GWE Watching: Koichiro Kimura

 

Koichiro Kimura vs. Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei, FUTEN 9/26/2010

A shootstyle handicap match which ends up being really compelling. Normally handicap matches would be unfair but Kimura is such a monster that it easily becomes believable. Kimura rip your arms and legs off and potatoe you really hard, plus his lethargic selling actually makes him look unstoppable. This had a lot of Brahmans getting stretched and mauled, until they were able to play the numbers game, spit some water and hit some cool double teams. Brahmans were kicking really damn hard too, almost like it’s FUTEN or something. I really liked how Kimura got water in his face but went straight back to mauling a Brahman. By the end he was getting swarmed and trying to get just one of these pesky Brahmans off long enough to put the other in a submission, until he succeeded with a Volk Han-ish leglock. Pretty unique stuff.

Koichiro Kimura vs. Makoto Hashi, FUTEN 7/25/2010

This was basically the two FUTEN monsters facing off so it was a compelling match up. You have to keep in mind that almost every FUTEN guy is some kind of indy wrestler doing shootstyle matches, so Koichiro Kimuras no frills RINGS grappler act feels different. As such the early goings of this was mostly grappling with Hashi not being able to do much against the superior grappler. This sets up the really intense second half of the match. Hashi moves in to go for headbutts so pissed off Kimura laid in some FUTEN level brutal stomps in the corner to him. After that it was Hashi as underdog vs. a tough shooter. Hashi grabbing a desperate Goriman suplex was really great. The second half had some really brutal hard hitting, Hashi using his brute force and some excellent submission counters from Kimura. 

 

 Koichiro Kimura vs. Kazuki Okubo, FUTEN 6/27/2010

Koichiro Kimura vs. Kazuki Okubo, FUTEN 10/24/2010

Two matches worth watching. The 10/24 is slightly better I thought, due to a more frantic Okubo performance but they didn't give each other much, the first match also had a cool surprise Okubo flying armbar and suplex. Both are pretty much the same layout, Kimura is an unstoppable monster who wastes his opponent with these brutal ground knees and stomps and some leg crushing cross heelhooks and legbars, and Okubo is really spunky laying it into him. I was surprised Kimura gave Okubo a lot of offense in these while maintaining his monster aura, and Okubo was so stiff that Kimura shrugging off the barrages of kicks was impressive. Not top tier FUTEN stuff but I found it to be a pretty enjoyable match up both times.

Takeshi Ono Documentation Project #23

 Takeshi Ono vs. Ryuji Hijikata, BattlARTS 4/17/2001 - FUN

Their shortest encounter as it‘s JIP so it‘s just 4 minutes. Hijikata took most of what was shown so we get to see Onos really good selling and bumping, he‘s really good taking hits and just barely keeping himself up while getting into position for the next move. Hijikatas kicks and hold were good and Ono beat him easily but decisively so it was a good win.

 

 

Takeshi Ono vs. Osamu Tachihikari, BattlARTS 11/26/2000 – GREAT

How great was Ono in 2000? Great enough to get a honest to god great match out of Tachihikari, who may be among the most useless guys in the history of Japanese wrestling. Think of what an achievement that is. But Ono is totally awesome here as he beats the shit out of that big sad goof and sets himself up for Tachihikaris offense in awesome ways. Working some great counters, challing him to a sumo faceoff only to slip right into an awesome Octopus Hold, hitting a slick dive, big damn punch combos, all while he was selling and eating the fuck out of Tachihikaris clumsy offense. Coming up glassy eyed after getting suplexed, turning into a noodle for Osamus clumsy lariat, the crowd go from laughing at Tachihikari to being on fire for the nearfalls that they were working. Tachihikari does one cool thing in this match and that is palming Ono in the face pretty hard. Still, if Ono could have a match this good with Tachihikari, there’s truely no limit to what the man could do.

 

Takeshi Ono & Ryuichi Sekine vs. Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei, FUTEN 6/27/2010 - GREAT

Great undercard action, this kind of thing made FUTEN so good. Everyone just goes hard, all killer no filler, each exchange had a cool touch. Brahmans were pretty great undercard wrestlers at this point, they had no problem doing cool matwork, hitting hard an busting out unpredictable things. Sekine stuck to his underdog role and kept things nice and basic, with a good sense of aggression. ONO was of course the king of this match. He just goes for the kill all of the time, like as soon as an opponent was slightly prone he would go for a headkick. He was at his best here whenever he tagged in to punch people in the face, knee them in the head or lock in slick Octopus Holds. Still the match was quite heavy on the Brahmans and Sekine, which is not a bad thing, it just stood slightly in the way of another truly epic Ono performance, although this was just a mid card match. But for that it was excellent and would pretty much rock MOTY lists now.

