CAPTURE International 7/20/2022

 Sanshu Tsubakichi & Hiroshi Yamato vs. Daisuke Kanehira & Touki Hatano (?)

Fun as hell CAPTURE opening match which reminded me of those FUTEN opening matches where everyone dials up the stiffness, cuts out the bullshit and gives their best. Really really dug Yamato once again, who went barefoot into this therefore accentuating his Tarzan Boy-ish feistiness and Carl Greco-like grappling more. He may have been the best guy in the match, busting out cool flash submissions, a really great belly to belly suplex where he crunched the other guys spine against the guardrail before throwing him, and he worked hard in the second half bumping his ass off on that stiff mat and throwing out another big headbutt. He also shows good timing. The other guys are obviously limited but the CAPTURE format really allows them to shine. First half had some solid shootstyle grappling and the second had everyone busting out a few cool things. Hatano is a young kickpadded HEAT-UP guy and solid grappling and trading hard blows. I liked a handful of things he did on the mat and he had good fire. Tsubakichi is a lot of fun as old veteran guy throwing cool body shots and hitting an STO, he also almost caved in a guys face with a big enzuigiri at one point. Kanehira is obviously limited but I was surprised by him busting out some pretty cool shit in the second half. This was really good, honestly and I should check out more Yamato I think.

Rikiya Fudo vs. Keisuke Goto

This is a good match up! Fudo is consistently a highlight on these CAPTURE shows brutalizing everything in his path, and Goto is pudgy and feisty. This was as enjoyable as the match up promises, Goto running into a brick wall and Fudo just trying to take his head off. Fudo may also be the best guy in the world at using his weight, his basic side choke looks like it would really crush your ribs in. Goto does one or two nifty things and the „CAPTURE matches can end at any move“ rule makes this a really fun 5 minutes.

Kazumasa Yoshida vs. Mizuki Watase

Yoshida is a BJW guy who I think replaced Kosuke Sato on this show. This was largely solid but unspectacular with a few crazy moments, these guys are hardly brilliant on the mat and don‘t quite have the true CAPTURE reckless lunacy down when standing up, their elbow exchanges felt very stale BJW-ish as they took turns hitting each other. That said there were a few great moments, especially loved Watases senton against the guardrail, as well as the crazy head drop throw. And the finish was rotten stiff. I was iffy on parts of this but the big moments here got them on my good side.

Hokuto Ohmori vs. Takahiro Tababa

Ohmori is an AJPW guy who really doesn‘t feel on the level of the other guys on this show, imagine Jun Akiyama working CAPTURE in 1998 and getting outclassed by Nihao or Basara. He‘s really nothing on the mat and kept going for misstimed rolling elbows. I enjoyed Tababa brutalizing him with a kidney-stone-crushing spin kicks and some more vicious hits to the face. Not much to see here aside from Tababas kicks and his big bump for Ohmoris falcon arrow, but even we saw that bump in the opener.

Super Crafter U & Naoya Nomura vs. Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi

This was some good big boy basement shootstyle. I imagine I probably won‘t enjoy Doi and Arashis act in a regular wrestling promotion but the CAPTURE basement shootstyle dungeon setting adds a bunch of rawness and unpredictability to make their beef boy act compelling. I was surprised Doi looked pretty good, almost Nakanishi esque, he engaged in some good heavyweight shootstyle exchanges, took punishment and dished out some insane jaw cracking elbows and lariats. Crafter U and Nomura have formed NEO BLOOD and they are such a fun unit, I continue to enjoy Crafter Us tricky grappler who can dish out punishment act, and Nomura just constantly going for the kill with his spears is insanely entertaining. Arashi looked good as a powerhouse out of his element against the shootstylist Crafter, he also had a big senton that may have been the most violent on the show. Doi catching Nomuras spear was also a really good „guy tries to bulldoze but gets caught“ spot. I‘m not sure I really want more AJPW guys to show up in CAPTURE but this was insanely effective with the simple powerhouse vs. Shooter story and the match had plenty of brutality, actually made me want to see a Doi singles match vs. Nomura or another CAPTURE guy, which I really didn‘t expect going in.

