Assorted Ice Ribbon

 

Kiku vs Tsukasa Fujimoto, Ice Ribbon 4/12/2022

I liked Kiku in the one match I’ve seen of her, and I know Tsukasa is a pretty respectable wrestler, so I decided to check this out. This is at the beginning of Kikus career so she is still taking rookie punishment, i.e. 5 dropkicks from Kiku can’t knock Tsukasa down and so on. However just when she looks hopeless Kiku is able to hit a surprise body slam, allowing her to go for her signature submission, which Tsukusa resists against with all her might. Kiku In a smart move drags Tsukasa to the floor and locks in a figure 4, which Tsukasa sells as actually damaging. This sets up the surprisingly intense second half with both of them slapping the shit out of each other and hitting some hard kicks. Basic stuff but very well done.

Asahi vs Tae Honma, Ice Ribbon 6/11/2022

Pretty different type of match for Ice Ribbon. No comedy or time wasting, instead they grappled and stubbornly went for the armbar. Asahi in particular had lots of slick ways to tie up her opponent and try to bend her arm out of the shoulder, though Honma does also look good. Some really well timed flash submissions and roll ups here, which is kind of the best case scenario for an Ice Ribbon match. There was also a great struggle over a Tiger Suplex at one point. Won’t make you forget ARSION, but it’s a fine unique piece of pro wrestling.

Chon Shiryu vs Kiku, Ice Ribbon 5/6/2023

Another great little match from Chon Shiryu, what are the odds? The man just keeps on delivering every chance he gets. This is pretty rad 7 minute match. It’s almost all Shiryu, though Kiku is cool too. Kiku now has a frying pan that she hits people with for the obligatory once-per-match comedy spot (god I hate Japan sometimes), but Shiryu turns that frying pan against her, hitting Kiku spine-first with the frying pan against the apron in an actually painful looking spot. I really buy that a kung fu master would know how to use a frying pan to hurt someone in unique ways. Shiryu then does a real workmans job working over Kikus spine with nasty elbows and a cool springboard stomp. Shiryu just keeps doing cool shit. Kiku only has two brief comebacks, although they are fun. Finish is fucking great as Kiku get Shiryu down and desperately goes for her signature submission but Shiryu pulls her over, locking in a submission of his own for the tap.

Asuka Fujitaki vs YuuRI, Ice Ribbon 6/8/2024

Really fun 8 minute match that had a lot of good stuff packed into it. Fujitaki is a thickly built girl, who has both fun ways to crash into her opponent as well as some skill. Fujitaki displays some cool submissions, and YuuRI tries to beat her in ratty ways. YuuRI actually has some pretty fun well timed kicks of her own. Apparently Fujitaki has gone under several different names notably as Grizzly Fujitaki and now Asuka Goda, I should probably watch more of her because this was cracking.

Asahi vs Saori Anou, Ice Ribbon 12/31/2022

Really good stuff here, no doubt. Starts really nice with an intense lock up. They move through some actually impressive slick sequences with some cool bridging spots. Asahi eventually gets Anou in an armbar which Anou sells as a big deal and Asahi takes control working over Anous arm. Really nice control segment with well done attempted comebacks and cutoffs. The build from Asahi being firmly in control to the match slipping away from her was really good I thought, as such I didn’t even have a huge problem with her no selling because it gave the sense that she was desperate to maintain control. It was a bit iffy when they did the chest forearms but then Asahi did these cool double handed blows to Anous face and Anou retaliated with a thudding enzuigiri of her own. Last couple minutes actually felt gritty due to Asahi trying her damndest to snap Anous arm. There is some sloppiness and they do get carried away with an assload of nearfalls but that’s joshi sometimes, the build and substance here were a lot better than your typical joshi movesfest though. Thought Asahi looked quite good here, she put some real heft into her forearms and the arm attacks were cool, I wonder what she’s been up t- oh, apparently she died in an accident not long after this. Bummer to say the least.

Taking a look at... Hot Shushu

 Chon Shiryu vs Samas (Hot Shushu 5/6/2024)

I’m a big fan of Chon Shiryu, and I’m naturally inclined to check out any match he’s in. Samas is a pretty interesting guy, he’s a tall-ish foreigner with a cool mask and odd agility which allows him to hit some cool looking high kicks. Samas was a bit dainty with his movements at times but he sure looked convincing when has dropping bombs, I can definitely see potential in him, plus I am sucker for guys who look straight out of a 90s Mortal Kombat game. This was a lot like how I would fantasy book a hypothetical Chon Shiryu run in a US TV promotion, really nice fast paced big vs little match with Shiryu hitting his awesome spots including the diving kick to the floor. Samas was really cool to watch in this, lots of cool hurty looking offense without being cliché big man stuff. Cool little match in that dojo,

Kiku vs Banako (Hot Shushu 5/6/2024)

