Horatio

I watched a ton of random awesome wrestling tonight (Marvin/Nakajima, Kenoh/Ridgeway, Vikingo/Omega I & II), but when I saw this one, I had to pick it due entirely to the story. It's a rare match that should be more common: the one where someone pulls rank. T-Hawk and Kento are both young guys, but based on what I saw, I'm guessing T-Hawk is just a tad older and for this reason, thought he could run through Miyahara without showing a smidgeon of respect. Not only is Kento larger, though, he's also the champion going into this; so, it's extra interesting what a vocal and obnoxious, albeit convincing, performance we see from T-Hawk. Both are big guys, but the fact that the smaller T-Hawk just has to get put in his place makes this ultra-compelling.

What makes the action in this match worth seeing? Punches! T-Hawk honors no Japanese Golden Rule when he brazenly punches the champ in the face, and for a while, does it successfully. Usually, in Japan, we'll see guys throw chops and forearms, because that is the price they're willing to pay. Kento doesn't respond in kind with punches, but he does stop taking T-Hawk so serious because the punches are so just plain rude.
But also, we see a superplex get used so quickly and effectively that it's not your usual boring superplex. It just looks nasty seeing the bigger guy get slammed that way by a guy big enough to do it convincingly. How big enough to abuse convincingly? T-Hawk is also able to cleanly, successfully hit the larger Kento with a Splash Mountain Bomb. Not an easy feat.
From Kento we see an especially sympathetic performance. He's the bigger guy, the champion, but has he ever run into someone so unintimidated by his natural and accomplished attributes? Kento's always been something of a minimalist; he has the headbutts, the knee strikes, and the german-suplays, but it has never seemed as inaffective as it does versus T-Hawk. T-Hawk comes off as well-rounded and confident, loud and proud, and by all means, deserving of the gold.

This isn't the sort of match that'll get picked up by David Melzer or the viewers at S.C., but it's a rare one indeed. I got into Kento by digging his matches with Zeus and Jake Lee, but T-Hawk is a totally different sort of big man. I've compared him to Road Warrior Hawk before, and after this match, I'll stand by that comparison, but now I want to see more Road Warrior Hawk. And versus Zeus and Jake Lee, Kento is competitive but clearly the ace against those guys. Versus T-Hawk, he shows that he can sell for purposes other than competitive match structure; he basically proves that T-Hawk is a main event player even if they're never to meet in the squared-circle ever again.