Footage mining: Actwres GirlZ

Tae Honma vs Miyuki Takase, AWG 11/3/2019

Straight-forward awesome match. Begins strong with solid lockups and some slick matwork. The match soon turns into an ARSION-like affair as Tae Honma is an armbar fiend and was constantly trying to snap Takases arm off. Honmas laser focus and variety of ways to lock in shoulder popping joint locks is really entertaining, and Takase constantly cutting her off with gritty lariats to the throat was great. Takase continueing to crowbar Honma throughout the match while selling the damage to her shoulders felt like something out of a grittier Choshu match. Even the chest forearms, which I’m not a huge fan of, where pretty vicious and hard hitting here. I was surprised at the greatness of Honmas selling too as she really sold being almost choked out by a modified triangle choke very well, and then taking more shots to the windpipe from Takases lariat. Second half of the match had quite a bit of unexpected brutality such as a vicious boot from Honma, and Honma cycling in on Takase to destroy her shoulders and face with dropkicks out of a Santo/Casas match. The insane headbutt was by far the highlight. I’ve seen my fair share of gritty headbutts in Japanese matches by now, this one stood out because it came completely out of nowhere. Takases sleeper attempts becoming ineffective due to her arms being shot was another neat detail. There is one kinda weak sling blade from Takase and they do overindulge a bit with nearfalls, though Honmas counters were great and Takase never let up with those lariats. Real sleeper great match, by far one of the best joshi matches of the decade if you ask me.

 Mari vs Yumiko Hotta, AWG 3/28/2019

This was something to remind you how magical pro wrestling can be. 2019 Hotta is really over the hill, but still has insane levels of aura, and she does actually wrestle in this. She has that Johnny Valentine-feeling where even a basic headlock or half crab from her feel like she’s brutalizing the other person. Hotta is basically like a wall of concrete in this. Mari struggles to do anything at all to her, and that makes this really compelling. Mari is still a ninja at this stage, but she does look like a great wrestler already. Really does a great job putting over the struggle of facing the ultra-tough veteran, and hitting lots of great kicks, which most importantly were all insanely well timed. It starts like a pretty fun match but the way Mari kept chopping away at Hotta and selling even mundane submissions like a surfboard stretch as an insane struggle it really starts to feel like a special match. Hottas performance here felt like a combination of nearly immobile Tenryu and Yoshiaki Fujiwara, she still kicks hard as hell but is vulnerable due to being so shot, and really tears into Mari with submissions. Then you have Mari getting her nose busted and the finish which felt legit as hell. Really starkly different match from pretty much anything else in the modern wrestling landscape, and to see it in a promotion like AWG is downright insane. Best post-prime Hotta match I’ve seen by a mile and Maris great performance was a big part of it.

 

Mari & Yumiko Hotta vs Tae Honma & Hikari Shimizu, AWG 4/7/2019

This was another winner. Hotta is so immobile and lethargic that conventional wrestling becomes impossible, so all her interactions become interesting by default. There is some really good stuff between her and Honma with Honma trying to damage her arm and Hotta snapping into armbars. I also loved Hotta nonchalantly breaking up an armbar attempt. The non-Hotta women her were working pretty hard. Shimizu is all hard kicks and she’s pretty fun. Mari was doing more athletic stuff than nowdays, lots of ninja kip ups and such that are cool mixed with also hard kicks. Honma continued to look good with her flash submissions and she does pull off a really cool finish against Mari. Seems these two never had a singles match which strikes me as a bit of a waste. Cool submission work, lots of stiff offense, grumpy old lady Hotta bonus, yeah this was pretty unique and enjoyable.

Mari vs Hikari Shimizu, AWG 3/17/2021

Impressive match that had well executed wrestling, great selling, a clear story, and they both absolutely bruised each other with brutal kicks. After some slick opening wrestling, Mari caught a Shimizu crossbody and slammed her hard in a great spot to establish the roles. It quickly turns into overdog Mari punishing Shimizu with her kicks and submissions, and Shimizu having to try to gut it out. Shimizu had multiple great comeback attempts that were extremely sharp. She is not quite as brutal as Mari, but she was kicking pretty hard too, and they both have effective straight forward offense. Mari clearly excels when she is trashing an underdog like this, and Shimizu had a few great hope spots. Really liked the struggle over a basic body slam towards the end. Leg kick battle towards the end was also quite intense. Most importantly, it was a modern Japanese big match that didn’t have anyone no-selling a suplex.

Hikari Shimizu vs Hiroyo Matsumoto, AWG 11/20/2021

Probably even better than the Mari match, which I nearly didn’t expect. This was just the 3^rd match on the card and honestly when was the last time you watched a card where match 3 out of 5 was fucking great? But this was pretty fucking great. Very similar to Shimizu vs Mari except Matsumoto is more of a big bruising monster. Matsumoto is really impressive beating the life out of Shimizu here with stiff chops and elbows and Shimizu was just as good as in the Mari match, kicking away at Matsumoto with hard kicks and selling pretty great. Just really effiecient. Once again I thought all of Shimizus comebacks/hopespots were insanely well timed and executed. Loved her desperate sleeper attempt towards the end, just trying to choke the beast out. Need more of that ‘just trying really hard to win’ energy. Matsumotos spinning back elbow was also a thing of beauty and timed just perfectly.

