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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I'm on the Trigger Plus I Got the FUTEN Sword: FUTEN 7/18/11

I am cataloging all of the BattlArts and FUTEN shows we have reviewed, and realized this was out there but somehow unreviewed.

Katsumi Usuda vs. Kotaru Nasu

PAS: Nasu was a Style-E guy and a perfectly solid unspectacular opponent for Usuda. Usuda provides most of the highlights here, unsurprisingly, popping Nasu right in the temple with a high kick, doing a great looking Fujiwara double leg twist counter into a kneebar and an incredible leg trip into a Fujiwara for the tap. Nasu did have a couple of nice near falls on knockdowns and a cross arm breaker, but this was a fun Usuda show. He is really a guy who can deliver against almost anyone.

ER: I thought Nasu was the perfect kind of opponent for Usuda, the kind of lower ranked guy that Usuda is great at almost losing to. For his end, Nasu kicked the hell out of Usuda and looked like he came real close to tapping him, and if a guy throws hard kicks and can lock in a sub that looks like it can get a tap, Usuda can take that guy to his career zenith. Usuda comes into the match with his expected bored expression, totally underestimating Nasu, and after a couple of minutes he appears correct in his underestimation. Usuda is really special, and I love how his selling in this match was based entirely on facials and not, you know, selling a limb. His face starts off in his classic resting sleepy expression, and within 7 minutes it's total panic. Nasu kept doing more damage with each set of kicks, and looks like he was a few newtons away from stinging Usuda on a kick to the spine. His subs keep coming closer and closer to tapping Usuda, and Usuda's grasps for the ropes start looking more and more desperate, and we get a great shot of his eyes darting to every single rope in the ring. When he makes an escape he didn't think he'd made, he realizes that the time for fucking around is over. He wastes Nasu with a kick as Nasu charged into the corner, and I love in fights when a guy *almost* getting a tap causes him to throw strategy out the window. He came so close to that win that he's now too focused on finishing and the blinders leave him wide open. The finish was so sick, Usuda sweeping Nasu's left leg from his back to trip him to the mat, expertly swinging his leg over to shift his weight and grab the arm, then wrenching that arm into the ugliest Fujiwara. It's one of those submission finishes where the guy who gets tapped knows he's in the quicksand the second he steps into it, knows his only option is lose quick or lose slightly less quick. Usuda!


Ryuji Hijikata vs. Bison TAGAI

PAS: This was Tagai representing BattlArts taking on Hijikata who was repping FUTEN, and he repped the hell out of FUTEN, landing a nasty cheap shot headbutt, and some sick punches to the ear. Tagai would fight back with some takedowns and grappling, but he was in over his head. Hijikata hit a couple of great looking sole butt kicks to the stomach, including turning his back after it landed like Steph Curry, before he made Tagai's knee touch his ear for the tap.

ER: Hijikata is a beast. He was taking harsh beatings in BattlArts when Bison was a teen. This guy was toughened up a decade before Bison got started, and even if I don't remember Hijikata winning matches in the late 90s Batt I loved, being a regular there in that area is a lasting badge of toughness. Early in this match there is a moment that would go on an all time best Futen video. Both men are reaching for a knucklelock and TAGAI punches Hijikata straight in the face. Hijikata is rattled and backed up, but quickly comes to and decides TAGAI needed to be taught a rest of match lesson. He backs TAGAI up, headbutts him right in the eye, then throws a right hook to his ear that sends TAGAI to the mat. From there it's just Hijikata stalking and beating TAGAI while TAGAI backs into him and has an I Fucked Up look on his face for much of the rest of the match. He fires back with some slaps but Hijikata is letting him do it, and he's walking through those strikes like all the old 90s BattlArts guys walk through strikes. Those mule kicks hit like two mules, and the finishing submission was disgusting. Hijikata hyperextend's TAGAI's knee up past his head and rides it like one of those guys on Furiosa's metronomes in Fury Road.


