Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yuji Nagata NJPW’s New Japan Cup 2006

Recap from @indiandeathlock:

The New Japan Cup is an annual tournament in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Rather than being a round-robin style tournament for points like the annual summer G1 Climax, the NJC is single-elimination. It runs over several days in the spring, and the winner is guaranteed a match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

This match from 2006 is the NJC semi final bout between Hiroshi Tanahashi (a sprightly 29 year old with terrible hair who hadn’t even won his first IWGP Heavyweight title!) and Yuji Nagata (a sprightly and intimidating 38 year old with one IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign).

The arena is silent except for the occasional crowd eruption. There’s no commentary and you can hear every grunt and shout from the ring. The camera work is simple. With other competitors in the tournament (including Masahiro Chono and Giant Bernard) watching from ringside, this match feels much more like a sporting event than a spectacle.

Largely a technical strength-and-leverage-and-striking contest between a veteran who is excellent at grappling and a younger man who will play the grappling game but really wants to THROW ALL THE DROPKICKS, this match is definitely worth the 20 minutes if that’s how you like to relax. It’s also worthwhile if you just like watching Tanahashi get kicked a lot and/or enjoy watching Yuji Nagata exert his brand of terrifying dominance in typical well-paced and exciting fashion.

Kaomoji match rating:  (*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