Takeshi Ono Master List

FUTEN undercard matches

 Shoichi Uchida vs. Mitsuya Nagai, FUTEN 4/24/2010

That moment you watch a random FUTEN undercard match and it’s better than pretty much anything you’ve watched from recent times. Hellish match where Nagai was trying to blast Uchida to smithereens with his kicks. Uchida was gutsy really gutsy here, I really liked how he kept shooting for desperate takedowns which Nagai kept stuffing, really nice example of big vs. little psychology in a shootstyle match. Nagais submissions were ultra nasty and Fuchi-ish. Uchidas one bit of offense was really cool, Nagai goes for another big kick but got his foot caught in the ropes allowing Uchida to hit a suplex and then immediately trying for a choke on Nagai. Nagai then proceeded to try to rip Uchida in half some more. And one points both guys traded absolutely sickening headbutts. Gnarly stuff, wish we still had this.

Manabu Hara vs. Brahman Kei, FUTEN 10/24/2010

 

Nifty undercard match. Kei can’t stand up to Hara but he uses some heel tactics to even things out. Basically anytime Hara was able to stand up and go on offense, he was crushing Kei with brutal kicks and lariats. Kei threw some hard kicks of his own and there were a couple neat transitions. His desperate armbar counter was really good and the finish was neat. Amazing how much you can do in a 6 minute match without coming across as forcing it.

Tamon Honda vs. Brahman Shu, FUTEN 10/24/2010

Really fun match built around Shu mostly kicking Honda in the leg really really hard. It’s odd that Honda is this well respected veteran but Shu really kicks the crap out of him, FUTEN factor I guess. Shu having to build up a simple suplex because Honda is such a beast was cool and his kicks and slaps were landing really hard. Honda had almost no offense in the match except his Dead End and Olympic Hell but he’s awesome regardless.

Taro Nohashi vs. Yoshinari Narita, FUTEN 12/19/2010

Quick FUTEN opening matches where two guys just blast each other may be among my favourite things in wrestling, and this one was totally awesome. Narita is a BattlARTS guy and he has gloves and kickpads and Nohashi has his hands an a really hard head and they lay hellish beatings on each other for 6 minutes. NARITA tagging Nohashi with fast punches and bloodying his mouth was great. Intially Nohashi tried to grapple with NARITA but by the end he tried to just knock him out with crazy headbutts to the head and face. You don’t see a monk vs. an MMA fighter everyday but this was tremendous.

Takeshi Ono Documentation Project #22

 Takeshi Ono vs. Takashi Okamura, PWFG 8/12/1995 - FUN

Okamura is the guy with the craziest mullet from Kitao Dojo, and he is a fun opponent for Ono. This was a straight shootstyle 4 minute match than the hybrid craziness this match would have been in 1997 or 1998, but it was good. Okamura works this as a bigger guy with some crazy kick variations, and Ono has to slip past that to try and tap him out. Onos slickness is great, he would lock in a submission and then he would counter Okamuras counter attempt into another submission. Really nice finish too with the crazy belt throw. 

Takeshi Ono & Daisuke Ikeda vs. Hikaru Sato & Kengo Mashimo, Futen 1/22/2012 - EPIC

Another FUTEN main event, another 20 minute round of 4 lunatics just beating the life out of each other. This had a great build, as we start with some cautious Ono/Sato exchanges where neither guy wanted to make a mistake, before Ikeda tags in. Sato and Mashimo immediately take to isolating Ikeda and just slapping the dogshit out of him, which sets up the crazy frenzy that would be the second half of the match kicked off by Ikeda running and punting Mashimo in the face. Sato was just being introduced to the crazy world of FUTEN here, but he did good bringing the violence. He'd punch and palm Ikeda really hard, and finally they engaged in some brink of survival-level headbutt exchange topped by Sato kicking Ikeda in the face hard. After that gruelling caveman slugfest we get the much finer but still extremely violent Mashimo/Ono ending section. Really almost any Ono ending section in a quasi-shootstyle match is gonna be really great and these two looked awesome killing each other, this is just the coolest pro wrestling on earth. Mashimo looked really great too, big deadlift suplex, whiping out Onos leg with a badass sweep, I can only imagine how good their singles matches were. Ono is as great as you want him to be, throwing awesome punches and kneese, a crazy flying headscissor plus almost ripping Mashimo in half with the Octopus Stretch. On top of all that you get the trademark brutal partner saving spots. Really dug the moment where Mashimo went for the brainbuster only for Ikeda to take his leg out, still causing Ono to take a nasty bump. Finish was excellent stuff. Says a lot that this might be the least of FUTEN main events, because it was still an insanely great match.

