Tanomusaku Toba Documentation Project #25

 Tanomusaku Toba & Tyson Maeguchi & Keisuke Ishii vs Shuichiro Katsumura & Takeshi Okada & Yumehito Imanari, Ganbare Pro 2/5/2022 - FUN

Pretty fun 6 man tag with TOBA~ spicing things up. Man I probably would never watch this if Tanomusaku Toba was not in it. Thankfully he is here, having some brief awesome exchanges with everyone and punching people in the face. He’s old, slow, but he’s seen in it all and can anticipate his opponents in such a way that they are sure to get punched in the face. His first exchange with Okada really had that feel. Toba even ends up taking Imanaris hot tag eating some hard chops and lariats. Everybody else here is a bit half baked and indyriffic, with not a ton of selling as everyone gets their shit in, but they are able to create some fun moments. Even Maeguchi, a shooter who likes to throw lots of kicks and open handed strikes, annoyed me somewhat with his irritating high pitched yelling. At the end he and Katsumura were able to have a decent PANCRASE-ish exchange into a cool finish with Katsumura hanging on to a ninja choke. Still, fuck that: TOBA~!

Tanomusaku Toba vs KAZMA, Ganbare Pro 8/11/2017 - GREAT

I haven’t heard much about KAZMA. He’s seemingly been around forever. So long that he was in BML. So long that he was in WWE one time. And apparently even did at least one match in TNA? Then he kind of went into an infinite loop of having multiman matches in promotions like GLEAT and Dragon Gate and WRESTLE-1 and the corpse of Pro Wrestling NOAH where there’s no chance I’ll ever watch him. I definitely don’t remember anyone ever coming out as a KAZMA Sakamoto fan. But fuck all that, KAZMA is facing Tanomusaku Toba now, and when you face TOBA it’s ride or die. Tanomusaku Toba is pretty much Everyone Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Face: The Wrestler and that really makes all his matches into something special. Right at the bell Toba is punching KAZMA in the face really hard. And, well, maybe KAZMA really is an underrated great of the indies and has been illuminating all those GLEAT and Wrestle-1 tags with a kind of greatness that people have unfairly failed to notice. Or getting punched in the face by Tanomusaku Toba has awoken something in KAZMA. Either way, Toba beats the living dog shit out of KAZMA here, with the super close camera work being pretty great as we get all these close handheld shots of KAZMAs soul leaving and re-entering his body. It turns into a brawl fast as they lay into each other on the floor. KAZMA actually puts violence into all his stuff – even his open-handed-probably-learned-from-Lord-Tensai-WWEish punches look sick, and there is some serious grit as Toba stonewalls an attempt at lazy brawling and punches KAZMA in the face some more, and we get close up handheld shots of KAZMA laying on the floor after getting his bell rung, and Tobas aging-kind-of-pudgy body being flung into the chairs. Back in the ring KAZMA contiues to match the tone putting some nice violence into all his stuff, really trying to crack Tobas frail old body. and Toba only knows one thing. Old Man Toba doesn’t really do any of the fancier kick and punch variations anymore that he would do in his younger days, all he knows is forward with straight rights driving into KAZMAS face and it’s awesome. That kind of simplicity is well appreciated and totally works for me. This thing kind of ruled. Does KAZMA rule? No clue, but he looked good in a gritty 10 minute match getting punched in the face a lot and giving back some violence. That’s a well worthy achievement in any wrestlers career.

Tanomusaku Toba Documentation Project

2025 Wrestling Week 9

 
Ari Najima vs Yuta Oya, Sportiva 2/24

Another very good little performance from the Sportiva super rookies. I love the absence of bullshit and rope running in Oyas matches. This was really straight forward, two guys hitting the mat, with Najima eventually working over Oyas arm with nasty cranks and kicks. Another great harai goshi spot from Oya here, and I loved the intense fighting for the sharpshooter with Najima selling his back. Really simple but enjoyable match.

Leon vs Hanako Nakamori, PURE-J 2/16/2025

These two had some of my favourite matches of the last decade. This was a 2 count pinfall match with the extra rule that there was a plastic circle in the middle of the ring and if you touch it you lose. That is a lot of bullshit ruleset. These two have a ton of fun ways to work around "the middle is lava" and clearly still have awesome chemistry. Lots of fun to be had here and some wild body control and ring positioning stuff (I imagine working a match where you can't touch the middle of the ring is pretty hard with most wrestlers being trained to work towards the middle). Still I want to see these two get up and face each other in a straight match again.

