80s Europe #11

 

Keith Haward vs. Chic Cullen, 3/5/1984

These two are kind of plain and non descript, but they were surprisingly able to create a bit of spark and tension by stubbornly trying to snap each others limbs. Lots of excellent arm and leg attack stuff, especially from Cullen. He looked like punky teenage boy with his tattoos and hair, but he sure could take a leg part. Dug all the toe holds, stepping into the kneecap etc. There were even some Fuchi-ish half crabs and a great Stretch Muffler. Haward is as stoic as they come but he gave Cullen a mean iceman glare at the right moment and went for the arm with abandon. All finishes were smart. Crazy ending. This was a borderline excellent bout.

Pete Roberts vs. Indio Guajaro (11/13/85)

This was all about the wild act of Indio Guajaro. It was nice to see him do his thing in front of an excitable British crowd. Very a-typical WoS match as it was almost constant action and attacking from Indio with Roberts retaliating. Roberts was one of those typically British faces, i.e. he was basically just a bloke who could wrestle, but he had no problem keeping up the pace and the crowd loved him. Guajaro took some big bumps and kept yanking the mic away from the MC to yell things in Spanish. Really heated, no downtime, doesn‘t overstay it‘s welcome, this was a great piece of TV.

Little Prince vs. Keith Haward (12/11/85)

This was really good. At first glance it was typical WoS stuff with two stoic grapplers trading holds, but they had really good intensity and kept building it until things got heated. Little Prince was a Pakistani wrestler. Stocky guy, but he could really go. He would slap Haward when he was down and he also threw one hell of a suplex. The match had the kind of ultra tight, detailed holds and awesome throws that I like. Haward is notorious for not having much personality but he showed enough fire when Prince started to slap the shit out of him. Good shit. 

 

80s Euro Master List

Assorted Joshi

 

Kaoru Ito vs. Junko Yagi, AJW/LLPW 7/2/1999

Cool, scrappy, unique match. Opening judo grappling was pretty cool, Yagi kept getting the better of Ito early on and there were some cool throws, until Ito absolutely spiked Yagi with a huge back suplex. Frustrated Yagi started hammering away at Itos head with fists, causing them both to take the jackets off. Ito comes across as such a murder machine that when she gave Yagi the death stare and threw her jacket and belt away it felt like a real „oh shit“ moment. Last few minutes were gritty with Ito hitting some lariats and dropkicks on Yagi that made me feel Yagi did something to piss her off. Nasty nasty double stomp finish too, but that‘s pretty much a given with Ito matches.

Takako Inoue vs. Kyoko Inoue, NEO 5/5/1999

This was the kind of insane and great spectacle that you pretty much only get with joshi. Takako has MMA gloves and she gave the kind of „kicks the shit out of you“ performance that gets you over with me as a badass. Kyoko starts right away trying to take Takakos head off with lariats but Inoue is able to get her with a taser. The taser stuff may seem goofy but they didn‘t waste much time with it and Kyoko sold the fuck out of that taster, and they got right back to Takako stomping on Kyokos face, throwing body shots and landing some insane solebutts. What I loved about the match was how they really worked this like a big time arena brawl, a lot of stiff matches feel seedy and back alley, which is cool, but this was clearly worked for the huge crowd they had and that‘s a pretty unique thing for this kind of violent brawl. And they just succeeded in giving everything the right amount of space. Second half had some psycho bumps, more fantastic striking from Takako and at one point Takako takes her gloves off to hit a punch that may have been one of the most insane punches I‘ve ever seen in a wrestling match. I didn‘t love Kyokos superheroine comeback but it was the kind of frenzied insane ending a frenzied insane match needs.

DEEP Saeki Matsuri 12/9/2004

That time the DEEP MMA promotion ran a bunch of weird as hell pro wrestling matchups. 

Street Fight Barbed Wire Board Match: Hidetaka Irie & Toshiyuki Moriya vs. Anthony Netzler & Saeki "Boo" Shigeru

Saeki is the boss of DEEP. Netzler is an MMA fighter and also, apparently ended up being a druglord? Saeki is pretty fat and he tumbles around in amusing untrained person ways. Even though this match had barbedwire boards, Moriya and Irie didn‘t seem intent on working hard. Netzler didn‘t do anything but hit an insanely bad clothesline at one point. All that said, the match was kind of fun and had amusing moments like Irie hitting a giant swing on the president.

