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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Kakuto Tanteidan: We Are Fighting Detectives 10/12/23

Hideki Suzuki vs. Yu Iizuka

PAS: Iizuka is young GLEAT UWFI guy whose nickname is Volk Kid, that is sort of like Harold Miner calling himself Baby Jordan or Gary Trent being nicknamed Shaq of the MAC, you are never going to live up to that and shouldn't make the comparison. Still Miner and Trent could both ball, and Iizuka can go a bit on the mat. Suzuki is a venerated veteran and after his ill-fated and truly bizarre NXT run (he is up there with Brazo de Plata and Meiko Satomura as some of the odder people to get a WWE run) has been one of the most dependable wrestlers in Japan. This really had the feel of some of the under the radar killer FU-TEN and Battlarts openers. Iizuka is more of an offensive wrestler, flashily spinning into cool submissions, including a great triangle choke. Meanwhile Suzuki is a grinder, he pressed his weight into Iizuka trying to make him feel force the entire match, until he maneuvered him into side control, flattened him out and just put him down with hammer and anvil elbows. Great example of exuberance of youth getting played by a old master. Suzuki doesn't have the charisma of Fujiwara but that felt like a very Fujiwarish performance.

TKG: This didn't really vibe with me. Suzuki starts with an insanely stiff dropkick. I don't know how many times I rewound the drop kick Suzuki works this match like a big bruiser: In theory this is guy with a ton of technique working a guy who outmatches him in strength. But it never really worked for me. They stayed in subs way to long and I never bought the idea that IIzuka dominating with his finesse, or that Suzuki was ever in danger. Suzuki did look like a hoss.


Hikaru Sato/Brother YASSHI vs. Ikuto Hidaka/Thanomsak Toba

TKG: I haven’t seen any of these guy’s in ages. Hidaka has aged facially into looking like Wings era Paul Mcartney but hasn’t slowed down a bit. In Memphis , you’d put him in a mask and push him as new challenger. Toba has aged into looking like not so much a boxer as a British Music Hall performer working as a boxer in Punch and Judy panto. Real Benny Hill vibes that I enjoyed, Brother Yasshi has gone from guy in dreads who listens to Vybez Kartel to a guy with dreads who listens to Buffet ( may his memory be a blessing). He unfortunately also works like a Parrothead. I don’t remember Sato being this level of goofy goon. Just goonish selling and work and really selling idea that he was overwhelmed and out of his element. Like Tully with Luger and when he was in this it was really fun.

PAS: Toba was a total beast in this, throwing not only straight punches, but hooks and uppercuts, the spot of the match was Toba dropping Sato with a check hook, or it might have been YASSHI throwing coconut headbutts and Toba responding with heavy punches. I liked the Sato vs. Hidaka sections too, fast tricky exchanges with enough violence to be appropriate, Hidaka's shots were more speed then force, but the speed looked good, and Sato maneuvering into the armbard was pretty sick. Battlarts would have this killer undercard tags, and this was in that spirit.


Super Tiger vs. Keita Yano

TKG:Super Tiger and Keita Yano are both guys who had worked actual Battlarts. Was a point where felt Super Tiger was only good there. Yano I didn’t much care for in Battlarts but has become a guy I like outside of it. This was Yano as guy who can absolutely control Tiger with wrestling for whole match while Super Tiger is guy who can hit a kick or sub to end it at any moment. I dug this more than the opener for guy controlling match but not able to close vs bigger stronger opponent. It’s weird to have 2 of those on the undercard so close. Super Tiger isn’t as charismatic or impressive as Suzuki, But I bought into this one, bought Yano’s ability to turn Tiger upside down and twist up…and loved the real taunting and fucking with Tiger. The reckless back scratch that made Super Tiger lose his composure and step up his aggression was neat point where you knew Super Tiger wanted to end it now.

PAS: I think I liked this a little less then Tom, I thought there was some good looking stuff, I loved the Yano roll into the LaBell lock, and some of his other arm control, but thought other stuff by both guys didn't look as good. Super Tiger is really hit or miss, some of his kicks looked good and others wiffed, and I really want a KO kick on a show with Daisuke Ikeda, Toba and that main event to look way nastier. 


Daisuke Ikeda/Minoru Fujita vs. Daisuke Sekimoto/Yuki Ishikawa

TKG: Is this the biggest hottest crowd Ishikawa and Ikeda have worked their match in. Fujita/Hidaka once was an exciting pairing and I think Sekimoto had adjusted to this style in the past. But this started Fujita and Sekimoto really working like they were the local indy guys in a Santo/N8 Mattison v Blue Panther/Conrad Kennedy III match in Flint; with Fujita and Sekimoto just working a match independently of what else going on-like they didn’t get it. I dug the early everyone simmering part of match and then Sekimoto/Fujita ran their spots and I wish someone could have picked Usuda and Ono up from the reteirement village. Ikeda and Sekimoto hit double headbut that knocked both to ground and where it looked like Sekimoto might have lost a tooth. It super picked from there and was amazing when it was cooking.

For your old guy brawlers to have a transcendent match; they have to either do Black Terry v Mr Condor Zona 23, or the 2018 Fugofugo Yumeji/Buki v. Ishikawa/Joeta. Either “two guys laying a hellacious beating where in end it changes neither of them and they will continue beating on each other forever cause this is what they do” or “two guys engage in such a helacious beating that you think they will be changed forever,,,will never fully recover”. This wasn’t either of those but there were so many moments that teased they were going to reach transcendence. The point where Ikeda is chopping the top of Ishikawa’s head and Ishikawa ansers with punches to eye and temple, there is what almost felt like an enziguri to knee that ends up being a trip into submission ,,,,and both of these guys are so great at selling that they could make me buy Scott Putski Jr axehandle as taking something out of them. And the finish felt totally credible. Clearly not criticizing a match for not being transcendent,,,I’m praising it for these mother fuckers are still able to tease that it could be.

MD:This worked for my sense of anticipation, at least. I wanted Ishikawa vs Ikeda in this setting in front of this crowd for this moment and they did a good job delaying it for most of the match until they paired up for the finishing stretch. That included heat, of sorts, on Sekimoto, with Ikeda more than happy to rush across the ring when he wasn't legal to pepper shots in on him or knock Ishikawa off the apron. Fujita and Sekimoto built to throws, cutoffs, and counters, before they decided to pay things off for the crowd with Ishikawa and Ikeda. Even then, things didn't really boil over though. More than that, it felt like watching two great old chess masters do their thing at a table in a city park. The stakes weren't there. Glory had passed them. But they were masters and familiar with one another. You just happened to be there for their weekly routine. In this case, the routine was two guys pushing each other to their physical, technical limit and punching one another in the face. But overall, same idea. Ishikawa had a clear advantage and it was just a case of Sekimoto German Suplexing an interfering Fujita enough times for him to really press it.

PAS: Really awesome Ishikawa performance, he has a bad back and can't even stand up straight, but can still throw brutal straight hands and grapple like a master. Every time he was in the ring he elevated the match, the Fujita and Sekimoto against each other parts didn't do a ton for me, but Ishikawa taking Fujita down to the mat to stretch him ruled. Ikeda is more limited at this point of his career, the recent Ikeda stuff will have moments, but he isn't going full force like he did even pre-pandemic in WXW, still you could see the glances, and his selling is still tremendous. This felt a little like late era Dundee and Lawler stuff, where it was mindblowing like it was in their prime, but you could still see the shades and shadows of brilliance. 

Fuminori Abe vs. Takuya Nomura

PAS: This promotion was a joint production by these two tag team partners and close friends, and they matched up in the main event in an attempt to do justice to what came before. Abe started the match with a bit of clowning, mugging and shit talking, biting Norma in the armpit to break a submission hold, using some hand feints to land a hard slap, and even giving Norma an oil check in the rear to counter a knee bar. Ikeda would do this sort of thing in the classic BattlArts days as a way to rile his opponent up. Nomura was much more serious and responded to the clowning with brutal kicks and slaps. Fun times ended pretty quickly after that as they exchanged cringy clunking headbutts. It was harrowing violence going forward, hard punches to the forehead, kicks to the spine and headbutts so nasty that they eventually split Abe open. Abe has these cool chopping overhand punches which look like Harley Race when he was trying to split someone’s eyebrow. Normura hit some really big suplexes near the end of the match as Abe was fading and it looked like he going to be counted out, until he caught a Nomura high kick and turned into a ankle lock, and then an ankle lock german suplex. He then put on an octopus stretch, which Normua countered into a single leg crab. Abe then faked grabbing a rope break and instead rolled it into a kneebar which he cranked for the tap. Very cool counter wrestling. This didn’t have the mat wrestling mastery of a high end BattlArts era Ishikawa or Carl Greco singles match, or the brain smashi`        ng suplexes of Otuska, and while it was sickly stiff, I am not sure if they got all the way to Ikeda. So this topped out at the level of a high end Katsumi Usuda match, which in 2023 still puts it right up there with the best stuff anywhere in the world. Let’s hope this is a semi-regular thing, because this style hasn’t really had a home since FU-TEN folded in 2015, and I just love this stuff.

TKG: I at this point peripherally follow US wrestling and stick with low end lucha gym show, so this is my first experience with these two. And dude, this is a great introduction. I’m assuming that Nomura is the
Jackie Fargo Incomparable Kid to Abe’s Wild Roughouse Fargo. Abe is super super charismatic as crazy
Roughouse never-say die hardheaded fighter. And I enjoy all the Dennis Condrey forgets not to hit
Burrhead Jones in the head spots…I don’t know anything about Japanese racial caste so I can claim
ignorance of the if there are any of the ugly implications of those spots, but great spots. I think my
favorite Abe section was the thing where he used a dragon screw to transition to offense, celebrates
the dragon screw with big arm flourish and then realizes that he can’t feel his mouth and eyes cross and
uncross as he drools all over himself over the beating he just ate. I’m so used to insane never say die guy
being matched up against a guy going “what is it going to take to put him away” or “ how have I become
so violent” that refreshing not to see that. Nomura is a guy on his own journey There are lots of neat
moments where Nomura is slow to answer Abe’s strikes; forces himself to eat a bunch of strikes before
he can throw out one answer, moments where he can’t muster any strength behind his strikes and so
just throws weak ones and keeps on measuring for the eventual big make or miss haymaker, He does a
bunch of Dustin style flying away for distance selling and one of my favorite things he does is all of his
walking around ring , recovering in corner during count outs and 10 counts. When I say a guy with his
own journey, I would actively enjoy “ A How To with John Wilson” edit of this match, where never get to
see the fighting parts..just Nomura’s walkabout as he contemplates life. Ending had a lot of nearfalls,
but I bought all of them and the actual finish felt 100 % like a finish.

