Post by brockobama on Jan 3, 2018 18:17:35 GMT -5
Sort of surprised to see that this guy didn't have a thread but I guess deathmatches are real polarizing, especially outside of the current crop of high-end American stuff. I've been a big fan of Takeda for as long as I've been a fan of the style but 2017 was the year he made good and won the BJW Deathmatch belt, having three or four of the best deathmatches of the year in BJW in the process. In a lot of ways, Takeda was the guy who carried the promotion for me in 2017. Even if it wasn't in a main singles deathmatch, the dude was always doing fun stuff somewhere on cards, notably having my favorite match of the Sumo Hall show in a concrete block canvas match with a bunch of dudes on the wrong end of 40. If it wasn't for his run with the belt in the latter half of the year, I would have stopped watching BJW altogether. Those matches don't compare to the likes of the Gage/Tremont series, sure, but I think they'd be good matches for anyone who can stomach copious amounts of blood and shattered glass.
Even outside of BJW the dude was doing good stuff, though sadly I missed most of it. Two good matches in GCW during their first tournament of the year, even when he was running on a bad wheel. Couple dozen matches in FREEDOMS that were almost assuredly varying flavors of enjoyable. String of good juniors matches in AJPW, showing off a side of his work that's always been there but most people weren't aware of. Between all of those and a solid run in the back half of 2017 in BJW, I think the guy's got a good shot at making some ballots this year. Right now he's a borderline pick for me since I didn't get to see any of that AJPW work and I'm way past the point of wanting to go back, but I imagine he makes my list.
Even outside of BJW the dude was doing good stuff, though sadly I missed most of it. Two good matches in GCW during their first tournament of the year, even when he was running on a bad wheel. Couple dozen matches in FREEDOMS that were almost assuredly varying flavors of enjoyable. String of good juniors matches in AJPW, showing off a side of his work that's always been there but most people weren't aware of. Between all of those and a solid run in the back half of 2017 in BJW, I think the guy's got a good shot at making some ballots this year. Right now he's a borderline pick for me since I didn't get to see any of that AJPW work and I'm way past the point of wanting to go back, but I imagine he makes my list.