Tanomusaku Toba Documentation #22

 

Tanomusaku Toba & Kota Ibushi vs. Manabu Hara & Katsumi Usuda, DDT 6/13/2007 - EPIC

Don’t know what was happening in DDT in 2007 that they were booking all these BattlARTS invasion matches but I am here for it. This was awesome and basically just pure asskicking all the way through. Pretty much perfectly digestable shootstyle stiff fest with minimal submission work and clear face/heel roles with Hara and Usuda being a pair of assholes and brutalizing Ibushi. Toba in DDT usually faces easy opposition and it was pretty awesome to see him here mixing it up with a pair of beasts and getting kicked in the face by Usuda. Ibushi cut out the bullshit and was just a gutsy fighter here, even his blown backflip kind of worked in the match. This was just a hair under 10 minutes and just incredibly stiff and exciting for the whole duration.

Tanomusaku Toba & Sanshiro Takagi vs. Manabu Hara & Katsumi Usuda, DDT 6/20/2007 - GREAT

I wasn’t sure how Takagi would do with the shooters, but he mostly does fine. Him dumping a table on Usuda and hitting a stiff dropkick was great, but his later stuff lacked the same intensity. Toba vs. BattlARTS guys was really great once again and his exchange with Usuda was must see. Usuda shoot headbutting Toba through a flurry of punches and kicks was awe inspiring.Toba would’ve had one hell of a career as a BattlARTS or FUTEN guy. I mean he still had one hell of a career but this stuff is where he shines most, and there’s so little of it. All the more reason to cherish random little matches like this more, I guess!

Tanomusaku Toba & MIKAMI vs. Kota Ibushi & HARASHIMA, DDT 4/11/2007 – FUN

JIP, which is too bad because on paper this is a great match. What we get is pretty fun though as we get a couple great Toba exchanges vs. Ibushi and HARASHIMA. Toba annihilating Ibushi with body blows and brutal kicks was really great. HARASHIMA isn’t afraid to eat punishment, hit back and then dive right into a Toba punch other. Toba also almost got ripped in half by a nasty Shima leglock. Everything else was solid and the Toba sections were absolutely worth checking out.

 

Tanomusaku Toba Documentation Project

Keita Yano Documentation #4

 Keita Yano vs. Katsumi Usuda, BattlARTS 11/16/2008 - EPIC

Really great match which I have no problem calling a BattlARTS classic. Back then a lot of BattlARTS diehards hated Yano for bringing some of his whackier ideas into that promotion, but to me he added a lot to this match. He has hanging really well with Usuda on the mat, producing some really good straight shootstyle exchanges, he was able to credibly to do some damage to Usuda standing and otherwise, and he added plenty of neat touches such as turning a stretch into his cool bridging choke during the last few minutes. When Usuda started blasting him with kicks, he would take Usuda down and immediately try to take the wind out of him with some vicious knees on the ground. Later he‘d cut Usuda off with a flurry of open hands and spinning backhand before nailing Usuda with a nasty dropkick to the head. The one questionable thing he did was the attempted lariat from the ropes, and that led to him getting kicked in the face. Usuda was tremendous here, really punishing Keita with painful holds and some of the most brutal kicks ever caught on film. He did a tremendous job turning Keitas zealousness against him while also selling for him and allowing him just enough offense to not look like a chump. All-time series of brutal kicks leading to one of the sickest match endings of all time was one hell of a way to end this. Incredible match considering Yano was barely in his second year as a wrestler.

Keita Yano vs. Yuki Ishikawa, BattlARTS 3/21/2011 - GREAT

I remember watching this at the time. Yanos Joker makeup was new and we all thought he was losing his mind. Little did we know what was to come. This was about as good as I remember it being, lots of really fun matwork with Yano doing some cool unorthodox chokeholds and both guys ripping each others legs up. Yano did hit some great looking european uppercuts and aside from one slightly awkward lariat he had no goofs. And Ishikawa was Ishikawa. I felt like it didn’t quite push into next level territory but it was a really good match up.

