[2001-03-20-NJPW] Kensuke Sasaki vs Osamu Nishimura

[GOTNW]

Most of the match is worked in Nishimura's style, lots of matwork and spots you're used to seeing in his matches like the neck bridge test of strength and so on, Sasaki mostly plays along and occasionally utilizes his strength to escape Nishimura's holds, which is the only thing setting it apart from the usual Nishimura sequences. The finish leans more towards Kensuke's style, as he takes the initiative and starts rocking Nishimura with bigger moves while Nishimura tries to avoid them and utilize his throwback techniques like Cobra Cluthes, the Octopus Stretch, Inoki's low kicks from the Ali fight and so on to fight back. Both guys are good at whey to but it felt like they needed a few more years of seasoning to really mesh in a way that could produce greatness. ***1/4

[superkix]

Sasakis clunky but effective enough to make for a fun power vs. technique match-up against Nishimura. Nishimura works well as the pesky technician as Sasaki keeps flinging him off. Nothing blow away but a pretty fun match.

[ohtani's jacket]

Anytime I get to see a Nishimura match, I'm going to take it. This won't be everyone's cup of tea but I was impressed by how well Sasaki played along. Never judge a meathead by his early output. Ultimately, they don't really build anything and it's just a collection of spots, but aren't most matches?