GENTARO vs. Osamu Nishimura

[7.0] "I was pretty excited to see how more traditionalist match in 2015 would look like after watching a bunch of matches from the 70's and 80's recently. And yeah it was good. I liked Nishimura's Dory Funk Jr.-Esque elbows, sounded like damn gun shots at points. I liked the leg work, they did great job selling each others attacks and looked real worn down, I liked the rolling figure four out of the ring, reminded me of Hase vs. Chono from '93, although that's probably not where that spot originated. Nishimura's shin breaker on the chair was disgusting, I loved that. GENTARO's great, I think we're in the middle of his transformation into this more traditional style when before he was more of a high flyer, and he really gets across being way in over his head, and will do desperate things to even get a count out victory. There's nothing negative I can say, I can only tell you that, it's not exactly mind blowing and I'm not over the moon in love with it, it's just a well worked match and a well told story. Three and a Half Stars out of Five."

[10.0] "This match surprised me in every way possible it had this rare structure nowadays, it's simple story but the execution what makes this really that good, the holds the transitions are taking their time and they let every single thing sink in slowly and slowly making this bigger and bigger with time, that's was really an impressive piece of wrestling and a match that really should be recognized by everyone. I'll rewatch this later and say more things about it i need to get more knowledge about these two (more) definitely a classic."

[7.0] "I thought I was going to adore this match but by the time all was said and done I ended up just not having particularly strong opinion on it. Of course everything looked solid and well worked but that was all."

[10.0] "From reading the wrestler's name, you can tell that these two have no respect for each other in the ring and are going to prove to each other who is the better grappler. For most of the match, Nishimura had control of the match and was hitting Osamu's legs with heavy blows, while Osamu was hitting his legs with great strikes until the end, and even entered the ring three times on the 18. What could be more realistic than this? From the beginning of the match, both wrestlers started the match with submissions, and their only goal was to tire each other out, and even to free themselves from the opponent's submission, they were hitting their opponent's legs as hard as possible to both tire him out and get rid of him."

[8.0] "I'm using a translation function, so it may be hard to understand. Since Nishimura passed away, I've been watching his matches, and I'm really impressed with how great a wrestler he was. Nishimura and GENTARO (who is also a great technical wrestler) showed off some great leg attacks, mixing technique and roughness. The finish was also very convincing and philosophical."

[9.0] "Nishimura and GENTARO worked an absolute classic of a technical match. It told a great story of a young wrestler with a chip on his shoulder trying and failing to prove himself against a man he idolizes."

[10.0] "Very obviously great. GENTARO and Nishimura are two of wrestling's last masters. They work the match exactly how you'd expect, making every inch feel like a mile. GENTARO is a perfect underdog as someone who gets it just like Nishimura but just doesn't have that same level of experience/conditioning, and Nishimura is wonderful getting to constantly find new and interesting ways to cut off GENTARO's attempts. All of the spots based on figure four leglocks were great and the finish felt like a real "just like that" kind of moment, like all it takes is the right application at the right time to completely shut down your opponent and take the win. Matches like these between genuine technicians are harder to come by with each passing year. The style is dying and more of the phony, flashy, modern "technicians" are ruling the roost. Wrestling like this needs to be cherished while it can still happen."

[10.0] "I originally got the match + full show from Jetlag (thanks again! ) but VKF's channel have also uploaded this to their Youtube as well following Nishimura's tragic passing. It's a pretty damn good celebration of everything Nishimura stood for as a worker; incredible, crisp technical wrestling with expertly done storytelling via said wrestling, GENTARO especially seems to be having the time of his life wrestling what probably was one of his idols as he sells his ass off for the guy. Nishimura around this time had mostly faded into the background as most of his time was occupied with his political career so when he did wrestle it was mostly for pretty nothing tag matches where he'd just go through his routine without much focus or effort really applied into it. Something like this existing was especially shocking that the guy was still THIS great and could put on legitimate classics when inclined. The starting work is mostly the usual signature spots; the standing Nishimura arch, clean break etc etc. GENTARO gets pissed that he's getting upstaged starts working dirty in the headlock alongside throwing his signature Bret-style punches, which turns out only seems to piss off his opponent as he responds with nasty elbow smashes and a mean Cravat into headlock transition. The main gimmick is Nishimura simply having all of the cards when it comes to the technical game, consistently throwing out these wild counters to things that GENTARO tries to do, namely his big mistake being consistently going to the well of moves that Fujinami (who Nishimura knows very well) tends to pull out. He tries for a Bow and Arrow stretch at one point and immediately regrets it when he gets his foot bent into a toe-hold, stuff like that. GENTARO sells like everything and adds in momentous struggle to the matwork; others recently may have done this stuff faster but they don't get that ground work tends to be a grindy and rough struggle for the most part. Like GENTARO spending nearly a full minute just in a hold trying to comprehend a counter is much more engrossing than watching someone speedrun through multiple transitions at such a rushed pace that it looks like they're breakdancing, you know? They just get it in that regard. Nishimura looks solid in the ground work but those little moments where his stoic shell breaks and he gets nasty are the real money moments. Like after they'd had a struggle over toe-holds and leg locks Nishimura tries to drag his foot for a submission, but his opponent sticks to the ropes to escape it happening. There's a couple of seconds where he processes it, stands over the guy and lets him limp closer to the corner, then stomps the shit out of his hind leg while he's not even looking. It's such a sudden/brutal spot that it almost snaps your attention right back by how subtly done it is, crazy good. GENTARO also gets in some highlight moments where he's able to throw in counters like taking a Muta Lock and turning it into a Cravat choke but this is mostly just him selling and bumping big for the invading force which i think he does a awesome job at. He's even able to convincingly get over a potential count-out after Nishimura smashes his shin into a chair, even adding in theatrics by falling to the ground when he tries putting weight on the bad leg to step into the ring. You feel every bit of his struggle throughout the entire bit right up to the big shine comeback spot after Nishimura misses his second top rope knee drop. I'd say his offence is lacking in a couple places (he doesn't get much height for his signature shin breaker on the turnbuckle post, for instance) however it does build up nicely as he lands a couple of impactful suplexes yet his leg prevents him from absolutely capitalising. It felt like a truly 70's AJPW finish build wherein both guys are fatigued and moreso battling that than each other. There's some heavy focus on GENTARO trying to put a statement with his victory as he frequently goes for the figure four (Fujinami) and Spinning Toe Hold (Dory) clearly to showcase his mastery over one of their biggest students. Nishimura rides out the holds and exactly like the 2006 MUGA match GENTARO goes for the figure four once too many times, allowing Nishimura to quickly reverse the leverage and tap him out in the end proving his experience over the youth. This is a really well done match that basically plays to all of the pair's strengths and none of their weaknesses. Nishimura looked fantastic here for his age, really hammering in the control work to make him look like the big threat he is here. It's quite crazy since his best material is working as a crafty underdog: having the roles reversed here makes it clear that GENTARO by stature just isn't up to snuff despite some big close calls here. There's a sense of importance to the pair's work that you just barely see anywhere else wherein every big turn and twist in momentum feels like it could be the last. It's another cap in GENTARO's hat for him to come into a match like this and have such a lack of ego that he just happily went along getting his ass beat for most of this without complaint. Honestly? I think that mentality makes this match as great as it is - There's no pretensions of a "epic" or 50/50 bullshit, just a guy way over his head slowly realising it over the course of 25+ something minutes. Masterful craft by two of the best to probably do it."