Takeshi Ono Documentation

Takeshi Ono Documentation #20

Takeshi Ono & Ryuji Hijikata vs. junji.com & Urban Ken, BattlARTS 9/7/2000 - GREAT

 BattlARTS undercard tags then were a thing of beauty, and this was another real goodie. A bunch of juniors who aren't really stereotypically shoot stylists or juniors thrown together to do indy wrestling with that solid BattlARTS style groundwork. I enjoyed all these guys building up a solid match from the ground, and Ono as usual stood out above everyone hitting a bit stiffer punches and kicks and doing submissions a bit slicker and nastier than everyone else. It really picks up for the second half in a big way as you get junji and Ken running wild, junjis Animal Hamaguchi moveset feels really fresh, he busts out a choice Samoan Drop into a nasty kimura and then hits these really cool falling headbutts to the shoulder. They go bigger than you expect from an undercard tag as Ken and Ono look awesome, Ono doing his usual ultra slick reversals and strikes and Ken hitting awesome tackle moves, his style is really fun. Honestly felt like a great discovery thanks to everyone putting their working boots on and looking their best for that ending run.

 

Takeshi Ono & Takahiro Oba vs. Manabu Hara & Kengo Mashimo, FUTEN 5/30/2010 - EPIC

Super violent high end FUTEN main event tag. 4 crazy guys trying to batter each other to death with rotten kicks and wild swinging hands. It's a testament to Onos ability that he still looks super dangerous in a match where no one is holding back, he was trying to crush peoples faces with kicks and knees the whole time. Hara and Mashimo kind of form an asskicking force together, Mashimo is really solid in his usual role as a ratty thick guy who will beat you. Hara may have had the night of his life here as he was beating on people like he meant to kill them and locking in slick submissions. While there isn't a ton of matwork I really enjoyed the couple brief sections mostly starring Oba. Oba honestly looked pretty great here as well as his violent clubs and caveman strength spots are so unique, honestly he is another reason why we need the whole FUTEN back catalogue. Obas reckless attacks were interesting throughout without veering into goofy territory and there were some well inserted more pro style spots in. Finishing run was Ono vs. Hara and may have been one of the best ending runs ever done in this style, Hara was brutalizing Ono who kept evading and coming back to plant a knee in his face or just punch his jaw out. 20 minutes of awesome and one of the more mindblowing FUTEN matches of the year.

Takeshi Ono Documentation Project

Takeshi Ono Documentation Project #17

 

Takeshi Ono vs. Carl Greco, PWFG 6/18/1995 - FUN

4 minute match which really could‘ve gone a bit longer. Basically a series of intense mat scrambles, Ono is so slick and Greco tosses the fuck out of him. Just a taste of the great dynamic between these two, but it was still cool to check out. Nasty double joint breaking finish.

Takeshi Ono & Masao Orihara vs. Yuki Ishikawa & Great Sasuke, Michinoku Pro 8/16/1998 - FUN

Ono was doing his Masked Tiger gimmick and Ishikawa came in wearing a Sasuke outfit. Fun brawl which was basically a sprint with Ono flying into the ring with flying kicks and stomps and sometimes chairs and Orihara employing his usual scummy tactics. Sasuke hit some big dives and the finish was between Ishikawa and Ono and while it was brief it was as fun as you expect it to be.

Takeshi Ono & KAW KAW & Etsuko Mita vs. Yuki Ishikawa & Candy Okutsu & Ai Fujita, 3/12/2000 - SKIPPABLE

This match has the dubious honor of being the first skippable Ono match in this project. Mostly perv comedy with so many low blows and stepping on mens genitalia you have to wonder if it was the producers fetish. Girl on girl sections were kind of sloppy, and Ishikawa no selling Mitas piledriver pissed me off. There was one decent Ono/Ishikawa exchange in there but nothing you don‘t get in any other Ono match.

Takeshi Ono & Masao Orihara vs. Alexander Otsuka & Mamoru Okamoto, BattlARTS 2/7/1998 - FUN

Pretty much all 4 guys dropping bombs on each other. I expected the Tonpachi Machine Guns to dominate with their usual cheating and double teams, but instead Orihara took a big beating and Ono would rush in to save him, usually by kicking people recklessly to break up their moves. Otsuka is totally game in this kind of match, gorilla pressing Orihara and hurling him around with giant swings and suplexes like a rag doll. Eventually Ono embraces Oriharas rotten ways and punches Okamoto in the balls. The Guns continue to lay in a beating with chairs and stomps after the match. The early stages of a wonderful cooperation.