 

Keita Yano vs. Shota, Tenryu Project 8/17/2022 - FUN

Nice match between two guys who totally have an epic in them. This was just a 3rd match on the card so they didn‘t exactly go all out, but it was all in all one of the niftiest matches of the year. They start with a 70s style control segment about hitting armdrags and reversing armdrags before moving on to trickier stuff with Yano working over Shotas leg. Yanos bridging indian deathlock was obviously the highlight, and Shota sold really well. Shota is honestly a pretty underrated indy talent himself, he had some neat transitions and never overreached. Really well done technical match, only criticism is that I wanted more but I always want more wrestling like this.

Keita Yano Documentation

Takeshi Ono Documentation Project #19

 Takeshi Ono vs. Alexander Otsuka, BattlARTS 8/29/1999 - FUN

Only 3 or 4 minutes where shown here, but every second was great. Otsuka at this time was experimenting with pro style moves a lot, and he was working Ono like a Power Plant guy using a grappling dummy here, just ragdolling him around. There were a few great moments, such as Onos rolling leglock, and Otsuka scrambling over Onos low blow and dumping him with a big suplex that Ono desperately tried to counter. Of course, we get a big Giant Swing spot where Otsuka just launches Ono across the ring like a cartoon character. Finish was totally great with Ono scrambling out of a Dragon Suplex and locking in a slick armbar. Crowd went nuts for Ono tapping out Otsuka and rightfully so.

Takeshi Ono & Mohammed Yone vs. Katsumi Usuda & Daisuke Ikeda, BattlARTS 9/23/1999 - FUN

Exciting looking match, but we only get the second half. Good stiff BattlARTS action. Yone was tolerable as he was there to eat brutal kicks and lariats from Usuda and Ikeda. It‘s always stunning how good Usuda looks even in short clips. His backhands are awesome. The finish was Ono vs. Ikeda and it was some great bomb throwing and counters. Another great finish with Ono scrambling out of Ikedas Death Valley Driver and into another neat lucha rollup turned armbar. Seems Ono was raking in some big surprise wins towards the end of 1999 but it didn‘t seem to go anywhere.

Takeshi Ono vs. Ryuji Hijikata, BattlARTS 12/25/1999 - GREAT

One of the few Ono matches that year to even air in full, and it‘s a great one. Mostly just Ono being a freak, putting on slick submissions on Hijikata, busting out neat counters and punching and kicking him in the face. A lot of Onos stuff could easily be stolen in a pro style context, it just looks so good and makes sense. Hijikata was green-ish but he could strike back when it counted. Loved Ono struggling against Hijikatas Fisherman Suplex. Well executed finish. This hit all the marks in 9 minutes and was just a great opener.

TAKESHI ONO DOCUMENTATION PROJECT MASTER LIST

Takeshi Ono Documentation Project #15

 Takeshi Ono vs. Katsumi Usuda, BattlARTS 5/31/1996 - GREAT

This was 5 minutes of seriously competitive shootstyle. Basically like another take on the grappling match these two had in 2001, but with strikes. Ono didn't have the gloves yet, but was a tenacious grappler. His hair as also amazing. Usuda battered himself early on with nasty kicks and knees but Ono made himself respected. Some pretty great stuff here, including Ono hitting a monster german suplex, or eating a backhand from Usuda only to pick him up and slam him. Great finish. These two always make the most out of every given second.

Takeshi Ono vs. Katsumi Usuda, BattlARTS 8/31/1996 - FUN

These two always wrestle a different match against each other. Ono has the gloves here, and both guys are barefoot. There are some brief moments where Ono tries to punch Usuda out but this was mostly grappling. Really really slick stuff. Only 4 minutes where shown and I would love to see the whole thing because it looked like another goodie. Absolutely worth checking out the grappling here, though.

