Exploring various Japanese YouTube Channels

Masao Ando vs Yuki Toyoura, R-Planning 8/25/2024

Cool match up since Masao Andos is everyones favourite thickly built indy shooter boy and Toyoura is a mysterious guy with origins in JWA Tokai. Since Ando also has history with the JWA sphere that makes this interesting. And they deliver a really fun indy big boys match! Ando is really cool here as always kicking his opponent really hard and attacking his arms with painful looking submissions and hard kicks to the shoulder. Toyoura had some impressive offense including a huge dropkick and even bigger springboard dropkick which was impressive since he doesn’t exactly look like a small guy. He also wasn’t afraid to fire back with hard chops. Short and fun match with the right spirit being in place.

 

 

 Manabu Hara vs CHANGO, 10/1/2017

This was such an interesting match, and pretty much entirely due to CHANGO. Not that Hara is bad, but Chango brings such a fresh vibe with his animalistic vibe and unconventional tactics. He's not exactly a shoot grappler, but he's not a push over on the mat either. His scrambling, trying to pounce on Hara and grabbing limbs was a lot of fun and it made for a cool match up. CHANGO baiting Hara into doing a macho exchange and then hurting his leg was a really smart moment and should be stolen by pro wrestlers everywhere. Chango then proceeded to give Hara a good working over with a few unique leg attack spots. There were cool moments such as Hara having Chango in an anklelock while upside down, as well as a cool tarantula-esque leg stretch in the ropes that was pretty unique. Chango then proceeded to try and win the match with the old WWF No Mercy trick of locking in a submission on the floor and waiting until the countout. The finish was this great sequence of CHANGO trying to pin Hara with Hara reversing into armlocks repeatedly and CHANGO doing all these great pins. It really was some fine fine wrestling. 

 

Koji Kanemoto & Badmax Fujinaga vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yusaku Ito, Kasuyaro Pro Wrestling 7/1/2018

What a sleaze soaked wonder of a match. This was a shortlived Fujinaga/Yasshi promotion it seems, seems this was held in a small club room or something. Imagine going to your local venue to see legends the caliber of Kanemoto and Takaiwa kick the shit out of some local guys. Seeing Takaiwa and Kanemoto lock up here and doing some hard hitting wrestling was quite enjoyable. Takiawa is old, slow, still hits heavy like a track. Kanemoto is quite a bit more nimble and hasn’t lost much of a step at all. He was good as ever being a prick here kicking the crap out of people. The real story are your sleazebag shooters Fujinaga and Ito, though. You could tell they were both hyped to be in the ring with legends and they were laying everything in extra hard, and both of them took some hard as hell beatings from the big names. Ito especially gets at it with Kanemoto and it’s a lot of fun. I really liked how Kanemoto, instead of falling into a macho exchange, just judo tripped Ito and then locked in a smothering Dragon Sleeper. We do get all your Kanemoto and Takaiwa signatures – the nasty face wash, the jaw cracking lariats, and there’s even a brief segment where they face off. The finishing run is Fujinaga vs Ito, and while Fujinaga is a bit of a clumsy wrestler he gets in some good hits carried by the energy of the lineup that he is in. Ito is ever reliable as your sleaze karateka with cool kicks who will occasionally try to maul someone with headbutts. As a match this was pretty much your typical indy main event tag formula with the stiffness and sleaze factor dialed way up and it was immensely enjoyable.

 

Some more modern joshi

 Moeka Haruhi vs ASUKA (Veny), Ganbare Pro 11/23/2020

A surprisingly scrappy joshi big match where they both decided to absolutely grill each other with tons of violent offense. Thought Asuka was quite effective here as the taller sadistic asskicker booting Haruhi in the face. Apparently Haruhi used to be a teen idol (horrifying) and has only been in a handful of longer singles matches over the years, but she was quite good here. Her submissions were cool and she absolutely drilled Asuka with some insane headbutts and double stomps. She also really kept trying to rip Asuka in half with her straight jacket holds. Selling wasn’t a huge deal here but they kept a good pace with little letdown and sometimes you just wanna watch two wrestlers try to kill each other.