Takeshi Ono vs. Hiroyoshi Kotsubo, Futen 4/24/2005 - FUN

Nasty sub 5 minute squash. I kind of liked the opening movements with Kotsubo being a pure amateur style wrestler and Ono being the complete fighter. Kotsubo quickly proves himself to be useless hitting a crummy German suplex and lariat and Ono goes nuts punching him out. Short, painful, fun to watch.

TAKESHI ONO DOCUMENTATION PROJECT

Takeshi Ono Documentation Project #14

 

Takeshi Ono vs. Ryuji Hijikata, Futen 10/24/2010 - EPIC

Cool matchup due to both guys feuding in BattlARTS undercard matches 10 years earlier. Hijikata went to All Japan and got kinda rotten there, but that is no problem for Ono who carries him to his career match. Opening minutes were just great as Ono demolished Hijikata with superior striking and some beautiful submission attempts. It was almost starting to look like a squash until Hijikata got it together and decided to fire back. His suplex no sell was pretty cringy (he didn‘t even do a goofy yell) but other than that, he was willing to get hit by Ono and fired back with some big shots of his own, including a big knee right under Onos chin and a deadlift brainbuster, all of which Ono sells great. Slick finish. Not an epic match, but an epic performance from our man Takeshi Ono.

Takeshi Ono & Ikuto Hidaka vs. Ryuji Hijikata & Minoru Fujita, BattlARTS 1/30/2000 - FUN

This was basically a juniors match with the addition of Takeshi Ono punching people in the face. Him vs. Fujita was a really fun match up and I‘m sure they had a great match on a BJW house show one time or something. I also enjoyed Hidaka and Fujita facewashing each other since the apparently had broken up their tag team. Some big dives, including one from Ono. This was perfectly watchable popcorn wrestling plus face punches.

Takeshi Ono vs. Ryuji Hijikata, BattlARTS 2/13/2000 - FUN

JIP match. This full on pro style. There were the usual cool Ono counters and technical moves, plus he just blasted Hijikata with a straight right coming from the ropes and that rules. Hijikata didn‘t show much, didn‘t even throw any stiff kicks, just a nice lariat at one point. Full BattlARTS worldwide point thanks to the Ono factor though.

Takeshi Ono vs. Katsumi Usuda, BattlARTS 1/28/2001 - FUN

This was a Grappling Only match that delivered 8 minutes of slick grappling. I enjoyed it a lot. Dug all the leglock trickery, Ono using his judo and generally containing the bigger Usuda. Crafty finish. Strictly for the grappling purists, but it was really good grappling.

TAKESHI ONO DOCUMENTATION PROJECT MASTER LIST

Takeshi Ono Documentation Project #13

 

Takeshi Ono vs. Junji.com, BattlARTS 10/1/2000 - GREAT

As much as I loathe Ono not getting main events in the early 2000s anymore, he was just a great undercard wrestler having these awesome 7 minute quasi shootstyle WCWSN matches. This match was a banger, damn great for a junji.com match. Junji, to his credit, went at him hard and was just fierce trying to take Ono to the mat and heelhook him, who in turn blasted him with kicks from all sides. Onos agile striking is so great as he kicks you in the face even when you are working the other side of his body. The ending run was veering into EPIC territory as there were a number of super slick submissions and Junji fighting like mad.

Takeshi Ono & Mick Tierney vs. Katsumi Usuda & Rasta the Voodooman, BattlARTS 10/15/2000 - FUN

This happened at a martial arts club way out in Okinawa. It‘s crazy shows like this aired on TV. The match was just a really fun 5 minutes. Ono matched up with Usuda and that is a quality matchup. Even on a small show these guys traded some stiff kicks and punches. I also really enjoyed the Tierney/Rasta matchup. Tierney was a WWE development guy who somehow ended up in BattlARTS and it‘s fun to watch a big buff US dude give his impression of a shootstyle match.

Takeshi Ono vs. Katsumi Usuda, Futen 11/24/2010 - EPIC

Really great match which was basically straight shootstyle with FUTEN level violence and aggression. Ono was leathering Usuda with kicks and punches both standing and on the ground, and Usuda was just trying to slip beneath and take him, with Ono having to figure out counters to the takedowns. The finishing run was just fantastic and up there witht he best UWF main event endings, just at a faster pace. Ono was against the ropes by Usudas counterwork until he busted out an ultra slick move of his own.

