[2023-03-14-NOAH Sunny Voyage] Yoshinari Ogawa vs HAYATA

[Ma Stump Puller]

This got some fairly harsh reviews for being very long and very slow. The first complaint I'll definitely agree with: Ogawa tends to get ambitious on C-tier shows (the near 30-minute NOSAWA match, the 40+ minute Kaito match, etc) and this was no different in length, clocking in at 23 minutes. The second? Not so much. This was not as good as their 2020 title bout but solid enough for a C-tier touring show. HAYATA is obviously wanting pieces out of Ogawa as well, and does so by trying to crank the same bandaged leg that Ridgeway had his hands on just a few days ago because, you know, long term ring psychology is sometimes a thing. Ogawa's counter is eye work if you can believe it, consistently raking and tearing at the eyes to try to get the guy off his leg. Ogawa definitely had his hands all over this match by the length and amount of carefully worked, smart wrestling that was on display; it helps that HAYATA was a kinda-sorta Ogawa project, so he's familiar with this more prolonged style and knows how to make it interesting, while speeding things up to showcase his youth advantage, eating up a lot of time to showcase that. Eventually Ogawa is able to block a dive to the outside and he uses that opportunity to then throw HAYATA's arm into the turnbuckle post to soften it up. Ogawa's work on the arm was entertaining while also being able to showcase his leg selling by not going for big fancy technical showcases and instead mostly working dirty, wrapping the arm up in the ropes  and punching it, going for stomps, etc.

He does some technical work but it's mostly playing to a more Hansen-lite scrappy brawling style than his usual pace. The way that he makes basic stuff like a knee drop on the arm so much more painful by rubbing the knee on the joint or bending at the fingers are small touches, but they go a mile in making the fairly long control segments seem more fresh. That bit where he had one foot on HAYATA's fingers and the other cranking the arm over the top rope was a pretty sick spot. They get back to a regular (ish) pace as Ogawa relies on hip tosses and key locks to keep his younger opponent on the mat, and he gets real desperate when HAYATA starts to climb out of the hole with more reckless tactics, going for chokes and that nifty ducking low blow when the guy tries for a dive. None of those stick and eventually Ogawa gets wasted when the pace climbs up with HAYATA landing a bunch of decent high-spots to get the crowd going. The arm work gives Ogawa pockets of room to work with; I especially liked HAYATA deliberately botching a handspring due to his bad arm to build the drama for the finish, which has Ogawa's double wrist lock get countered into a small package mid-move for the sneaky win. I think they could've easily taken a few minutes off this: the control segments are a little too long, and definitely start to drag by the third extended one as HAYATA isn't nearly as good as his opponent in making that work seem interesting. however, this was mostly pretty good drama, I'd say. Ogawa's limb work and selling are masterful and while he obviously can't go at HAYATA's pace, that's used as a storytelling device to showcase how he has to use more smarts and Rat Boy-isms to try to snatch a win via limb damage and slowing down the match. Not as compact and technically impressive as the Ridgeway match, but the two still had a pretty solid affair if you can stand more of a slower paced 70's AJPW feel to things. Another fun showing for the vet.