Kazuchika Okada Is A Wrestling Genius
Very early into this year's tag, Okada tagged in and worked over Inamura with a simple rest hold. Kiyomiya stepped through the ropes and kicked Okada in the back a few times. Okada, the champion of Japan's leading wrestling promotion, showed no interest in selling. He sat there, literally unmoved, and took it. Kiyomiya was relentless. Held down by the self-serving carnies of NOAH, he was out to prove something, and challenged the most powerful man in the game to do just that. In a shocking moment, one that harkened back to the days of Akira Maeda breaking Riki Choshu's orbital bone, Kiyomiya struck Okada stiff in the face. It had to be stiff, to get the worked shoot element over, and Okada was left with a developing lump on his forehead.
The angle was so perfect that it deftly worked around the flawed idea that a "real" strike can co-exist with the worked wrestling context. It took Okada entirely by surprise. These things simply don't happen, or at least, they haven't happened in some time. The impact of that kick was vile, and provoked the intended response. Instantly, the crowd knew that something happened that "shouldn't" have.
If it scanned as the ultimate disrespect, that's because it was. Never has Okada performed with such volatile emotion. The kick worked as a "shoot" because Okada was not reacting to "real" pain, but rather the sheer insolence of Kiyomiya's power play. Okada registered the pain, for only a moment, before the red mist descended. He punched Kiyomiya off the apron, leapt down, and kicked the sh*t out of him.
"They beat the sh*t out of each other" has become shorthand for any match that is worked stiffly. Here, Okada beat the sh*t out of Kiyomiya. He slapped and punched Kiyomiya in the back of the head, his hands an uncontrollable, incandescent blur. He distributed a receipt by kicking him in the face. This wasn't just a genius performance - he acted as if he was genuinely incensed at Kiyomiya's transgression - this was Okada perfecting, immediately, the worked-shoot brawl. You won't see anything as real-feeling as this for quite some time. It was the best angle in recent memory. It was impossible to watch it and not feel fired up, even days and multiple rewatches later.
There's an art to the brawl.
CONT'D...(4 of 5)