 

TAKESHI ONO DOCUMENTATION PROJECT MASTER LIST

Takeshi Ono Documentation Project #10

 Takeshi Ono vs. White Moriyama, FUTEN 1/30/2011 - EPIC

I loved this, a real testament to the greatness of Ono. This was Moriyamas (initial) retirement and while he has never shown much, he was game to engage in a FUTEN level war. Normally you‘d associate retirement matches with feel good moments and the retiree getting their shit in, but that wasn‘t the case here as Ono was incredibly vicious throughout and just trying to turn Moriyama into a pulp. Just a super competitive match even outside the violence, really dug the opening grappling with Ono stuffing Moriyamas takedown attempts and doing some excellent guardwork. Onos relentlesness however may have been at its peak here as he caught Moriyama with a nasty stomp during a scramble in the ropes and then just demolished him with sick punches and kicks and ungodly knees. Ending run felt shockingly epic for a Moriyama match as he uncorked some gnarly head spiking suplexes while maintaining a sense of struggle, Moriyama getting a bloody nose and trying not to get punched out, refusing to die on his sword while getting his face perforated by Onos kicks etc. It works because of how bad Ono was stomping Moriyama earlier, that Moriyama reaching deep and trying to hang on actually feels epic. Strong contender for the greatest retirement match I've ever seen, and its all Ono.

Takeshi Ono & Junji.com vs. Ikuto Hidaka & Tiger Mask IV, BattlARTS 2/14/1999 - FUN

Fun match which may have been BattlARTS hybrid style at its most experimental. These guys were going back and forth from working lucharesu exchanges to shootstyle mat scrambles. Hidaka and Tiger Mask IV tore it up. Ono looked great too, but he spent too much time on the apron. When he was in the ring he went from kicking and punching people really hard, to working cool submissions, to stooging like an expert rudo. Junji was in most of the time and he is the weakest guy in the match, although still decent when he wasn’t hitting sloppy dropkicks. Cool match which felt hard fought, but I wanted more Ono content.

Takeshi Ono & Masao Orihara vs. junji.com & Ricky Banderas, BattlARTS 4/26/1999 - FUN

We only got about 5 minutes of this, which is too bad because it looked like a really good match. Junji cleaning house was fun, and Orihara and Ono are real fuckers beating the piss out of him. Banderas seems really out of place in this but does fine dropping some bombs. Finish is spectacular with Ono hitting a spider german, Orihara moonsaulting over him before Ono dives outside and Orihara gets the win with an abdominal stretch of all things. Tonpachi Machine Guns rule, man.

 

TAKESHI ONO DOCUMENTATION PROJECT MASTER LIST

Takeshi Ono Documentation Project #8

Takeshi Ono vs. Mitsuya Nagai, FUTEN 7/25/2010 - EPIC

One of the greatest FUTEN singles matches, and it's basically all Ono. Nagai hasn't done much since getting squished by Volk Han in RINGS, there is basically one thing he does really well and that is crowbarring people really hard, and this match is built entirely around that. Nagai is just destroying Ono here from the get go with kicks that hit like baseball bats and some insane elbows on the ground. Onos selling was just great here as he really flings his body around to put Nagais kicks over as super dangerous, and looking convincingly punch-drunk/near KO'd. All the while Ono is doing everything he can to fire back, then be overwhelmed again, then try to slip into a submission hold only to get mauled even more. He is also pretty great at slipping out of Nagais throw attempts and it builds to another great finish.  Really ballsy to have a match built around taking brutal shots from a guy who once nearly killed another guy and really tells what a master Ono is to make such a match this compelling.

Takeshi Ono vs. Mitsuya Nagai, Futen 7/18/11 - GREAT

Very deliberate match. Nagai was off here, but Takeshi Ono is the GOAT and makes any match he‘s in must watch. This was mostly about Ono avoiding the thrashing he got from Nagai in their previous singles match while Nagai was trying to get his win back. There was some amazing legwork from Ono, and he is just great both fighting from underneath as well as destroying a guy. Nagai wasn‘t really suited to play his role well here, it just doesn‘t suit him like the out and out steamrolling he gave Ono in 2010 and he seemed to be struggling to hit his signature spots. I wouldn‘t say he outright sucked though, as I enjoyed all the submission work. Still, you want to watch every match Takeshi Ono is in.

 

Takeshi Ono vs. Shoichi Funaki (BattlARTS 5/21/1997) - GREAT

Great 5 minute sprint. Ono was ultra vicious here (really!), and Funaki basically acted like a piece of scum. Great start with Ono hitting a big thai knee, pummeling Funaki and immediately establishing himself as a dangerous no nonsense shooter before Funaki kicks him in the balls. Funaki does some cool leg attack, including some good mat scrumbles. Neat spot where Ono catches another low blow and turns it into an ankle hold. Great finish where Funaki goes for a flying move only for Ono to catch him with a kick and then proceed to just turn his lights out.