Mari vs MARU, AWG 12/29/2024

MARU had a run in JD Star in the early 2000s before retiring 2005. Somehow she came back 17 damn years later and now she’s having wild brawls like this. That is pretty crazy in itself, and this match is pretty damn crazy too. Reminded me of those early 2000s JD brawls in the best way. MARU provided some cool wrestling with her nifty Stretch Muffler counters and Mari is just a badass with her kick variations. Match had plenty of violent chain punches and soon, after some scrappy opening fighting it turned into a psycho bump fast. MARU taking those bumps at her age was pretty insane. I did love how Mari would just pick her up and throw her into chairs or a ladder, totally not caring about making it fancy. There was also a kick that lead to MARU spilling down the Korakuen Hall stairs which again was straight out of those old JD street fights. MARU was feeling it here, just taking totally crazy punishment and dishing it right back at her opponent. It really felt like they were trying to crush each other. In the end it seemed MARU was too caught up in trying to hurt Mari instead of winning the match, which costed her as Mari finally caught her and finished her off with a series of devastating kicks. Really good brawl that had both the big spots and the gritty fighting that is often lacking from these modern hardcore matches. Insane MARU performance and Mari looked like total badass.

 

Misaki Ohata vs Hiroe Nagahama, WAVE  10/22/2017

Very good joshi style match. Energetic Nagahama overwhelmed Ohata initially, but quickly became the underdog due to Ohatas vicious style. Ohata was pretty brutal here: trying to take Nagahamas head off with elbows, almost ripping her in half with several Fuchi-ish submissions, and dropping some vicious knees and stomps. This builds to a few increasingly desperate and great comeback attempts from Nagahama. Good stuff, they had another match the following year that was also good and pretty similiar to this but I thought this one had more of an epic well together title match vibe. At 13 minutes it's pretty compact too.

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!

 

Exploring PURE-J

 

Leon vs Yuu, Pure-J 5/4/2022

Great title match. The more I watch Leon the more I realize she’s one of the most skilled wrestlers around. Yuu is a pretty simplistic straight forward wrestler, all splashes, sentons and thundering chops, and it’s really fun to watch Leon work a big match around that. Basically the story here is that Yuu is a brick wall and Leon would have to barrage her to break her down. Really enjoyed the submission work here. There wasn’t any limbwork or something like that, it was very in the moment with Leon going for a rolling kimura at one point and Yuu just grabbing the sleeper when she could. Love Leons spears and her making sure to target Yuus mid section some more when she hit her big splash. I admit Yuu isn’t super interesting and could’ve done a better job with her selling here or there but other than that this a really good match, really puts the PURE in PURE-J as they stayed in the ring the whole time and did a straight forward match with no bullshit, something that wouldn’t hurt to see in other joshi organizations.

Blanca Maho vs Momo Tani, Pure-J 10/14/2024

Blanca Maho is this ex-kickboxer who throws lots of awesome kicks, so it’s really nice to see her in a lengthy singles match for a title. I am not familiar with Momo Tani, she is one of those frail looking wrestlers with a very pretty outfit, so I wasn’t sure how good she would be, but it turns out she’s a competent wrestlers too with lots of cool knee strikes, and she looked good when she was on top controlling the match with holds. She also had some cool suplexes and a slick transition where she moved herself to the ring apron. Just her foreram smashes need some work. Mahos kicks were awesome, her chest kicks were really popping Momo, and she has a bunch of different variations, and this match has a really good pace without becoming too much. Really fun to check this out, Blanca Maho looks to be a star in the making.

Chie Ozora vs Risa Sera, 9/15/2024

This is a really good match, mainly because of Chie Ozora. Ozora is this really non-threatening wrestler, she’s short, wears a hoodie in the ring, and doesn’t exactly have a dangerous build, but oh my god she does give her opponent hell here. Really really good fired up underdog performance from her. I loved her viciously going for the arm, and she just kept coming. Sera won’t blow your mind, but she does a good job keeping Ozora down with nasty knee drops and her arm selling was solid. Some great spots and nearfalls here especially Ozoras roll ups. Great underdog vs champion match.

Megumi Yabushita vs KAZUKI, Pure-J 5/3/2022

It’s too bad Megumi Yabushita doesn’t make tape often, because even at 50 years old she looked cool as fuck here. She had all these awesome slick legbar reversals and a judo throw that spiked her opponent. KAZUKI kind of sucked here, but sometimes you just want to enjoy a cool one woman show. The finish is a flying armbar. I’ve probably seen a thousand flying armbars and this one may have been the most spectacular I’ve seen ever.

Mutoha 12/1/2024

Get it from @itako18jp on X!

