Featured image by @yuuri_cameko
This review was commissioned by Lily Catts over on my Ko-fi account.
As far as BOSJ block matches go, this one holds no mysteries for us. It pretty much follows the modern New Japan junior formula beat for beat, combining a mix of lucha-influenced early chain work with stiff striking and targeted limb attacks. On that front, everything mostly comes together as a whole to be a perfectly competent, enjoyable tournament match but without any real soul or weight behind it to be anything more.
That’s not entirely their fault, of course. Again, it’s just a BOSJ block match, stakes aren’t too high and Korakuen reacts with pleasant amusement rather than diehard fervor. And for the most part, the performances are entirely decent here. Eagles is well-practiced at going after a leg, DOUKI has all that smoothness from his time in Mexico that helps move the pace along nicely throughout the match.
There’s some things within their control that let them down though. While Eagles’ kicks to the chest all land with a delightful crack, the elbows from both men leave a lot to be desired here. Structurally, the transition from the early back and forth feeling out into Eagles’ control feels a little abrupt and unearned, and then that control feels a little too abbreviated as well. Eagles remains pretty consistent with the leg attack, but DOUKI’s leg selling is here one minute, gone the next. He’s mostly smart about gesturing towards it in the downtime, but it rarely feels like it has any significant impact on his offense. And then the less said about the 450 into the Italian Stretch #32, the better. Just big no no there, fellas.
That said, it’s hard to take much offense to anything on display here. It’s still fun seeing Eagles work his way back to the leg and I appreciate him mostly sticking to the strategy. And all the rest of it is so breezy that the match is over really before any big emotions, positive or negative, can set in.
There’s worse ways to spend 15 minutes.
Rating: ***