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CAPTURE International 5/8/2022 Night Show

  Buy it here

1. Takahiro Tababa & Rocky Kawamura vs. Raito Shimizu & Hiroshi Yamato

Another solid 6 minute CAPTURE opener where everyone gets to look good in short bursts. I really liked how Shimizu tried to play tough guy against Kawamura and Kawamura just punched him in the face hard, that should happen more often. Tababa then came in and bruised Shimizus mid section with some crowbar kicks. Yamato looked good again, busting out another crazy headbutt and his jumping kick is a pretty cool spot.

CAPTURE Tournament Semifinal Matches:
2. Super Crafter U vs. Takuya Nomura

Short match where they basically went for the kill from the start. Crafter U has some nifty kicks for an old looking guy, and he does a nice job turning Nomuras aggression against him.

3. Rikiya Fudo vs. Naoya Nomura

This was an awesome violent sprint that felt like it could end at any moment, Nomura being the young hotness in CAPTURE facing the monster that is FUDO. Fudo may have the most violent offense on the planet , tight face-wrenching headlocks, lung-bursting chops, big Vader Hammers and lariats, an elbow drop and senton that looks like it would leave a man with internal bleeding, Fudo just doesn‘t hold back on anything and it‘s awesome. Nomura was great absorbing the punishment and trying to take him down, and seeing him reach deep and hit those left-right elbows was awesome. His selling was really good too, as even after he hit a move he could barely get up, probably both from the punishment he took and from how much power he had excerted. The match ends in a flash, but what the hell, for a 5 minute match this was insanely good.

4. Keisuke Goto & Kosuke Sato vs. Daisuke Kanehira & Mizuki Watase

For a bunch of indy guys, this was really good, really stiff action. They do a mix of fun grappling and trying to crack each others jaws with nasty elbows. The elbow exchanges were a bit veering into your turn-my turn territory but at least they hit each other insanely hard. I really enjoyed Goto once again as a tubby guy who just shoulder blocks people really hard and squishes guys with sentons, and Sato was really energetic. The HEAT UP team held up their end giving and dishing some nasty punishment. Because it‘s CAPTURE you expect any move to be a finish, and even a basic vertical suplex looks absolutely brutal because they are wrestling on that tin mat. CAPTURE magic was at play, but they did a nice job working with the points system making this really good indy shootstyle overall.

5. CAPTURE Title Tournament Finals MMA Gloves Match: Super Crafter U vs. Naoya Nomura

This tournament has been one hell of a ride, and this was a worthy finale. Super Crafter U had some nice Fujiwara-ish counters to Nomuras size and aggression. Once they stood up and threw strikes things got intense, even a main event can end anytime in CAPTURE and that was felt with each move. Spear spots felt really violent, also due to Nomuras selling as he made it look as if he was wrecking himself too. The finish was cool and felt like a moment where someone kicking away at a prone opponent backfired. I was not sure how Nomura would continue to do going into this tournament but I am on board with him at this point.

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CAPTURE International 5/8/2022 Daytime Show

 Buy it here

1. Keisuke Goto & Raito Shimizu vs. Sanshu Tsubakichi & Takahiro Tababa

Nice to see my boy Shimizu work a CAPTURE show again. This was two kickpadded crowbars facing a pair of thick powerhouses and pretty fun, clearly meant to set the mood for the day. Everyone hits hard and does their thing. I continue to be invested in Keisuke Goto who has the potential to become a cool mini-Yoshie, his clubbering and big senton are really nice. Shimizu hit some big throws and Tababa and Tsubakichi hit some snug kicks, and Tsubakichi had a nice STO. The whole thing was really short at just 6 minutes too to remind everyone CAPTURE matches can end at any point, I really liked the finish as Tababa had a sleeper on Goto, who signaled for his partner to come help him only to be choked out anyways moments later. I dig a short match that puts over the sleeper hold.

