2025 Wrestling Week 2

 
Yujiro Yamamoto vs Tsuyoshi Okada, Kobe Meriken 1/10

Yujiro Yamamoto is one of the last BattlARTS mohicans and I always enjoy when he works a match and I get to see him. Takeshi Okada is a sleazy looking shooter. He looks like he would play bass in a crustcore band but he can actually scrap on the mat and do hard hitting. Him and Akira Jo would make a sick tag team. The early minutes of this are really good, credible shootstyle grappling. Okada can actually hang and pull of some cool transitions. Even when they go into the pretty standard "two guys holding leglocks and slapping each other" spot, they do it with so much force and ferocity it actually comes out as violent. After the matwork the match takes a bit more of a pro style direction with an irish whip and some of the usual back and forth elbow exchanges. A bit disappointed because I would've liked to see them go full BattlARTS style but they were still doing pretty snug hard hitting pro wrestling. The finish was a bit sudden, I would like to see these two go a little longer and really work their magic next time.

brother YASSHI vs Maori Kawashima, Kobe Meriken 1/10

Brother Yasshi wrestles a bit like a dreadlocked Tamon Honda with llaves now, which is really cool. He would twirl his skinny opponent around with some impressive amateur moves, then base really well in some lucharesu exchanges, and finally stretch him with llaves. Yes, brother YASSHI is a good wrestler. Kawashima is kind of not very good - he blows his huracanrana, and when on offense he's far from impressive. They start doing a weird thing too where they take turns giving each other head snapdowns and bumping. YASSHI gets things on track with a brutal headbutt and throwing Kawashima with a really cool deadlift German for the 3. I need more of this YASSHI.

Judas El Traidor vs Fly Star, Lucha Memes 1/1

I always enjoy watching Judas El Traidor. Fly Star is a sleazy looking indy luchador with tattoos. Opening minutes here have some fun llave exchanges with Judas hitting one particularily cool leg scissor takedown. This Fly Star guy tries, but he seems to not have quite the athleticism needed to pull off everything that he's going for. I really liked the couple minutes where Judas had enough of clean wrestling and start bitchslapping Fly Star around. Just Judas El Traidor living up to his name. Fly Star hits a pretty cool flip senton to the grimy floor of Coliseo Coacalco. I didn't like his other offense much - some weak looking fast kick combos and a lot of unnecessary dodge and move running around - he also blows the last sequence. They actually go back to the llaves for the finish and Judas wins it with a cool Gory Special into a slam. A good slice of work from Judas to usher in the new year.

Meiko Satomura vs Manami, Sendai Girls 1/5/2025

Well it's Meiko Satomura. It's always good to see her fight a game opponent on her home turf. I think she's retiring soon, which is a shame because all of her kicks and submissions still look great. I am not familiar with Manami and based on this I don't really want to see more of her. She's okay and has decent fight in her, but she slaps her leg constantly whenever she's doing knee strikes and her forearms were insanely weak looking. That and she didn't leave a huge impression on terms of style. I guess that's fine since she's clearly an underdog against Big Meiko. In the end Manami was mostly here to get walloped by Meikos kicks and try and survive her submissions. Meikos low kicks ended up pushing Manami to the limit. I'm not sure if it was a legit injury or a rare case of excellent selling, but it was one of those moments that really underlined Meikos status as a Hashimoto-like badass who can mess anyone up with a basic low kick. Love how Satomura cut off Manamis comeback by aggressively going for the takedown and locking in a submission. In the end this was pretty much the Meiko Satomura show, and tha tis a show I tend to enjoy.

