2016 Ongoing MOTY List: Hama v. Okabayashi

12. Ryoto Hama v. Yuji Okabayashi BJW 1/24

ER: I am a reputed fan of giant fat dudes in pro wrestling, and they don't really come fatter than Hama. Ryoto Hama is slightly shorter than me, but weighs almost 3x as much as me. If I one day decide to throw an additional 300 lb. on my frame, I would be Hama. I don't know how these guys do it. I got aches and pains on my body, just from life and sports and what not. But I don't have to deal with the knee/back/body pain that comes with carrying around extra weight, never mind a few hundred pounds of extra weight. Hama is limited but athletic, and a match like this will rely on Okabayashi being willing to get plastered with 450+ pounds of Hama splatting onto him. And thankfully for us, Okabayashi is more than willing. We laugh as Oka tries bullying Hama in the ropes, and Oka ends up standing to the side so all we can read on Hama's mawashi is HAM. And from there, Hama goes full HAM on Okabayashi. We get some big chops, though certainly powerful Oka's do not move Hama. We get some shoulderblocks which just seems like a death wish for Oka to attempt. Sure enough, he slams into Hama, gets knocked down, and Hama drops the biggest and best damn leaping elbow you've seen right onto Oka. Hama would continue his run of awesome giant fat guy offense, with a rolling senton, big butt offense, a huge sunset flip splat, but Oka starts turning things around after Hama misses his fast low splash. Oka starts in with big lariats but goes for one too many as Hama leaves his feet for a terrific crossbody. Hama punishes him with two splashes which I thought was certainly it. But he gets greedy and goes to the corner for presumably a banzai drop, leading to Okabayashi lariating him right in his giant butt before powerbombing him, then hitting two massive big splashes for the win, with Hama likely not able to roll over, like a centuries old giant tortoise. Okabayashi was a nut for taking all of Hama's excess fat guy offense, and I appreciate him for that. (also, might have to dig back and review all Akebono/Hama tag matches from earlier this decade).

PAS: Man alive Hama has gotten fat, I remember him as a regular sized fat guy and he is end of the road Yokozuna fat now. He is really great at using his fat, his elbow drops and barrell roles look like they are lung collapsing. I liked how Okabayashi sold each smush like he was going to throw up. He also knows that if you are going to hit a fat guy in the throat you had better hit him. I also totally bought the finish, Hama may be hard to knock down, but if you knock him down he is going have some trouble getting up. Really fun match.


2016 ONGOING MOTY LIST