KUDO/HARASHIMA

DDT Audience 2015

 (2015/05/31)

KO-D Openweight Championship: KUDO vs. HARASHIMA ©

This championship constantly produces some of the best title matches in the entire world of pro-scraps. I see some people being confused thinking it all started with HARASHIMA. Well, it didn’t, because if you find title matches even from 2008/09 onwards, even the random ones out of order, you’ll never be disappointed. Sanshiro Takagi showed everyone very clearly that matches for the top strap in DDT are taken very seriously, and really, when you watch them they feel like they’re from some other universe, and not from the DDT lowcard & midcard one. That’s what I love about DDT, when you watch their shows they’ll make you laugh countless times with light-hearted approach and hilarious gags, but when time comes to wrestle for tag team and singles titles – shit gets real, very real. They even produce best damn pre-match video packages that feel very sportslike.

Apparently this is the 14^th time these two face off in a singles match. I’ve only seen the two matches from last year and they were both great. This one was even better, as they added so much variety to make it feel fresh and different. Both guys played dirty by using closed fist punches, despite both being “good guys”. I loved it. HARASHIMA was the particular asshole as he punched KUDO’s stomach and head almost a dozen times. His signature midsection attacks were excellent once again. The match was getting more and more brutal as they were approaching towards the end, and both sold everything so well. Some new tweaks to the combos and moves were used I’ve never seen before from these two. Drama was super high in front of the amazing Korakuen people. Such a great match.

****1/2