GWE Watching #5: Daisuke Ikeda

 Daisuke Ikeda & Mohammed Yone vs. Tamon Honda & Kotaru Suzuki, NOAH 3/14/2002

Random undercard match ends up being good thanks to Ikeda having a vendetta against Honda. Ikeda trying to aggress against Honda, almost getting choked out and then taking out his frustration by using Kotaru as a punching bag was pretty great. Yone also decided to lay in his strikes for once, although nothing that comes close to Ikeda brutalizing him with Futen level punts and punches. Hondas hot tag was great but the Yone-centric felt a little underwhelming. Dig Ikeda taking a random loony bump to the outside for the hell of it.

Daisuke Ikeda vs. Jun Izumida, NOAH 4/6/2002

Fun match with two lumpy guys trading hard blows. Izumida kinda looked like he was just figuring out what to do as he was on offense, but Ikeda sold for him as if he was the heaviest hitter on the planet. Ikeda unloaded some really nasty looking kicks to Izus arms and shoulders, which Izu sold in a fun way. Izu has some fun spots, particularily his judo sweep and bicycle kick, but his dumbfoundedness kinda detracted from the match. Really fun finish with Ikeda barely edging out the victory with a surprise sleeper.

Daisuke Ikeda vs. Takashi Sugiura, NOAH 3/18/2001

Sugiura probably had a fun BattlARTS career as a second rate Otsuka in him but instead got the NOAH career as a second rate Kurt Angle. This was clipped down, but looked like a good little match. Sugiura was green and I didn‘t like his spears, but Ikeda just brutalized him with violent kicks. Ikeda had a really neat reversal of the Karelins Lift. I also liked spot where Sugiura dived right into Ikedas knee.

Daisuke Ikeda vs. Yoshinari Ogawa, NOAH 6/6/2003

I‘m not sure why I haven‘t heard of this match before; it delivers exactly what you want. Not an epic main event or something, but more than fun midcard match with both guys doing what they do best. Ikeda comes in with a blunt force approach coming at Ogawa with big lariats and kicks, and Ogawa employs all his scuzzy ratboy tactics that we love him for, including some actually cool water bottle spots. Short, with not a dull moment.

 

Daisuke Ikeda vs. Masashi Aoyagi, NOAH 9/2/2001

 Fun little match. Aoyagi is way over the hill and this is just an opening match, but god you can tell Ikeda respects the hell out of him the way he puts him over here. Ikeda takes every single kick Aoyagi knows in brutal fashion. I liked how Ikeda would initially kick out at 1, to remind people that Aoyagi had been retired to undercard old man tags at this point, but then Aoyagi just kept landing the hits, until he almost KO'd with a kick combo in the corner that harkened back to the days of his Onita feud. Aoyagi does 1 or 2 things you don't expect from him, and Ikeda pulls off a neat finish. This is a showcase for Ikeda, the generous worker selling a beatdown, not something people know him for, but he does it very well.