Heading into New Japan Pro Wrestling's premier show of the year, Wrestle Kingdom 18, one match rose above the rest as the bout to watch for fans in America, Japan, and everywhere else, really: Bryan Danielson versus Kazuchika Okada II.

A match with nothing at stake but some serious bragging rights, Danielson, who won the first match but lost three months of his career due to a broken arm, wanted to return the favor to the “Rainmaker,” breaking his arm and taking another win in the most important wrestling venue in Japan, the Tokyo Dome.

Comparing the match to his times, plural, main eventing WrestleMania for WWE, Danielson came out to the ring as the clear heel, but won the crowd over with his consistent effort and strong desire to prove he's among the best wrestlers in the world regardless of what promotion he wrestles for, at one point begging the crowd to get behind him with his former “Yes!” chants.

Working a classic match with Okada targeting Danielson's injured eye, and the “American Dragon” focused on breaking his foe's arm in order to eliminate his usage of ripcord lariat, BD put one of the fastest-paced, hardest-hitting matches of his professional wrestling career, hitting about two dozen Busaiku Knee in the pursuit of earning a clean pinfall victory over the purveyor of Fighting Spirit, instead of his usual submission-heavy offense that made his match against Zack Sabre Jr. a technical masterpiece. This, however, wasn't enough to keep Okada down, as, with 30,000 fans at his back, he was able to successfully hit the Rainmaker and actually go for the pin immediately after connecting, with Danielson laying lifelessly as Red Shoes Umino counted the 1-2-3.

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Dave Meltzer with a text bubble reading "Those Triple H comments, they aged like milk" with Will Ospreay on his left and Triple H on his right with the AEW Dynasty logo as the background.

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Was this the right call? Well, considering Bryan Danielson likely begged to lose the match in order to put Kazuchika Okada over on his home turf, the short answer to that question is probably yes, especially since it sets up a rubber match for some point down the line, maybe at Forbidden Door III or even at All In 2024, which could mark the “American Dragon's” final match as a full-time professional wrestler.