MD: Abe's energy in this match was off the charts. I'm not going to say the guy was living his best life here because he ended up split open at the top of his head in a way that you figured his flesh might just fall off of him at any moment, just torn in two, but talk about a guy who can capture every moment. Nomura wrestled his best match, the perfect straight man who was going to drive forward at every point and give absolutely no quarter. The few times he popped up from a shot or a throw, you believed it. This guy was just a consumed engine of destruction, kicking and stomping and wrenching like he could somehow stamp the very notion of indignity itself out of the world through force alone.

Abe brought the color though, literally and figuratively, his expressiveness drawing the viewer in, at times making you want to see his comeuppance and increasingly down the stretch, making you root for him in spite of increasingly dire odds. You end up grinning along with him to start and then wincing along with him with every headbutt, elbow, knee, and kick. When it became apparent just how badly he was opened up, the camera caught his expression and it was a real "You'll never believe how I got into this one" look. From there, even as he threw strikes and struck out with increasingly unlikely throws, it felt like he was racing time, racing the rate of his own bloodloss and with an opponent like Nomura running the race with him, he was sure to lose. That's what made the last hold all the more gripping. Abe was hanging on for dear life; nothing less would have worked. It was an admirable performance by Nomura, but a timeless one from Abe.

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2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Ikeda vs. Keisuke Goto

147. Daisuke Ikeda vs. Keisuke Goto GPS Growth5 12/18/18

PAS: This is Ikeda against a young kid, and while that isn't what it would have been 10 years earlier, it is still going to be violent kicks to the ribs, punches to the jaw and gross headbutts. Goto has a nice second rope senton, but otherwise was pretty much there to be beaten violently. There is a great moment where Ikeda has a tight purpling rear naked choke with this sick grin on his face, looking like he is right where he needs to be. What a beautiful psycho. 

ER: This is a pretty baseline Ikeda beating, but those are the best, and it's always fun to see what his punching bags to do fight back. Goto really bends Ikeda's left calf over his knee, forcing it down at the ankle, and some of his elbow smashes actually pack more wallop than Ikeda's. This starts out actually competitive, and that changes complete when Ikeda stops Goto's assault by jamming his thumb up Goto's ass. I cannot think of a bigger insult to injury than Ikeda doing an Oil Check before delivering an asskicking. If I'm going to get kicked in the cheek several times, please just kick me in the face. Ikeda does some big body kicks, a hard headbutt, and a mean front kick to Goto's nose and mouth. Where guys like Finlay would stomp on your hands if you were to slow to get to your feet, Ikeda just kicks you in the ribs and face alternately until you make it back up. I liked Goto's running senton, and his middle rope senton wasn't pulled at all, but I would happily take both of those sentons rather than take Ikeda's vertical suplex, his sick high tilt sheer drop back suplex, and that collarbone crushing lariat. We can all identify with the man in the crowd who starts loudly laughing after that lariat. All Ikeda fans are That Man. 

2018 MOTY MASTER LIST

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New Footage Friday: IKEDA~! ISHIKAWA~! KANEHARA~! ITO~! REY~! RED~! SANTO~! ULTIMO~!

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Red HOG 8/21/15

MD: Given where Rey's knees were in 2015, this was pretty high end stuff. They had nice early exchanges building to some tit-for-tat mirrored work, including both guys teasing the code red and 619. Red, early on, took a great bump through the ropes but then felt the need to bump himself again after the landing, which was a little silly. What really made the match work was how, once it got going, Rey ended up working from underneath with Red using the fact he at least matched Rey's size to play cruiserweight bully. Rey would get well-layered hope spots, but Red was there each time to cut him off in clever and interesting ways. On the other hand, Red would lean into the hometown crowd a little too much or play up his Eddy tributes instead of going for victory, and give Rey another shot at that hope. There was escalation with Rey at least able to try and then finally get more offense, but Red was pretty firmly in control right up until the point where he went for the three amigos and Rey was able to sneak out a victory. Red taking so much of the match protected him (not like he really needed it) and also let Rey do what he could do best in 2015, get sympathy and help someone else shine.

ER: I really enjoyed this, had a lot of fun seeing two of my favorites, and also didn't love the match structure very much. It's tough to do a baby vs. baby match and I'm not quite sure what structure would have pleased me the most, but this one did not. That's not very helpful. I love what they did but not how they did it? Who exactly is that helping? There was some neutralizing stuff to start, and it makes sense that we would get some mirror exchanges as Red's greatest matches were mirroring the kind of things that Rey made possible. I love how Red bumped for Rey. I actually liked the extra bump into the rail that Red took (that Matt not-unfairly called "silly"), as I thought it looked great, like he recoiled off the landing and flew head first into the railing. But mainly I loved that it established Rey as the goodest good guy, as he went to the floor to actually check on Red and make sure he could continue. I would have loved to see Red go full heel on Rey, or Rey go full heel on Red (and disappoint all of those kids so excited to see Rey) but Rey being established as the evergreen babyface was handled in a smart way. 

I did think they leaned too heavy on Rey getting cut off, as literally any time he went for any move down the last 10 minutes Red was right there to stop him. My least favorite match layout is "one guy takes all the offense but then immediately wins the match with two moves" and this felt like an extended - but more interesting - version of that tired Randy Savage Nitro match formula. The best parts were seeing how the two legends took each other's offense, and seeing how much Rey inspired Red's early career, and how much Red inspired Rey's late career. Both are underrated bases because they are both small enough that they don't play that role, so there was a lot of joy in seeing them take ranas and headscissors, seeing Rey try a code red ON Red, seeing Red flatten Rey with that pancake powerbomb out of the Santo roll. A match filled with joy, that also somewhat underwhelmed. That said, fans of either will find plenty here to love. 

PAS: I am somewhere in the middle of Eric and Matt here. I thought all of the countering made a ton of sense, considering Rey was such an inspiration to Red. Red is going to know all of Rey's stuff, and Red's stuff is Rey's stuff so he is going to be on the lookout as well. I was also into the big Red bump into the guardrail, fun violent stuff, and it made perfect sense that Red might have been discombobulated.  I didn't love how heavy the Eddie tributes were in the finish, both guys in the match have such rich histories, and this was such a dream match, that you didn't need to shoehorn Eddie in too. Still this was really fun to finally see, and with the Ki match and this Red match Rey had a very cool mini-run against the 2000s indy greats in 2015.

57. Daisuke Ikeda/Hiromitsu Kanehara vs. Yuki Ishikawa/Takafumi Ito GPS 9/26/18 - GREAT

PAS: THE BOYS!! I remember trying to reach out to GPS on Facebook asking them to upload this match three years ago when it happened, and it just shows up! This was worked BattlArts style, and while it didn't hit the absolute heights of the best of that style, even good BattlArts is awesome. I really liked Kanehara here. He is a UWFI guy and looked really good on the mat and threw hard kicks, and I loved how fast he threw his axe kick and how deadly that was sold. Ito looked good on the mat too, and went at Ikeda only to pay for it. We don't really get the extended Ikeda vs. Ishikawa section you really want, and they do square off a couple of times and Ikeda really bounces his fist off of Ishikawa's head, but it felt backgrounded a bit when you really want it foregrounded. Still every part of this was really well worked and any chance you get to watch these guys be these guys, you want to jump on it. 

MD: A satisfying watch even if it never entirely boiled over. I wasn't sure we were going to get much Ikeda vs Ishikawa at all, so it was good to see them scrap towards the end. The good thing here was that the other matchups were all interesting. I agree with Phil that Kanehara showed a lot. His kicks were dangerous, with the axe kick built up early so that when he hit it on Ishikawa later, you believed that it'd get his team solid advantage for a time. He also had a nice, dominant mat exchange with Ito though. Otherwise, the most memorable bits were Ikeda just crushing Ito in the corner and Ishikawa's amazing catch and duck under switch of Kanehara's leg. There were a couple of funny moments for balance and that expected familiarity between Ikeda and Ishikawa that just bleeds through whenever they're in the ring together. It ended up feeling very complete even if it never quite went over the top.

ER: Glad that GPS finally got around to checking their Facebook Messenger three years later to fulfill Phil's request. The match is a really fun violent take on an All Japan Legends match, with them getting a mixture of laughs and awe with old bits and old violence. Kanehara and Ito work nasty leg locks and Kanehara throws the kind of kicks that made 90s UWFI so fun. Ikeda is a real bully to Ito, so while he's weathering an ankle lock he's always ending things by punching or elbowing or kicking Ito in painful ways. But there's that All Japan old guys match element that makes this a different kind of violent BattlArts, so we also get great weirdo moments like Ikeda whiffing on a 619 attempt and landing on his head. That felt like the first time Ikeda has ever come off like Rusher Kimura, and it made me realize how great the potential might be for old man Ikeda/Ishikawa comedy matches. I've spent so many years wondering how those two were going to keep up their level of violence into their even older age, that I've never thought about how good they might be at adding more comedy as the violence becomes less sustainable. Ishikawa is a fun foil during their exchanges, teasing him with Inoki legsweeps and taking Ikeda's headbutts the way an old man accepts a refreshing glass of homemade lemonade from his wife of 43 years. They each take some shots, but it's Ikeda's work opposite Ito that most stood out for me. Ito knew his fate but it never slowed his attempts to tap him. Ikeda always looks like he's having a blast when he maneuvers another man into a crossface, and that's just the joy of old man shootstyle. 