Ai Houzan vs Senka Akatsuki, Marvelous 1/4

Really enjoyed their shoot pinfall match, so I decided to check this out. Starts a little mundane but soon turns into hard as fuck match with Houzan beathing the hell out of the rookie. Lots of evil slaps and stomps from her. Sick moment where Akatsuki really cracks Houzan with a headbutt and Chigusa on commentary cracks up. Last couple minutes were pretty intense with Akatsuki trying to hit a bodyslam for the finish. For a wrestler whose signature moves are 'body slam' and 'intensely worked pinfall' she's really cool.

Ryo Mizunami & Sonoko Kato vs Mio Momono & Yurika Oka, OZ Academy 2/9

A lot of this was very good, but a lot of this was also not my cup of tea. One of the most annoying things about modern wrestling is the insistence of getting all your contrived sequences in, especially when you are a  babyface tag team. Lots of hitting 3 or 4 moves after another really fast that just comes across like Momono & Oka were just running through their offense with none of it meaning much. I kind of hate the Motor City Machineguns for infecting wrestling with this shit. That said a lot of what Oka & Momono did was really solid and some of the sequences were genuinely impressive, so maybe I am just a miserable negative bastard. I was impressed with Kato and Mizunami. No offense to Momono and Oka, but once Kato stepped into the ring the match got about ten times more real. Her kicks are still vicious and she never looked out of place in this fast paced go-go match, which goes pretty hard considering she's 48. I also dig Mizunami when she's not goofing around. Her leg drops and Honda-ish shoulder chokes are great. Also, watching Momono doing the second half of the match with her injured arm in a bandage was pretty insane. I'd say this was very good for a modern style match.

2025 Wrestling Roundup

 

2025 Wrestling Roundup

Mutoha Premium 2/16/2025

As always, buy it from the source on X or  the base!

 

Hideya Iso vs Crusher Takahashi

A cool opening match between two fighters who look older than dirt that still have more fire in them than you expect. As is the style of Mutoha they spend a lot of time grappling on the ground, but they do a cool job keeping it unpredictable and going at a fairly quick pace. A lot of this felt like an old Mid South TV match from the early 80s or 70s. Crusher still throws some of the greatest punches you will see in pro wrestling. I also loved when he did the Mutoh leg snap thing because he's so massive. You don't expect it given his size and age and when he does it it looks like he really snapped Isos leg and that's what makes it awesome. Iso was also pretty fired up - he would hit these really cool jumping enzuigiris. I don't recall many instances in the past where I saw Hideya Iso, who is as stoic and grappling-oriented as they come leaving his feet, but his enzugiris looked great. I also went crazy when he tried to hit the German suplex on Crusher. And the finish was really cool too. A nice way to open this card.

Unicorn Rules:
Kenichiro Arai & CHANGO & PSYCHO vs. GENTARO & Akira Jo & Taro Yamada

As any die hard Mutoha fan knows, a Unicorn rules match is a 2/3 falls where the first fall is a 1 vs 1 match, the 2nd a 2 vs 2 match with the remaining participiants and the 3rd a 6 man tag with everyone involved. This always creates an interesting dynamic. The story of this match were CHANGO and PSYCHO, who I believe appeared in MUTOHA for the first time. They are technically skilled, but they are also scumbags and not afraid to steal a win using foul tactics. That was heavily felt when they put the Mutoha regulars under pressure with their underhand moves. Really this was some highly intelligent pro wrestling where you could never be sure what would happen next, and everyones tactics were really cool, with PSYCHO and CHANGO also providing plenty of slick technical moves. It was awesome to watch Yamada and Jo turn the tables on them. Obviously, the best part of this was the 3rd fall, however. They all just get down and wrestle and it reminded me of the best of the CMLL Ciberneticos. Everyone on the Mutoha team is among the best grapplers in the world and CHANGO and PSYCHO showed that they can handle themselves with them, I especially enjoyed PSYCHOs twistiness and penchant for odd angle moves, he is really interesting to watch. Man alive GENTARO is just an absolute grappling master at this point in time. He and Arai probably stood out in the biggest way, GENTARO for his classiness, and Arai for his talent at turning the most miniscule actions into something memorable. Arai really wrestles to prove a point, what he does is just a giant flex of his intelligence and skill. There was this takedown he did where he stepped on Akira Jos foot and painfully drove his knee into Akiras leg that was amazing and I will probably remember that move more than anything else this year. There was also this great segment he worked against Yamada built around snapping Yamada down in really forceful ways. At the end we get another grandstand exchange between Arai and GENTARO so yes this is really worthwhile. Yamada and Akira Jo are kind of supporting players but everyone who is familiar with them knows how good they are and they showed their classy skill level in contrast to the scumminess of CHANGO and PSYCHO, Jo with his great suplexes and submission skill and Yamada with his penchant for quirky technical wrestling. In the end this ended up being extremely enjoyable, highly skillful wrestling with a multilayered story and everyone looking great. I cannot say enough to praise the craftsmanship of all these guys. I came out of this wanting to see singles match between everyone involved, and that's why I hope Mutoha will continue, or that at least another promotion will see the potential in these matchups here. A great match that stands out in a big way in the 2025 wrestling landscape.

