Taro Yamada vs. Akira Jo, Mutoha 2/5/2023
Good to see Taro Yamada is still an excellent mat wrestler. This had tons of matwork that seemed to combine IWRG and quasi-shootstyle. Akira Jo is sleazy looking, but he’s not bad on the mat (can’t believe this guy used to be in IGF) and his more simplistic shooty holds contrasted Yamada more llave inspired matwork. Yamada also wasn’t afraid to bust out the neck cranking headscissor. The grappling had a number of close submission nearfalls that the crowd ate up. The progression from the holds to the bigger bumps was really good and reminiscent of something like a 70s Billy Robinson match as the holds could be used to set up a sudden suplex. Yamadas nasty bump did a great job at amping the stakes. I am not a big fan of Akira Jos thigh-slapping superkicks and knees but that stuff was done in moderation and they soon salvaged things with an awesome Necro-like punch exchange. LOVED Yamadas Santo-like tope trying to even the odds, and the finish. Based on this I would say Yamada is at minimum a top 5 wrestler in Japan, he looked great on the mat, engaged in some brutal stiff exchanges (including absolutely rattling Jo with a sick headbutt) and bumped like an absolute maniac. Very good experimental indy match in total.
GENTARO vs. Kenichiro Arai, 2/3 Falls, Mutoha 2/5/2023
Insane 60 minute grappling epic that felt reminiscent of Santo/Casas or Inoki/Fujinami. Tons of intense struggle and interesting twists on the most basic moves. It’s amazing how little of this was “classic” hold for hold sequences. At times it felt like they were re-inventing classic movements series as they were going along. The opening grappling where they fought over getting over/underhooks, struggling for a butterfly suplex attempt etc. alone felt amazing. Lots of grappling were both guys were struggling to lock in anything, takedown attempts got stonewalled, limbs getting stuck while trying to lock in a hold etc. so whenever somebody locked in a hold they would crank back hard. Arai has become quite great at these types of matches – his pin counters, insanely tight wristlocks etc. were all fantastic. At one point he started torturing Gentaro by grinding his chin into Gentaros nerves and it was amazing, like the minimalist grappling epic version of the Sasuke Special. Moves would always lead to pin attempts or near submissions or potentially set up a throw, keeping all the grappling meaningful. I liked the lengthy headscissor sequence where Gentaro kept trying to turn the headscissor into an armlock or pin attempt, all while trying to decapitate Arai. It was also pretty much the only lengthy hold sequence of the match which is pretty amazing. After the 1st fall, every move felt important as you knew anything had the potential to be a finish. Figure 4 spots where both guys were trying everything to twist a leg or toe for a submission or counter were really good. The Figure 4 is probably the most tiresome Japanese big match spot but in this case both guys made sure to work it in the most spectacular way possible just working the escape as huge as you can, Gentaro looked like he was crawling out of a car wreck with his legs trapped when he got out. First 30 minutes of this were just fantastic grappling full of gritty struggle and inventiveness and like the whole second half was edge of your seat stuff. I have no doubt this is one of the greatest matches of all time, maybe the greatest.
Yasushi Sato vs Shunsuke Sayama, Mutoha 1/14/2018
This went 10 minutes and it felt like one of the best 10 minute matches I’ve seen. Just an awesome little bout. Sayama doesn’t do anything super outstanding but he is really solid, this built around Sayamas kicks vs Satos grappling, and Sayama looked very good kicking and grappling. His selling was also very good. Based on that alone I’d say Sayama must have been one of the better guys on the indy scene at this point. Satos penchant for out of nowhere Russian Leg Sweeps and cool ways to tie his opponents legs in knots was great, as usual. The Russian Leg Sweep is such a cool move to even the score. There was one really awesome mat exchange, and after Sayamas initial kick flurry the match went unpredictable. Satos figure 4 variations were awe inspiring. I love watching the man do his thing, he is truly a gem.
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