RANDOM PURO RE-VIEWINGS

NOAH GREAT VOYAGE 2013 IN YOKOHAMA VOL. 2

Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. KENTA
Going over 30 minutes is very long for any wrestlers, but I think it especially stands out with wrestlers like the two we have here. KENTA & Katsuhiko Nakajima simply don't have the material to work a compelling 30+ minute match against one another, but there's still plenty of stuff to like in this one here n' there. In particular the kicks are deadly, unsurprisingly. The sequences where they're just kicking the shit out of one another are very enjoyable, and there's quite a bit of other neat offense in there too, it's just that with the runtime & them being who they are, there's just too much dead periods of time where it feels like complete filler to pad the time. Oh well, I still enjoyed watching it! **3/4

NJPW KING OF PRO-WRESTLING 2016

Kazuchika Okada vs. Naomichi Marufuji
The first & only time (before this) I watched this back when it happened in 2016, I didn't like it at all. Now though, the 2022-me got goosebumps during the finishing stretch when Okada busted out the Emerald Flowsion. It is quite possibly the single coolest & coldest thing he has ever done. I goddamn loooove it. It certainly helps that everything leading to that insanely amazing finishing stretch was simply phenomenal as well; Marufuji was just firing on all cylinders, he laid all of his shit in, upping the brutality w/ all of his offense, in particular those chops. The damn chops. Chops are so overdone in wrestling these days, but hot damn I can watch Marufuji chop fools all day long-- especially if one of those fools happen to be the ace & king of his rival company. There's also plenty of legitimately awesome counters here as one would expect in a big Okada match, and with all praise I've given to Marufuji, I must say that Okada also definitely brought the heat. The story they went out to tell was told perfectly via his output. It's a really special match. I am glad I finally decided to re-watch it. That Emerald Flowsion, man. ****1/2

NJPW WRESTLE KINGDOM 13

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kenny Omega
Been wanting to re-watch this for a good while, and finally decided to do so. I've always been fascinated by the whole story of this match. The battle of two vastly different pro-wrestling ideologies-- it's a classic tale, and here Tanahashi & Omega did a hell of a job with it. You can feel the dislike & pettiness through their work right from the get go, in particular with Kenny who was just a total dickhead to Tana throughout. It really sold the storyline, and the nastily brutal output by both guys certainly helped as well; I love Kenny going after Tana's back, and while Tanahashi's selling certainly could've been better, I do think he does a pretty great job being the face-in-peril overall. Omega is a monster on the offense delivering the vicious punishment. The big moments where they go for each others signature-things with Tanahashi trying to splash Omega through a table, but instead crashing & burning for it, and then later on Tana kicking out at one after Omega went for a big "fuck you" by using the slingblade & the HFF-- I thought those 2 great, great moments really encapsulated the whole story they were out there telling very beautifully & effectively, as well as the differences between the Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kenny Omega characters. It's some mighty great stuff. And it's a mighty great match too, the almost-40 minutes it goes just flies by. Sure there's some periods where it isn't as compelling as it is for the majority of it, and as already mentioned I thought Tanahashi could've sold his back better, but it's still one helluva match to say the least. ****