Blue Panther vs Hechicero, CMLL 1/10/2025

Well I saved the best for last. With this and last years Danielson match, Blue Panther is building quite the resume of matches in his 60s. Yes, you will think, Blue Panther is old. He doesn't quite move like he used to. Yes, him taking on the tank that is Hechicero straight on is a bit silly. But fuck that, this is PRO WRESTLING and there haven't been many wrestlers as entuned to the heart and soul of pro wrestling as Blue Panther. To think - Blue Panther was born in 1960. He did not make tape much before turning 30. In 2012 we thought it was crazy that he was still having MOTYs with the likes of Negro Casas. And here he is still delivering some of the best pro wrestling on earth. My one complaint is that the matwork in the first fall should have gone longer. It was really nice, intricate stuff. Hechicero is such a unit that it looks like he just has to squeeze your arm and it would really hurt, so Blue Panther was getting small victories. Small victories like trapping Hechiceros leg, cradling him from below, or delivering his old bridging escape from the headscissor without hiccup. It was a brief first fall with some really nice grappling and it made me think that if I had Tony Khan level wrestling billionair money it would be my top priority to make Blue Panther vs Yasushi Sato or vs GENTARO happen. Anyways, the other 2 falls of the match were still pretty much flawless. Blue Panther bouncing around busting out crazy shit like he's not old enough to be Hechiceros grandpa was amazing and actually added to the match as you really felt like you were watching an old guy tough it out, reach deep and try to hit something entirely improbable to pull of the upset. There was also plenty of fighting going on, things never got to cooperative. Hechicero abusing the old man was great. Obviously Hechicero is an impeccable base and probably one of the few guys on earth I'd trust to take Panthers flying ranas and dives here. Hechicero abusing the old man was great. There was definitely a Hansen-ish feeling to the way he kept aggressively cracking his opponent, down to a thing as basic and easy to take as the flying elbow to the guardrail looking great. Even the botched suicide dive may have made the match better as that is what you'd expect to happen when someone tries to push beyond his limits. For a second you think Panther may be paralyzed or dead or concussed. Then Hechicero even bashes him against the post and hits some headbutts, only to be pulled off the apron for a great, simple comeback. I also loved the stair stuff and Hechicero kicking Kemonito. Hechicero was just the right mix of his old self, not being afraid to hit Blue Panther with some high level offense and a bumbling violent rudo who kept setting himself up to fall into Panthers trap. It's lucha libre so even a basic cradle can win a match and that makes this stuff gold. So yeah, great match and as long as someone like Blue Panther is alive pro wrestling can't be entirely dead.

 

2025 Wrestling Worth Watching

Best of the Velocity Matches #6

 Tajiri vs Billy Kidman, 9/17/2002

You give Tajiri 4 minutes to have a match, you're gonna get a really nice match. Even though this was short, it had everything. Cool armwork from Tajiri, Kidman doing a nice job selling said armwork and making one-armed comebacks, surprising nearfalls, and a neat finish. Tajiris kicks certainly hold up very well and his Arn Anderson-like focus is just great.

Albert vs Funaki, 9/17/2002

This was really fun. Albert had it rough in 2002, feuding and trading wins on Velocity with Funaki, but he gave his everything into these matches. Really exemplifies hard work. Funaki barrages Albert with fast dropkicks to start, they do some cool big man vs small man action, and Albert clobbers Funaki with great looking Vader hammers. Crowd is really into hating Albert, I guess looking fat hairy and disgusting is excellent heel work in itself. Funaki working Alberts chest hair rules and the crowd popping big for the finish is once again awesome.

Crash vs The Hurricane, 9/17/2002

This has a really amusing backstage promo. Funaki (who had just taken a beating from Albert) interviews Crash backstage telling him he will face THE HURRICANE and Crash does this really funny terrified face. The match is fun too. Hurricane is an amusing goofy babyface and Crash feeds into him in all kinds of interesting ways. Nobody ever talks about guys like Crash or Hurricane anymore and that's why it's cool to discover how they would work a match. Neither guy here is a generic highflying cruiserweight or technician so just the way they do things is cool. There are some fun reversals, Hurricane teasing the CHOKESLAM, a really well timed nearfall for a pin with the foot on the ropes etc. Just fun all around.