2. Takuya Nomura vs. Mizuki Watase

This was pretty much your typical indy undercard match with no ring and the stiffness dialed up to 11 because it‘s CAPTURE. Solid effort but it‘s feels a bit controlled compared to your better CAPTURE affairs, they did some perfunctory matwork and then moved on to back and forth strike exchanges, which is something you see in basically every Japanese match now, but this was kept short at least and the stiffness was high. Watase brained Nomura with an absolutely murderous headbutt, but he also pissed me off a bit by no selling a German suplex on that thin mat. Violent finish. Perfectly fine short undercard as we move on to the really good stuff.

3. Super Crafter U vs. Kosuke Sato

This was much better, exactly that dungeon shootstyle goodness you are looking for and eschewing a typical by the numbers indy match structure. Sato is a BJW rookie and he has serious fight in him. Crafter U is kind of lumpy and old, nobody knows who he is and I wonder if he‘s some U-Style leftover who put on some pounds, whoever he is he is a really fun worker as he can do both the sick hard hitting as well as bust out some nifty surprise submissions and kicks. This was the right mix of guys dropping bombs on each other when standing and neat matwork, with a nifty finish.

4. Naoya Nomura vs. Hiroshi Yamato

I‘d never have expected it, but Yamato is starting to grow on me. Even though he doesn‘t have shoot style strikes, he is a really good scrambly matworker, and largely made this match. I really liked how when Nomura started to kick at Yamatos arm/shoulder, Yamato immediately seeked to equalized by attacking Nomuras leg. Yamato also uncorked another absolutely brutal headbutt. Nomura worked this match like a big powerful guy who will ram you and throw the fuck out of you, and that really works considering he has size and is a rugby guy. It also helps that a simple body slam will look absolutely devastating on that thin mat. Really good little match with a few nifty moments.

5. Rikiya Fudo vs. Rocky Kawamura

Fudo looked like a monster in this, tanking Kawamuras body shots and almost taking his head off with a huge Vader Hammer. Fudo took Kawamura down and then really grinded him into the mat, locking in a kesagatame that looked so heavy like it would make Kawamuras chest explode. Kawamura gets in an awesome desperation punch combo, but Fudo just crushes him. Once again Fudos big splash looked like it weighted 10000 kilos. This was one hell of a squash match.

 

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CAPTURE International 3/23/2022

First CAPTURE show to make tape in 19 years baby! Purchase it here

Daisuke Kanehira vs. Mizuki Watase

Pretty fun opening match between two juniors with dyed hair where they dialed up the stiffness to 11 like it‘s CAPTURE or something. They did some alright grappling and then waffled each other fierce. Couple fun spots such as a nasty guardrail drop, missile dropkick off the guardrail that looked tricky and a nasty rolling senton into the guardrail. Reminds me of those short FUTEN opening matches, I'm not sure I would want to check out these guys doing HEAT-UP undercard matches but the CAPTURE factor upgrades everything.

Fuminori Abe & Sanshu Tsubakichi vs. JOHTA & Keisuke Goto

Now this is the real CAPTURE material. 4 lunatics beating each other to death in a basement and not holding back in the slightest. JOHTA is a 20 year CAPTURE veteran, he is clearly a bit flabby and old but still looks like a menacing force in his ADIDAS pants. Abe is great when he cuts out the bullshit, and he did cut out the bullshit here. Keisuke Goto is a guy who was apparently trained in a joshi dojo, and he is a fun thick guy who can eat nasty kicks and retaliate with full bodyweight dropping sentons. Tsubakichi is fun and works stiff, hitting some nice body punches. Abe/JOHTA interactions were great and I loved how Johta got in peoples faces, grabbing the referee by the scruff, he came across as tough and out of control. Some really violent kicks and headbutts and Abe trying to break his fist on JOHTAs thick skull. I really liked how Abe was cocky initially and seemed to have the upper hand only to end being left a bloody mess by JOHTA.

