(2/11) Stu's Catch Up With Matches Series: Shingo Takagi vs Kazuchika Okada (Season 1 Episode 2)
- joshandstupodcast
- Apr 19, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: May 3, 2021
This is a great time to be a pro wrestling fan, with basically having five wrestling shows on TV every week. From NXT and AEW being on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, Impact is on Thursday, and not to mention the RAW and Smackdown which are on Monday and Friday. There is a lot of wrestling to keep up with, and there isn't enough time of the day to watch all of it.
So with this new blog series called 'Stu's Catch Up with Matches Series', I'm going to catch up with eleven matches I'll be told, are worth checking out or matches I really want to watch that have happened so far this year. (So every Monday at 1 pm (UK Time) these reviews will be up)
Next, I look at the round one matchup in this years NJPW New Japan Cup, when Shingo Takagi took on Kazuchika Okada.
Singles Match Shingo Takagi vs. Kazuchika Okada NJPW New Japan Cup Night Two • 6th March 2021
So when it comes to Kazuchika Okada, you know 9 times out of 10 you are going to get a great hard-hitting match, and this matchup didn’t disappoint. Both put in some vicious shots early on, with Shingo Takagi working on Okada back, after whipping him into the railings which looked nasty, as well as a cool looking back elbow drop on Okada injured back.
I love the mocking of Okada by Takagi, with him doing Okada the signature pose before trying to hit his own rainmaker. The pace was perfect and had a lot of awesome exchanges, with two tombstones by Okada, and another money clip submission attempt which Takagi was able to get out of.
But Takagi hit a cool looking 'Made in Japan Driver' (Pumphandle Half Nelson Driver), which Okada kicked out of as well. Nevertheless the match ended in the best way possible, with lovely exchanges with Okada hitting everything, from another tombstone, a money clip submission, to even a rainmaker but nothing would put Takagi down.
However, Takagi was finally able to put Okada away with the 'Last of the Dragon' driver (Wrist Clutch Samoan Driver) to get the win. Nevertheless a great match, and an awesome way to kick off a wrestling tournament. Shingo Takagi didn’t let up after this match, with him having matches of the year in pretty much every round to the final.
Okada was great, but he wasn’t the focus and did his job well. With New Japan Tournaments they always deliver great matches, and I can't wait to watch more from this year's New Japan Cup in later episodes of this review series. If you love great technical wrestling in his purest, then definitely check this match out.
Verdict: 8 out of 10
Click on the link below to watch the match in full.
To follow me and the podcast click on these links:
Follow Stuart:
Twitter:
Instagram:
Follow The Josh and Stu's Wrestling Podcast:
Twitter:
Instagram:
Written By
Stuart Irvine
Comments