2025 Wrestling Roundup

 I admit I have a bit of a tough time keeping up with current wrestling. There is simply a bit much of it, with the stuff that I am interested in being kind of hard to find. To better myself, I will try to watch at least 1 match from the current year, let's see how much good stuff we can find.

2025 Wrestling Worth Watching:

January

Cosmo Soldier vs Michio Kageyama, Sportiva 1/1

Yasu Kubota vs Ari Najima, Sportiva 1/1

Jet Martial vs Lou Nixon, RISE 1/4 

Ai Hoza vs Senka Akatsuki, Marvelous 1/4

Yujiro Yamamoto vs Tsuyoshi Okada, Kobe Meriken 1/10

Judas El Traidor vs Fly Star, Lucha Memes 1/1

Meiko Satomura vs Manami, Sendai Girls 1/5

Blue Panther vs Hechicero, CMLL 1/10

Virus vs Neon, MLW 1/11 

Mad Dog Connelly vs Isaiah Broner, NAP 1/12 

Hijo del Fishman vs Mascara Sagrada Jr, 1/12 

Senka Akatsuki vs Ai Houzan, Marvelous 1/12

Guerrero Maya Jr vs Xelhua, CMLL 1/13 

Josh Barnett vs Tom Pestock, GCW 1/19 

Yusaku Ito vs Yu Shimizu, Sportiva 1/22

Jaguar Yokota & Honori Hana vs Yumiko Hotta & Misa Kagura, SAREEE-ism 1/23

Meiko Satomura vs Sareee, Sareee-ISM  1/23/2025

Act & Mari vs Haruka Ishikawa & Kyoka Iwai, AWG 1/24 

Hechicero vs Valiente, CMLL 1/24

Hideaki Sumi vs Sho Mizuno, KOBE Meriken 1/31

February 

Crea vs Rydeen Hagane, Pure-J 2/2

Chon Shiryu & Leon vs Mei Suruga & Baliyan Akki, Choco Pro 2/2

PSYCHO vs Leo Isaka, Marvelous 2/4

Mari vs Haruka Ishikawa, AWG 2/5

Shinya Ishida vs Yuta Oya, Sportiva 2/5

Yujiro Yamamoto vs Takaku Fuke, KOBE Meriken 2/7

Yujiro Yamamoto vs Tsuyoshi Michibata, BAP 2/8 

Ryo Mizunami & Sonoko Kato vs Mio Momono Yurika Oka, Oz Academy 2/9 

 
Kenichiro Arai & CHANGO & PSYCHO vs. GENTARO & Akira Jo & Taro Yamada, Mutoha 2/16

Yasushi Sato vs Shoji Ohno, Mutoha 2/16

Takahiro Tababa vs GAJO, Big Bear Produce 2/22 

Keito Murota vs Toshiyuki Sakuda, DIE 2/24 

Ari Najima vs Yuta Oya, Sportiva 2/24 

Yuta Oya & Ali Najima vs Konaka & Shinya Ishida, Sportiva 2/26

 March

  Hanako Nakamori & Leon vs Crea & Moeka Haruhi, Pure-J 3/9 

Mariah May vs Toni Storm, AEW 3/9 

Haruka Ishikawa & Ayano Irie vs Erisa Nagai & Rico Fukunaga, AWG 3/9 

Sakura Mizushima vs Mari, AWG 3/16 

Yumiko Hotta vs VENY, Seadlinnng 3/20

Meiko Satomura vs Chihiro Hashimoto, Sendai Girls 3/21

Yuki Ishikawa & Nobuyuki Kurashima vs Masao Ando & Takahiro Tababa, Tatsuo Nakano Anniversary 3/23 

Senka Akatsuki & Takumi Iroha vs Nanae Takahashi & Seri Yamaoka, Marigold 3/30

 April

Rydeen Hagane vs Chie Ozora, Pure-J 4/5

Sora Ayame vs Takumi Iroha, Marvelous 4/6/2025

Leo Isaka vs KAMIKAZE, Marvelous 4/6/2025 

CHANGO & Kengo Mashimo vs Shiori Asahi & Takuro Niki, 2AW 4/6 

Satsuki Nagao vs Shuji Ishikawa, KT 4/8

Kosuke Sato vs Masashi Takeda, KT 4/8

Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura vs Hikaru Sato & Manabu Hara, KT 4/8

 Meiko Satomura vs Takumi Iroha, Marvelous 4/10 

Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato vs Mayumi Ozaki & Chikayo Nagashima, Oz Academy 4/12 

ZEAL & Koji Sudo vs Sanada Ten Braves & Hiroshi Ando, Kishu Bundara 4/13

Nanae Takahashi vs NORI, LLPW 4/14 

Meiko Satomura & Sareee vs Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu, Fortune Dream 4/16 

Sho Mizuno vs Yu Shimizu, Kobe Meriken 4/18 

Bomber Okuno & Yosuke Takii vs Hiroaki Taniguchi & Tetsuya Goto, Shi-En 4/20 

Yasushi Sato vs Super Taira, JWA Tokai 4/20/2025 

 Elimination Gauntlet: Ai Houzan, Maria, Riko Kawahata, Sora Ayame & Takumi Iroha vs. Chika Goto, Kizuna Tanaka, Miku Aono, Natsumi Showzuki & Rea Seto, Marigold 4/25 

Shiori Asahi & Makoto Oishi vs CHANGO & Ayumi Honda, 2AW 4/27 

Tonikaku Yaritai Akiyama & Nakata Bide vs Masanobu Koppu No Fuchi & SUMA, AZW 4/? 

