[2022-10-26-NJPW-Battle Autumn] Ren Narita vs Tomohiro Ishii

[corwo]

This match combined two of my favorite archetypes in wrestling: two tough guys beating the tar out of each other and the surly veteran teaching the young gun a lesson. Narita being the protege of Katsuyori Shibata, one of Ishii’s fiercest rivals, has probably studied plenty of tape on his opponent. That manifests in ways like Narita cutting short Ishii’s counter sequences with a sleeper hold or a kick to the head.

Ishii, ever the resilient underdog, may have met his match in Narita. Ren gets just as aggressive as he does, dishing out punishment with unruly slaps. Ishii fires back by simply chopping Narita in the throat repeatedly. It was a visceral sight, and Narita’s approach to selling was varied. He didn’t just grit his teeth and fight through the pain, but registered the damage to his throat throughout the match. The former usually bothers me, as I prefer when wrestlers show vulnerability, but Narita’s determination and desperation to prove himself against one of NJPW’s most respected wrestlers worked.

The match was also laid out masterfully, with Ishii controlling the pace and Narita making the most of his hope spots. Narita’s offense looked fantastic, whether he was going strike-for-strike with Ishii or dealing out Manjigatames and Cobra Twists to fatigue Tomohiro. Another issue I’ve had with Ishii’s recent matches is the number of spots where both competitors are laid out on the mat, selling. The sole moment when that happened was towards the end of the match, with both being spent after withstanding so much punishment. The crowd got firmly behind Narita, but the closer they got to the end of the time limit, the more urgent the match became.

Ishii started throwing bombs left and right, but Narita kicked out. Narita dodged a Sliding D and rallied after a shoulder tackle. Ishii went for a lariat, but in a last-gasp effort to win, Narita summoned all of the energy he could muster. Narita slapped the taste out of Ishii’s mouth and got downed by a lariat. Still, it was only enough for a two-count. Ishii barely survived a Jujigatame and an Enziguri. He bounced off the ropes for another lariat, but Narita caught him with a Kanuki Suplex for the win.

I adored how they turned the NJPW formula on its head. The match didn’t end with a flashy series of counters and a bunch of unearned kickouts, but with Narita being in the right place at the right time and catching Ishii off-guard. This was the antithesis of the modern New Japan epic right down to the finish, and it was beautiful. I’ve likened Narita to Shibata in the past, and this match will only further those comparisons. His execution was on-point, his sense of timing and awareness immaculate, and his ability to take a formula that has otherwise become rote and tell a time-tested story with it impressed. The match was a sub-fifteen-minute delight with plenty of nuances to set it apart and the correct winner.