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Post by microstatistics on Jan 6, 2018 23:31:59 GMT -5
Incredible storytelling and great action. Includes probably the best nearfalls in wrestling history, great build and escalation and superb twists and turns. Outstanding character work that evolves as the match goes on.
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Post by elliott on Feb 4, 2018 3:34:19 GMT -5
Second.
Great match, but honestly, given the story they're telling and who is telling it, I feel like this needed to go another 15 more minutes at least.
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Post by microstatistics on Feb 14, 2018 19:32:19 GMT -5
Second. Great match, but honestly, given the story they're telling and who is telling it, I feel like this needed to go another 15 more minutes at least. Disagree. For all the stuff they managed to fit in there, storytelling, action and character wise, 15 more minutes would have been way overkill. This isn't as epic as Queendom which was more deliberately paced and told a story of slow transformation, that's why the 40 minutes worked. This is far more fast paced and the narrative was built around sharp turns and sudden developments so the length was perfect (IMO, atleast). |
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Post by microstatistics on Mar 16, 2019 13:54:34 GMT -5
Establishing Aja as the unstoppable monster, only to knock her out in shocking fashion was brilliant. Kansai selling her foot after that kick made the spot. Hokuto suddenly went from being the cocky bully to a fighting underdog and no one plays that kind of character transformation in a match better than Akira Hokuto. I liked the sympathetic duo Kansai and Hotta resorting to cheap tactics even with the 2 on 1 advantage, because they sort of earned it (though the heel heat it garnered was justified). They do a wonderful job teasing Hokuto pulling off an improbable win in a genuinely dramatic finishing stretch which includes the best nearfalls in history but Kansai/Hotta finish triumphant in an emotional climax.
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Post by jetlag on Jul 22, 2020 5:16:30 GMT -5
This was elimination rules. This was pretty much what it looks like on paper. I liked how Hokuto acted smug and confident at the beginning, but then ate a few kicks to the leg and scrambled to tag Kong in. The rest of the match, she kept clutching her leg and was mostly forced to play a launching rocket for Aja to throw at her opponents. You don't expect Hokuto to work like Spike Dudley but she is good at it. Anytime Aja stepped into the ring you got the kind of badass, insanely violent exchanges you expect. Unlike Hokuto, Kong knew what she was up against, so she didn't waste any time to paste people with precise strikes. The sequence where Hokuto accidentally hit her own partner followed by Kong getting pulverized and eating a modified piledriver was just brilliant. I would've liked Hotta to get a bigger showdown before she was eliminated, but I appreciate that they kept the match focussed. When it came to down to Kansai vs. Hokuto, I felt like was watching Kawada trying to pin Misawa for the first time. Loved Hokutos desperate struggle against the powerbomb, the surprise suplex etc.
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Post by KB8 on Oct 6, 2020 17:46:57 GMT -5
This had some stuff I liked a lot and some stuff I wasn't so hot on. The elimination rule changes up the dynamic a bit, namely in that it's going to lead to someone fighting uphill against a couple dogs when their partner goes down. Who would ever want to go it alone against one of those pairings? Who's going to be that unlucky woman, you ask! Well based on how nonchalant she was at the start you'd have put money on it being anyone other than Hokuto. This was as blase as I've ever seen her in a big contest and she was even laughing at Kansai getting in her face before the bell. Maybe it was pure hubris because she was clearly in a bad way here - retirement looming as it was - and I suppose it was fitting that she's the one who was left to fight the odds. I liked the Aja elimination with Hotta and Kansai just battering her about the head until she couldn't stand up. It felt a bit abrupt in one sense, like maybe they could've built to it a bit more, but it made for a cool moment and I guess two of the hardest kickers on the planet kicking your brains out is enough build in and of itself. Hokuto has continued to impress the hell out of me over the last few weeks and I thought there were moments of this where she was pretty much phenomenal. She can be as grandiose as anyone, but it was the subtleties in her performance this time that I loved. Her quick elimination of Hotta by capitalising on a miscue felt like her one and only chance of evening the odds, then during the finishing run with Kansai it looked like she was a kick in the arse off death's door. Those last few minutes were great and I'm shocked Hokuto and Kansai never had a big singles match. It might've been decent.
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Post by mvz on Oct 24, 2021 3:16:01 GMT -5
This match clicked with me. The structure of the story they were telling was so solid and it is backed up by great character work and great selling, especially by Aja who I don’t consider a favorite. Really good stuff.
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Post by microstatistics on May 19, 2023 23:16:09 GMT -5
I hope people are watching the right (i.e., complete) version of this match (https://www.veoh.com/watch/v14193900cScd6jhc).
Because I just watched a deceptively abridged version on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukLAHmjdnnc&themeRefresh=1). For this version, I would understand Elliott's original criticism because the wrestlers appear to transition too quickly from segment to segment. But that's simply because of the editing as they have actually sliced out substantial chunks.
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Post by lemming on May 20, 2023 9:13:50 GMT -5
Micro - thank you for the bump and the links. Rewatching this now I am sure it was the abridged version I'd seen previously (without realising it was clipped). My memory was of this being a great sprint but that it was a pity that they rush straight from the Aja elimination to Hotta's without milking the drama of the 2-on-1.
The full match edit removes that criticism and the match feels a lot more, well, complete. The extra heat built up on Hokuto is really important and really amplifies the drama of the final finishing run.
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