Ultimo Dragon vs. El Hijo Del Santo PWR 10/5/19

PAS: This was basically a maestro exhibition and a fun version of one. Dragon is definitely slower but still solid on the mat, and even breaks out a Navarro family spinning figure four. He also takes a big top rope armdrag, which was a big bump for some oldsters. Santo appears to move no differently than he did 30 years ago, and it is always a pleasure to watch him break out old hits like the head spin headscissors and la Caballo. Unnecessary BS run in finish mars this a bit, but I imagine the audience came away feeling their money was well spent. 

MD: Pretty minimalist affair but we like those. There was one big spot in this thing and they milked it for everything it was worth. They milked everything, actually. Dragon waggled his finger in the air for fifteen seconds before trying to get a pin towards the finish. Santo can get away with that. He ate up Dragon on the mat for the first five minutes but everything was smooth. When Dragon came back with some kicks, his reverse figure four looked nice (though well-milked and barely sold). Crowd was clearly behind Santo and that let Dragon play the aggressor a bit more. The big spot was an arm drag off the top after a teased superplex and it was fine even if it took Santo forever to get up the gumption to charge up there and toss him off. No one in the crowd cared though. They were all just happy to be there and see these two (or at least see Santo).

ER: This match happened two hours away from me, on the total opposite side of the Bay Area, promoted by Pro Wrestling Revolution. They're the far and away consistently highest drawing indy in the Bay Area, and nearly every time I have been coaxed and lured into attending one of their shows over the years I have experienced one of the most unsatisfying in-ring products of my fandom. I hate Pro Wrestling Revolution, the only local lucha fed, who only insist on promoting to excess the worst parts of lucha libre. The entire promotion gravitates entirely around heel referee Sparky Ballard (here, El Sparko), an entire promotion focused entirely about preserving the tradition of a referee getting in the way any time any match begins to gain momentum. I've never seen a PWR match end without bullshit, and it's always the most unnecessary bullshit you can think up. It's an authentic lucha fed who flies in authentic lucha talent and then books lucha like someone who has the worst taste in lucha. 

But they booked El Hijo del Santo in his first singles match in over two years so I was going to drive 4+ total hours to see how Pro Wrestling Revolution could fuck up such a joyous occasion. Me and my pal Tim Livingston took an entire Saturday to see Santo, one of us being smart enough to buy a ticket in advance, the other of us deciding to buy his at the door. And when the only tickets left at the door cost $50, one of us decided to spend the entire first half of the show walking around the exterior of a large San Jose high school looking for a way to sneak into the show, before resolving himself to just wait until intermission and walk right into the building as everyone else flooded out. So I missed half the show, of a promotion who has never put on an enjoyable undercard. I found Tim, forced to endure the heel referee Revolution alone due to my ticket buying procrastination, and together we endured more heel referee lucha while waiting for Santo. Cain Velasquez was there with his family. 

The match was minimalist but enough to keep a smile on me (until the bullshit). It's a good Santo performance for a crowd who was hot to see him, but also the weakest Santo performance of any that have made tape over the past 5 years. He is still quick, especially for a man in his mid-50s, but at some points your handsprings don't land you on your ankles and you instead land on your butt and stand up. The matwork has moments but doesn't attempt to go anywhere with the moments, instead giving you some nice snapshots of moments. I like when Santo does little things like kick Dragon in the knee before picking a single leg. Dragon has some things that look good, decent back elbows and a willingness to lean into a great Santo in-ring tope, but Dragon can also take an eternity in between movement. I loved the top rope armdrag and will count myself incredibly lucky if I'm able to breezily hop to the middle rope and twist my body like Santo when I am 56. JR Kratos throws some of the most embarrassingly soft strikes on his run in, punching and stomping at him like he was made of porcelain, making an already preposterous run-in even more unsatisfying. Cheap Heat is the name of Pro Wrestling Revolution's game, and they do it as obnoxiously as possible. If they ever successfully bring in Negro Casas (two prior attempts were thwarted by a natural disaster and a broken rib courtesy of Sam Adonis) then they will trick this old foolish clown once again into enduring their dull brand of lucha. 

2018 MOTY MASTER LIST

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DAISUKE IKEDA

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Matches from NOAH Mohammed Yone 25th Anniversary 10/18/20

 

Alexander Otsuka/Mohammed Yone vs. Akitoshi Saito/Masao Inoue

ER: It's 2020 and these boys have all beefed up to the degree that Akitoshi Saito might be the smallest man in the match. Otsuka especially needs to just sport Butcher singlets at this point. He looks like best possible Dana White. Inoue brings his failson charisma to this early, attacking Yone at the bell and having it immediately blow up in his face when Saito ducks out of the way of a clothesline that Inoue doesn't. So Inoue spends the next several moments taking legdrops and axe handles all while holding his stomach as if he just won a hot dog eating contest and his friends keep trying to hit his belly. The tone changes noticeably when Saito finally tags in, as Yone starts throwing big impact lariats to counter the heavy leather Saito comes in swinging. Saito/Otsuka is a dream pairing that's hardly happened, and we get only a taste here (ending with a great Otsuka German suplex). There's funny Inoue stuff, like Saito dropping Yone before tagging out and Inoue getting into the ring and stretching his back before just running and covering Yone. Inoue does some eye rakes, he and Saito run at Yone with some slow back elbows and lariats, and Inoue does more selling where it looks like he accidentally walked into a screen door. I was shocked to see Otsuka break out the giant swing on Inoue, but happy to see it. Everyone is a little sluggish here (they're old and meatier, it happens), but I laughed all throughout Inoue shaky legs falling to the mat every time Yone tried running at him. This is the kind of match that would have been a 2004 list match, but still makes me smile in 2020. 

PAS: This is more an Eric thing then a Phil thing. I am here to see Otsuka and we don't get enough of him to make it worth my time. I appreciate Inoue comedy, although conversely it works better in a more serious atmosphere then in a match with other people up for the yuks.  I thought Yone unable to hit a move on Inoue because Inoue is too old, but he is also too old to successfully execute a roll up, so it goes both ways.  

Daisuke Ikeda/Ikuto Hidaka/Mohammed Yone vs. Yuki Ishikawa/Naomichi Marufuji/Junji Tanaka

ER: This was great, and could have been even greater had it been worked more like a WAR or Kings Road or Futen trios. The ingredients were there but it doesn't take advantage of some of the built up drama and instead pays it off in more of a feelgood anniversary show finish than heat, but the highs are way way up there. We get this awesome surprising big babyface performance from Junji Tanaka all throughout this tag that really plays as the unexpected highlight, but the people you went in hoping to see perform, all performed. The Yone/Ishikawa opening was cool, with Yone coming in like an aggressive Batt guy and popping Ishikawa, leading to Ishikawa doing a cool sweep to cause Yone to miss a punt and slip, with Ishikawa going in for the kill with a Fujiwara. But once we get into Ikeda/Junji stretch the match really opens up into something special. Ikeda dishes out one of those cruel beatings he's known for, instantly turning Junji into a huge fighting babyface. It's a sadistic old dude punishing a tough but weaker old dude, and it came off like Kurisu kicking Mitsuo Momota's ass. Junji is out here in his mawashi, trying to put both cheeks into everything, and Ikeda would just punch, kick and lariat him back to the mat. It was feeling like the same kind of Kantaro Hoshino performance we'd see in those 80s New Japan elimination tags, all clearly building to Ishikawa and Marufuji absolutely wasting the guys across the ring from them. Ikeda's beat down on Junji goes on long enough that it gets uncomfortable, like those old AJPW beatings of Kikuchi, but I loved how Ikeda sold for all of Junji's little comebacks, including a nice headbutt and an elbow that puts Ikeda down on his butt, holding his eye. Finally Junji makes the hot tag, leading to a crowd wildly on his side as Marufuji charges in and Hidaka, Ikeda, and Yone all trip over themselves to bump wildly for this molten lava tag.

I'm just kidding, Marufuji completely tanks any of the actual built up heat, stood idly by watching his teammate get his body and limbs kicked in, and actively decides to turn this into a more standard Anniversary show main event. He just somberly strolls in, then proceeds to chop Hidaka in the corner for the next 4 minutes. Yeah, yeah, Hidaka's chest is raw and bright red when it's over, but it was literally Hidaka with his arms hooked over the top rope and Marufuji just throwing chops, slowly. It felt like more of a gym hazing than anything that would make an actual match interesting, and lo! When it comes to actual sequences, Marufuji isn't very interesting in those either. Hidaka has this evergreen goodwill with me just from showing up as a then unknown (to me) in ECW over 20 years ago. I always like when he shows up in something I'm watching, even though I wished he had worked more Batt and less juniors wrestling here.

The Ikeda/Ishikawa sequence is worth the price of admission. If you weren't as captivated by the Junji performance as I was, you're still guaranteed to love Ishikawa sharp elbows and hooking punches to the curve of Ikeda's jaw, and of course Ikeda's straight fully body right hands to Ishikawa's ailing face. A low key best moment of the match happens right after Ikeda decks Ishikawa: the camera cuts to Yone, standing on the apron with a huge grin on his face. It did not seem like the kind of grin Ikeda's partner would be flashing, instead it looked like the grin of a big fan. In that moment you really got the sense that Yone wanted Ishikawa and Ikeda in this match because he's a tremendous fan of their specific thing, and wanted the best seat in the house to view that thing. I can't blame him, as their exchanges here were as good as any of the dozens of great Ikeda/Ishikawa exchanges we've seen for decades. What amazes me most about their pairing is that there is no "home base". There isn't a comfortable set of spots that they can hit every time, branching off from those spots depending on how long they each want to solo. This is a new song every time, played in the same key, but totally different arrangement. You're going to get punches to the face, but there are never any sequences that are repeated in the same way. The greatest pairings in wrestling history (Santo vs. Casas, Rey vs. Psicosis, Flair vs. Steamboat) all have spots and elements in common with their prior matches. Ikeda and Ishikawa just go out there and play free jazz with it, every time, and I've never seen them sound like they're using different different Fake Books. 

