10 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2017
7. Kazuchika Okada Vs. Minoru Suzuki - NJPW The New Beginning In Sapporo
It's hard not to rate this in a comparative context. It was impressive for what it wasn't, as much as for what it was; after inflicting a knee injury on Okada in a pre-match press conference, Suzuki targeted the weakened appendage with his trademark psychopathic zeal throughout the epic 40 minute duration.
That, essentially, was the entire narrative heft. There were no top rope dragon suplexes, no dangerous table spots - this was a pure and strategic wrestling match elevated into classic territory through the magic of Kazuchika Okada's expert selling. Not that Suzuki was there purely to supply the fuel; his psychotic facial expressions, contrasted with the agony etched across Okada's face, put this over as something intensely believable despite the sports entertainment hijinks of the interfering Suzuki-gun stable.
But even in isolation, this was something deeply impressive. It was no mat slog; Okada displayed his trademark, tremendous athleticism to escape Suzuki's wrath, but in a match of endless peaks and troughs, crumpled to the mat in agony in order to yield every last dramatic and psychological wrinkle. Suzuki's smooth and sudden submission transitions restored that narrative crux just when it was thought Okada himself had recovered - all of which made the grand reckoning of Okada's last comeback all the more satisfying.
This all might read as dry - as if the match was something to admire, more than to actively enjoy - but the sheer realism of Okada's selling wrenched elusive, genuine sympathy from an audience used to something more cosmetically spectacular.