Koki Kitahara Documentation #1

 

Koki Kitahara vs. Shinjuku Shark, SPWF 3/11/99 - GREAT

This was a mixed rules match from SPWF which is the exact stuff that inspired the creation of this blog. These matches can be predictable but that wasn't the case here. The first round was boxing gloves and built around Kitahara trying to rush his smaller opponent and being surprised when the afro wearing Shinjuku Shark refused to go down. Shark had good technique and these guys absolutely were not holding back with the punches. Then, in a classic Kitahara moment, he decided to just launch Shark over the top rope and blast him in the face with a chair. The 2nd round is no gloves and it quickly turns into a fight for survival for the poor Shark. The CAPTURE boss def. looked like the ultimate sleazy payama wearing version of Shinya Hashimoto here.

Koki Kitahara & Daiyu Kawauchi vs. Shoichi Ichimiya & Kazunobu Nakamura (Capture 10/5/2002) - EPIC

I assume this is like the quintessential Capture match. Lots of wild swinging punches and kicks that connect with full force. Kawauchi, who I saw in his debut match at a 1998 KAGEKI show against Masakazu Fukuda would go on to work Osaka Pro as Hideyoshi and is now grizzled veteran GENKAI in Kyushi Pro, so he has quite the history of japanese indy wrestling. Kawauchi is good as the energetic youngster here with explosive takedowns and pummeling violently on the ground. Ichimiya who is some comedy character in DDT looks credible here as a heavyweight shooter. His super violent, quick assault on Kawauchi in the 2nd fall using the guardrail may have been the highlight of the match. His extremely vocal selling also added some more grit. Kitahara is as you expect. His punches and kicks were Ikeda level but I was also surprised how brutal his chokes (or choke setups) felt. He also got his "Kitahara is a bastard" moment when he kicked Ichimiya in his bandaged arm. The matwork here is mostly working punches from mount and has a really smothering feel to it, though there is the occasional submission attempt and the finish is a neat submission counter. The match is short enough so it totally works.

Koki Kitahara vs. Genichiro Tenryu (WAR 11/29/1994) - EPIC

This was what the matchup promises. Two guys infamous for doing grossly violent things to their opponents doing grossly violent things to each other. It stards with both guys working a standard side headlock sequence and then Kitahara going "Hm, that isn't going to work" so he starts just clobbering Tenryu with thudding kicks left and right. Tenryu fires back with throat chops and kicking Kitaharas head like a football constantly. I love the savate kicks Kitahara will mix in, and Tenryu is really great at selling an assbeating from a kicker. He is much higher than Kitahara in the hierarchy, but he will sell that he get caught in a painful spot. So it's basically a constant stream of Tenryu trying to brush off Kitaharas kicks until "Damn, he kicked me in the elbow! Ow, now my chin, too!". Great spot where Tenryu tries for the Flair turnbuckle spot but Kitahara just kicks him in the face and he slowly sinks over. By the end Kitaharas legs were giving out because he just spent 10 minutes kicking Tenryu as hard as humanly possible. This is exactly what you want.