Found Footage Friday: RIP NISHIMURA~! NAGATA~! GENTARO~! NAKANISHI~! CHONO~! TENZAN~!

Hiroyoshi Tenzan/Masahiro Chono vs. Manabu Nakanishi/Osamu Nishimura NJPW 06/05/02

MD: This is an hour draw where we never had the full version until recently. They structure the time extremely well all things considered, with a few major story beats to loop together the characters, the work, and the big moments. The first ten minutes were primarily Nakanashi paired with Tenzan and Nishimura paired with Chono, worked fairly even. They had time to breathe though and that meant a bit more struggle and effort to lock in or escape from every hold. Nakanishi and Tenzan brought little sprinkles of bombast and over the top theatrics and Chono and Nishimura were grounded and focused.

From there, they spent around ten minutes working on Tenzan, leading to a big entry Chono and a little less than twenty minutes working on Nishimura, including some big bits of hope including a superplex/toss off the rope combo. Nishimura was credible enough to stay in it and keep the crowd invested, so they were up and ready when Nakanishi came in like a truck, using feats of (as the commentary put it) "superhuman" strength to fight both off, including lifting both over his head at once. When he went for a German, however, his leg went out, setting up the back two-fifths of the match. 

It had seemed like maybe they were going into the finish, but instead Nishimura had to step forth and he did so iconically, taking his boots off and becoming an absolute wrestling machine, switching from one opponent to the other and keeping his head more than above water. Just when it seemed like he was getting swept under, there was Nakanishi, bandaged up for an extended comeback and finishing stretch. The match had one last wrinkle though, one thing to put it over the top and force the champion on their back foot in a very visual way. Nakanishi shot a knee into Tenzan and he bled big. That gave the last ten minutes a bloody, desperate overtone as they rushed on towards the draw. This warranted the time it got, with all of the comebacks and momentum shifts feeling suitably huge and the iconic moments even huger.

PAS:  Very cool match that I don't think I had ever watched before. Nishimura has always been one of my guys, but I was lower on Nakanish, Tenzan and 2000s Chono, and I imagine the length kept me from watching it in 2002, and it has never been something I have considered revisiting. Nishimura's passing and the new footage of it all, led me to advocate for this, and I am glad I did. 

Just a couple of all-time moments in this match. I loved the idea of Nakanishi on this Incredible hulk run of power spots and the injury being non-contact. If it was a real injury, tremendous improv, if it was part of the match, hell of an idea. Nishimura pulling off his boots is an iconic leading man moment from one of wrestling's great character actors, and instantly became one of my favorite strap drop momentum changes ever.. I did kind of wish that, that moment and the big Nakanish return from the back, led more quickly into the finish, I liked the finish run and the Tenzan blood, but there was some dead time in between the Nakanishi return and the big ending, which felt like it could have been trimmed, still hell of piece of business and a tribute to the greatness of Nishimura.

Osamu Nishimura vs Yugi Nagata - European Rounds NJPW 06/02/05

MD: Ah, a handheld of two guys in black trunks wrestling. That's what you want out of NJPW. This on the fabled Italy tour and was really European rounds. They went five to a draw. I liked it quite a bit actually. Balanced, good work, good anticipation, good story. The first round was mostly even, just feeling out but I liked how they made every touch seem like it could lead to something. Nagata took over with a kick in the ropes (unclean break) and he got carded for it but that was a small price to pay to break the stalemate (or the slight Nishimura advantage) and take over. 

He kept control through a roundbreak but one too many kicks led to his doom as Nishimura caught it for a dragon screw. Likewise, he kept control through a ropebreak (charging forth with a leaping kick to ensure he'd keep it right at the start of the round), and pressed the advantage with a figure-four. He couldn't get the win though and they leaned into the last round with some big bombs as they worked towards they draw. This worked for me as something different and they leaned into the gimmick well with Nagata holding his own. They could have gone back to Japan and done these matches for years and told interesting stories with them. We'd probably be in a better pro wrestling world if they did. 