PAS: This is a hard match to rank, as there is nothing in any of the matches on our MOTY list as bad as that Marufuji hot tag, not only the endless comedy spot chops but then the interpretive dance step superkick misses with Hidaka. Just dreadful. But there are also few things on our list as sublime as another redux of the horrific dance between Ikeda and Ishikawa. As disgusting and gorgeous as it always is, the punches and headbutts landing with that hollow sound you really only get with these guys. Yone and Ishikawa had a killer opening section, Tanaka gets massacred by Ikeda in a very Ikeda way, but we also had a finish based around a Junji Tanaka comedy spot. I dunno, color me confused.  Ikeda vs. Ishikawa is the best wrestling gets, and I think the highs are higher then the lows are lower. 

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Fujiwara Family: BattlArts B-My Baby 11/5/97

BattlArts 11/5/97

Ikuto Hidaka vs. Mamoru Okamoto 

PAS: This goes really long for a undercard young guys match, but they have enough cool stuff to fill the time for sure. Okamoto was the bigger hitter, and he threw a couple of nasty kicks including a high kick which crossed Hidaka's eyes and some body kicks, he also had some simple but deeply executed submissions. Hidaka was early and career but started to mix in his fancy stuff, flipping senton, flying armbar and a cool victory roll into a kneebar for a tap. This probably would have been better at 10 minutes instead of 16, but I enjoyed what we got. 

Carl Greco vs Takeshi Ono 

PAS: These two guys are the badass B-Sides of BattlArts, Ishikawa, Ikeda, Otsuka, those guys are the big radio hits, the encore songs, Ono and Greco are the deep cuts  BattlArts super fans really love. This was killer stuff, almost all on the mat and full of grappling at the level wrestling has rarely reached. Greco is one of the best to ever do it, he moves in and out of holds with such grace and speed, constant movement, always looking to improve his position or twist a body in a different way. Ono is super skilled on the mat too, and looks a little outclassed, but in a way that fits the story of the match. We only get a couple of reckless Ono strike flurry, and maybe could have used one more, this is the midcard version of this match, a main event version could have been an all time classic. 

Yuki Ishikawa vs Mohammed Yone 

PAS: This was really cool too, man could BattlArts deliver on a show. Yone jumps Ishikawa before the bell, and the story of the match was Yone trying to earn his stripes against the top dog, and failing. It was a very Tenryuish performance from Ishikawa, except more nasty chokes from the ground and less short jabs. Loved how Ishikawa turned it up in the final moments, Yone fights the German suplex attempt, and Yuki lands two jumping headbutts to the back of his head, hits a German, lands another gross headbutt to the back of the head and sinks in a choke. I have been rabbit punched before, I hope Yone had someone sitting with him at night to make sure his brain didn't swell. 

Minoru Tanaka vs Masao Orihara 

PAS: Really fun mix of BattlArts style and sleazy Orihara shit. I am a low voter on Tanaka, especially on this rewatch, but he was really good here, using BattlArts style to counter Orihara's low blows and moonsaults. He aggressively takes him to the mat and works on an ankle pick which Orihara escapes by punching him in the dick. Eventually Tanaka just gets fed up and kicks him to death, winging hard shots at the kind of gross looking bandage on Orihara's arm until he brings his head low and gets put to sleep. I wonder if that bandage was from a wrestling injury or a shooting gallery abscess. 

Daisuke Ikeda vs Alexander Otsuka - EPIC

PAS: Big time violent BattlArts main event. Ikeda is a bulldozer here, opening the match by stuffing an Otsuke shoot with a uncalled for head but and a running stomp to Otsuka's face sending him out of the ring. Ikeda is kicking, punching and headbutting him with real violent force, and throwing some just ungodly hacksaw lariats like he is reaping wheat.  Otsuka meanwhile is focusing on the mat, with some slick looking leglocks, a tight triangle, and a really awesome looking la magistral into a chickenwing choke. This builds to a really epic finishing run with Ikeda throwing massive KO shots, dazing Otsuka all around the ring, only for Otsuka to duck under and catch a couple of his monster suplexes, including a brutal dragon which was able to get the KO. Ikeda was almost like an MMA fighter who throws so many huge power punches that he gassed himself out, with Otuska being able to rag doll his way to an upset. Great stuff between two all timers. 

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Fujiwara Family: FOLLOW ME, FUTENS GOTTA BE, THE BEST THING SINCE CLARK AND WALLABEES FUTEN 45 1/22/12

Ryuichi Sekine vs. Kotaru Nasu

PAS: FUTEN is the ultimate in all killer no filler wrestling. This was so good, and the kind of thing which would completely stand out if it happened today, and was a 9 minute opener, overshadowed by the shinier stuff to follow. Nasu is a Style-E guy and Sekine is a K-Dojo trainee, but they can do FUTEN, nasty kicks to the body and head, and slick takedowns and submissions. Nasu was a little smaller and a little slicker, and Sekine was throwing hotter heat. Sekine goes for a Finlay roll only for Nasu to sneak out with a choke, but is able to hit it later and it felt like a bomb. Lots of moments where I felt a finish was coming, but it gets switched up. Both of these guys are still wrestling and I wonder whether this is something they are still doing.

Satoshi Kajiwara vs. Braham Shu

PAS: This wasn't it. Shu had some nice kicks to the chest, but outside of that this wasn't particular FUTEN style. Kaikwara actually does a lionsault and then puts on a kimura, and Shu spends most of the match choking with his wrist tape before he finally gets DQed. Not what I get FUTEN for. 

Takuma Sano vs. Katsumi Usuda

PAS: Two all time shoot style greats. I wasn't aware these two had matched up before I got this show, and while it isn't an all time classic (Sano seemed to have slowed down a bit at this point) it had a lot of what I loved about both dudes. Usuda really dominated early picking apart Sano really cracking his arms and legs. Sano started slow but when he got rolling he took him out with this brutal run of offense  winning an elbow exchange with brutal multiple hard elbows to Usuda's head, a sick looking released german suplex, solebut to the gut and a head kick for the KO. Felt like Usuda let a fighter with KO power hang around too long and paid for it. 

Great Sasuke/Yuki Ishikawa vs. Fujita Hayato/Manabu Suruga

PAS: Two delicious slices of toasted bread with a piece of rotten baloney in the middle. In the early sections of this match Sasuke seemed to playing along, throwing kicks and grappling, scrambling for kimuras etc. We had a great Ishikawa vs. Hayato section, Hayato didn't work a ton of FUTEN but man he was perfect for this style, scrawny little shit who just threw reckless dickish head shots, like Takeshi Ono's even more assholish younger brother. The sections with Ishikawa had some Ishikawa vs. Ikeda vibes, with Hayato headhunting the old man, and Ishikawa fighting back. Then Sasuke has to get on his bullshit, he hits a suplex on Suruga and does this super long comedy spot where he keeps telling the crowd he is going to hit his Randy the Ram elbow, it literal takes him two minutes to go up for the elbow, which he misses and planks on his head so Hayato and Suruga can kick him in the but. The match recovers a bit at the end, as they have a nifty finish run, but man that was just such a bummer, I love Sasuke, but man fuck Sasuke. 

Hikaru Sato/Kengo Mashimo vs. Daisuke Ikeda/Takeshi Ono - EPIC

PAS: This was really excellent, not at the absolute peak of FUTEN tags (which are as good as anything in wrestling ever) but only a small step below. This is one of the matches of Takeshi Ono's career (according to Cagematch, it's Japan there are so many micro indies, that he could still be working weekly) and the last one we have on tape, and it is a hell of a capper. FUTEN tags have a certain formula, where they build and build to a big one on one match up at the end. Here we really get two of those, first Sato and Ikeda brutalize each other with punches to the face and sick headbutts, Sato is right there driving his forehead right into Ikeda and eating a huge clubbing lariat to the head and some gross kicks. At one point they are on their knees throwing straight rights. Just when you figure that is going to be the crescendo, Ono and Mashimo tag in and they go at it. Mashimo is a big guy and it is really a power versus speed striking battle, with Ono peppering him with sharp shots and Mashimo landing bigger thudding stuff. At one point Mashimo hits a leg sweep which looks like it sliced off Ono's legs at the knee. It doesn't get much better then when these matches ramp up, and I kept getting more and more hyped as they killed each other. Just the best.

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COMPLETE AND ACCURATE IKEDA

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Fujiwara Family: BattlArts Action-B 4/19/98

ACTION B

Ryuji Hijikata vs. Mach Junji

PAS: This was pretty early in both guys careers when they had nothing but potential. I don't think either guy had the careers this match predicted, but this was a damn fun example of young guy Battlarts. Junji had some fun leg work including a nasty kneebar which drove Hijikata's knee to his chest. We had some hard kicks and punches by both guys and then a couple of 95% Otsuka level suplexes by Hijikata where he just collapsed Junji. 

ER: I thought this was raw as hell, can't remember a Junji performance I liked more. He had this wild eyed, all out there performance and attacked Hijikata's leg like a guy who had been locked in a cage all day. He works a kneebar and does not want to let go of that leg, and it's great. He also throws these nasty knee lifts in the corner and blasts Hijikata in the back of the head with a downward lariat. I'm so into wild rookie Junji! Hijikata pays him back by dropping Junji a couple times in freakshow Karelin ways, folding Junji's legs in ugly ways over his head. Then, decides to fold him just as bad to win with a single leg crab. These rookies are hungry!!

Kasumi Usuda vs. Hidetomo Egawa 

PAS: I thought this was a totally rad 7 minute match. No idea who Egawa was (according to Cagematch he worked some WAR undercards, and IWA Japan stuff in the late 90s), but he was pretty great here. He had two cool german suplexes and a nasty back suplex and had this way of whipping his head back when he was selling high kicks that made Usuda look like prime Mirko Cro Cop. Usuda is always worth watching, and he lands some big shots and slick counters, including nearly getting a tap with a straight armbar counter out of a german suplex. Total hidden gem of a match.