TURBO vs. Genki Yamaguchi

Short kickboxing match that didn‘t have anything interesting in it except a guy named TURBO.

Hiroyuki Ito & IRO-Seki vs. Max Miyazawa & Antonio Koinoki

I kind of like Koinoki. He is pretty agile, executes his Inoki spots very well and isn‘t afraid to get hit. I bet him vs. Riki Senshu would rule. IRO-SEKI is a big sumo with some fun fat guy spots. Ito vs. NIHAO is kind of a dream match and even though they didn‘t go full bore because this was just a semi-comedic undercard match, they were pretty fun together. The finish seemed blown. That‘s about all I can say.

Alexander Otsuka & TAISHO & Satoko Shinaishi vs. Jun Ishii & Yoshinori Oniki & Masakazu Imanari

Another very light hearted match. Imanari acts like a creep towards Shinaishi, everyone is scared of Otsuka, sleazy shenanigans ensue etc. The few serious bits were fun in that MMA guys try pro wrestling way. Dug Imanari ripping out all his awesome leglocks against Otsuka. This could have been much more, but I guess nobody was really welling to break a leg on a card like this I guess.

Yasuhito Namekawa vs. Omiya No Matsu

Well, this was a pleasant surprise. I think Omiya is an actor. He pretty much works a straight shootstyle match against Namekawa. Namekawa is much bigger and would crush Matsu with vicious kicks. Matsu had some impressive throws and takedowns and a nice punch combo at one point. Namekawa was mostly surprised by Matsus skill, but when he had to kick he was crushing Matsu. Pretty good.

Seichi Ikemoto vs. Danshoko Dino

Even in a Dino match, Ikemoto looks like an incredible wrestler. He had a ton of slick counters to Dinos crotch grabbing attacks, and hit some big kicks and throws of his own on offense. Dino can handle himself surprisingly well just doing regular grappling, but he quickly went to his molestation spots. One of the better Dino matches I can remember, I guess?

Masanori Suda & Tomohiko Hashimoto & Dokonjonosuke*Mishima vs. Shoichi Ichimiya & Riki Senshu & Tsubo Genjin

Pretty fun trios. Despite Genjin doing some hick comedy, everyone gave a spirited performance. I even enjoyed Ichimiyas act, as he just did a Keiji Mutoh impression played straight, and he meshed well with Mishima hitting Shining Wizards and eating shootkicks. Senshu was the workhorse of the match as he looked like a damn hero working good segments against everyone, eating everyones offense and dishing out some big backdrops and lariats of his own. Even Hashimoto looked inspired. The highlight of the match was when they did a Choshu/Maeda spot where Suda came in and blasted Senshu in the face with a kick that shocked the audience. A lot can be said how unfair it is that a wrestler as talented as Senshu would never make it beyond Z-level indy recognition due to his size, but he certainly made the most of his raw ability.

Makoto Ohe Retirement Match: Makoto Ohe vs. Kozo Takeda

I can‘t find much information on Ohe online, but apparently he was a UWFi guy and their prized kickboxing fighter. This was just 2 rounds and may be a work but it was a good fight. Ohe went down in the first round due to Takedas nasty leg kicks but gutted it out and got in lots of hits in the second. Maybe interesting to kickboxing fans.

The Library

Best of the Velocity Matches #3

 Hardcore Holly vs. Chavo Guerrero, Velocity 7/6/2002

 

Low key great four minute match between two miserable bastards. Starts great with Chavo not handshaking and Holly slapping the taste right out of his mouth. We get some pretty hard hitting for WWE standards with Chavo setting himself up in fun ways to get chopped by Holly, as well as a nasty Chavo face scrape and Holly dropkicking Chavo in the face. Ending was totally awesome with multiple cool Alabama Slam attempts and counters, Chavo stomping Holly in the face, plus Holly busting out a gnarly powerbomb. Will Velocity make a Holly fan out of me?