Kengo Mashimo vs. SEIKEN

PAS: These are a pair of big boys and stuff was landing hard. SEIKEN rushes Mashimo early and sends him to the floor. Oba is on the sideline and he gives him a talking to, and Mashimo comes in and bulldozes him with hard kicks and punches. Once Oba hyped him up he was a wrecking ball and took SEIKEN out.

ER: Akitoshi Saito feels like a guy who should have made at least a couple Futen appearances and never did. But Mashimo wrestles exactly the way a Futen Saito would wrestle, and it's great. SEIKEN is new to me and he rushes Mashimo to start, blowing him up with quick knees, kicks, and open hands. Once Mashimo gets his pep talk, it's a slow drowning for SEIKEN. Mashimo shows him how actually ineffective his kicks are, and awesomely blocks a spinning heel kick right out of the air with his forearms. Mashimo absorbs strikes, takes slaps as if his face was merely hit merely by a cool breeze, takes kicks to the chest like he's getting a massage, and we get a great moment where SEIKEN nails a spinning heel kick right to Mashimo's chin that sends Mashimo staggering around the ring. From there, Mashimo shows SEIKEN what a leg kick is supposed to look like, absolutely chopping down that tree, dumps him with some very hard back suplexes and Germans, and from there it's a race to see what head kick is going to be the one that makes SEIKEN stay down instead of stand up at 9. 


Mitsuya Nagai vs. Takeshi Ono

PAS: This is a cool scrap which was worked like a speed versus power boxing match. Every shot Nagai threw and every submission he put on had a ton of force. He cut Ono in half with kicks and nearly tore off his limbs. Ono would respond with activity, none of his shots thudded like the much bigger Nagai, but he peppered him with quick punches and kicks, and spun into fast submissions. He even ends up blooding Nagai's ear with fast right hands before falling to a nasty submission which saw Nagai twisting him into taffy. Really cool fight, Ono is an all-time great and any chance to see him is a treasure.


Daisuke Ikeda/Manabu Suruga vs. Yuki Ishikawa/Munenori Sawa

PAS: FUTEN tags are on a short list of the greatest things ever produced by wrestling. This wasn't a top tier FUTEN tag, but even mid-tier FUTEN tags are top tier in a list of all other things. The structure of a FUTEN tag is lots of back and forth violence with all four guys leading to a one on one battle between two wrestlers until one wrestler is demolished. The one on one battle at the end of this match was Sawa versus Suruga which is the least of the possible face offs, both those guys are fine, and the end run was cool, but you really don't want Ishikawa and Ikeda to be on the bench in the fourth quarter. The Ikeda versus Ishikawa stuff here was more of a teaser, but damn it was appropriate, Ishikawa threw a punch to Ikeda's head which sounded like a two by four hitting a pumpkin. Ikeda kicked him right between the top of the jaw and the end of the ear, it was as great and as lamentable as it always is. I always enjoy Sawa's handspeed and I liked how he tried to use that speed against the heavier hitting of Suruga and Ikeda. I wanted a nastier KO then I got, but I still just enjoyed the hell out of watching every second of this.

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Masashi Aoyagi is Lean Mean Big and Bad Lord Pointing that Gun At Me

Masashi Aoyagi/Ryuji Hijakata v. Masa Fuchi/Yoshinobu Kanemaru AJPW 8/13/14- FUN

Really cool to see my man Aoyagi show up in 2014. He is a guy like Fujiwara who always looked old, but hasn't looked like he as aged. He looked 60 when he was 30, and still looks 60. This was a pretty disposable undercard tag, but had plenty of enjoyable moments. Fuchi was really great here too , the young guys (sort of young guys, Kanemura has to be pretty old too at this point) did some juniors stuff, but the match really pick up when it became an old bastard off. Aoyagi was knotting up thighs and Fuchi was poking eyes and it was a blast. Really liked the finish as Kanemaru put on a cross armbreaker which Fuchi countered only to be met by an Aoyagi kick in the mush, knocking him back into the submission. Not anything I will remember in a week, but a perfectly nice bit of business.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE AOYAGI

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FUTEN is For The Children, We Teach The Children. Puffy is good but FUTEN is the Best-Futen 11/24/10

Ryuji Hijikata v. Kazuki Okubo

These are two of more pedestrian FUTEN guys, and we got a solid if unmemorable undercard FUTEN match. We got some nice looking grappling, some stiff, but not FUTEN stiff kicks. Hijikata is a guy I remember enjoying in BattlArts, but he was kind of juniory with some kind of goofy no selling. They slapped each other for a while and Hijikata hit a suplex and a choke.