 

 Mighty Yuki & Hoshitango & Shigeo Kato vs Super Crafter U & Nobu Kaseda & Crusher Takahashi

A fast paced 6 man tags with a lot of old guys and two fiery but unique youngsters in Nobu Kaseda and Mighty Yuki. It reminded me of those old guy tags from AJPW or NOAH, although this was a bit more serious maybe. Everybody did the stuff that makes them unique - so you had Shigeo Kato doing his signature sneaky ratboy technical heel tactics, and Crusher Takahashi hitting beautiful punches and Hoshitango being a cranky old sumo. Mighty Yuki is actually the son of Masahiko Takasugi, and he was paying tribute to the recently deceased Mighty Inoue, which feels strangely fitting. I would've liked to see Super Crafter U get to do a little more because he is an awesome beast. A fun match, while it wasn't overly technical it suits the vibe of MUTOHA.

 

Leo Cristiani vs Deimos Hatebreed vs El Hijo de Alebrije

Well, this match doesn't suit the vibe of Mutoha. All these guys were also on the Secret Base show the same day. Cristiani and Hatebreed are two wrestlers from Europe. I think it would be cool to see European technical style on a Mutoha show, but these two are just two random high flyers who wrestle in the same way as everybody now, and there was nothing here that stood out to me. They hit some big flying moves, one after another, some looking sloppy and some impressive, and in the end I remembered nothing about this match. Now, will an Italian or Portuguese promotion book GENTARO vs Kenichiro Arai?

Shoji Ohno vs Dekai Ichimotsu

With this match the show really begins. This was really unique, and amazing. They are both so cool. Even the basic early wrestling in this was great as both guys were trying to snap limbs and joints in unusual ways. Then Ichimotsu began cluster bombing Ohnos legs. I gotta give it to Dekai Ichimotsu, he is the king when it comes to painfully dropkicking a guy in the knee joint from odd angles. By the end Ohno was like a soldier who has lost his legs to a landmine but somehow kept fighting. It was a truely gritty and dirty fight, while retaining the technical edge that is the signature of Mutoha. Both guys hit skull cracking headbutts and Ichimotsu pulled off cool reversals and more leg attacks. Once again Ohno rushed his opponent with an amazing flurry of palm strikes. Ohno looks really tough fighting through the leg damage and trying to pull off a win. I like that Ohno seems like a tough brawler guy, but occasionall he can pull of something surprisingly technical. A great match, no doubt about it.

 

Hiroshi Yamamoto vs Taro Yamada

A very promising match up. Hiroshi Yamamoto is the man who can do it all on the Japanese indy scene, he wrestles everywhere and he can pull off seemingly every style of match. Looking up info about him, it seems that he was trained by Virus, so he should be a good opponent for Yamada. And Taro Yamadas is one of the best kept secrets in Japanese indy wrestling. But Yamamoto has stood tall in big leagues like All Japan, so in away Yamada is punching way upwards here. And this match felt a bit like an All Japan match, too. It wasn't as technical as the more intense  Mutoha matches, but there was a lots of hold for hold stuff that felt very battle-for-control in the style of old Jumbo Tsuruta matches, and they both mixed in some explosive surprise moves that were bigger than you'd expect. In the end it was a very worthy match, although I don't like everything that Yamamoto does, such as his goofy X-chop attack. I will give it to him that he is a very graceful wrestler, though. And Yamada proved that he can step on the mat with the best in his country and go along every step of the way.

Akira Jo vs Hideya Iso

One of Akira Jos best performances I've seen so far, because he was clinical taking Iso apart with nasty headlocks and neck cranks, while Iso did an awesome job gutting it out and trying to pull of the biggest upset of his life. Iso for a guy who looks pretty ancient and crusty pulls of some great surprises here. Jo trying to crank Isos neck with basic headlocks actually made for a compelling story, there's something distinctly awesome about him going 'fuck you, I'm gonna beat you with a side headlock'. There was one absolutely awesome moment that involved Iso escaping a sleeper attempt that was honestly probably the best thing I've seen in a match all year. Iso looks outmatched but he just kept fighting like a god damn hero and I was thoroughly impressed. I really like this kind of single minded approach to a match, really making you appreciate the most basic elements of pro wrestling in a new light. It's the kind of match that you will only ever see in Mutoha these days and that is why I appreciate this company so much.

