Day 6: Show of the Year Contender

Kota Ibushi vs. Toru Yano

Such a lovely time, this match was. One of my favorite things about it was seeing how much of a blast everyone involved was having - Ibushi seemed the most excited he's been in a while about a match, the crowd was loving every moment & even the cameramen were smiling from ear to ear. Fantastic mix of genuinely amusing comedy & serious storytelling w/ Yano giving Ibushi real trouble w/ his new found motivation in displaying his amateur wrestling skills + his classic shenanigans. ****

SANADA vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Super smooth & exciting back and forth technical wrestling all the way through. I prefer their New Japan Cup match just a bit more, but this was an absolutely awesome sequel. SANADA & ZSJ have a great chemistry with each other. ****

Juice Robinson vs. Tetsuya Naito

Naito was such an awesome bastard in this one w/ his constant hand targeting, and everytime when Juice went to cover that arm, he provoked him by spitting at him, raking his eyes & all. Terrific stuff. That brought a great fire out of Juice, and his big bomb comebacks were amazing. The finishing stretch was terrific - Korakuen were going crazy over it, and for a good reason. Some damn fine pro wrestling in display here, from start to finish. ****1/4

Kenny Omega vs. Tama Tonga

Enjoyed this one a lot. Great heat from start to finish, they kept the match pretty short, which was perfect for the way it was structured, and both guys delivered very strong performances in their roles. ***1/2

Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii

An absolutely awesome smackfest, with great Korakuen atmosphere, great facial expressions, selling & some very neat little touches by Ishii. ***3/4