Takeshi Ono vs. Daisuke Ikeda, BattlARTS 9/1/1996 - FUN

Only 4 minutes shown, but it was 4 minutes of that sweet BattlARTS action we all crave. You get some smooth matwork, Ikeda suplexing scrawny Ono around, and some brutal near KOs. Pretty much a short highlight reel of what these guys can do, and these are two of the best Japanese wrestlers ever so it was really cool. Especially dug Ono unloading the punches and a jumping knee, as well as Ikeda trying to make him throw up with a nasty spin kick to the stomach.

Takeshi Ono vs. Mr. Sakai, BattlARTS 8/12/2001 - FUN

Mr. Sakai is a sleazy indy lucharesu guy and I assume he owns the ring or something and that‘s why gets to go even with Ono. There was some actually really cool lucha vs. Shootstyle matwork here. Mr. Sakai looked more sloppy in the standing sections but Ono did what was needed and punched him hard in the face.

Takeshi Ono vs. Super Rider, BattlARTS 1/7/2001 - FUN

More fun junior/shootstyle hybrid wrestling. Ono mostly just brutalized Rider here, who came up up with some fun counters. Rider kind of blew 1 or 2 spots but Ono is so good both dishing out offense, as well as putting over and countering his opponents offense that it doesn‘t matter. And Rider had the guts to take more punches and kicks from Ono than his usual opponents.

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 #12

 

Takeshi Ono vs. Alexander Otsuka, BattlARTS 1/13/1996 - EPIC

This is from the BattlARTS debut show and you can tell they went out there and went hart to get the crowd hooked on their product. Really great straight shootstyle match. Ono is slick on the mat and can land some big strikes, but he is so light Otsuka damn well will use him as a grappling dummy. Anytime Otsuka goes for a takedown or suplex attempt Ono has to stuff him or scramble for the ropes. The early grappling is so slick and technical, the kind of intricate shootstyle matwork that became a bit lighter as BattlARTS became a touring promotion, and it‘s great to watch. It builds to a more tricked out and epic second half than you‘d expect from an 8 minute undercard match, as Ono actually gets the first suplex dropping Otsuka on his head. From then on it‘s Ono wasting Otsuka with nasty kicks and knees and Otsuka desperately trying to get his throws in. Ono is so great here scrambling for chokes and trying to pop Otsukas legs with heel hooks, and when Otsuka gets to his bread and butter, he just tosses the shit out of Ono. Tremendous last couple minutes.

 

Takeshi Ono & Daisuke Ikeda vs. Alexander Otsuka & Tiger Mask IV, BattlARTS 10/18/1997 – FUN

Opening of this match wasn‘t quite as violent as you are used to from Team Taco, I‘m not super into TMIV shoehorning his pro style spots into a BattlARTS main event, although you had some fun rudo work from Ikeda and Ono. Lots of nasty thudding kicks, and Ono trying to unmask the Tiger before sinking in a choke was a pristine BattlARTS hybrid wrestling moment. It picked up when Otsuka started picking apart Ikedas leg which built to a nasty comeback where Ikeda tried cracking Otsukas jaw with a lariat before we get the Ono vs. Otsuka finishing run. It was a strong finishing run that had several neat moments such as Ono trying to take Otsukas head off with a flying knee and then hitting a nifty sliding leg kick, and of course Otsuka ragdolling Ono hard with suplexes. Still I was kinda hoping for a grandstand Ono/TMIV exchange since Ono had kept trying to unmask TMIV indicating some heat between the two, although what we got was high quality.

Takeshi Ono vs. Katsumi Usuda (8/18/2001) - FUN

Only a 3 minute clip of an 8 minute match was shown, but what was shown looked predictably great. These guys had gotten really great with their transitions at this point, just one slick move after another, that plus BattlARTS level stiffness. Travesty we have so little of this stuff.

