More Assorted Japanese Indy Wrestling

 

Diablo vs. Hideaki Sumi, Riki Office 9/26/2010

This was really fucking cool, a karateka vs. a vicious brawler in a chain match. Sumis kicks and punches were great and Diablo was kicking ass here, bloodying his opponent, throwing punches, using chairs and the chain etc. I would have liked to see Sumi kick a bit more ass but for a kind of fast, brief asskicking resulting in blood and mist this was really cool.

 

 

Mentai Kid & Billy Ken Kid vs. Genkai & Ryuta Chikuzen (Kyushu Pro 4/16/2018)

Pretty great match which oddly enough was largely built around the two highflyers doing lots of nasty bodypart work and stiff blows to the grizzled heavyweights. Opening sections were very nice, they kept things simple but worked a scale higher than basic. Match gets really great once BKK hits a double stomp to Chikuzen. They follow up with both Kids unleashing some brutal work on Chikuzens mid section. The whole section was really great and full of nasty stomps, spin kicks, punch combos and excellent cut offs. It’s weird to see a guy like Billy Ken Kid work really stiff and just tag people hard and drop hefty looking bombs but here we are. GENKAI was pretty great in the match too, he largely cut out the WWE spots and was just kicking dudes really hard and hurling them around with hard suplexes. Chikuzen had a Taue-ish vibe, gangly lumbering dude with odd athleticism who will hurl himself at you. GENKAI ended up working overtime to carry his damaged partner through the match and did an amazing job. I dug all the build to the big moves, and that they largely avoided overkill since basic moves like a fallaway slam or hip drop were hitting in brutal fashion. Awesome big match with tremendous heat.

 

Hiroaki Taniguchi vs. Katsumi Oribe, Move-On Pro Wrestling 7/13/2022

 Very cool match which felt a bit like a modern day WAR heavyweight clash. It was a bit slower and not quite as gritty but both guys made full use of the empty arena here leathering the hell out of each other with grimy strikes and slams. Oribe is great, he's a karateka and he throws really beautiful kicks just trying to cave his opponents chest in. Taniguchi is a bit of a slow bloated guy but his slams and lariats were really violent, he also had this really great big splash targetting Oribes back. Some more tricked out sequences than you'd expect, I liked how they didn't just go braindead with endless shoulderblocks and no selling like Japanese heavyweight wrestling often does. I normally dislike the superkick to kneeling opponent but Oribe was hitting them more like thrust kicks and almost taking Taniguchis head off. Good shit.

2023 MOTY Project #1

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

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

 

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

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

Darby Allin vs. KUSHIDA, AEW 1/18

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

2022 MOTY List Update #5

 

Keita Yano vs. Hikaru Sato, Tenryu Project 9/19/2022 - EPIC

This was really long and thus a bit slow-paced and tentative here and there. That aside this was largely excellent. Yano did a ton of great matwork and I loved all of Satos vicious strikes, especially the constant kicks to the mid section. Sato zoning in on Yanos arm and busting out cool armbar variations was good although they may have gone a bit overboard. The finishing run had a bunch of cool Yano moments, such as for example working a takedown attempt for a ropebreak before turning it into a gritty leglock battle. I didn’t think it was the MOTY like some people – it was just a bit too long and slow for that – but it was really good stuff and worth watching all the way through.

Naoya Nomura & Hayato Mashita vs. Super Tiger II & Shingo Suzuki, DIANA 10/16/2022

This was four sleazy shooters doing a random undercard match on a joshi show. It easily could have been mailed in, but instead they busted their ass and had a match that was actually unpredictable, had no downtime, a few neat moments and was stiff and exciting. Big credit goes to Nomura who was just awesome with his out of nowhere spears and shoulder tackles. I also really enjoyed Shingo Suzuki, who apparently is a seasoned MMA fighter turned pro wrestler. He got some nice shooty exchanges out of people, and he had a really insane dive that I won't spoil. I also continue to be impressed by how STII is not completely broken down and even looking quite spirited, hitting cool spin kicks. I thought Mashita stunk a bit in the first minute of this but he wasn't bad at the end. For 9 minutes this was way way too fun.

GENKAI & Hitamaru Sasaki vs. HUB & Tigers Mask, Kyushu Pro, 11/12/2022

Once in a while I am reminded that Kyushu Pro puts on some really good matches. This was a match that showcased 4 cool unique wrestlers to the best of their abilities busting their asses, impressive considering everyone here is in their 40s. GENKAI did some really great shoulder selling, best "wounded beast" selling performance I've seen in a while, I also really liked how they didn't go for the obvious route by working his shoulder a bunch, instead people would try to tag him in the shoulder and he would overpower them, all while doing this great pained selling. HUB was really cool here, like a slithery version of Tajiri, he had a really nice opening segment against Genkai, and his weird whip thing actually looked super painful, he also had an insane right hook to Genkai when the whip didn't do it at one point and his jumping knees look great. Tigers Mask also looked good, he hit some painful looking kicks to Genkais shoulder and generally was really spry, I am annoyed his recent matches in Osaka Pro only seem to air in clips. Sasaki was the least guy in the match but he was still pretty solid, working a shootstyle mat segment against Tigers Mask. I will say his kicks and jumping knees look a bit weak compared to what Tigers Mask and HUB were doing. They worked this at a really good pace, doing plenty of tricked out stuff without going overboard, always sticking to their strengths, I actually wanted them to slow down  a bit because I was so into the story of their match. Regardless it was a really good long form match and ended at the right moment with a bunch of high notes.

2022 MOTY List

Assorted Japanese Indy Wrestling

 

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

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

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

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

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

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