 Crash vs Billy Kidman, 9/24/2002

Crash rules. He's such a great stooge, he's sneaky, and he is great at pulling off odd and interesting stuff without coming across as cute. Kidman doesn't show a ton of fire but he is good enough when he needs to sell and he obviously has the athleticism to go hard.. This had some great backwork from Crash, including dropping Kidman over the guardrail with an awesome backbreaker, Crash feeding into Kidman in interesting ways, Crash countering Kidmans bulldog that normally sets up his finish, and then immediately stealing it, plus the way Crash does the finish is awesome.

John Cena vs D-Von Dudley, 9/24/2002

Rookie Cena is a lot of fun to watch. He has really good form on everything, and you don't know what he's gonna bust out. His cookie cutter arm drags and shoulder blocks control segment is cool, and he takes a BIG bump face down to the floor when D-Von cuts him off. D-Von nails him with a really hard clothesline and then takes a big bump of his own missing an elbow drop off the top. Cena at this point is oddly athletic - he hits a really sweet dropkick, counters D-Vons finisher by backflipping out in an impressive display. Great nearfall here when Cena is able to survive D-Vons nasty looking neckbreaker off the ropes. The finish is neat too as they do a callback to the cut off. Cena wins with a sunset flip over the ropes of all things and whoever does that anymore? I love pro wrestling.
 

Ice Ribbon ADVERSITY NINE 6/25/2011

 

Adversity Nine Match: Emi Sakura vs Hikaru Shida vs Chii Tomiya vs Tsukushi vs Kurumi vs Mochi Miyagi vs Mary Naito vs Maki Narumiya vs Dorami Nagano

This match had an insane stipulation. It was a gauntlet of double round robin singles matches with a 1 minute time limit, with everybody facing everybody for 1 minute each, two times. So that means what you get here is 72 consecutive singles matches in a bit over an hour. That is the kind of insane thing that I absolutely have to check out, and it was absolutely worth it because this ruled and absolutely worked in every way.

A big part of why the match works so well is the set hierarchy and entry order. The wrestlers are ordered from strongest (Sakura) to weakest (Nagano). The clue is that everybody faces each other twice. So, Nagano has to start facing the strongest wrestlers, but after surviving that, the following round the weakest wrestlers are added back to the end of the gauntlet. That means even the high ranked wrestlers would get in trouble, because after facing 8 opponents in a row not getting beaten by the weakest wrestler in the group would be challenging even for them. After going through so many opponents it becomes challenging to not get tapped by even a basic Boston Crab, and that is really compelling.

Another reason for why this match works so well is that everybody here had a character and they were all working their own separate stories. The main goal was clear – for the weaker wrestlers, survive the gauntlet taking as few Ls as possible, and then try to beat the stronger wrestlers later when they have to face you at the end of the gauntlet. For the stronger wrestlers, pick up as many Ws as possible and then try not to lose to weak ass Maki Narumiya or Dorami Nagano. Before watching this I was not familiar with the 2011 Ice Ribbon roster at all. I know Emi Sakura, I vaguely know about Shida and Tsukushi, I didn’t really know anyone else, but watching the match I got really into almost everybody here. You had someone like Shida, who is a badass who can tap out everybody and drop bombs, and then you had the likes of Maki Narumiya with nothing except a good overhand chop and a torture rack. Watching someone like Narumiya fight really hard and try to get a W despite her limitations was really cool. Everybody here brought something unique to the table, and because of the 1 minute format everyone could just get in, try to win, and get out before getting exposed. There was also plenty of stylistic variety - you had the surely badass Shida with her straight forward armbars and knee strikes, the slick technician Chii, the explosive rookie Tsukushi, the more surely power moves of Kurumi or Miyagi, the basic rookie moves of Dorami Nagano etc. I’m not sure if I would want to watch someone like Mochi Miyagi or Dorami Nagano in a normal match but in this setting they were really cool because they played part in a bigger story and freshened things up. The only wrestler who looked downright shitty was Mary Naito, even that can be kind of forgiven because she was never in the ring very long and in some case just got in to lose in 10 seconds.