So I was looking through the Hot Shushu highlight videos trying to figure out what match ups look interesting, and I thought this girl Kiku looks cool. Then I look her up on Cagematch and SHE’S 47 YEARS OLD??? And her debut was just in 2021? I have a fascination with wrestlers who start wrestling late, they always seem to have a better mind for wrestling and with guys like Yasushi Sato, Yuta Oya or Hiroki Sakai the genre has produced some greats, so to see someone like that show up in the cosmos of Ice Ribbon is fascinating. And yeah, watching this Kiku is definitely really cool. She has actually hard kicks, and cool submissions. Banako is another one of those wrestlers whose personality is pretty much ‘joyful clown in a world of asskickers’. Banako didn’t strike me as insanely talented – not really having more than a basic dropkick and roll ups – but the contrast with her and Kiku being a more serious asskicker and putting the boots to her with said hard kicks and cool submissions is really fun. Kiku sets herself up for Banako in ways that really help the match too. I’m definitely gonna have to watch more Kiku.

Takahiro Tababa & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs Samas & Yoshikazu Yokoyama (Hot Shushu 7/20/2024)

Tababa and Takaiwa, what a team. Unfortunately Yokoyama may be one of the worst wrestlers I’ve ever seen, he’s just super low effort to the point where he shows up wrestling in a t-shirt, so this was a little rough. Samas also wasn’t in the match a ton. Takaiwa still looks insanely tough but can barely move. Tababa kicking Samas really hard was pretty fun, and Yokoyama did get it together to at least hit some nice Death Valley Bombs for the finish.

Chon Shiryu vs Kouyo (Hot Shushu 4/7/2024)

Another Chon Shiryu showcase match baby. This was also really cool. Shiryu could just coast and hit his spots, but he strayed from his usual stuff to work an indy main event formula match with his opponent. That means a bit slower pace but we get to see what Shiryu can do, working some cool matwork, attacking Kouyos legs with some nifty holds. He did have some cool parkour spots where he used the walls of this tiny dojo to his advantage in awesome ways. Kouyo is a bit green and bland, but he’s solid enough, he does hit some nice kicks, his 619 setup was cool, although his thigh slappy kick combo was pretty weak, he did sell the leg work though. Pretty insane finish. I love watching Shiryu do his thing.

 Daisuke Sekimoto vs Samas, Hot Shushu 2023/7/17

Apparently, this was Samas 3rd match ever, unless he was working some place elsewhere before that Cagematch doesn't know about.  And this is wisely kept very basic. Sekimoto could probably wrestle in his sleep. With him, you always get your test of strengths, your shoulderblocks, your forearm exchange... he has a simple formula that works, and it tends to bore me to death so I can only watch him once every couple years. Samas being the opponent makes things more interesting than usual, since he's actually quite a bit bigger than Sekimoto despite how freakishly large this short Japanese mans chest and shoulders have gotten. Because Samas is bigger and hefty Sekimoto is actually forced to come up with a few different touches and when he hits the deadlift german it's actually impressive. Samas didn't show a ton here, none of the cool stuff he did in the Shiryu match really, but sometimes a 3rd match is just a 3rd match.

 

5 minute exhibition: Yoshiko Tamura vs Tanny Mouse, Hot Shushu 12/24/2023

It's Christmas and Tamura is dressed as Santa and Tanny is dressed as a reindeer. And well... they work this pretty much exactly as if it were a serious 2005 NEO match or so. Just both of them going really hard, nailing their signatures, not wasting much time with comedy (though Tanny does get her due here and there) All their stuff still looks good and you get the sense either of them could return to in-ring competition and be near top level still. Tanny looked especially slick still, like she had never stopped. And they do it all while dressed in those ridiculous costumes. Too surreal not to talk about this. It was getting awe inspiring when Tanny went for the muscle buster but then the time ran out. What a Christmas dream!

 

Cosmo Soldiers YouTube Channel

 Cosmo Soldier vs Kenta Kosugi, KAGEKI 5/6/2023

Very good match with Kosugi looking like a beast and Cosmo trying everything in the book to crack him down. Soldier hanging on to headlocks and sleeperholds and booting Kosugi in the face early on reminded me of a smartly worked early 90s AJPW match. Soldier was hitting insanely hard, both trying to crack Kosugis jaw with european uppercuts and laying really hard kicks into his body, and he had a few classy moments such as a really graceful sweep into a submission, as well as a great upside down scarecrow submission hold. Kosugi powering out of Soldiers holds was epic and he looked like a monster manhandling Soldier and ragdoll tossing him into the buckles. It builds to this really nasty finish with Soldier trying to chop through Kosugis neck with weird sideway hitting lariats and Kosugi just trying to chokeslam him through the ring. Really good, honestly probably the best singles match I’ve seen of our man Cosmo.

Cosmo Soldier vs Yoshikazu Taru, WYF 10/5/1997

Pretty fun 5 minutes. This was probably the most asskicking I’ve seen Taru dish out. He sure was confident putting a beating on Soldier here. Soldier can hit some quick takedowns but he eats lots of hard kicks and even karate chops from Taru. It looks like it’s gonna be a one sided trashing but the Soldier is able to land an awesome punch to the head and then fly recklessly into TARU with his awesome fast flip dive. It looks like Soldier can mount something, but then he knocks himself loopy while trying a suplex and seconds later is KO’d by a big Taru high kick. Fun for all the things people like indy scum wrestler vs karateka matches, and condensed into 5 minutes too.