May

Munetatsu Nakamura vs Hagane Shinnou, Choco Pro 5/5 

 Ushiku "THE CHAMP" Gotaro & Tonikaku Yaritai Akiyama vs Hinjaku Ningen Casshern & Renoir Komeda, AZW 5/5

Shinya Aoki vs Kazusada Higuchi, 5/6

Ali Najima vs Kanu Watanabe, Sportiva 5/7

Paul Ishida vs taku, XGF 5/10 

Mentai Kid vs GENKAI, Kyushu Pro 5/11 

AKARI vs Crea, Pure-J 5/16 

 Nanae Takahashi vs Seri Yamaoka, Marigold 5/17

Ali Najima vs Ryutaro Ono, Sportiva 5/21 

Senka Akatsuki vs DASH Chisako, Tenryu Project 5/21 

Seri Yamaoka vs Takumi Iroha Marigold 5/24 

Nanae Takahashi vs Miku Aono, Marigold 5/24 

Cibernetico, ACTION 5/24

Mad Dog Connelly vs Adam Priest, ACTION 5/24 

Tomoki Hatano vs Shota Marlon Miwa, HEAT-UP 5/25 

Chihiro Hashimoto & Mika Iwata vs Saori Anou & Natsupoi, Stardom 5/31 

June

Sui Cup Kenchiro vs Great Mara, CWP 6/1 

Tanomusaku Toba & Tyson Maeguchi vs Takuya Wada & Shuichiro Katsumura, Ganbare Pro 6/1 

White Moriyama vs Ari Najima, HEAT-UP 6/1 

Sareee vs Ranna Yagami, Stardom 6/8

Yuta Oya & Konaka vs Ali Najima & Yu Shimizu, Sportiva 6/11

Masanori Watanabe vs Kazuhiro Tamura, Sportiva 6/11  

Utami Hayashishita & Mayu Iwatani & Seri Yamaoka vs Takumi Iroha & Senka Akatsuki & Sora Ayame, Marigold 6/17 

Dick Togo vs Daisuke Sasaki, DDT 6/18 

Sareee vs Syuri, STARDOM 6/21 

Anri & Natsuki vs Rio & Yukina Uehara, AWG 6/22 

Yasushi Sato & Taro Yamada vs Akira Jo & Hideya Iso, Yoshino Aid 6/22 

Sareee & Takumi Iroha vs Senka Akatsuki & Sora Ayame, Marvelous 6/27/2025

Virus vs Energia, Lucha Memes 6/29

Solar vs Xelhua, Lucha Memes 6/29 

Leon & Makoto vs Moeka Haruhi & Misa Kagura, Pure-J 6/29 

July

Shinya Ishida & Yu Shimizu vs Ari Najima & Masanori Watanabe, Sportiva 7/2 

Ari Najima vs Masanori Watanabe, Sportiva 7/9 

Marino Saihara & Sakura Mizushima vs Anri & Yukina Uehara, AWG 7/11 

Act & Maru vs Nagisa Shiotsuki & Natsuki, AWG 7/11 

Ali Najima & Masanori Kanu Watanabe vs Shota Marlon Miwa & Yukito, HEAT UP 7/12

 Leon & AKARI vs Moeka Haruhi & Rydeen Hagane, Pure-J 7/13 

Saya Kamitani & Natsuki Tora vs Sareee & Takumi Iroha, Sareeeism 7/14 

Mari & Act vs Anri & Erisa Nagai (AWG 7/18) 

