Nori da Funky vs Kengo Takai, Sportiva 10/10/2018
Matches like this represent the classic dilemma of Japanese wrestling: there’s a lot of really good shit, but also lots of questionable shit. Opening chain wrestling was really well done. After that Takai does a really long comedy spot giving a super long speech on the floor and the briefly wrestle on the floor. Then they transition right back to epic heavyweight wrestling. There is some no selling and at one point the camera freezes for a minute or so , but holy fuck these guys are dropping mad bombs on each other and did a great job keeping things interesting. Stiffness was there as both guys were hitting blistering chops and jaw loosening elbows. The finish was absolutely brutal with Takai scrambling Noris brain with some knees to the head and then hitting an absolutely disgusting lariat to the back of the head that turned Noris lights out. Not a flawless match but worth checking out.
Nori da Funky vs Fuminori Abe, Sportiva 10/17/2018
Noris last match in the SPORTIVA Arena. Abe acts disrespectful early on, so Nori punishes him with an ultra tight headlock. Pretty fun shooter vs. traditional pro wrestler contrast here, Abe was constantly punishing Nori with nasty kicks and knuckle punches, and Nori responded by chopping the shit out of him and trying to boot his head off. Abes work on Funkys leg was really good as he used a variety of holds and transitioned from one to another in smart fashion. Leg work wasn’t super important in the 2nd half but also wasn’t blatantly no sold. Second half was really good big match stuff with an injured Nori struggling to hit his signature offense, both guys battling it out in stiff strike battles and some cool counters. Most importantly, Noris backdrops, boots and chops came across as annihilating Abe, and both guys absorbed some stiff punishment. Nori retired 2 days later and I wish he kept going. He certainly was one of the most interesting acts going and his consistency in big matches like this was fantastic.
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