Mitsuya Nagai v. Madoka

Madoka is a Beiber haired hairless junior who has irritated me in previous FUTEN shows, Nagai is an ex-RINGS crowbar who almost killed Iziuka a decade ago. This was Nagai cracking the fuck out of Madoka which is exactly how it should be. Madoka didn't bug me that much here, and I actively liked how he sold Nagai's kicks. Finish felt a little flat as it felt they were building to something bigger.

Daisuke Ikeda v. Manabu Suruga

Just a brutal mauling, Ikeda is a threshing machine in this match, by the end of it Suruga's face looked like domestic abuse victim. Surgura was great in this, he was completely overwhelmed and brutalized, but he wanted to go out on his sword. He was winging bombs but in a really desperate frantic way. He hits about a third of them, although he lands some thudders including a couple of square hooks right to Ikeda's jaw, and a Reggie Roby punt which has Ikeda checking his jaw. Still it just temporarily slowed down Ikeda who was Vorheesian, the final beating was uncomfortable to watch. Ikeda is on top of Manabu landing square right hands right to his forehead and nose. At one point Suruga is lying on the mat clawing at Ikeda's leg like Connie Corleone when Carlo got mad. I am not sure if it is an EPIC match, but it is an EPIC spectacle.

Takeshi Ono v. Katsumi Usuda

Ono's amazing 2010 just keeps on rolling. This is our first taste of BattlArts guys returning to FUTEN, it has been a while, but this certainly not the first time Usuda and Ono have tangled and it is great to watch them do a dance. Really awesome workrate match, which had the intensity and pace of a Bantamweight MMA fight. Both guys knew the counters to each guys counter, and they were scrambling for holds and winging shots. It is hard to pull off this kind of back and forth shootstyle without it seeming like some bullshit NOAH juniors match, but these guys did it. The matwork was awesome, feeling like Benzedrine Fujiwara. Usuda was pulling out some sick counters, including a crazy reverse figure four, and Ono wasn't as slick, but in more of a frenzy. Finish was awesome with Ono missing a kick, Usuda grabbing a wastelock, and Ono just spinning around into an Octopus which he took to the ground and pulled Usuda apart like a crab leg. Total blast, everything you would want from this match, maybe the FUTEN singles of the year.

Kengo Mashimo v. Makoto Hashi

A solid back and forth main event between two good wrestlers, but doesn't having the sickening violence or breathtaking technique of previous two matches. Mashimo focuses on landing kicks, and lands some nice ones, while Hashi works headbutts and backfists. There are some crackers, but nothing at the level of Nowitski specials Hashi has thrown in other FUTEN matches. Pretty much houseshow FUTEN, I enjoyed it fine, but even after watching it a couple of times it didn't do anything to stand out.

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COME QUIETLY, FUTEN RULES SOCIETY, BECAUSE OF VARIETY SO MAINTAIN YOUR HIGH ANXIETY- Futen 10/24/10

Manabu Suruga vs Brahman Kei

Really good midcard FUTEN match. I am all the way on board with the Brahman's at this point. They initially irritated me a bit, but the FUTENish aspects in their game are strong enough, that the goofy shit can be forgiven. Here Kei hangs all the way with Suruga in striking and grappling. There are nice submissions and reversals by both guys here, and Kei kicks hard. The finish was very cool with Kei fighting desperately to avoid being J-Drillered, which allows Suruga to use that leverage to lock on the Rings of Saturn instead.