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

Zandokan Jr. vs Judas El Traidor, Lucha Memes 7/19 

Keita Yano vs brother YASSHI, Tenryu Project 7/20

Virus vs Xelhua, RoH 7/26 

ACT vs MARU, AWG 7/26 

Sareee vs Konami, STARDOM 7/27

Ultimate Spider Jr. vs Yasutaka Ooosera, Osaka Pro 7/27 

Ali Najima vs Yuta Oya, Sportiva 7/30 

August

Yujiro Yamamoto vs Koki Fujimoto, Kobe Meriken 8/1 

Sareee vs Ranna Yagami, Stardom 8/1 

Mari & Ayano Irie vs Anri & Erisa Nagai, AWG 8/2 

 MARU & Great Asako vs Marino Saihara & Rico Fukunaga, AWG 8/2 

Masato Tanaka vs Hayabusa, Zero1 8/3 

Ali Najima vs Masanori Kanu Watanabe, Sportiva 8/6
 

 Konaka vs Chon Shiryu, Sportiva 8/13

Mari & Act vs Marino Saihara & Rico Fukunaga, AWG 8/13 

Ali Najima & Yuta Oya vs Michio Kageyama & Shinya Ishida, Sportiva 8/13 

Makoto vs Hiroyo Matsumoto, Seadlinnng 8/22 

Shuji Ishikawa vs Hitamaru Sasaki, Kyushu Pro 8/24 

Chon Shiryu & Shin Suzuki vs Makoto & Sayaka, Choco Pro 8/27 

Hideaki Sumi vs Tatsunori Oya, Kobe Meriken 8/29 

September

Yuta Oya vs Super Taira, Sportiva 9/3 

 Mari & ACT & MARU vs Marino Saihara & Sakura Mizushima & Naru, AWG 9/7
 

Yasu Kubota vs Yu Shimizu, Sportiva 9/10

Lucha Maestros 3 vs 3, ACTION 9/11 

Yukito vs Bomber Okuno, HEAT-UP 9/13 

Ali Najima & Super Taira vs Ryutaro Ano & Yuta Oya, Sportiva 9/17 

Masanori Watanabe vs Koji Iwamoto, Sportiva 9/17 

Chihiro Hashimoto vs Mika Iwata, Sendai 9/23 

Kenichiro Arai vs Ayumu Honda, Tenryu Project 9/23 

Ali Najima vs Konaka, Sportiva 9/24 

Virus & Xelhua vs Charles Lucero & Erick Ortiz, Sugehit Produce 9/27 

October

Yui Tensho vs Marino Saihara, AWG 10/1 

Avisman vs Eragon, Vikmask 10/4 

Merman Masakazu vs Aesop, Health Pro 10/5 

Dekai Ichimotsu vs Vasaru Ikeuchi, Health Pro 10/5 

 Senka Akatsuki & Takumi Iroha & Mio Momono vs Seri Yamaoka & Mayu Iwatani & Utami Hayashishita, NOAH 10/6 

Drew Gulak vs Timothy Thatcher, Beyond 10/12 

Tachishon Crazy vs Hinjaku Ningen Casshern, AZW 10/13 

GENTARO vs Shuichiro Katsumura, Ganbare Pro/FREEDOMS 10/16 

Keita Yano vs Hikaru Sato, Tenryu Project 10/17 

Marino Saihara & Yukina Uehara vs Rico Fukunaga & Sakura Mizushima, AWG 10/19 

Takumi Iroha vs Senka Akatsuki, Marvelous 10/19 

Ali Najima & Masanori Watanabe vs Yoichi Shinmei & Yuta Oya, Sportiva 10/22 

Ali Najima vs Kosuke Sato, KT 10/23 

Tanomusaku Toba & Kengo Mashimo vs Yuko Miyamoto & brother YASSHI, KT 10/23 

 Keita Yano vs Manabu Hara, KT 10/23

Keita Yano vs Koji Iwamoto, Tenryu Project 10/25 

November

 El Hijo del Santo & Santo Jr. & Ciclon Ramirez Jr vs. El Hijo de Fishman & El Hijo de LA Park & Texano Jr., TxT/Lucha Libre World Berlin 11/2

Pantera Jr vs Sangre Azteca Jr, Michinoku Pro 11/2

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Keita Yano, Tenryu Project 11/4 

Timothy Thatcher vs Charlie Dempsey, WWE EVOLVE 11/14
 

Yuta Oya vs Shota, Sportiva 11/5 

MARU vs Kyoka Iwai, AWG 11/15 

Ali Najima vs Kazuhiro Tamura, Heat Up 11/15 

Sareee vs Chihiro Hashimoto, Sendai Girls 11/16 

Yasu Urano vs Akito, 11/16 

Yu Shimizu & Yuta Oya vs Ali Najima & Hajime Enshu, Sportiva 11/19 

Minoru Kido vs taku, XGF 11/23
 

Paul Ishida vs ASUKA the World, XGF 11/23 

MARU & Ayano Irie vs Marino Saihara & Yukina Uehara, AWG 11/24 

Ryo Kawamura vs Hikaru Sato, Hard Hit 11/29 

December

Kotaro Nasu & FUMA vs Kotaro Suzuki & Tetsuya Izuchi, GLEAT 12/6

MARU vs Chii Aoba, AWG 12/15 

Marino Saihara vs Rico Fukunaga, AWG 12/20 

BADMAX Fujinaga vs Great Kuririn, Kobe MERIKEN 12/25
 

Senka Akatsuki vs Seri Yamaoka, Marvelous 12/28 

MARU vs Rico Fukunaga, AWG 12/29 

 

Mutoha 12/1/2024

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 Mighty Yuki & Hoshitango & Shigeo Kato vs Super Crafter U & Nobu Kaseda & Crusher Takahashi

A fast paced 6 man tags with a lot of old guys and two fiery but unique youngsters in Nobu Kaseda and Mighty Yuki. It reminded me of those old guy tags from AJPW or NOAH, although this was a bit more serious maybe. Everybody did the stuff that makes them unique - so you had Shigeo Kato doing his signature sneaky ratboy technical heel tactics, and Crusher Takahashi hitting beautiful punches and Hoshitango being a cranky old sumo. Mighty Yuki is actually the son of Masahiko Takasugi, and he was paying tribute to the recently deceased Mighty Inoue, which feels strangely fitting. I would've liked to see Super Crafter U get to do a little more because he is an awesome beast. A fun match, while it wasn't overly technical it suits the vibe of MUTOHA.

 

Leo Cristiani vs Deimos Hatebreed vs El Hijo de Alebrije

Well, this match doesn't suit the vibe of Mutoha. All these guys were also on the Secret Base show the same day. Cristiani and Hatebreed are two wrestlers from Europe. I think it would be cool to see European technical style on a Mutoha show, but these two are just two random high flyers who wrestle in the same way as everybody now, and there was nothing here that stood out to me. They hit some big flying moves, one after another, some looking sloppy and some impressive, and in the end I remembered nothing about this match. Now, will an Italian or Portuguese promotion book GENTARO vs Kenichiro Arai?