Yasushi Sato vs Konaka, AWG 6/24/2018

Yes, these two are also Actwres Girlz! It’s pretty cool that one of the greatest match ups in all of Japanese wrestling ever just so happened at a random joshi card. This was them pretty much doing the Velocity version of their match – very technically sound, but with a few jokes thrown in and made palatable for a more casual audience. They still mixed in lots of great stuff that you won’t see from any other two wrestlers. There’s this little sequence with both of them balancing on their heads and foot-wrestling which was pretty insane. Konaka does some great sleeper hold work, and Sato hits this hammerlock Russian legsweep that was just a thing of beauty. Sato busts out his big springboard dive which I always love, and even a perfect looking Victory Roll. Konaka has a really nifty counter to Satos attempted gutwrench. Really cool to watch. I still want to see their Ironman match, dammit.

Assorted Ganbare Pro

 

ASUKA (Veny) vs Haganne Shinnou, Ganbare Pro 8/22/2020

Surprisingly very good big match. Opening had some scrappy disdainful kicks before ASUKA establishes her superior agility over Shinnou in neat ways. Shinnoue then proceeded to work over her leg. Really good legwork, especially dug all the spots where Asukas leg was caught in the ropes. Finishing run had lots of nifty moments and counters. Resisting the Ranhei felt epic, and while Asuka was never gonna sell that legwork all the way to the end it wasn’t exactly blatant no selling either. The spot where she struggled to lift Shinnou and then went for a takeover instead pretty neat. Her spinning wheel kick is also one of the best I’ve seen in a while, really hit Haganne in the face like a baseball bat. Shinnou also looked really solid in this. Quality stuff, probably one of the best matches of that cursed year 2020.

Shuichiro Katsumura vs Cherry, Ganbare Pro 4/24/2021

Judo jacket match where they basically come out and do worked BJJ. Worked BJJ can be really cool, and they did lots of fun transitions and submission attempts here without ever slowing down. There was a funny bit where Cherry did an eyepoke and pulled Katsumuras jacket over his head, but other than that this was just clean grappling and pretty fun. It’s always cool to see wrestlers showing a different skillset and Cherry looked pretty legit here. Really cool finish with the crazy gi choke.

Ken Ohka vs Naoshi Sano, Ganbare Pro 7/8/2017

BLOODBATH!! Surprisingly fun scummy heel performance from Sano here working over Ohka. He does a fine job acting like scum, and his open handed shots are pretty fun. Ohka is kind of a sleazeball too, and while he’s probably not very good, he brings a good deal of vibe with his scrappy flying tackles and the schlubby wifebeater and jeans he’s wearing. Both guys end up bleeding big and it’s fun, with Ohkas blood getting all over Sanos hands from Sanos strikes. Sano looked surprisingly competent demolishing Ohka here, and there was a fun sense of irony in how Sano would cut off Ohkas lazy comeback attempts. They are wise enough to not overstay their welcome. Just bleed big, let people soak in the spectacle, and go home.

Shuichiro Katsumura vs Tsuyoshi Okada, Ganbare Pro 8/11/2019

One of the better BattlARTS-style matches in the post-BattlARTS world that I can recall. Actually felt like an angry PANCRASE fight with both guys really hitting those palm strikes like they meant it. Great aggression and no real sense of holding back, which is awesome. The flash submissions ruled, too. Katsumura is a legit grappler so he can really do some spectacular stuff and Okada was up to the task. I loved the shootstyle version of the TKO, and his jumping knee looked like it nearly killed Katsumura. Nifty Fujiwara-esque finish. Really good for what it was, I actually wanted to see it go longer.

It's a MARVELOUS day

 

2/3 Falls: Takumi Iroha & Rin Kadokura vs Mio Momono & Leo Isaka, Marvelous 4/29/2017

Intrigueing match up on paper, that ended up probably being even better than I expected. Momono and Kadokura are still in their rookie stage, tagged with two evenly matched higher ranked wrestlers. So whenever it was either of them vs Iroha or Isaka, there was immediate peril, and when it was them against each other they were fiercely competitive. Isaka and Iroha do a good job here, Isaka looks really polished with his cool kicks and big dropkicks, and Iroha is not quite the badass she is now but she’s already really good as the higher ranked kicker thrust kicking peoples head off. Thought this built to a bunch of really really good exchanges and the ranking difference was handled nearly perfectly. Kadokura is a lot of fun here building up to a basic body slam, and Momono was already busting out some slicker offense including lots of cool armbars. Lots of great ‘higher ranked partner helps out lower ranked partner’ spots which are always a favourite of mine. Because it’s two out of three falls pretty much everything is a plausible finish, which increases the tension when Kadokura and Momono are in because even something like a bodyslam or crossbody is a finish then. This had a bunch of great forearm smash contests that really felt closer to something like Mantell v. Lawler, fighting down to the knees and back up, way better than your typical 2017 era elbow exchanges. All 3 falls were super hard fought and I thought they did an amazing job keeping the pace of the match without getting repetitive or getting into overkill. Really impressive achievement and something of a hidden gem if you ask me.

