Masanobu Fuchi vs. Yuma Anzai (AJPW 1/14/2024)

I feel like a total hipster pimping a match with 70 year old Fuchi as my current 2024 MOTY, but opinions do be like that sometimes. This felt like a masterclass from Fuchi and the purest demonstration I've seen of Raven's claim in one of his old shoot interviews of selling being the most democratic skill. Like 70% or 80% of why this match works as well as it does purely rests on Fuchi's incredible expressiveness through his facials and body language. He's really a great actor, at points oozing out smugness but then at others making you feel for him as this tired old man struggling with his own body. There's some sloppiness, but most of it just added to the narrative surrounding Fuchi's fragility, and even stuff like weak forearms barely mattered in the face of Fuchi's incredible selling. It also helps that Fuchi takes some punishment which he very much shouldn't at his age, including hitting his head hard on the ring ropes as a transition spot. I'm still wondering how badly Fuchi actually was hurt in this match. Also, literally every move here looks to have been carefully picked to have some kind of storyline purpose. They run through a lot of the classic AJPW spots like slapping off tie-up rope breaks, standing surfboards (awesome struggle on that, BTW), and abdominal stretches as if this is Fuchi passing the torch to Anzai. They also do Fuchi's signature old man comedy spots in the delayed body slam and closed fist punch in the headlock, except they feel so meaningful here because of the build that preceded them. The finish involves Misawa's facelock, which Fuchi specifically notes in the post-match promo was the move Misawa used to submit Jumbo.