Cosmo Soldier vs Makoto Saito, WYF 1997/5/18

This appears to be taking place in the WYF Dojo, so that alone is amazing to see. The match is fun too, as it’s basically raw unpolished BattlARTS style. Lots of tight grappling and evil strikes with both guys weaving in some big moves to keep it exciting. Saito looks really cool here, really peppering Soldier with sharp kicks. Soldier tries a few things, some come off well, like his out of nowhere headscissor takedown, some are slightly ill fated, but the spirit was there. Nothing here locks planned and it’s just really raw and uncooperative stuff. Not for the faint of the heart but sometimes a raw messy fight like this cleans the soul.

Assorted EAGLE Pro

 

Shoji Ohno vs Hiroyuki Kondo, EAGLE Pro 2/28/2021

This was from the plague era, so they wrestled in the empty EAGLE Pro dojo. I love Shoji Ohno now, I am not super familiar with Hiroyuki Kondo since he is another very elusive guy, but I thought Kondo was cool when he was in BJW 20 years ago. And oh my god this is a great match! They start with 10 minutes of ground wrestling like a classic NJPW match from the 90s and these two are really interesting to watch twist each other up on the ground. Kondo is really cool here – at one point he tried to snap Ohnos wrist with a headbutt that looked really good. Eventually it devolves into Kondo damaging Ohnos arm and Ohno damaging Kondos leg. This makes things further interesting both guys would try to go for their signature moves but couldn’t hit them because of the limb damage. Rarely do you see the logical conclusion of limb damage drawn to the end, and it really paid off in making this match more exciting. Kondo even hit a an arm-breaking piledriver on Shoji Ohno, which was amazing. Ohno is as straight forward as we know him from Mutoha. He doesn’t have the palm rushes yet, but he throws a lot of closed fist punches, and he is already really cool, he had this awesome reversal of an attempted russian legsweep. This was just the kind of minimalist, technical pro wrestling I really like, really it’s a gem considering what a small stage it was put on for.

Shoji Ohno vs Hiroyuki Kondo, EAGLE Pro 9/24/2023

Another match between them, and this one is in front of an audience. It’s also great! It’s also a pretty different beast from the 2021 match. Here, Shoji Ohno is a dirty heel bastard, and he has learned how to palm strike. So Ohno spends the whole match pummeling the hell out of Kondo with his hard as stone palms, even mocking a little girl in the audience. Crusher Takahashi is also with Ohno, ready to beat on Kondo with a kendo stock. Kondos only chance is to dismantle Ohnos arm and lock in the Scorpion Armlock. We get to see some great arm attacks from Kondo, including him busting out the arm breaking piledriver again, and there were a few great moments. The one problem was that I thought Kondo should’ve been slowed down more by Ohnos assault to his leg, but it wasn’t a huge problem. Kondo also busts out a great senton to Ohnos arm. Another really unique, cool as hell match from Shoji Ohno.

Hiroyuki Kondo & Kazunori Yoshida vs Leo Isaka & Takahiro Katori, EAGLE 2018/12/16

Another cool match from EAGLE Pro, based on what I see the promotion seems really cool. From what I gather Kondo and Yoshida are the veteran stalwarts of the promotion, with Yoshida being the founder of the company and Kondo its long time ace. Isaka and Katori are SHOCK DA HEROES, the budding young hotness of EAGLE, and they are trying to upset the veterans. This is a really good sprint, lots of spectacular moves but it’s really made by the veterans vs rising stars story. Kondo once again looked like the king of unorthodox arm attacks here, busting out an awesome Russian Legsweep targeting the arm. Yoshida may be some kind of best kept secret of the japanese indies, he has all these amazing looking rope climbing springboard moves, and also brings a trampolin for assisted springboard moves, he’s really graceful and awesome to watch. Isaka and Katori are mostly outgunned but I liked the few bits of offense they got in this too. Check this out if you want to spend 10 minutes watching some fresh wrestling.

