First reviewed here.
Brutal in its efficiency.
Of all the matches from this past year, this one might benefit the most from time and distance. I recall when it first happened, the enthusiasm for it was tempered by a sense of disappointment. There’s a couple of reasons of this. One is the tonal shift between this and the build up tag from January. I can understand that, but that’s not an uncommon thing in Japanese pro wrestling history. A heated, almost brawling build up tag often does lead to a far more cautious and more grounded singles match. At the very least, it’s enough of a pattern that I don’t think this match’s approach did too much to take away from it.
The other point of criticism is the finish. I like Kaito Kiyomiya, I think he’s shown himself to be really capable in a variety of different settings. He’s filled with a lot of fire and mechanically, does a lot extremely well. Plus, there’s just something kind of likeable about the guy despite how soon he shot up the card over at NOAH. All that makes it extremely hard to see him put down so hard in this match, seeing that fire from the Yokohama build up tag be snuffed out.
If you’re going to do something though, why not commit to doing it as wonderfully as possible?
There’s no telling what the future holds for Kaito Kiyomiya, and what he may yet do against Kazuchika Okada. But few things in wrestling have felt quite so definitive as the finish to this match. After a hopeful burst of offense that sees Kiyomiya attack Okada’s arm, and begin stringing together Shining Wizard variations, Okada cuts off the upstart’s hopes with one of his dropkicks. Soon to follow is a Rainmaker. Even with the bad arm, it would have been enough to put down Kaito–had Okada not pulled the man’s shoulders off the mat himself. From there, he shames Kaito from both sides of the promotional divide, hitting an Inoki-style enzuigiri, then Misawa’s Emerald Flowsion, before one last thunderous Rainmaker for one of those most devastating victories in wrestling all year.
I’ve seen that sequence clipped so many times online, relived the devastation over and over, that it can’t help but linger in the brain. It’s one of the cruelest things I’ve seen a wrestler do to another wrestler all year. Not only physically embarrassing–a truly, unquestionable defeat–but spiritually crushing as well.
What’s been somewhat lost in the conversation though is just how great the match is before that climactic cut off from Okada. He puts his finest in-ring performance since the Wrestle Kingdom 14 main event against Naito. What he truly nails here is the attitude to the whole thing. He exudes a kind of dismissive contempt towards Kaito the whole way through, determined at every point to prove him lesser than. Note the opening lock up and push against the ropes, instead of playing mind games with his signature clean break feint, Okada presses his advantage, tugging at Kaito’s hair. He doesn’t even respect Kaito enough to display the kind of cautious, match extending feeling out he affords his challengers in New Japan. Instead, he throws the bombs immediately, nailing Kaito with a big German right out of the gate.
It’s not a wild brawl, but it is a somewhat violent disruption to the Okada formula. He’s not going crazy with the violence but this is not how he wrestles matches, and it’s because he perceives Kaito as being beneath his attention.
It’s also because Kaito doesn’t fear Okada at all. As he has for quite a while now, Kaito puts in a strong performance here. It’s one where he’s asked to sell quite a bit for the bigger star–a common practice for him at this point–but also one where he gets to frustrate them. I love that he refuses to stay down during Okada’s Rainmaker pose, or that he hooks his leg on the ringside barricade to prevent Okada from hitting a hangman DDT. His stiffer elbows also sort of force Okada out of his own bad habits. When Kaito starts laying those shots in, Okada can’t help but return in kind lest he be outdone by this young upstart.
Hell, Okada even does give Kaito just enough hope right before the death blow. Watch his arm selling once Kaito starts zeroing in on it. He’s perhaps not on the verge of death, but there’s a real vulnerability there. One gets the impression it’s more hurt than he expected to receive at the hands of Kaito, and that makes the viciousness of the finish land even harder on each rewatch.
The more I think about it, the more this match recalls the Ospreay/Omega Dome match. Much like Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada approaches this match with the confidence of someone who’s seen and done it all. Kaito always wrestles like he has something to prove, and that’s probably already a losing position to begin with. It’s that same mythic Tokyo Dome air–for Kaito, a rarified spot, for Okada, just another day at the office. While this never matches the physical brutality of that bout, it more than makes up for it with a kind of surgical meanness. One can almost imagine Okada dusting off his hands once it’s ever given how he bolts from the ring afterwards. No celebration, no revelry, he did all his talking in the ring.
One of the most powerful statement matches of the entire year. It’s just NOAH’s bad luck that that statement reads clearly: Kaito is not ready.
Rating: ****1/4
