[1998-02-28-AJPW-Excite Series] Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs Yoshihiro Takayama & Masahito Kakihara

[superkix]

A total blast, with Kakihara once again being the consummate thorn in the side and this time, he’s got heavy back-up inTakayama. I love how confident Kaki is when takes down Akiyama with a dropkick but when he tries to lure him into a “shoot”, Akiyama brushes off some of his judo skills with a takedown and more than hangs with Kaki on the mat. So Kaki has to rely on his kicks and he quickly chops out Akiyama’s leg and re-asserts himself back on the mat with a leglock. Takayama’s the loveable brute, German suplexing Kobashi and knocking Jun off the apron, which leads to Jun rolling back into the ring to confront Takayama and getting nearly KO’d with a big knee. Kobashi’s the best good guy, checking on the welfare of his partner, taking sympathetic beatdowns, working the crowd while trying to combat Kaki’s pesky kicks. Jun and Kaki have some awesome chemistry here, between the in-ring interactions, the constant taunting and one-upmanship. The final showdown between Kaki and Kobashi was also really great. Kakiwara tries for his roll-up kneebar off a German suplex attempt but it doesn’t do the trick here and when he goes back to the kicks, Kobashi’s able catch one and capture suplex him. Really liked Kaki’s last spat before Kobashi destroys his world with the short-range lariat for the win.

[Jetlag]

Always good to see the UWFi crew kicking ass in AJPW. Akiyama grappling with Kakihara is so much more interesting than the usual opening. Takayama mauling everyone ruled. Unfortunately, I thought Kobashi was kind of lousy here aside from one awesome suplex on Kakihara. He didn't really sell a great deal to get the crowd invested and his choice of comebacks was poor. Akiyama looked excellent, he should have worked shootstylists on a regular basis. Crowd didn't seem to know what to make of Kakihara's submissions which led to some awkward silence despite the work being good.