Dekai Ichimotsu vs Super Crafter U
Great beginning as Super Crafter U immediately starting throwing really violent kicks at Ichimotsu. Ichimotsu is smaller and clearly does not have the same firepower as his shooter opponent, so he works the match in a strategic manner focussing all his effort on Crafters arm. Ichimotsus arm attack is really great, he may be at his very best now, as he knows how to twist an arm in so many ways, and the painfully bending the arm to force Crafters shoulders to the mat was fascinating to watch. I should say I love Ichimotsus enzuigiri to the elbow joint, and his elbow drop to the arm/shoulder always looks devastating. Crafter was always dangerous, though as he knows some spectacular submissions and counters, so even when Ichimotsu was controlling he was in danger. As such the match felt like a great battle of skill and a test of Ichimotsus persistance and Crafters pain tolerance. By the end Crafter was quite damaged and desperately tried to knock Ichimotsu out with a head kick. Very nice chess match with both guys displaying great skill. The only thing holding it back was the 10 minute time limit since this was the opening match of the show. Both guys looked great and I could see another match between them easily developing into a classic over 10 minute in length. A great little bout to open the show, however.
Masamune vs Takahiro Katori
This was a match I didn't quite know what to expect from since I wasn't sure how good Katori is on the ground. This ended up being very good though and very much a Katori-proving-himself story. Right away Masamune (who has a strong background in olympic wrestling) was taking down Katori, twirling him around and putting nasty stretches on the younger man. It's a good thing Katori is young and flexible or Masamune would have broken him, there was one hold where Masamune touched Katoris foot to his head. Katori handled himself pretty well, he was clearly trying to prove he belonged in Mutoha and while he has a bit to learn still he is on the right path. As the match was Rounds style it had a very clear structure, first round had very good ground work with some impressive holds and counters, and establishes the story of the match. The second round introduces more spark as Katoris leg seemed to be hurt and Masamune started bullying him, before the final round where both guys go for the kill and the tempers start to flare. As soon as Katori started limping Masamune was hellbent on ankle picking him and trying to break his leg. Katoris grounded Octopus Hold is very cool and Masamune countering his way out of it was great. I also liked Katori being prepared for Masamunes 619. This could have been a main event on another show, excellent stuff. Great Masamune performance who looked like a wrestlers wrestler and Katori looked like he belonged.
Taro Yamada vs Shoji Ono
I wasn't very familiar with Shoji Ono before watching this. But damn this may have made a Shoji Ono fan out of me. He had the vibe of classic tough scum brawler, like Hiro Saito maybe, which is really cool to see in 2024. Keep in mind, Yamada is a really great wrestler. The early goings are, of course, technical with Yamada tying Ono into crazy holds. Yamada really does things that nobody else does. He also did the classic Masanobu Fuchi leg stretch at one point which looked really painful. Ono was willing to wrestle, but he soon found himself outclassed and having to resort to sneaking in cheapshots against Yamada. It's a classic story. I really liked that Ono would do the headlock punches to Yamada and make sure to torn his back to the referee. Later, Ono would switch to open handed strikes. His big palm strike combo was one of the greatest I've ever seen in any wrestling match. It was outstanding. Like a classic scum brawler, Ono takes the match to the floor and kicks Yamadas ass, with Yamada taking a big bump on the stage. Back in the ring Yamada clocks Ono with this really great desperation headbutt. Great surprise finish, too. Really nice match that had a classic story and both guys showcased themselves at their best.
Yasushi Sato vs Takafumi Ito
Maybe the match from this card that I was looking forward to the most, and it was really good as I expected. Ito was really dominant here, reversing almost everything Sato tried into a shoot submission, really great Fujiwara-ish performance from him. He was not treating the old man gingerly at all. Sato trying to seize every single opening and trying to pull off a flash pin the whole time was really great. Also, Sato was deathly afraid of Itos high kick, so that was a factor too. It's pretty amazing Sato is 58 years old and can still go like this for 20 minutes. He looked little less tireless than usual, but he was facing a dangerous Pancrase fighter after all. My one complaint about the match is that it needed more Russian Leg Sweeps and Itos weird superkick didn't look good.
GENTARO vs Akira Jo
Another old school epic, every match on this card is delivering hard. They started with about 15 minutes of unconventional, ultra-high resistance matwork similiar to GENTARO/Arai. It wasn't quite as amazing but still pretty great. Jo is a very competent grappler and GENTARO as always looks great pulling off crafty reversals and generally selling everything like the most important thing in his life. Then Jo hits his Arn Anderson spinebuster which GENTARO sells like absolute death and they move into a really good ending run with both guys slapping the taste out of each others mouth, some big suplexes, a hard move on the floor and the hardest fought most grueling backslide I've ever seen. The finish was so cool too. Awesome stuff, great groundwork and the last third was as hard fought and epic as any 70s big match.
Crusher Takahashi vs Kenichiro Arai
This card had it all. You had the shootstyle, the Inoki worship, the esoteric, and now there is a NWA style main event. What they did was not as elaborate as stuff we saw in previous matches, but they treated every hold, every reversal with the utmost importance. As such the bout had the feel of a chess match that slowly escalated into a battle of underhand moves. Arai of course is so crafty at pulling off dirty moves against an opponent. He must've raked Crushers eyes a dozen different ways in this match. Crusher was initially frustrated by Arais sneaky tactics and eventually starts roughing him up too. I loved all the painful wristbending Arai did, and his super swift drop toe hold was spectacular for such a basic move. Crusher is quite old now and he is not as fast and smooth as he used to be, but he still throws some of the greatest punches in wrestling. I loved the Spinning Toe Hold being treated like death and the chess match feel everytime someone slapped on a hold. A match where every move counted and both guys were just in the moment. I think there was only one bump in this +20 minute bout. What a way to end this great card, this honestly may have been one of the best Japanese wrestling shows I've ever seen, every match brought something unique and was great in its own way.
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