Tarzan Goto Documentation #15

 Tarzan Goto & Mr Gannosuke vs Jado & Gedo, WAR 7/7/1995 - EPIC

Molten heat for this match, you think the FMW guys must have killed someone to be this hated while scumbags Jado and Gedo are treated as gods by the WAR loyalist. The match begins hot with Goto kicking ass and punching people in the face, then it settles down into a fun segment of Jado and Gedo shining with their array of double team moves and the crowd amusingly cheering every dirty move they do. Then it gets hot again, as Jado eats a nasty surprise powerbomb, which he sells as an awkward landing on his shoulder, and Goto immediately capitalizes by attacking the shoulder. Goto is pretty great destroying a guys shoulder while acting like a scumbag. Just the way he would casually crush Jado with a big splash and then mockingly bitchslap him was amazing. The last third of the match sees Jado and Gedo getting destroyed and trying to protect each other while making desperate pin attempts. Gedo getting bloodied and then looking like the life was going out of him while Goto rained punches on his head was some great simplistic brutal pro wrestling. It was clearly inspired by the famous AJPW tag from the month before but the drama worked really well and the desperation was palpable. Great match with a ton of violence heat and drama with Goto looking like an evil monster as usual and Gedo and Jado doing a great job playing the more sympathetic bastards.

Tarzan Goto & Grigory Verichev vs Sabu & Horace Boulder, FMW 5/24/1992 - GREAT

What a certified crazy match up. The match ended up being pretty damn great too, really the kind of wild chaotic spectacle you only get in the 90s. It delivers everything you want basically being an all out brawl from the get go with a breathless pace and no time. Goto was absolutely killing Sabu here, launching tables or chairs at his head, there was tons of blood, Verichev in his gi launching dudes around with huge suplexes. Horace Hogan is perfectly fine as a big sleazy dude that will flatten the smaller guys with lariats and occasionally something odd like a stiff missile dropkick. At one point the Sheik does a run in to stab Goto in the face. Goto was great as usual both taking a big beating, bleeding, kicking ass, and coming back lariating peoples heads off. Also you get Sabu and Goto throwing punches and that's really cool. Gritty finish too.

Tarzan Goto & Shinigami vs Yuiga & Drake Morimatsu, Yuiga Produce 10/30/2004 - FUN


A match that is, thankfully, centered around Yuiga vs Tarzan Goto. Yuiga is a Kurisu trainee so she is really tough, and she looks credible going all out to try and take down the big man. Goto of course delivers a hellish bloody beatdown. Shinigami doesn't drag down the match much, and Morimatsu is fine though she does little. The story of the match is Yuiga as she engages in a bloody battle with Goto. The barbedwire boards actually make this feel like a warzone rather than a standard deathmatch and Yuigas judo throws were great. Goto delivers his usual beatdown, nothing mindblowing if you have watched him a lot but it always delivers. A GREAT match from Yuigas standpoint and a FUN entry into Tarzan Gotos resume.

Tarzan Goto Documentation Project

Mutoha 7/7/2024

 Dekai Ichimotsu vs Super Crafter U

Great beginning as Super Crafter U immediately starting throwing really violent kicks at Ichimotsu. Ichimotsu is smaller and clearly does not have the same firepower as his shooter opponent, so he works the match in a strategic manner focussing all his effort on Crafters arm. Ichimotsus arm attack is really great, he may be at his very best now, as he knows how to twist an arm in so many ways, and the painfully bending the arm to force Crafters shoulders to the mat was fascinating to watch. I should say I love Ichimotsus enzuigiri to the elbow joint, and his elbow drop to the arm/shoulder always looks devastating. Crafter was always dangerous, though as he knows some spectacular submissions and counters, so even when Ichimotsu was controlling he was in danger. As such the match felt like a great battle of skill and a test of Ichimotsus persistance and Crafters pain tolerance. By the end Crafter was quite damaged and desperately tried to knock Ichimotsu out with a head kick. Very nice chess match with both guys displaying great skill. The only thing holding it back was the 10 minute time limit since this was the opening match of the show. Both guys looked great and I could see another match between them easily developing into a classic over 10 minute in length. A great little bout to open the show, however.

