Koji Kanemoto vs Yoshihito Sasaki-ZERO-1 10.10.2005.

Kanemoto is such a great prick invader, it's a joy to watch. He completely overwhelms Sasaki in what is a near squash match just blasting him with slaps, kicks and knees. Sasaki does a pretty great job of someone defiant yet outmatched, like when he reaches for *anything* while he's stuck inbetween the ropes and in his childish facial expressions. Kanemoto is just above everyone here, and doesn't really care about the ref or any of Sasaki's pals that consistently yell at him ringside. My favourite moment may have been when Sasaki hit his first hope spot, started celebrating and Kanemoto quickly and swiftly took him down and trapped him in an Ankle Lock. Kanemoto's (running) knee cut offs ruled and the match had a brutal finish of Kanemoto just face punching Sasaki's lights out in a full mount. ****

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Josh Barnett-U-STYLE 23.11.2005.

I really enjoyed the opening portion with them battling for positions and Barnett attempting a few cool leglocks but the match just went into another dimension once Tamura hit Barnett with a big counter knee. Barnett just unloads on Tamura here, hitting some of the most beautiful suplexes I have ever seen that combined a perfect combination of power and technique. The matwork is exactly what you'd want out of a big Tamura match, there isn't anything I find as beautiful in pro wrestling as Tamura's lightning quick seguences on the mat. Tamura's kicks provided a great means of feeding for Barnett's throws, and even something as nonsensical as them saying to hell with it and starting to kick away at each other with guards down managed to fit in, as just seconds later Barnett attempted a high kick which pointed to high fatal playing around in dick measuring contests could be. Finish was about as perfect as it could've been, as Tamura finally managed to counter Barnett's throws and lock in one final Jujigatame to seal the deal. ****1/2

Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara-AJPW 23.7.1987.

The body of the match lacked the focus for this to reach greatness, but it's definitely good enough to seek out if you dig this type of match. After the initial Tenryu-Hansen face off and big chop battle there isn't much memorable for a while-the action is good, there's some nice hoss potatoing, but it doesn't go further than that. Dibiase feels like a total utility player, just filling the role of Hansen's partner, which makes the finish that much more fitting, as Hansen is isolated and just nuked by Tenryu and Hara, and you see some signs of what would come from Tenryu later in his career when he hits a beautiful running head stomp. Hansen taking advantage off the chaos and managing to Lariat Tenryu who had just run over Dibiase felt like he'd barely escaped defeat, so it's understandable they wanted him to get some heat back, but it looked quite silly to have Tenryu and Hara running away from him just because he had a broom now. Oh well. ***1/4

Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy-AJPW 5.3.1988.

This match wasn't much, mostly because Terry Gordy's performance was god awful, Memphis TV undercard matches had more intensity than he did in this match. The structure was quite dull too, the foreigners pretty much took the entire match, and it just doesn't make for an interesting experience to see someone get cut off over and over and over again, especially knowing more shitty worked punches await. There were some nice moments of violence when Hansen would get it on, and Hara's comeback punches looked great (unlike his headbutts, which looked terrible, backyard level headbutting your own hand), Tenryu's role was kept to a minimum, he had a couple off stare offs with Hansen's and managed to Lariat him in a throat near the end, but he wasn't the focus off the match. Hansen going on one of his signature rampages at the end and destroying everything in sight is enough for me to call this above average but if you're itching for some 80s All Japan tag action there are better choices out there. **3/4

Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shinichi Nakano-AJPW 9.6.1987.

Quite an odd structure here-the match starts with awesome brawling, as Tenryu and Hara just beat the hell out of Nakano, and light Yatsu up goint toe to toe with him, but then that's broken up by a limbwork section that serves no purpose (from a narrative standpoint, you could argue its use in terms of pacing) and then the match turns into a spotfest. Still, the good prevails-Tenryu and Hara make everything they do vicious, Yatsu has some neat moves like the German Suplex and his cut-off Sliding Lariat was fantastic, and Nakano fired up well and made the crowd buy into him, together with Tenryu's selling and timing on the kick-outs late in the match. ***1/4

Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs Takashi Ishikawa & Hiroshi Wajima-AJPW 8.6.1987.

Neat neat neat! Exactly what I had hoped for-Tenryu-Wajima is the biggest match-up, and they smartly tease it, and while they do so Ishikawa carries the workload, not only does he bust out awesome chops and knees, he even makes the sloppy middle kicks seemingly everyone in 80s All Japan did look great. Hara is just so on point here too-really bringing the violence, his Headbutts looked vicious here, and his chops and Lariats are just on another level, he's like a whole smashing into something. Wajima is hardly a super worker, but the crowd buys into him and he has solid offence, that's enough to reach greatness when everyone else is so good. Loved how he and Tenryu provoked each other, how they played mind games by tagging out, when they finally got their hands on each other it was exactly as rough as gritty as you'd expect, they were getting into these awesome positions that are really hard to explain, something between sumo and wrestling, just getting into each other's face, it ruled so much. I also loved the sequence where Wajima just dared Tenryu to chop him and after he'd failed to cut him down Tenryu just sweeped his leg. ****

Jun Akiyama vs Takao Omori-AJPW 26.3.2000.

