2025 Wrestling Roundup Week 33

Masato Tanaka vs Hayabusa, Zero1 8/3

I did not think I would be watching a Masato Tanaka vs Hayabusa match in 2025 but here we are. And this had amazing magnitude! It's Tanakas career vs the revived Hayabusas mask. The news Hayabusa looks fantastic. Not only does he hit all the spots, but he can actually work. And this match feels competitive and not like some kind of nostalgia tour. Tanaka sidestepping the asai moonsault really accentuates this. Tanaka was pretty great here - it's insane how much the guy has in the tank. They went a fast pace with no real slow down, and the action was crisp and punctuated by Tanakas cracking elbows and Hayabusas exploding athleticism. First 15 minutes of this I thought were pretty much flawless pro wrestling, almost shockingly so. The opening chain wrestling and Hayabusas armwork were really crisp and fun. It definitely stands way up to any Tanaka/Hayabusa match from the 90s. They do no sell a bunch of big moves in the middle, but that just kind of sets up the increasing stakes in the second half. Legwork on Hayabusa was a blatant breather since it isn't really sold, but we do get Tanaka smashing table pieces on Hayabusas leg and they didn't drag it on for too long. There was also the cool moment of Hayabusas leg giving him trouble when he countered Tanakas splash so it was kinda paid off. The rest of this was quite great, mostly thanks to a few well worked transitions and a certain unpredictability factor. A lot of the fascination definitely comes from watching 52 year Masato Tanaka doing this kind of match and looking like he hasn't lost a step. It's not a flawless bout, but overall a really well structured match that was gripping from start to finish, had plenty of hard hitting and deadly bombs being thrown without getting repetitive and was just one hell of a ride. 

 Virus vs Xelhua, RoH 7/26

A match where they both hit the mat for 7 minutes and proved proved what everyone knows already, that they are among the absolute elite tier when it comes to mat technicians in all of wrestling history. So no surprise here, and that's kind of the one fault of this. You get exactly what you expect, and for that it's a really good little match albeit a slight bit exhibitiony with neither guy displaying a ton of fire since they had to fit everything into a 7 minute sandwhich. Kind of the Velocity version of an epic lucha title match and that is a really cool thing to see by itself. I did really like the mixing in of basic movements like the dropkicks, side headlock takeover or hip toss in between all the more esoteric holds. And Xelhua getting Virus to tap out felt like a big deal so that's really cool.

Seri Yamaoka & Victoria Suzuki vs Senka Akatsuki & Sora Ayame, Marigold 7/16

Heated rookie vs rookie action, or in this case swimsuits vs fancy outfits. Good solid stuff as usual but I thought the match could've used a bit more of Senka. Instead Ayame was the focus at the end and while she's quite fun she doesn't hit quite at that level yet. The brief mat scramble between Akatsuki and Seri was obviously the highlight. I love that while Seri is the 'grappler' Senka is such an animal that she can totally overwhelm her on the mat and maul her with headbutts. Her entire thing is that despite her limited experience she's a force of nature and they only thing containing her right now is her rookie status.

Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu vs Mika Iwata & Miyuki Takase (Sendai Girls 7/19)

Team 200 KG are a pretty reliable joshi twin towers. They can go a fast pace, provide plenty of hard hitting, and the big vs small aspect always forces opponents to get a bit more creative than just running through their offense as usual. This was all about what Iwata and Takase would bring to the table to a reliable story, and Iwata and Takase brought plenty. Iwata seems like she's ready to fill the void that Satomura has left. She's got the cool kicks, the slicked back hair and the stoic attitude to fill the mantel. She just needs to figure out to spam her kicks a little bit less so they will mean more, but that should come with some time. All of her exchanges with Hashimoto were real highlights and hinted at a great singles match between them. Even something thats often trite like the armbar over the ropes spot looked vicious and fresh here. Takase and Yuu were playing second fiddle, but they are pretty solid and I was even surprised by Takases angry headbutting. Add some violent vader hammers from Hashimoto and you've got yourself a pretty satisfying match.

Keita Yano vs brother YASSHI, Tenryu Project 7/20 - GREAT

Godhead vs Godhead! Even knowing that YASSHI can be really sick when he wants to, and Keita being Keita, I thought this even exceeded my expectations. A cool match up on paper, that really delivers what you want. Really cool technical work here, with Yasshi busting out cool amateur wrestling takedowns and transitions and Keita tying him up repeatedly. Really enjoyed how Yasshi would escape from something like Yanos straight jacket armbar like it was a shootstyle hold and then even put on an Achilles Hold. I thought Yano may have gotten a bit predictable recently, but he was cooking here. Energetic Yasshi is really fun too, he really had the working boots on here. I kind of like that Yano keeps working a slower pace. He doesn't need to speed it up, he's kind of like a slow moving eldritch abominations that assimiliates other wrestling styles, and sooner or later will entangle his opponent in some predicament they can't escape from. It really suits his 'you pressed random on the character creator' look. The bar for slow paced technical wrestling is getting pretty high in 2025, but this holds up. Really enjoy that these two got to paint a little art on that canvas together.

