Akira Hokuto vs. Manami Toyota, from AJW Destiny

The acclaim and popularity of this kind of wrestling—legitimately frightening material involving frightening slams and hard falls, even by the standards of the medium—is too often regarded as inherent consequence of engaging with it. Hokuto and Toyota (and, thank goodness, plenty of others) have the right idea: brutality as an extension of heightened emotion, where your character is crazy, skilled, and determined enough that it makes sense when they hurt themselves on an exchange as much as their opponent. Even the early “rest holds” see plenty of characterization conveyed. A horror show that earns all its considerable violence.

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