Osamu Nishimura vs. GENTARO VKF 11/16/15

MD: Pretty enjoyable 20+ minutes here as they just went hard with one another. For the first half of the match GENTARO would try to press an advantage (anything from a vein-popping headlock to slamming Nishimura's head into the turnbuckles to a headscissors to a bow and arrow) and Nishimura had not just an answer for each but suitable punishment in return, most especially a nasty European Uppercuts. 

Midway through, things spilled outside, and Nishimura absolutely cracked GENTARO's knee with a shin breaker on a chair and started dismantling the leg. Sometimes you're watching a match and something takes a turn and even after watching for years and years you still get that feeling in your stomach of "how is this guy ever going to come back from that?" The answer was that Nishimura missed a knee drop off the top and GENTARO was able to slam his knee into the post with a shinbreaker of his own.

From there they were both on one leg and fought hobbled against one another, including a few figure-four attempts by GENTARO, one of which he was finally able to lock on outside the ring, staying in it for almost the entire twenty count. All of this was very good, with lots of struggle to try to prevent the hold and plenty of consequence for being in it. Finish came out of nowhere as GENTARO got it on again only for Nishimura to turn it and almost immediately get the submission. On the one hand, it made sense given the damage to the knee and how hard they were fighting over the hold. On the other, I'm not sure I've ever seen a submission on a turned Figure-Four before.

ER: This was so great. It's Nishimura at his best. He's the same age as I am right now and he looks 60, but moves like a tough 30 year old. He's a rare breed, a Masa Fuchi type who looks like a polite salaryman in his own Japanese Nobody. He has such a dedication to making every step of a match look earned, an honesty that is something became really important to me. He hits guys in slightly different ways and makes simple transitions look like rewarding events. There's so much satisfaction in watching a pro work slowly but effectively through a figure 4 or Indian deathlock. The camera work in VKF is really great and amplifies Nishimura's style. 

The ringside camera films inside the ring like they're aiming to show that there are no tricks or illusions in Nishimura's work. It's an honest camera for an honest style. But that close-up realism pays off when the match escalates to hard strikes and real impact. Nishimura had an incredible uppercut sandwich when he went full weight into GENTARO'S neck and jaw, then went low with one into his thigh, then went back to the neck and jaw just as hard as the first. He drove some of the hardest full body downward strike elbows into GENTARO'S quad, escalated things further with a knee breaker on a chair, attacked it in ways I wasn't expecting. When he hits a big kneedrop from the middle rope across the leg, it's the same movement that leads to a miss and transition back to GENTARO later. There's that honesty. I like when GENTARO realized he was losing this fight but looking for ways out, suddenly getting really serious about a Count Out win still being on the table while the ref calmly insisted that Nishimura was clearly on the apron. There are no bad Nishimura finishes, they always feel like one man won with a submission that was well earned, and I love the way Nishimura specifically showed his work while earning those wins. A true craftsman. 

2015 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Happy New Year! Kenichiro Arai vs. GENTARO Broadway!

 

3. Kenichiro Arai vs. GENTARO Mutoha Pro 2/5/23

MD: One can make the argument that the two most important elements of wrestling are struggle and consequence. If you wanted to elaborate a bit, you could call it the illusion or perception of struggle and the narrative force of consequence. Basically, everything has to allow for enough suspension of disbelief that one can perceive real struggle between the two combatants and the things that happen have to have meaning and weight in the overall narrative. Wrestling has to create it's own seamless reality (which is different than seeming real) and then things have to matter within that reality. 

This was an amazing example of both of those elements. GENTARO and Arai wrestled for an hour. At no point did anything, even the simplest front face lock, feel like it came easy. They would grapple through four or five permeations of positioning attempts before a more familiar hold emerged. That emergent hold could be as basic as a top wristlock or as complex as GENTARO's rowboat stretch, but the process to reach that point was so grueling and competitive that each and every distinct submission attempt that was ultimately locked on felt like a massive accomplishment and also a massive threat to the recipient. That was true for every distinct reversal or escape as well, often drawing appreciative applause from the crowd. Likewise, almost every pin attempt took three or four disparate bits of leverage manipulation and gamemanship to maneuver into and because of the amount of effort and friction involved, each one felt like it could lead to a fall.