Koichiro Kimura vs Kazuki Okubo

This was more competitive then your normal Kimura match and thus a little more compelling. I especially liked the brutal kicks to the temple Kimura landed on a prone Okuba. Still neither of these guys are particularly charismatic, and Kimura can't really sell. So watchable, but it wasn't good.

Tamon Honda vs Brahman Shu

Another good Brahman's singles match. Shu worked over Honda's leg with nasty kicks, which Honda sold well. This allowed Shu to get some nice nearfalls on submissions before getting wasted by Honda's cool offense. There was a couple of especially nifty counters, Shu lands a nasty triangle out of a powerbomb attempt, which almost puts Honda to sleep. There is also a point where Shut tries to roll into a kneebar and instead get hurled with a german. The delivering of Shu into the eternal torment of Olympic Hell was great too. I love watching Honda do his thing.

Takeshi Ono vs Ryuji Hijikata

This is another entry in Takeshi Ono's best in the world reel. Hijikata has some selling issues, he was kind of bland faced throughout, and there was points were he shrugged off what Ono was throwing at him. Still when it came to throw shots, he threw them, including a nasty big knee, and he did stand right in front of Takeshi Ono and get cracked in the mouth. Ono unloaded the arsenal here, nasty awesome looking submissions including a beautiful Calf Slicer, and an awesome Octopus which he turned to an armbar. His selling was great too, as he really got over Hijikata's offense, as there was some cool KO near falls all about Ono selling desperation. I wouldn't mind Hijikata sticking around for a while to see if he could wash some of the All Japan juniors stench off of him, it isn't off yet though.

Daisuke Ikeda/Takahiro Oba vs Kengo Mashimo/Makoto Hashi

A truly transcendent piece of wrestling violence. This match was as good anything done in this style since the 2008 BattlArts elimination match, and right up there with PARK v. Mesias and Gringos v. Terry/Cerebro/Che for the best thing done this year. The match starts with a little jiving and taunting, especially by Ikeda and Obo, although in true FUTEN fashion that includes a teeth loosening Ikeda kick to Mashimo's face. I also really liked how Oba used his taunt as a way to feint out Hashi and get a takedown. The middle section of this match was pretty damn great too, with each pairing getting a chance to stretch out a bit and show some things. Oba had some truly impressive grappling exchanges with Hashi as they were grabbing limbs and throats and twisting and cracking. We also got to see Ikeda and Mashimo kick each other in the face, thighs and ribs, Mashimo and Oba do their thing and some teases of the Ikeda v. Hashi hellstorm yet to come.

Then like most of these matches, it comes down to two guys battling it out, and sweet Christ on the Cross dying for our sins, do they battle it out. Hashi and Ikeda just rip into each other with about the most brutal exchanges I have ever seen. The final showdown is basically Lawler v. Dutch with withering headbutts instead of punches. It was truly vile. They have a very cool mini story here, unlike most back and forth strike exchanges in Puro, this wasn't a battle of equals. Ikeda is the big bad killer, he has been for a long time, still when he is cracking skulls with Hashi he is being outpunched. He is like a boxer who has finally run into someone with heavier hands. He can't go toe to toe, but never learned to do anything else. Early in this showdown he takes a sickening headbutt and stumbles to his corner, Oba slaps him hard in the face to say "Your are Daisuke By God Ikeda, this is your house, there no tagging out, go beat that motherfuckers ass." By the end of the showdown, we see Oba in the corner cringing, you can see him thinking "He is going to die in that ring, I should have let him tag out." The FUTEN camerawork was great here, we get some amazing closeups of the bruised and bloody foreheads of both guys, it was pretty spectacular. When Chris Nowitski autopsies their brains, they are going to look like spoiled bananas. The ending of this was epic, Hashi hits a big slap, and one final headbutt dropping Ikeda. They go for a ten count, and as Ikeda raises at 9, you get this great shot of an exhausted Hashi. He has this terrified look on his face, he unloaded it all and the monster didn't stay down. It didn't matter what followed, Ikeda walked through hell and mentally broke him. Professional wrestling at it's absolute best.

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