Yasushi Sato vs Shoji Ohno

The last gong of Mutoha for now, and this is a memorable match. This was really freaking amazing as well. You had the usual enjoyable technical pro wrestling that is the signature of Mutoha, but this also told a great story. Yasushi Sato is the defiant champion, unwilling to be humbled by the young spry 40 year old challenger Shoji Ohno. We know Sato is a master wrestler, who is always tireless and rarely humbled, so seeing Ono getting in his head and forcing him to show a meaner streak was something else. Ohno is so cool in Mutoha and this match is a fantastic conclusion to his Mutoha trilogy with his 2 amazing singles matches last year. He has technical skill, but he is also really straight forward and goes for the kill when he can, and his palm strike rush is the coolest thing in wrestling. The second half here was really great with Ono being relentless, going after Satos neck with sick looking stretches and a desperate Sato trying to comeback and increasing the violence with headbutts and Ono just drilling him. Outstanding big match, what a way to end Mutoha for now. Hopefully to come back some time, but in the meantime we should cherish the amazing wrestling they gave us, a totally unique and charming style of wrestling in the modern era!

 The Library

2025 Wrestling Week 8

 Senka Akatsuki vs Ai Houzan, Marvelous 1/12

This was really unique and cool. Basically picture a basic joshi match, but make it insanely uncooperative. This was full of struggle and had some of the most intense pinfall attempts I've ever seen. Apparently this had the 'shoot pin' rule which means the wrestlers would (mostly) cooperate on standing stuff but once somebody was with their back to the mat the match would turn into a shoot while a pin was attempted. Leave it to Chigusa Nagayo to run that kind of insanity in 2025. Watching the rookie, Akatsuki put the more seasoned Ai Houzan in trouble for real was quite something to watch. Not a great match but really interesting and unique to see, maybe we should just turn pro wrestling into a shoot again.

Jaguar Yokota & Honori Hana vs Yumiko Hotta & Misa Kagura, SAREEE-ism 1/23

This is one of those matches that you have to love pro wrestling for. Yokota is 63, Hotta 58. They both can't move very well anymore, but they are still insanely charismatic, tough and know exactly what to do, so that made them really fascinating to watch here. Of course Yokota has to take most of the bumps in this match, she also busts out a dive to the outside and her insanely cool flipping axe kick. Wish their little exchange had gone longer because it was fascinating to watch. For some reason this match had some insane headbutts, Hana hits one on Hotta that left a dent in Hottas skull, and later Yokota tries to crack Kaguras head. The two young wrestlers didn't leave a huge impression, for some reason they just did a ton of shoulder blocks, but they kept it moving while you waited for Hotta or Yokota to tag in again. Fascinating match.

Takahiro Tababa vs GAJO, Big Bear Produce 2/22

Awesome brutal massacre, just two big monsters charging foreward and trying to tear each other apart. This felt like a fight to the death, 5 minutes in both guys are bleeding from elbows and headbutts. GAJO getting taken down, bloodied, rolling out, going back in trying to break Tababas jaw with a shooting headbutt was one of those 'pro wrestling exemplified' moments. Couldn't be happier that GAJO has come back to wrestling. I can't write many words here other than they brutalized each other and it felt like a fight to the death. Just the right mix of shootstyle and barfight. Felt like one of the greatest under 10 minutes ever on first watch.

Hechicero vs Valiente, CMLL 1/24

Really enjoyed this when it was just two masters putting holds on each other. Those first 90 seconds were some fine fine pro wrestling. Admittedly I thought they ended up doing a little too much, especially with the constant chopping, but it's also undeniable that they kept the cool stuff coming. I also liked how they made this match feel a lot bigger and more personal by going for their masks. I'm not sure why an under 10 minute match needs to have an apron bump but the apron bump here was pretty great, so was Valientes big dive. I also loved Hechiceros stomp in the ropes, he is really good at those little things. I thought this could have been better if they had kept it a bit more focussed and done slightly less, but you can't fault them for flexing their skills. Strong little match.