Masamune vs Takahiro Katori

This was a match I didn't quite know what to expect from since I wasn't sure how good Katori is on the ground. This ended up being very good though and very much a Katori-proving-himself story. Right away Masamune (who has a strong background in olympic wrestling) was taking down Katori, twirling him around and putting nasty stretches on the younger man. It's a good thing Katori is young and flexible or Masamune would have broken him, there was one hold where Masamune touched Katoris foot to his head. Katori handled himself pretty well, he was clearly trying to prove he belonged in Mutoha and while he has a bit to learn still he is on the right path. As the match was Rounds style it had a very clear structure, first round had very good ground work with some impressive holds and counters, and establishes the story of the match. The second round introduces more spark as Katoris leg seemed to be hurt and Masamune started bullying him, before the final round where both guys go for the kill and the tempers start to flare. As soon as Katori started limping Masamune was hellbent on ankle picking him and trying to break his leg. Katoris grounded Octopus Hold is very cool and Masamune countering his way out of it was great. I also liked Katori being prepared for Masamunes 619. This could have been a main event on another show, excellent stuff. Great Masamune performance who looked like a wrestlers wrestler and Katori looked like he belonged.

Taro Yamada vs Shoji Ono

I wasn't very familiar with Shoji Ono before watching this. But damn this may have made a Shoji Ono fan out of me. He had the vibe of classic tough scum brawler, like Hiro Saito maybe, which is really cool to see in 2024. Keep in mind, Yamada is a really great wrestler. The early goings are, of course, technical with Yamada tying Ono into crazy holds. Yamada really does things that nobody else does. He also did the classic Masanobu Fuchi leg stretch at one point which looked really painful. Ono was willing to wrestle, but he soon found himself outclassed and having to resort to sneaking in cheapshots against Yamada. It's a classic story. I really liked that Ono would do the headlock punches to Yamada and make sure to torn his back to the referee. Later, Ono would switch to open handed strikes. His big palm strike combo was one of the greatest I've ever seen in any wrestling match. It was outstanding. Like a classic scum brawler, Ono takes the match to the floor and kicks Yamadas ass, with Yamada taking a big bump on the stage. Back in the ring Yamada clocks Ono with this really great desperation headbutt. Great surprise finish, too. Really nice match that had a classic story and both guys showcased themselves at their best.

Yasushi Sato vs Takafumi Ito

Maybe the match from this card that I was looking forward to the most, and it was really good as I expected. Ito was really dominant here, reversing almost everything Sato tried into a shoot submission, really great Fujiwara-ish performance from him. He was not treating the old man gingerly at all. Sato trying to seize  every single opening and trying to pull off a flash pin the whole time was really great. Also, Sato was deathly afraid of Itos high kick, so that was a factor too. It's pretty amazing Sato is 58 years old and can still go like this for 20 minutes. He looked  little less tireless than usual, but he was facing a dangerous Pancrase fighter after all. My one complaint about the match is that it needed more Russian Leg Sweeps and Itos weird superkick didn't look good.

GENTARO vs Akira Jo

Another old school epic, every match on this card is delivering hard. They started with about 15 minutes of  unconventional, ultra-high resistance matwork similiar to GENTARO/Arai. It wasn't quite as amazing but still pretty great. Jo is a very competent grappler and GENTARO as always looks great pulling off crafty reversals and generally selling everything like the most important thing in his life. Then Jo hits his Arn Anderson spinebuster which GENTARO sells like absolute death and they move into a really good ending run with both guys slapping the taste out of each others mouth, some big suplexes, a hard move on the floor and the hardest fought most grueling backslide I've ever seen. The finish was so cool too. Awesome stuff, great groundwork and the last third was as hard fought and epic as any 70s big match.

Crusher Takahashi vs Kenichiro Arai

This card had it all. You had the shootstyle, the Inoki worship, the esoteric, and now there is a NWA style main event. What they did was not as elaborate as stuff we saw in previous matches, but they treated every hold, every reversal with the utmost importance. As such the bout had the feel of a chess match that slowly escalated into a battle of underhand moves. Arai of course is so crafty at pulling off dirty moves against an opponent. He must've raked Crushers eyes a dozen different ways in this match. Crusher was initially frustrated by Arais sneaky tactics and eventually starts roughing him up too. I loved all the painful wristbending Arai did, and his super swift drop toe hold was spectacular for such a basic move. Crusher is quite old now and he is not as fast and smooth as he used to be, but he still throws some of the greatest punches in wrestling. I loved the Spinning Toe Hold being treated like death and the chess match feel everytime someone slapped on a hold. A match where every move counted and both guys were just in the moment. I think there was only one bump in this +20 minute bout. What a way to end this great card, this honestly may have been one of the best Japanese wrestling shows I've ever seen, every match brought something unique and was great in its own way.