Because of the 1 minute format, flash pins and submissions became important, which is always nice because it means you get more than just bomb dropping. Ice Ribbon is kind of flash pin central, and there were some really cool ones. Hikaru Shida was by far the biggest badass in the match, she was acing this thing tapping everybody out with cool out of nowhere armbars. I was also surprised by Chii Tomiya, who looked like a really slick wrestler with cool flash pins and a variety of ways to finish her opponents. Emi Sakura is of course the big boss and she played that role to perfection, and when it was time to go hard she did go hard. The first few gauntlets here were compelling due to the story being told with a few great moments and payoffs, but the last couple rounds when it was Tomiya, Shida and Sakura going through the gauntlet were some of the finest wrestling I’ve ever seen. The ‘any move can finish’ factor really made this edge of your seat stuff and there were some awesome counters and upsets, without going overboard. Watching the top ranked wrestlers try to survive the weakest opponents was fascinating. Tsukushi was really young here, and while her execution wasn’t perfect she’s a cool wildcard with her slick flash pins and high energy, also kicked Sakura flash in the face at one point. After the gauntlet is done the two wrestlers with the best score face off for another round to settle it and it’s a really cool ‘throw the kitchen sink and try to win’ scrap. Really one of the most unique matches I’ve ever seen, it was shockingly well put together, told a great story with wide cast of characters and delivered some awesome wrestling while the match time flew by. It’s the kind of insane thing that I would like to see tried again, although I think it can only really work in joshi. Emi Sakura, you are a whacky genius.

 

The Library

2025 Wrestling Week 1

 Michio Kageyama vs Cosmo Soldier, Sportiva 1/1

No better way to start wrestling in 2025 with Sportiva. This was really raw, just two tough old guys trying to smash each other which is kind of the best type of Japanese pro wrestling. Cosmo Soldier is such a force of chaos. He looks like a stereotypical masked hero, but his moves are somewhere between graceful and reckless, and often more reckless. I especially liked his 619 that cracked Kageyama square in the face. Kageyama was up there with him here, trying to smash him with vicious kicks and that old Sportiva bar stool, even tearing off Cosmos protective bandage to kick him in the spine harder.. He acted like a real scumbag, too. There is something savage about Cosmo hitting a suicide dive on that wooden bar floor. Add in some skull cracking headbutts from Cosmo and yeah, this definitely adds up to a match worth checking out.

Yasu Kubota vs Ari Najima, Sportiva 1/1

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this. Yasu Kubota is an old scumbag, but he's the champion now and he puts in effort, in his own scummy way. Ari Najima is really good as the young hotness, he's explosive and hits really hard, and it's really interesting to see how the much less physically intimidating champion would respond. The answer is that Kubota put in an almost Bret-Hart-like workman performance, giving Najima a stiff working over. He was really mauling Najima with nasty elbows and really cranking back on those spine stretches, and using his experience to his advantage. So even though Najima is younger, faster, cooler, it was believable that Kubota could put him through the wringer, and that is impressive. I also loved Kubota busting out the reverse gory special to target Najimas weak back further. Smart match that I think people will really enjoy, that really told a good story and was a good long form title match for the small confines of a humble sportsbar.

2025 Wrestling Roundup

2025 Wrestling Roundup

 I admit I have a bit of a tough time keeping up with current wrestling. There is simply a bit much of it, with the stuff that I am interested in being kind of hard to find. To better myself, I will try to watch at least 1 match from the current year, let's see how much good stuff we can find.

2025 Wrestling Worth Watching:

January

Cosmo Soldier vs Michio Kageyama, Sportiva 1/1

Yasu Kubota vs Ari Najima, Sportiva 1/1

Yujiro Yamamoto vs Tsuyoshi Okada, Kobe Meriken 1/10

Judas El Traidor vs Fly Star, Lucha Memes 1/1

Meiko Satomura vs Manami, Sendai Girls 1/5

Blue Panther vs Hechicero, CMLL 1/10

Mutoha 12/1/2024

Get it from @itako18jp on X!

