These two had something to settle and man was this great. Both tried to inflict as much punishment on eachother as they possibly could. Things escalated even more with a sick headbutt from Tachibana giving the cool visual of the single stream of blood trickling down Ashino's face. Them we have the submission counter battle with Ashino coming out on top with the win. This match has me wanting to watch more W1 the rest of this year. 
 

This was really pretty good. Ashino keeps getting better and I thought his selling of the arm was great here - especially the failed wraparound German suplex attempt. Nice touch. Tachibana's strikes looked pretty weak but then he blasts Ashino with a shoot headbutt and draws blood so he makes up for it. The early armwork was simple but effective, with Tachibana just slamming the arm on the mat and going for pins before switching into the armbar. Current NJPW has soured me on elaborate reversal spots but I though the trading of the arm/ankle submissions toward the end was done really well. They throw in some bombs to break up the submission battles with a cool wrist-clutch Olympic slam and rolling Germans but then bring it back home with the final submission exchange and Ashino winning out with the ankle hold. Perfectly solid pro-wrestling with a simple but effective storyline that never overstayed its welcome. Good stuff. 

Loved this match. 15 minutes and not a single down moment. They got to work pretty quickly with Ashino attempting to toy with Tachibana only for Tachibana to start attacking the arm. Ashino did a great job selling the injury although I thought he was able to hit his suplexes and lock on the ankle lock just a little TOO easily. Still, Tachibana's continued assault on the arm was great and really made me believe he could pull it off. Ashino's uppercut comebacks were explosive and the submission stretch near the end made for an exciting back-and-forth war.

****1/2