TAKESHI ONO DOCUMENTATION PROJECT MASTER LIST

Takeshi Ono Documentation Project #11

 

Takeshi Ono & Masao Orihara vs. Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Tanaka, BattlARTS 10/19/1997 - GREAT

It‘s the first time Ono and Orihara team up! And, what the hell – this was really good! It wasn‘t really a BattlARTS match and more of an indy tag with the stiffness upgraded to BattlARTS level stiffness and more fierce submissions – so what, that‘s a really good kind of match! And everyone here was super fired up. Tanaka was unusually stiff and trying to take down Orihara, and Hidaka fawas really good in his usual spunky young guy role. It was nice to see Hidaka had graduated from getting squashed by Ono in under 5 minutes to actually being a threat and even upsetting Orihara a few times. All the Hidaka/Ono sections were really fun, and of course Orihara is a sleaze good in this. Doing dickish kip ups, spitting on people, kicking them in the face, hitting gnarly powerbombs. It builds to a bigger finishing run than you‘d expect from a midcard(?) match, too. Really good shit and exactly what you want.

Takeshi Ono & Masao Orihara vs. Katsumi Usuda & Tatsuo Nakano, BattlARTS 11/25/1997 - GREAT

What a matchup. This was also pretty great. Two stoic shooters vs. A pair of absolute fuckers. The Tonpachi Machine Gun assault tactics were in full bloom here. The just swarmed all over Usuda and Nakano. Nakano looked damn great here as a tough old bastard teaching these punks a lesson, and Usuda had his share of gnarly moments too. There are just moments in these matches – like Usuda reversing a leglock and throwing some hard elbows to the back of Onos head – that you only really get in BattlARTS, and that is why BattlARTS rules. I also really enjoyed Nakano blowing off the attempt at a 2 on 1 and just beating Oriharas ass on the floor. Orihara was spectacular as usual, spitting on Nakano, running in to kick dudes in the face and then in the balls. Ono hadn‘t fully embraced his ratboy ways here, but he had some quality stiff exchanges against Nakano and Usuda. There was a constant feel that the Guns were outskilled and had to use their cheating in order to stay in the match, which made the whole thing really damn entertaining. Ono also had one of the hardest Russian Leg Sweeps in history on Usuda. Great finish where Orihara runs in like he had done so many times before only to catch some serious hands from Nakano while Usuda sinks in the choke on Ono.

Takeshi Ono & Masao Orihara vs. Minoru Tanaka & Alexander Otsuka, BattlARTS 11/29/1997 - GREAT

Another very good match, although it was much less heavy on cheating tactics from Ono and Orihara. There was still some serious fuckery going on, especially from Orihara, but most of this was straight wrestling. Orihara/Tanaka is always a quality match up, and we get some nice slick grappling sections between Otsuka and Ono. The match up turns up a notch when Otsuka drops Ono with an absolutely sick brainbuster – lord knows, Otsuka really tried to kill Ono all the time – and it moves into a pretty great brief ending run with Otsuka launching Ono across the ring with suplexes and Ono desperately trying to not get his neck broken. 

TAKESHI ONO DOCUMENTATION MASTER LIST

2002 MOTY Project Update #12

 Kohei Sato & Ryouji Sai vs. Hirotaka Yokoi & Wataru Sakata (ZERO1 5/23/2002)

Stiff, uncooperative shootstyle pro wrestling. Apparently this was Yokois first match ever and he looked good right from the get go. Whenever Sato & Sai got too uppity he would start throwing punches. I also loved how he kept blocking Sais irish whip attempts and, once he had Sai prone, ran the ropes himself and blasted him with a huge dropkick. Sakata is at his best when he acts like a dick and there was plenty of that here. I also liked how he acted like he was a class above all these greenhorns. There were some brutal saves in this match aswell. Sai took a big beating, getting bloodied by a Sakata spin kick and punched in the face by Yokoi. Sato & Sai were effective underdogs here, never getting in too much offense, and when they got something it would hit with a thud.

Wataru Sakata vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (ZERO1 5/3/2002)

Sakata had the vibe of someone who was just getting the hang of how to pro wrestle here, but after a somewhat tentative opening this turned into a shockingly good match. Takaiwa has been efficient against shooters and this was no exception. Sakata had it all over Takaiwa here, basically making him his punching bag, working submission counters and throwing him around with massive suplexes. Takaiwas only chance was to crowbar Sakata into oblivion. Muscling Sakata into the Death Valley Bomb may have been Takaiwas finest moment ever here. We get lots of brutal lariats (obviously), but Takaiwa really earns his salt eating one nasty kick from Sakata after another, getting double stomped and almost submitted a couple times. Awesome jaw breaking finish.