 

 Mighty Yuki & Hoshitango & Shigeo Kato vs Super Crafter U & Nobu Kaseda & Crusher Takahashi

A fast paced 6 man tags with a lot of old guys and two fiery but unique youngsters in Nobu Kaseda and Mighty Yuki. It reminded me of those old guy tags from AJPW or NOAH, although this was a bit more serious maybe. Everybody did the stuff that makes them unique - so you had Shigeo Kato doing his signature sneaky ratboy technical heel tactics, and Crusher Takahashi hitting beautiful punches and Hoshitango being a cranky old sumo. Mighty Yuki is actually the son of Masahiko Takasugi, and he was paying tribute to the recently deceased Mighty Inoue, which feels strangely fitting. I would've liked to see Super Crafter U get to do a little more because he is an awesome beast. A fun match, while it wasn't overly technical it suits the vibe of MUTOHA.

 

Leo Cristiani vs Deimos Hatebreed vs El Hijo de Alebrije

Well, this match doesn't suit the vibe of Mutoha. All these guys were also on the Secret Base show the same day. Cristiani and Hatebreed are two wrestlers from Europe. I think it would be cool to see European technical style on a Mutoha show, but these two are just two random high flyers who wrestle in the same way as everybody now, and there was nothing here that stood out to me. They hit some big flying moves, one after another, some looking sloppy and some impressive, and in the end I remembered nothing about this match. Now, will an Italian or Portuguese promotion book GENTARO vs Kenichiro Arai?

Shoji Ohno vs Dekai Ichimotsu

With this match the show really begins. This was really unique, and amazing. They are both so cool. Even the basic early wrestling in this was great as both guys were trying to snap limbs and joints in unusual ways. Then Ichimotsu began cluster bombing Ohnos legs. I gotta give it to Dekai Ichimotsu, he is the king when it comes to painfully dropkicking a guy in the knee joint from odd angles. By the end Ohno was like a soldier who has lost his legs to a landmine but somehow kept fighting. It was a truely gritty and dirty fight, while retaining the technical edge that is the signature of Mutoha. Both guys hit skull cracking headbutts and Ichimotsu pulled off cool reversals and more leg attacks. Once again Ohno rushed his opponent with an amazing flurry of palm strikes. Ohno looks really tough fighting through the leg damage and trying to pull off a win. I like that Ohno seems like a tough brawler guy, but occasionall he can pull of something surprisingly technical. A great match, no doubt about it.

 

Hiroshi Yamamoto vs Taro Yamada

A very promising match up. Hiroshi Yamamoto is the man who can do it all on the Japanese indy scene, he wrestles everywhere and he can pull off seemingly every style of match. Looking up info about him, it seems that he was trained by Virus, so he should be a good opponent for Yamada. And Taro Yamadas is one of the best kept secrets in Japanese indy wrestling. But Yamamoto has stood tall in big leagues like All Japan, so in away Yamada is punching way upwards here. And this match felt a bit like an All Japan match, too. It wasn't as technical as the more intense  Mutoha matches, but there was a lots of hold for hold stuff that felt very battle-for-control in the style of old Jumbo Tsuruta matches, and they both mixed in some explosive surprise moves that were bigger than you'd expect. In the end it was a very worthy match, although I don't like everything that Yamamoto does, such as his goofy X-chop attack. I will give it to him that he is a very graceful wrestler, though. And Yamada proved that he can step on the mat with the best in his country and go along every step of the way.