 

The Library

2024 MOTY List

Exploring Dekai Ichimotsu

 Dekai Ichimotsu & Yamato vs Die-56 & Reversal Sawa


4 crazy guys beating the living hell out of each other in a judo practise room somewhere. This ruled. I am guessing RAW is a group of MMA/martial arts guys deciding they want to do pro wrestling, so it's pretty much as legit as RINGS or any other shootstyle fed. Yamato and Reversal Sawa were pretty intense, these two came across like they hated each other and after watching them fight here I want to see all their meetings. Sawa has MMA gloves and he hits lots of wild swinging punches, while Jamato was not afraid to clock him with violent knees and open hands. Lots of nasty out of nowhere strikes throughout this, really had the feeling of a BattlARTS tag. The saves, attempted saves and countered saves were really great too, Dekai Ichimotsu was especially great there diving at people with wild jumping kicks and stomps. Die-56 I am guessing is a BJJ guy and he is a lot of fun here, he would hit people in the face and then dive underneath for a takedown when they would try to hit back. You could tell he didn't have GREAT striking but he was being a fucker tying people up on the ground and then pasting them in the face. Ichimotsu had some damn great legwork which unfortunately wasn't sold in a big way, still his reckless low dropkicks and knee drops were some of the best shit ever. There was this great bit where Sawa tried to use a judo belt on Jamato only for Jamato to wrap it around his head and start beating on him. Really fun bit of escalating violence. Also everybody was hitting crazy Inazuma kicks for some reason. All the slams, suplexes etc on the thin mat also felt crazy. Great stuff that felt like a good primer to this crazy world of underground shootstyle.

Dekai Ichimotsu vs Yamato

Another sick tatami match. Dekai comes in with this amazing sleazy shirt and shades, grabs the timekeeper for no reason, looking like the baddest shitstirrer on earth. This match was really stiff uncooperative and hatefilled so it was pretty great. Starts really good with both guys trading some hard open hand strikes and wild headbutts. Dekai proceeds to do some more sick leg work - his low dropkicks look like they would really fuck you up bad. Again it needed a bit more selling but it was rad to watch. I also really like all the stuff Dekai does with the Texas Cloverleaf. I also loved all the reckless jumping kicks. Jamato looked like a psycho and the finishing run had some more sick headbutts and crazy tatami bumps. It's a wild world out there.

Dekai Ichimotsu vs GENTARO 4/15/2018

Tremendous match that totally lives up to its promise and more. We all know GENTARO is a grappling master and super game to have the best match possible with anyone he faces, and he does treat Dekai Ichimotsu like a guy on his level, and Ichimotsu totally steps up and looks like he belongs. Lots of great matwork here, I really liked the early feeling out, which felt rather unpredictable as both guys seemed to be trying to avoid getting caught which is always nice to see. They stick to old school type grappling though some out of the box moves from Ichimotsu happen, such as holding onto a cravate and spinning forward to try and snap GENTAROs neck. Eventually Ichimotsu got ahold of Gentaros legs, kicking off some really great leg destruction spots. Ichimotsu may be one of the best guys I've ever seen at attacking someones legs, both his basic as well as unorthodox stuff is great. The match wasn't all matwork as the action spills to the outside and these parts add to the match too, first time an overzealous Ichimotsu takes out GENTARO with a totally unexpectedly spectacular dive and throws a chair at him, second time has both guys trying to disable each other on the floor which was also great. The second half had a bunch of amazing counters and tons of fantastic struggle including some great stuff built around a Sharpshooter and an awesome duel of surfboard holds which is not something you see in many matches these days. Ichimotsus struggle was awesome and the finish was one of the best I've ever seen, talk about a guy resisting his doom with all his might only for a crafty twist to happen. Great match that proves Ichimotsu as one of the best wrestlers around, pro or otherwise.