The infamous seven second match! But this being All Japan nothing is ever as simple as it may seem. Omori attacks Akiyama before the bell, which he actually evades, and hits a big knee knocking Omori down! He then goes for the Exploder, Omori evades it, does an awesome ref shove, blindsights Akiyama with an Axe Bomber and THEN the bell rings, and Omori hits a quick back of the head/regular Axe Bomber combo for the win. Hard to slap a rating on it, but it was an efficient and exciting way of getting someone over, and almost certainly the best executed one in such a short match.

Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama-AJPW 20.1.1997.

A fun little match, but one I can't really include on my ongoing list of best <5 minute matches, and the more I think about why that is I keep coming back to the finish. I mean-it wouldn't have mattered if the match was unbeliavably super great-but it was more just really solid classic All Japan stuff. They're really good at using the rope running the counter sequences, but that only goes so far in a match like this where you need something to instantly raise the stakes. Akiyama countering the Snake Eyes was a cool moment, as was the Chokeslam on the floor tease and Taue slapping Akiyama around, but overall it felt like they tried out too many ideas that they could've turned into a great match had they had the time All Japan matches usually do instead focusing on a little less and then getting the most out of that in the time they had. Maybe it's fine to have the recepient of a giant German Suplex running around shortly in longer matches, I think they could've dwelled on a spot like that a little bit more here. As it was, the match was on its way on being something I'd put on the lower end of the list, but Taue's ridiculous dizzy sell of Akiyama's knee was hard to buy into, him waving his hands manically just looked totally unconvincing as any type of a KO sell. ***

Hiromu Takahashi vs KUSHIDA-NJPW 9.4.2017.

I prefer this to their Wrestle Kingdom match, they took pretty much all the best spots from that match and organized them in a more clear and concise way. I appreciated KUSHIDA changing his strategy, it only makes sense after losing once already. His Swanton Plancha really came as a surprise, and his brief armwork was nice and violent. I loved how KUSHIDA ducked while standing at the apron expecting Takahashi to strike him to set up a big spot, only for Takahashi to throw himself into the Sunset Flip Powerbomb off the apron straight away. Takahashi nuking KUSHIDA with headdrops was fun, I wish matches like this that break the mold were more common everywhere.  ***1/4

Genichiro Tenryu vs Tatsuo Nakano-WAR 26.5.1996.

I was surprised to see how this match actually looked like, since I remembered it just as a couple of minutes of awesome striking. On a rewatch the almost five minutes were still awesome, but their content and what made it work quite different. It's true that there were strike exchanges-and they worked for the characters, Nakano is an undercard shoot wrestler overmatched by Tenryu, who uses sumo-style slapping shoves to corner Nakano time and time again. Nakano's only chances are in going for a submission and utilizing kicks-and even in such a short match they'll take their time in Tenryu recuperating from an Armbar and setting the pace for their next show-off instead of just going straight to it, it really makes a difference in how the crowd perceives the match and reacts to it. It's remarkable how much thought they put into the finish of a match like this-Tenryu goes for a Hiptoss, Nakano stops it by palm striking Tenryu's face off, and as he's about to get on top of him Tenryu kicks his leg out from the bottom, injuring it, and then quickly takes care of Nakano with a Half Crab. If you think about it Tenryu's matches vs UWFi guys really were basically Battlarts style. ***1/4

Akira Maeda vs Kiyoshi Tamura-UWF 25.10.1989.

This just might be the peak of wrestling bruality. As neat as punhes, chops, kicks, headbutts and so on can look, none of them really convey the sense of horror Maeda hitting Tamura with full force muy thai knees does. Tamura's desperate flurries ruled, but the best thing he did in the entire match was probably the down where he wasn't hit, but simply couldn't get up after getting a rope break. It is kind of insane to do this type of match, where a former yakuza beats up a young boy so bad he's out for a year, but it makes for an unmatchable spectacle of violence. ****

Minoru Suzuki vs Alexander Otsuka-NJPW 14.5.2005.

Gave this a rewatch, the opening amateur wrestling sequence was insane but the rest of the match didn't really live up to my memory of it being a possible best <5 minute match candidate. The intensity of Suzuki's offence unfortunately didn't match Otsuka's selling, it's not that it was bad or even mediocre but Otsuka was really going out of his way to make Suzuki look as good as humanly possible. Otsuka's German Suplexes during his brief comeback overshadowed Suzuki's knees and slaps, just beautiful technique on his part. The Bow And Arrow into a Sleeper was a badass transition, really something that you believe could catch a wrestler off guard and set up a finish. ***1/4

Owen Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid-WWF King Of The Ring 16.6.1994.

