A bit late going into detail but I wanted to give my overall opinion of at least the three top matches. I gave all three of them five stars, as they all deserved it.
Ishii vs Shibata Just a great back and forth beat the crap out of each other fight. My problem with brawls is that most people think that a brawl is just a sloppy match that no one uses many holds. But a good brawl can be just as good as the best technical match or ariel match, and this match just proved it. A good brawl has two guys beating the crap out of each other and with the other just not giving in and fighting back. Excellent and brutal match.
AJ Vs Nakamura Another five star match, but I actually place it third in ranking the top three matches. It was excellent, contested brilliantly... but for me it didn't have the drama that the other two did. I am not really sure why, it's just how it came across to me. That didn't keep it from being great, just I felt for me something missing.
Okada vs Tanahashi. Easily match of the night for me. Yeah, I had the emotional investment because Okada is my favorite active wrestler. This match made me feel like I was watching Flair vs Sting at the first Clash of the Champions. Back then, I was on the edge of my seat the entire match, cringing at every pin attempt, hoping and praying that Flair was going to come out of this match the champ. I do not get that feeling much nowadays, but I did throughout this match. I was very tense and there were a lot of times when I just KNEW Okada was defeated... It was dramatic, it was fun, it was full of nail biting moments and it really made me feel like a much younger wrestling fan than I am. Luckily this match was on January 4, so the wrestling world has a full year to try to put on a better candidate for match of the year, but in my opinion, this one will be nearly impossible to top.
Ishii vs Shibata Just a great back and forth beat the crap out of each other fight. My problem with brawls is that most people think that a brawl is just a sloppy match that no one uses many holds. But a good brawl can be just as good as the best technical match or ariel match, and this match just proved it. A good brawl has two guys beating the crap out of each other and with the other just not giving in and fighting back. Excellent and brutal match.
AJ Vs Nakamura Another five star match, but I actually place it third in ranking the top three matches. It was excellent, contested brilliantly... but for me it didn't have the drama that the other two did. I am not really sure why, it's just how it came across to me. That didn't keep it from being great, just I felt for me something missing.
Okada vs Tanahashi. Easily match of the night for me. Yeah, I had the emotional investment because Okada is my favorite active wrestler. This match made me feel like I was watching Flair vs Sting at the first Clash of the Champions. Back then, I was on the edge of my seat the entire match, cringing at every pin attempt, hoping and praying that Flair was going to come out of this match the champ. I do not get that feeling much nowadays, but I did throughout this match. I was very tense and there were a lot of times when I just KNEW Okada was defeated... It was dramatic, it was fun, it was full of nail biting moments and it really made me feel like a much younger wrestling fan than I am. Luckily this match was on January 4, so the wrestling world has a full year to try to put on a better candidate for match of the year, but in my opinion, this one will be nearly impossible to top.