Takumi Iroha vs Mio Momono, Marvelous 11/3/2019

Momono has ascended past swimsuited rookie status and is on the rise, but she can still hardly put a dent into Iroha. Personally, I prefer the Shinya Hashimoto-type demeanour ala ‘I’m gonna wipe you off the face of the earth’ over Irohas ‘smiling and laughing because my opponent is that pathetically weak’ bit here, but Iroha certainly is convincing when it’s time to chop and kick the hell out of Momono. It builds to a few increasingly great comebacks from Momono, up to the last couple minutes which are really good with Momono throwing absolute haymakers trying to knock Iroha out and Iroha putting more violence than usual into her strikes. Sick ending that harkened back to the likes of Devil Masami flattening some GAEA rookie. Quality underdog story with some really slick wrestling and some sick as hell strikes, thought Momono looked great here.

Takumi Iroha vs Chigusa Nagayo, Marvelous 12/8/2019

Yes 55 year old Chigusa takes on the tank that is Iroha! Really intrigueing match that ends up being compelling. Chigusa comes out with a ridiculous amount of sponsor logos on her attire (gotta get the most out of this packed Korakuen Hall crowd) and looks like someones grandma. But god damn Chigusa is pro wrestling incarnate and she knows how to make anything compelling. Lots of great staredowns. They do pad some time by doing a lot of chops on the floor, but once they are back in the ring it’s great stuff. Chigusa still throws vicious strikes, her forearms still look better than most guys forearms, and she can still kick Iroha in the face. It looks like there’s a glimmer of hope (or should I say, ego?) that Nagayo could put Iroha in trouble, but Irohas youth advantage soon becomes apparent and she starts demolishing Nagayo and not holding back. Some great, Hashimoto like selling from Nagayo here, really getting the most out of this. It goes a bit too long, but the crucifixion-like ending makes it all worthwhile. Really unique match, the kind that only a handful of personalities in wrestling history could craft.

More Twitcasting Era Sportiva

 Kazuhiro Tamura & Yusaku Ito vs 801 Kenichi & Michio Kageyama, Sportiva 6/12/2019

WOW! Absolute workhorse performance from Tamura. See I really like Sportiva matches where the guys have their working boots on. They really nail that studio TV match feel stylized to japanese wrestling where they have nifty match with few moves and working more neat touches into their exchanges. Everybody had their working boots on here, but Tamura was off the charts. He busts out a nice mat section with Kageyama. Then he gets some decent exchanges out of 801 Kenichi. Finally he does some really nice work working a body part by kicking the crap out of Kenichis shoulder and arm in painful ways. And after all that, he gets a finishing stretch out of Kenichi where Kenichi actually gets to add cool touches as they work some choice counters with Kenichi trying to turn Tamuras arm attacks into throws and slams. Considering how dull Kenichi usually is that is truly a monumental carryjob. And it wasn’t just ‘ok’ it was legit good! Kenichi turning Tamuras flying armbar attempt into a firemans carry was legit great and so were Tamuras counters to the chokebomb attempt. They actually built to Kenichis stuff as Tamura kept cutting off his comeback attempts down the stretch until Kenichi was finally able to hit it. So even a basic gutwrench suplex or lariat felt huge. Excellent stuff from Tamura. Everybody else was good do – I particularily liked Kageyamas hot tag that featured a great looking DDT and a reckless dragon screw – but Tamura owned the match. Fine fine piece of workmanship.

Hiroaki Ura & Toru Sugiura vs 801 Kenichi & Michio Kageyama, Sportiva 6/19/2019

Another very good Sportiva tag, that little sportsbar was cooking June 2019. Right at the go we get a great exchange between Sugiura and Kenichi that veered into shooty territory. Kenichi actually looks good for a change as he sweeps Sugiura off his feet to deliver some hefty looking hands before Sugiura gets back it him trying to kick his head off. Fuck, was Kenichi actually getting good that month?! He was still limited in what he actually could do, but actually energetic in what he did. Sugiura also had his working boots on which is always fun. Then Ura gets reminded that he’s still a young boy as he can’t get Kageyama up for a bodyslam then gets a beatdown. The subsequent middle proportion is good as all these guys really have their stuff down pat. Then we get a very good finish as Ura struggles hard to overcome Kenichi. Kenichi works in that role as a big block for Ura to overcome and Uras struggle is worth while. I loved how Ura get a desperation leglock on Kenichi and started beating away at his leg with fists in frustration when Kenichi made the ropes. Kenichi also dumps him with nasty suplexes that actually look good. Nice stuff and actually got me kinda excited for their singles match the following week.