 

Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka vs. Yuki Ishikawa & Katsumi Usuda (ZERO1 5/3/2002)

BattlARTS vs. ZERO1 feud continues. And this was a real good match! I mean, that shouldn't come as a surprise, but I was expecting something fishy to happen here. But nope, they get to do their thing for 15+ minutes. Plenty of hate, stiff shots and neat moments, of course. There was lots of back and forth, altough nothing egregious. I guess this was the Z1 guys giving a shot at working a BattlARTS style rhythm. No shootstyle matwork besides a few counters, but lots of nice snug work. Tanaka was pretty efficient working with the BattlARTS dudes and Ohtani kept the crowd into it with his charisma.  

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Nathan Jones (ZERO1 1/6/2002)

VAST ENERGY. This match was a total freakshow, but had far too many great moments not to love it. After working a lithany of martial artists in the 90s and being the king of the Tokyo Dome, Hashimoto has retired to his own remote island to live out his vision of what pro wrestling is supposed to be – some weird combination of Memphis and RINGS. Broken down 2000s Hashimoto is still a seriously great pro wrestler, and him destroying this freak of nature here was damn impressive. Jones really laid into Hashimoto who sold the beating huge. This also included Jones working an iron claw that Hashimoto sold like his skull was about to get crushed, Hashimoto and Jones working 70s Mighty Inoue/Andre spots, bearhug etc. Jones was a mixture of wooden and awkward and impressively athletic, he had this huge elbow drop, flies over the top rope, impressive leaping clothesline etc. And Hashimoto really lays into him too, hitting every part of the body with a thud, trying to find the weak spot. Hash chopping the shoulder while Jones was trying to hit lariats was pretty awesome, other great moments include: Jones powering out of Hashimotos armhold attempts, Hashimoto chopping away at the throat as well as his body shot combo, Hashimoto coming up with a bloody lip, a borderline exhausted Hashimoto locking in a basic leglock that ends up inescapable for Jones etc.

 Naoya Ogawa vs. Shinjiro Ohtani (ZERO1 3/2/2002)

Big awesome spectacle. Ohtani rushes Ogawa kicking him in the face, and Kazunari Murakami is ringside causing trouble. Ogawa has his haters, but to me his greatness is undeniable as he is pretty much the best possible japanese Goldberg. When hits the first judo throw on Ohtani he just drills him into the mat, and when he follows up kicking Ohtani he looks like a killing machine. He looks like he will destroy a guy in 2 minutes, but his selling is such that it always looks like the other guy can believably make a comeback. I also love how he took a german suplex with his big lanky frame. Ohtani of course rules punching Ogawa in the balls and selling the beatdown huge especially the last STO where he was just laid out as if he had his neck broken.

Wataru Sakata vs. Kohei Sato (ZERO1 6/27/2002)

Okay now, seems like Sakata was really getting it at this point. Sato has looked solid all year doing shootstyle matwork, but he wasn't really capable of creating great moments on his own. Here there were a number of great, well timed moments, most of them involving Sakata almost KO'ing Sato. Every movement counted here. Most importantly, Sakata looked like he was ready to snap this pasty nerd in half.

