Minoru Suzuki vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
JR plays up that these are the two greatest students of Karl Gotch and Billy Robinson, respectively, and that fans have been waiting their entire lives for this fight. It can only end by KO or submission.
Minoru drops to the mat right away and he wants to wrestle. Sakuraba goes for a leg lock but they roll into the ropes. Saku starts throwing rights and lefts but he gets caught in the triangle choke in the ropes. They end up fighting up the ramp and trading punches and knees, with Sakuraba putting on the Kimura. The ref ends up separating them eventually, but the damage is done to Suzuki’s arm.
Eventually he rolls back into the ring and gets hit with a dozen kicks that take him down. The ref gets to a 9 count before he gets back up. Minoru fights back with palm strikes and starts slapping the hell out of his opponent. He’s caught in the cross arm breaker, which you’d assume would have broken most human beings, but he fights through and gets in the ropes to break it. He’s still screaming in pain though, grabbing at his arm.
Saku continues to pick apart the injured arm, but Minoru yells at him to keep going. He fights back with hard slaps and a kick to the face, and locks in the rear naked choke out of nowhere. Saku tries leap out of it, but Suzuki hangs on through it. Sakuraba passes out and the referee stops the match.
Winner: Minoru Suzuki
Sakuraba extends his hand after the fight and Minoru takes it, and the two hug. The crowd pops for that.
