Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, from New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) Dontaku 2018 Night Two

I follow a wrestling critic who has made no secret of his disdain for New Japan's style of main event match, with what he's argued as bland opening sequences and finishing sequences that are more about solving an equation than destroying the opponent. He has a point about how the scene could breed homogeny if left unchecked, but this style works to perfection when it's between two titans like it is here. The opening headlocks, the learned reversals, and the brutality all mean something when the soul of the company is on the line. Thirty minutes that felt like five.

9