 

2025 Wrestling Roundup 

Keita Yano Documentation Project 

RIP Jimmy Rave

 

Jimmy Rave vs. AJ Styles, Pro South Wrestling 5/8/2015

This was Styles working some dingy hall in the south to defend the IWGP title against Rave. A nice PS to their storyline in RoH 10 years earlier. Structurally this felt a bit like both guys doing their take on an NWA title match with modern stylings. Nice fast movements by Rave during the opening hold exchanges, with Styles sinking into holds for control. The whole match was built around Styles controlling, with Rave gradually making comebacks, until Rave was stringing enough offense together that it seemed like he could really win the IWGP title. I would have liked a bit more emotion given both guys backstory, maybe for Rave to revive his old cheating tactics more, although that rope bump he made Styles take was pretty nasty. But it was a very good veteran psychology match with high athleticism.

Jimmy Rave vs. Nigel McGuinness, RoH 3/4/2007

This was a Fight without Honor and took place in Nigels home country. Just a brutal old fight this was. Typical in RoH fashion they start with a lock up, but Rave imemdiately establishes his ratboy heel role and they are soon laying into each other. Really amped up level of violence, with guys taking nasty bumps and really smacking each other hard between exchanges. McGuinness is a trashing machine laying into Rave with open hand strikes and jaw-breaking lariats, and Rave holds up his own landing a really violent face stomp and bitchslapping him. Nigels bandaged leg comes into play, and while there wasn‘t much legwork Rave would use it to cut him off, and he did a pretty decent job selling it. Guardrail bumps were just insane and really took this to the next level, Rave was fearless just absolutely getting killed on that steel. Because this is 2007 parts of the match came across a bit work-rateish particularily the bit where McGuinness first did his Tower of London when there should‘ve been a bit more hatred and torturing each other. Still those sections were well executed, and everything else was super gritty and mean. Loved the „fuck you“ Pedigree from Rave complete with a shit eating, bloody grin, too.

Dog Collar Match: Jimmy Rave vs. CM Punk, RoH 5/7/2005

This was more like it. Jimmy Rave jumps CM Punk before he can get the collar chain on him. After that it‘s all hatred, chain punches and blood. The chain prevents much workrate so they had to stay focussed and it produced a really good brawl. Punk bled a gusher and Rave beat the fuck out of him. For a guy who‘s a pretty boy heel, Rave knows how to get violent, his Mistica into a chain across the mouth was super nasty. Punk won‘t make you forget Jim Duggan in his role but he‘s smart enough to get a few things right. It was getting a bit silly at the end with Punk fighting off the whole Embassy as more and more goons kept jumping on him, but Rave took me right back with that insanely violent chair assault.

Jimmy Rave vs. Chris Crunk, AWE 9/20/2015

At this point Rave had turned into a slightly fatter, grizzlier indy veteran. He beats the shit out of his skinny opponent here. Snug clotheslines, violent face stomps, big STO, just eating this guy up. Rarely do you see one sided veteran beatdowns in wrestling like this nowadays and this was a glorious one. Crunk didn‘t do much for me but he doesn‘t get in much offense either. And you watch this for Rave cracking him.

Jimmy Rave vs. Matt Riddle, SCI 8/6/2016

This is grizzled veteran Rave taking on Riddle who is younger and was also a huge indy star at this time. Nice example of Rave working a completely different than usual match. He is still his usual persona, but he is so outmatched and has to fight from underneath so he almost assumes a Masao Inoueish babyface role. Riddle outgrapples him early, so Rave thumbs him in the eye and stomps his bare feet. After some more scuzzy Rave heel antics, such as punching Riddle in the face and spitting on him, Riddle would go on ragdoll Rave with his throws. Raves STO was once again a great, really well timed spot set up by Riddles doozy dooness. Riddle is a bit goofy here but Raves performance draws the crowd into the match in a much bigger way than his usual match. A testament to the skills of Jimmy Rave.

