Keigo Nakamura & Yuya Koroku vs. Hideki Okatani & Toi Kojima
Working these dark match slots must suck, man. Here you are, trying to show the world how well you can apply a headlock as half the crowd is still settling in. Gotta give props to these kids, because they never let the tough card placement affect their performances. They bring the energy and the dropkicks, no matter what. Very pleased with Okatani finding the most dickish possible way of Boston crabbing someone. **1/4
Kazuki Hirata vs. Danshoku Dino vs. Antonio Honda vs. Yuki Iino vs. Saki Akai – 5-Way Match
1752 – Ben Franklin’s kite-flying experiments lead to the discovery of electricity
1832 – The first electric car is conceptualized.
1936 – Music is changed forever with the advent of the electric guitar.
2021 – Humans learn to absorb electricity by inserting their body parts inside Danshoku Dino’s butt hole.
2028 – A new breed of electricity-wielding super beings takes over society and declares war on President Dwayne Johnson’s America.
Yuki Ueno, Chris Brookes & MAO vs. Akito, Yukio Naya & Yusuke Okada
Hell of a fun time. Equal parts Ueno/Akito preview, Kaientai comedy and efficient multiman wrasslin’. Ueno and Akito seem to have found a cool dynamic for their upcoming Universal title match – Akito’s clever leg attacks meshing well with Ueno’s fast-paced counters. Speaking of cool dynamics, Okada and MAO showed unexpectedly tight chemistry here and I’d be game for a singles match. Lots of cool shit going into the ending stretch including a blink and you’ll miss it Quebrada from MAO. ***
HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura & Toru Owashi vs. Tetsuya Endo, Soma Takao & Mad Paulie
Another pleasant 6-man that didn’t waste anyone’s time. Didn’t quite reach the heights of the last one, but there was a similar amount of good ideas. People coming in and out of the ring when you’d least expect it and using creative team work. HARASHIMA sending a message to Uncle Jun with the front necklock finish was a nice touch too. **3/4
Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi vs. Daisuke Sasaki & Yuji Hino – Ultimate Tag League
Healthy dose of no non-sense tag team wrestling. Dug how the wrestlers’ respective strengths and power levels dictated where the match would go. Case in point: Sakaguchi easily kicking Sasaki’s ass early on but eventually running into a brick wall when Hino got his hands on him. For all of his faults, Sasaki’s also really good at this and knows how to work logically with bigger and more dangerous opponents. The heelish cut-offs and crafty submission reversals were a good counterpoint to Eruption’s roughhousing. Love cohesiveness as much as the next guy, but I’m not gonna pretend the match didn’t peak when Higuchi and Hino started to chop the shit out of each other. I hadn’t yet seen these two face off in a DDT ring and it was a thing of beauty. Holy shit @ the effortless Powerbomb on Higuchi to break up Yukio’s armbar. ***1/2
Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata vs. Jun Akiyama & Makoto Oishi – Ultimate Tag League
The perfect throwback to the early days of the All Out/Junretsu feud, when everyone was still trying to make an impression on Uncle Jun by behaving like grumpy AJPW wrestlers. This had the same high-hatred vibe, with the senior wrestlers sending each other messages through the complete destruction of their sidekicks. Shunma as babyface in peril and Oishi getting tossed around by Takeshita are two of the most reliable tropes in DDT, so the structure couldn’t have made me happier. The way they worked towards the mega upset finish was a real tour de force – Katsumata holding on for dear life against Akiyama until Takeshita was able to sneak in with an assist. Pulling off this type of high-emotion Wrestlemania Moment isn’t easy in the pandemic era, but they did it here. A pat on the back for all Shunma stans out there. ****
Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata vs. Daisuke Sasaki & Yuji Hino – Ultimate Tag League Finals
Let the good times roll. While the previous match might’ve been a more complete package, this was by far the most dramatic piece of wrasslin’ of the tournament. The exhausted Sauna Club (Shunma in particular) were setup as the perfect babyface underdogs and Shinjuku Face just came unglued for them. Seriously, half the fun of this match was the insane crowd heat, which approached pre-COVID levels at times. The story couldn’t have been clearer – both sides were trying to finish things as quickly as possible and it led to a pretty wild bombs-fest. It was a whole lot of movez destruction, but they did weave in some fun subplots with Take’s leg and Sauna’s continuous MAD MAX attempts to add some meat to the layout. Katsumata sold the damage of the last match like a pro and once again came off as a supremely cheerable dude, while Take rekindled his high-impact beefing with Hino. ***3/4
