Takeshi Ono & Ryuji Hijikata vs. junji.com & Urban Ken, BattlARTS 9/7/2000 - GREAT
BattlARTS undercard tags then were a thing of beauty, and this was another real goodie. A bunch of juniors who aren't really stereotypically shoot stylists or juniors thrown together to do indy wrestling with that solid BattlARTS style groundwork. I enjoyed all these guys building up a solid match from the ground, and Ono as usual stood out above everyone hitting a bit stiffer punches and kicks and doing submissions a bit slicker and nastier than everyone else. It really picks up for the second half in a big way as you get junji and Ken running wild, junjis Animal Hamaguchi moveset feels really fresh, he busts out a choice Samoan Drop into a nasty kimura and then hits these really cool falling headbutts to the shoulder. They go bigger than you expect from an undercard tag as Ken and Ono look awesome, Ono doing his usual ultra slick reversals and strikes and Ken hitting awesome tackle moves, his style is really fun. Honestly felt like a great discovery thanks to everyone putting their working boots on and looking their best for that ending run.
Takeshi Ono & Takahiro Oba vs. Manabu Hara & Kengo Mashimo, FUTEN 5/30/2010 - EPIC
Super violent high end FUTEN main event tag. 4 crazy guys trying to batter each other to death with rotten kicks and wild swinging hands. It's a testament to Onos ability that he still looks super dangerous in a match where no one is holding back, he was trying to crush peoples faces with kicks and knees the whole time. Hara and Mashimo kind of form an asskicking force together, Mashimo is really solid in his usual role as a ratty thick guy who will beat you. Hara may have had the night of his life here as he was beating on people like he meant to kill them and locking in slick submissions. While there isn't a ton of matwork I really enjoyed the couple brief sections mostly starring Oba. Oba honestly looked pretty great here as well as his violent clubs and caveman strength spots are so unique, honestly he is another reason why we need the whole FUTEN back catalogue. Obas reckless attacks were interesting throughout without veering into goofy territory and there were some well inserted more pro style spots in. Finishing run was Ono vs. Hara and may have been one of the best ending runs ever done in this style, Hara was brutalizing Ono who kept evading and coming back to plant a knee in his face or just punch his jaw out. 20 minutes of awesome and one of the more mindblowing FUTEN matches of the year.
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