Hiroaki Ura vs 801 Kenichi, Sportiva 6/26/2019

The follow up match to last weeks battle! Can 801 Kenichi keep it up and finally deliver? Well.. not really. He’s still rather limited. But, he headbutts Ura really hard during the opening exchanges and then serves as a massive block for Ura to overcome, and that is fine enough. Ura is great here, tons of fire, coming at Kenichi hard, trying to take out his leg… initially Kenichi blows off the leg attack but later his leg gives out anyway so that was pretty cool. Exciting match because I am into following Uras trajectory. He is getting to that point where he is now starting to incooperate new things, surviving more punishment than before but also getting dropped harder by Kenichis germans. It’s a cool journey to follow and it’s got me hooked.

GWE Watching: Kenichiro Arai

 
Kenichiro Arai vs Shunsuke Sayama, FREEDOMS 5/22/2019

Really freaking good match. Sayama is a relentless kicker here, and Arai does a really nice sleazier Fujiwara performance taking him apart. His takedowns and holds came across as really forceful and he looked like he belonged with a shooter. Some really nasty armlocks and finger bending from Arai, and I loved how he constantly went for the piledriver. Sayama laid into him good. I really liked how Sayama was able to sink into a choke and then kick a dizzy Arai in his bald head, but then his feet gave out because Arai had twisted them up previously. Match had a relentless pace and they never really let up. Strong recommendation.

Kenichiro Arai vs Keita Yano, VKF 2019/10/31 - GREAT


It's the battle of the sleaze grappling gods! Really fun old school type match as you expect. They do some good stuff working around a full nelson hold for a while, and Keita looks slick as a cat. Arai does an almost Flair-like performance mostly getting eaten up by Yano and bumping for him. Yano is pretty great at eating someone up since he has so much cool shit he can do. Once in a while Arai would do something sneaky, like jab him in the throat or nastily bend his wrist to gain control, but Yano would cradle him or tie him in a submission pretty quickly. I wanted there to be a little more aggression and nastiness but this was a middle of the card match not some kind of epic main event, so it was pretty good for what it was.

 

Kenichiro Arai vs Susumu Yokosuka, Dragon Gate 10/6/2023

Immensely fun match. This was supposed to be some kind of revival match for the old Toryumon class, but actually Arai comes in carrying the Haoh title and does a full on 70s technician performance, cranking headlocks and cravates. There was some of the old hard headed drunken master Arai in there, and that is fun too. I love how Arai will turn a basic hold like a headscissor or hammerlock into a holy shit spot. Also loved the work around the Tiger Suplex, the build to the top rope jawbreaker etc. Yokosukas more explosive offense is cool in contrast to Arais big brain technical shit. Very very nice match and another case for the variety of match Arai can pull off. Lengthy technical epic, wrestler vs shooter, sneaky stooging heel, the man is like the swiss army knife of the Japanese idies right now.

Keita Yano Documentation

More Sportiva

 Shinya Ishida vs Yu Shimizu, Sportiva 11/25/2020

Sick WAR-esque match with both guys beating the fuck out of each other and showing tons of hatred. Ishida is starting to grow on me, the guy really knows how to deliver an asskicking.Yes he looks like your typical junior wrestler but when it comes to stomping a guys guts out he is much closer to Ashura Hara than someone like Marufuji. He is also very good at working momentum shifts. Him blistering Shimizu with those nasty short kicks to the chest, brutal Garvin stomps and bitchslapping him was great stuff. Shimizu is a rookie who at this point has little more than dropkicks and elbows, but he throws some fierce elbows and his dropkicks land flush in Ishidas face, really putting the Wrestling and Romance into a silent arena plague era match in a way that should have gotten more attention at the time (who can blame people, I didn't have my eye on Sportiva at this time either). Some awesome moments here where both guys are pummeling each other from the mount, and for a fairly long match they keep things fairly interesting with Shimizu really having to earn his salt. I love me a stiff war where guys land basic strikes with bad intentions and this was that kind of match.

 

Toru Sugiura & Kengo Takai vs Kyozo Furuta & Hiroaki Ura, Sportiva 5/8/2019

It’s Kyozo Furutas debut match. Since I’m writing about it you know it was a good debut match. Furuta almost immediately gets a bloody nose when Sugiura and Takai start beating him down, and you get Sugiura slapping his bloody face and Takai stepping on his nose, and Furuta gets all kinds of fired up. He did good for a young boy. And, just the fact that even getting his more established opponents up for a bodyslam for him takes enormous effort out of him makes things interesting. That and the fact he might tap out to any random boston crab. Ura was pretty fun here, too. He’s no Akiyama but his ways of catching people with dropkicks from odd angles is very cool. In a way he’s still a young boy too but more accomplished and he still surprises you with what he can achieve and what he busts out. Sugiura and Takai don’t do anything beyond the basics and they didn’t need more than that, tho Takai blasts Furuta with a pretty hefty lariat. Blood, fire and characters that get you invested. This was pro wrestling done right.