TAKESHI ONO DOCUMENTATION PROJECT MASTER LIST

Takeshi Ono Documentation Project #7

 Takeshi Ono & Daisuke Ikeda vs. Manabu Hara & Takahiro Oba, FUTEN 4/26/2009 - EPIC

Man, is Team Taco the greatest tag team ever, or what? Is FUTEN the greatest promotion ever? Those 24 shows between Bati-Bati 1 and 26 that we don't have are sorely missed. This is head and shoulders the best thing to come out of Japan - and probably all the world - that year. 28 minutes of pure hybrid shootstyle greatness. The great thing about this post modern shootstyle is that it allows for plenty of character work and psychology while also delivering high end exchanges and insane stiffness in spades. Ikeda and Ono are predictably great here cutting off the ring, isolating guys and beating the tar off of them, but there's also plenty of fairly great wrestling exchanges. Ono is king sized here, both delivering some really slick grappling and punishing guys with precise striking. There is a great section where Ono and Ikeda are stretching the shit out of Haras leg, really Regalesque torture holds that you don't see much in shootstyle, and it really underlines what a pair of pricks they are. Oba & Hara are a revelation here totally holding up their side of the match. Haras athletic moves are a cool change of pace from the hardened tough veteran asskicking that Ikeda and Ono bring to the table, and Oba is on fire in this match as an eccentric tough guy with supreme idiot strength. Several great spots throughout the match, and it keeps building and building to the eventual explosion when Ikeda and Hara really start killing each other. Ikeda is a fucking god here, and Hara holds up in a stretch that is up there with the most insane Ikeda/Ishikawa ending stretches. Bare knuckle boxing exchanges, Ikeda almost crushing Haras face with probably the craziest spin kick caught on film, Hara dropping Ikeda with a completely out of nowhere Tiger Driver 91, both guys were just raining hell on each other and it was truely transcendent. Ikeda is one of the few guys you buy as tough enough to survive this kind of punishment, and Hara is really elevated by making it through this madness even as he gets trapped. Tremendous, tremendous match, pro wrestling at its absolute best.

Takeshi Ono vs. Ikuto Hidaka (BattlARTS 4/15/1997) - FUN

It’s fun to watch Hidaka progress through getting his ass kicked by Takeshi Ono. Hidaka lasted about a minute longer in this than in their last match, but may have taken an even worse beating. Ono was unloading with some sick kicks and headbutts here. Also dug his knees on the ground. When Hidaka briefly got the advantage on the mat, he was met with another kick in the face swiftly. Talk about earning your stripes.

Takeshi Ono & Yuki Ishikawa vs. Alexander Otsuka & Katsumi Usuda (BattlARTS 5/18/1997) - GREAT

Back then you could throw almost any combination of BattlARTS guys into a tag and you were basicallly guaranteed a great match. This was basically a barrage of great grappling and vicious strikes. Usuda and Ono were just killing people here with their kicks, you don’t see people getting walloped like that anymore. Ono came across as this ultra vicious little bastard. He had some cool power vs. sheer scrappiness exchanges against Otsuka, including Otsuka deadlifting him from a hold into a Takaiwaeske piledriver in a sick moment. Finish was great as Usuda just barely got the drop on Ono and Otsuka ran in to nuke him with suplexes. Ono did this really excellent KO sell as he tried to regain his equilibrium. My only gripe with this is they clipped a 15 minute match down to 9.

TAKESHI ONO DOCUMENTATION PROJECT MASTER LIST

Takeshi Ono Documentation #5

Takeshi Ono vs. Carl Greco, BattlARTS 11/5/1997 - GREAT

1997 was probably the period where you could take almost any random BattlARTS match and it would be the #1 best match to happen in 2020 for months. Carl Greco was a barefoot machine here, lord in heaven what a great grappler he was. This is all about Ono trying to out-slick the beast. Some absolutely fantastic grappling and holds here, and Ono throwing strikes feels like he's trying to equalize the situation in order to not get steamrolled. Great nearfalls here, including an absolutely awesome Octopus Stretch that Ono sunk in like he wanted the tap out more than anything else in his life. This was a second match on the card and went eleven minutes, you get the sense if they had gone for a slightly more grandiose finishing stretch with some big strike exchanges and near KO this would've moved into serious MOTYC territory, but for that type of second 11 minute match on the card this was damn great.

