IWGP Intercontinental Title: Tetsuya Naito [c] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (6/11/17)
A match that made sense, told a story, had crazy drama towards the end, and for New Japan it felt a little bit unique… awesome. Tanahashi seeing that Naito broke the IC Title and attacking him pre-bell was AWWWEESSOMMEEE. Love when old-timey New Japan breaks the mold. This settled into the usual limb-work, but Tanahashi’s busted arm added to it, and they kept their story straight with Tana just not able to get any momentum thanks to the arm. At one point Naito slaps Tanahashi around, so Tanahashi says FUCK YOU, hits a German, starts punching him in the face, and SPITS on him!! Finish was huge, with the intensity upped to a thousand… tremendous slap-off, Tanahashi nailing a Sling Blade that actually looked like a move you’d win in a fight. Tanahashi finally traps Naito in a Cloverleaf that he works the FUCK out of until Naito taps. The Ace is back. High-quality pro wrestling. ****1/4
IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada [c] vs. Kenny Omega (6/11/17)
So let’s talk about the match and then let’s talk about the MATCH.
The first half-hour of this sixty-minute wrestling match flew by. Smooth wresling sequences, finisher teases, Omega hits a rana and sets up a dive, but Okada runs in and hits his own and tweaks his knee. Omega works said knee – a figure-four, dropping it on the apron and a table. Omaga sold the knee well enough, yeah that kind of went away in the end but life’s too short – what impressed me more than anything was his sell of the top rope fisherman’s buster, just gritting his teeth and panting like MY GOD why do I do this!? Omega gets cocky and kicks at Okada’s face, who gets up like WTF. The front cradle into the Indian deathlock submission was impressive stuff, as was Omega’s wild springboard asai moonsault, as was Omega’s bump on the dropkick into the guardrail.
Omega tries a springboard and gets sent crashing through a table and Okada gets to work and the match actually loses a little bit of luster until Omega starts selling his ass off and kind of turns babyface in the process, rallying the crowd behind him. Cody Rhodes runs out and teases throwing in a towel and Omega’s comeback is pretty awesome. He runs into a dropkick and takes a HUGE bump, then Okada gets hit with a few massive knees for a few massive near falls. Omega finally hits One-Winged Angel but Okada gets his foot on the rope for an amazing near fall. Okada nails a Rainmaker out of desperation. He tries another and Omega just collapses, sending Okada flying into the turnbuckle. Okada SCREAMS and gets hit with more batshit knees… the one to the back in the corner was so nuts. Okada hits another Rainmaker, but doesn’t cover Omega and the bell rings signaling that these these two crazy kids went the full 60.
So the biggest thing I didn’t like about the first match was that they didn’t have enough to keep it interesting for 45-minutes, and what I liked about this is that they were able to keep it interesting for even longer. Going an hour and keeping it interesting is a crazy impressive wrestling feat and I thought this was a great match, though it did have its’ awkward spots and its’ dead spots and more than anything it was a great wrestling spectacle vs. an incredible bell-to-bell wrestling match. I liked it a lot in the moment, but I also re-watched it with English commentary and to be honest there are a lot of other matches I’d rather re-watch.
Some of the stuff they pulled off was so impressive, but some of it was also a little silly – the tombstone counters that looked like both guys were helping each other up, the powerbomb catch of the dropkick. A lot with Omega feels like an attempt to go Next Level, when the best wrestling is usually the same old tricks just perfected. This had a lot of those tricks, but it also felt like it was trying so hard, to the point that it became less a pro wrestling match than a really cool simulated video game fight. Which, like, is cool… but will never get me as much as a great classic wrestling match.
Some of the Internet chatter corrupted my thoughts on this for sure, but I dunno. This was good and wrestling has to evolve, but this isn’t quite where I’d like to see it evolve – it’s clearly working for a lot of the wrestling community, and in some sense then these fellas are doing their job. I liked it, but also… didn’t FEEL it. Felt like a lot of set up and showing off vs. trying to win, if that makes sense.
But, still. 30 minutes went by and it felt like 10. Great near falls, smooth sequences, well-timed high spots, rocking crowd. Massive drama towards the end. Okada selling his ass off. Kenny’s god damn fucking knees. The artistry of exhaustion. The feat of going 60.
Okada and Omaga’s big matches tend to be similar, unless Shibata or Suzuki forces Okada to try something different. That similar match though happens to be a Really Good Fucking Match. Both guys are talented, complete athletic freaks, and it made for a crazy entertaining match. But, everyone’s got to chill with the best ever stuff. Stop corrupting the damn conversation. Like, the match is Really Really Great but a lot of big New Japan matches are Really Really Great and it’s also kind of already fading from my memory. That can’t be good, right? R-right? ****1/2
