Magnum Opus KAI

What's this? A brand new project on the old blog? Yes it is. Today we are trying something new. Chismo and I are both going to watch a match and rate it separately. That way we can see how our tastes and views differ. Chismo approached me with this idea a while back and I immediately thought it sounded like a fun idea. When he then suggested that we do it with one of my boys, Wrestle-1 star Kai, I got the added idea of making this a series, a chronicle of Kai's descent into madness as he goes from AJPW's golden boy and Mutoh's anointed one, to the self proclaimed ace all the way to his current Onita/Dean Ambrose cosplaying gimmick. Strap in, this is going to be a wacky ride.

Who is Kai? Kai is a Japanese wrestler trained in the Animal Hamaguchi/Keiji Mutoh/All Japan Pro-Wrestling school. Up until 2012 he worked as a junior heavyweight and things were going smoothly, winning the Junior League in August of 2008. Only a few short months after his re-debut post excursion to Mexico. Kai was set up as the future top junior heavyweight of All Japan alongside his training mate Hiroshi Yamato and things were trucking on well for him (for more info on his junior days, please visit his Wikipedia page). But in 2012 he made the announcement that he was going to move up to Heavyweight, and that was seemingly the gunshot that set off all the events that has led to this day in his career. Kai's initial heavyweight run in All Japan started just as strong as his junior run. He slotted into the Champion's Carnival and had a good run in it, which takes us to this match….

This first match in this descent into Kai madness is from his Champion Carnival run. And it is the semi final match of the tournament where he faces off against at the time recent import Go Shiozaki. The winner would face Jun Akiyama in the finals of the tournament. Without further stalling, let's get to it!

DDT 2015/12/13

Super Star Lanes 2015

(2015/12/13)

God Bless DDT

Never Mind 2015

(2015/12/23)

DNA 1

DNA 1

(2014/11/28)

NOWA Feeling Like it's 2005 (that one night...)

NOAH 2015/09/19

GHC Heavyweight Championship: Takashi Sugiura vs. Minoru Suzuki ©

Well, here we go, finally something truly noteworthy coming out of this SZKG angle, because this super clash is just stupendously awesome. MiSu is such a wizard of pro-scraps, and this instant classic should serve as the example and testament of his undisputed greatness, as he carried Sugiura to his very best singles match ever. Sugiura’s been such a shit wrestler since 2011, but credit where credit is due, he was good enough here. He sold well, even exceptionally well at certain instances, his strikes finally meant something and the crowd totally bought into his potential victory. It was awesome. Unfortunately, the match still had that one or two strike battles too many, and basically that’s why I can’t give this slugfest a full boat. It’s a relatively minor nitpick, because MiSu managed to make everything Sugiura did look so good and compelling, but it’s still a nitpick that bothers me and it took away from the middle portion.

But let’s be positive here, Suzuki took all the crappy Sugiura ingredients and blended them into his masterful human chessgame elements, hence why this match turned so goddamn amazing. I loved the structure, it felt stupendously organic and natural, very easy to keep up with everything, and yet nothing felt tedious or tiresome. Quite unique match, especially for NOAH universe, and it contains the best fucking slap battle in motherfucking YEARS!

****3/4

Okayama

Destruction 2015 in Okayama

(2015/09/23)

All Japan 08/29

Summer Explosion 2015

(2015/08/29)

All Japan 08/16

Summer Explosion 2015

(2015/08/16)

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

G1 Climax 25 - Final Day

G1 Climax 25

(2015/08/16)

G1 Climax 25 - Day 14 (from Korakuen, aka the REAAAAL G1 Begins!)

G1 Climax 25

(2015/08/09)

Takayama/Suzuki

NOAH 2015/07/18

GHC Heavyweight Championship: Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Minoru Suzuki ©

Even in 2015, even with Big Tak being one DDT away from dropping dead, you can still classify this meeting as “dream match”, or something like that. The screenshots for this were insanely attractive as they showed Takayama’s face soaked in blood. Also the story basically wrote itself, Takayama challenging for the GHC strap one last (?) time, etc. And yes, most of the match was really fucking good, they brawled very well and Takayama bled like a slaughtered pig, but unfortunately, many endless interferences really brought the whole thing down. I could live with Taichi being a colossal dickbag with his constant ringside antics, but the entire SZKG going after Takayama in the finishing stretch, with the ref getting bumped and stupidly distracted like ten times in a row… Wow, it was just too much. Makes you appreciate Bullet Club. Really, huge props to Takayama for his heroic performance, he looked like a fucking warrior, gladiator out there, also props to MiSu as well for playing the invader cards so well, but Jado’s booking prevented this from being a classic.

***

G1 Climax 25 - Day 3 (Lazy-Ass Edition)

G1 Climax 25

(2015/07/24)

G1 Climax 25 - Day 2 (Lazy-Ass Edition)

G1 Climax 25

(2015/07/23)

Araya and Tenryu Going HAM at Each Other

WAR 1998/01/14

Nobutaka Araya vs. Genichiro Tenryu

Hands down the greatest puroresu brawl of all time, this goddamn helter-skelter was 13 minutes of sheer violent perfection. I can guarantee you’ll never again see a kendo stick usage like in this match, because the way Araya was annihilating Tenryu with it was breathtaking. First, one would not expect that Tenryu of all people would take a BEATING like that. Second, WAR is his goddamn promotion and yet he got manhandled like that. And third, that scene was nasty and ugly to the point where it felt like a medieval torture of the heretics. Never before or after I’ve seen the Greatest of All Time in such a precarious position, as he was receiving rough shots all across the hands, arms, neck and head, his arm was bleeding due to Araya’s fury. But all that punishment he took was just a trigger for things to come, as Tenryu turned the malicious mode and unleashed all hell on Araya in a brutal, merciless and blood-soaked comeback. Definitely one of the best comeback punishment sequences ever, with Tenryu going ECW at Araya by doing all kinds of crazy shit all over the ringside, and then the punches – oh my fucking god, the punches were absolutely devastating as Tenryu was going full contact at Araya’s nose, shit got bloodied very fast. Straight outta Irish bar! When Araya managed to regain some control later in the match, we got an amazing and highly dramatic closing stretch where every move could mean a death blow due to all the previous violence we just witnessed. Holy fuck, this match is insanely wonderful!

*****