Rico Fukunaga vs Chii Aoba, AWG 6/13
Athress Shootstyle! It's so weird but cool that AWG is one of a handful of promotions in the world now that does shootstyle rules matches. This was probably my favourite attempt at shootstyle of theirs so far. They still need a bit of refinement but for the most part it was a believable contest with a few cool moments. Inoki would be proud of these girls. Fukunaga looked surely and was hitting hard and Aoba was a cool underdog as always. Fukunaga was kicking hard and had the upper hand, hitting a Yamazaki-ish kick combo in the corner, until Aoba was able to hit a dragon screw and lock in a cool leg submission. Also dug Aobas believable shootstyle bodyslam and her backdrop. Would really like to see what these two can do in a pro-style setting after this. (Alas, it won't happen since Fukunaga has retired. Bummer.)
Shota vs. Shin Suzuki, Shota Produce ?/2026
This is from a 1 match show in a dojo that you can find through Shotas blog. A match like that is always gonna be of interest to me, and Shin Suzuki being in it made it must watch. Really dug that guy from his work as Chon Shiryus tag team partner that I've seen, and he had himself a nice little showcase here. Of course, the match was a love letter to the craftsmanship of pro wrestling. Not just both guys doing cool stuff (they did cool stuff) but really building anticipation with each move. Suzuki was really cool here, his armdrags were amazing and he just looked really slick and cool here. Almost outshining Shota who only really left a huge impression with a cool reversal into a magistral and some neat cow catcher work. But both guys were working like they were applying for a match in Mutoha here and it was a really cool match.
Chon Shiryu vs. Tokiko Kirihara, Choco Pro 3/30
I thought Kirihara would be another of Emi Sakuras generic young trainees, but... actually she's 51 years old and a former kickboxer and MMA fighter?! This alone makes her really interesting to me. Early minutes are pretty fun as it's Shiryu doing some serious pro wrestling dealing with someone who can actually do kicks and submissions. We get some sleazy heel Chon Shiryu as he works some pressure point holds and such. Pretty much dentist office no ring version of a nifty 7 minute Velocity match. There are some cool judo throws, bumps into the wall, Kirihara busts out a cool ninja choke over the window sill and head kick, there's a really cool struggle over of a series of abdominal stretches. Shiryu takes the win with a Honda-ish firemans carry into a cross legged turk pin.
Anri & Erisa Nagai vs. Chii Aoba & Yuri Yamane, AWG 7/25
Pretty fun undercard tag. Yamane is like in her 4th match ever here, she's thickly built and likes to kick hard so while she's still a bit awkward I'm sure she'll be a really fun wrestler in no time. Aoba was in her UWF gear which means she would bust out cool submissions. Anri was also pretty good as usual lighting up people with kicks and occasionally thrust kicking them in the face. Some slightly goofy stuff has crept into Nagais offense but overall I didn't mind her. Aobas surprise powerslam was a really cool moment like something out of a 1992 WCW tag, and because of Yamanes rookie status something like a body slam is a plausible nearfall on her. Everybody was bringing some cool stuff and I'll take this unorthodox AWG style match layout over a more generic tag at this point. It sure was a hell of a lot more interesting than your 2nd match on a card usually is.
Hiroyuki Kondo vs. Hiroshi Watanabe, FOTR 3/8/2026
I saw that this match happened this year on Cagematch, thinking 'that probably ruled'. And by some miracle, we actually get this match with a nice closeup ref camera view! It's been a while since I've seen either of these two wrestlers since they are so elusive, but they both still looked good. Every Hiroshi Watanabe match is like a love letter written to old school wrestling and Kondo was totally matching him. They did lots of tight hold for hold work, and worked in cool old school moments such as Watanabe hitting a flying headlock takeover, and later Kondo reversing that into an Atomic Drop and then working the small of Watanabes back. Just lovely stuff. Kondo also had some nifty arm attacks to build up to his cool Scorpion Armlock finisher, he also busted out the arm piledriver and Watanabe had some cool reversals into Abdominal Stretches. The finish was Kondo hitting a hard lariat but getting caught by a Thesz Press when he went for another and that's just delightfully old school. So this wasn't anything grand but it was definitely a pleasing affair if you are a fan of these two wrestlers, doing their thing.
Karl Malenko vs. Low Ki, ACTION/PRODUCE DEAN~!!! 9/13/26
Just two ripped old guys grappling it out and occasionally hitting each other in evil ways. I have not much to say here, I thought the matwork was pretty masterful. I am not sure Low Ki has done much shootstyle matwork since his 2002 match series with Danielson (the peak of US indy wrestling pretty much) but damn he looked like he missed his calling as a BattlARTS guy. I think this would have been a pretty awesome match up in 2002 but they both feel wiser now. Carl looked as great as ever bending the fuck out of Ki. There were a few great escapes and narrowly fighting out of submissions here as it felt like guys were on the verge of having their arm or legs snapped. Loved the shots to the body, especially when Carl punched away at Kis sternum while having his arms tied up. The 'accidental' rope break was a good way to kick up the intensity as Carl got more aggressive. Agree about the greatness of Low Kis shootstyle Ki Crusher. Towards the end, it was fascinating to watch Carl with no rope breaks left fighting out of attempted submissions. Great finish. Carl sure is on a roll right now.