Best of the Velocity Matches #5

Mark Henry vs Albert, 8/27/2002

This is allllll about Mark Henry and how good he is at this point. He has the awesome strength spots and big athleticism - okay nothing new. He press slams Albert which looks totally awesome, he hits his awesome leaping butt attack through the ropes, and he sells the fuck out of an Albert big boot just flinging himself over the top rope. When a knee from Albert lands slightly awkwardly Henry makes sure to sell his eye. Albert does some nice brief work on the back and Henry makes a really fired up comeback. People were loving Henry, that's for sure. Nice build to the finish too to top of a very good 4 minute big boy TV sprint.

Jamie Noble vs Funaki, 8/27/2002

It's so interesting to see these guy work a condensed junior epic with title match nearfalls in a 5 minute span. Noble is the workrate god of the early days of Velocity, and Funaki can still do some nifty things. They breathlessly run through their stuff to get to the nearfall portion, but it's all fun. Funaki has a slick inside cradle and some more cool pin attempts and reversals. He gets absolutely SPIKED with a nasty reverse piledriver thing from Noble (why the hell did Funaki agree to that?) and hits about the most awesome Tornado DDT you've ever seen this side of Super Delfin for a massive nearfall. Did Funaki even have a finisher at this point? Nice stuff anyways.


Albert vs Billy Kidman, 9/3/2002

I love that Velocity is basically a weekly competition on who can deliver the perfect 5 minute TV match. This was pretty close to a perfect big vs little match. Man Albert can't ever get a win, he can't even beat KIDMAN, but he is so over and the crowd are loud before the match even begins. I really like that he is doing his own thing instead of just being a distaff Vader or generic big guy. The backbreakers variations, vicious knees etc are all really good. Because he's facing Kidman he can really make his shit look good in this match. Kidman is perfectly good here and the way he pulls out the victory is awesome. The crowd flipping out when he gets the 3 is awesome too. It's a meaningless Velocity match but they loved that like he just won the Royal Rumble. 2002 was something else.

John Cena vs Chavo Guerrero, 9/3/2002

It's rookie John Cena! Pre-jorts and everything. The WWE version of black young lion trunks just being oddly coloured shorts is pretty fun. Chavo is great here. He works some fun straight wrestling with Cena, and then he does a fun job stomping his leg and stretching him. Cool submissions, nasty face wash, he was probably high on Shinjiro Otani at the time. Cena sells the fuck out of that leg and he gets a nice comeback and the finish is very nice too. This lasted 7 minutes and while it had less nearfalls than other Velocity matches the build made it feel bigger.

D-Von Dudley vs Shannon Moore, 9/10/2002

I continue to oddly enjoy Reverend D-Von Dudley. He makes for a very good clobbering heel against a blowjob face, and he is willing to bump his ass off. Moore is really fast, hits all of his fancy flying stuff clean, and he has really nice snap on something like a basic back elbow which is something I can't say about many highflying type guys these days. D-Von has a great cut off where he really nails Moore in mid-air with a big clothesline, and he even takes a missed diving headbutt in an awesome nearfall. His finisher looked great, too.

Tajiri & Jamie Noble vs Crash Holly & The Hurricane, 9/10/2002

Well if these aren't a bunch of b-show GODS!! And they work a really nice, breathless 6 and a half minute match. Complete with character work, multiple cutoff spots, and several nearfalls. Really amazing when you think about it. They never slow down, Tajiri and Nobles heel team work is really cool, The Hurricane amuses me, and Crash Holly is really fun too selling FIP and getting a bloody mouth from bumping into the steps hard. All the switches and reversals at the end were catching without ever being too cute. I didn't know Crash was even around in 2002 but this was his first of several Velocity matches and I look forward to seeing more.
 

2024 MOTYC List #2

 
Kazushi Sakuraba vs Daisuke Sekimoto, NOAH 2/15/2014

Terrific match. Very Fujiwaraish performance from Sakuraba doing lots of really great submission entries and counters on Sekimoto. Sekimoto is really effective as a simpleton powerhouse here, he makes a great foil for Saku as his style is basic enough to make Sakuraba look spectacular, but also because of his freakish strength you buy that Sekimoto could just squeeze Sakuraba to death if he simply gets his arms around him.  A few really smart spots here. Sakuraba dropping a nasty knee on Sekimotos face, as well as deciding to later work him over with knees to the body and low kicks was unexpected. Also, because Sakuraba is so frail whenever Sekimoto actually starts doing damage it looks like he's just killing him.