ER: Yeah this ruled. I am also an Egawa novice, but he took a fierce beating from Usuda. Usuda really looked like a hit man here. Usuda often looks like a hot man. He has these focused eyes and just goes Energizer Bunny on Egawa. Egawa rose to this challenge and got run through like a champ, not slowing down despite knowing his odds kept getting worse. He had a couple nice suplexes that landed hard, but Usuda sold them like a guy getting out of bed to pee and was totally unflappable. He throws kicks in such great order, never getting trapped in overly similar combos, just throwing legs out constantly. His submissions always look like he's trying to break a limb as quickly as possible, his armbars have probably left so many people with creaky elbows from being briefly hyperextended a couple dozen times by Usuda. This is 7 minutes, feels like 3, all killer. 

Masao Orihara/Takeshi Ono vs. Mohammed Yone/Mamoru Okamoto 

ER: Orihara/Ono is such a badass tag team. You can picture them being a mid movie mini boss in a Jason Statham movie, Statham opening the door in a kingpin's office to find these two in black tights, black gloves, weird hair, swinging chains. And it's weird seeing Yone with a bowl cut, it's like seeing Sam Elliott without a mustache. Orihara is one of my favorite assholes in wrestling history. Here he swings hard on clotheslines, hits powerbombs and suplexes as unprofessionally as possible, shoves the ref when he gets in the way of Orihara hitting the ropes, headbutts Yone in the balls, all cool asshole things. Ono is focused on bending legs, and he really tries to pick on Okamoto, who has some nice moments (like surprising Ono with a dragon screw). I didn't love how Yone and Okamoto made their big comeback, felt a little like they skipped a couple steps. Yone took Orihara's nasty spider suplex, then Orihara hit a moonsault that I think was supposed to hit Yone's knees? But it looks mostly like a normal Orihara moonsault, and it looked dumb when Yone got right up and immediately went on his first big offense run of the match. His offense looked good (and Okamoto came in and hit a nice spin kick, also dropped Ono with a fast German), but I would have liked them coming up with a more interesting way of getting to their comeback. But the final run is a real winner, stacking up some crazy things on top of each other. Yone hits a big hang time crossbody off the top and basically bounces off a brick wall of Orihara, Ono dumps Okamoto with an insane tiger suplex, they hit a tandem vertical suplex on Yone with Orihara kicking him in the temple right after, a nice violent run to the finish line and an overall good match. Ono's octopus is the cruelest chiropractor in the ocean. 

Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Ikuto Hidaka 

ER: This was more down-paced than anything we've had on this show so far, and it's kinda tough to follow a couple of hot 7 minute sprints when your match is those 7 minutes with 7 slower minutes of rope break knee bars before it. The pace felt like a deliberate cool down, and I thought they did a good job building from sparklers to cherry bombs. I liked Hoshikawa more a couple years later, when he was more of his own thing and less Minoru Tanaka-lite. Hidaka had a lot of the same arsenal but it wasn't as refined in '98 as it was a year later. He was doing the same kind of suplexes transitioned into kneebars and chained suplexes, but they had a lot more poise a year later. Still, they go for some nice and risky stuff, like Hidaka dropkicking Hoshikawa's knee from the top rope, and Hoshikawa hitting an awesome dropkick while Hidaka is perfectly upside down in an Asai moonsault. That latter spot came off especially nuts, and you gotta like guys trying to stand out like that. Weakest match on the show, but you still got to watch guys take hard kicks to the arms and body, see a couple suplexes. 

Minoru Tanaka vs. Tiger Mask IV 

ER: This started with a cool package showing Minoru Tanaka as the proud UWA World Heavyweight champ, a belt that I'm sure has a very long complicated history of different wrestlers or promotions controlling it, but I liked them highlighting Tanaka as a guy constantly defending the belt with his spinning armbar. They worked this like a serious title match, but I think that held it back from what it could have been, especially compared to the rest of the card. Most minutes of this card were filled with a real immediacy and guys really going for the kill, and it's tough to jump into cold water like this no matter how safe it is. They work some competent mat stuff but it never has the danger of any of the submissions from the first three matches. They take their time working holds and while I can like methodical wrestling, some of this felt like they were lying in holds a bit too long. And while the prior match started slower, I felt they turned the dial up nicely to build to the finish, and this match didn't get to that. Even the highlights of this match didn't feel like they lived up to the highlights of Tanaka's other UWA title defenses. This was sound stuff, but didn't have anywhere near the dynamite of the rest of the card. 

Yuki Ishikawa/Alexander Otsuka vs. Daisuke Ikeda/Carl Greco - EPIC

PAS: Man alive was this tremendous. These may be my top four BattlArts guys (Ono and Usuda are obviously contenders as well), and they just stretch it out for a big time main event BattlArts tag. Greco is incredible in this, what a monumental and underused talent. He hits this gator roll into a side choke here which is breathtaking in its speed and violence. He has killer grappling sections with both Otsuka and Ishikawa that are cool in very different ways. The Ishikawa sections are chess matches with both guys countering attacks, the Otsuka sections are speed chess, they put the fucking clock on and just attack and overwhelm. To add to all the mat wrestling, Greco is as cool on his feet, throwing super fast hands, using great head movement, and landing a fucking Jean-Claude Van Damme jumping side kick from across the ring. We also get Ikeda vs. Ishikawa aka The Greatest Match-up in Wrestling History, and it is what it always is. Otsuka throws a couple of big throws, and even hits a tope to cut Ikeda off during this finish. Matches like this are why I am doing this project, couldn't recommend it more.

ER: When you are in the mood to watch BattlArts, this is the kind of match you hope to get. This really captures the overall energy of this really great show, as you have three of the Batt Mount Rushmore (also agree with Phil that Greco/Usuda/Ono would be the ones vying for that 4th spot) going full blast for 18 minutes. When a match starts with Ishikawa/Ikeda doing the things those two do, you'd think it would be hard to maintain that energy over a full match, but that would also mean you wouldn't be giving enough credit to Otsuka or Greco, which is a mistake. Ishikawa and Ikeda are fired up at the bell, no build to their violence, just starting off with fast grappling and quickly getting to Ishikawa raining down punches and elbows into Ikeda's face and neck. Ikeda doesn't forget those, as he spends the rest of the match taking any chance he gets to land cheapshots, my favorite a running punt to Ishikawa's t-zone just to break up a submission (2nd place goes to him leveling Ishikawa with a lariat to the back of the neck after the match). Ishikawa has this great wedding singer hair that makes him look like a real madman trading punches, and you know he and Ikeda were trading punches. My favorite exchange between them might have been this sick 1-2 combo, where Ishikawa threw a right to Ikeda's jaw while Ikeda was already throwing a right to Ishikawa's body, leaving both of them momentarily stunned. 

But the Greco/Otsuka exchanges were a different kind of wild. Greco has such insane enthusiasm and Otsuka easily matches it. Their throws are so quick that I have to assume they have no idea what part of their body is going to hit the mat first. There was one exchange where Greco did a Karelin lift that flipped Otsuka over in a 360, and as he was landing Otsuka was already picking up Greco to do a similar more violent lift. Greco had a moment earlier in the match where he suplexed Ishikawa and landed with a freaky dragon sleeper, actually looking like he was going to separate Ishikawa's head from body. This whole match was a scrap, and scraps with actual technicians always produce some killer results. The whole match was hot, and the finishing stretch turns the heat up even more, with Otsuka sending Ikeda flying with a great tope and Ishikawa flattening out Greco with a grisly rear naked choke. You want BattlArts? This is peak BattlArts. 

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Fujiwara Family: BattlArts Tag Battle 1996 12/21/96

12/21/96

Alexander Otsuka/Yuki Ishikawa vs. Carl Greco/Viktor Kruger

ER: As much as I appreciate Greco and Kruger coordinating their trunks for a Tag Battle League, I can't help but think this match could have been a classic had Greco chosen someone a little more interesting than Kruger as his partner. Kruger is a guy who gives us the answer to the question nobody ever asks, which is "What would shootstyle Jungle Jim Steele be like?" His power strikes feel like the weakest strikes of the match (those clubbing forearms are bad Power Plant trainee personified), but I did like when he was trying to use his size to hyperextend Otsuka's knee, and at least his late match powerbomb on Ishikawa and especially the KO splash mountain bomb on Otsuka looked great. The rest of this was just me being excited at our next shot at Greco vs. either Otsuka or Ishikawa. Greco brings such great energy to his mat scrambling, and he vs. Otsuka is one of my favorite BattlArts pairings in history. Otsuka is a guy who will throw incredible suplexes, and his suplexes on Greco make it feel like Otsuka is twice Greco's size. Seeing Greco tangle with Ishikawa you get the sense that a finishing sub could come at any time, and it's fascinating to just zone out and watch them each work three holds in advance, going after an ankle while also having a crossface in mind, always cool stuff. I loved when Ishikawa and Otsuka trapped Greco in a tandem Boston crab, really looked like they were going to wishbone the guy, and Ishikawa mocking Kruger while applying the hold made it that much sweeter. Again, thought the match ending powerbomb on Otsuka was sick, but Kruger needs to bring it in the finals. 

PAS: I didn't hate Kruger in this, he comes in with a terrible looking legdrop, and those Vader forearms were awful, but I liked the idea of a giant German guy using his size to bulldoze smaller guys. It is really just the drop off, Greco is such a talent, that any time he is on the apron you want him in the match. Kyle Kuzma is a fine player but if LeBron is on the bench, the Lakers are going to get outscored. The Greco vs. Otsuka and Greco vs. Ishikawa exchanges are as brilliant as they always are, Ishikawa and Greco just grapple and it is great to watch. I liked Kruger's finishing powerbomb, felt like a KO shot, but he was clearly a big step down. 