Yasushi Sato vs Kenichiro Arai

 
Another chess match that had touches of the unique grappling that both guys do so well, as well as a hearty dose of Memphis. Everything mattered, even something as simple as shaking your opponents hand, or getting in the ring, and there was tons of great struggle. Right at the first hold exchange, Sato went for the Russian Leg Sweep looking to grapevine his opponent, with Arai desperately scrambling out. The rest of the match was largely about Arai trying to weaken Sato while Sato would go for throws and flash pins that Arai would desperately avoid. Both guys acted wary of the danger of any pinfall. I am endlessly fascinated by Yasushi Sato. As far as I know, his wrestling career begin 16 years ago and now he is 58 years old, which is crazy. He is starting to show his age physically but his wrestling mind is still one of the greatest I've ever seen. He was going at it with Arai like no tomorrow, trying to shock the champion with surprise moves, even using underhand tactics of his own, and always trying to put Arai on his shoulders for the 3. It was the kind of stuff that would make the likes of Dick Murdoch proud. The one weak point of the match was the slap exchange but that was a minor criticism. The ending was baffling and thrilling but it made sense, sometimes it can really be all over like that and you have to love it if you appreciate pro wrestling as a crafty sport. As it stands this had a lot of really good grappling and technical work, both guys looked like sly foxes, and everything they did felt spontaneous and fresh. There aren't many wrestlers who can wrestle like this left in the world, and for that I appreciate these two!

2024 MOTY List

The Library

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.

2024 MOTYC List Update #3

 

Chon Shiryu vs Keisuke Ishii, Ganbare Pro 7/15/2024

Chon Shiryu big match!! I love Chon Shiryu, and this was a nice chance to see him do his thing. He is still really fast and slick, and his kung fu technique really add a lot to the Japanese big match formula. Initially Keisuke Ishii did not impress me, but he redeemed himself when he started destroying Shiryus mid section with violent looking knees. Ishii dropping Shiryus throat across the rope with a nasty move and then going for a piledriver on the apron made things quite intense. Shiryu pulls off some great transitions as usual that are a level above what you usually see in these matches, and his signature odd angle 619s and diving kicks still rule. Last couple minutes were buil around Shiryu taking crazy bumps, trying to crush Ishiis throat with his flying stomps, and delivering some really great glassy eyed selling as he kept dying and ressurrecting over and over. Could have done with a few nearfalls less, but what the hell, you don’t get to see Shiryu doing matches like this often! I also like that they made a spinning wheel kick into a finisher in 2024.

 

Super Taira vs Kenta Kosugi, Sportiva 10/30/2024

Really good match that told a great story, was interesting all the way through and had some great wrestling. I really like Super Taira, who has such a diverse skillset. In this case he was facing Kosugi who is like twice his size, so he couldn't do much lucha libre or llaves, so Tairas answer was to just try and rush him with leg kicks. Taira kicking at Kosugi and trying to hurt his legs was simple but really good. Anytime Kosugi fired back, he looked like an absolute bear. I cannot emphasize enough that every single moment in this match mattered and added to the story. I loved the way Kosugi would slap his knees to try as if to try and get some feeling back into it after taking damage. Taira using his agility in interesting ways and trying to grab submissions was really good. There were some really choice counters without being too cute. By the end Kosugi was basically an angry bear mauling Taira with Taira trying to hit a desperation move and get a flash pin or submission. I really like a simplistic wrestling match that ads some interesting touches, and this one really hits thats spot.

Demus vs. Lunatik Xtreme, Zona 23 1/21

I am not super interested in deathmatches at this point, there are only so many idiotic bumps one can see before it gets old, and  I have little interest in seeing guys stand around and rubbing light tubes in each others face. That said the psychotic violence here was really fun with the apocalyptic junkyard bumps. Early brawling could have been better, aside from Demus great elbows there was still a bit much of idle walking around and an exhibitiony feeling to me. Match took a steep upturn when Xtreme started hitting those wild stomps. After some fun comeuppance we get Demus throwing what is pretty much the greatest punch combo I've ever seen in a match and some savage headbutt exchanges which were easily the highlight. I honestly expected the match to go longer so the finish was an amusing surprise. I didn't like it as much as I liked Black Terry vs Wotan or Ricky Marvin from memory, but it was a fun slice of psycho violence.

