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.