[2022-10-12-DDT-Get Alive] Kazusada Higuchi vs Shinya Aoki

[corwo]

This match comes at the tail end of a grueling near-twenty-minute KO-D Tag Team Title defense for Higuchi. Aoki interrupts Harimao’s victory speech to cash in DDT’s anytime, anywhere, Right to Challenge NFT, one of many in a long line of silly gimmicks in the promotion. Aoki immediately goes after Higuchi’s injured arm, which Daisuke Sasaki and KANON attacked in the match prior.

Aoki employs ruthless kicks, baiting Higuchi into a lock-up and pulling at his bad wheel. Higuchi’s selling is terrific. His arm is practically limp at this point, and Aoki uses that to his advantage. Higuchi desperately escapes to the ropes, but Aoki continues to pepper him with kicks, showing some of his trademark pettiness when he slaps Higuchi’s arm. Aoki continually grinds Higuchi down with armbars, manipulating the digits. As a result, Higuchi has to rely on roll-ups for the most part.

Aoki is relentless, snapping back on the arm as he locks in an armbar. Higuchi musters the courage to power up Aoki and delivers a body slam off the top rope. With the damage done to his arm, Higuchi attempts to batter Aoki with chops, but they’re largely ineffective. Higuchi finally nails a good chop, only for his arm to give out on a Doctor Bomb attempt. I adored Aoki’s transition into the Fujiwara Armbar after that. He even busted out a topé suicida, proving he was desperate to capture the KO-D gold. Higuchi hit a Brain Claw Slam and a headbutt to score the KO win.

The suddenness of the finish was the perfect capper, as it felt like Higuchi barely survived this defense. Higuchi’s ability to garner sympathy while still coming across as an unstoppable force is unparalleled. He’s as captivating fighting from underneath as he is controlling the pace of a match. Aoki was unyielding in his attack on the arm, but his opponent proved too strong in the long run. The layout was immaculate, maximizing the impact of Higuchi’s every comeback. All in all, this was a great title match. Post-match, Higuchi’s former Eruption stablemate Yukio Sakaguchi laid down the challenge for God Bless DDT.