#9: Katsumi Usuda

by Phil

Usuda is the least flashy of the BattlArts big four, but much like Taue he has always been consistently excellent. The big punt he added this year was maybe the single nastiest move in all of wresting. He was in and out of BattlArts in 2008, but had two of the best matches of the year. He was a big part of the epic six man tag, but his performance against Keita Yano in November really solidified his top 10 spot. Yano is maybe the single worst wrestler making tape in the world, and Usuda beat him into a hell of match, made his shitty comebacks look threatening and then kicked him into oblivion. Really one of the greatest carry jobs I have ever seen, and a true example of his greatness.

Recommended 2008 Matches:

~w/ Daisuke Ikeda/Super Tiger II vs. Yuki Ishikawa/Alexander Otsuka/Munenori Sawa (BattlArts, 7/26/08)
~vs. Keito Yano (BattlArts, 11/16/08)
~w/ Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Yuki Ishikawa/Yuta Yoshikawa (BattlArts, 12/21/08)

Recommended Career Matches:

~vs. Carl Greco (PWFG, 10/29/93)
~vs. Yuki Ishikawa (PWFG, 8/13/94)
~w/ Daisuke Ikeda vs. Yuki Ishikawa/Shoichi Funaki (PWFG, 5/19/95)
~vs. Ikuto Hidaka (BattlArts, 3/12/00)
~vs. Yuki Ishikawa (BattlArts, 6/9/02)

2009 Outlook:

He has looked good in all of his 2009 BattlArts work including a good match with Yoshikawa, still hasn’t had the blow away top 10 performances that he had in 2008, but I have hope for the B1 footage.