Thursday, April 8, 2021

Jom's GLEAT Reviews: Soma Watanabe vs. Yu Iizuka (04/08/21)

       (Written by Jom)


    There haven't been many changes in GLEAT itself recently, but the GLEAT boys are getting out and about a lot more. They've had recent victories in Zero1 and JTO, and have planned appearances at many shows going forward, including GPS, ONLY WE, HEAT-UP, and most excitingly Hard Hit. While the appearances at Hard Hit will probably lead to some great shoot-style matches, today we're going back to focusing on the other side of GLEAT with their pro-wres rules tournament.

Soma Watanabe vs. Yu Iizuka

    The last time these two faced off was under UWFi rules, and in that match Iizuka was decidedly the better man. However, this match is under pro-wres rules, and Watanabe has shown himself to be most likely the best in this ruleset. This match went pretty much how you would expect it. Both guys are solid at normal pro wrestling, but while Iizuka definitely fits more in the UWFi scene, Watanabe is an actual prodigy at juniors wrestling. Notably, he has some of the best forearm attacks in all of pro wrestling, with his inner springboard, rolling thunder, and phenomenal style forearms all having a great hesitation to them making it look like he's floating for a second. Watanabe might also have the best missile dropkick too. In general, if Watanabe is off the ground, it almost always ends up being great. He even busts out some new stuff here, most notably a great koppo kick. If he can pull that out again in his UWFi matches that would be sweet. Iizuka isn't a slouch either, laying in some hard kicks including one from the apron a la Fujita "Jr." Hayato. Honestly though, I keep saying he fits more in UWFi rules for a reason. He's fine here, but he somewhat lacks the intensity he had inside a shoot parameter. The end came when Watanabe was finally able to connect with his really cool inner clutch Ki Crusher for a very close 2.9, before nailing a firebird splash for the win. It was extremely obvious that this was gonna be the result, but it was the right one nonetheless and I can't wait to see what Watanabe and Hayashi will be able to do against each other next week.

Rating: B


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