That leads to consequence. It worked here a bit like a feedback loop. Because they were putting so much effort into laboriously ensuring that every hold was its own individual strategic war, something undeniably worth fighting for, it was easy to portray the effect of even the slightest bit of joint manipulation. If snatching a hold meant so much to each wrestler and if avoiding being in a hold meant so much to each wrestler, obviously there was considerable pain and damage that would be inflicted. Moreover, and this is where things get really interesting, it meant that there was a calculated risk in each and every grasp of a limb and shift of a body. If nothing ventured, nothing could be gained, but every venture brought with it danger. 

Every hold and momentum shift in this match came out of a series of openings created and diverted through multiple attempt to gain advantage. GENTARO was more aggressive and unyielding, working three or four different positions to latch on a hold. Arai was canny and crafty, arguably the more defensive wrestler, always with a canny trick in his holster. Early on GENTARO pried a leg away and went for a takedown through multiple switches and attempts, only for Arai to come down directly upon him, knee first. The match was full of moments like that, GENTARO pressing and pressing and Arai having to devise a surprising answer. Here's another example that sums up the match well: later after GENTARO took the initial fall (again through an unyielding and continuous manipulation of one limb after another, slowly and patient), Arai became overaggressive due to the need to even the odds and GENTARO was able to capitalize. In this match, however, every advantage taken was also a potential risk. GENTARO stretched his advantage to open distance and charge Arai only for Arai to capture him in a flipping scissors hold and squeeze his way to earning the second fall of the match. Here, every attempt at offense was also a risk to be countered. 

This reminded me, as much of anything else, of the great 1983 French Catch bout between Mr. Montreal and Guy Mercier when the two of them were up there in age and putting their all into every hold as well. This maybe had more gamesmanship, whereas that was worked more in-and-out with multiple escape attempts that built upon one another. Here, past a lengthy series of headscissors by GENTARO, no one was allowed to keep such a hold for long. That was except, of course, the finishing sequence of figure-fours; Arai had obtained that monkey paw wish of an actual advantage, providing him the tantalizing hope of a kneedrop off the turnbuckles. He crashed and burned, paying for his hubris (one does not try to wrestle so big in a match this intimate) and allowing GENTARO to start on the knee. It came a price, for it provided Arai with a leg and ankle to work on as well, and the two would trade such holds back and forth up until the time limit expired. 

All in all, this was as exhausting for the viewer as it was for the wrestlers, the logical conclusion to the notion that every exchange, every touch, every torque can matter in the moment of a match, stretched out over the span of an hour. There was no point that they weren't competing, weren't struggling against one another, and all of it mattered. Here, there was always the potential of dire consequence, certainly to failure, but even to success. 

ER: I've spent much of my year writing thousands of words about 2 minute WCW matches from 25 years ago, now I am going to write just a couple hundred words on the longest match I've watched in several years, showcasing what I loved about it.  

The Mutoha ring announcer on crutches, and the way GENTARO smirks when that ring announcer with plantar fasciitis begins to call him "Arai". 

Arai's double arm barred takedown and the way he clasps his hands on his side head and arm choke; how he shoot monkey flips GENTARO like Super Dragon monkey flipping a fan or grabs a headlock and sinks down into a squat, putting his weight onto GENTARO; the way a backdrop bump hits different when it comes 45 minutes into a match.    

I like that by the time GENTARO starts working pins (around 30 minutes in) I had forgotten that this match could have even ended by pinfall, lulled into the seriousness of traditional pro wrestling moves being treated as actual struggle. 

GENTARO's grounded headscissors that looked like it was turning Arai's head grayish purple, and how he gets paid back for that tight headscissors 45 minutes later to end the 2nd fall; the way he hesitates slightly while applying a Sharpshooter and has to suddenly scramble when Arai notices that hesitation. 