2024 MOTYC List

Mutoha 7/7/2024

 Dekai Ichimotsu vs Super Crafter U

Great beginning as Super Crafter U immediately starting throwing really violent kicks at Ichimotsu. Ichimotsu is smaller and clearly does not have the same firepower as his shooter opponent, so he works the match in a strategic manner focussing all his effort on Crafters arm. Ichimotsus arm attack is really great, he may be at his very best now, as he knows how to twist an arm in so many ways, and the painfully bending the arm to force Crafters shoulders to the mat was fascinating to watch. I should say I love Ichimotsus enzuigiri to the elbow joint, and his elbow drop to the arm/shoulder always looks devastating. Crafter was always dangerous, though as he knows some spectacular submissions and counters, so even when Ichimotsu was controlling he was in danger. As such the match felt like a great battle of skill and a test of Ichimotsus persistance and Crafters pain tolerance. By the end Crafter was quite damaged and desperately tried to knock Ichimotsu out with a head kick. Very nice chess match with both guys displaying great skill. The only thing holding it back was the 10 minute time limit since this was the opening match of the show. Both guys looked great and I could see another match between them easily developing into a classic over 10 minute in length. A great little bout to open the show, however.

Masamune vs Takahiro Katori

This was a match I didn't quite know what to expect from since I wasn't sure how good Katori is on the ground. This ended up being very good though and very much a Katori-proving-himself story. Right away Masamune (who has a strong background in olympic wrestling) was taking down Katori, twirling him around and putting nasty stretches on the younger man. It's a good thing Katori is young and flexible or Masamune would have broken him, there was one hold where Masamune touched Katoris foot to his head. Katori handled himself pretty well, he was clearly trying to prove he belonged in Mutoha and while he has a bit to learn still he is on the right path. As the match was Rounds style it had a very clear structure, first round had very good ground work with some impressive holds and counters, and establishes the story of the match. The second round introduces more spark as Katoris leg seemed to be hurt and Masamune started bullying him, before the final round where both guys go for the kill and the tempers start to flare. As soon as Katori started limping Masamune was hellbent on ankle picking him and trying to break his leg. Katoris grounded Octopus Hold is very cool and Masamune countering his way out of it was great. I also liked Katori being prepared for Masamunes 619. This could have been a main event on another show, excellent stuff. Great Masamune performance who looked like a wrestlers wrestler and Katori looked like he belonged.

Taro Yamada vs Shoji Ono

I wasn't very familiar with Shoji Ono before watching this. But damn this may have made a Shoji Ono fan out of me. He had the vibe of classic tough scum brawler, like Hiro Saito maybe, which is really cool to see in 2024. Keep in mind, Yamada is a really great wrestler. The early goings are, of course, technical with Yamada tying Ono into crazy holds. Yamada really does things that nobody else does. He also did the classic Masanobu Fuchi leg stretch at one point which looked really painful. Ono was willing to wrestle, but he soon found himself outclassed and having to resort to sneaking in cheapshots against Yamada. It's a classic story. I really liked that Ono would do the headlock punches to Yamada and make sure to torn his back to the referee. Later, Ono would switch to open handed strikes. His big palm strike combo was one of the greatest I've ever seen in any wrestling match. It was outstanding. Like a classic scum brawler, Ono takes the match to the floor and kicks Yamadas ass, with Yamada taking a big bump on the stage. Back in the ring Yamada clocks Ono with this really great desperation headbutt. Great surprise finish, too. Really nice match that had a classic story and both guys showcased themselves at their best.

Yasushi Sato vs Takafumi Ito

Maybe the match from this card that I was looking forward to the most, and it was really good as I expected. Ito was really dominant here, reversing almost everything Sato tried into a shoot submission, really great Fujiwara-ish performance from him. He was not treating the old man gingerly at all. Sato trying to seize  every single opening and trying to pull off a flash pin the whole time was really great. Also, Sato was deathly afraid of Itos high kick, so that was a factor too. It's pretty amazing Sato is 58 years old and can still go like this for 20 minutes. He looked  little less tireless than usual, but he was facing a dangerous Pancrase fighter after all. My one complaint about the match is that it needed more Russian Leg Sweeps and Itos weird superkick didn't look good.

GENTARO vs Akira Jo

Another old school epic, every match on this card is delivering hard. They started with about 15 minutes of  unconventional, ultra-high resistance matwork similiar to GENTARO/Arai. It wasn't quite as amazing but still pretty great. Jo is a very competent grappler and GENTARO as always looks great pulling off crafty reversals and generally selling everything like the most important thing in his life. Then Jo hits his Arn Anderson spinebuster which GENTARO sells like absolute death and they move into a really good ending run with both guys slapping the taste out of each others mouth, some big suplexes, a hard move on the floor and the hardest fought most grueling backslide I've ever seen. The finish was so cool too. Awesome stuff, great groundwork and the last third was as hard fought and epic as any 70s big match.