Into a heart of darkness

 Beautiful areola Hikaru vs. Thick and hard Hoshino Kankuro, AZW 2024/11/16

I'm not the biggest deathmatch fan, but every once in a while something comes along where I can't deny the fascination, and this match is like it crawled out of the seediest darkest hole. This was an utterly deranged spectacle as you can tell by the names of these two. They are doing a lighttubes deathmatch in this claustrophobically small venue which is pretty unhinged to begin with, the fans having to shield themselves from flying glass shards, and it just gets more and more deranged as it continues. Both these guys are amateur-pro wrestlers, so they don't have the 'wrestlers' physique. In a way seeing two guys with normal people physique butcher each other and bleeding like crazy feels more unhinged. Especially when one of them is fat and seemingly turning very pale from losing blood. This was a deathmatch built around freakish gimmicks and insane acts, and they were pretty freakish and insane. There's a dracula cape covered in razor blades, a brick with forks sticking out, and the most infamous moment of the match of course when both guys fucking skewer each other through the mouth and then proceed to trade forearms, run the ropes and take bumps. Aside from the freakshow acts there was some pretty good wrestling, with both guys doing a good job actually working the transitions and keeping things moving, even working in some basic psychology like building to an Angle Slam. Hikaru (the fat guy) has some cool headbutts and lariats and largely sticks to things he can do well.  'Kankuro Hoshino' is not the BJW guy, he's a skinny guy who wrestles like an amalgamation of several guys but mostly Jun Kasai and Masashi Takeda, and he moves pretty well throwing his skinny body around. Also both guys made sure to act like total psychos throughout. You have to admire the confidence to get skewered like that and continue wrestling, or take the moment and phantomime a conductor before going ahead with said skewering.

Suicappu Kenjiro vs Shikotte 2 Hotte, CWP ??

Pretty great semi-pro match with a ton of energy and snap to everything. The best semi-pro matches are slightly outside of what you normally see in pro wrestling, maybe slightly messy if you will, but still maintain good enough execution and psychology to be enjoyable, will bringing lots of creativity, and that was the case here. Both guys threw really hard kicks and strikes, not holding back at all, and each had something going for himself. Shikotte 2 Hotte is a really impressive serious junior, aside from one moment where he goes for the worm. His movements area really explosive, he hits hard kicks an he has lots of nasty offense like great looking flying knees and nasty dropkicks to the prone opponent. He was really good here also trying to stay on the arm and constantly busting out surprise armbars which I loved. Kenjiro is clearly one of the cooler guys from this scene, as he wrestles a really straight to the point style that he does really well, sticking to blasting his opponent with kicks and some amazing ragdoll suplexes. They work a relentless pace building to some big moments with hardly any letdowns, really impressive match that blows a  lot of ‘pro’ work from the last couple years out the water.

Dekai Ichimotsu vs Hareta Kogan, Health Pro 2018/3/18

Really cool technical match between two guys who have a unique approach to things. Early goings are a lot of fun with Kogan going for the arm and Ichimotsu focussing on the neck/head. We all know Dekai is badass but Kogan also brings a lot of cool stuff to the table. The match gets really good when Dekai would start kicking Kogan in the head from close angles. His stomps, flying dropkicks etc all look really great. He also has an awesome out of nowhere Abisegiri and at one point just hurls himself handspringing into another headkick. The focus of the match is pretty unique with Ichimotsu constantly going for a chancery and trying to build it into a finish. Kogan also does a cool job trying to set up a cobra clutch move, and his big flying dropkick was awesome. Really efficient nifty match, a real showcase for the kind of unique and compelling wrestling this scene can produce.

Hangyojin Masakazu vs Sho Karasuno, TDR 2023/10/29

Hangyojin Masakazu is really cool. He looks old as dirt, but the spirit of Inoki keeps him strong. He does a really good job with his tribute act that somehow still feels competitive. I mean, there aren't many wrestlers around busting out awesome old timey flying headscissors and gnarly sleeper holds like he does. I haven't seen Sho Karasuno in years (never would I have thought that I would see him again after stumbling across him one time as he faced Yujiro Yamamoto), and I thought he might have changed a little, engaged in some serious grappling exchanges early, but he soon returned to his old ways as he kicked Masakazu in the nuts. Old Masakazu taking shoot kicks and other offense from Karasuno is really fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him laying waste to that scoundrel.

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

Tanonmusaku Toba Documentation #24

 Tanomusaku Toba vs Hikaru Sato, Evolution 12/17/2023 - GREAT

I'm enjoying old man Toba. He is not as athletic or conditioned, but he will still brutally punch people in the face. And that is pretty much the selling point of this match. After some cautious exchanges early on where neither guy wanted to make a mistake, Sato made the mistake of trying to follow a regrouping Toba outside the ring and immediately ate some brutal street fight punches on the floor. A seemingly pissed off Sato was then bent on outstriking Toba, only for Toba to block, dodge and punch him in the face some more. Sato catching himself and figuring out to weather the storm was cool and the finish with Toba trying to kick and punch his way out of a submission was gnarly. Nice story and Satos willingness to get punched in the face hard is commendable.

Tanomusaku Toba & MIKAMI vs Sanshiro Takagi & GENTARO, DDT 8/26/2007 - GREAT

First half of this was solid but not blowaway stuff. Everybody here has good execution and is fun to watch, even doing basic stuff like hitting elbow drops or dropkicks. Takagi getting tagged by Tobas punches and having to try a little harder than usual is always entertaining. In the second half they started busting out the fireworks, and they were big dman fireworks. A ladder comes into play and they do a bunch of crazy highspots. It's kind of amazing that in a match like this Toba may have had the biggest highspots, he hit this sick double stomp off the ladder, as well as taking a stunner from Takagi off the ladder which was pretty insane. In between the spots you have Toba tagging people with punches which is pretty cool in a match against two WWF worshipping guys. Toba repeatedly blocking GENTAROS super kick attempts and wrecking him with punches was really cool. It made me think I would really enjoy an X-Division 4 way or a Young Bucks tag if Toba was involved.