 

2002 MOTY PROJECT MASTER LIST

BJW 1/ 2/1998

 

BJW 1/ 2/1998

Neftaly vs. Miho Kawasaki

Shunme Matsuzaki vs. Shadow VII

Yone Genjin vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa

Kendo Nagasaki & Gennosuke Kobayashi vs. Masayoshi Motegi & Makoto Saito

Katsumi Usuda & Ikuto Hidaka vs. Tomoaki Honma & Minoru Fujita

Gedo & Jado vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri & Ryuji Yamakawa

Jason the Terrible & Shoji Nakamaki & Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vs. Great Pogo & Shadow WX & Shadow Winger

 

Aaaaand of course a 1998 indy show opens with a forgotten japanese girl wrestler and a luchadora working quasi lucha exchanges. This and the other first 3 matches are really clipped so it's mostly just to get a quick laugh, but what they showed of the ladies match wasn't bad. Neftly hits a nasty senton and wins with a nifty powerbomb variation. Matsuzaki is a sad case as he always looks ridiculously polished (for a guy in the second match of your typical sleaze card) and always gets saddled in some non match, in this case against a mexican Mini-Mr. Pogo (sorry Ricky Santana, you're better at lucha than garbage brawling). All these BJW undercard matches quickly devolve into crowd brawling shenanigans. I would've liked to see more of the BJW vs. WYF tag – because Motegi is GOOD and Saito is COOL and I am actually liking Nagasaki with his nice back elbow and quick bursts of wrestling and actually dangerous floor brawling. The unrecognizable rookie Kobayashi is yet another indy guy who doesn't know how to take Saito's springboard moves properly which almost feels like a rib at this point.

 

So they actually showed the BattlARTS vs. BJW dudes tag in full and it's AWESOME. I am not playing a trick on you here, if that match happened in BattlARTS it would have a good shot at being the tag MOTY. It's not a BattlARTS style match but it has enough cool shootstyle matwork and stiff shots throughout to keep you entertained, and the whole thing is just ridiculously tight, innovative stuff. Hidaka & Fujita are all skinny and young but they join the 98 GAEA crew by looking spunky, inventive and super talented. Pre-bumpfreak Honma is good as your kickpadded guy who sells really well, can work a kneebar or two and gets kicked in the head by Usuda. Usuda looked like a badass black belt tumbling with some purples trying their best to push him. He is a stoic shooter guy with some really spectacular counters and he always works really well with these indy juniors he can just rip apart and this was no exception. I also liked that because Hidaka and Fujita are scrawny 1 year rookies any basic move on them looks like a plausible finish. But the whole thing was just a bonkers match with breathtaking lucha meets shootstyle submissions and counters and nasty double teams and some brutal stand up exchanges (Usuda just dropping bombs) and yeah this is just the kinda gem you hope for when going through this old stuff. Also, great moment where Honma botches a springboard move so Hidaka just pounces on him and they beat the shit out of eachother. That's how you cover up a blown spot.

There was no way in hell that Jado/Gedo vs. Tajiri/Yamakawa could follow up the workrate of the previous tag and they wisely didn't try. They worked more of a US style tag with Gedo and Jado bringing the heel cutoffs and punches and rope stun guns and Figure 4s and what not. Pretty bread and butters stuff but it wasn't a bad match and I always enjoy checking out young Tajiri who is such an ultra sharp wrestler with the kicks and lucha flying moves and so forth.

The main event – well, you know what you're getting. Mostly wandering brawl with 2 guys occasional rolling into the ring to do stuff, then back out. In between that you get shots of Winger putting a headlock on Matsunaga backstage and strolling up the stairs. There were a few cool individual moments, such as the big Nakamaki dive to open the whole thing, Pogo hitting some Tenryu kicks on a bloody Matsunaga, Matsunaga hitting karate kicks and the Undertaker walk on the balcon, Pogo bringing out a barbed wire drill and Jason working Jason spots. This was falls count anywhere so there were also some cool spots where they had multiple referees and fans on the outside would count along when a nearfall happened. Finish is Jason working his „resurrection“ spot a bunch (yeah Shadow WX you loser you're not going over JASON) and winning with a god damn Northern Lights Bomb. Jason The Terrible is indestructable and it rules.

This show top to bottom was not as good as the IWA Japan stuff but it had an absolute killer obscure gem in Usuda/Hidaka vs. Fujita/Honma (I totally expect one of you granddads to tell me how eveerrrryone put that one on their VHS comps back then and talked it up as a **** 3/4 match on random obscure DVDVR offshoot boards). Everything else delivered as you'd expect and I always enjoy checking out a random card like this. 

