This starts off with some great, great pro style matwork and leads to a stalemate where Akiyama offers a great fake handshake to "congratulate" Osamu for hanging with him thus far. That is just one spot obviously but I don't see the general Akiyama is bland arguments at all. He is a super magnetic performer to me. I guess charisma is relative. My biggest problem with him is that he seems to have fewer singles matches around this level than some of the other elite and that's why I am hesitant to place him in the absolute top tier of greats.

 

Anyways I digress, the match develops into dueling neck work on Nishmura and leg work on Akiyama (which he sells brilliantly). Nishimura presents himself as the underdog well to get the crowd behind him and the heat increases to crazy levels by the end. The finish is smartly done. Excellent match. **** 1/4

Akiyama was really great here. His neckwork looked brutal, between the stunner on the ringpost, the stalling piledriver, and the way he viciously cranks on a facelock. Nishimura's legwork was pretty aggressive too and Akiyama's sold the leg terrifically, especially when Osamu dropkicks his knee out from him and re-applies the figure-four. The counterwork is also top notch here from beginning to end. There's an awesome moment where Jun counters the Japanese rolling clutch with a choke sleeper, eventually transitioning into his front necklock. Good stuff.

This is such a beautiful match. I was 100% with Nishimura all the way. With matches like this, Taue vs. Nagata and Hashimoto vs. Kojima, Japanese men's wrestling is on the rise in 2003. Definitely the best year for Japanese men's wrestling since the turn of the decade.