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

 

2002 MOTY List Update #7

 Wataru Sakata vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa (ZERO1 12/15)

Brutally stiff fight that blows away pretty much all current (2021) pro wrestling. The opening segment alone where they unload in the corner was just disgusting. The submissions here won't make you forget U-Style, but they did everything with a certain intensity, and you'll be too busy wincing at these two lunatics trying to hit eachother as hard as humanly possible to notice. They did a good job telling the story of the match, which was that Hoshikawa was slowly falling apart as he kept getting destroyed by his super vicious, more precise opponent. I liked how both guys used limb selling to put over the punishment, it makes sense that wyou would pick up injuries after getting kicked a dozen times, even without your opponent specifically targetting a bodypart. Sakata was just a bastard here, Hoshikawa is someone you buy as being really tough, but anytime Hoshikawa started to build momentum Sakata would punch him in the liver or knee him in the face. All the big strikes, including Hoshikawas massive enzuigiris were really well timed. I'm not gonna pretend the match was flawless or some kind of classic as Hoshikawa does a pretty lame no sell and at times the match is just going a long but for this kind of brutal fight it was fairly great. It starts out pretty nasty and you wonder how can they keep this going and have some kind of arc building up, but they pull it off and the last strike that left the loser drooling blood from his mouth really feels like an exclamation point. 

Koji Kanemoto vs. Makoto Hashi (NJPW 8/29/2002)

 
Awesome WAR-like beginning with Kanemoto trying to demolish Hashi with a barrage of strikes only for Hashi to leap in with a headbutt and trying to pulverize his jaw elbows on the ground. After that, proceeded to try and put the boot down hard on Hashi, who came across as the most tenacious, hard hitting underdog on the planet. Kanemoto was accordingly great in his role of veteran who was flustered by his heavy handed opponent. When reversing a basic suplex, Kanemoto immediately went for the kill by dropping Hashi on his head. He then proceeded to unleash some disgusting strikes in the corner. Apron bump had a sick moment with Kanemoto hitting the back of his head on the way down and was a good way for Hashi to get in some offense. Before the match could turn into a mindless 2.9999 fest, they got back on track with some more nasty strikes and Hashi desperately fighting his way out of Kanemotos leglocks. Loved Hashis limping headbutts. This feels like a NJPW junior MOTDC, although I'm not super eager to rewatch a ton of those matches.

Super Dragon vs. Bobby Quance (GSCW 12/14/2002)

It's crazy to think these two had pretty much perfected the US Indy style so early in the game. This was like a distillate of their 2002 work, and while it wasn't as smartly worked as their epic match in November, it has all the cool matwork, stiffness and crazy bombdropping you can ask for. Super Dragon came across as this menacing asskicker during the opening exchanges, punishing Quance with double stomps when he attempted basic moves and kicking him hard while applying leglocks. He also hit this awesome past the turnbuckle dive. Quance is able to hold his own, countering the usual armbars and hitting a stiff dropkick. After Dragon rams into the turnbuckle (taking his signature bump where he basically suicide dives into nothing) Quance hits this shooting star press to the outside nuking both Dragon and Excalibur which is a pretty insane spot for 2002. After that that it's basically them trading big nearfalls while still maintaining a sense of competitiveness and working a few reversals/cutoffs. While there are lot of big moves it wasn't just a series of trading back and forth. Dragon once again looked great mixing up his stuff and I loved him cranking back at a basic facelock between all the powerbombs and suplexes. They also laced into eachother with hard strikes at one point. Epic finish which feels like a perfect example of how to use a crazy complicated death move like that.

Low Ki vs. Samoa Joe (RoH 10/5/2002)

  Two of indy wrestlings greatest asskickers level epic beatings to eachother. Virtually every blow in this match landed with a major thud. The match lacked in transitions, but the sheer assbeating will keep you watching till the end. Ki looked amazing as not only was making minced meat of his bigger, menacing opponent with rapid fire Kawada kicks and flying kicks to the face but also locking in crazy armbars. Joe countering the Dragon Sleeper into his Island Driver was inspired. Pretty great finish.

 2002 MOTY PROJECT MASTER LIST

2002 MOTY List Update #6

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. 

Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NOAH 4/7/2002)

NOAH vs. NJ part two. Everyone is on fire! Liger is a no selling douche! Kikuchi is a mad old bugger who will take a chunk out of you without blinking! Clever nutshot spots! Mask ripping! Submissions are important! This match did a great job milking and amplifying the heat of the feud. Lean and strong pace with an emphasis on masks ripped open and nasty elbows from mount, this is the direction japanese wrestling should've kept going. Watch the backstage footage too! 

Shinya Hashimoto & Naoya Ogawa vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Scott Norton (NJPW 5/2/2002)

  This is one of those feel good matches you can just back and enjoy every second of it. Basically Hashimoto & Ogawa waltz in and just destroy everything in their path. STOs, nasty kicks and chops and various cool combination moves abound. Norton & Tenzan don‘t stand much of a chance but they try. You get a great little Norton performance as he sells all the nasty chops and kicks he takes to his shoulder in a big way. There is an art to selling in such a way that everyone can emphatize with you even when you‘re a giant muscled up dude like Norton and he had it down. Tenzan also doesn‘t suck! 

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

his 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 Project MASTER LIST