 

Tanomusaku Toba Documentation Master List

Continueing to watch Mutoha and being amazed

 

Ho Death Min vs. Diablo, 3^rd Brand 3/11/2023

This is from 3^rd Brand which is like a brawling-focussed Mutoha side brand. Decreasing the stunt show aspect of modern hardcore wrestling and increasing scrappiness is a really good aesthetic and they pulled off what they aimed at beautfully. Right at the go the match feels unhinged as Ho Death Min comes in with a fucking machete. He has to be held back and Diablo jumps him. They make use of a bunch of weapons that are laying around and they do a really good using them in unique hurty ways. Diablo at one point lands several nasty jabbing hits with a kendo stick to Mins leg, he also tries to behead him with a shovel horror movie style at one point. What really makes the match is the tumbling they do between shots. Often in brawls guys hit with a weapon, then lazily walk to the next location for another spot. That wasn’t the case here as both guys were always fighting, rolling on the floor punching each other, trying to sweep a leg or get in a bite when they were down etc. The laptop destruction is fun because that laptop is probably like half of Mutohas budget. for such a long brawl this never dragged and always kept my attention, I was really invested in some of the super simple things they did like the double clothesline exchange on the floor and they keep the crazy moments coming such as Diablo trying to stab Min with a piece of plastic or fucking Leatherface doing a run in with a running chainsaw. The stipulation of the match is that you have to put your opponent in a big bag to win and it kind of really works in its goofiness. After the match we get more sleaze characters brawling including fucking Katsunari Toi coming out to hit people with a kendo stick. Diablo really works in these kind of seedy brawls and almost 60 year old Poison Sawada worked his butt off. Super fun unique match, I love the technical stuff but I also love that they are doing this kind of brawling. People should pay attention to the art of this stuff just like to the art of something like Arai/GENTARO.

Hiroshi Watanabe vs. Kazuhiko Matsuzaki, Mutoha 2/14/2016

Interesting match because Matsuzaki, while being “old school” is not exactly a technician who will do lengthy hold for hold stuff. And thankfully they worked the match just like that, resulting in a really cool contest. Matsuzaki works  this like an 80s or 90s New Japan heavyweight. He doesn’t want to play Watanabes game and instead tries to go the few impact moves that he has, clocking Watanabe with headbutts and kicks to break the holds. At one point he grabbed a tight headlock and then drove Watanabe hard into the mat with a big bulldog, which is something that pretty much nobody does anymore but it totally rules. Later, Matsuzaki would power out of an attempted Cobra Twist, sell how painful that hold was for his abdomen, then try to put the same hold on Watanabe only for sneaky technician to immediately reverse it and torque Matsuzaki some more. Matsuzakis kicks and headbutts don’t hit as hard as they did in 1993 but otherwise the man did very well. And Watanabe is perfect in this kind of match, too. This match didn’t have much mat wizardry, it was more about timing and struggle, and there was a complete lack of contrived sequences. Very nice stuff without trying to force an epic, this kind of wrestling is so good, give me a good story and a sense of struggle with some cool moments and I will be very happy.

 

Taro Yamada vs Konaka, Mutoha 7/5/2015

Terrific match, Mutoha at its very best. It’s a rounds match that begins in a fashion inspired by World of Sport matches, with both guys displaying slick counters and moving in and out of holds very swiftly, but it quickly becomes a tangled nightmare as both guys would tie each other up in increasingly esoteric ways. Yamada was an absolute monster here, he looked like a true master of the llave style, and he just does things that nobody else does. He was tying up Konaka in so many different ways here, but also putting lots of creativity into his set ups and escapes, it was an absolute onslaught. Yamada is very much the driving force for most of the match, just tying Konaka in knots, and it seems Konaka only survives because Konaka is a flexibility demon and he can be put into contortions that not many other wrestlers could stand being put in. Although Konaka has a few moments where he really catches Yamada and it feels like a big victory each time. Not only were the submissions mind blowing, but so were their escapes from them. It was a display of mat wizardry in the truest sense. They do 20 minutes of outstanding grappling before the fifth round of 5, at which point Yamada loses his cool and finally nails Konaka with that curb stomp he likes to use. After that the time was running out and each moment felt frantic. Really edge of your seat stuff with both guys displaying incredible technical proficiency and body control while maintaining a competitive aura. I have been watching technical matches from Europe, Japan, Mexico, America for 15 years now and this was as good as any that I’ve seen.

More Mutoha that is so good you have to see it

 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 1^st 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.

2023 MOTY List

Kakuto Tanteidan 10/12/2023

 

Hideki Suzuki vs Yu Iizuka

Nice little match to start the event. Mostly grappling, everytime Iizuka get a submission on Hideki was really cool. Iiizuka seemed to be the one pushing the pace while Suzuki mostly relied on his size and didn't do much, though he had one really neat counter to an Octopus Stretch attempt. Finish was Suzuki starting to hit elbows during the grappling and KOing Iizuka, I felt it would have been nice if we had got a bit of back and forth. I mean Iizuka has gone toe to toe with Masakazu Funaki, it wouldn't have been absurd to see him take it to Hideki a bit more.