Crusher Takahashi vs Kenichiro Arai

This card had it all. You had the shootstyle, the Inoki worship, the esoteric, and now there is a NWA style main event. What they did was not as elaborate as stuff we saw in previous matches, but they treated every hold, every reversal with the utmost importance. As such the bout had the feel of a chess match that slowly escalated into a battle of underhand moves. Arai of course is so crafty at pulling off dirty moves against an opponent. He must've raked Crushers eyes a dozen different ways in this match. Crusher was initially frustrated by Arais sneaky tactics and eventually starts roughing him up too. I loved all the painful wristbending Arai did, and his super swift drop toe hold was spectacular for such a basic move. Crusher is quite old now and he is not as fast and smooth as he used to be, but he still throws some of the greatest punches in wrestling. I loved the Spinning Toe Hold being treated like death and the chess match feel everytime someone slapped on a hold. A match where every move counted and both guys were just in the moment. I think there was only one bump in this +20 minute bout. What a way to end this great card, this honestly may have been one of the best Japanese wrestling shows I've ever seen, every match brought something unique and was great in its own way.

 

The Library

2024 MOTY List

2024 MOTYC List #2

 
Kazushi Sakuraba vs Daisuke Sekimoto, NOAH 2/15/2014

Terrific match. Very Fujiwaraish performance from Sakuraba doing lots of really great submission entries and counters on Sekimoto. Sekimoto is really effective as a simpleton powerhouse here, he makes a great foil for Saku as his style is basic enough to make Sakuraba look spectacular, but also because of his freakish strength you buy that Sekimoto could just squeeze Sakuraba to death if he simply gets his arms around him.  A few really smart spots here. Sakuraba dropping a nasty knee on Sekimotos face, as well as deciding to later work him over with knees to the body and low kicks was unexpected. Also, because Sakuraba is so frail whenever Sekimoto actually starts doing damage it looks like he's just killing him.


Kazushi Sakuraba & Ulka Sasaki vs Hikaru Sato & Shuhei Taniguchi, NOAH 5/4

I'm liking this old man shooter division. Sakuraba is 54 years old now, but he is still pretty amazing on the mat. Ulka is an ex UFC guy and he shows promise. I thought Shuhei Taniguchi was pretty great here as outmatched but still dangerous old guy and if he wrestles like this more often I'd like to see more of him. Initially Sakuraba was tooling him by reversing Taniguchis greco roman style with his own unorthodox submissions. Just when Taniguchi seemed to not get anywhere, he threw Saku with a big head and arm throw and locked in a Honda-esque choke hold. He then dropped Sasaki with a nasty STO and tried to smash his head with an out of nowhere soccer kick. Sasaki and Hikaru Sato also had an awesome mat exchange. Taniguchi getting heated with Sakuraba and going for suplexes and more out of nowhere headkicks was pretty great. Finish was sudden but also pretty spectacular.


Outsider Negishi vs Dekai Ichimotsu, Health Pro Wrestling 4/14

Great little match. Negishi is gray and old and kind of gangly and Ichimotsu is rocking the wrestling shoes black t-shirt and slicked back hair like a sleazy Osamu Kido. Almost all on the mat. After some cool opening grappling with both guys displaying cool indian deathlock entries, Negishi starts going for the leg. Negishi has a kind of frail old man vibe but he is fun yanking at Ichimotsus leg. Ichimotsu was pretty great selling the legwork and making comeback attempts by going after the arm. Highlights include some great work around a body slam, and Ichimotsus leg giving out when he attempted his finisher.

Bryan Danielson vs. Blue Panther, CMLL 4/5/24

Thankfully Arena Mexico saved this match from being another boring dream match by booing Danielson and rallying behind Panther. Danielson was clever enough to lean into it and Panther was pretty damn awesome here. Opening grappling wasn't anything mindblowing but it's fun to see Danielson go at it with a genuine maestro. I actually thought they could have done a little more on the mat, tho Bryan going into scarecrow position and twisting Panthers head was cool. Panther then taking all this stiff offense and a big dive and suplex on the floor was pretty sick. Initially I liked Danielson selling his leg being damaged by Panthers Tapatia, but him just popping up to hit a dropkick pissed me off a little. Panther desperately avoiding the submission was great and so much better than the usual reversal fest. He also took another big bump off the top, why is this 63 year old man taking all the huge bumps in the match?? Danielson retaliating to the flubbed submission with head stomps was great and probably the best moment of the match. I'm not sure why Panther was the first one to get up after Danielsons 2nd dive and simply hit a dive on his own. The running knee in the ring was a bit lost on me. I get that Danielson was trying to lean into his arrogant outsider act by smiling and not following up, but it still took me out of it a bit before they followed with the cheap finish. Tho Panthers super fast armbar was awesome. Good to very good match with a very impressive performance by Panther overall.