Kazushi Sakuraba & Ulka Sasaki vs Hikaru Sato & Shuhei Taniguchi, NOAH 5/4

I'm liking this old man shooter division. Sakuraba is 54 years old now, but he is still pretty amazing on the mat. Ulka is an ex UFC guy and he shows promise. I thought Shuhei Taniguchi was pretty great here as outmatched but still dangerous old guy and if he wrestles like this more often I'd like to see more of him. Initially Sakuraba was tooling him by reversing Taniguchis greco roman style with his own unorthodox submissions. Just when Taniguchi seemed to not get anywhere, he threw Saku with a big head and arm throw and locked in a Honda-esque choke hold. He then dropped Sasaki with a nasty STO and tried to smash his head with an out of nowhere soccer kick. Sasaki and Hikaru Sato also had an awesome mat exchange. Taniguchi getting heated with Sakuraba and going for suplexes and more out of nowhere headkicks was pretty great. Finish was sudden but also pretty spectacular.


Outsider Negishi vs Dekai Ichimotsu, Health Pro Wrestling 4/14

Great little match. Negishi is gray and old and kind of gangly and Ichimotsu is rocking the wrestling shoes black t-shirt and slicked back hair like a sleazy Osamu Kido. Almost all on the mat. After some cool opening grappling with both guys displaying cool indian deathlock entries, Negishi starts going for the leg. Negishi has a kind of frail old man vibe but he is fun yanking at Ichimotsus leg. Ichimotsu was pretty great selling the legwork and making comeback attempts by going after the arm. Highlights include some great work around a body slam, and Ichimotsus leg giving out when he attempted his finisher.

Bryan Danielson vs. Blue Panther, CMLL 4/5/24

Thankfully Arena Mexico saved this match from being another boring dream match by booing Danielson and rallying behind Panther. Danielson was clever enough to lean into it and Panther was pretty damn awesome here. Opening grappling wasn't anything mindblowing but it's fun to see Danielson go at it with a genuine maestro. I actually thought they could have done a little more on the mat, tho Bryan going into scarecrow position and twisting Panthers head was cool. Panther then taking all this stiff offense and a big dive and suplex on the floor was pretty sick. Initially I liked Danielson selling his leg being damaged by Panthers Tapatia, but him just popping up to hit a dropkick pissed me off a little. Panther desperately avoiding the submission was great and so much better than the usual reversal fest. He also took another big bump off the top, why is this 63 year old man taking all the huge bumps in the match?? Danielson retaliating to the flubbed submission with head stomps was great and probably the best moment of the match. I'm not sure why Panther was the first one to get up after Danielsons 2nd dive and simply hit a dive on his own. The running knee in the ring was a bit lost on me. I get that Danielson was trying to lean into his arrogant outsider act by smiling and not following up, but it still took me out of it a bit before they followed with the cheap finish. Tho Panthers super fast armbar was awesome. Good to very good match with a very impressive performance by Panther overall.

Kazuhiro Tamura vs Akira Jo, HEAT UP 4/7

Very good big match I thought. Jo has roots tracing to IGF, but he has turned into a complete sleazeball now. He really has the vibe that he is a capable wrestler, as evidenced by him doing some grappling and throwing Tamura with a really nice belly to belly early on, but he would rather rake eyes and be a scumbag than continue on that path. The main reason I liked this was a) the selling throughout was very good, and b) they mixed in a lot of cool stuff to keep my attention. Highlights include Jos amazing Rikishi bump that was really well timed, as well as some choice counters that they mixed in. Tamuras armwork was really good throughout the match, lots of nasty kicks to Jos shoulder, and the selling was good. Both guys end up taking big bumps that are important in the scheme of the match. They also ended the match on just the right note with one of the nastiest finishes I've seen in a while. They lose some points because the early goings were noticably lacking fire and engagement from both guys when it comes to their body language, as well as Kazuhiro Tamuras tendency to do moves like a shitty NJPW main eventer instead of embracing his U-File origins. That said, I was positively surprised by this.

