and a little more danger surrounding the arm work.

Suzuki matches always feel fresh. I love how cool and collected he was here, and his package suplex counter was great. Shinobu is whatever but it's always a treat to watch Suzuki's submission work.

Yeah, I don't think I can rate this but the exchanges between Suzuki and Nakanoue were super heated and fun, and Suzuki gave zero fucks about anyone out there. Not sure if there's real beef between the two, but yeah, if this results in a singles match between the two, good lord, sign me up.

There's no doubt these two guys are good at what they do. I thought the counter sequences and reversals were really fun to watch. The problem I had is that you've got these often overly complicated moves and sequences that often end up completely missing their mark (like Ospreay's twisty-mctwisty axe kick). And when the offense does connect, they skip over the selling to hurry into position for the next spot. Not my cup of tea but I can understand the excitement behind these kinds of aerial spectacles.

They injected a little hate into this, making it feel more personal. The veterans are pissed off Liger busts out the chair, cracking it over KUSHIDA's knee. He's a great leg bully in this and KUSHIDA does a great job selling, at one point desperately clinging to the ref to escape the leglock, and then selling the tilt-a-whirl landing off the fresh tag, an easily overlooked nuance that keeps the leg work relevant. Liger and Nagata are such a fun pairing. I loved Nagata standing vigilantly like a watchdog by Liger's side as he puts KUSHIDA back in the leglock. Lots of cranked-up intensity between Nagata and Shibata. I like how Shibata so calmly avoids Nagata's apron attacks and the fact that Nagata eyefucks Shibata so hard he trips over KUSHIDA during the single leg crab. The final exchange between the two, with Nagata's selling, was a lot of fun, and the finish really set the stage for Dontaku.

I thought this was a fantastic tag build for Dontaku. Shibata/KUSHIDA made a solid team, complementing each other's style and working together to target Liger's arm. KUSHIDA is in full arm killer mode, which is great. I like that even when Nagata breaks up a hold, KUSHIDA is quick to get right back on the arm like a pitbull. The strike exchanges between Nagata and Shibata were heated, especially those angry Shibata elbows. The flash finish made sense and builds into the 4/27 tag match, where the veterans get their revenge.

Much more neat and concise than the 5/3 'spectacle' and is easily my favorite Nahito match of the year so far. He's the perfect weasel dick here here with that shit-eating grin of his, consistently cutting off and countering Ishii's attacks and building the anticipation for when Ishii finally gets his hands on him. The apron lariat spot was a super dramatic payback moment as the crowd explodes and Naito is slumped all dead-like on the apron. There's a few missteps and they fuck up the Destino counter spot toward the end but Ishii rectifies that by hitting a big Emerald Flowsion. The second half is a bit overkill but it was fun and exciting to watch, not a chore like the 5/3 match. Some big nearfalls leading to a strong finish for Naito. Good stuff.

BJW - 5/28/15 An easy 'modern strong style' tag team classic. Time limit draws miss more often than they hit but these guys went through hell and back for half an hour and didn't miss a beat. Uber-stiff and brutal at times, with Sato and Okabayashi both getting busted open the hard way. Things got a little chaotic and messy at times, but it never got too ridiculous and they always reeled the action back in. Everyone had a role to play, with Sekimoto being Twin Towers' ragdoll for a good chunk of the match and wonderfully selling the constant beat downs. Sato was crafty (and elbow-happy) as usual -- I liked his re-thinking the arm work early on. The strike exchanges got really intense and Ishikawa threw one of the meanest headbutts I've seen in awhile. By end of it, both Sato and Okabayashi were up on wobbly knees, slugging it out, and Okabayashi lands one final lariat of desperation, trying in vain to get the pin over and over again before the time limit expires. A good bloody drama.

Neat little underdog story. I didn't see this as a rookie punishment match, but more of a veteran encouragement match. Ryota holds back early with his strikes and Hidaka encourages him to bring the fire. The legwork and Nakatsu's desperation selling was really great. I loved the spot where he clings to Hidaka's leg to prevent the Shawn Capture. His roll-through Fujiwara armbar was a cool spot and Hidaka made the later armbar counter look super dangerous. I would've preferred a submission finish but the final stretch was spirited and fun.

One of the more well-rounded junior heavyweight matches out of All Japan this year. The first half is your standard juniors fare. The limb work was good and played a significant role throughout. Sato was the standout here, with great kicks, selling, and counterwork. Aoki was hit or miss, especially in the latter part of the match, but he came out looking strong. I really liked the ankle hold -> cross armrbeaker counter-for-counter sequence, and Aoki's Northern Lights suplex counter to the front necklock. The submission finish was really great, as it showed Aoki's desperation in the way he wrenches back and shifts his weight around to find the most painful angle before Sato ultimately gives up. Not perfect by any means but worth checking out.