Yuji Hino vs. Naomi Yoshimura – D-Oh Grand Prix (Block A)
If Akiyama let Yoshimura take the lead on yesterday’s show, Hino took the complete opposite approach here. Right off the first ‘’clean’’ break, Hino let the Upstroke Bloke (this is a reggae joke) know whose boss and forced him to claw his way up. Yoshimura still works best in that role – getting his ass kicked, selling and picking his comebacks. His toughness came through in the chop battles and he even got Hino’s stubborn ass to sell for him. Well done, Naomi Yoshimura. ***1/4
Yuki Ueno vs. The Bodyguard – D-Oh Grand Prix (Block A)
There we have it: Bodyguard’s most convincing performance of the entire tournament. Helped by Ueno’s terrific babyfacing, Whitney Houston’s favorite wrestler finally came off as a dangerous dude. He left most of the rest holds at home and focused on wrecking the pretty boy. Everything looked like a struggle and they got the crowd to pop off basic suplex reversals, which is always a good sign. The result was a bit of a bummer, but it’s hard to argue with such a legit-looking finish. ***1/4
MAO vs. Chris Brookes – D-Oh Grand Prix (Block B)
The kind of comedy plunder brawl that only DDT can pull off. Not only big in scope, but also jam-packed with fun ideas. MAO working a large section of the match with a broomstick taped to his arms was super impressive. Just the right dosage of dumb shit and galaxy-brained high spots. Having dealt with Ebessan and Kuishinbo Kamen for so much of his career, Ref Matsui was an ideal third man here. His growing irritation early on helped set the tone and immediately put the crowd in the right mood. ***1/2
Konosuke Takeshita vs. HARASHIMA – D-Oh Grand Prix (Block B)
This was a meat and potatoes version of the usual classic between these guys, but I’ll take it. They brought back the arm work plotline of the Take/Brookes match, HARASHIMA foscusing on Takeshita’s weakness to close the power gap between himself and DDT’s very large champion. As is often the case with HARASHIMA limb matches, there were a lot of satisfying mini-payoffs spread throughout – the best one being HARA’ CROSS ARMBREAKER’ING his way out of the Plus Ultra. Also: lots of on-point striking, selling and a nifty Somato subplot to complement the arm odyssey. ***1/2
Kazusada Higuchi vs. Yuji Okabayashi – D-Oh Grand Prix (Block B)
All aboard the BRUISE CRUISE. Nothing less than an all-timer of a slug-fest between two of the genre’s very best. A lot of people can have a decent match based around chops, lariats and grunting, but few can make it as magnetic as Okabayashi and The Goocher. This was one of these rare cases where DDT’s wonky house show camera setup actually enhanced the action, as you felt right in the middle of the sweat-blizzards and Kaiju screams.
‘’Physical’’ doesn’t even begin to cover this thing. They practically laid into each other like this was the last match they would ever wrestle. Nothing else going on in terms of story other than ‘’two monsters trying to destroy each other’’ and sometimes that’s all you need.
When Higuchi responded to Okabayashi’s slap flurry by headbutting the daylights out of him, the meat-o-meter hit another level. No longer were we in the middle of a competitive Kensuke/Kobashi tribute – these guys were now trying to kill each other. The tension stayed in the red all the way up to the finish, Powerbombs landing like nuclear blasts. Great fucking wrestling. ****1/2