Takeshi Ono & Manabu Hara & White Moriyama vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei (FUTEN 4/24/2010) - EPIC

FUTEN baby. Ultra-stiff fast paced basically shootstyle brawl where everyone lays into each other with the stiffest punches, headbutts and lariats pro wrestling has ever seen. This is not even remembered as one of the greater matches from that brief but sweet run of FUTEN actually making tape in 2010, but it’s chock full of fantastic and violent exchanges. Just the opening exchange with Ikeda and Hara trying to pulverize each other was fantastic. I have seen some people object to the Brahmans in Futen before, but they are fine here, working stiff and their comedy spot was over quickly and didn’t derail the match. One of them also had this sick leaping headbutt. Hara looks great coming in for his hot tag crushing everyone, and Moriyama is really good in his fired up youngster role. Ono isn’t in the match a ton but he looks great lighting up dudes with punches and kicks and stretching them with nasty submissions. His exchange with Ikeda was insane and the highlight of the match by far. Ikeda was working this match like an injured but still super tough and dangerous beast. His chemistry with Ono is really no worse than his chemistry with Yuki Ishikawa, except Ono is in more of an aggressor role. The finish is between Ikeda and Moriyama and basically about Moriyama trying to slowly chop the boss down and getting met with brutal punts kicks and straight rights. Absolutely dope material, it’s too sad FUTEN only started regularily releasing DVDs in 2010.

 

Takeshi Ono & Junji.com vs. Azteca & Daiyu Kawauchi (BattlARTS 2/12/1999) - SKIPPABLE

I would’ve liked to see how the KAGEKI boys would mesh with the BattlARTS crew, but they only showed about 30 seconds of this. Seemed like a pro style match with the only Ono content being a nasty double stomp and him octopus stretching young nondescript Kawauchi for the finish.

 Takeshi Ono & Yuki Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Katsumi Usuda, BattlARTS 1/21/1997 - EPIC

This was some truely high end BattlARTS tag team action. The first thing you notice is how on point all 4 guys on the mat were. The opening exchanges felt slick like U-Style matwork and always highly competitive, with the violence upgraded to BattlARTS standards. The brutality was of the charts here. The "tag team partners running in to make the save from a submission" where some of the must vicious I've seen and felt like PRIDE ground stomping, Ikeda at one point started throwing mule kicks on the ground, and Usuda and Ono threw some kicks that looked like nobody would get up from them. Man I don't even care whether there was a story or anything this match because the work was so frantic, hard fought and believable and sold so, so well I was 100% engrossed the entire time. The match also felt like it could end at anytime: at one point, Ikeda got his leg worked over with a few kicks from Ono and nice holds by Ishikawa (note the teamwork there), then Ono landed a series of skull crushing kicks on him. Ikeda believably beat the count, but his entire body language was such that you could see he was moments away from being finished, so he did the only reasonable thing and quietly slipped to his corner to tag out before collapsing like a broken man. That may have been my favourite moment of the match and it made the finish feel even sweeter where it feels like Ishikawa and Ono have the match in the bag and Ikeda just comes in and turns Ono's lights out to set up the finish. All 4 guys had career highlight performances, Ono did some stuff on the mat only he could do, Usuda stepped up big time and Ishikawa and Ikeda had some incredible exchanges together. Great, great match and a really compelling fusion of top notch shootstyle matwork, brawling and top level stiffness.

TAKESHI ONO DOCUMENTATION PROJECT MASTER LIST

Takeshi Ono Documentation #2

 Takeshi Ono vs. Wataru Sakata (RINGS 12/24/1994) - FUN

This is Takeshi Onos earliest match on tape and supposedly his 2^nd match ever (probably not true). Wataru Sakata was only 3 fights into his career at this point. 7 or so years later this would’ve been a great battle of dickhead shooters, in december of 1994 it was a fun undercard grappling match between two rookies in spaced out neon trunks and kickpads. The match was worked like a size mismatch with Sakata dominating through his size while Ono had to stick to slipping underneath. Some nice mat scrambles, and I really dug all of Onos throw attempts which he chained into rolling legbars, he has no chance of throwing Sakata but he can use them to hopefully set up a nasty leg submission. Wataru Sakata wasn’t as much of a dickhead as later in U-Style and ZERO1, but he did get a warning for kicking Ono on the ground also did some nasty face grinding. He also had a really fun finish where he just yanked into an armbar. You kind of have to be a grappler yourself to appreciate this kind of match and I definitely felt that forearm to the jaw choke attempt and that heavy north south position before the finish.

Takeshi Ono vs. Tanomusaku Toba (BattlARTS 10/14/2001) - FUN

The sorry motherfuckers at Samurai TV only showed us about 30 seconds of this dream matchup. Still, we get to watch them trade awesome punches and a cool finish where Ono does a Gannosuke Clutch into an armbar which is enough for me to list this was FUN.

