by Daniel Johnson
Yuji Nagata vs. Toru Yano
This match is brief, but Nagata manages to pack a feud’s worth of psychology into it. While there have been rumors as of late that the WWE is interested in signing Kazuchika Okada, which would no doubt be a major steal from the company, Nagata might be a more helpful signing.
After all if you look at the submission specialists that WWE has now none of them wrestle like submission specialists. The wrestler who comes closest would probably be Alberto Del Rio. Then again take a closer look at his matches. Even Del Rio rarely targets the arm throughout. Sure, he’ll go after it eventually and the psychology of the match is then helped by the commentators pointing it out, but he doesn’t touch Nagata’s level of commitment. The old technical wizard targets his opponent’s arm early and often, which adds to the realism of the bout. That way by the end of the match even if Nagata just tugs lightly on his opponent’s arm we can buy that, that would cause his foe who has had his arm punched, kicked and pulled for the entire match would tap.
Even though Nagata doesn’t get a chance to make Yano submit in this one there is always the thought that Nagata could bust out a hold and make Yano tap at any time.
Categories: Wrestling Clips
The Johnson Transcript 
Leave a Reply