[2002-01-14-AJPW] Hiroshi Hase vs. Toshiaki Kawda

[Jetlag]

Brutal match in which Kawada basically tries to send Hase to the retirement home of comedy undercard tags for good. Aside from the opening matwork I thought Hase didn't really hold up his end, he looked like he was getting token bits of offense before Kawada went back to kicking the shit out of him. Pretty inspired Kawada performance although some of those sorry back and forth strike exchagnes were starting to creep in. Still, plenty of great spots mostly involving Kawada kicking Hase really hard in interesting ways.

[ohtani's jacket]

I can't stand Hase's Tutti Frutti Johnny B Badd act, but I do respect his wrestling. And I dig any Kawada opponent who takes him out of his comfort zone and makes him work the mat. I love Kawada's matwork. It's grim, gritty, and no frills, and matches his character perfectly. The rest of the bout is basically Kawada kicking Hase's ass. Doesn't make for a great match, but I can get down with that.