AXS just had Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki from back in February (so now they're within 4 months, I think at one point it was up to 11 months). A very unique match if you didn't see it the first time (I had not). Having JR will always help. That's the type of match that would totally die with a WWE crowd, there is no way they would stay with a guy like Suzuki even if he's great at psychology. It was 40 minutes (and on AXS that means a hour) of Suzuki getting Okada into all kinds of heel hooks, kneebars, submission holds on the leg and Okada getting out of them after nearly tapping out. Two of the things that got me was during a sequence where Suzuki could stare a hole into Okada while having him in the hold, and also Gedo teasing that he was going to throw in the towel since Okada wasn't going to tap. And then Okada started looking like he was going to tap, so Gedo stopped because I guess he thought he was going to do it. The action is all on the ground, with a lot of cerebral tactics that weren't so fancy. Like watching a catcher work in baseball.
Meltzer had it as a 4.75.
I really liked it too...
But most people thought the submission sequences were too long...
And the result should be the other way because of that.
Suzuki is amazing though.
I am not that big of a fan before...
But after I re-watched some of his past work from the last couple of years in a recent binge...
I am amazed that he can still work at such a high rate...
In his late 40s.
Another match I would recommend is his tilt against Style at the 2014 G1 Climax.
That is some great work.
Okada deserves a lot of credit too.
He is on a historic run at the moment...
And it appears that he has only scratched the surface of his immense talent.