Ikuto Hidaka & Tanomusaku Toba vs Brother Yasshi & Hikaru Sato - EPIC

Great super violent undercard tag. I wasn't sure how Yasshi would do in this, but he does pretty good and took some insane punishment. He was solid early on taking down Toba, before he tries some pro wrestling bullshit and immediately gets punched in the face HARD. Hidaka/Sato was good shootstyle stuff with Hidaka being really lively and aggressive. Match got great once Yasshi took a sick out of nowhere bump on a German suplex. Toba then turned into super violent mode and started dishing out incredibly stiff punches and kicks. Sato/Toba exchange was brief but pretty great, I definitely would've liked to see more of that. Toba/Yasshi was just awesome as Toba was brutalizing Yasshi and Yasshi started hitting these sick jumping shoot headbutts which were some of the sickest I've ever seen. Hidaka/Sato finish was excellent BattlARTS stuff with some big strikes neck crunching moves and cool submission counters. Really good quasi shootstyle undercard tag that left me wanting more, just what we need in this day and age.

Keita Yano vs Super Tiger II - GREAT

I was curious to see Yano doing shootstyle matwork, but he stuck to his british style grappling even in this context. He was pretty good, though. He did things like leaning into a shoulder pin really slowly to emphasize he was stretching his opponent in painful ways. Keita controlled about 80% of the match. Tiger sold the fuck out of that armwork and hit some ultarsharp kicks when he got fed up with being toyed with. Tigers kicks looked great and he seemed to have a lot of spark in him, I would definitely like to see more of his modern day work. He looked like a badass when he finished Keita with a couple of brutal kicks.

Yuki Ishikawa & Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Minoru Fujita

Ishikawa pretty much carried the match, always doing neat maestroish things when he was in the ring. I haven't seen Fujita in years but he looked fine doing serious wrestling here. He did the right thing immediately going for his finisher during a brief grappling section with Ishikawa. He was also fun looking out of his depth against Sekimoto and trying to pull off a counter. Sekimoto didn't really do do Bati-Bati style here, just his pro style stuff with things like Irish Whips cut out, but the random touches like his big cross body were fun. I thought the final Ishikawa/Ikeda exchange underdelivered as Ikeda looked blown up after eating some slams from Sekimoto and nearly KO'ing himself with a big running headbutt. He didn't put up much fight against Ishikawa besides some Baba chops. Slightly disappointing outing from the two though I understand Ikeda is probably on his last legs.

Fuminori Abe vs. Takuya Nomura

Sick, blood-drenched fight. I was worried Abe would bring a goofy vibe, and while there was a bit of that early on, they stuck to doing serious pro wrestling. Nomura looked really great whenever he was doing Hashimoto-like beatdowns to his goofy opponent. After getting stomped in the corner, Abe finally decided to quit the silliness and just started knuckle punching his opponent in the face. After that the match got pretty great as both guys were just violently pummeling each other. Tons of sick headbutts, at one point Abe started bleeding from the crown of his head and it was just grizzly. Abes knee to the side of Nomuras face was by far the highlight of the match. Nasty nasty finish where a bleeding and beaten down Abe was stuck in a submission like Austin in the sharpshooter. Really good shit, no downtime and both guys just punished each other, really hope they keep doing this stuff as the whole show was great from top to bottom, and this was one hell of a fight to cap it off.

The Library 

2023 MOTY List

2023 MOTY Project Update #2

 Josh Barnett vs Claudio Castagnoli, AEW 10/1/2023

The grappling here was about 5 thousand times better than anything in Bryan/ZSJ because both guys actually struggled. Claudio does not have perfect technique, but him trying to put submissions on Barnett was pretty fun. Barnett is probably the best wrestler in the world simply for being smart enough to put his arm up and block when Claudio went to elbow him. Both guys threw some great looking strikes when standing up and everything continued to feel like a struggle. Claudio giant swing felt satisfying because there was a build to it and it didn't come out in a predictable manner. I like that Dean pointed out the defensive way in which Barnett took Claudios finisher, and the finish was neat. Cool little match, which actually felt close to a tribute to Inoki, if you see it as Barnett carrying a random gaijin in a weird IGF match.