Kazuhiro Tamura vs Akira Jo, HEAT UP 4/7

Very good big match I thought. Jo has roots tracing to IGF, but he has turned into a complete sleazeball now. He really has the vibe that he is a capable wrestler, as evidenced by him doing some grappling and throwing Tamura with a really nice belly to belly early on, but he would rather rake eyes and be a scumbag than continue on that path. The main reason I liked this was a) the selling throughout was very good, and b) they mixed in a lot of cool stuff to keep my attention. Highlights include Jos amazing Rikishi bump that was really well timed, as well as some choice counters that they mixed in. Tamuras armwork was really good throughout the match, lots of nasty kicks to Jos shoulder, and the selling was good. Both guys end up taking big bumps that are important in the scheme of the match. They also ended the match on just the right note with one of the nastiest finishes I've seen in a while. They lose some points because the early goings were noticably lacking fire and engagement from both guys when it comes to their body language, as well as Kazuhiro Tamuras tendency to do moves like a shitty NJPW main eventer instead of embracing his U-File origins. That said, I was positively surprised by this.

 

2024 MOTY Master List

2024 MOTYC List #1

 

Demus vs. Mad Dog Conneely, ACTION Wrestling 4/4

This was slightly hurt by the overwhelming praise it has received, calling it the match of the year and best chain match since Valentine/Piper. It's not that good in my eyes, but it's a fun violent match. The start with the chain whip to the face was nice.  Connellys strikes in the corner looked great- I would have liked to see more like that. Connelly seems certifiably insane to bite a bleeding Demus. The brawling on the outside was fun with a bleeding Demus falling into audience members and both guys smashing each other with a huge trashcan. When Demus took control, he amped up the violence yanking Conneelly around by his shirt and the chain. The ending with the chain assisted submissions was nasty. Good stuff.

Timothy Thatcher vs Axel Tischer, Bloodsport 4/4

I have yet to watch the full show but I thought this was better than Thatcher/Makabe  (which was solid). Opening grappling was very tight and felt different, like a good hybrid of shootstyle and 50s/60s style grappling. Thankfully Tischer did not do any thigh slapping. Him coming down hard to pounce on Thatcher with nasty elbows whenever openings presented was really good. His suplexes were also great. Thatcher did not goof up the match and the "any move could end the match" factor kept things interesting. Not blowaway great but a nice surprise.

Shinya Ishida vs Hakaru Imai, Sportiva 2/22

Gritty MUGA-esque match with some unexpected hate filled stiffness. That kind of match is pretty much the only thing I care about coming out of Japan these days. Imai was great here, he's this 47 year old ghoulish looking guy who barely wrestles but somehow is really good in gritty technical matches. He looks like he struggles to bump but he is great on the mat. Imai does lots of nifty things here as they hit the ground for a grappling section that actually feels fresh and tight. Imai gets the advantage locking a short arm scissor on Ishida and then proceeds to work the arm the entire match. Ishida actually adds to the match by finding ways to kick Imai in his bald head while entangled in submissions. Imais stubbornness and constantly cranking Ishidas shoulder with nasty Fujiwara armbars and kimuras made a lot of this feel like an El Samurai match as opposed to Zack Sabre Jr esque stuff. Ishida actually doesn't have bad offense for a pretty boy wrestler, and he keeps firing back pretty stiff, making things look like a struggle  and selling the arm. As the match progressed they never lost me and kept working in nifty stuff that I like, such as awkward lariats that land hard against the side of someones head, flash submissions, odd pinning combos on the ground etc. Nice stuff that is well worth checking out in the vein of the Mutoha stuff from the past few years.

2024 MOTYC List Project

2024 MOTYC List

Great matches:

 

1. Dekai Ichimotsu vs Shoji Ono, Mutoha 12/1/2024
   
2. GENTARO vs Akira Jo, Mutoha 7/7
3. Super Taira vs Kenta Kosugi, Sportiva 10/30/2024
4. Yasushi Sato vs Kenichiro Arai, Mutoha 12/1/2024
   
5. Taro Yamada vs Shoji Ono, Mutoha 7/7
6.  Dekai Ichimotsu vs Super Crafter U, Mutoha 7/7
7. Hakaru Imai vs Shinya Ishida, Sportiva 2/22
8.  Bryan Danielson vs Blue Panther, CMLL 4/5
9. Hideya Iso vs Akira Jo, Mutoha 12/1/2024
   
