This was for Togo’s KO-D Openweight Title.
I always liked this match, but this time, it landed about perfectly for me. Certainly better than it did the last time I watched it, and much more than the first. The fourth time I see it, it might become the best match I’ve ever seen, at the rate the match and I are going.
With Togo injured for the show in December, Antonio Honda won a match to determine an interim champion to challenge Togo here. It was pretty out of nowhere after years of being a vaguely credible but rarely successful underdog. Togo is fighting to have the long-ish title reign he’s never really had in the last six months or so he has left, and I’m always going to be sympathetic to a dirtbag trying to make good while the clock is running out, but I’m not the crowd. When people say they’re with Antonio Honda, it does this a disservice, because they are WITH Antonio Honda here. He does his absolute best to live up to those expectations and that belief and has the performance of a lifetime, in a performance sense and some kind of a kayfabe sense. Togo doesn’t take him all that seriously to start and takes it to the mat very casually. Honda is ready for all of it though and goes after Togo’s arm very intently. Everything that he does attacks the arm, but more importantly, it’s all great and it’s always different. Each passing moment in control seems like more and more of a miracle until it no longer feels like one at all. Togo sells the increasing pain on the arm really effectively too, seeing it go from a nagging ache to a serious detriment, which is a little touch you don’t always see. He initially stops Togo from going outside but goes out with him later on once he’s controlled the arm for something like ten minutes. Togo can fight him more effectively outside, but he’s still hindered in a major way. Honda flies a little too close to the sun though, and Togo punches him in mid-Tope Suicida, causing just a little cut. Togo works on it until it’s something much more substantial and visually impressive.
The work is real gross, and Honda’s selling is terrific. He’s got some wobbly sells and misses punches to try and come back on Togo that are especially eye grabbing, but also quietly adheres to the Steamboat rule and always tries to fight back. When he does fight back, it’s a proper Jerry Lawler comeback. Not just the strap coming down and punches, but the frantic shaking, initial no selling, (with his own unique take of shouting wildly to try and psyche himself up first), and then the absolutely wild two hand assault to drive somebody back. A lot of people know the idea, but rarely has anyone this century gotten it as right as Honda does here.
Honda’s as hindered by the damage to the cut and his brain as Togo is by the arm at this point. Togo has trouble hitting the Dick Killer though, and it keeps giving Honda openings. Togo always has ways out of things, and while the arm selling isn’t perfect (he forgets for a while in the middle of it all), it comes back at the perfect moments, and never leaves the match. He punches his arm to finally muster up the strength for the Dick Killer, but Honda still dodges the Back Senton. Togo keeps him at bay for a little while still, but his original sin keeps bubbling back up when Honda gets him good every time Togo thinks he has the whole thing wrapped up. There’s a great moment where Togo grabs him and has a smile on his face, thinking he’s just about solved this little problem, only to once again get put on his ass.
Togo and Honda go into another big punch off, and this one is immense. It’s the ultimate victory of this match, as they used the previous punch offs to make this one mean more than most other punch offs this century, and more than most strike exchanges this decade. Honda makes his last stand in the match, and Togo finally takes him 100% seriously. Honda runs out of juice, and Dick just barely has enough left. Togo takes the big shot when he has it instead of laughing now and finally drops Honda.
A second Dick Killer sets up the Back Senton finally connecting, and Togo holds onto the title. This match is about Antonio Honda stepping up big in a major spot, and he does, but a little more quietly, it’s a big victory for Dick Togo. This is the sort of match he’s been losing for like fifteen years, but he finally got out of his own way enough to hang on here. To reel it off quick, there’s some stuff you can cut, the arm selling isn’t perfect, it’s hard to ever actually buy Honda winning, and it feels kind of like an act at points just because you know it’s sort of walkiing in the footsteps of the sorts of matches both these guys love, but it’s such a huge victory for everyone involved. It’s not a perfect match, exactly, but it’s at least a match that has something to say. Togo’s own performance sets it apart from just being another underdog match, but a match about finally overcoming his own self destructive bad habits. On more of a behind the scenes level, it’s not just an elevation of Honda, but it’s the sort of match Dick Togo’s been trying to have with people for years, only now finding his perfect dance partner for it. I don’t know if this is the best DDT match ever, but it’s hard to imagine a top five or top ten without it.
HANDWERK 