Atlantis, Blue Panther, El Pantera, Negro Navarro, Panterita del Ring & Rocky Santana vs. Aguila Solitaria, Black Terry, El Satanico, Felino, Octagon & Solar I, CMLL 9/22/2023

I'll admit there's some nostalgia involved in me enjoying this, but screw it. It's too much fun seeing all these crusty old guys show up in their working boots and being way too proud to not bring up. Lots of good exchanges, nearly everybody brings it, and the match had everything, matwork, some brawling, and the crazy factor of some old guys doing dives and flying off the top. Santana/Panterita was a quite nifty mat section for such a random pairing, and Navarro/Solar was maybe a bit slower than 10 years ago but still pretty cool to see these guys showing they are a class above while surrounded by these other legends. Pantera was ballsy here doing a flip dive and taking a crazy powerbomb. We also get Black Terry punching and sometimes headbutting people in the face. Santana was the one guy who kinda lost the plot at one point but it was funny how he just gave up and tapped out. I think Satanicos like 75 but he still has some menace when he starts beating the shit out of someone in the corner. Octagon is the one guy who kind of half asses it, but the finish is really neat. Crowd reactions for this were tremendous.

Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage, AEW 8/19

Very good TV match. I'm not sure what to make of Allins tendency to start with chain wrestling. It doesn't seem to fit the character, but it's well executed. I'm going to assume he is in his mellow post punk phase and thus experimenting. Christian was very good. His deliberate control segment focussing on the arm was great. The hammerlock slam to start the segment was nasty and cool. I agree about the subtle greatness of Christians stomps and punches, and the way he carries himself as a heel not doing anything fancy and just focussing on being an asshole. Allin is a good white meat babyface and all his comebacks were good. I liked when he used Christians goofy turtleneck sweater against him. They did the same nasty neckbreaker on the ropes spot they did in the October match, but in this case it didn't lead to Darby doing anything annoying, instead he just took a nasty slam into the guardrail. Darbys tendency to go for crazy daredevil moves backfiring on him with the interference was smart. The build to the finish was well done and the actual ending made sense with how much damage Darby had taken. Christian looked like one of the best wrestlers in the world simply by having focus, understanding his role, throwing a decent punch and not doing anything stupid. Some parts of the match where a bit overdone/convoluted (e.g. Darby doing a whole bunch of stuff really fast during his first comeback attempt) which leads to things being less memorable, but that's 2023 wrestling for ya.

Virus vs. Dulce Gardenia, CMLL 1/13

This was tremendous. We got plenty of the usual high level Virus grappling, plus this match had a tremendous story and a unique dance partner in Dulce. The exotico spots early on were a lot of fun, it's really cool to see someone use his gimmick to try and gain an advantage like that without interrupting the wrestling. Virus made sure to punish his opponent with some super nasty looking leg and arm snapping moves. Dulce made a comeback in the second fall, but it was not an easy win for him. 3rd fall was pretty epic. Dulce trying to psych out Virus with the kiss of death was really great. Virus in turn wrenching Dulces wrist and bitch slapping him was awesome. The combination of wrestling and big bumps was great. Obviously the armdrag bump was a highlight but I also thought Dulce getting flung outside when he tried the frankensteiner was pretty crazy. Virus doing stuff at this like 54 is pretty insane. I thought this would stand pretty well to almost any singles match in the last 20 or so years.

2023 MOTY List

Of all things... a Yusaku Ito Deep Dive

 Yusaku Ito vs. Koji Kanemoto, Kobe Meriken 3/17/2023

Yusaku Ito is this scuzzy little guy who will kick you hard and blast you with nasty headbutts. He reminds me of the indy guys who would sometimes work Fu-Ten undercard matches, he’s not quite a shooter, but he hits some awesome strikes, really makes his pro style moves hit hard and as a knack for timing a cool transition, like he’s a lost 3^rd Brahman brother or Shoichi Uchida dance partner. Kanemoto is 56 here and while he doesn’t kick as fast as he used to he will still kick a scuzzy indy guy in the face and do random dick moves like stopping Ito by kicking him really hard in the leg. This takes place in some dingy bar and is filmed by a single webcam so we don’t get the brief brawling portion outside, we just Kanemoto leaving the ring, then we hear some clanging banging noise as if from a metal tin can and when they come back Yusaku is in control so you kind of imagine what happened. Ito is not afraid to hit the old man in the face, and he earns his sault leaping into Kanemotos spin kicks and knees. Really really fun stuff.

Yusaku Ito vs. Toru Sugiura, FREEDOMS/Sugiura Pro Wrestling 12/10/2021

Sick fucking match. Japanese wrestling is in this weird state right now where most of the wrestling you see is a bunch of fucking nothing, but occasionally you will get something fucking crazy on the smallest of stages. This was worked like a big match and really great, there is lots of basic but extremely tight and well executed opening hold for hold work. You gotta appreciate that Ito is this scuzzy guy but he can also do things like hit a really slick dragon screw. Opening going reminded me of a great 90s NJPW juniors match due to the tight basic work and both guys peppering in some psycho headbutts and elbows. Toru Sugiura is kind of the scuzzy king of the Japanese indies and I liked how he established himself as a class above his opponent, 1) in terms of wrestling by reversing a leglock from Ito into a cool leglock of his own and 2) by acting deranged and scummy as fuck. Middle portion was a bit middling but the ending portion is one of the sickest finishing stretches I’ve ever seen, just pure insanity with both guys trying to annihilate each other with crazy headbutts and elbows. Just a hair below the best of FUTEN and they worked some great transitions. Match had a bunch of well executed tight wrestling, head dropping moves and truly psycho violence, Japanese indy wrestling at its best.