Shoji Ohno vs Dekai Ichimotsu

With this match the show really begins. This was really unique, and amazing. They are both so cool. Even the basic early wrestling in this was great as both guys were trying to snap limbs and joints in unusual ways. Then Ichimotsu began cluster bombing Ohnos legs. I gotta give it to Dekai Ichimotsu, he is the king when it comes to painfully dropkicking a guy in the knee joint from odd angles. By the end Ohno was like a soldier who has lost his legs to a landmine but somehow kept fighting. It was a truely gritty and dirty fight, while retaining the technical edge that is the signature of Mutoha. Both guys hit skull cracking headbutts and Ichimotsu pulled off cool reversals and more leg attacks. Once again Ohno rushed his opponent with an amazing flurry of palm strikes. Ohno looks really tough fighting through the leg damage and trying to pull off a win. I like that Ohno seems like a tough brawler guy, but occasionall he can pull of something surprisingly technical. A great match, no doubt about it.

 

Hiroshi Yamamoto vs Taro Yamada

A very promising match up. Hiroshi Yamamoto is the man who can do it all on the Japanese indy scene, he wrestles everywhere and he can pull off seemingly every style of match. Looking up info about him, it seems that he was trained by Virus, so he should be a good opponent for Yamada. And Taro Yamadas is one of the best kept secrets in Japanese indy wrestling. But Yamamoto has stood tall in big leagues like All Japan, so in away Yamada is punching way upwards here. And this match felt a bit like an All Japan match, too. It wasn't as technical as the more intense  Mutoha matches, but there was a lots of hold for hold stuff that felt very battle-for-control in the style of old Jumbo Tsuruta matches, and they both mixed in some explosive surprise moves that were bigger than you'd expect. In the end it was a very worthy match, although I don't like everything that Yamamoto does, such as his goofy X-chop attack. I will give it to him that he is a very graceful wrestler, though. And Yamada proved that he can step on the mat with the best in his country and go along every step of the way.

Akira Jo vs Hideya Iso

One of Akira Jos best performances I've seen so far, because he was clinical taking Iso apart with nasty headlocks and neck cranks, while Iso did an awesome job gutting it out and trying to pull of the biggest upset of his life. Iso for a guy who looks pretty ancient and crusty pulls of some great surprises here. Jo trying to crank Isos neck with basic headlocks actually made for a compelling story, there's something distinctly awesome about him going 'fuck you, I'm gonna beat you with a side headlock'. There was one absolutely awesome moment that involved Iso escaping a sleeper attempt that was honestly probably the best thing I've seen in a match all year. Iso looks outmatched but he just kept fighting like a god damn hero and I was thoroughly impressed. I really like this kind of single minded approach to a match, really making you appreciate the most basic elements of pro wrestling in a new light. It's the kind of match that you will only ever see in Mutoha these days and that is why I appreciate this company so much.

Yasushi Sato vs Kenichiro Arai

 
Another chess match that had touches of the unique grappling that both guys do so well, as well as a hearty dose of Memphis. Everything mattered, even something as simple as shaking your opponents hand, or getting in the ring, and there was tons of great struggle. Right at the first hold exchange, Sato went for the Russian Leg Sweep looking to grapevine his opponent, with Arai desperately scrambling out. The rest of the match was largely about Arai trying to weaken Sato while Sato would go for throws and flash pins that Arai would desperately avoid. Both guys acted wary of the danger of any pinfall. I am endlessly fascinated by Yasushi Sato. As far as I know, his wrestling career begin 16 years ago and now he is 58 years old, which is crazy. He is starting to show his age physically but his wrestling mind is still one of the greatest I've ever seen. He was going at it with Arai like no tomorrow, trying to shock the champion with surprise moves, even using underhand tactics of his own, and always trying to put Arai on his shoulders for the 3. It was the kind of stuff that would make the likes of Dick Murdoch proud. The one weak point of the match was the slap exchange but that was a minor criticism. The ending was baffling and thrilling but it made sense, sometimes it can really be all over like that and you have to love it if you appreciate pro wrestling as a crafty sport. As it stands this had a lot of really good grappling and technical work, both guys looked like sly foxes, and everything they did felt spontaneous and fresh. There aren't many wrestlers who can wrestle like this left in the world, and for that I appreciate these two!

2024 MOTY List

The Library

Early Mutoha

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Hiroshi Watanabe vs Kazuhiro Tamura, Mutoha 6/20/2010

Upon watching this the first time I thought this might be one of the 10 greatest wresting matches I’ve ever seen. Maybe even top 5. I may be overrating it slightly, but it’s a really damn great match.

Obviously, there was a big hype around last years GENTARO/Arai match. I think this bout here gives that match a run for it’s money. Don’t get me wrong, GENTARO/Arai is a completely unique beast. In that match, they did things in a completely different way and succeeded. This bout between Watanabe and Tamura here is much more conventional and energetic with lots of high-impact offense throughout, but aiming for similar grand scale. It probably has much more mainstream appeal than the more esoteric Arai/GENTARO. As such, I would like as many wrestling fans as possible to check this out.