Takaya Shibayama vs Kyozo Furuta, Sportiva 5/29/2019

Takaya Shibayama is a curious wrestler. He’s pretty checked out in his late career and mailing it in most of the time, but capable of delivering good stuff in a while. Thankfully he decided to deliver the good stuff here. This was a really nice rookie vs veteran match where Shibayama guides the freshly debuted Kyozo Furuta through sensible match without relying on no-selling or extended beatdowns and stretching. Obviously he dominates a lot and it takes a while before Furuta can even get Shibayama off his feet, and things stay basic, but it’s ever dull simply because they manage to create that sense that it might just happen. And they just build every part of the match nicely. Furuta has to build up to basic stuff like even a bodyslam and even getting in something as basic as slipping underneath and hitting a forearm feels very satisfying. And Shibayama does some cool stuff in the second half, hitting some gnarly forearms, a really stiff swinging lariat and a really cool snapdown into a facelock for the tap. Furuta only had the most basic dropkick and bodyslam stuff at this point but his fire was good enough that it’s definitely a letdown that he retired before his career could really get anywhere. Still, I look forward to checking out how far that boy made it.

More Sportiva Twitcastings

 

Hiroaki Ura & Kazuhiro Tamura vs Michio Kageyama & Toru Sugiura (Sportiva 1/23/2019)

Sportiva could still deliver the goods in 2019. Hiroaki Ura was their young hope, and watching his progression on the weekly bar shows is very intrigueing. The first half of this is nothing special, it’s solid enough but nothing you haven’t seen before as it’s mostly the non-Ura guys doing their thing. I will say that Toru Sugiura is always an impressive wrestler, he doesn’t get talked about much but whenever I see him he looks like one of the best guys going. Things get going when they start kicking Uras ass with Sugiura working him over with nasty stomps and face scrapes. The second half had lots of really well timed stuff and unpredictable twists inculding one nearfall that was unbelievably well done. Kageyama and Tamura also gave a shit in this match so that means they were quite good. These guys really know how to deliver a good match on these tiny shows without doing too much for their own good. In an era where everything is going for the grandiose and overboarding it’s nice to see some less is more pro wrestling where they still put in effort to make it interesting.

Hiroshi Yamato vs 801 Kenichi (Sportiva 1/30/2019)

Yamato is another really underrated wrestler. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him shoot at his full potential but he always does cool stuff and shows he understands pro wrestling well. He did an impressive job crafting a neat little match around Kenichi. His technical prowress and bits of athleticism always keep things interesting and he manages to time Kenichs stuff very well. Kenichi is rather sluggish but because Yamato paced the match around him in such a way it didn’t really matter. Kenichi had one Thesz Press that actually looked awesome because of Yamato timing it as if it caught him off guard. Yamato also had this impressive sequence where he leapt to the top rope in a spider suplex position, threw Kenichi, then hit a missile dropkick and followed with a dive to the outside. It was like something Misawa in his athletic prime would do. Very nice stuff.

Hiroaki Ura vs Yusaku Ito (Sportiva 2/6/2019)

This was really fucking great. Getting to follow Uras weekly progression from tags to singles is awesome. He is still at the stage where something like a camel clutch might finish him, so just seeing him try his damndest to take a chunk out of Ito and get as far as he can go is great and a story to be invested in. Ito is awesome here, giving Ura the chance to catch him off guard. I won’t spoil too much but Itos strikes were absolutely vicious and getting into harrowing tier in the second half. He really cracked Ura with his kicks and elbows. Ura caught Ito off guard early and immediately capitalized working the leg. It didn’t last long but Ito sold the fuck out of that and it set up this awesome moment in the second half where Ura grabbed Itos leg like a terrier. It was that moment where you felt Ura started pushing beyond his limits and it was awe inspiring. The stuff they did with the basic submissions was awesome too and the way they worked them into the match was very inventive compared to your usual cliché submission reversal stuff. And because of Uras standing and Itos selling the crowd bought a tapout finish. Ending was sick too. This was a gem, one of the best rookie vs high ranked guy I remember in an awful long time.

I discovered a boatload of old SPORTIVA streams and my first instinct is to go watch the Konaka matches

 So I recently discovered the old Twitcasting page of Sportiva where they livestreamed their weekly shows from 2016-2019 ca. I'd give my left nut to get an archive of all the shows they streamed on Ustream.tv from 2010 to 2016, but this is still quite the boatload of interesting footage. Naturally my first instinct was to go look up all the matches with Konaka in them because lord knows we all need more of that yoga demon in our life

Konaka vs. Nori da Funky Shibiresasu, Sportiva 10/3/2018

Really really nice match, exactly what you want from a Konaka big match against a game opponent. Konaka does all kinds of fun grappling and neat transitions here. His early mat control segment was so cool, the guy really knows how to get in and out of holds in interesting fashions. The whole match was peppered with Konaka mixing in cool little transitions, counters and reversals, doing a really nice job controlling with a sleeper etc. Nori da Funky Shibiresasu is part of the hip hop group that did the Naruto opening theme amongst others, he had one hell of a career working a couple hundred matches in the Sportiva arena and I am happy to finally see him. He was a pretty cool powerhouse here, hitting stiff chops and all kinds of cool tall lanky guy offense, big backdrop suplexes, a big boot that damn near scraped Konakas face off, stiff chops, a big neckbreaker drop. Boy am I glad these Twitcasting streams are still around even if they are potatoe quality filmed with an Android.

