This got very soured on pretty much by everyone in my immediate wrestling circle, and knowing the length, I can certainly see why. Umino isn't my cup of tea either. This match has a lot going against it before I've but let's give it ago.
IWGP World Heavyweight Title Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (w/Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles & Ryohei Oiwa) (c) vs. Shota Umino
Very technical opening, beginning with a classic roman knuckle-lock into a full-nelson with Umino using his strength to keep the hold applied, and then used his smarts to reapply it when Zack attempted to roll away. Umino quicked in pace with a flurry, before settling back down to work on the neck some more. Zack then replied with an awesome arm pull that forced Umino into the ground. So far, so good. Umino is showing he’s capable of keeping up enough, whereas Zack is nasty but full of skill to carry out his game plan. There was an awesome cut off spot where Umino low balled Zack, sending him into the ropes in the 619 position, only Umino hits a springboard DDT with Zack going face first into the apron. And bizarrely, the fans actually begin booing Umino shortly after this moment, specifically when he sent Zack into the barricade. It was initially small and brief but noticeable. And then it grew after Umino coldly glanced in the distance after another DDT. You might think it was intentional, but Umino tried to get a reaction after they returned to the ring with an arm gesture, quickly getting zero response. Oof. I actually think Umino was having a good match upto this point, as is Zack.
Now this portion does seem to ponder as both are distracted by the not so great response, but it does flare up when Zack baits Umino into a strike exchange. Umino shows fire but his elbow strikes are really shit, especially in comparison to Zack’s uppercuts. After it’s clear Umino is no match in the stand up, Zack takes him back to the floor, snagging the arm for a cross armbreaker and then double shoulder lock. Zack transitions again into the arm-triangle that Umino powers out off, before hitting a running uppercut. Umino then lamely tries to do a Hidden Blade, which doesn’t help the identity crisis issues, but misses, leading to a decent counter sequence that ends with Zack brutally hitting a lariat that sends Umino inside out. This somewhere awkwardly strays away from the arm focused spots and moves into a strike exchange sequence - not ideal. At least the strikes were upper cuts and were stiff, on both sides of the ring too. And, again, to their credit, I did sense there was a story being told, told through Zack’s selling and Umino’s facial expressions which grew more aggressive and determined. The fans gave Umino one of the first decent babyface reactions since the start of the match after Umino’s last big uppercut.
This escalated into a back and forth match with both doing their bigger spots in the match with Umino getting some momentum being able to hit his DDT but then Zack did something both bizarre and awesome. He completely bent Umino’s knee to its side with a sort of twist. While the arm work has been lost, Zack has now began working the knee, applying a cross legged knee bar with Umino desperately fighting to the ropes in an incredible sequence. The fans really bit on whether Umino was going to tap out or not with both selling the hold and the moment itself really well. Umino’s selling afterwards was tremendous, as was Zack’s heel work which simply consisted of stomping the leg. Zack pulls Umino to his feet, who looks empty. The fans start booing again which pisses Umino off who fires up but Zack sweeps Umino off his feet with a kick twice. Umino is able to get some reprieve after Zack charges into the corner and gets caught with a DDT. Umino’s selling was still great, even when he threw a knee into Zack in the corner. And the fans were still not really buying into him. What a dichotomy of a great performance and the fans reacting.
Umino and Zack fight on top of the corner post, first fighting for a front face lock and ending with a glorious superplex. Umino rises to his feet and finally plays into the fans booing him, angry stomping on Zack while glaring at the crowd. And then the bastard throws his father to the ground! Now the boos are finally earned. Umino has flown the coop. He continues the distasteful stomping before walloping Zack with an uppercut. Zack desperately kicks Umino’s legs, whose no selling them (THAT’S HOW YOU FUCKING NO SELL SOMETHING) and stomps on Zack in response. Zack bitch slaps Umino hard enough to knock him to the floor, then stomping on Umino to return the favour. Zack still flirts with his heelish persona which isn’t ideal but Umino doesn’t back down either. They both slap the heck out of each other, both getting great shots in but t’s Umino who falls first. Umino rallies and hits an uppercut version of the hidden blade to a two count. Umino goes for a move but get’s tripped by Zack. Umino escapes and lariats Zack off his feet. He seems ready to hit a big move but his knee buckles! Zack capitalises with a Zack Driver. Only a two count though!! Zack continues. A big pile driver is hit, and then a leg crossed version of the Zack Driver that looks like an Emerald Flowsion! And that finishes the match. Woah. What a match.
I am really surprised at the criticisms. I get the booing, somewhat. Umino has been a lame duck since day one of his return really and I feel like this is an extension of that, rather than Umino’s performance here. But the general critiques of the match I don’t really get. I don’t understand how people can conflate Zack expertly working a roman knuckle lock and working the arm from there with the usual tedious drizzle that other NJ main eventers call technical wrestling. If you can’t see the difference between Okada bumbling his way through an opening stretch and Zack skillfully needling an opponent, I dunno what to tell you.
Furthermore, Umino had a really strong match. His strikes were tame (bad) early on, but he quickly moved on to the much sweeter uppercuts, and later slaps, matching Zack’s energy and storytelling approach to the usual tedious spot. And his selling was glorious for not only his arm, but later his leg. It was phenomenal. And I thought him finally turning heel and playing into the crowd was excellent, if anything Zack’s unwillingness to deviate from his heel persona really made that stand out as an isolated incident. I thought that both wrestlers were splendid. And if the crowd didn’t settle on the idea of booing Umino, who is clearly not as good nor cool as Zack, I’d see little reason for the major criticisms of the match.
The length is another thing, and that’s simply relative. I didn’t mind watching a 43 minute match because I enjoyed the quality of wrestling. Others might prefer a tighter match. Understandably, but at the end of the day, I liked what I saw. Loved it even. I’m calling this a great match, because it was. I found it quite enjoyable to pick this apart move from move and found that I got more and more invested despite the detached approach of watching the match. That’s how I know it was great. ****1/4
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