Daisuke Ikeda/Takeshi Ono vs. TAKA Michinoku/Shoichi Funaki-FUN

ER: This was fine, but shootstyle removes all of the most interesting parts of Kaientai's game, and the match is also unexpectedly controlled by them, so you mostly get Taka and Funaki just throwing stomps and locking on submissions directly next to the ropes. Was this their strategy? Because it felt like every time they locked on an armbar or kneebar it was right in the ropes and immediately broken up by the ref. It was odd. Their coolest bit of submission work was even a kind of a copy of the tandem Boston crab from the prior match, with Taka and Funaki focusing more on wishboning Ono's legs (like I thought Ishikawa and Otsuka were going to do) rather than turning it. Ikeda is always nice when working guys like Funaki, never outright massacres the guys who aren't real killers, so he still hits several headbutts but they aren't thrown with the math-forgetting intensity that he'll throw them against Yuki, his Brother in Lost Brain Cells. Taka does not get as much leniency, as Ikeda lays him right out with a mean as hell lariat that upended Taka like he was hit by a Yugo. I think I would have liked this more as a style clash, with both teams playing to their strengths, rather than one team dominating at a style they aren't nearly as good at.  

PAS: Hard not to see this as a disappointment. I have seen really great PWFG TAKA and PWFG Funaki, but they didn't full embrace that style. Instead of really going hard on the mat, you had long sections of kind of dull figure fours and boston crabs, it felt like Brad Armstrong and Ted DiBiase killing time until a loaded glove finish. I really liked the opening asskicking rush by Ono and Ikeda although it kind of promised a match we didn't end up getting. There were a couple of mid match moments of dickness from Ono and a big Ikeda lariat, which keep this from being skippable, but it was a miss for me. 

Daisuke Ikeda/Takeshi Ono vs. Carl Greco/Viktor Kruger - GREAT

ER: I liked this but - as with the other two matches - this never really kicks into that higher gear the best Batt matches get to. We get some fun brief double teaming on Kruger (Ono hitting him in ring while Ikeda throws kicks at his kidneys and back of head from the apron), and a lot of Ikeda and Ono ripping apart Greco. Ono was a real dickhead, which is Ono at his best. He punked Greco the whole time they tangled, throwing in small unprofessional shots to set up something bigger. He punched Greco in his braced knee right before dropping back with a kneebar, and any time he had mount he would just grind his forearms and elbows across whatever part of Greco's body is most convenient. Ono here makes me want a wrestler who just does this, no real offense, just digs his elbows into a guy's flesh every single chance he gets. I have no clue how Greco got anything done, with an elbow or fist constantly digging into his jaw or eyebrow or collarbone. Ono is the master of annoyance, never holding still, the guy who will crank on Greco's neck with no intention to actually lock on a neck submission, just being annoying in painful ways. By the time Greco finally tagged out to Kruger, I was excited to see Kruger stick up for his boy, but he doesn't really have it in him. Kruger is lost on the mat and it's exciting to see the much smaller Ono completely fearless with him, shooting in for a takedown and kicking away at him, tagging in Ikeda for more kicks. Kruger can really only cover up and absorb attacks while waiting to catch a limb, and I do like the payoff over shoulder powerbomb he crushes Ikeda with for the KO. Part of me likes that he has this killshot powerbomb, but perhaps a bigger part of me is annoyed he does basically nothing other than take shots and hit his one finish. 

PAS: I am higher on this than Eric. I thought the use of Kruger in this match was really good, he mostly just stays out of the way and lets us get awesome Greco sections against Ono and Ikeda. He gets really worked over by a pair of legendary cheap shot artists in Ono and Ikeda so when he finally comes in for the final run he looks like a killer, huge wild stiff shots, like he decided "Fuck it, if these tiny guys are going to pop me, I am popping them back" and the final powerbomb was an exclamation point. Of course most of the match was Ono and Greco rolling hard with Greco being a wizard and Ono being a nasty little asshole. I need to seek out some singles between the two, I am sure they happened and they have such great chemistry, two guys who never stop attacking, always looking to adjust and sink in something different or tighter. I agree with Eric that this didn't hit the level of the best BattlArts tags, but that level is so high that it still leaves plenty of room underneath for great stuff. 

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Fujiwara Family: PWFG 6/4/94

Shiochi Funaki vs. Minoru Tanaka

PAS: Both of these guys made their names doing other things, but at this point they were straight shootstyle guys, and pretty damn great at it. Funaki had a couple of totally awesome looking slips into tight rear naked chokes, and a really cool kneebar for the tap. Tanaka throws a couple of fast suplexes and a nasty headbutt while in the mount. This was way better then it would be a couple of years later, as they were PWFG young guys trying to prove they belonged. 

Katsumi Usuda vs. Joe DiFuria

PAS: This was great, DiFuria is a big jacked guy who spends much of this match chucking Usuda around the ring. He treats Usuda like a tackling dummy, dumping him with a couple of super nasty German suplexes and a deadlift throw, he was also super heavy on top, really leaning on Usuda with full weight and submissions which didn't look slickly applied, but a big jacked guy choking you is going to hurt even if it isn't perfectly applied. Usuda was able to wing some big kicks when he was able to get away from DiFuria, and the finish was an awesome Fujiwara special, DiFuria has Usuda locked into a rear naked choke, and it looked like curtains, but Usuda was able to grab an ankle and damn near twist it off forcing DiFuria to tap fast. Cool match, DiFuria had one match with Fujiwara which Tom and I didn't like 10 years ago when we watched it, but I kind of want to see his Vampire Warrior matches in Florida indies. 

Daisuke Ikeda vs. Bart Vale - FUN

PAS: This was a big kickboxing fight, and a rare match where Ikeda was in there with a guy with heavier feet. Vale really developed into a entertaining wrestler in the end days of PWFG, and he is thumping Ikeda with his big tree trunk legs. Vale isn't going to give a ton to Ikeda at this point in their career, Ikeda gets a couple of submission attempts, which Vale reverses, and throws some big kicks which mostly get blocked. This match was here for Vale to eat, and Ikeda was the meal, he would be at the big table plenty as his career moved on. 

Wellington Wilkins Jr./Yuki Ishikawa vs. Hanzo Nakajima/Naohiro Hoshikawa

PAS: Fuck this was badass. Wilkins and baby Ishikawa make a totally killer team. Wilkins is a square shaped guy who works like a total crowbar, he tosses some suplexes that have ab almost Taz on Pablo Marquez level of disregard for the well being of his opponents. He also throws some really sick headbutts including breaking a german suplex by just flinging the back of his head into the face of Hoshikawa, just gross. Ishikawa is also great, mixing a phenom level of matwork, with some real aggressive attacks. Nakajima is wearing a ninja mask and has a bad ass look, he looked perfectly comfortable on the mat with Ishikawa and mixed in some really graceful flying, he isn't a guy who had much of a career, having a cup of coffee with KDX in Mpro a couple of years later, but he looked great here. Hoshikawa is awesome in these kinds of hybrid matches, can hang on the mat, throw some kicks, and also hit a dope tope. Built to a pretty wild finish run, with Wilkins throwing this crazy top rope superplex, and locking on some sort of carny neck lock for the tap. The kind of match which would have led off a Schneider Comp back in the day.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Mark Ashford-Smith

PAS: This was a strange match which is worked entirely as a grappling contest, all on the mat with some long pauses and movement in and out of holds. It really felt in parts like Mario Yamazaki need to stand them up. Smith seemed comfortable on the mat, and this really felt like the might have been shooting at points, I can't imagine much was called before. Really a match for your Fujiwara completest, (or I suppose any Mark Starr superfans out there) I am a big enough Fujiwara head that I enjoyed watching him grapple and shift position, and the finish was pretty cool.  I liked this, still I imagine this will bore most folks.

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Fujiwara Family: BattlArts Final Fight in X-Mas 12/25/96

12/25/96

Kazumasa Fujimoto vs. Michiya Chiba 

PAS: Not sure who either of these guys are, and this was 2 minutes of rolling until Chiba gets an ankle pick for the tap in 2 minutes. Nothing to see here, keep it moving. 

Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Satoshi Yoneyama 

PAS: This was a fun little match up with a pre NOI Mohammed Yone.  I enjoyed how much these guys were bending each other on knee bars and boston crabs, I tweaked my back earlier this week and I clearly need Yone to stretch me out. Hoshikawa was fun in this environment, nice snap kicks, cool submissions willingness to push the pace. Yone had a a couple of cool looking flip kicks, hitting a couple before getting one caught and bent into a one leg crab for the tap. 

Yuki Ishikawa vs. Minoru Tanaka 

PAS: Isikawa's trainer really mastered this kind of wiley technician versus pretty boy kicker match, and it is fun to watch Ishikawa do his riff on Fujiwara vs. Takada or Funaki. Tanaka tries to overwhelm Ishikawa with speed and athleticism, only to see Ishikawa use skill to find places to attack. Ishikawa had some of the nastiest pro-wrestling ground and pound in this match, cracking Tanaka with hard knuckle out punches to the side of the head and ribs. Tanaka hit a wild flurry of shots, for two downs near the end of the match, really hard and super fast. He hits two big suplexes on Ishikawa for close near falls, only to let Yuki get hold of his arm for a nasty hammerlock submission. 

ER: I think before watching this match I had only seen one other Ishikawa/Tanaka singles match. This isn't a typical pairing I think of in BattlArts, even though they were there at the same time for many years. I thought this was fantastic though, as Tanaka was using his quickness to escape holds and had really fast application that kept Ishikawa scrambling. This really is a Fujiwara vs. striker match, the kind where Fujiwara takes maybe 20% of the match and then finally pulls off the thing he's been thinking about the whole match. Tanaka was super speedy and hit hard, and the way he and Ishikawa got tangled was always cool. I loved them fighting over a heel hook, and once Tanaka got the better grip Ishikawa just punched him right in the bandaged elbow. Tanaka even gives him a little "seriously!?" kind of look before wrenching in the hold. Ishikawa is mean when he gets the chance to be, like when he got in mount and threw a couple filthy punches down into Tanaka's jaw, but I thought for sure that Tanaka was going to tap him once he got him into a snug triangle. You could really see Ishikawa quickly running out of options before he just desperately rolled his body toward the ropes for the break. After I saw Ishikawa punch that bandaged elbow in the heel hook, I know it was on his mind, and I saw him reach for it again while trying to break a subsequent hold. So once he hit that awesome trap arm double underhook suplex to stun Tanaka I was not surprised in the least that he went straight to that hammerlock sub on that bandaged elbow. Awesome sub 10 minute match from a BattlArts singles match pairing I never think about.  

