[2000-04-07-NJPW-Dome Impact] Koji Kanemoto vs Don Frye

[soup23]

I figured I would love this match just based on the pairing and it lived up to the hype. Frye does an excellent job looking like a bad ass but still allowing the junior Kanemoto to look strong and brutal when he is on offense. Kanemoto goes mainly after the legs of Frye and trying to chop down the big tree. This had a really neat dynamic and was really intense with the strikes and submissions. Frye kept working for his leg lock and Kanemoto found unique ways to escape it. Frye’s size eventually is able to wear down Koji enough that he is able to take advantage with strikes and throw on the twisting leg lock for the submission. ****

[Loss]

This had me engaged the entire time. There was nothing especially unique or special about the matwork, but they sure did a hell of a job telling an effective story with it. The previous Liger-Frye match was in some ways a dry run for this, but the difference was that Kanemoto didn't get in nearly as much offense as Liger did there. Kanemoto's selling and the laser-focused sense of strategy make this a winner. I wouldn't go as far as to call Frye a great worker, but in terms of knowing how to use what he has, he's kind of amazing. ****

[ohtani's jacket]

This was a decent fight. The thing I like about this project is that it encourages you to watch matches you'd never dream of watching like Kanemoto vs. Frye. From that perspective I enjoyed it, but the big moments weren't exciting enough to garner the heat that Kanemoto was looking for. The difference between this and your average RINGS fight was stark in terms of the counters and crowd reaction. They probably could have worked a little harder to make it seem like Kanemoto had a chance at the upset. I liked Frye's promo afterward, though.

[AstroBoy]

I found the grappling and submission stuff in the middle of the match to drag just a tad too much. It was still a really interesting match and the build particularly to the missed corner charge by Frye was fantastic. I just would have appreciated a slightly more compelling body stretch there to keep things going.

 

***1/2

[Laney]

This was a fun match and much better than the Liger vs Frye match. They kept Kanemoto looking very strong here even though he loses this one. I think it was very much needed that Kanemoto look strong against a heavyweight as he was murdered by Liger three months ago when Liger moved to the heavyweight ranks. There was a lot of exciting exchanges in the early portion of this match, but the grappling does seem to drag a bit in the middle portion.

 

I'm kind of torn on the post-match promo. On one hand it's a good meathead promo from Frye, but on the other hand it belittles Kanemoto and makes Frye's win feel insignificant.

[Moonsault Marvin]

Frye was great in his viciousness. I liked how he pulled at Kanemoto's face in the matwork and how he used the boot pressed to the chin for extra pain during the legwork. Kanemoto had a good performance on his part with his stiff kicks. The match flew by and left me wanting to see a rematch. Very good match.

[jasch]

Frye gave just enough to make me believe Kanemoto could pull it off. Frye is such an awesome badass in New Japan. ****

[superkix]

Fyre has such a good look, long hair or short, and he came off like a big badass here, but gave Kanemoto enough to keep this interesting for the most part. Kanemoto isn't one to back down from a fight and I like that he stepped up to Frye, smacked in the face, and then immediately gets belly-to-belly suplexed down and put into a submission. Frye's limbwork was real grunty and calloused, which is obvious when you take a look at him, but Kanemoto's a sly cat and will grab a leg when he can. At one point, Frye lets loose a terrific F-Bomb when Kanemoto's got him in a leglock before he boots his way out the hard way. Pretty decent match-up.