NEVER Openweight Title: Katsuyori Shibata [c] vs. Kyle O’Reilly (10/10/16)
This was SOOOOO good. A stiffer, tighter, more fun version of the Fish match – felt like a shoot fight or at least an amateur wrestling match where they were allowed to hit each other really hard. I haven’t seen a lot of O’Reilly so not sure if he’s always done this or if it’s unique to him working Japan, but he does this thing where he strings stuff together and keeps himself attached to guys, i.e. a backdrop into a leglock. It’s really cool. He just took it to poor Shibata here, all while Fish was outside coaching Kyle – “Don’t just stand there!!” “Combinations, Kyle! Combinations! More than one!” Towards the end they were just groggily throwing shots at each other, spit drooping from O’Reilly’s mouth. O’Reilly gets caught in a sleeper and his eyes go dead, then Shibata hits a PK, then Shibata applies ANOTHER sleeper and Kyle struggles for a bit but passes out, his mouthpiece falling from his mouth as he does. SHOOT. FIGHT. ****
Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Title Contender’s Match: Kenny Omega [c] vs. Hirooki Goto (10/10/16)
This was a lot like the G1 Finals match, with good drama and some wacky shit from Kenny, but it lacked that Big Fight Feel that put that match over the top. Kenny’s sunset flip powerbomb to the outside was fucking incredible, as was Goto’s HUUUUUUUUUUUUGE Shouten Kai. This is another example of Goto being plugged into a big main event – it’s very good but a little empty. ***1/2
