IWGP World Heavyweight Title Match: Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Will Ospreay - NJPW Sakura Genesis 2021 - 04/04/2021
The tone death angle with Priestley aside, I was pretty pumped for this match. Other than their G1 30 Match, which was more like an exhibition, this pairing has been a home run with a really good Tokyo Dome match and a great G1 match in 2019 and now we have this excellent match in this fixture too. Ospreay has had a strong couple of months leading up to the match, winning the New Japan Cup, winning the RevPro British Heavyweight Title, leading a hot new unit so he was more than worthy a challenger. And yet, the result of the match seemed shocking to many people. The match definitely presented the win as earned though. The match was slower paced with more emphasis on tight, snuff wrestling and striking. Ospreay’s selling isn't his greatest attribute but when it comes to selling the small in the moment things, he was exceptional at it. His selling of the corner bump was sublime. The match flowed really well from section to section. The natural progression of the match is what I truly liked about it. The only blemish was the lawn dart attempt, even the overplayed “land on your feet after a poison rana” spot worked well into the match. The more complicated, spectacular spots were excellent too, allowing the match to crescendo nicely. ****1/4
Tony Oliver vs. Bert Royal - 22/02/1957
Fantastique! Oliver was not interested in friendly sportsmanship. He was more interested in grinding Royal’s knee joints into dust. Oliver adopted sneaky tactics such as grinding his fist into Royal’s limbs while locking on any hold that was available to him. Royal’s revenge spots were amazing. The crowd hated Oliver so any time Royal would crack his face with a forearm, they were cheering or Royal like crazy. Excellent match. This is something that I should check out more often. ****1/4
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