The main reason why the match works so well is the contrast of Kazuhiro Tamura to Hiroshi Watanabe. Kazuhiro Tamura is shooter-type wrestler, with punishing kicks and a style of matwork that means he will go for the kill right from the get go. Hiroshi Watanabe with his shaven head, black trunks and boots and deceptive physique is as close to the picture of a classic no frills technician as you can get. Stylistically the match they go for is reminiscent of an 80s New Japan vs UWF wrestler vs shooter match. And because of the 2/3 falls match format, as well as the unrelenting nature of both wrestlers, this becomes an epic struggle.

The second reason why the match works is that they do not hold back. Often in a long match, especially a 2/3 falls match that is going to be strategic, wrestlers will noticably hold back and resort to obvious time killing. That is not the case here, as right away Tamura is kicking away at Watanabe and going for dangerous submissions like straight armbars on the ground that can believably decide a fall even after just 5 minutes. In contrast Watanabe is very much an old school type catch wrestler here, not afraid to snatch a kimura lock, and coming up with lots of neat counters. Watanabe sticking to his guns and focussing on trying to catch this modern day shooter with this 50s/60s style holds and flying kneedrops was really great. With Tamuras explosiveness it makes a really great aggressor vs counter-wrestler matchup. And because of the 2/3 falls rule, a finish can plausibly occur at any time, which makes this edge of your seat stuff throughout.

There are some moments where they kind of take breathers – Tamura tries locking Watanabe out of the arena for a countout victory, but Watanabe re-enters through the other side in a fun graceful moment that kind of caps off the first ark of the match. There are great moments strewn throughout the match. Tamuras punishing kicks and relentless submission attempts keep the intensity high. There is a moment where he keeps kicking away at Watanabes leg that looked absolutely painful, and another kick to Watanabes sternum outside the ring that looked and sounded so bad I’m sure it would go viral if it happened in a 2024 AEW ring. Later Watanabe fires back with no hands headbutts and an absolutely nasty enzuigiri. He also hit pretty much the greatest flying neckbreaker drop ever at one point. The biggest moment of the match though is the kick that Watanabe gets blasted with in the jaw towards the end. It looked to have knocked his soul out of him, and then Tamura blasted him with another and fell him in one of the most epic near KO’s that Ive ever seen in a wrestling match. The fact this went down in a small martial arts gym in front of roughly 50 people is nothing short of mindblowing.

Tamuras explosiveness is great. When Watanabe finally gets a fall over him, Tamuras reaction is to just run it him and go for another big dropkick. His energy looked to be boundless, and it was meeting Watanabes boundless tenacity. They go incredible hard in the last 10 minutes, without coming across as trying too hard, mixing up some amazing submission and pin attempts and counters aswell as callbacks to previous falls. It was a very good crescendo for match with this kind of grand scope. While most of the match is energetic, they don’t throw out too much too early, so even smaller moves like Tamuras 2^nd rope headbutt or Watanabes Cobra Twist felt epic when they happened so close to the time limit.

After the match, Watanabe is in the ring, and he can hold a speech without using a microphone because the arena is so small. I hope Watanabe got some credit for this match. The bout was truly magnificient and fascinating. It felt like an epic struggle, and it was interesting throughout. At no point did it feel self indulgent or forced. By the end I was kind of rooting for both guys. It almost makes me wish there were more matches that go 60 minutes, as so many interesting facets of their game developed throughout the fight, but then again most wrestler are nowhere near as good as these two.

An outstanding achievement.

 

Hiroshi Watanabe & Kousei Maeda vs. Hideya Iso & Shigeo Kato (Mumejuku 12/20/2009)

Another genuine gem. This went 60 minutes and was more MUGA than MUGA. Watching this, I didn’t know it would be a draw, and I couldn’t tell that it was going to be a draw. They were using a lot of basic holds, but doing them in a way that they could plausibly set up a finish. I kept thinking “yeah, this is gonna lead to the finish… no wait”. That, to me, is how a draw should feel. Watanabe once again looked pretty great throughout this. Really dug the section where Kato twisted up his legs while he kept coming up with counters. I also really liked how Kato at one point refused to enter the ring, as if he was disappointed with Hideya Isos performance, so Iso went back to twist up his opponents with some cool amateur moves. Another great moment was an almost completely spent looking Iso locking in a Romero Special out of nowhere to a nice ovation from the crowd. I haven’t seen this Maeda before, but he looked solid, and he produced another highlight when he took offense to Kato slapping him and kicked the shit out of Kato. Kato after eating headbutts on the ground doing a Flair flop was another neat moment. The match was full of cool moments like throughout that made little things feel more meaningful and kept me engaged in the match. Figure 4 work in the last 10 or so minutes was epic and felt like a Destroyer match. Parts of this were slightly long and I will admit that this probably could’ve been clipped down to a better 45 or 30 minute match, but still. The fact they did this for an audience of like 40 people and it came out so well is insane.

