10 Wrestling Matches That Were NOTHING Like You Expected
5. Hiromu Takahashi Vs. KUSHIDA - NJPW Sakura Genesis 2017
New Japan Pro Wrestling presents lengthy, competitive pro wrestling matches within a sporting framework. Whenever the company deviates from the norm, those moments are shocking precisely because the norm is portrayed with such a functional consistency. Sometimes, the shocks just bring into focus why the norm is as effective as it is; Tama Tonga's cheap heat G1 run was an unmitigated disaster that so dampened enthusiasm for the Bullet Club implosion angle that Tonga himself is now drowning in irrelevance.
The Junior Heavyweight Championship match at Sakura Genesis '17 was very different, even if, ultimately, booker Gedo achieved the opposite of his original aim.
KUSHIDA attacked Hiromu Takahashi from the opening bell, flattening him with a somersault plancha. He wanted to enter Hiromu's controversial danger zone immediately. This was to his cost; Takahashi, in a performance that fused perfectly the aesthetic of his terrifying arsenal with a squash match effectiveness, did well not to concuss the challenger with the most gruesome-looking version yet of his sunset flip powerbomb before punishing him with two Time Bombs and taking a shocking, sub-two minute win. The crowd gasped in unison.
That wasn't what happened in New Japan matches, particularly to the talisman of the division. KUSHIDA, per the plan, recovered with a career-redefining Best Of The Super Juniors win before reclaiming the title at Dominion. The fans weren't that invested in the enduring hero's comeback story, but were instead drawn to the dangerous enigma.
Even with his pants on, Gedo sh*s ice cream, more often than not.