Hot damn, this was Nomura bringing the fire and not backing down a bit, even when he's getting bullied by Strong BJ. His mentor/trainer Suzuki takes a backseat in this, although he and Sekimoto have a fun little exchange and throw some suplexes. Loved Nomura lighting up Yuji with kicks, elbows, headbutts, and taking the boss hoss by surprise. He gets control of the situation and tags out as if he's had enough of Nomura's spunk. For a kid that's been wrestling less than six months, he does a lot of little things right. Like when he's trying to get the armbar locked in on Sekimoto and he's slapping at his hands to release. He's defintely the best/most interesting Big Japan young'un by miles.

Absolutely loved this. Who would think Nomura manages to stand out above Yuji & Sek as the star of this match? His kicks were pure fire, but credit where its due to Strong BJ as they sold like hell to put him over, and it worked like magic. But that only got him so far before a decisive finish. Looking forward to more iterations in this matchup following the tag tourney as fresh pairings among the core crew here can only bring good things. An easy ****