Into a heart of darkness

 Beautiful areola Hikaru vs. Thick and hard Hoshino Kankuro, AZW 2024/11/16

I'm not the biggest deathmatch fan, but every once in a while something comes along where I can't deny the fascination, and this match is like it crawled out of the seediest darkest hole. This was an utterly deranged spectacle as you can tell by the names of these two. They are doing a lighttubes deathmatch in this claustrophobically small venue which is pretty unhinged to begin with, the fans having to shield themselves from flying glass shards, and it just gets more and more deranged as it continues. Both these guys are amateur-pro wrestlers, so they don't have the 'wrestlers' physique. In a way seeing two guys with normal people physique butcher each other and bleeding like crazy feels more unhinged. Especially when one of them is fat and seemingly turning very pale from losing blood. This was a deathmatch built around freakish gimmicks and insane acts, and they were pretty freakish and insane. There's a dracula cape covered in razor blades, a brick with forks sticking out, and the most infamous moment of the match of course when both guys fucking skewer each other through the mouth and then proceed to trade forearms, run the ropes and take bumps. Aside from the freakshow acts there was some pretty good wrestling, with both guys doing a good job actually working the transitions and keeping things moving, even working in some basic psychology like building to an Angle Slam. Hikaru (the fat guy) has some cool headbutts and lariats and largely sticks to things he can do well.  'Kankuro Hoshino' is not the BJW guy, he's a skinny guy who wrestles like an amalgamation of several guys but mostly Jun Kasai and Masashi Takeda, and he moves pretty well throwing his skinny body around. Also both guys made sure to act like total psychos throughout. You have to admire the confidence to get skewered like that and continue wrestling, or take the moment and phantomime a conductor before going ahead with said skewering.

Suicappu Kenjiro vs Shikotte 2 Hotte, CWP ??

Pretty great semi-pro match with a ton of energy and snap to everything. The best semi-pro matches are slightly outside of what you normally see in pro wrestling, maybe slightly messy if you will, but still maintain good enough execution and psychology to be enjoyable, will bringing lots of creativity, and that was the case here. Both guys threw really hard kicks and strikes, not holding back at all, and each had something going for himself. Shikotte 2 Hotte is a really impressive serious junior, aside from one moment where he goes for the worm. His movements area really explosive, he hits hard kicks an he has lots of nasty offense like great looking flying knees and nasty dropkicks to the prone opponent. He was really good here also trying to stay on the arm and constantly busting out surprise armbars which I loved. Kenjiro is clearly one of the cooler guys from this scene, as he wrestles a really straight to the point style that he does really well, sticking to blasting his opponent with kicks and some amazing ragdoll suplexes. They work a relentless pace building to some big moments with hardly any letdowns, really impressive match that blows a  lot of ‘pro’ work from the last couple years out the water.

Dekai Ichimotsu vs Hareta Kogan, Health Pro 2018/3/18

Really cool technical match between two guys who have a unique approach to things. Early goings are a lot of fun with Kogan going for the arm and Ichimotsu focussing on the neck/head. We all know Dekai is badass but Kogan also brings a lot of cool stuff to the table. The match gets really good when Dekai would start kicking Kogan in the head from close angles. His stomps, flying dropkicks etc all look really great. He also has an awesome out of nowhere Abisegiri and at one point just hurls himself handspringing into another headkick. The focus of the match is pretty unique with Ichimotsu constantly going for a chancery and trying to build it into a finish. Kogan also does a cool job trying to set up a cobra clutch move, and his big flying dropkick was awesome. Really efficient nifty match, a real showcase for the kind of unique and compelling wrestling this scene can produce.

Hangyojin Masakazu vs Sho Karasuno, TDR 2023/10/29

Hangyojin Masakazu is really cool. He looks old as dirt, but the spirit of Inoki keeps him strong. He does a really good job with his tribute act that somehow still feels competitive. I mean, there aren't many wrestlers around busting out awesome old timey flying headscissors and gnarly sleeper holds like he does. I haven't seen Sho Karasuno in years (never would I have thought that I would see him again after stumbling across him one time as he faced Yujiro Yamamoto), and I thought he might have changed a little, engaged in some serious grappling exchanges early, but he soon returned to his old ways as he kicked Masakazu in the nuts. Old Masakazu taking shoot kicks and other offense from Karasuno is really fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him laying waste to that scoundrel.

2024 MOTYC List Update #3

 

Chon Shiryu vs Keisuke Ishii, Ganbare Pro 7/15/2024

Chon Shiryu big match!! I love Chon Shiryu, and this was a nice chance to see him do his thing. He is still really fast and slick, and his kung fu technique really add a lot to the Japanese big match formula. Initially Keisuke Ishii did not impress me, but he redeemed himself when he started destroying Shiryus mid section with violent looking knees. Ishii dropping Shiryus throat across the rope with a nasty move and then going for a piledriver on the apron made things quite intense. Shiryu pulls off some great transitions as usual that are a level above what you usually see in these matches, and his signature odd angle 619s and diving kicks still rule. Last couple minutes were buil around Shiryu taking crazy bumps, trying to crush Ishiis throat with his flying stomps, and delivering some really great glassy eyed selling as he kept dying and ressurrecting over and over. Could have done with a few nearfalls less, but what the hell, you don’t get to see Shiryu doing matches like this often! I also like that they made a spinning wheel kick into a finisher in 2024.