Yusaku Ito vs. Konaka, Sportiva 12/16/2020

 

This was a rad 7 minute match. Konaka is like a freaky lithe Arn Anderson working a studio TV match here, just constantly attacking Itos arm, while Ito beats him around the ring with his cool kicks, back elbows and headbutts. Everything Ito does lands really solidly and the Konaka arm attack stuff is great. I imagine a 20 minute match between them would be epic considering both these guys are quite the hidden gem workers but sometimes it’s cool to see two talented guys having a unique short little match that has maybe 1 or 2 back bumps.

Yusaku Ito vs. Konaka, Sportiva 9/15/2021

Well, I just said a main event between the two would be epic, and here’s a main event between the two and it’s really good! Mind you it’s a weekday show in front of like 12 people, but that’s kind of the best match these two will do. And this was really good, almost scientific. We start with some really fun matwork with Konaka doing a cool job catching Ito in pins and submissions. The transition is Ito catching Konaka with a sleeper, which Konaka fights out of but Ito keeps knocking the wind out of him with blows to the body. Ito constantly going back to locking in cool chokes was really good. Konaka is such a fun wrestler, I love how he sets up his comeback and ends up working Itos legs over. The finishing stretch was Konakas leg stretches vs. Itos chokes and it was really smart and great. These two are awesome, and it was cool to see Ito in a really good match without brain damaging stiffness that was built around cool submissions and counters.

2023 MOTY Project #1

Genkai vs. Kodai Nozaki, Kyushu Pro 2/5/2023

Odd match which felt a bit like a really good match from WWE syndicated TV circa mid 2000s. But that kind of thing is way more interesting to me than your typical modern Japanese chopfest. Early on Genkai did a good job putting over the physicality of his massive opponent and throwing nice punches. Genkai also had some cool ways to set up his cobra clutch finisher, including an almost Honda-ish choke hold. Middle section was a bit slow but had Genkai hitting a really cool fast dropkick to Genkais head when he went to recuperate outside. The finishing stretch was very good and had some more neat spots including the submission finish which was done awesomely. Most importantly, there was no point where both guys traded mindless elbows and no endless chop trading.

 

 Tajiri vs. Mentai Kid, Kyushu Pro 2/5/2023

Put Tajiri in a big match and he can still deliver. If you squinted this was a bit like a Regal or Malenko vs. Rey Mysterio match. Opening exchanges were nice, and it got good once Tajiri started working Kids arm. Lots of cool reversals and cut offs, and Tajiri still hits his kicks with perfect form. I like Mentai Kid but this wasn't one of his better nights, still he really sold that arm work well and he has a nicely set up comeback and a great dive which Tajiri catches full on. Finishing run had lots of cool Tajiri tricks, and good selling from Kid. The highlight was a nice kimura where Tajiri rolled Kid around the ring trying to dislocate his arm.

Darby Allin vs. KUSHIDA, AEW 1/18

Very good match mostly due to KUSHIDA working like a tenacious 90s NJPW junior and constantly going for the arm, closer to Liger and Otani. I especially liked the dropkick in the ropes. Slick opening grappling and exchanges were nice to see. Darby didn't set my world on fire here, for example I was iffy at him doing a forward roll for some reason into a code red, but largely everything he did was fine and the crazy bump was indeed crazy. There was also some fight present such as Kushida almost hitting Darby back when he was trying to set up a spot outside. I really enjoyed all the arm work and the kimura spot, and the big arm throw from the top was innovative, made sense and looked hurty. I am conditioned to always expect both contenders in a match to get in a ridiculous amount of shit so Darby narrowly winning with a flash pin was surprising but I was fine with it.

2023 MOTY Project

Great Matches:

1. Kenichiro Arai vs GENTARO, Mutoha 2/5
   
2. Fuminori Abe vs. Takuya Nomura, KT 10/12
   
3. Virus vs Dulce Gardenia, CMLL 1/13 
4. Tanomusaku Toba & Ikuto Hidaka vs. Hikaru Sato & Brother Yasshi, KT 10/12 
5. Taro Yamada vs Akira Jo, Mutoha 2/5
   
6. Darby Allin vs. KUSHIDA, AEW 1/18/2023
7. Darby Allin vs. Christian, AEW 8/19
   
8. TAJIRI vs. Mentai Kid, Kyushu Pro 2/5/2023
9. Diablo vs Ho Death Min, 3rd Brand 3/11/2023
   

Honorable Mentions: 

Yuki Ishikawa & Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Minoru Fujita & Daisuke Ikeda, KT 10/12

Keita Yano vs. Super Tiger II, KT 10/12

Yusaku Ito vs. Koji Kanemoto, KOBE Meriken 3/17/2023

Cibernetico Match, CMLL 9/22/2023 

Josh Barnett vs. Claudio Castagnoli, AEW 10/1

GENKAI vs. Kodai Nozaki, Kyushu Pro 2/5/2023