 

2025 Wrestling Roundup

Some Matches from GAEA STORM SIGNAL 7/14/2003

 

Ran Yu Yu vs Toshiyo Yamada, GAEA 7/14/2003

Really uniquely great under 10 minute match. The problem with joshi is that often the execution of moves is too smooth and things start to feel like an exhibition of moves. This match was so so far away from smoothness and clean execution. Almost everything here was a gritty struggle, a car wreck of reckless strikes and misses, moves are struggled over and awkwardly taken when they hit, and this was never predictable. Ran Yu Yu is one of the most underrated wrestlers in joshi history, all her strikes are such bangers, the absolute monster elbows that she would hit Yamada in this and her awesome out of nowhere leg sweep and jumping enzuigiri, all great, I also loved the weird half-dive through the ropes. Yamada also still fits like a glove in this type match, with this and the Sugar Sato match I’m wondering if she was on an unheralded monster run in the early 2000s. Lot of this felt like a Stan Hansen match which is a very good thing. Check it out if you want to see an ugly fast paced fight.

Carlos Amano vs Lioness Asuka, GAEA 7/14/2003

Hard to watch this and not think Carlos Amano is the coolest wrestler ever. Barefooted, hard headed, and bringing this crazy powerful monkey energy that is really unique. I haven’t been a huge fan of Lioness Asuka in her later years, but I give her full credit as she just went out and had a great match with Carlos here. Asuka provides a serious obstacle for Carlos to overcome, she’s bigger, she’s stiff, she can grapple, and she’s also a megastar. It was really fun watching Carlos try to crack her and get the arm for the tap. Carlos has a million slick ways to get into an armbar and it’s just spectacular show. I also thought the more light hearted moments were really fun and added to the match. Even the obligatory crowd brawl had some good struggle. I was a bit worried when Asuka brought out her goofy early 2000s tribal design signature table but it didn’t hurt the match and it lead to some really painful looking spots. Last couple minutes with Asuka throwing bombs and Amano trying to tap her out with crazy armbar reversals were pretty damn great. This ruled pretty much.

Meiko Satomura & Ayako Hamada vs Chigusa Nagayo & Aja Kong, GAEA 7/14/2003

Also a really great match, probably even better then you expect it to be. This had the underdog story you expect of Hamada and Satomura stepping up to Aja and Chigusa, but surprisingly, there was a big focus on flash submissions and unpredictable strikes here, with an ‘anything can happen’ layout that made this really exciting cutting edge pro wrestling as Meiko and Ayako threw the kitchen sink at their opponents. I am so used to seeing Meiko as an established veteran badass beating down lower ranked opponents that her performance as the fired up athletic youngsters trying to chop down the heavyweights was exhilarating. Ayako also looks really sharp here, all her offense has such snap, and her match up against Aja is known quality from their ARSION days. Aja isn’t in the match a ton, but she looks great as usual being both an untouchable monster and very vulnerable with her bandaged shoulder. Surprisingly Chigusa was pretty much the best wrestler in this match, she was 100% on here and looked like the queen. Loved all the submissions and her palm strikes were epic. Tons of great moments mostly thanks to Chiggy and Meiko, and the finish was really unique and awesome. Probably the best match on a show packed with great matches.

2025 Wrestling Week 7

 Jet Martial vs Lou Nixon, RISE 1/4

The first indy match that caught my attention this year, because this is a no ropes shootstyle/deathmatch hybrid thing happening in an Irish social club. There's plenty of headbutts, hardway blood, face kicks, guys getting awkwardly suplexed on their shoulders etc. Nixon is a tall-ish guy with tattoos who looks like the Necro Butcher in martial arts gear who can throw some kicks. Martial was a pretty cool fiery little guy, he looked great when he was wasting Nixon with headbutt rushes and kicks. A few things were slightly off but overall these guys are on the right track with this attitude.

Hijo del Fishman vs Mascara Sagrada Jr, 1/12/2025

I'm not very familiar with the work of these two, which is a wrong that I should right soon because apparently they've been engaged in a year long bloodfeud. This was a chaotic lucha brawl with everything you can ask for, hot crowd, blood, mask ripping, both guys trying to smash each other with everything they could grab. Fishman looked like a killer and Sagrada Jr took some absolutely crazy out of nowhere bumps into those seats. My complaint is that this went too long and they meander here and there. Other than that I loved the spontanity on display here. Seems like a good starting point for their feud.

