I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t really get Hirooki Goto. He works in short bursts against guys I do like such as Tomohiro Ishii but in an extended title match? Eh. I know there are very dedicated Goto fans out there and perhaps they’re still riding the wave of his run in the late 2000s or his feud against Shibata? Unfortunately, I haven’t seen those matches so I don’t really care for Goto.
Luckily, he’s matched up against Shingo Takagi and I really like Shingo. This match is about what you’d expect. Heavy strikes, more heavy strikes, then even more heavy strikes. Both men do well with the type of match that’s expected and if you like that, you’ll probably enjoy this. Goto holds his own and the finishing stretch works really well. And hey, the right guy won. So all in all, pretty good.