10. Crusher Takahashi vs Kenichiro Arai, Mutoha 7/7
11. Demus vs Lunatik Xtreme, Zona 23 1/21
    
12. Yasushi Sato vs Takafumi Ito, Mutoha 7/7
13. Chon Shiryu vs Keisuke Ishii, Ganbare Pro 7/5
    
14. Masamune vs Takahiro Katori, Mutoha 7/7 
15.  Outsider Negishi vs Dekai Ichimotsu, Health Pro Wrestling 4/14 
16.  Kazushi Sakuraba vs Daisuke Sekimoto, NOAH 2/15
17.  Kazushi Sakuraba  & Ulka Sasaki vs Shuhei Taniguchi & Hikaru Sato, NOAH 5/4
18.  Mad Dog Connelly vs Demus, ACTION 4/4
19.  Kazuhiro Tamura vs. Akira Jo, Heat-Up 4/7 
20.  Timothy Thatcher vs Axel Tischer, Bloodsport 4/4 

 

Nice stuff:

Chon Shiryu vs HAJIME, Choco Pro 3/3

Hopping Vampires and Monkey Men

 Tanny Mouse & Yuki Miyazaki vs. Chon Shiryu & Tottyann Ziyi, NEO 3/18/2007

Unreal match. Ziyi(?) is Toshie Uematsu doing a Chinese hopping vampire gimmick, and holy fuck she is amazing in that role. Just totally giving her all into every crazy pose, every throat thrust, every kung fu kick, just a face painted whirlwind with that outfit. This was basically a crazy Hong Kong movie as an under 10 minute pro wrestling match. Basically no comedy, just fun character work and cool kung fu kicks. Chon Shiryu if you ask me is absolutely one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time. If a major US company had picked him up I guarantee he’d be a megastar or at the very least a cult hero. The man simply put his everything into his character and made every little moment stand out, down to the weird scorpion kicks and flying at people with kung fu kicks from odd angles. Shiryu and Uematsu do a lot of awesome shit here. There is one moment where Tanny and Miyazaki put a seal on Uematsu, paralyzing her, but then Shiryu unseals her and she goes berserk again, pure evil unleashed. It’s played completely straight and that’s why it works for me. They work a breathless pace just busting out one rad exchange after another with Miyazaki and Tanny mostly stooging but also adding some cool touches of their own, it seems at this point they both really had their routine down as a team, cutting out the comedy and just doing cool wrestling. Shiryu also hits his insane kick diving kick to the floor. Badass finish too. I really enjoy this kind of stuff more than your typical by the numbers epic match at this point. This was a great sub 10 minute match.

 

Chon Shiryu vs. HAJIME, Choco Pro 3/3/2024

This is in that no-ring dentist office space that Emi Sakura has been running shows in for like 18 years now. Really cool little match with Shiryu doing a bunch of great armwork, including hitting a really cool fist drop to HAJIMES joint and a few kung fu armlocks. All the environment stuff with Shiryu going for a 619 on the window, flying off the wall etc was great. Shiryu also based very well for HAJIMES lucharesu moves which I imagine is hard to do on a soft mat that looks to be 2 meters by 2 meters. Finish is completely awesome as HAJIME goes for the pin but Shiryu does a Negro Navarro style leg hock and  locks in a crazy llave for the tap.

Chon Shiryu & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Emi Sakura & Masa Takanashi, Gatoh Move 2/12/2024

Shiryu once again looked great in this match. His kung fu-stuff is so awesome, and he does a really nice job integrating it into a lengthy pro wrestling match structure. His opening technico exchange with Takanashi is really nice, and his hot tag is really great too. He just comes at people with odd kicks from weird directions and slick counters and it's great. The stuff he does between the big moves and set ups is great too, like randomly busting out a scorpion  kick or spin kick flush in the face.  If you liked that Ki/Amazing Red match I don't see why you wouldn't enjoy Shiryu since he goes hard all the time despite being 45 now. I also like how he can make the 619 his own, instead of coming across like another Rey imitator. Rest of the match had some very creative high workrate stuff but there was also some cutesie shit typical of Emi Sakura feds and I disliked how Masa Takanashi no sold that one awesome jumping kick Shiryu did, which keeps the match out of MOTYC consideration for me (well, if you make it a requirement that a MOTYC has to be at minimum a great match). But really nice stuff from Shiryu and well worth watching.