MoeTWrestling Posted July 19, 2018 Report Share Posted July 19, 2018 Now this was my jam. This matchup has yet to give anything less than a great match. It was hard hitting, played off their previous matches well, and had a super hot crowd to boot. Both guys worked to their strengths with Ishii' striking and Naito's ability to piss Ishii off only adding to the match. Great, great match with it being one of the best of the tournament in the end. ****1/2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nivvad Posted July 19, 2018 Report Share Posted July 19, 2018 Naito and Ishii once again hit it out of the park with an awesome match. Years of chemistry and bitterness lay within these two, and you could feel it with how serious they treated each other throughout this match, especially Naito. Ishii let Naito feel the pain with some wicked chops and strikes, but Naito was able to withstand the best of it. A fantastic finishing stretch saw Naito once again get the better of Ishii, ****1/2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmartMark15 Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 Loved this match. They brought a strong sense of intensity and rivalry to it with my favorite spot being Naito just spitting at Ishii while he was chopping him down. Great story of Naito being up against a powerful force but persisting to get the big win at the end. Thought that Brainbuster-Destino counter was a wonderful false finish. ****1/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asteroidcitizen Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 I'm a low voter on this one - I found it very unengaging for pretty much the first two-thirds of the match, outside of a few cool moments (I did like Naito spitting at Ishii while he was getting chopped), perhaps because I'm a bit burned out on Ishii matches that are built around strike exchanges and no-selling. In the context of a 10-12 minute sprint, sure - but this one dragged. They kicked it up down the stretch, but even then there was a lot of sequences that felt very choreographed, and even more no-selling, which, while it can be fun, causes me to kinda switch off at a certain point. I can enjoy the performance, but it's just a performance. Overall, I'd still say it was a decent match, but if I were giving stars out I'd struggle to go over ***. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superkix Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 This was a fun "house show"-style main event. The chemistry between these two is undeniable but it's nothing we haven't already seen. Love stuff like Naito spitting at Ishii while he's getting chopped to hell, or the shitting boots to Ishii's head in the corner and Ishii giving it right back. The Destino needs to go though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetsujin Posted July 22, 2018 Report Share Posted July 22, 2018 These two have one of those cases were two undisputed great wrestlers have chemistry, but not that "holy shit MOTYC!" kind of chemistry together. I'm thinking about Misawa and Hansen, Cena and Orton, etc. But this, if maybe not the best, might be the funniest one of their matches due to their character work in the first half; loved Naito pissing off Ishii to te extreme, that chop-spit exchange, those amazing chops to the troath... So much fun here. The second half was also very good, there was a lot of pride behind everything they did, neither one of them wanted to lose against that asshole. Ishii as an underdog is far way better than his "cliché-after-cliché" fightin spirit, and Naito was great as always. Very, very good fight. ***3/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wahoos Leg Posted August 2, 2018 Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 On 7/20/2018 at 5:14 AM, asteroidcitizen said: I'm a low voter on this one - I found it very unengaging for pretty much the first two-thirds of the match, outside of a few cool moments (I did like Naito spitting at Ishii while he was getting chopped), perhaps because I'm a bit burned out on Ishii matches that are built around strike exchanges and no-selling. In the context of a 10-12 minute sprint, sure - but this one dragged. They kicked it up down the stretch, but even then there was a lot of sequences that felt very choreographed, and even more no-selling, which, while it can be fun, causes me to kinda switch off at a certain point. I can enjoy the performance, but it's just a performance. Overall, I'd still say it was a decent match, but if I were giving stars out I'd struggle to go over ***. You know I thought it dragged at first as well but then I got pulled into the story and the slow escalation of hostility between two guys who have built a pretty strong history of mutual loathing in recent years. Things really kicked into high gear after the chops to the throat, and the finishing stretch was pretty much breathless from there, with a few very convincing near-falls by both guys. Given how early it was in the tournament, and the fact I am watching as close to unspoiled as possible, I legitimately thought Ishii had a chance as "have the favorite start out 0-2" is a pretty standard trope of these round robin tourneys in Gedo booking by now. One of the standout matches so far, for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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