[2018-11-11-BJW-RYOGUKUTAN 2018] Hideki Suzuki vs Daisuke Sekimoto

[superkix]

Really good stuff here and, in my opinion, the second best Strong Title match of the year behind Suzuki/Nomura. Suzuki hasn't had quite the year he had last year as champ but this was a cool tale of two different matches that kinda dissolves somewhere in the middle. Sekimoto's been teaming with Suzuki, wrestling more of an old school 70's-inspired style because he takes no breaks so the match starts off in that style, which, of course, Suzuki is the modern master of. You know, the traditional strong style. They give the struggle for the opening wristlock some credence and Sekimoto's facials are great as always as he tries to figure out how to escape Suzuki's holds. He uses Mongolian chops and tries bodyslamming his way out but Suzuki holds on to the cravate, and then the tables are turned, and it's Sekimoto keeping the hammerlock on Suzuki as he tries to snapmare out of it. Suzuki doesn't like it and shows off his nasty side with a stiff shot in the ropes. Sekimoto gets bullied and then tries to power back and stay in control, which slows the pace up in the middle, but then Hideki hits the backbreaker and they're off to the races. Suplexes and backdrops and dropkicks and an awesome octopus hold by Suzuki. The crowd's into it, Sekimoto survives the double arm supkex, and then we get that classic BJW STRONG STYLE finish with big clobbering lariats and some gnarly headbutts from Sekimoto before he finishes off Suzuki with the armtrap German suplex hold. 

 

[Makai Club #1]

Awesome match. I think I prefer their Strong Climb match better but this was very good, this had way more drama and the intensity to it. Loved Sekimoto in this match, he held his own technically against Hideki and was able to survive his onslaught, selling everything greatly throughout his comebacks too. Hideki was great as usual, his grappling was fun to watch and added to the match very well. ****

[Boss Rock]

The thing I loved about this match was how well Suzuki and Sekimoto conveyed the struggle with their grappling. So often mat work just comes off as inconsequential and padding for the sake of padding, but that was not the case for this match. The tests of strength and dueling submission holds really made this feel like an epic, clash of the titans. Sekimoto winning didn't just come off like a booking decision. It felt like the better wrestler legitimately won. Great stuff.

****1/4.

[Tetsujin]

Not as great as their time limit draw earlier this year, and not even close to the epicness of their two singles bouts last year, but damn these two have eternal chemistry and can never have "just a good match". Really loved the struggle on every fucking thing, the slow paced grappling and Sekimoto's fighting spirit, although the finish was a bit anticlimactic for me. Really good match, but it suffers from both workers having even better matches together. Totally good stuff though! ***3/4

[nivvad]

Not their best match, but still a nice conclusion to their rivalry for now at least. Sekimoto hung in there technically with Suzuki, and Suzuki played the power game just as well. A few more minutes would've been nice as the finish was a bit anticlimactic, ****.

[Jmare007]

They finally did it. They were able to combine the "human chess game" element of their 2 draws (and the Strong Climb match) and transition nicely to a good finishing stretch. I fucking loved the first 10 minutes or so with them just wrestling and fighting every inch to gain an advantage, there's nobody who does it better than them today and it's such a lost art in current wrestling. Hideki worked so fucking smart too, the ways he finds to get the upper hand never cease to amaze me, and the fact that he was always going for the win because he knew Daisuke ain't no one to fuck with - because he's the only one that has taken Suzuki to his limits every time they've faced each other - was a dope little touch. Hideki's defenses sometimes suffer because the first portion of the match is just him dominating and his opponent cant do much to make it compelling. This doesn't have any of that, stuff like Suzuki keeping the cravat locked in, even though Sekimoto was trying to break free with body slams and then flipping roles with Daisuke not letting go of a hammerlock even though Hideki was trying to break free with a snapmare is the type of shit I just adore in my wrestling. There's zero excess in this, there's barely any strikes and here's like 5 moves total. The finish came out of nowhere, but that's how the Strong division is, any move at any time can seal the deal. I realize not a lot of people will love it as much as me, but this was pretty much catered to my tastes. One of the best matches of the year