[2010-01-16-EVOLVE 1] Kota Ibushi vs Davey Richards

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Edwin]

This is exactly what you would expect from these 2. Endless Jr. fighting spirit exchange epics and such. I personally didn't like this, but if you're a fan of either guy, then I'm sure you'd get a kick out of it.

[Makai Club #1]

This was everything I expected it to be but even more. Usually both guys, Davey especially, have great ideas but lack the follow through or the pay off to fully utilise it correct but here he did. Loved the early strike exchange but I loved Davey wanting to isolate Ibushi’s arm use to neutralize his supperios strikes. And the fact that he kept it up the entire match just brings his performance together. The work on the arm was great, as was the use of it for the finish. Ibushi was exclectiiying with his aerial dives and strikes as well. He worked superbly as the underneath wrestler. A heck of a match. Much more well rounded than I thought. ****1/4

[cactus]

Ibushi was something of a cult favourite among the hardcore fans during this period. Clips of him hitting his signature spots set the early wrestling Youtube scene on fire and I'm sure seeing him make a rare US appearance would of been a blast for the fans in attendance. I get why this blew people away in 2010, but  this has aged like milk. Ibushi's arm is worked over, but he forgets about it so he can  hit his big moves. It's brought back into the finish once Davey goes for the Kimura, but you can hardly call that consistent selling. Richards does a fine job at emulating Dynamite Kid's style and pace, but his ability to back up the action with sound psychology holds him back severely. This had every indie wrestling 'dream match' trope you can think of. It's two extremely athletic lads getting to live out a 90's AJPW cosplay. I wasn't bored by this as the action was quick enough and some of the spots are still impressive now, but this did have me rolling my eyes multiple times and I wouldn't exactly call it a good match. Thankfully they wrap this up in a fairly brisk 18 minutes, just as my attention was starting to slip because of the hollow action. If they went 30+ minutes, I would of found this completely unbearable. ★★½