This Is Heavy

Will Ospreay VS KUSHIDA - WCPW World Cup Finals 8/26/2017

JJZ: So before watching this match I watched the quarterfinals match between Kushida and ZSJ. I was so excited for that and thought it would be a lock for me to Play Forward. As soon as I saw it I was like "YES." Then I watched it and was like "naw." It really underdelivered in my opinion. So, I saw this and you know how much I love Ospreay, and I couldn't recall really seeing a big time Ospreay vs Kushida match before. This was the finals of the same tournament and I really enjoyed this one. These two complimented each other nicely. This was a pretty textbook build of a match. Nice technical work in the beginning. Back and forth middle and an exciting home stretch. Loved the finish. I've seen a few matches from this tournament now and really think it would be something to invest time in.

CJD: I have seen one of the big time Ospreay/KUSHIDA matches in NJPW and it was very good. And this was on a similar level! These guys do have nice chemistry. This particular match felt like more of Ospreay's brainchild and as such there were a few moments I thought he was trying to get a bit more melodramatic than it needed. BUT, at the same time, this crowd felt like they'd been through a lot, and maybe they needed a lot to hook them back in. They were definitely fully invested by the finish and what a finish it was. And for any criticisms I might have, they never lost me in the slightest, and this was a highly satisfying match beginning to end. 64 man tournament! God damn. One of the fantasy wrestling feds I used to be a part of back in the *Prodigy days did one of those but we kayfabed a bunch of early rounds like it was the IC Title in Rio de Janeiro. I have to assume WCPW actually held every one of these matches, and my hat's off to them and the talent for that.