Takeshi
Ono vs. Wataru Sakata (RINGS 12/24/1994) - FUN
This is Takeshi Onos earliest match on tape and supposedly his 2nd match ever (probably not true). Wataru Sakata was only 3 fights into his career at this point. 7 or so years later this would’ve been a great battle of dickhead shooters, in december of 1994 it was a fun undercard grappling match between two rookies in spaced out neon trunks and kickpads. The match was worked like a size mismatch with Sakata dominating through his size while Ono had to stick to slipping underneath. Some nice mat scrambles, and I really dug all of Onos throw attempts which he chained into rolling legbars, he has no chance of throwing Sakata but he can use them to hopefully set up a nasty leg submission. Wataru Sakata wasn’t as much of a dickhead as later in U-Style and ZERO1, but he did get a warning for kicking Ono on the ground also did some nasty face grinding. He also had a really fun finish where he just yanked into an armbar. You kind of have to be a grappler yourself to appreciate this kind of match and I definitely felt that forearm to the jaw choke attempt and that heavy north south position before the finish.
Takeshi Ono vs. Tanomusaku Toba (BattlARTS 10/14/2001) - FUN
The sorry motherfuckers at Samurai TV only showed us about 30 seconds of this dream matchup. Still, we get to watch them trade awesome punches and a cool finish where Ono does a Gannosuke Clutch into an armbar which is enough for me to list this was FUN.
Takeshi Ono &
Hiroyoshi Kotsubo vs. Carl Greco & Super Rider (BattlARTS
8/25/2001) - EPIC
We get about 10 minutes of an undercard which was thankfully centered around the Takeshi Ono vs. Carl Greco exchanges. That is a million dollar matchup and they were absolutely awesome here. Holy fucking hell I’ve said it before, but to reiterate: Carl Greco was a bloody wrestling machine. He always fights like a devil, never a lazy moment, and his technique is something else. His exchanges with Ono were awesome as he would try to grapple and Ono would just target him with brutal strikes including some insane sliding leg kicks and sprint across the ring knee in the face. Ono is an assault machine even in these undercard tags, he never throws a strike that doesn’t connect with a nasty thud. Rider & Kotsubo manage to not suck as they tag in and the finish is up to Greco and Ono and it is short but sweet, with both guys busting out super fast slick counters and just blasting each other with near KO strikes. Awesome stuff, love Ono, love Carl Greco, love BattlARTs.
Takeshi Ono vs. Daisuke Ikeda (FUTEN 9/26/2010) - EPIC
4 MINUTES 27 SECONDS! I must've have watched this match a dozen times, and it never stops being awesome. They just THROW DOWN and the world explodes. Awesome savage punch exchanges, general recklessness, Ikeda going for any weird move he can think of, while still keeping a general sense of defensiveness/evading. The counterwork is just stellar. The selling is sublime, and kind of different - guys would get hit, and sell he trauma of getting hit, but straighten themselves out and stop themselves from buckling "DAMN he got me good... but I'm not going down now, fuck you", like you would when the adrenaline is rushing, and then swing back and try to crush the other guy. Most matches are lucky to have 1 or 2 great moments. I counted 4 great moments in the first 35 seconds of this.
TAKESHI ONO DOCUMENTATION PROJECT MASTER LIST
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