Konaka vs. Tetsuya Izuchi, Sportiva 8/21/2019

You give Konaka a game opponent and 10 minutes and you’re pretty much guaranteed to get something nifty. Izuchi is game, he moves slick on the mat and kicks hard, and has some nice exchanges with Konaka early on. Konaka rules here, he hits this really cool 619 to Izuchis leg and then works him over with Indian Deathlock variations because he’s a yoga demon. There’s a completely awesome spinning Figure 4 leglock set up and a really nice Figure 4 battle. Izuchi acknowledges that his leg has been worked over, but he won’t really blow you away aside from throwing Konaka with a really nasty German Suplex. Still, Konaka is so cool to watch.

KEITA in the VKF

 

Keita Yano vs. GOA, VKF 9/29/2019

GOA has also gone by HUB and a bunch of other names. I've only seen him in Fire Pro Returns so it was cool that the gimmick is still around. But he was a straight forward wrestler here and game to have a really good little match with KEITA. This starts with a bunch of indy WoS matwork which is something that can be trite in 2019, but Keita is pretty much a master at this point. Just the way he gracefully slips beneath to lock in a surfboard hold is a class above. GOA was a bit bland initially but he came into his own as the match went along busting out neat offense. I really liked his strangle holds and the following llave exchange, as well as the crazy pin combo he busted out. And Yano feeds really well into GOAs offense, such as eating a shining wizard to the back of his head while getting his leg stuck in the ropes, and timing his comebacks such as an inside cradle really well. I also really like his backbreaker with the arm behind the back, and the Yano Lock variations. Another neat finish.

Keita Yano vs. GOA, VKF 2/1/2020

This also opens with about 10 minutes of sublime matwork. I think GOA may have taken one of those Wallabee seminars as he matches up extremely well against Keita and adds a lot of nifty touches this time, such as turning a basic headscissor into a strangle hold. Keita of course is king of the mat now and was just the right mix of vicious and esoteric. At one point he did this great pin hold that looked to nearly pop GOAs shoulders. Really slick transitions between the holds while both guys busted out some great llaves, it was basically high end IWRG matwork. The standup portion was similiar to the previous match as they did a few callback spots and even teased the finish from the last match, so that was really neat. GOA did these cool moves where he did the Low Ki shining boomerang kick or whatever its called and he would spin into armbars. Keitas out of nowhere pin combos always get great reaction. Good shit and it says a lot that KEITA has been able to work himself up to an indy main eventer (well, this show as attended by 200 people, but its still something).

Tanomusaku Toba Documentation Project #12

Tanomusaku Toba vs. Yukio Sagakuchi (DDT 11/15/2019) - FUN

This was from a martial arts tournament which in style of modern DDT had a lot of silly buggers going on. Toba is an old man now and he moves a little slower. This was just a 2 minute match but there was still a really fun punch exchange and a cool finish with Toba sidestepping his higher ranked opponent and blasting him for the upset win so it’s pushed into FUN territory.

Tanomusaku Toba vs. HARASHIMA (DDT 11/15/2019) - FUN

This was the finals of the tournament. It was just a 6 minute match (probably a good think considering Toba has a gut now and looks alcoholic) with the first 3 minutes being slow anticipating moments, but the last 3 are fun enough with Toba uncorking another nasty load of potatoes in the corner and a cool finish where Harashima somehow springboard dives into a leglock which Toba frantically tries to fight out of so Harashima giant swings into a boston crab for the tap. That kind of struggle is always going to get a match on my good side.

 

Tanomusaku Toba & Takashi Sasaki & Nihao vs. Asian Cougar & Super Rider & Yuki Nishino, DDT 11/25/1999 - GREAT

Another very good early DDT tag. BattlARTS level stiffness mixed with crushing junior highspots. Plenty of brutal spinkicks. Nihao and Rider had some cool exchanges here. Both guys have lineage to Sayama with Rider being a Shooto guy and Nihao being trained by Kitahara who was Sayamas student. Nishino works like a pro wrestling crowbar and he had some really fun exchanges with Toba. He also hulked up during an attempted 3 on 1 section which was a rare macho moment in Japanese wrestling that actually meant something and was cool. Also, as usual, Cougars legdrops were just insane. The match needed more extended Toba sections to push into epic territory, but he was the Toba we all know and love.

