[2023-06-07-GLEAT-GLEAT V. EX] Takanori Ito vs Shinya Aoki

[MikeCampbell]

This isn't even ten minutes long, but it's a brilliant match. It perfectly plays off of ther earlier tournament matches that Ito and Aoki had that got them to the finals, and the end result is the morality play that pro wrestling is supposed to be. This isn't going to get the attention, or amount of dicussion (for better or worse), that Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns from WrestleMania did. But, unlike Cody, Takanori Ito was able to "finish the story."

 

While I sat in front of my laptop trying to piece together what all I wanted to say about this match, it got me thinking about the mentality of only wanting to see the "best" matches (and for the record I am just as guilty as anyone else of having that mindset), and this is a prime example of why that's a flawed way to look at things. If I was to show this to someone who hadn't seen any of the earlier tournament stuff, they'd probably come away having enjoyed the match (depending on their overall opinion of shootstyle) but they'd miss the context of why a lot of the little things that Aoki and Ito do worked so well.