 

Super Taira vs Kenta Kosugi, Sportiva 10/30/2024

Really good match that told a great story, was interesting all the way through and had some great wrestling. I really like Super Taira, who has such a diverse skillset. In this case he was facing Kosugi who is like twice his size, so he couldn't do much lucha libre or llaves, so Tairas answer was to just try and rush him with leg kicks. Taira kicking at Kosugi and trying to hurt his legs was simple but really good. Anytime Kosugi fired back, he looked like an absolute bear. I cannot emphasize enough that every single moment in this match mattered and added to the story. I loved the way Kosugi would slap his knees to try as if to try and get some feeling back into it after taking damage. Taira using his agility in interesting ways and trying to grab submissions was really good. There were some really choice counters without being too cute. By the end Kosugi was basically an angry bear mauling Taira with Taira trying to hit a desperation move and get a flash pin or submission. I really like a simplistic wrestling match that ads some interesting touches, and this one really hits thats spot.

Demus vs. Lunatik Xtreme, Zona 23 1/21

I am not super interested in deathmatches at this point, there are only so many idiotic bumps one can see before it gets old, and  I have little interest in seeing guys stand around and rubbing light tubes in each others face. That said the psychotic violence here was really fun with the apocalyptic junkyard bumps. Early brawling could have been better, aside from Demus great elbows there was still a bit much of idle walking around and an exhibitiony feeling to me. Match took a steep upturn when Xtreme started hitting those wild stomps. After some fun comeuppance we get Demus throwing what is pretty much the greatest punch combo I've ever seen in a match and some savage headbutt exchanges which were easily the highlight. I honestly expected the match to go longer so the finish was an amusing surprise. I didn't like it as much as I liked Black Terry vs Wotan or Ricky Marvin from memory, but it was a fun slice of psycho violence.

2024 MOTYC List

80s AJW

 Yumi Ogura & Kazue Nagahori vs Mika Komatsu & Kanako Nagatomo AJW 6/21/1986

Crazy match that was over 30 minutes of straight wrestling with a ton of intensity and hard-fought chew-em-up style matwork. Really unique from a modern perspective. The match followed a simple formula, they would alternate between matwork and explosive standing moves, but the intensity at which they fought in and out of the holds was great. In terms of moves there was nothing mindblowing happening, but its 80s AJW so it feels somewhat familiar but different, and the real selling point is the struggle. They sold the match like a sporting contest that would occasionally come to a boiling point. The pinfall attempts and the struggle over getting out of them was fantastic – really nailed that amateur wrestling-like feeling of when a guy feels he is about to get rolled in his shoulders and gets into that “oh shit” zone to desperately scramble out. I really liked Kanako Nagatomo here, she hit these cool Zidane headbutts and knew how to work some mean indian deathlocks. Ogura & Nagahori would throw these wild kicks and solebutts, often out of nowhere, and they weren’t afraid to get chippy. At one point you had Komatsu and I think Nagahori going into this almost Lawler/Mantell style strike exchange on their knees with both of them throwing open hands. So the chippiness was great, the matwork was great, and the flying moves were cool (at one point one of them hit this awesome jumping victory roll that looked like the most beautiful flash pin ever). The match didn’t have a ton of limb selling or build to the transitions but they sold the whole thing as an intense sporting contest where either team could take the lead at the drop of a hat, so I didn’t care. Even something like a takedown into an ankle lock felt important, and the way they would elaborate on that really drives the point home. Matches like this that eschew traditional US style ring psychology but still work in their own way are really interesting to me. Really unique, great match that everyone should give a shot.

Chigusa Nagayo vs Lioness Asuka, AJW 6/13/1987

The match begins with a jump start. In the first minute, there's a suplex on the floor and then Lioness misses a crazy dive. Nagayo goes for the kill locking in a sharpshooter, but Lioness scrambles for the ropes. Lioness comes back with a shootstyle armbar and attacking Chigusas arm for a bit. Is Lioness gonna work the arm? No, they reset to a neutral position, working a test of strength before Chigusa takes over. After that the match becomes more focussed on grinding matwork with occasional outbursts of Lioness' kicks, with Chigusa always grinding her back down with headlocks etc. A flick is switched when a tombstone attempt is reversed and they work a 50/50 nearfall run with a lot of big moves. Lioness giant swing as a nearfall is a really cool spot, Chigusas much less energetic version less so.

A lot of cool wrestling on display here with both of them hitting some cool fireman carrys and suplexes. There was considerable struggle and a palpable sense of "grind her down". The UWF influence was really cool. Certainly made me wish this style would come back and be brought to its completion. This match felt a little random to be truely gripping for me but it was cool to watch.

Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka vs Lola Gonzalez & La Galactica, AJW 10/6/1984

Another really wild match from this era. What makes this stand out is the rudo tour de force from Gonzalez and Galactica. They both did a great job both bumping for their opponents and beating the hell out of them. Gonzalez especially stood out in a major way and I was surprised this match isn't more famous considering she doesn't exactly have a ton of matches on tape. Galactica was a bit more subdued but she got some good licks in. At one point she had this really awesome sugar hold on Chigusa tearing up her leg. Also, Dump Matsumoto and her gang is at ringside and she interfers liberally in this match, at one point jumping straight in the ring to beat on people with an iron rod. If you don't like liberal interferences you'll probably dislike this but I didn't mind it because the action still stayed in the ring and it was all part of the beatdown. In a way mid 80s AJW feels like this corrupt lawless land where all the referees are crooked and you might get stabbed by Dump Matsumoto at the drop of a hat. Of course the Crush Gals are generating molten heat by just existing in this match. There's a minute long Chigusa chant as she's exchanging basic knucklelocks. Any wrestler alive today would give their toe for these kind of reactions. They were super in the moment and feeding off the energy. Some things they did looked a little sloppy or blown, with Chigusas kicks not looking very good yet, and the comebacks felt pretty random (e.g. Chigusa gets her leg worked over and comes back just hitting a random tombstone piledriver), but it doesn't really matter when you have a pair of babyfaces this passionate. The escalating violence towards the end was really great with Asuka bleeding in a really grizzly way, and Gonzalez also getting bloodied with a bleeding Asuka hitting an amazing late match giant swing, fans pelting the ring with garbage in protest to the over the top heel antics etc. Both looked like they wanted to make the cover of an Apter mag. Great spectacle with the atmosphere being off the charts.