2025 Pro Wrestling Roundup

RIP Gran Hamada

Gran Hamada & Rey Misterio Jr & Latin Lover vs Psicosis & Pentagon & Vegas, AAA 1/26/1996

The obvious main match up here is Rey vs. Psicosis. Instead, Gran Hamada walks over and spits in Piscosis face. They get in the ring, they slap each other, and proceed to deliver some awesomely intense, scrappy wrestling. Totally unexpected and great. The rest of the match settles into more typical trios action, but it still rules. Pentagon in 1996 is just as impressive as a sleazy rudo who stooges really well. With guys like Psicosis, Pentagon and Vegas on the rudo side it’s not hard for anyone to look good, so even someone like Latin Lover gets to have his moments in between comical amounts of gyrating. Of course Rey Jr. was setting the world on fire in 1996 and he’s pretty spectacular here. Still, the main selling point in this match is that opening exchange between Hamada and Psicosis.

Gran Hamada & Silver King & El Texano vs Negro Casas & Rambo & Dr. Wagner Jr. (UWA 2/23/1992)

Absolute crack cocaine firehouse of a trios match. The kind where it starts blazing hot and they just keep going and going and never slow down. That stadium must have been melting that night. They basically start throwing down right away with Rambo jumping in the ring beating on people, and it’s absolutely on. There’s something visceral about lucha brawling, and this feels like an epic fight from the get go, even with the physical comedy spots here and there. Hamada ends up bleeding, and he matches up with Negro Casas a lot and these two guys throwing fists at each other is just beautiful. Man alive is everybody here a great athlete, everyone here has so much velocity and snap in their stuff, makes all other wrestling look like a joke really. King and Texano are great, they are the technicos here but they have such a pissed off vibe to them that matches the general intensity of the match. Casas always looks like the greatest wrestler in any match he’s in, bumping so hard and fast, dominating almost every sequence he’s involved in, and it’s really fun to watch Rambo try to steal the show from this giant. The grand stand exchange between Hamada and Casas in the end was brief but felt epic, and then you have Rambo trying to top it by going out of his way to get snap armdragged on the floor. Crazy crazy match, one of those ‘touched by the wrestling’ gods performances that would be impossible to recreate.

 Gran Hamada & Ayako Hamada & Tiger Mask IV vs Gran Apache & Fabi Apache & Pentagon Black, Michinoku Pro 3/25/2001

This was shortly after the infamous Korakuen Hall match where Pentagon attacked Ayako and Gran Hamada bloodied him and ripped his mask in a trios match. Right at the bell Hamada goes after Pentagon again, punching him in the face and making him take an insane posting, so the Gran Hamada vs Pentagon Black feud is something hot in 2001. Watching this, the main thing I thought is that you nowhere see lucharesu at this level anymore. Sure, you had 6 absolute masters, but this felt on another level. Every exchange here was breathless, original, tight, so fast. The most outstanding thing here is the rudo work from the trios of the Apaches and Pentagon Black. So many great cutoffs, and they really put in the work stooging and basing. Gran Apache is an absolute truck in this, always there to punch people in the face. It builds really well to the eventual comeuppance. G.H., Ayako and Tiger Mask IV all get to look great. Quite a different look for Tiger Mask IV when he matches up with a bunch of luchadores too but he is very good in the technico role without much martial arts. And Pentagon Black is an excellent sleazy foil, really making Hamadas big frankensteiner look amazing. After the match Pentagon spits at Ayako and Papa is right at him again. Pro Wrestling can be great.

Gran Hamada vs Pentagon Black, Michinoku Pro 8/19/2001

This is the match the feud was building, and it pretty much delivers what you want. Pentagon busts some chairs in the old mans face, bloodying him, and Hamada comes back ripping his mask and with fired up headbutts and tornado DDTs. Pentagon Black is no Perro Aguayo but he looked pretty circling around a bloody Hamada and kicking him in the face. Since this is Japan they overdo the kickouts a bit with Hamada getting out of 2 spinning tombstones, but other than that this was pretty great. I also love how Hamada uses that cross armbar as a kill move.

 

Gran Hamada vs Jushin Liger, Michinoku Pro 4/9/2000

This is from the 2000 Super J-Cup. Since this is an opening rounds match and Liger always goes to the finals it easily could have been forgettable, but we get something fairly memorable here.  Hamada is aggressive, working Liger over on the ground with his cool little half-knee drops and attacking his arm. Hamada wins a fair number of matches with a straight armbar so him attacking the arm is a credible strategy. Liger mauling Hamada with open hands and doing some great arm selling reminded me how great he can be. They delve into bomb dropping, and both these guys can drop bombs with the best of them, even with Hamada being 50 years old here. Liger doesn't hold back at all and just goes for the kill. Some great hope spots for Hamada, and a great going out on his sword-style finish. Miss this kind of junior wrestling that has no jokes and no superkicks.