2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Suzuki vs. Sekimoto

31. Hideki Suzuki vs. Daisuke Sekimoto BJW 11/11

ER: Mostly minimalist big boys battle, nice and tidy at 15 minutes with the first 10 minutes all snug holds. They do a lot of little things I like, holding onto headlocks when one guy tries to push off, or holding onto a cravate while the other tries to snapmare out, or Sekimoto holding onto a hammerlock while Suzuki tries snapmaring out. They take their time on hold application and escapes, so when you see Suzuki slowly straightening and bending Sekimoto's arm out behind him you're sitting there thinking a muscle tear is more likely than Sekimoto keeping that arm. Sekimoto not having a neck makes some things look cool, like seeing him work through escaping a headscissors, and I love how they didn't even go for any kind of highspot until 2/3 of the way through, with Suzuki dropping Sekimoto hard with a backbreaker into a cradled pin. We got this awesome moment where Suzuki locks in an octopus hold and Sekimoto crab walks a super long way, slowly, to the ropes to break, all while Suzuki is just putting heavy weight into the hold. The rest of this hits hard, with a nasty lariat collision, heavy dropkick under the chin by Suzuki, a couple jaw shuddering elbows by Suzuki, tough Saito suplex by Sekimoto, a beastly punt right to Sekimoto's chest, and a great short finishing run: Suzuki hits a hard elbow, Sekimoto clonks him with a big headbutt, traps his arms and headbutts his chest, then fights his way over for a German suplex. Non-overkill heavyweight wrestling plays so well.

PAS: I really like Suzuki holding it down for all the MUGA fans out there. Sekimoto has been a guy we have been low voters on for a while, he tends to get really into no-selling and spamming moves, it is clear that his destiny is a guy who holds on to a headlock. His big mutant baby body is perfect visually for holding on to a headlock and he looks like he is going to pop Suzuki's head like an overripe melon. Suzuki works at his own pace, everyone else in wrestling is ready to move on the next thing, he is going to let everything marinate. I loved all of the little adjustments both guys make and how painful even the smallest move looks. When they crank it up, they don't all of a sudden forget what they did before, everything is still deliberate and super painful looking. Suzuki can make a backbreaker look like he broke your back. I loved that finish run too, totally bought the headbutt/german combo being brutal enough to put Suzuki down. Excellent match, on par with the Jumbo vs. Robinson match I watched for NFF but in half the time, and it is a real credit to say that they are working at the level of Jumbo and Robinson.


2018 MOTY MASTER LIST