Boxing Gloves Match: Takahiro Tababa vs. Super Tiger II

It‘s a boxing gloves match, baby. Short but very entertaining because Tababa was in „Beat a man to death“ mode here. He just pounced on poor Tiger and proceeded to drive his fists into him without relenting. Tiger looks overwhelmed but he has some fun comebacks shutting down Tababas rage and he looked like he really wanted to end this as soon as possible. The kick he caught him with was awesome. I think this went 4 minutes which is just right.

Takuya Nomura vs. Hiroshi Yamato

Yamato is this ex-AJPW guy who seems to be trying to be the most booked man on the Japanese indies. He‘s EVERYWHERE. And to my surprise he is pretty good at working basement shootstyle. Lots of fun grappling (Yamato trained with Virus), and while Yamato isn‘t a crowbar shooter there are some moments where they stand up and try to slap the skin off of each other. Really liked Yamatos jumping kicks, he came across as a pro wrestler tightening up his act to hang with a badass. Nomura looked quite good as usual. The suplex bumps were insane considering how thin that mat looks and the KO finish looked like it sent the guy to another dimension. Good shit.

2/3 Falls: Naoya Nomura & Super Crafter U vs. Rikiya Fudo & Kosuke Sato

The best match on this great show. Crafter is a masked guy who can do some fun grappling and hit people hard. Sato is a kickpadded BJW guy with good energy. And Fudo is just an awesome crowbar. I wasn‘t sure how AJPW boy Nomura would do but he has great energy and is willing to kill and get killed. Comprise all that into a 10 minute match and you have yourself one hell of a fight. Also add 2/3 falls rule means that any move can be a finish. Fudo is so great here, standing tall and beating the life out of people with Vader Hammers, shoot headbutts and the most violent splashes on earth. His sumo charge that bounced the other guy into the guardrail was also fantastic. All the Fudo/Nomura exchanges were damn great. I loved that Nomura is this guy who was primed to become an AJPW main eventer and Fudo just doesn't give a fuck at all and beats him like a dog. Nomura kept hitting these great spears. I really liked how when Fudo faced the other guy, Crafter just gave him some leg kicks and tagged out, I can understand not wanting to deal with that dude. Last fall was super intense and energetic with guys catching hands, eating sick headbutts and trying to tap each other out. Pro wrestling is good again.

The Library

2002 MOTY Project Update #17

 36. Kensuke Sasaki vs. Yoshihiro Takayama, NJPW 8/3/2002

Insanely violent fight in front of a hot crowd. The psychology here was caveman level simple. Sasaki is able to throw off his opponent at first but Takayama re-establishes himself as the monster. Eventually it just devolves to both guys stubbornly trying to crack each other. The level of stiffness provides more than enough entertainment though, and Sasakis wild flailing plus things like Takayamas full weighted knee caving into Kensukes chest were far more entertaining than the usual elbow fest. No idea how those lariats didn‘t break Takayamas jaw. Finish was simple but super well done and Takayama punching Sasaki in the back of the neck was fairly crazy. This was easily Sasakis most exciting match of the year I‘ve seen so far.

35. Yuka Shiina vs. Yoshiko Tamura, NEO 10/22/2002

 Interesting match. Shiina was on fire, throwing out one crazy submission reversal after another. By far the best I've seen her look. She was hellbent on forcing a tapout from Tamura. Yoshiko Tamura is someone who frustrates me as she clearly is a competent pro wrestler, but she has this tendency to throw it worthless ace crushers and DDTs that serve no purpose. This match was short and mat based, so it ends up one of the better Tamura bouts of the era. The match was almost all submissions, but they walloped each other with some kicks between the holds. Tamuras cross legbar reversal towards the end was pretty great. I need to see more of this Shiina. 

34. Kengo Mashimo vs. Sambo Oishi, K-Dojo 4/20/2002

I think this was Mashimos second match ever. It was one hell of a match for a second ever match. There were a couple damn great exchanges here. Tenacious grappler Oishi ruled, too. Mashimo wasn‘t fully embracing his later dickhead character, but when it was time to throw kicks he beat the shit out of Oishi. Some outstanding submission work. There were some pro style touches but they were executed in a really explosive way and integrated perfectly. Really made me want to get both guys back catalogue. Best 6 minute match of the year?

