1. Tetsuya Naito vs. Taichi
Naito has a way about him of having awesome matches in the weirdest situations. I love how he doesn’t even look like he’s trying to have a great match and here we are, popping along. He bumps on his head for everything Taichi does – on the apron for a kick, off a backdrop suplex. He hurdles through space and time off a clothesline. Taichi meanwhile rips off his long tights midway through the match and proves he is a guy who can get along with this kind of match and get the people bumping. I’m not sure if it’s Naito or if this Taichi has just been hiding behind his lounge singer gimmick this whole time – he suddenly looks like a guy ready to main event anywhere in the world. His timing on pushing the ref away, low blowing, and Gedo clutching was incredible and prompts LET’S GO TAICHI chants. A massive Last Ride gets a legitimate near fall for him and the crowd is just losing their shit for the finish. Strangely phenomenal match. ***3/4
2. Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
This was two guys who clearly respect and get a kick out of working with each other just tearing it up – going toe-to-toe with rope running, monkey flipping, landing on their feet, and clasping hands together and going for a ride. And they eventually move towards a match in which it seems like Ospreay beating Okada is conceivably possible, with him providing an absolute barrage of big offense. This is the kind of stuff that would make both guys stars in ECW in 1996 and I mean that as a legitimate compliment.
So many great moments here. I dug Will doing his stupid pose and Okada bodying him with a John Woo dropkick. Will had people just flipping out with a big flying dropkick in the corner and a springboard elbow off the guardrail that was quickly followed by a handspring backflip to the outside. The combination of Okada’s perfect dropkick and Ospreay’s massive neck bump was INCREDIBLE. Finish was wild, with Ospreay busting out his own extra stiff Rainmaker, Okada catching an Ospreay Cutter with a dropick and dropping him with an insane Everest German, and an absolutely gorgeous spot where Okada caught Ospreay’s handspring elbow with a tombstone before ending him with a Rainmaker. So good, so exciting, so spectacular. Far be it from me to completely love a Bill Ospreay match but leave it to Kazuchika By God Okada. ****1/4