 

2024 MOTY Master List

FU*CK Cool Pro Wrestling 1/2/2008

 Hideki Shioda & Lingerie Muto vs. Chief Shinigami & Konaka

This Chief Shinigami is NOT the Shinigami from Wrestle Yume Factory. This guy is some tubby pasty dude doing some kind of native american gimmick. It’s horribly poor taste, so just right for FIGHTING ULTIMATE CRAZY KINGS. Konaka is wearing a striped sweater and dungarees along with his usual facepaint. I think it may be a reference to a horror movie or something but its a very cool look. Chief Shinigami is a menace too immediately thwarting all attempts at wrestling by hitting guys with foreign objects. After like 30 seconds of in ring action they start brawling in the street. Really taking their time to explore this quiet Japanese neighbourhood to the fullest. Konaka almost gets thrown into a ravine. Sawa hits a Mutoh style elbow on the concrete. Konaka at one point vomits some green slime on the street. Then they find some dog poop in the street and try to shove someones face in it. They find what looks like a shrine with a Torii. They pray at the shrine. Then they brawl at the shrine. After deserating a holy site they move on to fighting on a playground. There’s piledrivers and backdrop suplexes and shining wizards on the sand. A slide is used. They move further on to brawling in the middle of a busy street with cars going by. Some ladies are waiting with their bikes, and Sawa goes and snatches a bike riding it away. Imagine just waiting for the bus or something and then a cross dressing wrestler with a bald cap shows up, takes your bike and rides it away. After getting off he kicks at one of the ladies too. The match ends when Sawa puts a figure 4 on Konaka (again, on the concrete) and Konaka reverses it. A fitting crafty technical ending to this fine opening match.

Shoichi Uchida & Takaku Fuke vs. Hideaki Sumi & Mexican 69

Mexican 69 is a fat guy in a mask. He’s a typical FU*CK style wrestler, meaning he tries to wrestle but the outcome just comes out as bizarre. It’s really its own genre of surreality. Sumi is great, he is a crazy karateka who wrestles like a modern day Masashi Aoyagi, and he does have some actually nice shooty exchanges with Fuke here. Uchida is also a good wrestler but saddled working opposite Mexican 69. At one point some women in the crowd  broke into a weird choir-like singing, so I guess they were in on it too. Then the wrestlers go for a stroll in the street again with Sumi and Fuke trading chest kicks and locking in shoot holds in the neighbourhood. At one point Uchida rides past them on a scooter, having Mexican69 on his back. I would take major TV stations hostage and broadcast this stuff to the masses if I could. The fight moves in front of the Torii shrine from the previous match, but Sumi and 69 will have none of it and they quietly walk back to the ring. There is probably some subtext there about the fans excitedly following the wrestlers outside and then having to walk awkwardly all the way back next to the elderly Pancrase legend Takaku Fuke. The match ends rather unceremoniously as Uchida tries and fails to wrestle Mexican 69.

Killer Master vs. Magnitude Kishiwada

Killer Master for some reason is dressed looking a lot like Badboy Hido. This match goes as such: Master touches Kishiwada, and immediately is thrown outside and eating stiff chairshots. Kishiwada then walks Master outside to the street, to the site of the Torii. There he chops Master some, puts on an abdominal stretch, throws him into a wire fence, and then walks him back to the ring. Wrestlers are like kittens – when you grab their scruff they are just paralyzed and have to go along with whatever you want to do. Anytime Master tries anything he gets waffled by Kishiwada in a way that indicates Kishiwada has little regard for his opponent. Back in the ring Master is eating more stiff offense from Kishiwada. Kishiwada puts a Figure 4 on Killer Master and Master gets a megapop from the 12 or so people watching when he actually reverses it. Master gets a brief comeback but quickly he gets blasted by a nasty lariat to his face, and then goes down to a basic back senton.

Hideki Shioda & Killer Master & Takaku Fuke vs. JAIL & Konaka &Magnitude Kishiwada

Kishiwada works the mic some, which I guess prompts this match. Konaka is still in the sweater and dungarees. They brawl briefly to start, before the Konaka/JAIL/Kishiwada trio quickly start isolating Killer Master. JAIL actually has a cool look wearing a mask and striped convict outfit. He also seems competent. Master actually gets some offense in but he flubs nearly everything he tries. Once again he takes some nasty hits from Kishiwada. And Konaka looks like a mighty competent wrestler too. He locks in a series of cool submissions on Master and a triangle choke gets the tap. Yes, Master lost the match before he could even make a tag. Things work differently in FU*CK.

Hideaki Sumi & Mexican 69 vs. Hideki Shioda & Munenori Sawa

Sumi and Sawa speed tagging each other was great, I’d love to see a singles match between them. Then they tagged the other 2 guys in and things got weird again. 69 did that weird comedy move where he super slowly rolled over his opponent. It seems that Shioda wants to try, even hitting some snug strikes and a nice spin kick which exaggerates the subsequent weirdness of the exchanges even more. Sawa and Sumi do another cool 30 second exchange. Then Sawa gets isolated, doesn’t even make the hot tag, just comes back and wins really quickly. The match last like 5 minutes. Baffling.

