2020 Ongoing MOTY List: AJPW BattlArts Tribute Tag

18. Yuki Ishikawa/Hikaru Sato vs. Jake Lee/Fuminori Abe AJPW 1/19/20

PAS: This was a BattlArts tribute tag, with Lee and Abe removing their boots before starting the match. It was more grappling heavy BattlArts stye than kick you in the eye BattlArts style, but really well done grappling. Ishikawa is of course an all timer at this kind of thing, but I really liked the other three guys as well. Sato landed this awesome banana split on Lee and a nasty kneebar for the finish, and both Lee and Abe seemed perfectly comfortable rolling on the mat and moving forward and attacking. There was a weird thing with Abe going to the outside and ripping up some guys suit, but outside of that this was slick shootstyle in a way it is hard to find in Japan anymore.

ER: Fun tag with I don't think any real striking, just 10 minutes of grappling and also some guy [apparently Munenori Sawa] getting his suit ripped off. It felt underbaked in that the best BattlArts tags were 20 minutes long, giving each guy enough time to try different things. This felt like a BattlArts tag that went home just when things were about to get violent. It did not approach BattlArts violence, but had the skill of BattlArts and that's a nice high floor. I always like seeing Yuki Ishikawa mix it up with new guys, see what tricks he pulls and see what new guys are able to get away with. His runs with Jake Lee were a real highlight, and I love how it looked like Ishikawa let Lee pass into side control just so he could grab trap him in a quick headscissors, a shoot style spider catching a fly. He looked like he was giving Lee fits down the stretch as Lee kept trying to control mount and Ishikawa kept muffling ever attempt at a pass. Sato was a cool partner for Ishikawa, felt like an authentic BattlArts guy without ever actually being involved with BattlArts. He has a cool cranking submission style, a guy who felt to me more like a UWFi guy, in a good way. I really liked the simple single leg crab that finished, although again that finish felt like it came 12 minutes early.


2020 MOTY MASTER LIST