 

TANOMUSAKU TOBA DOCUMENTATION PROJECT MASTER LIST

Assorted Japanese Indy Wrestling

 

Yasushi Sato vs. Hiroshi Watanabe, Mumejuku 4/17/2019

Any new Mumejuku upload is truely a gem. It looked like there were 7 people in the audience but these guys with over 100 years combined age gave it their all. This was worked in 5 minute rounds, and, apparently 2 count rules, because why the hell not. Another really good MUGA-like match. Loved the pop they get when Sato broke Watanabes perfect bridge. Sato is starting to really look like Japans best kept secret in these matches. The is so fun busting out inventive holds, and he continues to be the king of the russian leg sweep. Loved all the old man suplexes, the lock ups, the constant struggle over a basic side suplex, Watanabe flying outside after blocking a grapevine move followed by Sato hitting a damn plancha. The burst of energy in the last round, all the pin attempts being really well done and actually mattering due to the 2 count rules… I loved Watanabes Robinson backbreakers, and the eventual back drops. Him reversing Satos finisher looked so damn awesome, I have no idea how Watanabe, a 48 year old indy worker can make me give a shit about a cool reversal more than all the wrestlers half his age having reversalfests, but he just does it. I loved this.

GENTARO vs. Spark Aoki, Secret Base 1/10/2011

Never seen Spark Aoki before, but based on the „sleazy shooter who looks to go for fancy high kicks“ act he did here, he‘s cool. This was a really fun 11 minute BattlARTS style match. A style of match that this Secret Base crowd apparently did not buy their ticket for, because they sat in silence as these two slapped the shit out of eachother. GENTARO looked like he lost his calling as a BattlARTS guy here as he looked great throwing big suplexes, busting out carny stretches and smacking the shit out of his opponent. Aoki never stood chance, but he blasted GENTARO in the face with some unexpectedly stiff kicks of his own before GENTARO shut him down hard with a series of backdrops and lariats that would've done Choshu proud. Fun times.

GENKAI & ASOSAN vs. Eisa-8 & Shisa-o (Kyushu Pro 1/21/2016)

It‘s Kyushu Pro vs. Okinawa Pro. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Eisa-8 here, for a skinny indy guy that I‘ve never heard of. All of his exchanges were very good, he worked his opponents with a certain sense of respect, avoiding tit-for-tap type exchanges, mounted some neat comebacks and hit a big dive. And GENKAI and ASOSAN basically work this like an indy Steiner brothers suplexing him hard and landing nasty kicks and punches. Shisa-o is GAINA and solid as a beefy fatboy with a nice elbow drop. It was a bit of a baffling choice to work this with the Okinawa Pro guy as FIP in front of a Kyushu Pro crowd but the match was good.

Assorted Japanese Indy Wrestling

 

Yujiro Yamamoto vs. KATSUO, Dounan Pro Wrestling(?) 3/31/2019

These two had a very good main event in Yamamotos BATTLE And ARTS promotion, so I was delighted to find another match between the two! The BAP match was a match built around Katsuo being a monster and demolishing Yamamoto. This was about Yamamoto picking apart Katsuo with shoot strikes and nasty arm stretches and Katsuo being a tough guy absorbing punishment and firing back with KO worthy potatoe lariats and headbutts of his own. One thing was constant: these two potatoed the daylights out of each other. Yamamoto is quite the offensive tank combining cool arm submissions with a variety of kicks, knees, elbows and open hand strikes. He even mixes in a cool Kido Clutch at one point. And Katsuo is really solid in his role. Fun fun match.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kyosuke Sasaki, Kyushu Pro 12/2016

For a 66 year old man, Fujiwara could still go. This match blows a lot of shootstyle attempts between younger guys away. Fun beginning with guys shoving each other to the ropes and trading stiff cheapshots, and then we a get a bunch of really good matwork. Fujiwara was stretching the hell out of Sasaki and doing some nasty as hell ankle grinding. There was also a great leg lock exchange. Sasaki is really cool here, not holding back with the kicks, and doing things like going for a Gotch style piledriver on the old man. Great finish where Fujiwara baits Sasaki into finally throwing a hand and catching him.

More Japanese YouTube Channel Explorations

 

Rikiya Fudo vs. Raito Shimitsu (?? 12/22/2019)

When I watched Raito Shimitsu vs. Yuki Ishikawa, I was hoping he would get more interesting stuff like this to do. Well, I don’t know if “getting the bricks beat out off of you by Fudo in a chain ring match” technically counts, but it sure is something. This goes 5 minutes and is basically the worlds greatest WCWSN squash. Fudo is a great stiffer Finlay in this, just beating the life out of Raito with sick vader hammers, lariats and chops. His ground moves may be even more devastating as he just drops his entire body weight into an elbow drop or senton. His big splash that left Raito gasping for air looked absolutely sick. Raito gets 1 or 2 brief moments of offense, including a nice judo throw, but his Karelin Lift gets denied and Fudo just finishes him like he owed him money. Very short, very violent. It was a good bout. 