Test vs. Val Venis, Velocity 7/9/2002

 

This was a match that I got weirdly invested in. The action was rather standard WWE TV stuff, but they really committed to their stuff. Test has great clotheslines and man looking at him you think he would be a megastar now, being big and good looking, but in 2002 he is doing a generic anti-american thing and getting himself DQ‘d. Venis always has ridiculously perfect offense, an absolutely sick boot to the face (the GUTS to completely outdo a guy whose finisher is a big boot), he also has a reverse figure 4 which he locks in in super slick fashion and Test really puts it over as this dangerous submission nearfall, coming up limping and everything. Crowd got really hot for this too and into the fire of Val Venis of all people, and the DQ actually left me salty. It didn‘t even lead to anything, but at least I know now they gave it their all with what limited tools they had to have a 6 minute Velocity main event.

Jamie Noble vs. Funaki, Velocity 7/16/2002

This was GREAT. Funaki had his working boots on. I didn‘t think he still had it in him, but he was busting out slick armbars and taking mad bumps like he was in his prime. Noble was great too, and him zoning in on Funakis leg lead to some damn great selling from Funaki. They did some great stuff with a northern lights suplex and a tornado DDT, not exactly the most exciting junior moves at this point, but they made them look cool. Super neat finish too. It‘s funny how Noble had this trailer trash gimmick but works like a brainy technician. This has to be the top match in the pile for today.

Tajiri vs. Mike Awesome, Velocity 7/23/2002

Well I may have spoken too soon, because this goes right head to head with Noble/Funaki. Great mix of Mike Awesomes power offense and willingness to take absolutely psycho bumps, and Tajiri taking him apart with brilliant kicks. Tajiri is an absolute god of the b-show match, he‘s just doing something neat ever second. Here he was attacking Mike with all kinds of kicks from odd angles, axe kicking the knee, kicking the back of the knee, stomping on his neck, it was just the right mix of flashy and ruthless. Loved the Tarantula specifically targetting the leg. Mike looked to be in a rough place but gave his all, diving face first into Tajiris feet, splatting on the floor in crazy moment, selling the leg at just the perfect time. Best 4 minute b-show match ever?

Ricky Fuji Produce Ricky Fuji Wild Night 3/20/04

 60 Minute Ironman Match: Ricky Fuji vs. MEN's Teioh

Yes, this is the only match on the card. Just that good old high confidence indy sleaze. Teioh is the perfect Bret Hart to Fujis sleazy Michaels. They start by hitting the mat for 15 minutes or so with Teioh looking really great. It's fun to think that Teioh is such a nerd for western style matwork he'd track down shit like World of Sport tapes or random GCW TV episodes to nick mat moves from Ole Anderson, like we track down these Japan sleazy MUGA matches now. Fuji does some fun things too including busting out a neat body scissor Full Nelson Hold. I'm not sure anyone has ever praised Ricky Fuji, aside from his amazing Rockers worship act and being Ricky Fuji, but he looked like a really solid wrestler here and his act feels fresh compared to other more generic juniors. I was surprised how well they planned this match out. They went a really long time and never looked lost or like they were doing filler stuff. There are some insanely well worked Figure 4s, and while the match didn't have long term selling they made that stuff convincing and engaging. They also had other fun things, like one guy taking the lead with a flash pin and the other having to chase him for a while. Blood comes into play, and we get to see Teioh doing cool Terry Funk punch combos. Fujis punches were a bit Shaw Michaelsish (no wonder), but that was the only criticism of him. The one hiccup in the structure came at about the 45-50 minute mark where it seemed the guys had overestimated the time passed and had to do some filler moves, although a 2 count for something like a knee drop (both guys had some ridiculously great knee drops in this by the way) 49 minute into a match is a lot more interesting. The ending had great drama and you saw Fuji unloading more moves than in probably any other match of his. This was honestly better than I expected, just both guys doing a ton of cool stuff in a well structured 60 minute match.

The Library

The Quest for Seichi Ikemoto matches

 Seichi Ikemoto feels like a guy who is nowhere near talked about enough as far as 2022 pro wrestlers go. Really good slick shootstylist with cool Honda-esque submissions who is not afraid to eat and dish out punishment. He's also not afraid to throw down in odd spaces, as we are about to see.

Seichi Ikemoto vs. Atsushi Suzuki, 5/28/2022

We have no achieved an almost perfect synthesis of shootstyle, garbage, and weird office space wrestling. This takes place in a room that I assume would normally have business powerpoint presentation but they lay out some mats and they do shootstyle. For some reason there is a ton of trash strewn about the mat. And they do shootstyle. Ikemoto looks great as usual outclassing Suzuki early on, love the crazy rolling omoplata. Then Suzuki sleazes it up by nailing Ikemoto with a water bottle. Ikemoto takes some nasty bumps including a shoddy piledriver on the mat, and a god damn suplex to the bare floor. Suzuki is a bit clunky but Ikemoto is so stiff and exciting it doesn‘t matter. Nice finish. It all adds up to a memorable fun match.

