As always, buy it from the source on X or the base!
Hideya Iso vs Crusher Takahashi
A cool opening match between two fighters who look older than dirt that still have more fire in them than you expect. As is the style of Mutoha they spend a lot of time grappling on the ground, but they do a cool job keeping it unpredictable and going at a fairly quick pace. A lot of this felt like an old Mid South TV match from the early 80s or 70s. Crusher still throws some of the greatest punches you will see in pro wrestling. I also loved when he did the Mutoh leg snap thing because he's so massive. You don't expect it given his size and age and when he does it it looks like he really snapped Isos leg and that's what makes it awesome. Iso was also pretty fired up - he would hit these really cool jumping enzuigiris. I don't recall many instances in the past where I saw Hideya Iso, who is as stoic and grappling-oriented as they come leaving his feet, but his enzugiris looked great. I also went crazy when he tried to hit the German suplex on Crusher. And the finish was really cool too. A nice way to open this card.
Unicorn Rules:
Kenichiro Arai & CHANGO & PSYCHO vs. GENTARO & Akira Jo & Taro Yamada
As any die hard Mutoha fan knows, a Unicorn rules match is a 2/3 falls where the first fall is a 1 vs 1 match, the 2nd a 2 vs 2 match with the remaining participiants and the 3rd a 6 man tag with everyone involved. This always creates an interesting dynamic. The story of this match were CHANGO and PSYCHO, who I believe appeared in MUTOHA for the first time. They are technically skilled, but they are also scumbags and not afraid to steal a win using foul tactics. That was heavily felt when they put the Mutoha regulars under pressure with their underhand moves. Really this was some highly intelligent pro wrestling where you could never be sure what would happen next, and everyones tactics were really cool, with PSYCHO and CHANGO also providing plenty of slick technical moves. It was awesome to watch Yamada and Jo turn the tables on them. Obviously, the best part of this was the 3rd fall, however. They all just get down and wrestle and it reminded me of the best of the CMLL Ciberneticos. Everyone on the Mutoha team is among the best grapplers in the world and CHANGO and PSYCHO showed that they can handle themselves with them, I especially enjoyed PSYCHOs twistiness and penchant for odd angle moves, he is really interesting to watch. Man alive GENTARO is just an absolute grappling master at this point in time. He and Arai probably stood out in the biggest way, GENTARO for his classiness, and Arai for his talent at turning the most miniscule actions into something memorable. Arai really wrestles to prove a point, what he does is just a giant flex of his intelligence and skill. There was this takedown he did where he stepped on Akira Jos foot and painfully drove his knee into Akiras leg that was amazing and I will probably remember that move more than anything else this year. There was also this great segment he worked against Yamada built around snapping Yamada down in really forceful ways. At the end we get another grandstand exchange between Arai and GENTARO so yes this is really worthwhile. Yamada and Akira Jo are kind of supporting players but everyone who is familiar with them knows how good they are and they showed their classy skill level in contrast to the scumminess of CHANGO and PSYCHO, Jo with his great suplexes and submission skill and Yamada with his penchant for quirky technical wrestling. In the end this ended up being extremely enjoyable, highly skillful wrestling with a multilayered story and everyone looking great. I cannot say enough to praise the craftsmanship of all these guys. I came out of this wanting to see singles match between everyone involved, and that's why I hope Mutoha will continue, or that at least another promotion will see the potential in these matchups here. A great match that stands out in a big way in the 2025 wrestling landscape.
Yasushi Sato vs Shoji Ohno
The last gong of Mutoha for now, and this is a memorable match. This was really freaking amazing as well. You had the usual enjoyable technical pro wrestling that is the signature of Mutoha, but this also told a great story. Yasushi Sato is the defiant champion, unwilling to be humbled by the young spry 40 year old challenger Shoji Ohno. We know Sato is a master wrestler, who is always tireless and rarely humbled, so seeing Ono getting in his head and forcing him to show a meaner streak was something else. Ohno is so cool in Mutoha and this match is a fantastic conclusion to his Mutoha trilogy with his 2 amazing singles matches last year. He has technical skill, but he is also really straight forward and goes for the kill when he can, and his palm strike rush is the coolest thing in wrestling. The second half here was really great with Ono being relentless, going after Satos neck with sick looking stretches and a desperate Sato trying to comeback and increasing the violence with headbutts and Ono just drilling him. Outstanding big match, what a way to end Mutoha for now. Hopefully to come back some time, but in the meantime we should cherish the amazing wrestling they gave us, a totally unique and charming style of wrestling in the modern era!
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