25. Koki Kitahara & Johta vs. Nobuyuki Kurashima & Masayuki Mineno  (CAPTURE 12/8/2002)

Exactly what Capture promises, 4 guys just beating eachother silly in savage ways. The Mineno/Johta sections were really fun with both guys throwing fast hands and kicks, all ultra stiff of course. Then you had the heavyweights – both Kitahara and Kurashima looked like they were twice the size of either Johta or Mineno – bullying the little guys around. Kurashima is a MUGA boy and he mostly sticks to matwork here, altough he does punish opponents with some brutal throws and inventive submissions. At one point he did a Backlund lift from an armbar into almost a One Winged Angel. Kitahara was an absolute bastard once again, stomping on Minenos face and sucker punching him from behind. Match is really good shootstyle in parts but starts breaking down into chaos towards the end with the referee losing control over who is legal and who isn't, so you would get Kurashima tackling Kitahara while Mineno would try to kick him in the face. Still this is what Capture promise and each fall had a great finish.

2002 MOTY Master List

Koki Kitahara Documentation #3

 Koki Kitahara & Johta vs. Nobuyuki Kurashima & Masayuki Mineno  (CAPTURE 12/8/2002) - GREAT

Exactly what Capture promises, 4 guys just beating eachother silly in savage ways. The Mineno/Johta sections were really fun with both guys throwing fast hands and kicks, all ultra stiff of course. Then you had the heavyweights – both Kitahara and Kurashima looked like they were twice the size of either Johta or Mineno – bullying the little guys around. Kurashima is a MUGA boy and he mostly sticks to matwork here, altough he does punish opponents with some brutal throws and inventive submissions. At one point he did a Backlund lift from an armbar into almost a One Winged Angel. Kitahara was an absolute bastard once again, stomping on Minenos face and sucker punching him from behind. Match is really good shootstyle in parts but starts breaking down into chaos towards the end with the referee losing control over who is legal and who isn't, so you would get Kurashima tackling Kitahara while Mineno would try to kick him in the face. Still this is what Capture promise and each fall had a great finish.

Koki Kitahara vs. Nobuyuki Kurashima  (CAPTURE 3/8/2003) - GREAT

Nifty little battle considering Kitahara is Sayama trained and a Tenryu disciple while Kurashima is one of Fujinamis MUGA boys. Kurashima is naturally at home on the mat and Kitahara is actually willing to work the mat against him. However Kitahara has the advantage because he is a bastard. Kitahara brutally kicks him in the jaw while exchanging leglocks and follows with more boots to the face. Kurashima makes some desperation takedown attempts until Kitahara catches (captures) him for the tap. 

 Koki Kitahara vs. Daiyu Kawauchi (CAPTURE 3/8/2003) - EPIC

Really gritty violent streetfight, the kind of mix of shootstyle and back alley fight that you don't get anywhere else except maybe FUTEN. Kawauchi was more aggressive and overzealous here so Kitahara just absolutely beat his ass in between taunting him. I've learned that in CAPTURE, each wrestler only has 3 guardrail breaks so the submissions feel much more meaningful. The finish is just a slaughter a suplex on that thin mat that just feels nuts. Good stuff that the fans got really into and I hope this isn't the last I see of Capture International. 

