Remember tournaments?
HARASHIMA vs. Kazusada Higuchi – D-Oh Grand Prix (Block B)
Early on, I had the nagging impression that this was a slightly-watered-down version of the usual match between these two. ‘’We’ve seen Gooch hit a lot harder and HARA bring a lot more viciousness to his limb targeting’’ – direct quote from my inner monologue. Then some god damn shoot headbutts were thrown and I just felt like a huge piece of shit. These men know how to wrestle professionally and ended up roping me in with their sneaky brutality and inspired setups for Higuchi’s power moves. Shame on me. That whole Doctorbomb sequence was super satisfying and I dug all the work around the brain claw slam. ***1/4
Tetsuya Endo vs. Yuji Hino – D-Oh Grand Prix (Block A)
Your appreciation of this match will vary depending on your feelings about Babyface Tetsuya Endo. Since the guy’s entire shtick revolves around being 2 Cool 4 School, I often struggle with him as an underdog-type protagonist. THUS, this was a bit of an uphill battle for me, even if they worked with a logical-ish beef provider vs. flippy boi template. While the banana peel finish and some of Endo’s more convoluted offense made Hino look kinda dumb, there were some genuinely cool moments spread throughout (Hino’s nuclear chop/lariat cut-offs and that wild Torture Rack Bomb). A very watchable mixed bag. ***
Jun Akiyama vs. Yuki Ueno – D-Oh Grand Prix (Block B)
Puro Twitter darling Ueno went into this one with an absolute death wish and his insolence sparked the most entertaining ass whipping since Akiyama’s murder of Black Buffalo a few weeks ago. They worked the best kind of Akiyama match – an 80/20 slaughter in the old man’s favor with Ueno selling his as off and making the most of his (very few) comebacks. Despite having one foot in the retirement home, Uncle Jun still feels more menacing than most wrestlers half his age and I will forever cherish DDT for bringing him in and treating him as a full-on killer. ***3/4
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yuji Okabayashi – D-Oh Grand Prix (Block A)
Working with Akiyama for an extended period of time has rubbed off on Takeshita in the best way. While he can still pull off the crazy videogame shit with ease (see his recent title defense against Chris Brookes), Take seems to be using this latest Ace run to showcase a renewed grasp on the basic-ass fundamentals of Japanese wrestling.
Going the distance with the Golem was a great way to put the champ’s newfound love for Cobra twists to the test. They milked the holy hell out of Boston crabs and made Vertical suplexes look like apocalyptic match-enders – both guys leaning into the Strong BJ philosophy and having themselves 30 minutes of gripping pro-wrasslin’.
There have been much more dramatic broadways at Ota-ku this year (looking at you, Miyahara/Lee broadway), but the high levels of energy and lariat-based ass kicking kept me on board all the way through. That super aggressive lockup they pulled to kick off the ending stretch was worth an entire star alone. The basics look good on Take. ****