The Library

Mutoha worth seeing

 Yasushi Sato vs Taro Yamada, Mutoha 4/21/2018

It’s another amazing match between two of the best Japanese workers of the 21^st century. I say that without hesitation at this point, both these guys just keep proving themselves. This had the rule that there would be no rope breaks which is an interesting touch, especially since they were wrestling in a tiny ring in some little cafe. They ended up not using the rule as much as I expected but there were some interesting moments throughout where they used the ropes to entangle each other, and one particularily gnarly moment where Yamada tried to stretch Yatos ankle in the corner only for some gritty leg stomping to ensue. If you are familiar with these two you will not be shocked to hear that them match had a ton of really good matwork. In this match Yamada was a force, tying up Sato with his crazy llaves. Notice that there was pretty much no capture and release stuff from Yamada. He really is one of the best guys doing this style, ever. In the end Sato resorted to try and catch Yamada with his leg grapevine moves. He really is Honda-ish the way he does that stuff, attaching himself to his opponent and angling his leg to either drive him into the mat really hard or hit a swift take down and turn it into a crazy submission. Even if Yamada would block the Russian Legsweep, Sato might shift the momentum and roll him into a different move. It’s such an interesting game Yasushi Sato plays. However the breaking point in the match was when Yamada decided to clock Sato with a gritty headbutt. That turned the match from an intense chess match into an intense bar fight as Sato decided to bitchslap Yamada and they traded sickening headbutts like a FUTEN match. I loved the increased sense of violence as Sato would lock in a leg grapevine and then start elbowing Yamadas kidneys to set up another leg grapevine move, and another Russian Legsweep attempt that lead to more sick headbutts. He also had some great suplexes, there is no way a 52 year old man should be able to have this much energy but here we are. Yamada also had this amazing leg submission to counter Satos continued legsweep attack and I loved his continued attempts to snap Satos leg in unconventional ways. This was really really nice wrestling for the first 15 minutes or so – these guys are a trip to watch when they just grapple and hit the mat then in the last 3^rd or so they really kicked it up a notch. Sick violence, some brilliant submissions and counters and nifty strategic aspects at work it’s just a great match. Mutoha keeps delivering the gems.

Yasushi Sato vs Hiroshi Watanabe, Mutoha 9/22/2015

Terrific maestros match. Mutoha at it’s best. Both these two are amazing grapplers, but they also did an incredible job working with the Rounds stipulation. Tons of great matwork, with both guys really cinching their holds in such a way that you expect an arm or leg to snap if the guy in the hold made the wrong movement. There was this one bit where they did a shootstyle leglock exchange that slowly turned into a Figure 4 that was absolutely masterful. As always I really enjoyed Satos unique style of tying his opponent up in unique ways and hitting cool Russian Leg Sweeps and suplexes out of nowhere. Watanabes flexibility and old school moves were great as usual. The guy may be the best on earth at doing that kind of throwback style in a post-Osamu Nishimura world. I thought Watanabe might be outclassed by Satos more impactful style at first, but he made a good comeback by grabbing Sato and shooting  him up hard for an awesome out of nowhere backbreaker. Each round was great and the finale with Watanabe desperately trying to resist another deadly Russian Legsweep was pro wrestling at it’s finest. Really great match, probably the best of the year to be honest, both guys showed tremendous skill and crafted a really compelling, unique match.

Hiroshi Watanabe vs Hideo Toda, Mutoha/Mumeijuku 7/12/2009

Very interesting style clash. Hideo Toda is a CAPTURE-trained shooter and he doesn't try to wrestle Watanabes style at all, he will go for the kill with brutal kicks and suplexes. Just getting to see a fighter as obscure as Hideo Toda in itself is amazing. Toda also has quite the size advantage. Watanabe combating him is really interesting to watch and Watanabe does a stellar job trying to solve the problem before Toda turns his lights out. It remdinded me of similiar Osamu Nishimura vs shooter matches. Toda was vicious and most importantly he did not hold back at all, Watanabe had some brilliant counters, totally staying true to his 70s technician act. Really good bout that was a bit different from the usual more technical Mutoha stuff.