A World He Did Not Make. A Truth One Cannot Return To: Greco-Malenko vs Connelly

Karl Greco-Malenko vs Mad Dog Connelly [Battlarts Rules] ACTION 4/17/26

MD: Look, we watch a lot of wrestling. Too much wrestling. That can be a thing. We live it. It's fine. We're ok. We're mostly sane around here. But that means that we turn on a match, when we tune in and lock in, we have a pretty good sense of what we're going to get. When they announced this one (and as always, I am not privy to this stuff ahead of time), I had no idea what to expect.

Once upon a time, a guy named Austin Connelly wrestled a bunch of UWFI rules matches. All sorts of opponents. Daniel Garcia. Max the Impaler. Blade. Garrini. Davey Richards even. He won most of them, most of them under five minutes. That was before he found his truth, before his eyes went wild and enraged, before he learned to lean into the secure, stifling tug of a dog collar around his neck. He's a different beast now. 

And Karl Greco-Malenko? He's come back to a world of American independent pro wrestling that he never made. This isn't some sort of soft and casual homecoming. The indies were never his home. PWFG. Battlarts. All Japan. Even a tiny but of Rings and Fu-Ten. This? This is the wild west. Matt Mako, dangerous as he was, deadly as he can be with that cross-armbreaker. That was familiar territory. Greco-Malenko is the interloper here. He's the one who's crossed territorial lines, literal coonskin cap on his head. A pioneer. A man of science and technique. An adventurer gone grey. Gone exploring right into the cave of the beast. 

This was Battlarts rules, sure. Fine. That would define the rules of engagement, not the style, not the tenor, not the tone, not the attitude. You try to put Mad Dog Connelly in a box and he'll tear down a lot more than four walls. That's what I thought at least.

Yet, that's not entirely what happened. Oh, this was Mad Dog. It was unquestionably Mad Dog. But for the first time in years, I think I saw glimpses of Austin peek out. Yes, Greco-Malenko had crossed on to his territory, but the specific nature of this challenge seemed to reawaken something in Connelly, some last vestige of civility behind the seething rage. 

If Greco-Malenko was such an expert, such a practitioner, such a legend. If he had the temerity to barge in on Connelly's world, to challenge him on his turf, to face him in his ring, then it wasn't enough to just beat him in Mad Dog's ineffable way, to make Greco-Malenko live his truth. Just this once, Connelly needed to stretch, to reach back, to remember a Truth that was no longer his own but that he once carried with him. 

So he faced Greco-Malenko on his own terms. He wrestled.

The thing is, not even Mad Dog himself can force himself into a box, not even with all of his will and focus and intention. Yes, he was able to lean on technique, was able to latch on to limbs, was able to jam an elbow in for leverage, was able to ride and control the great Karl Greco-Malenko. But he couldn't help himself. He just couldn't. He taunted, vocal in a way that you never see him in matches, the human slipping through, tainted by the beast, haunted by the fury, but recognizable nonetheless. 

More than that, he hammered, swiped, punched, pounded. Against a lesser opponent, it would be overwhelming, exhausting, destructive, but for Greco-Malenko, it was an opportunity. He placed a hand behind his head, nominally absorbing blows. That just infuriated Connelly more and he pounded even harder. That let Greco-Malenko seize a hand and reverse things. 

Because Connelly was limiting himself in his attempts to conquer Greco-Malenko's world, because he was trying to force himself into a box, because he was trying to win on terms that were not his own, he provided Greco-Malenko answers to questions that should have been unanswerable.

Momentarily frustrated, Connelly rushed in. Greco-Malenko was ready, caught him in a butterfly position, lifted and dropped him into a knee, and rendered him helpless with a submission. Just like that, it was over.

Except for it's never really over with Connelly, is it? That's the thing about truth. It doesn't simply just end and go away when it's convenient. It's always there following you, lurking around the corner. And when Connelly is involved, truth is always, always, always found at the end of a chain. 

Congratulations, Karl Greco-Malenko. You donned your cap. You marched off into the belly of the beast. You took your hide. You survived to tell the tale.

But if you ask me, and I bet if you dare to ask the Mad Dog, I don't think you've lived your truth yet. 

But you will.

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A Week of Death Valley Days: Karl Greco Malenko

It is real fever dream stuff for us to be able to bring Karl Greco Malenko out of retirement, BattlArts is such an important thing to all of us, and to Dean, and somehow we have excavated an all time great and brought him back to wrestling. 

Carl Greco/Daisuke Ikeda vs. Yuki Ishikawa/Katsumi Usuda BattlArts 4/14/96-EPIC

PAS:Bat-Bat tags are one of the best bets in pro-wrestling history, I can't remember ever seeing one I though was even mediocre, and they pretty much nearly always reach excellent, and of course this one ruled. Not as much Ikeda vs. Ishikawa as you might expect, this one was a lot of agro Greco going after his opponents, he really presses the pace whenever he is in the ring, making them survive the whirlwind. We also got a lot of really violent Ikeda and Usuda exchanges with Usuda out crowbarring Ikeda at points. Cool setting as the ring was surrounded by people at round tables eating dinner. Can you imagine dinner theatre BattlArts? The world really used to be better. 

MD: I've been spending a lot of time with Newborn UWF in 88 and 89 so even seeing a shootstyle tag is a bit jarring to the system. This had all of the stuff you'd want and expect, the technique, the scrappiness, the way that Greco or Usada would have to unlock holds with multiple strikes, the sheer violence when Ikeda and Ishikawa finally got in there against one another. Nothing was given, that sense of struggle was always there.

What stood out the most were the more traditional pro wrestling elements. It's true with every style: lucha, French Catch, WoS, shootstyle. At the end of the day, there are humans in there and the humans have emotions, wants, desire, and fears, and what makes pro wrestling interesting is how the clash of those things balances with the clash of size and skill. 

What made this as much as anything else was Ikeda being opportunistic and cagey (and Greco willing to come along for that ride). Ikeda dodged Ishikawa for the first third of the match, only coming in when he was staggered in the corner. He'd interfere freely, would roll to the corner so that Greco could save him, would facewash Ishikawa. A subtle heel if not an over the top one, and then Ishikawa would outwrestle him or get him in a position to kick the crap out of him. Ikeda would survive it and gain an advantage and they'd repeat the process. It all built until Ishikawa finally had Ikeda set up so he could invite Usada in for some real clear, clean shots that he wouldn't recover from. A morality play just like any other, no matter the sharp technique and brutal trappings. The heart of pro wrestling is universal.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE IKEDA

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Don't Be Afraid of Those Who Kill the Body but Cannot Kill the Soul, Instead Be Afraid of Yoshiaki Fujiwara

Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Tiger Mask IV v. Carl Greco/Yuki Ishikawa BattlArts 5/5/01-EPIC

Fujiwara v. Ishikawa is the on paper highlight of this match, and their brief showdown is pretty great. Still the blow away awesome part of this is the Carl Greco v. Fujiwara matchup. Greco is an awesome agressive matworker and it is great to see Fujiwara countering his counters. Fujiwara would grab a limb, Greco would have this great fast counter, and before he could sink it in, Fujiwara would counter again. Such beautiful grappling. TMIV was more of a bruiser, landing kicks and jumping knees to the gut, and they had some nice back and forth striking with Ishikawa. Finish was a Fujiwara classic. Greco gets a hot tag and comes in house of fire, overwhelming Fujiwara with punches and kicks in the corner. Fujiwara does a great dazed sell and the ref backs Greco out, and as he charges again Fujiwara quickly catches him in a leg trap armbar for the tap. Such an awesome possum job, just love watching the old master pull one out.

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