Daisuke Ikeda/Alexander Otsuka vs. Katsumi Usuda/Takeshi Ono - EPIC

PAS: BattlArts style main event tags are about the surest best in wrestling history, and this was another barnburner. Ikeda and Ono are an incredible tag team, but also amazing opponents, they throw shots with such reckless abandon at each other, and turn every exchange into a high wire act where someone is moments away from going to sleep. Otsuka is a magician as well, his level switches and throws are so much fun to watch and he brings a different spice to match with three big kickers. I thought the finish run was some wild stuff, and Ono sleeping Otsuka with a big knee felt like a huge moment for him. Ono is a monster talent, but he seemed slotted a bit below the rest of the BattlArts big four (the other three in this match and Ishikawa) so it was great that he got to show the thunder in his hands and feet to win this one.

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Fujiwara Family: BattlArts Yuki Ishikawa 15th Anniversary Show 7/21/07

This show is available, along with a ton of late 00s BattlArts on IWTV

Katsumi Usuda vs. Keita Yano

PAS: Looking back on my early 2010's reviews Tom and I hated Yano as he just got completely up his own ass and started trying to jack ROH moves from tapes. I have heard from people I semi-trust that recent Yano is weird and cool, in 2007 he was hueing more closely to the style and he was a fine basic opponent for Usuda. I liked Yano starting the match with a sneak high kick to try to catch the veteran sleeping. Usuda is never not worth watching, and he throws some big hard kicks like he want to do. I also liked him adjusting his kneebar to really torque the leg for the finish. Replacement level Usuda match, but that is a nice level. 

Toshie Uematsu vs. Carlos Amano

PAS: This was solid joshi wrestling with a bunch of nifty mat counters. I especially loved Uematsu putting Amano in a kneebar, catching Amano's leg when she tried to kick out of it and putting in a figure four. Amano also had some nifty work both in the guard and trying to clear Uematsu's guard. I wish the strikes landed with some more thump, weakness there kept this from being a real standout, but it was worth watching nonetheless. 

Kyosuke Sasaki vs. Yuta Yoshikawa

PAS: This didn't do much for me. It was pretty much all striking, and Sasaki landed a great solebutt to the stomach, punt to the face combo, but outside of that there was nothing memorable. Lots of strike, make a face, other guy throws a strike exchanges, and the final KO needed to be a lot more brutal on a show with Ikeda in the main event. 

Fujita Hayato vs. Munenori Sawa

PAS: This was a way better version of the stand and trade type of match. I liked the story of Sawa having the faster hands and feet, but Hayato landing the big shots. Hayato always fit in the Fujiwara Family feds great whenever he showed up, his default is crowbar and he lands some big thumping shots. Sawa had a little more horseshit then I prefer, his Mutoh aping never looks good, and I don't know about a figure four as a finishing submission in a shoot style fight. I did like how Hayato kept slapping the shit out him to try to break the hold, by the time Hayato tapped Sawa's nose and mouth were bloody. 

Alexander Otsuka/Yuki Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda/Manabu Hara - EPIC

PAS: These fucking guys. What absolute legends. Most people celebrate big milestones like Anniversaries by inviting some friends to dinner, maybe spending a weekend in Vegas. Ishikawa spends it by inviting his buddies over to kick the ever loving shit out of each other. Hara isn't my first choice for the fourth in this tag, but he is on eleven here, from opening up the match by dropping Ishikawa with a high kick to his killer final stanza against Otsuka, career performance for him. Of course the other three are incredible too, Ikeda spends much of the match sniping, anytime Otsuka or Ishikawa puts a submission on Hara, Ikeda is coming in hot, with full force kicks to the head. Ishikawa and Ikeda also have a couple of their legendary back and forths, as nasty and grotesque and you would expect from those two. Otsuka maybe the star of the match though. He mostly faces off against Hara and eats big shots again and again trying to get close enough to unleash hell with suplexes. At one point he counters a Hara kneebar attempt by grabbing him and chucking him with a German suplex. He and Ishikawa also hit an awesome enzigiri/German combo and finishes Hara with a dragon suplex on his head. These matches are made on their final showdowns and this one had a great one.

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Fujiwara Family: Pro-Wrestling Fujiwara-Gumi 8/12/95

TAKA Michinoku vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa

PAS: This was a bit of a mix of MPRO and PWFG, we had some early fun grappling, and a cool short tope by Hoshikawa. This was pretty clipped up, but we did get a nasty TAKA kneebar finish, where he really grabbed the hold high on the knee, looked like it put tremendous pressure on the kneecap.

Carl Greco vs. Katsumi Usuda

PAS: I think this was also really clipped but what we got was awesome. Greco is rocking an Eminem blond dye job and is just as killer on the mat early in his career as he was later. Usuda comes out swinging and it is pretty much can Greco tap Usuda before Usuda puts him to sleep. The half crab/rear naked choke he uses to put him down was gorgeous looking.

Takeshi Ono vs. Shigeo Okamura 

PAS This was short but really cool. Ono was awesome from damn near day one. Okamura is a guy who had most of his success as a CMLL Japanese rudo who would team with whatever Japanese guys would come over to Mexico, here he is working as a Gi wearing kicker. Okamura starts dominating with big kicks to the midsection and head, dropping Ono, including a cool spin head kick feint into a low sweep. Ono starts getting some success on the ground, bringing Okamura down and locking in submissions, and finally hitting him with a huge leverage judo throw and locking on an armbar for the tap. Fun to see Ono be the kicking bag instead of the kicker, but damn he was great early.

Minoru Tanaka vs. Oishi

PAS: This is a mixed match against a gloved kickboxer who's full name is lost to history. Mostly Tanaka avoiding punches and kicks until he got caught in the second round. Didn't have the frenetic insanity the best of these matches have, it was pretty subdued.

Daisuke Ikeda vs. Yuki Ishikawa - EPIC

PAS: This is a very early look at this all time great rivalry. This already had a ton of spice, as the tumble out of the ring at the bell and Ikeda hits a great spin kick to Ishikawa's stomach sending him into the chairs. It is a great start to a match which delivers on what it promises. Ikeda spends a lot of this match trying to destroy Ishikawa's internal organs, he hits him with brutal spinkicks, straight body kicks and Chavezian body shots. Ishikawa puts on some great looking holds, squeezing Ikeda's head like a zit, twisting his ankles into odd and painful directions, and throwing some big shots of his own including a big knee lift which glassed up Ikeda's eyes. Finish was great, each guy gets a big knockdown and the come up and both guys are just unload their arsenals, not exchanging elbows to show their toughness, but franticly throwing everything they have at each other. Ikeda catches Ishikawa with a slap to the ear which drops him, he pops back up, but it is the third knockdown and he loses by TKO. Ishikawa wants to keep fighting and they have to be separated. It is interesting to watch this legendary rivalry in it's incubatory form, while there later matches were often brutal wars of attrition, this was more of a frantic pedal to the medal fight, the kind of thing you might see from two MMA fighters trying to get on a UFC main card, fun to watch them expend that kind of energy.

MD: Definitely another gem. These two are the perfect cross section of unmitigated violence and astonishingly slick grappling. When you've seen enough wrestling, not much can surprise you, but the more I see this pairing (and I haven't seen them quite as much as Phil and Eric so I'm still allowed to be in awe), the more I remain blown away by just how they manage it. They're pure struggle with nothing given and the consistent illusion that if one makes the tiniest misstep, allows for an opening, drops a guard, leaves the smallest hole in his defense, he will pay dearly. This could be with vicious stomps to cement a hold or with a spin kick out of nowhere or with leverage gained for a devastating belly-to-belly. The selling feels just as abrupt. It becomes more about momentum shifts and advantage than a long-running narrative, but you end up left wondering, two thirds through the match how a comeback might even be possible. The level of skill involved in all of this consistently blows me away.

ER: How cool is it to see two guys who have matched up probably over 100 times in their career, in what might be their earliest singles match? I know I have a BattlArts singles match between them from a year later, not sure there's another one this young. I love the charm and violence of their more experienced matches, with Ishikawa playing more of a Fujiwara "hang back, minimize the beating, look for your opening" with Ikeda as the always advancing bully. Here they're both punks in their 20s and Ishikawa is super aggressive with offense and kicks. Ishikawa didn't use a ton of kicks even by '98, so it's a trip seeing kickpads Ishikawa fly at Ikeda with high kicks and knees. Ikeda is still a bully, still comes off more ice water veins than Ishikawa, kinda letting Ishikawa tire himself out on flurries before pouncing, or backpedaling until Ishikawa slips and then diving into him viciously. Aggression is really the cause of many of the momentum shifts here, and I loved seeing these two tumble to the floor a couple of times because they were too busy kicking each other's asses to pay much attention to their ring placement. We get a lot of nastiness shining through, look at them grabbing at each other's hair while Ikeda works for mount. Kick-y Ishikawa is fun, but Ikeda always has those lethal feet, and his mule kicks to Ishikawa's gut look absolutely match ending. He drops him fairly early with one and either Ishikawa is among the great salesmen in the history of this great sport (which, he is), or that's a man who had the wind kicked out of him through his stomach. All the twisting looked really great throughout, and the knockdown drama at the end was really exciting. I've watched enough Ishikawa to know that he can't be counted out, and I loved the ending of him popping up right after getting TKO, showing that he wasn't down and that Ikeda only won because of a fucking rulebook. These two guys. 