GENTARO has one of the coolest cradles - not flashy, not something that would read in a GIF, but an honest cradle - not long after losing the 2nd fall, cradling Arai's left leg and forcing Arai's own weight down on him to smother him. When Arai manages to shift out of it he twists his boot over GENTARO's wrist, which might be the only underhanded act the entire hour. 

Reversed back and forth inside cradles are still going to look silly, but you can appreciate the way Arai crosses his ankles and how each man looks like they're actively resisting the momentum shifts back and forth. They show the difficulty in actually getting a crucifix pin, how much energy you would have to exert to muscle a man your own size over like that. 

The figure four battle is worth the price of admission on its own. The way GENTARO is forcing Arai's ankle down with his elbow knowing that doing so only makes Arai twist on his ankle harder, breathing life into a move we've all seen performed for our entire lives as wrestling fans, a figure four used as the culmination of an hour long match in front of upwards of 50 people in a small building in Saitama. 

2023 MOTY MASTER LIST 

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Folks Rush In, 3 Letters try to Stop It. D-I-C-K-T-O-G-O, One Letter Short but Motherfuck the D.A.

Dick Togo/GENTARO vs. Takashi Sasaki/Masashi Takeda FREEDOMS 10/28/10 - GREAT

This was a workrate tag match, kind of the indy Japan version of a ROH Briscoes tag. That isn't my type of wrestling at all, but Dick Togo is the great style equalizer. This kind of match is normally judged on the coolness of moves and the amount of overkill, however Togo's little spots were cool enough that he added and extra dimension. It did well on the two normally criteria though. I thought the end of this match felt like the end, with GENTARO hitting a sweet looking bridged Saito suplex while Togo slapped on a crossface. There was a bunch of cool moves too, Sasaki countered a flying clothesline with a kick to the stomach, Takeda hitting a top rope northern lights suplex. Could have used a dive train, and maybe some cool double teams. Also there was one spot where GENTARO was on the top rope and Sasaki kept spanking his ass, I guess he was trying to knock him off the top but it was weird. Wouldn't be the best match on a PWG show, but would probably be in the top 3.

Dick Togo vs. Antonio Honda DDT 1/30/11 - EPIC

The Dick Togo singles match train continues. Gem after gem, his last six months have been incredible. Honda is a comedy guy an used to be Togo's partner in the DDT Italian Horseman. This is clearly the match of his life, and I give him a ton of credit for stepping up and bringing it to Togo like he did. Early part of the match had Honda working over Togo's arm. Togo did a really nice job selling, and it makes total sense to give him a ding to make Honda's offense credible, still Honda's attack was a little pedestrian. Match really kicks it into gear when Honda hits a nice tope and comes up bloody. After that, the match morphs into a Mid South Coliseum main event, with Togo working over the bloody babyface and Honda making awesome valiant comebacks. Togo has him in the corner, smashing his head into the turnbuckle and punching him, and Honda does a full on Lawler 1986 TX Death Match comeback, dropped strap, 17 punch combo ending in a huge uppercut for a near fall. Such a neat moment, which Togo sold perfectly. We get a big near fall run, which is really something that Dick Togo does better then anyone in the world, and then take a trip back to TN with an awesome punch Lawler v. Mantel style toe to toe punch exchange. Hell of match, the kind of thing only Dick Togo can deliver in 2011. If he really retires in June it will be at the height of his game, like Jordan leaving in 93, lets hope Togo does a season of minor league baseball and returns to the game

Dick Togo/Great Sasuke/Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Mike Quackenbush/Jigsaw/Manami Toyota CHIKARA 4/16/11 - FUN

The Chikara trios matches continue to be disappointing. Everyone in this match it as least a solid wrestler, but it never felt like they got on the same page. Togo was the best guy in the match, although it may have been the least spectacular Togo match I have seen in this project. He was a bunch of fun smacking around Toyota, making great asshole faces. I enjoyed Jigsaw here too, as he hit a pretty tope and moved around well. Everyone else was pretty MIA. You kept wanting this match to explode in a crazy run, and it never really did. The finish especially felt really flat. This didn't have as many things to hate as the opening round match, but it didn't have a ton to love either.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

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