This was part of the 2011 Global League.
As far as sequels go, it’s a letdown. It’s a barely great match still, but the sort of match you can throw on and watch while you’re making a meal or doing something else, without losing a whole lot. It doesn’t ask much of you. They hit each other pretty hard and keep it all surface level. Kensuke lacks the same urgency and fire that he did in July, so it feels longer despite being around the same length. In his defense, his slower and more deliberate attack on Sugiura’s neck makes sense given that it is heavily taped up and that after failing to beat him in July with his usual plan, it makes a lot of sense to wrestle a match like this. To his credit, Sugiura makes this borderline great through force of effort. His selling is very good, but he’s got a lot of fire in him again as well. He’s also beating the absolute shit out of Kensuke at a few points here, like he refuses to let him COMPLETELY sink this match just because he’s throwing another little piss fit about not winning every match he’s in.
When Sugiura wins cleanly with the Olympic Slam, everything about the match clicks into place.
Kensuke not trying half as hard and maybe trying to tank a match where he loses is still infuriating as all hell, but whatever rage that might inspire is tempered by how funny it is that Kensuke totally ate up NOAH’s planned future Ace, only to put over Sugiura perfectly over two matches the year after that, once said future Ace finally got his big reign. Harmful, incredibly damning, but just so goddamned funny too.
Hardly must see, but we’ve all seen a lot of worse matches than this lately. If a match is going to be a letdown, it should at least also be funny, and this was very funny.
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HANDWERK 