Not the worst or most stunningly and violently impressive beating in FMW history, or even just the worst/nastiest/most horrifying one to ever happen to Sambo Asako, but all the same (and given that Goto cannot entirely match the casual sort of hate it takes a man like Masanobu Kurisu decades to acquire), yet another wonderfully mean-spirited display of violence.
The match works more or less the same as the latter, with what it lacks in Kurisu’s specialized old bastard cruelty made up for in smaller ways.
Sambo Asako is one of the more sympathetic wrestlers active at this point, give or take a Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, through a combination of having a likeable presence and also by virtue of the unbelievable charm of being a fat guy whose skillset (hint: it’s his name) is very specific and not the most perfect fit for the environment, doubling up on the fish out of water thing. These qualities are only amplified as he’s gotten more experience in the last year, so now a raw charm comes with larger displays of energy when he makes a comeback, or him breaking out a wheel kick or, for the first time in this match, a flipping senton off the apron, or especially becoming even better at selling and trying and failing to fire up.
It’s something that Kurisu/Asako match nine months earlier scratched the surface of and that this comes a little closer to getting to the center of, which is that while a beating to someone naturally sympathetic works, said person coming back, whipping a little ass of their own in a surprising fashion, before then getting beaten up even worse is so much more effective.
Helpfully, the beating is also phenomenal.
Goto does nothing that isn’t fantastic, but the parts without what one might call “traditional” wrestling offense are the best. Reckless throws of a table into the large man’s face at full force, headbutts that feel like someone challenged him to try and crack a melon but he’s confused it with Asako’s face, things like that. Goto also once again puts on a punching masterclass. Every other basic attack like his stomps to Asako’s forehead lying down or his Kawada style punts when Sambo is bent over (although when comparing the force, one has to conclude that they really ought to be called Goto kicks) is phenomenal, again hitting that combination of perfectly thrown and extremely violent, but the right hands are on another level. Goto not only throws them from a lot of different angles, with his arm held differently and his wrist and hand turned a little in another direction ever time, but he throws such loud ones too, always with a unique smack or crack, the sound matching the picture perfectly. The same principle applies to ever Lariat that Goto hurls out there, each a little different in a realistic sort of a way, ranging from the classic full contact underside of the elbow ideal to what feel like a proto-Ikeda running cross disguising itself as a Lariat too.
It’s all so great, and constantly gets bigger and louder and meaner in equal measure.
Finally, when Goto has headbutted him enough time in the face consecutively, so much so that it’s hard to know for sure what amount of the blood on Goto’s face is entirely his own, poor hopeless Sambo Asako stays down for three.
Deeply enjoyable and hypereffective violence, showcasing the greatest abilities of each man, with enough highlights and blood spilled to thrill all the sickos too. Ideal non main event FMW work.
Once again from our man in the gi, one of the best squashes of the year.
HANDWERK 