8 | 04.05.2017 | jboyaquar | 6.0 | Like perhaps Mr. speedrome14, quite the AJPW marathon. KAI/Doering: K strong early w/ a tope through the S, but charging into big J was a mistake. He gets picked up in a spinebuster position and nailed down onto the mats. After being mostly dominated, K rolls-through a powerbomb attempt and has his shine incl. a high vertical and a RVD-styled frog splash from the SW. He tries to get D uo for the crasleshock, no-go -> JD flying body attack and a Rev Bomb finishes it. Fine basic match. 2 1/2 Nomura/Bguard: This always had energy t/out its short running time, but the quality varied. Here I liked Nomura's Northern Lights w/ a bridge, not so much his poise as he possesses (what is stereotyped as) nervous energy that hopefully will mature. The BG was just there as NN sold/moved about. NN won w/ striking Bodyguard against the S ropes and following it w/ a short spear and roll-up for the (barely) 2 1/3 3. Sai/Miyahara: An upset indeed. S's not over enough as a face or heel to make his eventual challenge be an alluring M Event. It was a scrappy affair, not memorable, but it beat on w/out much of an issue. S broke out of a straitjacket attempt, hit a sht. knee, a high kick and his finisher, the inverted slam for the shocking pin. 2 3/4 Sato/Ishii: It's strange to me that longtime AJPW roster member S's music can't be aired, but DDT wrestler I's can. I know it's in the strange world of copyright, but still. Shit, S got em some streamers. Well, he is the hometown boy. But will he re-capture the gold after a disappointingly short two-month reign? Well, he is the hometown boy. The match is at its most successful when I focuses on the back of S's neck, especially since the key moment early was S taking a reverse neckbreaker on the S apron. For example, a very fine I cross-breaker submission attempt and hammerlock DDT. The finishing last two were a bit flat and standard for a Sato victory, but I was happy for him as he got sth poor Bailey didn't. 3 5. 5 up for da title change |