Post by tetsujin on Aug 13, 2023 15:57:37 GMT -5
These two fought in the semi final of the G1, in a direct rematch of the year before, but this time with a sold out, cheering crowd, finally back at the Ryogoku Kokugikan for the G1 final shows. Perfect atmosphere, and a clearly pro-Naito crowd, who wanted reteibution against last year's defeat.
What a wonderful match, guys. Ospreay is having a hell of a year, but this might be my favourite of his performances because he motivated Naito to go all out once again, like in his peak years. I'm not into the "Naito is broken" argument, he still can go, just a bit slower than usual, but he's not Tanahashi-level bad, not yet. And he managed to go toe to toe with fucking Ospreay here, in a very intense match with a super hot crowd. They showed a lot of chemistry, with wonderful reversals.
Then the ending happened. Ospreay knocked out Naito for real and had to guide him through the last couple of minutes of the match, and man those minutes might have been the best carryjob I've ever seen. The match didn't become worse at any point, it still looked like the great bout they were having previously. Wonderful stuff, and thankfully it was just a false alarm and Naito recovered at the end.
One of my favourite matches of the year, by far. The return of the living legend known as Tetsuya Naito.
What a wonderful match, guys. Ospreay is having a hell of a year, but this might be my favourite of his performances because he motivated Naito to go all out once again, like in his peak years. I'm not into the "Naito is broken" argument, he still can go, just a bit slower than usual, but he's not Tanahashi-level bad, not yet. And he managed to go toe to toe with fucking Ospreay here, in a very intense match with a super hot crowd. They showed a lot of chemistry, with wonderful reversals.
Then the ending happened. Ospreay knocked out Naito for real and had to guide him through the last couple of minutes of the match, and man those minutes might have been the best carryjob I've ever seen. The match didn't become worse at any point, it still looked like the great bout they were having previously. Wonderful stuff, and thankfully it was just a false alarm and Naito recovered at the end.
One of my favourite matches of the year, by far. The return of the living legend known as Tetsuya Naito.