Koki Kitahara & YUSAKU vs. Tomohiro Ishii & DAISAKU (Capture 5/30/2000) - EPIC

Oh but this match is a goodie. You have Tomohiro Ishii pre-Choshuism and CAPTURE boy since the beginning, aswell as the unseen should-have-been-a-star DAISAKU (Shimoda) and his twin brother YUSAKU (Shimoda and half a dozen other names) rocking the gloves and ready to throw down. I'll never understand what motivates these indy guys to get punched in the face in a basement in front of 70 people but I'll always enjoy watching. This goes about 6 minutes and it's basically all 4 guys kicking the crap out of eachother. Really liked the lumpy boys who like to kick hard sections between Ishii and YUSAKU and the attempted fraticide between YUSAKU and DAISAKU was pretty brutal aswell. Daisaku has some huge kicks and thai knees while Yusaku sticks to more traditional pro wrestling stuff punches and knees stuff executed with a CAPTURE sized vicious streak. Also really liked Ishii in his Kawada wannabe tights flying at Kitahara with huge kicks. And Kitahara is just a major asskicker spinkicking dudes in the face here. By no means is this intelligent or well rounded pro wrestling, it's arguably shootstyle in it's most primitive form, and that's why I love it and want to see every single match in this style ever done. So Kitahara if you're reading this there's someone who cares, and Kitahara's neighbours if you are reading this please break into his garage and steal all his VHS tapes for us and don't get spin kicked in the face doing that.

 KOKI KITAHARA DOCUMENTATION PROJECT MASTER LIST

Koki Kitahara Documentation #1

 

Koki Kitahara vs. Shinjuku Shark, SPWF 3/11/99 - GREAT

This was a mixed rules match from SPWF which is the exact stuff that inspired the creation of this blog. These matches can be predictable but that wasn't the case here. The first round was boxing gloves and built around Kitahara trying to rush his smaller opponent and being surprised when the afro wearing Shinjuku Shark refused to go down. Shark had good technique and these guys absolutely were not holding back with the punches. Then, in a classic Kitahara moment, he decided to just launch Shark over the top rope and blast him in the face with a chair. The 2nd round is no gloves and it quickly turns into a fight for survival for the poor Shark. The CAPTURE boss def. looked like the ultimate sleazy payama wearing version of Shinya Hashimoto here.

Koki Kitahara & Daiyu Kawauchi vs. Shoichi Ichimiya & Kazunobu Nakamura (Capture 10/5/2002) - EPIC

I assume this is like the quintessential Capture match. Lots of wild swinging punches and kicks that connect with full force. Kawauchi, who I saw in his debut match at a 1998 KAGEKI show against Masakazu Fukuda would go on to work Osaka Pro as Hideyoshi and is now grizzled veteran GENKAI in Kyushi Pro, so he has quite the history of japanese indy wrestling. Kawauchi is good as the energetic youngster here with explosive takedowns and pummeling violently on the ground. Ichimiya who is some comedy character in DDT looks credible here as a heavyweight shooter. His super violent, quick assault on Kawauchi in the 2nd fall using the guardrail may have been the highlight of the match. His extremely vocal selling also added some more grit. Kitahara is as you expect. His punches and kicks were Ikeda level but I was also surprised how brutal his chokes (or choke setups) felt. He also got his "Kitahara is a bastard" moment when he kicked Ichimiya in his bandaged arm. The matwork here is mostly working punches from mount and has a really smothering feel to it, though there is the occasional submission attempt and the finish is a neat submission counter. The match is short enough so it totally works.

Koki Kitahara vs. Genichiro Tenryu (WAR 11/29/1994) - EPIC

This was what the matchup promises. Two guys infamous for doing grossly violent things to their opponents doing grossly violent things to each other. It stards with both guys working a standard side headlock sequence and then Kitahara going "Hm, that isn't going to work" so he starts just clobbering Tenryu with thudding kicks left and right. Tenryu fires back with throat chops and kicking Kitaharas head like a football constantly. I love the savate kicks Kitahara will mix in, and Tenryu is really great at selling an assbeating from a kicker. He is much higher than Kitahara in the hierarchy, but he will sell that he get caught in a painful spot. So it's basically a constant stream of Tenryu trying to brush off Kitaharas kicks until "Damn, he kicked me in the elbow! Ow, now my chin, too!". Great spot where Tenryu tries for the Flair turnbuckle spot but Kitahara just kicks him in the face and he slowly sinks over. By the end Kitaharas legs were giving out because he just spent 10 minutes kicking Tenryu as hard as humanly possible. This is exactly what you want.