Yasushi Sato vs. Masamune (Mumejuku 6/3/2018)

Unexpectedly, a pretty great match. Masamune is a masked indy guy who was trained in Mexico. I have no idea what got into them here, but they hit the mat and had an outstanding match. Starts with a bunch of cool amateur matwork and cradles and then develops really well into this intense battle that felt like it could have taken place in Coliseo Coacalco. I know Yasushi Sato is a Mumejuku regular so probably used to doing matwork heavy matches, but I was surprised by how well Masamune did here. Both guys had some brilliant holds, especially dug the whacky leglocks which were set up really well, and there were a number of nifty spots. Really loved Masamune catching Sato on the knee drop and him braining Sato hard with an out of nowhere Tiger Feint Kick after a rope break, aswell as the crazy rolling pin he broke out. Also loved both guys randomly going into escrima pummeling like 15 minutes into the match, which lead to Sato hitting his awesome deadlift belly to belly suplex. Finishing stretch was built around Sato trying to lock in his grapevine/straight jacket hold signature move and Masamune fighting it off in different ways. Sato further establishes himself as the king of the Russian Leg Sweep by hitting another awesome one. Really really compelling stuff, I’ve no idea how these guys bothered to put this much intellligence and technical skill in a non-mainstream match for a small audience but I’m glad we got to watch.

Mr. Gannosuke vs. Manabu Hara (Batos Cafe 4/3/2018)

Awesome match, which may actually be the best Gannosuke singles I’ve seen, which is crazy to say about a match that happened in 2018. I guess random uploads from Japanese micro indy related YouTube channels are the new gold. I think this was during Gannosukes retirement run so he was bringing the goods. First half of the match is all matwork. Suruga is obviously younger and more athletic and pushing the pace, so Gannosuke breaks out a bunch of awesome Fujiwaraesque counters. Totally didn’t know he had that in him. Second half Suruga continues to dominate by laying into Gannosuke with kicks and palms, I also did not expect a 48 year old has-been-coasting-for-years Gannosuke to eat that kind of stiff punishment. It’s really all about whether Gannosuke is tough enough to survive and break out a counter or whether the younger wrestler will blow him away. Gannosuke is of course a really fun tricky pro wrestler, he can always turn a match around by just kicking someone in the balls or busting out his awesome Gannosuke Clutch, and he fires back with some crowbar lariats and big bombs of his own. No idea what’s been going on lately with so many awesome unexpected Japan indy matches popping up but I love it.

Assorted Japanese Indy Wrestling starring ISAMI

 No, we are not talking about the K-Dojo trainee/Big Japan deathmatch guy Isami Kodaka in this post. This ISAMI is a karateka who seems to be in his 40s or 50s and works scummy underbelly Japan indies. There must have been a hundred guys like that - businessmen with black belts who randomly decided to get into the ring for a few one of matches, as long as they stick to what they know I am going to enjoy them doing their thing. This ISAMI isn't exactly Masashi Aoyagi, but he has uploaded some matches against interesting opponents to his YouTube channel, which is prime fodder for this blog.

ISAMI vs. Gajo, ?? 8/19/2020(?)

This takes place in a ring with chains instead of ropes. That is the signature of Fugo Fugo Yumeji's Underground Wrestling EXIT, but I'm not sure this is that promotion. Gajo is a massive bald dude who works a bit like a sleazy Kaz Fujita and doesn't make tape nearly enough. This was rounds and just two dudes beating on each other, no grappling or throws, just Gajo wailing on this with big open palm strikes and ISAMI firing back with karate offense. The whole thing is over in about 7 minutes and it has a real CAPTURE vibe. For such a minimalist fight there were a few neat things, such as Gajo getting caught when he tried rushing the karateka early, and the big Ikedaesque lariat to the side of the head that downed ISAMI. It's always refreshing to see a stiff Japanese match with no elbow smashes or shoulder blocks.

ISAMI vs. Rikiya Fudo, 3/17/2019

Rikiya Fudo is YUSAKU (Shimoda) who used to work DDT undercards and CAPTURE. So he has experience doing these kind of minimalist crowbarfests, and he looked good crowbarring the fuck out of ISAMI here. Just pummeling the guy with vader hammers and elbow drops. Fudo is a bit more pro-wrestling like than Gajo, but he really does all his pro wrestling things in a crowbar fashion, hitting a really hard legdrop and a big splash that ISAMI sold like he was gonna puke on the mat. Love this kind of abject violent squash.

ISAMI vs. Yuki Ishikawa, 12/25/2018

For some reason, I don't recall many Ishikawa matches where he faces a pure striker like this. Of course, Ishikawa rules, and this ended up being another near squash. ISAMI really beat on Ishikawa nowhere near as hard as you need to beat on Ishikawa. This had the most grappling of any matches so far and is really the Ishikawa show, which I enjoy. Another neat finish.