Saturday Night Digging In the Crates

We take a trip back to my favorite short lived promotion U-Style and take a look at a couple of awesome dudes who probably had less then 50 matches between them.



Ryuki Ueyama vs.  Hiroyuki Ito U-Style 2/15/03

PAS: This is one of my favorite hidden gems of the 2000s. U-Style was this great little promotion which last a couple of years and had a ton of great shootstyle matches. This was almost a shootstyle Rey Mysterio v. Psicosis match. Ueyama was lightning quick and would just break out these awesome speedy strike combos and submission attempts. Meanwhile Ito was a consummate rudo, he was great at pacing a match, adding drama to the escapes and laying in some big shots himself. A ton of little cool moments here, including a completely awesome finish run. If you missed this a decade ago, go watch it now.

ER: Man the opening minute of mat exchanges was so hypnotic and fast that I wish I could watch it in 1/2 speed to see if I could see in their eyes what was going on, what sequences they knowingly were rolling into, or which they just ended up in. Just some of the coolest transitions that all came off so intuitive and natural and a split second away from danger. That's always the coolest thing about U-Style and shootstyle in general, is that it's always one tiny step away from danger. The standing exchanges show that too, with some shots being thrown to gauge distance, but also knowing that if they connect it's bad news. Finishing run was killer as I felt that armbar more than almost any, with Ito wanting to rip Ueyama's arm off and Ueyama holding on for dear life. I could feel his own nails digging into his palm as he tried to keep his hands clasped. When he bridges out of danger and the crowd sighs in relief it's a great moment, but then flipping into one of the coolest kneebar reversals I've seen was something I didn't expect and looked amazing.