Featured photo by @beerbearbeat
There’s a coldness to Tetsuya Endo. Since I’ve been watching him regularly in 2020, he’s been presented as this very calm and assured top level main eventer. Even when I enjoyed his work (scientifically-determined #10 wrestler of the year in 2020), I found it very hard to have any real emotional connection with Endo. After all, I came to know him as the KO-D Openweight Champion, with very little left to struggle for.
That disconnect I feel for Endo exacerbated the frustration I had with his work last year. Separated from the top title, Endo’s work took a downturn. It felt listless and bland compared to the efforts of other people on the roster. His most recent run to the KO-D Title earlier in the year helped to dampen a lot of the interest I had for DDT. I couldn’t care enough to finish watching his title win against Takeshita, and his first defense against Ueno was the worst major match from one of the most exciting talents in Japan today.
A flash concussion at CyberFight Festival led to Endo relinquishing the title, and clearing the path for our hero Kazusada Higuchi to finally win the gold. When something as wonderful as Higuchi winning the title in DDT happens in wrestling, one always waits for the other shoe to drop. There’s always this looming feeling in pro wrestling that nothing good can ever happen without something awful waiting in the wings to balance the scales.
Higuchi having his first title defense against Endo felt like a real test of what DDT wanted to accomplish with his reign. It’s entirely possible that Higuchi would just be a feel-good transition point before course correcting to center Endo yet again. After all, DDT’s put in years to put over Endo as a top level guy for their company whereas Higuchi’s been turned away at every point until an injury forced their hand.
Watching this match the first time, I’m filled with that dread. Every piece of offense Endo gets is a threat against the vision of DDT’s future that I believe in. Any time he’s in charge, it feels like my guy’s time running out second by second. Higuchi’s victory is the biggest sigh of relief, but more on that later.
The second time I watched this match, I realized how little I should have worried. That’s because the entire match is structured around Tetsuya Endo getting owned, and I just love that idea.
From the word go, Endo struggles to get any kind of sustained advantage on Higuchi. The champion is not only larger and stronger, but doesn’t mind matching Endo’s speed and technique when necessary. The uphill climb Endo faces just to leave a dent on the champion feels massive, he works twice as hard to force momentum to go his way. Oftentimes, he not only has to create space but also string together two or three pieces of offense before having any chance against Higuchi. For Higuchi though, cut offs come easy. A single solid blow, or snatching Endo out of the air to nail a big power move, Endo just keeps eating shit over and over in this.
Endo tries so much and none of it works. He tries the big high flying early but Higuchi’s familiar enough with Endo’s offense to cut him off. When Higuchi starts laying in the brutality, Endo tries to grit his teeth through it and move forward via sheer attrition. This show of defiance leads nowhere for Endo as instead, he gets crushed with a pair of corner lariats.
This match structure also remedies that coldness from Endo that I mentioned previously. Coming back from a humiliating injury, stripped of his title, Endo finally has something worth fighting back against once again. He’s no longer cool, calm, and in charge. Instead he’s against this insurmountable force of a man that takes all of his best shots and keeps on coming. This is the most fired up and expressive I’ve seen Endo in a few years and it does so much to add to his performance.
The brightest hope spot for Endo comes when he lands on his feet twice to evade Higuchi’s German suplexes. For a moment, it looks like Endo finally tapping into the ability needed of a champion to overcome this massive ordeal. He briefly gains control and nails his Shooting Star Press in the corner. Instead of getting the win though, Higuchi rises from the ground like an undead beast and works his way up from the mat into a brutal Brain Claw Slam that essentially spells the end for Endo.
All that’s left is a final moment where Higuchi breaks up a knockdown ten count and demands that a battered Endo stand up and actually fight. Endo does get up but it’s only so that Higuchi can lariat him into the dirt repeatedly. Endo gets to fight back up to his feet one last time, but it’s nothing but empty defiance once Higuchi puts him down for good.
It’s one of the most decisive and satisfying moments in pro wrestling all year. This absolute refusal to backslide into the ways of the past. Kazusada Higuchi standing strong, warding off evil at the gates, and doing so with an indomitable fighter’s spirit. He demands Endo’s best shot, and at every single turn, Endo’s best shot gets proven to be not good enough.
It’s such a perfect message to finish the match with that I don’t even mind the flaws of this thing. As you can imagine, most of those flaws are about Endo for me. He doesn’t get a lot of offense in this thing, but when he does it’s not at the furious pace that characterizes his best work. His strikes still look pretty laughable compared to Higuchi’s, but that at least can play into the overall idea that he is grossly mismatched against DDT’s new ace.
This is one of those matches where I have much stronger feelings for what it’s about than what it actually is. But in this instance, it’s hard for me to separate those two things because the match’s mission statement just resonates so strongly for me. How could a match whose thesis is that Kazusada Higuchi is the strongest and greatest not be great? The best wrestling is rooted in honesty, and very little feels as honest as this.