Seichi Ikemoto vs. Tetsuya Izuchi, GLEAT 8/20/2022

Total Ikemoto show. Izuchi barely brings anything but Ikemoto brings so much neat stuff that the match is still worth watching. Cool mat transitions, cool holds, cool reversals, Ikemotos always doing something interesting. The one cool thing Izuchi did was bust out a nifty Gogoplata. He really needed that. Even his winning KO was lame. You‘ve really got nothing better than a weak slap, Izuchi?

Seichi Ikemoto vs. Soma Watanabe, GLEAT 3/13/2022

This was really good. The match had serious fight and scrappiness, with lots of punishing striking and uncooperative matwork. With a hot U-Style crowd this would have been quite great. Watanabe is about on the level of, say, UWFi era Kenichi Yamamoto. Nothing special but he had fire and could look competitive going at it with Ikemoto, and he wasn‘t afraid to get palm striked in his mush. He also dealt Ikemoto a really nasty face kick while Ikemoto was on his knees, and that was enough to get me behind Watanabe. Ikemoto did a really nice layered performance balancing his flashy moves with how he was punishing Watanabe. Check out how he sold a random Watanabe armbar, really putting over how even random hold can be a possible injury. Finish was great as Watanabe was outclassed but made a big rally trying to put Ikemoto away and I ate it up. Most importantly, the match didn‘t feel like by the numbers shootstyle which is impressive in 2022.

Seichi Ikemoto vs. Yu Iizuka, GLEAT 9/6/2022

This had the kind of flashy moves and matwork you hope for from an ex-U-Style guy and a Volk Han obsessed kid like Iizuka going at it. The match was a good mix of flashy matwork and Ikemoto punishing a rookie. Though I wonder why Iizuka is still this low on the pecking order. He dealt a pretty big blow to Ikemoto spiking him with a Dragon Suplex and then hitting a big jumping kick, but then Ikemoto just won. It felt like they had to rush the ending. It was still an enjoyable match, though.

Assorted Mr. Gannosuke Produce

 

GENTARO vs. Kazuhiro Tamura, Mr. Gannosuke Produce 3/31/2011

Really good match which felt like a cross of an 80s New Japan shooter vs. Wrestler match and a modern indy match in the best ways. Gentaro punking out the shooter with a hard judo slam and tight gator roll to start was great. I am used to Tamura being kind of pedestrian, so him being really aggressive and chipping away at Gentaros legs with stiff kicks was a pleasant surprise. Gentaro continued to be the king of the mat by making the usual leglocks compelling with his counters. Gentaros leg selling was excellent and the build to the Sharpshooter had a number of sweet moments. Also loved Gentaros desperation frankensteiner which was set up very well. Tamuras stuff looked good and he constantly went for the leg. Fantastic stuff and Gentaro continues to prove how good he is.

Choun Shiryu vs. Masashi Takeda, Mr. Gannosuke Produce 9/5/2009

This was a No Rules match where both guys end up bleeding. Takeda being a death match guy brings a barbedwire bat and a bag of trash, and Shiryu being a Chinese martial artist brings a staff, frying pan and jug of beer. Shiryus Hong Kong movie strikes are so much fun and his spots are brilliant, and Takeda cutting him with a scissor made this feel like a slightly more psycho martial arts movie. Shiryu isn‘t afraid to spin kick you in the face or 619 you from odd angles. Also the frying pan shots may have looked more painful than the barbedwire bat, and Shiryu took some really nasty bumps. Really really fun match largely thanks to Shiryu.

GENTARO vs. DAISUKE, Mr. Gannosuke Produce 12/9/2010

Complete GENTARO show. Daisuke is perfectly average, but Gentaro does just one neat thing after another in this. His matwork was like Dick Murdoch with a touch of Fujiwara. That may sound weird but it was really good. He then proceeded to take DAISUKEs arm apart and bust out some nifty counters. DAISUKE isn‘t great but he has solid offense and sells the arm work very well. Recommended watching just for all the cool shit GENTARO was doing.