SmartMark15 Posted August 11, 2018 Report Share Posted August 11, 2018 I haven't seen the first two singles matches these two had in DDT. This was pretty great though. I enjoyed Omega taking the control early and Ibushi fighting his way back into the advantage until they were just dropping bombs left and right. Thought the Kneesault was one of the better spots of the match but it was the missed Avalanche Dragon Suplex that really marked an upswing in the pace and action. Those double lariats did look quite brutal and this was one of the times where Omega's strikes really seemed to hit flush. The Reverse Rana block and turned into a straight up spike driver was probably my favorite of the match. I have my misgivings about Omega kicking out of an Avalanche Tiger Driver but it ended one move after so I won't complain too much. Really exciting stuff, very dangerous too. ****1/2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kadaveri Posted August 11, 2018 Report Share Posted August 11, 2018 I still enjoyed this a lot but I don't see it as the classic it's being hailed as elsewhere. I honestly think the Naito/ZSJ was slightly better with the narrative it told for Naito whereas I didn't get anything like that from this one. Two wrestlers with a lot of cool moves hitting them on each other but at times I think they were putting shocking the crowd with the brutality over anything else. And I don't really get why this match had to be so brutal from a storyline perspective anyway, these guys are supposed to like each other. Compare this with the Kenny vs. Cody match which was supposed to be a bloodfeud but was totally tame. All that being said though, this was a lot of fun. Moonsault into the double moves is a sick move and I liked that Kenny blocked a lot of Kota's strikes rather than the usual NJPW of just exchanging them. ***1/2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Rock Posted August 11, 2018 Report Share Posted August 11, 2018 Great bombfest even if it wasn't quite the classic I was expecting. I like how they didn't spend too much time with the dramatic "You're my best friend!" and got right into "OK, there's no way around this. I'm going to win." Along with Kadaveri I was quite shocked with how violent this match was, but both guys are tremendous bomb throwers and with the stakes being as high as they were, I get it. I also liked how prepared they were for each other's biggest moves, forcing them to raise the bar with each exchange in hopes of putting the other away. I'm not sure I would say this was the best match of the tournament, but it's definitely a must-see. An awesome, 23-minute bombfest without any of the typical main event padding. ****1/2-****3/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nivvad Posted August 11, 2018 Report Share Posted August 11, 2018 Don't get me wrong I really loved this match, but in the end I don't think this was the "perfect" match that one would expect from these two. Not to downplay the spectacle of this match though as both guys went out there and destroyed each other to win the match by any means necessary. I also loved the subtle nods to their previous Budokan match like Kenny stopping Ibushi from going for a Moonsault, or Kenny going for an avalanche OWA because he knows a regular one won't do the job. An amazing match for sure, but you can definitely tell they're saving their best tricks for an even bigger match, ****3/4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Rock Posted August 12, 2018 Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 4 hours ago, nivvad said: An amazing match for sure, but you can definitely tell they're saving their best tricks for an even bigger match, ****3/4. Yep, definitely got that impression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klhare Posted August 12, 2018 Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 First, I loved this match. It had a huge feel and a great atmosphere. Even when the crowd wasn't audibly reacting, it still felt gigantic and tense. Plus, they didn't really wait around or do any crazy meladrama stuff, just balls out basically from the beginning. My only "complaint" is that, somehow, this was the rare NJPW main event that actually felt too short. Usually it is the opposite, but I really think this one could have easily gone 10-15 more minutes. I was stunned at how early it felt when Ibushi started to hit his finishers. They left a lot on the table for a rematch, which I have no problems with at all, but you can only have the first match once, and in this case there was so much excitement and anticipation that I wonder if the next match will have quite the same feeling. Still, really great. ****3/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap Posted August 12, 2018 Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 There were classic parts of this match... classic sequences. However there were some parts of this that cap it at great and not classic to me. The first 10 minutes or so lacked a little urgency and the there was some redundancy in the finishing stretch that just didn't resonate with me as much. That said, those are nit-picky things and didn't really take away from my overall enjoyment of the match, which I thought was great. They were laying into each other in the second half of the match. Some of those V Triggers looked like hot death. That double stop on the top was nasty looking. I also loved Kenny just dropping Ibushi as he went for the reverse rana. As has been mentioned, they left a lot on the table here and I am sort of expecting them to go all out at WrestleKingdom maybe. ****1/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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