10 Introductory Matches To The Unrivalled Art Of Japanese Wrestling

10. Shinsuke Nakamura Vs. Kazushi Sakuraba - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 7

The memories of New Japan's awkward flirtation with MMA a few years' prior mitigated expectations for this match, which pitted part-time wrestler and full-time shoot fighting hard-case Kazushi Sakuraba against Shinsuke Nakamura, full-time pro wrestler with some MMA experience.

The two men however had sufficient experience in both disciplines to carve out a mesmerising fusion of them.

Unlike the majority of Puro bouts, which are escalated tentatively in order to sell the threat of both men and the grandiosity of the occasion, after scene-setting displays of ground and pound and stand-up, the frenetic pace and the MMA stylings engender an environment in which a knockout or submission could end it at any time.

Astutely timed at 11:12 - suspension of disbelief would have been compromised, given the worked shoot approach, had it dragged on any longer - the match was almost too realistic. Sakuraba, after a picture-perfect suplex, nails Nakamura with a knee to the face which knocks him out cold.

The amalgam was beautifully crystallised during the match's best spot, which saw submission specialist Sakuraba catch Nakamura's trailing leg and reverse his Boma Ye into an arm-bar.

The two men hugged in the post-match following Nakamura's win in a fitting display of sportsmanship.