Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Go Shiozaki (NOAH 11/22/2020)

Highest rated NOAH match on Cagematch since I stopped watching in 2015 delivers big. A common criticism I've seen of post-90s wrestling is that guys run through sequences from older matches to try to impress audiences but forget the selling that made those sequences stand out. Here, these guys take the opposite direction, slowing things down to an excessive degree. Initially, I wasn't sure what to make of it and was ready to write it off as Okada-esque "Sleepwalk through the first 10 minutes and then build to a bunch of big move kickouts to fool people into thinking they've seen a great match," but as it went on I soon realized that they were going for something far more daring and interesting. If I just ran through some of my favorite moments of the match--the staredown off the rope break at the start; Nakajima mercilessly wrenching Shiozaki's arm on the guardrail; the lengthy kick vs. chop exchange in the middle; Shiozaki's breathtaking moonsault execution and Nakajima getting his knees up just in time--it'd all sound pretty pedestrian and there's probably dozens of matches where you could find similar things. What makes it stand out is how they allow all those moments to breathe. It's a style that invites you to savor the little details you'd normally ignore in a match and really get inside each guys' head. Holding it all together is Nakajima's immaculate execution of kicks and Shiozaki's incredibly expressive arm selling. I imagine this sort of immersion-building style to be very unforgiving for botches, but everything came off without a hitch here and I was completely absorbed in the match by the end. No idea how it compares to other matches from 2020 and I'd have to give some thought for how it ranks on an all-time list, but I feel pretty confident getting behind it as a modern classic and I'm very interested to see other matches in this style.

Thanks for the rec. Will check it out.