Makai Club #1 Posted September 18, 2019 Report Share Posted September 18, 2019 This is an interesting group of people. You have Yusuke Kodama. Someone who is aesthetically appealing but missing that tangible quality. And you have Shotaro Ashino, someone with some much talent and ability. Particularly on the mat but can sometimes possess the overly ambitious ideas of Kurt Angle. Yes, I do mean that as a criticism - the way he can sometimes be working on the arm for a while then randomly throw a German for example. El Lindaman - he has personality of a 6ft5 speed fiend but the body of a 5ft4 weightlifter. And Shigehiro Irie. The man used to possess a green mohawk. And that’s all you really need to say about him El Lindaman is a perfect little shite in this match. He has a small frame, but by no means does he wrestle as such. He is very aggressive, used a ton of chokes and claw holds early on. Lindaman’s expressions make his performance. Looking into the refs eyes while he is counting to five and counting along. The little smiles he pulls when he counters something Kodama does early on or knocks Ashino off the apron. Irie being the base of his aerial moves perfectly encapsulates why the were a good little team in the match as well. Irie is the brute (and not the cuddly bear he normally portrays) and Lindaman is the smarts. Now while I enjoyed Lindaman, Kodama didn’t compel me as a face. He doesn’t look like a face and while he is impressively smooth, he isn’t able to show that fire required in the role he had in the match. I just didn’t feel in anyway like I was rooting for Kodama to get the tag. Ashino when he got worked over by Strong Hearts was similar but Ashino sold much better. His suplexes to Lindaman looked really good. I thought him and Irie going against each other felt a little flat. They seemed to be protecting that pairing for a potential singles match but from what I saw he, I’m a little cold on the idea. The finish with Ashino finally getting control with the ankle lock after the aforementioned suplexes was good. Seeing the little terror in El Lindaman tapping out was a good finish for the match. The match didn’t blow me away but I liked the brief tag work by Strong Hearts. I dug Ashino fighting against the 2 on 1 assaults. Irie was fine for what he did. And Kodama continues to be only visually enjoyable. ***1/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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