Akira Jo vs Hideya Iso

One of Akira Jos best performances I've seen so far, because he was clinical taking Iso apart with nasty headlocks and neck cranks, while Iso did an awesome job gutting it out and trying to pull of the biggest upset of his life. Iso for a guy who looks pretty ancient and crusty pulls of some great surprises here. Jo trying to crank Isos neck with basic headlocks actually made for a compelling story, there's something distinctly awesome about him going 'fuck you, I'm gonna beat you with a side headlock'. There was one absolutely awesome moment that involved Iso escaping a sleeper attempt that was honestly probably the best thing I've seen in a match all year. Iso looks outmatched but he just kept fighting like a god damn hero and I was thoroughly impressed. I really like this kind of single minded approach to a match, really making you appreciate the most basic elements of pro wrestling in a new light. It's the kind of match that you will only ever see in Mutoha these days and that is why I appreciate this company so much.

Yasushi Sato vs Kenichiro Arai

 
Another chess match that had touches of the unique grappling that both guys do so well, as well as a hearty dose of Memphis. Everything mattered, even something as simple as shaking your opponents hand, or getting in the ring, and there was tons of great struggle. Right at the first hold exchange, Sato went for the Russian Leg Sweep looking to grapevine his opponent, with Arai desperately scrambling out. The rest of the match was largely about Arai trying to weaken Sato while Sato would go for throws and flash pins that Arai would desperately avoid. Both guys acted wary of the danger of any pinfall. I am endlessly fascinated by Yasushi Sato. As far as I know, his wrestling career begin 16 years ago and now he is 58 years old, which is crazy. He is starting to show his age physically but his wrestling mind is still one of the greatest I've ever seen. He was going at it with Arai like no tomorrow, trying to shock the champion with surprise moves, even using underhand tactics of his own, and always trying to put Arai on his shoulders for the 3. It was the kind of stuff that would make the likes of Dick Murdoch proud. The one weak point of the match was the slap exchange but that was a minor criticism. The ending was baffling and thrilling but it made sense, sometimes it can really be all over like that and you have to love it if you appreciate pro wrestling as a crafty sport. As it stands this had a lot of really good grappling and technical work, both guys looked like sly foxes, and everything they did felt spontaneous and fresh. There aren't many wrestlers who can wrestle like this left in the world, and for that I appreciate these two!

2024 MOTY List

The Library

Early Mutoha

Get these from @itako18jp on Twitter! 

 

Hiroshi Watanabe vs Kazuhiro Tamura, Mutoha 6/20/2010

Upon watching this the first time I thought this might be one of the 10 greatest wresting matches I’ve ever seen. Maybe even top 5. I may be overrating it slightly, but it’s a really damn great match.

Obviously, there was a big hype around last years GENTARO/Arai match. I think this bout here gives that match a run for it’s money. Don’t get me wrong, GENTARO/Arai is a completely unique beast. In that match, they did things in a completely different way and succeeded. This bout between Watanabe and Tamura here is much more conventional and energetic with lots of high-impact offense throughout, but aiming for similar grand scale. It probably has much more mainstream appeal than the more esoteric Arai/GENTARO. As such, I would like as many wrestling fans as possible to check this out.

The main reason why the match works so well is the contrast of Kazuhiro Tamura to Hiroshi Watanabe. Kazuhiro Tamura is shooter-type wrestler, with punishing kicks and a style of matwork that means he will go for the kill right from the get go. Hiroshi Watanabe with his shaven head, black trunks and boots and deceptive physique is as close to the picture of a classic no frills technician as you can get. Stylistically the match they go for is reminiscent of an 80s New Japan vs UWF wrestler vs shooter match. And because of the 2/3 falls match format, as well as the unrelenting nature of both wrestlers, this becomes an epic struggle.

The second reason why the match works is that they do not hold back. Often in a long match, especially a 2/3 falls match that is going to be strategic, wrestlers will noticably hold back and resort to obvious time killing. That is not the case here, as right away Tamura is kicking away at Watanabe and going for dangerous submissions like straight armbars on the ground that can believably decide a fall even after just 5 minutes. In contrast Watanabe is very much an old school type catch wrestler here, not afraid to snatch a kimura lock, and coming up with lots of neat counters. Watanabe sticking to his guns and focussing on trying to catch this modern day shooter with this 50s/60s style holds and flying kneedrops was really great. With Tamuras explosiveness it makes a really great aggressor vs counter-wrestler matchup. And because of the 2/3 falls rule, a finish can plausibly occur at any time, which makes this edge of your seat stuff throughout.

