[2017-03-20-DDT] HARASHIMA vs Konosuke Takeshita

[superkix]

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.

[aguakun]

KO-D Openweight Championship: HARASHIMA © vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Takeshita makes one hell of a comeback. I thought he was done for. He looked like a wreck. His body was slouched, his face drained of life as the sinister superman HARASHIMA pelted him with kicks, but then he jolted back to life and made the comeback of his career. Some of the tropes here are borrowed straight from Ibushi-Nakamura at WK9, right up to Takeshita stealing his opponent's finisher with wacky mannerisms. He also uses a bunch of other signature moves from past opponents, which is supposed to be 'emblematic' of his growth, but it all came off very unnatural, IMO. Great main event, though. ***3/4

[Jmare007]

HARASHIMA © vs Konosuke Takeshita - DDT 20th Anniversary show

This had two parts. The first were the opening 20 minutes were the action was really methodical and slowly paced, they took turns working an opponent's body part and everything was done in a compelling or "makes sense" way. The thing was that Saitama was silent as all fuck during this, after 5+ hours of wrestling I couldn't blame them though, as they were engaged during the other matches and they just saved themselves for the final sequence. The last 10 minutes they pick it up a notch, start trading bombs and showing more fighting spirit/no selling. Fucking LOVED Takeshita during this, it felt like it was his moment to take and breh pulled out all the stops, using moves from every big ally and rival he's had over the years while at the same time showing vulnerability as the young stuff who still has ways to go. I'd really like to see him face Ibushi at the Peter Pan show at Sumo Hall, the kid deserves a red hot crowd and a "classic" match already. Only part I really didn't like were the strikes exchanges, it didn't work at all and they felt out of place for the match they were doing imo. This was another step up in Konosuke's career arc, worth the watch but not a MOTYC.

[ShittyLittleBoots]

Wow, this wasn't any good. This was my first time seeing Konosuke Takeshita in action & his performance really ruined the match for me. The story was him owning HARASHIMA in the early stages, which caused HARASHIMA to come up with just some strategy to keep things in control - that strategy was going after Takeshita's leg. Well, he did a good job working over that leg, but Takeshita COMPLETELY no sold it. Like there was no damage done to that leg at all. It really ruined the match & made HARASHIMA look super weak because other than that leg work (which had no effect whatsoever) this was just Takeshita completely owning HARASHIMA. Not good at all. 1 star for HARASHIMA's effort. *

[aaeo_]

HARASHIMA has a couple really great transitions on the mat and the legwork looks vicious. He does some incredible things in this match, but the layout is all wrong. Takeshita sells well until he doesn't. Stealing other people's finishers feels too much like a New Japan thing and I'm not sure if I like it. Although, Takeshita looking over at Antonio Honda on the verge of tears after hitting the punch combo was a nice moment now that I think about it.