Koji Kitao vs. Mark Ashford-Smith

PAS: Kitao isn't a guy with a great reputation among fans of Japanese wrestling, but I am not going to hate on a big fat sumo guy who is kind of a crowbar, that is in my wheel house. Smith had a nice short elbow smash, and tried some submissions, but this was mostly Kitao ragdolling him around the ring including a big side slam before finishing him off. 

Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Shoichi Funaki vs. Hisakatsu Oya/Ricky Fuji - GREAT

PAS: This was for the FMW tag titles and was much more of an FMW match then any sort of shootstyle match, although a pretty nifty FMW match. We start with Oya and Fujiwara grappling which was easily the most PWFG part of the match. Oya always seemed like he was playing on the wrong team in the 90s, and it was cool to get a glimpse of what BattlArts Oya would have looked like. FMW team ends up isolation Funaki and busting him open with a chair, and the match builds up to a Fujiwara hot tag, and a bunch of Mark Ashford-Smith pro PWFG interference. Could have used a more dynamic ending to push it up into EPIC territory, but I can't hate on a match where a bloody Funaki tags in a house of fire Fujiwara

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Fujiwara Family: BattlArts Project B Master Plan 1/21/97

Project B Master Plan

Shoichi Funaki vs. Ikuto Hidaka 

PAS: This was Hidaka's debut match and he comes in wearing already wearinf pressure bandage which tell something about the training at the BattlArts dojo. As you might expect this was mostly a squash, although Hidaka gets a big dropkick and super fast flip before being dispatched. Funaki is not the optimal guy you want to see beat on a rookie (I imagine Hidaka was happy he didn't draw Ikeda for his debut) but this was fun.

Naohiro Hoshikawa  vs. Alexander Otsuka

PAS: This was a styles clash with Hoshikawa representing MPRO against Otsuka's BattlArts style, and they really meshed those styles well I liked Otsuka refusing to run the ropes early, only for Hoshikawa to force him and crack him with a jump kick. There was also a fun spot where Hoshikawa throws these theatrical kicks which don't hit clean only to finish the combo with a soccer kick to Otsuka's face, that was a style I was taught in boxing, throw the first couple with speed and land the last couple with force (I was much better with the force then the speed). You come to an Otsuka match primarily for the suplexes and there were some corkers, we get his great hanging German, a blindingly fast high angle capture suplex and a dragon to finish it off which looked incredible, fast forceful and violent, one the greatest dragon suplexes I have seen, Otsuka was a marvel. 

The Great Sasuke/Gran Hamada/Gran Naniwa/Masato Yakushiji vs. Kaientai DX (TAKA Michinoku/ MEN's Teioh/Dick Togo/Shiryu) - EPIC

PAS: This is one of the all time great combinations of guys in wrestling history, just true magic anytime you get a KDX team against a group of MPRO babyfaces. This starts a little diffThis ierent then the traditional matchup with KDX jumping Sasuke's team before the bell and taking them on a destructive arena tour, tossing them into walls, Sasuke gets launched back first into chairs, Yakushiji gets bodyslammed on a table, after that KDX struts back into the ring triumphant. When the babyfaces appear we get some of the fast forward speed action that you would expect from these teams, everybody hitting everything with such grace and force, with just impeccable timing. Much of 2020 wrestling aspires for this level of grace, athleticsim and beauty but no one does it like these guys did it. Awesome Yakushiji performance, he really was Rey Jr., La Petit Prince level fast and agile, and had a perfect group of rudos to work with, He hits a whip kick in this match where he looked like he had super speed. Out of nowhere this match takes a turn, Naniwa get's his mask ripped and gets sliced by Togo and all of a sudden a waterfall of gore just streams out of his forehead (Shiryu looks like he got slammed into barbedwire with the blood on his back, which was all from Naniwa's head). It takes a real turn, with Naniwa getting his head wrapped and coming back triumphant, with no mask to get the win. It's crazy that these guys can still add that kind of wrinkle to their amazing formula.  

ER: What a match. My friend Charlie was over at my house to record a podcast episode, and when we were done he just wanted to hang out for awhile and decompress. He is as casual a wrestling fan as you can get, would never watch wrestling on his own, but always enjoys and immediately gets into it whenever I put it on. And are there really many better styles of wrestling at reaching across that aisle of casual fandom, than a vintage all cylinders MPro multiman? He took to it immediately, and how could anyone not? This is not really even a heralded Mpro multiman, but it's on the level of the greatest ones I have seen, and it is a match I seek out and love. At its heart it has a tremendous bloody fighting babyface Naniwa performance, and it had a tremendous dickhead heel performance from Taka. Everybody else added nothing but positive segments, we built to a fever pitch where guys were flying in and out like a chaotic fight in Enter the Dragon. 

There really isn't a misstep in the whole thing, a real tight 20 minutes that - like the best of this style - felt like a bottomless bag of tricks to pull from. The crowd brawl was a fun diversion and really set the KDX tone, camera cutting all over Korakuen to see them inflicting violence, as Sasuke gets thrown through chairs and has chairs thrown onto him, and Taka instructs everyone to learn from him as he bounces a chair off the side of Naniwa's head. Taka takes that attitude back into the ring as we settle down into pairings, and Taka is the guy out there kicking people in the head and really separating himself from the pack. As Charlie observed while watching, "Some of these guys are hitting a lot harder than the others." Taka especially targets Naniwa, not just smacking him down and landing everything harder than necessary, but every time Naniwa is down Taka just mockingly kicks at his head, just shoving Naniwa's head around with the bottom of his boot. And it leads to a tremendous moment where Naniwa stands up and just wastes Taka with a falling clothesline. Naniwa hits a couple of big clotheslines in this match, but telling Taka he wasn't going to take his shit anymore is one of those immaculate pure babyface moments. Naniwa gets his masked ripped right off his head and bleeds a gusher, all building to him spiking Shiryu with some great sitout gutwrench powerbombs (each one landing higher and higher on Shiryu's shoulders) for the win. Everyone had great moments in this, that shouldn't be a shock. Sasuke had big bumps into chairs and a couple of wild Sasuke dives; Yakushiji reminded me of how damn quick he was and how bananas his headscissor and armdrag variations were, the kind where as he's spinning you don't have any idea what direction either he or his opponent will fly. Everyone looked good, but adding in a huge gusher and triumphant Naniwa return (with big head bandage!) made this one of the greatest MPro multimans ever. It just happened in BattlArts. 

First Tiger Mask vs. Minoru Tanaka 

PAS: It was pretty crazy that the most pure shootstyle match on this card was an old fat guy in a puffy silver mask. This was excellent stuff, old tubby Sayama is my favorite of all Sayama's and he was a machine in this match, constantly coming forward, working the guard, trying to take Tanaka's back and using his hips and foot movement to stay away from Tanaka's kicks. I loved all of the fight for the chicken wing, Sayama really yanked on the neck and arm and kept adjusting to tighten the grip, and then whipped off a beautiful snap german suplex which landed Tanaka directly on the back of his neck, before finally sinking it in. Really cool stuff, one of my favorite Tanaka matches ever, and better then anything Sayama did in his first New Japan run.

 Daisuke Ikeda/Katsumi Usuda vs. Yuki Ishikawa/Takeshi Ono - EPIC

PAS: My god is this match something. The utter reckless disregard for their opponents, the speed and athleticism of the attacks, the clever ways to mix in moments of true horror with moments of beauty.s. This was a battle of four all time greats at their absolute athletic peaks. All of these guys remained great wrestlers well into the 2000s, but their style slowed down a bit as they moved into their 40s and 50s. Here they are all in their mid 20s and the exchanges are so much faster and explosive without surrendering any of the chilling violence. The opening of this match is a great example of the brilliance of this style, Usuda and Ono have this lighting quick intricate exchange of kneebar counters, with Ono getting the advantage, which was quickly snuffed out by Ikeda running in and kicking Ono's head into the fourth row. A Sunday of skill and speed with a cherry of brutality on top. The match continues on that vein, with great exchanges by all of the participants, with all four looking great. Ikeda throws some of his classic crowbar lariats along with nasty kicks and some really good desperate leg selling, selling which was instigated by Ono throwing some of the nastiest leg kicks I have seen in either wrestling or MMA, you could see Ikeda's kneecap shift with each shot. Every move in this match was remarkable, just the force Usuda used to yank in a choke, or the wild reckless punch exchange between Ikeda and Ishikawa which looked like something out a Necro Butcher brawl, to Ono working Usuda's body like a heavy bag. Just perfection.  If this match happened in the 2010s it would be match of the decade material, and it was just another day in the office for the BattlArts boys.

ER: This was tremendous, exactly what I wanted from everyone involved. The MPro showcase earlier, followed by an excellent Tiger Mask/Minoru Tanaka match, felt like a difficult set to follow. But this delivered in an entirely different way, and I'm sure there haven't been many better straight hours of pro wrestling than these three matches. This match has no problem following those matches, as everyone here is in a mood to throw kicks and eat kicks. Takeshi Ono was not nearly as heralded as his contemporaries when these matches were actually happening. Ikeda, Ishikawa, Tanaka, Hidaka, Malenko, and Otsuka were the acclaimed BattlArts guys which didn't leave a lot of room for Ono at the time. Catching up and getting more shootstyle opinions into the wrestling web allows us to reevaluate and find new high value and joy in guys like Ono. Ono is a fantastic shootstyle wrestler, and one of the most compelling juniors wrestlers of the last 25 years. His wrestling instincts are great, he knows when to dramatically go in for the kill, knows how to milk drama out of rope breaks and knock down selling. Having he and Ikeda on opposite sides means you have guys on each side who specialize in kicking people in the face while breaking up pinfalls, and I think everyone in this match takes at least three kicks somewhere directly behind their ears. Ikeda gets his leg attacked and bent in painful ways, Ikeda and Ishikawa dragged things down into the gutter with a nose busting punch exchange, four absolute legends of shootstyle all working at top gear. 

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