Isami Kodaka vs. Katsumi Usuda

[4.0] "Kinda underwhelming. I've heard of both men, and heard good things of Kodaka, but never seen a match from either man before. I'm not impressed by Kodaka. He has no size to him whatsoever and his offense is unconvincing. Since he is primarily a deathmatch wrestler I'm sure he is used to relying on violence. He certainly showed that he can crack his skull against another, so that's something. Usuda I am much more impressed by. He didn't blow me away but he actually has an athletic build and he worked convincingly. He clearly has a legit fighting background. The match starts with some serviceable grappling before it goes out to the floor and Kodaka involves a chair. Kodaka then hits the ring bell while Usuda's head is next to it in order to blow out his ears. If I hadn't seen this spot before, perhaps I would be more impressed. At one point Kodaka gets soccer kicked in the head which busts him open the hard way. Usuda wraps a piece of barbed wire around his leg and kicks Kodaka's chest. This match certainly had enough violence, but I don't care about that when I also see Kodaka doing fake Irish whips, fake forearms, and slapping his leg like his second name is Jackson. This is typical of deathmatch "wrestlers". They will get their body carved open and then turn around and throw the fakest looking offence.. My favourite spot of the match is actually right at the end where Usuda has a kneebar fully extended, Kodaka tries to kick at him with his other leg but then Usuda traps that too, creating a very painful looking hold that has Kodaka in the middle of the ring with nowhere to go as the time limit is about to run out. I won't spoil if Kodaka manages to hang on or not. Overall, this was just okay. (2*)"