This match was for Akebono’s Triple Crown Championship.
After their disappointing (yet fun) Royal Road finals, I was a tad anxious going into this one. I would think that these two would have an easy dynamic to work and instant chemistry. Was that just not the case? Luckily, they proved here that they could have a good match.
The match largely was worked as you would expect. Akebono used his size and strength to control Akiyama. Akiyama used his craftiness to have far more success than a man his size should have against Akebono. In fact, I liked how they had Akiyama be way more competitive than one would expect. It was not a dominant performance from Akebono at all, and they managed to do that without making Akiyama’s eventual victory any less satisfying.
Akiyama had loads of strategies to take down Akebono, and he was able to employ enough of them to pick up the win (a running knee strike did it the end). This was very good and a lot more satisfying their match from two months earlier. (***3/4)
Views from the Hawke's Nest 