Ali Najima vs Kanu(?) Watanabe, Sportiva 5/7
I think this is Watanabes second match ever, and it is a pretty impressively fun second match ever that makes me want to check out his actual debut match against Hikaru Sato. Watanabe doesn't have the generic rookie moveset, he's a shooter with kickpads, and immediately he proves himself worthy by doing some really fun shootstyle grappling with Najima. The match is really simplistic, with Najima going for leglocks and Watanabe going for a kimura. Najima does this kind of shootstyle tinged indy match really well, this may be my favourite performance I've seen from him so far as he had a bunch of really sweet counters into the leglocks that were defintely rewind worthy. If both guys continue on this path they could be really good in no time.
Munetatsu Nakamura vs Hagane Shinnou, Choco Pro 5/5
Genuinely really fun, straight forward attempt at a technical match between two silky smooth guys. It's fascinating to me that Hagane is MADOKA, who many people thought was really cool 17 years ago, and now he's kind of drifting along working for Emi Sakura and other odd indy midcard gigs. This Nakamura kid is really impressive. Lots of cool amateur moves from him, like a cool leg lace and a really cool quarter nelson that they put some nice struggle into. They made sure to make everything feel meaningful, including moves as basic as a side headlock or a short arm scissor, and it builds nicely so that a cool escape from Nakamura actually ends up looking cool. A lot of these technical-MUGA-worship matches can feel derivative, wasn't the case here, I never felt like I was an exhibition of cool spots and submissions. Another pretty cool instance in this recent ressurgence of technical indy matches.
Mentai Kid vs GENKAI, Kyushu Pro 5/11 (Mentai Kids Retirement Match)
Incredibly emotional, high stakes, pretty much perfectly worked big match to cap off the really cool career of Mentai Kid. I've always had a soft spot for Kyushu Pro because it was one of the few companies in recent years that struck me as really passionate and fresh, and Mentai Kid had been a big part of it with his dedication to play the beloved local flying babyface to a T. Retirement matches can sometimes be a greatest hits parade, "look at him do his spots one last time", that was not the case here, this was hard fought from the get go as they put some nice struggle even into the basic hold exchanges. This just kept building and building, and they both went all out both with passionate selling and dishing out some crazy bumps and spots. All the transitions felt meaningful, and I loved how they put a lot of emphasis on small things such as GENKAI selling his legs after pulling his knees up on a splash etc. My god did GENKAI look like the penultimate badass stoic warrior here, I thought recently he was getting a little lazy with his WWE-isms but he was 100% commited to putting his old rival out to pasture here. I loved his stoic demeanor, nasty headbutts, punches that looked like punches, and trying to crank Mentais neck with sick bombs. Mentai was as slick as ever and he really gave his everything, talk about going out on the top of your game. Loved the build to the diving moves towards the end, the crazy spot that broke the ringside camera etc. Really a pretty incredible big match that was enaging throughout it's length. Also loved Mentais 20 minute entrance and the post match with Liger talking on the mic in full costume with an old man voice, Ultimo in a sleazy flannel suit etc. Great stuff, the magic of pro wrestling is still alive.
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