JWA Tokai 6/18/2017

 Naoto Akita vs The Scary Mummy Man

Akita is the super rookie of Tokai Pro Wrestling, I think. The Scary Mummy Man is.. well.. a mummy. There was some undead comedy here, but it still felt like a competitive match, so it was kind of enjoyable. The Mummy reminded me a bit of Shinigami and Akita did a lot of judo based moves, which was kind of cool, tho it was still far from a serious match. I kind of enjoyed it and it was over quickly.

Black Nyantaro vs Hakaru

What I’ve seen from Hakaru before has been good, as he seems like a wrestler with good ground game. Unfortunately there wasn’t any of that here, it was Hakaru doing dirty tactics and brawling, trying to unmask his opponent. Hakarus headlock punches looked very good, aside from that it was kind of boring. I’ve never seen Nyantaro before, and he just did some back scratches early on, which did not make me very interested in him. In the last 3rd both guys came alive and became more energetic. Nyantaro had some cool lucha libre holds and moves, just that made me think a more ground-based match would have been better. Well, not every match can be like that, and this night Hakaru choose to be a straight villain and unmask his opponent.

Yasushi Sato vs Super Taira

A promising match up on paper, that turned out to be an excellent match. Super Taira is a really interesting wrestler – he does some lucha libre, he is skillful on the mat, but he can also hit hard kicks and flying armbars like a shooter. The groundwork here was great, with Taira using his lucha libre llaves to tie up Sato. Sato looked outmatched by his opponents crazy holds, though I loved the one weird submission he busted out to in turn Taira in a knot. Eventually Taira would start to attack Satos arm and shoulder with some vicious kicks, with Sato really being in pain. Sato would lock in a boston crab, but he had to release to hold because his arm was too damaged in a pretty cool bit. The second half was full of great counters and submissions, with Taira having numerous awesome counters to Satos Russian Leg Sweep. The pin combos, Russian Leg Sweep teases and narrow 2 counts were fantastic. Sato busted out a lot of great stuff too, he hit a fantastic out of nowhere belly to belly suplex that hit Taira hard, a Terry Funk punch combo and even flying off the top rope. I love Yasushi Sato as the master of mat wrestling that he is in Mutoha, but the man has an amazingly diverse skillset. He was outwrestled by Taira here and so his one game changer was the Russian Leg Sweep. I also loved Super Tairas cross armhold submission. Great stuff, with both guys looking like great wrestlers.

Koichi Wakikaido & The Ninja & Ultraman Robin vs Shadow #1, #2 & #3

This is my first look at the seemingly never ending match series between Wakikaido, his hero friends and the Shadows. If you look at JWA Tokai results these teams must have faced each other a hundred times. Right away this becomes a surreal trip as they take pro wrestling logic to the absurd. Because wrestlers can’t fight back when being moved around, the Shadows put everyone in a headlock and then just walk around the arena. Wakikaido wrestles slower than Giant Baba, but he still has impeccable timing. Ultraman hits a really nice spinning headscissor somehow. The Ninja is dressed like an imitator of the Great Sasuke and he’s actually really energetic and even hits an Asai Moonsault. Baffling and fascinating stuff.

Cosmo Soldier & Chojin Yusha G-Valion vs Hiroshi Toyoda & Yuki Toyoura

It’s my first time seeing JWA Tokai originals, Hiroshi Toyoda and Yuki Toyoura. Of course, we all know Cosmo Soldier is a legend, and G-Valion is always cool to see. The early goings of this match were basic, but executed with some struggle that made it interesting. Of course Soldier is one of the all-time most interesting wrestlers, you never know what he is going to do next, he is like a force of chaos. In this case things got interesting when Cosmo hit Toyodas leg with something that was between a springboard leg drop and a low dropkick. Immediately Toyoda fired back with a low dropkick that hit Soldiers leg hard. After that, the match turned a lot more aggressive. I really liked the team of Toyoda and Toyoura here. Toyoda seemed like a really cool wrestler, he was this short guy with very explosive powerful moves and a really hard elbow smash. Toyoura was the tallest guy in the match, and while felt a bit awkward (he was only wrestling about 2 years at this point) he also had lots of devastating power offense, and he swung his arms and body with force into his opponent. The fun of watching a bunch of wrestlers you know nothing about is seeing what they can do and not knowing what comes next, and this ended up being an exciting ride for that reason. 

 

To top it off Valion and Soldier also worked hard busting out cool stuff, and the highlight was easily the brutal open hands Soldier started throwing at Toyoura. Long quality main event, which absolutely makes me want to see more of the world of JWA Tokai.

 

The Library