[2016-04-16-AJPW] Jun Akiyama vs Daisuke Sekimoto

[GOTNW]

All Japan house shows can be depressingly heatless and that was the case here, I would have probably rated this higher if it happened in Korauken. I am not Sekimoto's biggest fan but he does have a good sense of how to traditionally build a match and fits well into the Nu King's Road matwork>strikes>big moves formula with bigger teases in the firs two thirds. Akiyama is one the rare guys who actually knows how to sell which held all the strike exchanges together and there was a neat moment when he DDT'd Sekimoto on the floor and as I expected the dreaded 20 count he went back outside the ring and blasted Sekimoto with a Knee and a Piledriver as well before bringing him back in. I lowed the dramatic teases of their finishers, both Akiyama fighting out of the German and Sekimoto fighting out of the Wrist Clutch Exploder were exciting and I especially loved how Sekimoto elbowed Akiyama just when I was absolutely certain Akiyama was gonna go through with executing the Wrist Clutch Exploder. Would've been better without some tired transitions in the middle and in a better venue but Akiyama worked violent enough to hold my attention throughout the entire match and the finishing stretch was really good. ***1/4

[G. Badger]

I thought this was a pretty awesome little match in front of a small armory, youth rec center sized crowd. There was one fixed camera and the audio mixing was such that the sound of the wrestlers & crowd was muted. I think it worked though because the in ring action was simple yet compelling.

 

Intensity was there despite the crowd and they really picked things up towards the end. Just a nice build without going overboard. No frills puro, highly recommended match.