Charisma, these guys have it. I've seen and enjoyed three of their previous matches that took place over the span of several years. The most recent being at Wrestle Kingdom I, my favorite match on that card. Two of the matches ended in ref stoppage from submissions, the other a pinfall from a Suzuki slap. As far as I can tell, the hatred has a lot to do with both being total badasses and Suzuki being a dick. Always good fun! After losing their 03 match, Suzuki slaps Nagata and spits on him. It seems these guys were born to hate each other. The opening video package shows pictures from the late 80s when they were just getting started. Neat.
The match opens with a slap and kick skirmish. Suzuki goes after Nagata's leg for awhile, but that is dropped after Nagata shakes it off for good when he goes back on offense. Nagata targets Suzuki's arm after an armbreaker and focuses on it from then on, which would eventually lead to Suzuki's downfall. Match enders in their previous matches, Nagata's armbar and Suzuki's sleeper, are not effective at ending this one. Towards the end, Suzuki has difficulty getting the sleeper locked on due to previous armwork. Nice touch. He gets knocked loopy when the failed sleeper leads to two Nagata backdrops. We get a nearfall, then another backdrop that allows Nagata to win.
This match was exactly what I wanted and expected from it. No more, no less. I added .5 points to my original score because I was so thoroughly entertained. And of course, the real reasons to watch this match... they slap the piss out of each other and we get insane facial expressions.
RATING: 8 out of 10
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