Takeshi Ono & Hiroyoshi Kotsubo vs. Carl Greco & Super Rider (BattlARTS 8/25/2001) - EPIC

We get about 10 minutes of an undercard which was thankfully centered around the Takeshi Ono vs. Carl Greco exchanges. That is a million dollar matchup and they were absolutely awesome here. Holy fucking hell I’ve said it before, but to reiterate: Carl Greco was a bloody wrestling machine. He always fights like a devil, never a lazy moment, and his technique is something else. His exchanges with Ono were awesome as he would try to grapple and Ono would just target him with brutal strikes including some insane sliding leg kicks and sprint across the ring knee in the face. Ono is an assault machine even in these undercard tags, he never throws a strike that doesn’t connect with a nasty thud. Rider & Kotsubo manage to not suck as they tag in and the finish is up to Greco and Ono and it is short but sweet, with both guys busting out super fast slick counters and just blasting each other with near KO strikes. Awesome stuff, love Ono, love Carl Greco, love BattlARTs.

Takeshi Ono vs. Daisuke Ikeda (FUTEN 9/26/2010) - EPIC

4 MINUTES 27 SECONDS! I must've have watched this match a dozen times, and it never stops being awesome. They just THROW DOWN and the world explodes. Awesome savage punch exchanges, general recklessness, Ikeda going for any weird move he can think of, while still keeping a general sense of defensiveness/evading. The counterwork is just stellar. The selling is sublime, and kind of different - guys would get hit, and sell he trauma of getting hit, but straighten themselves out and stop themselves from buckling "DAMN he got me good... but I'm not going down now, fuck you", like you would when the adrenaline is rushing, and then swing back and try to crush the other guy. Most matches are lucky to have 1 or 2 great moments. I counted 4 great moments in the first 35 seconds of this.

 

TAKESHI ONO DOCUMENTATION PROJECT MASTER LIST

Takeshi Ono Documentation #1

   Takeshi Ono vs. Katsumi Usuda, BattlARTS 4/13/1997 - GREAT

This was right before Takeshi Ono joined Masao Orihara to form the sleazy superduo of the Tonpachi Machine Guns. Ono and Usuda had a damn great match in 2010 (review to come), and this was also a damn great match and a more grandiose finishing stretch away from being on the level of the 2010 match. Basically straight shootstyle full of intense mat scrambles and Ono attacking as a dangerous striker with kicks and knees on the ground. Usuda kind of took a backseat in this match and let Ono dictate the bout, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Some really brutal leglocks in this that seemed to be broken short of popping someones knee. There was an especially violent moment near the end where Usuda went for another break and Ono tried to kick his leg out of his leg in frustration. It builds to a series of near finishes with Ono continueing to force breaks and being super close to scoring the upset until Usuda is able to score a nifty counter and put him away with a quick flurry of devastating strikes.

 
Takeshi Ono vs. Super Rider, BattlARTS 6/2/2001 - GREAT

Super fun 7 minute undercard match full of slick mat scrambles and stiff blows. Super Rider sucks when he's doing pro style, but he looks really good doing straight shootstyle exchanges. His submissions are a bit different to what the BattlARTS crew usually does and it makes for a fun contrast. All of his submission counters were great. Ono was of course fantastic demolishing him with slick strikes. He also did some crazy sharp, brief work on the leg. It makes me sad though that a wrestler as good as Ono was jobbing like this to a no name outsider in 2001.

Takeshi Ono & Yuki Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Katsumi Usuda, FUTEN 12/19/2010 - EPIC

Uhm... it's these guys fighting eachother for 25 minutes in 2010 FUTEN. We get lot of really good exchanges throughout and an incredibly violent finishing run. The broken down version of Ishikawa/Ikeda is a pretty great matchup in itself, as all their exchanges have this continually exhausted Lawler/Mantell feel. Ishikawa was the far superior grappler by this point and would catch in Ikeda in all kinds of neat submissions, while Ikeda would come through with something incredibly stiff once in a while. It's a testament to Ikedas selling ability that even knowing he can take absolutely insane punishment he can make you believe he was seeing stars after a simple sleeper hold. Ikeda would also keep the grappling violent by just fishhooking Ishikawa repeatedly. Ono was incredible here and may have been the best guy in the match (and the world) at this point. He came across as this super dangerous striker early on (even in a match that has Daisuke Ikeda in it), pounding dudes really violently, flying stomps on the ground. The finishing run is between him and Usuda and it's just this amazing dangerous striker vs. Counter specialist matchup. The cool thing is Ono was avoiding all of Usudas signature spots but Usuda would still catch him, all while fighting for his life. Ono would go for a full force stomp that would likely cave Usudas face in only for Usuda to slip and lock in a submission. Increasingly violent saves were pretty gnarly with Usuda and Ono taking some sick headbutts and kicks while entangled in leglocks. Also, Onos lightning fast submissions were amazing.

 

TAKESHI ONO DOCUMENTATION MASTER LIST