THE LIBRARY

2002 MOTY List Update #9

 

Yuki Ishikawa vs. Katsumi Usuda (BattlARTS 6/9/2002)

  Our only BattlARTS main event of the year, but it's a good one. These two always have good matches, and this time they went for a full blown 19 minute main event. What was cool about this was that normally you had Usuda as the aggressive striker with Ishikawa working counters. Here Usuda was still aggressive but Ishikawa gave him back good, so Usuda was also using his defensive tools more, which is something he does very well, and you had a match basically built around who could turn the others aggression against himself first. Match has lots of good matwork and also some insanely stiff headbutts and kidney shots. I especially like anytime Usuda would get aggressive on the mat, normally you would go to the mat to seek safety from a striker, you aren't safe from Usuda though. It really is a crying shame Usuda was so underutilized on the indie scene, atleast Ishikawa got himself a spot on Michinoku Pro undercards that year. Usuda takes as good as he gives, taking some crazy crazy suplex bumps. There are some excellent submission teases and the finish was pretty epic with multiple face shattering kicks and Ishikawa just rattling Usuda with a big punch. The finish plays up the story of the match as it was all about who would get the deciding counter.

Low Ki vs. Bryan Danielson (RoH  3/30/2002)

  Not as great as the JAPW match, but still insanely tightly worked, stiff pro wrestling that blows away all the current wannabe shooters (and everyone else too). They mostly struggle over holds while pounding the daylights out of eachother. Kis stiffness was just crazy as he would rough up Danielsons already bruised face with out of nowhere kicks. At one point he just grabbed Bryans head and went loose with Kawada kicks sending him to the outside. Most of this match was both guys fighting over holds or working eachother over with stiff kicks and chops. Ki blocking a Dragon Suplex only to be thrown with a back suplex was like something out of 80s NJPW. I also loved how Ki, after choking the air out of Danielsons lung would immediately follow up with double stomps to the stomach. Unfortunately Danielson made an easy comeback soon after that and the finishing stretch was not as great as the body of the match as they mostly stick to throwing big old bombs back and forth for like 10 minutes. Still, match felt like a classic in large parts. 

 Ikuto Hidaka & Super Boy & Curry Man vs. Tiger Mask IV & Kazuya Yuasa & Hideki Nishida (Michinoku Pro 3/10/2002)

Michinoku Pro could still deliver dope 6 man tag action in the 2000s. This a trademark high spot filled formula tag with everyone playing their roles. Curry Man is a pretty good use of Christopher Daniels as he doesn't pretend to be a master worker but just acts like a tool. His missed dive was pretty insane. Super Boy always looks so great in M-Pro (where the hell is his lucha material?) and this was no exception, he is so awesome as a massive fat guy crushing the tiny dudes with flippy moves, and working miscommunication spots. Hidaka was also a really good team captain, trying to unmask TMIV and attacking his bad arm, twisting up Yuasas leg and getting kicked in the face etc. Nishida as a Spike Dudley inspired guy working highspots with Super Boy was really fun too. This is the kind of match that is completely predictable but still puts a smile on your face.

Low Ki vs. Amazing Red (TNA 7/24/2002)

About as perfect a 7 minute opener as you can ask for. This was Reds TNA debut and they work a slightly more traditional style (if you can talk traditional when you have crazy moves dished out by the minute) with some arm drags and Ki beating him down good with his awesome neck headbutts etc. They pull out some of their spectacular kung fu sequences later for great effect. Amazing how these two always managed to mix up their stuff.

