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[2012-08-05-NJPW-G1 Climax] Kazuchika Okada vs Shinsuke Nakamura


Loss

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  • 3 years later...

This was a really well done mentor vs student style match. Okada displayed some of his worst tendencies here in going to a neck submission in a pivotal moment that loses the crowd and again using his repetition approach of a flapjack to signify a transition. On the other hand, he also displayed his best dropkick of 2012 so far that popped the crowd huge in amazement and worked from a psychological standpoint as Nak focused on the midsection throughout the match. The match progressed nicely from tentative start to each person really going after each other in the finishing stretch while still retaining the inclination that they are faction buddies and will stick together after this. Nakamura had a few wonderful moments sprinkled throughout including an insulting rub of Okada's hair, a great bump off of the aforementioned flap jack and a strike exchange where he calls back to the midsection work by delivering a punch to the gut to regain the advantage. Once again, finishers were protected especially the 1A ones in the Bom Ba Ye and RainMaker. This felt like a match that hinged on who was going to hit their big move first. Nakamura won that race and won the match as a result. ****

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I'd probably give this an extra star just because it wasn't built around Okada's leg being attacked. Seriously though, this was a good match. I liked Okada's little attempts to show off for big brother, and the race to hit a finisher made for a compelling stretch run. But as usual with Okada's better matches, I came away thinking most of the special touches came from his opponent. Nakamura's offense looked so much cooler and more violent.

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Nakamura's work was just so much more interesting than Okada here, which probably isn't surprising for 2012, but nevertheless it really stood out. The first eight minutes or so are very methodical and the crowd could not give less of a shit about Okada working slowly on the neck and clinching on holds (and it's probably too early in Okada's rise for them to really care about even the pre-lock up stuff). They are ready for Nak to work the midsection, and I dug it also. Flapjack here isn't even a transition, Okada just uses it off the ropes and then goes for a cover, which I don't usually like off such reg move as it kills the momentum. Really good elbow from Okada and a nice flurry from Nak that segues into a new transition (!) as Okada dropkicks him coming off the top rope and then goes into his signature power stuff. Really good layout. Nak is all over the Rainmaker attempts, since they're buddies and all, and his weaponized knee is a constant great counter to it. Big knee off the top rope with Okada's delayed sell off the big dropkick to pop the crowd. Real nice. Another smooth counter - Nak charges the corner and Okada seamless moves into the inverted neckbreaker. Good finish to a very good match with Nak's experience winning out as they both try to fire off their game changing finish.The second half feels like a preview/condensed version of a 28 minute epic and it's really well done. ***1/2

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  • GSR changed the title to [2012-08-05-NJPW-G1 Climax] Kazuchika Okada vs Shinsuke Nakamura

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