There are some moments where they kind of take breathers – Tamura tries locking Watanabe out of the arena for a countout victory, but Watanabe re-enters through the other side in a fun graceful moment that kind of caps off the first ark of the match. There are great moments strewn throughout the match. Tamuras punishing kicks and relentless submission attempts keep the intensity high. There is a moment where he keeps kicking away at Watanabes leg that looked absolutely painful, and another kick to Watanabes sternum outside the ring that looked and sounded so bad I’m sure it would go viral if it happened in a 2024 AEW ring. Later Watanabe fires back with no hands headbutts and an absolutely nasty enzuigiri. He also hit pretty much the greatest flying neckbreaker drop ever at one point. The biggest moment of the match though is the kick that Watanabe gets blasted with in the jaw towards the end. It looked to have knocked his soul out of him, and then Tamura blasted him with another and fell him in one of the most epic near KO’s that Ive ever seen in a wrestling match. The fact this went down in a small martial arts gym in front of roughly 50 people is nothing short of mindblowing.

Tamuras explosiveness is great. When Watanabe finally gets a fall over him, Tamuras reaction is to just run it him and go for another big dropkick. His energy looked to be boundless, and it was meeting Watanabes boundless tenacity. They go incredible hard in the last 10 minutes, without coming across as trying too hard, mixing up some amazing submission and pin attempts and counters aswell as callbacks to previous falls. It was a very good crescendo for match with this kind of grand scope. While most of the match is energetic, they don’t throw out too much too early, so even smaller moves like Tamuras 2^nd rope headbutt or Watanabes Cobra Twist felt epic when they happened so close to the time limit.

After the match, Watanabe is in the ring, and he can hold a speech without using a microphone because the arena is so small. I hope Watanabe got some credit for this match. The bout was truly magnificient and fascinating. It felt like an epic struggle, and it was interesting throughout. At no point did it feel self indulgent or forced. By the end I was kind of rooting for both guys. It almost makes me wish there were more matches that go 60 minutes, as so many interesting facets of their game developed throughout the fight, but then again most wrestler are nowhere near as good as these two.

An outstanding achievement.

 

Hiroshi Watanabe & Kousei Maeda vs. Hideya Iso & Shigeo Kato (Mumejuku 12/20/2009)

Another genuine gem. This went 60 minutes and was more MUGA than MUGA. Watching this, I didn’t know it would be a draw, and I couldn’t tell that it was going to be a draw. They were using a lot of basic holds, but doing them in a way that they could plausibly set up a finish. I kept thinking “yeah, this is gonna lead to the finish… no wait”. That, to me, is how a draw should feel. Watanabe once again looked pretty great throughout this. Really dug the section where Kato twisted up his legs while he kept coming up with counters. I also really liked how Kato at one point refused to enter the ring, as if he was disappointed with Hideya Isos performance, so Iso went back to twist up his opponents with some cool amateur moves. Another great moment was an almost completely spent looking Iso locking in a Romero Special out of nowhere to a nice ovation from the crowd. I haven’t seen this Maeda before, but he looked solid, and he produced another highlight when he took offense to Kato slapping him and kicked the shit out of Kato. Kato after eating headbutts on the ground doing a Flair flop was another neat moment. The match was full of cool moments like throughout that made little things feel more meaningful and kept me engaged in the match. Figure 4 work in the last 10 or so minutes was epic and felt like a Destroyer match. Parts of this were slightly long and I will admit that this probably could’ve been clipped down to a better 45 or 30 minute match, but still. The fact they did this for an audience of like 40 people and it came out so well is insane.