Antifaz/La Fiera/Safari vs. Averno/Mephisto/Zumbido (CMLL 1/11/2002)

This was given plenty of time. Cool 10 minute opening fall with Safari looking especially slick, nice rudo beatdown with plenty of elaborate double times and some more heated than usual exchanges between Safari and Mephisto, culminating in Safari hitting a sick dive that Mephisto failed to catch properly, which only increased the intensity. The main reason I'm adding this though was La Fieras awesome performance. I didn't know he was even still around by 2002, but he looked like he had aged just right here. Basically acting like Tenryu, working as "I've been doing this for 30 years and I'm hurting in place I didn't even know existed, but I'm still gonna kick the shit out of you". He hits all these graceful kicks and takes some big bumps. Finish was charming and the crowd went wild for it.

 2002 MOTY 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 #6

Takeshi Ono & Katsumi Usuda vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Alexander Otsuka, BattlARTS 12/25/1996 - EPIC

 Man, BattlARTS wasn't afraid to bring the badass shootstyle in 1996. The rhythm of this wasn't exactly great, but the pace was frantic and the match felt like it could end at any moment, which is exactly what you want from a shootstyle brawl. The Ono/Usuda team constantly going back to heel moves despite being able to hold their own doing pure wrestling was a nice touch, as was Team Taco EXPLODING and the AJPW flavour that some of the interference/double teams had. The first half had lot of great mat moves, while second half was intense as hell with stiff shots raining down. Everything after Ono tanged Otsuka up in the ropes was just fantastic, intensely violent pro wrestling and the finish was a finish. Easily one of the better 90s BattlARTS tags.

Takeshi Ono vs. Ikuto Hidaka (BattlARTS 2/28/1997) - FUN

This was when Hidaka had just debuted and he was introduced to the world of BattlARTS the hard way. Ono just destroys him here, punches, kicks with abadon, Hidaka is able to take him down and immediately Ono elbows him in the back of the head and tries twisting his leg off. Hidaka is able to score a single go behind, with Ono frantically selling the threat of a German suplex for a moment before Hidaka hits a scrappy Mysterious Rana in a super cool moment. Shortly after Ono puts his lights out though. For under 3 minute rookie squashes this was really cool.

Takeshi Ono vs. Alexander Otsuka (BattlARTS 3/13/1997) - FUN

Fun undercard match between two BattlARTS kingpins (not many Takeshi Ono main event singles in the 90s, sadly). Lots of slick grappling, and the whole match built to either Ono brutalizing Otsuka with kicks and punches or Otsuka trying to break Ono in half with suplexes. I liked how Ono got pissed off after Otsukas giant swing. Hanging armbar finish was great. These two faced each other quite a bit in the 90s so I will try to find a better match between them.

Takeshi Ono & Daisuke Ikeda vs. Yuki Ishikawa & Naohiro Hoshikawa, BattlARTS 3/14/1997 - EPIC

Man, are BattlARTS tags the greatest thing in wrestling or what? This was just amazing, I can't praise this match enough. Ono & Ikeda look like the greatest rudo team in the world here (but they always do), just swarming all over their opponents. They even had Sho Funaki at ringside to assist in the beatdown. First half was basically built around Ono & Ikeda kicking their opponents to a pulp. Ishikawa vs. Ikeda is always the main attraction when it comes to violence, but don't underestimate Ono mixing in slick grappling exchanges in between kicking people in the face. The 2nd half had some great retaliation as Ikeda came in with a bandaged abdomen and Ishikawa and Hoshikawa just destroy him. Ikeda really looks like the toughest son of a bitch alive selling that shit like he's getting eviscerated and coming back with big desperation suplexes and lifts. Hoshikawa/Ono section was great as Hoshikawa was seemingly wrecking Ono with neck spiking suplexes and brainbuster type moves (while Ono nails him with some vicious strikes, including a sick jumping knee that sent Hoshikawa over the rope) until he got too cute by going to the top rope and ended up eating a sick double team move in an epic spot. I've had some problems with Hoshikawa in BattlARTS before and while he did look a bit green here he looked perfectly good doing some grappling and getting kicked in really painful looking ways. Ikeda also tries crushing his face with a lariat at one point and that rules. This whole match was just them going all out for 16 minutes, nothing held back and everybody looks great. It really made me think Japanese wrestling peaked with this stuff.

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 #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