This review was commissioned by Ri Ri over on my Ko-fi account.
With a stipulation like a cage match, the question one always focuses on is how does the cage come into play? This bout plays off that in a really interesting way, first by lulling us into a false sense of security before the cage itself changes the complexion of the entire match.
Suzuki and Funaki start of with a really sporting exchange to start. It’s all very clean grappling, harkening to both men’s shoot experience, as they struggle against each other on the mat. In that grappling though, Funaki’s able to establish a real cool sense of control. He ends up on the better end of most of these exchanges, with Suzuki never feeling like he’s drowning but generally feeling like he’s just a step behind Funaki throughout the opening moments. Funaki’s even the first to really start escalating the violence, raining down with punches and headbutts that cut open Suzuki’s head. Even then, it still feels sportsmanlike enough that when Suzuki finally snatches Funaki up and hot shots him into the steel, it really stands out as this stark shift in tone.
In this way, the cage functions so importantly—actively changing the way our competitors fight. When Funaki gets cut on that big hot shot, Suzuki’s strategy changes entirely. No longer looking to fight it out on the mat, a switch flips in him and he’s all about working the cut. Just classic heel-style work here, punching right at the wound and driving Funaki’s face into the steel repeatedly. It’s awesome stuff, that I almost wish could have been escalated with a few pinfall attempts but the match seems to be under KO and submission rules only.
There are still struggles on the mat with Suzuki going for repeated arm submissions, but once the blood starts flowing, this really turns into much more of a raw gut check. Funaki makes his comebacks with these beautiful rolling and spinning kicks that knock Suzuki down. Suzuki does a fantastic job too of selling for these comebacks, really getting in some great stooge-like spaghetti-legged selling in when Funaki’s nailing the kicks. Suzuki’s heel performance as a whole feels so raw and complete here. Note the way he goes for right the cut to escape an attempted triangle by Funaki, adding to the viciousness by digging his thumb right into Funaki’s eye socket as well. God bless the grainy, pirated Dailymotion footage, it almost looks like Suzuki’s knuckle deep into Funaki’s eye socket.
But on the defensive end too, Suzuki’s downfall is a delight. One of the best moments of the match sees Funaki finally break through with the palm strike exchanges in a real satisfying. Suzuki keeps getting his hand up to go for the slap, but Funaki repeatedly beats him to the punch, landing his blows before Suzuki can even make contact. Suzuki rises horror monster-style from the dead a few times but when he finally crumbles and gets counted out, it feels like a massive win for Funaki.
All this aided too by some great camerawork. There’s so many of these intense close ups of Suzuki’s malicious grin or Funaki’s determined expression. A combination of “I’m going to kill him” from Suzuki and the ever so desirable “I got his ass now” from Funaki. Pro wrestling as it should be.
Rating: ****1/4
