[2000-06-02-NJPW-Best of the Super Juniors VII, Night 13] Kensuke Sasaki vs Manabu Nakanishi

[Superstar Sleeze]

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Manabu Nakanishi – NJPW 6/2/00

Someone I believe in this match is nicknamed “Mr. Unbelievable” based on the commentators but based on Google didn’t think it was either. Unfortunately, I am doing this review about 4 hours after I watched it, but I thought this was a particularly boring match so I am not too worried about getting every detail right.

I have been enjoying these Sasaki title defenses against these upper midcarders (Frye, Kojima and Iizuka), but this one has been one I have been kinda dreading because I find Nakanishi so miserably boring. He didn’t disappoint. Each title defense has established Sasaki as the better overall wrestler, but for the challenger to pick a body part work over it and then Sasaki gets so desperate and he hauls off and clocks the opponent. This has been a great formula but this match was just nowhere near as interesting.

Nakanishi is the bigger much more boring version of Sasaki. Unlike the other Sasaki defenses, Sasaki is giving the power advantage away to Nakanishi. They collide right off the bat like two bulls. Then have a pretty standard chop battle that wouldn’t look out of place in 2025. They slow things down and start to work the mat. Sasaki telegraphed his usual spot of ricocheting off the ropes while his opponent ricochets off the buckles, Nakanishi stops short and nails a spear. Nakanishi worked the spear a lot. Nakanishi had no juice in his control segment. It was all Spears and Torture Racks. Sasaki’s offensive strategy was interesting because he at least varied his strategy. Realizing he didn’t have his normal power advantage, he was able to get a guillotine choke out of a spear attempt and that laid his first in-roads. We see eventually Nakanishi get another spear and then throw a Terry Bam Bam Gordy like fit and apply a Torture Rack and throw a couple big suplexes. I believe this is the point where Sasaki CLOCKS Nakanishi with the closed fist which his signature when he gets very far behind in a match. I now want to go back and watch the Kawada knowing this has been his 2000 signature and see when he finally hauls off punches Kawada. I think this was a perfect time for the punch. I thought the combination of Spear/Torture Rack felt like a good time for Sasaki to show desperation. My issue is that the spot ends up NOT being the turning point of the match. He ends up getting steamrolled again by a Barrage of Spears think if Bron Breaker’s only offense was spears. He did attempt one last Torture Rack, but Sasaki survived and he whipped him down. I get that Torture Rack is not an easy hold to keep applied for a long period of time but it still seemed kinda lame to just give it up and also transition back to Sasaki is so lame. Besides going to back to the Guillotine Choke which was cool, Sasaki just finished him with Lariat, Super Northern Lights Bomb which is special and a Northern Lights Bomb. I am not really sure Nakanishi deserved the Super Northern Lights Bomb.

Nakanishi is such a chore to watch and I saw he made the G1 Climax Finals in 2000 against Sasaki so dreading that match. I am not surprised that Inoki went with the shooters, once the Musketeers left, his talent pool just wasn’t going to draw 50k+ to Dome if it was some combination of Sasaki, Nagata, Kojima, Tenzan and Nakanishi. Besides Nakanishi, I like all four of those guys, I don’t think you can tell me any combination of those four are going to be drawing huge numbers. I thought this was a great Sasaki performance, he put Nakanishi over as a beast. He let Nakanishi outpower him which is his game. He came up with the Guillotine Choke to neutralize Nakanishi and set up his usual finishing stretch. It takes two to tango and unfortunately Nakanishi is fucking boring. ***