MOTW # 14: Miyahara vs Nakajima

"Chris Things M.O.T.W. #14: Kento Miyahara vs Katsuhiko Nakajima" - ink & digital illustration

Hi there folks! It’s our first “Match of the Week” for 2024 & I think I picked a good’n! There was actually quite a bit of great Pro Wrestling that I got to watch over this past week, so this was a tough one but ultimately a testament to how bloody good this was to win out.

This bout took place on December 31st, 2023 at All Japan Pro Wrestling’s "AJPW Mania X 2023" event at the Yoyogi National Stadium Gymnasium #2 in Tokyo, Japan. Nakajima-San defends his recently won Triple Crown Championship gold against his first challenger, the ace of All Japan (& big-time charismatic crowd favourite), Kento Miyahara!

Now this choice was made even tougher as on the same evening as watching this, we also watched their previous 5 star classic, earlier in the year in Pro Wrestling NOAH, as well as the tremendous final to the 2023 AJPW Real World Tag League involving both competitors - highly recommended viewing! But this slightly edged out both for me.

Just a total cutting edge instant classic. Hard-hitting, excellent build, great psychological storytelling, wonderful little nuances & an excellent history between the two from their days under Kensuke Sasake in Kensuke Office/Diamond RIng. The targeting of Kento’s arm & how that compounded later in the match was particularly masterful. For this one, Nakajima even makes a striking change in his appearance, cutting off his luscious locks & adopting a very familiar red towel, entering to Antonio Inoki’s “Ali Bomaye” amazing theme music, alongside historic NJPW & UWF figure (& a man with much history with Inoki), Hisashi Shinma.

Just a tremendous match all-round. Go out of your way to see this one! Easy 2023 match of the year candidate!

ENJOY!!

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