For an all action 4 minute workrate sprint it doesn't get much better than this. I love how violent they made the dives look, and Owen's bump of a countered irish whip was marvelous. Countered irish whips are one of the spots where I most commonly scratch my head and think about how contemplating the consistency of pro wrestling physics how I should be reacting to any match, but here Owen just blats that corner like a shotgun. The timing on the Northen Lights Suplex false finish was impeccable, Kid's offence was smooth and his kicks even surprisingly good and a spinning heel kick countered into a mid-air German Suplex is something that'd pop you watching 1998 All Japan, let alone a New Generation WWF match, such a brutal spot, and the counter Powerbomb wasn't far behind. ***3/4

Owen Hart vs Ken Shamrock-WWF Fully Loaded 26.7.1998.

A lovely match. The atmosphere of them fighting in such a tiny space really adds a lot, and the environment makes every move look more dangerous. A proper German Suplex looks cool enough in the ring but a thin mat that lets out a clear thud when you're thrown onto further enhances it. I don't really associate 1998 WWF with great mount punches, but we got them here, and bumps into the wall, the bar on the ceiling and the ceiling really got over the recklessness. The brief shooty sequences were well done, and I wasn't bothered by the finish, in fact I was shocked at how good they managed to make a ridiculous weapon shot look. ****

Jun Akiyama vs Hikaru Sato-AJPW 27.3.2017.

Akiyama was an amateur wrestler and we rarely see that side of him, here he and Sato basically decide to work a shoot style match, and it's neat. Akiyama uses his amawres base to control Sato and manages to constantly feed him various leglocks and armbars and then escape from them. Even Akiyama's regular offence like the Exploder and the Necklock get a more shooty vibe, as he deadlifts Sato in a Armlock counter for the former and grabs a standing one before sweeping Sato's foot for the latter. The crowd buys into submission nearfalls, they put over their peril and it works. I also got a kick out of Sato using a Seoi Otoshi to take down Akiyama, which is totally what an outpowered and outsized person would do in such a situation. ***1/4

NEW #1

 New Exciting Wresting presented its first show this month and I couldn't wait to see what it would look like, I'll jump at any opportunity to see any new shoot style or hybrid shoot style. My understanding is that this is more of Simon Inoki's project than Antonio's, and it's said they'll tour regularly, so let's see how they fared in the beginning.

 

1. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Shinya Aoki-NEW 5.4.2017.
2. Feng Chang Jian vs. Katsumi Oribe-NEW 5.4.2017.
3. Alexander Otsuka vs. Xuan Lin Dong-NEW 5.4.2017.
4. Masakatsu Funaki vs Mitsuyoshi Nakai-NEW 5.4.2017. 
5. Minowaman vs Minoru Tanaka-NEW 5.4.2017.
6. Josh Barnett vs Shinichi Suzukawa-NEW 5.4.2017.

Overall: A quite good debut show with everything except the Minoru Tanaka/Minowaman match worth seeing and a great match in Fujiwara/Aoki.

Masakatsu Funaki vs Mitsuyoshi Nakai-NEW 5.4.2017.

The opening was kinda dull, reminding me off the dull HARD HIt matches I'd give up on halfway through, just them exchanging weak middle kicks and some pointless matwork with no sense of urgency. Once they moved back on standing it got pretty good, as they started laying in shots, with Funaki's head kicks in particular reminding me of the kind of violence I really missed from this style, and the match was short enough that it more than made up for the pedestrian matwork. ***

Josh Barnett vs Shinichi Suzukawa-NEW 5.4.2017.

This was pretty good. The matwork wasn't anything special, it was more about the violence, Suzukawa would headbutt Barnett while mounting Barnett, kneeing him when he was in a side mount, Suzukawa would get Barnett in a Double Wristlock from the bottom and Barnett would escape by just pummeling him with body shots, it made it much more interesting than if it were them just rolling around.We also got some nice throws, whenever they'd stand and exchange shots the match ruled, and there were signs of a great match when they'd start shoving each other into the corner and desperately fire away, which felt like something out of WAR. They didn't just sit in submissions but audibly sold them, went for rope breaks and quick counters, the finish was brutal, although not having a single submission finish on the show is a pretty bad start to conditioning the crowd. ***1/4

Minowaman vs Minoru Tanaka-NEW 5.4.2017.

Junior shoot style! God this match was infuriating. On one hand they have a bunch of cool ideas that would make for badass GIFs. On the other hand this became a chore to watch. They come up with cool striking flurries, flashy counters and so on-but really suck at connecting them into something cohesive, milking drama and creating urgency. "Boring leglocks" is something that's thrown at shoot style a bunch as a critique of why it's not good, and most of the time people that say that have no idea what they're talking about, but it really applies here. Every time they'd grab a leglock they'd just kill the crowd, there was just no way that was finishing the match, and it didn't help that the way they worked the match was dumb, essentially they'd grab "clean" submissions a bunch of times and then either do rope breaks or counter them after five or so seconds, and when they would try to milk them they'd do a poor job of it, giving the crowd clues they were going to go for a rope break instead of selling it more dramatically and then doing a short burts that would result in an escape. Seek out GIFs of this if anyone's even interested in making those and avoid the match. **

Alexander Otsuka vs. Xuan Lin Dong-NEW 5.4.2017.

Lin looked very promising, he seems like a natural prick, kind of like a nu-Yoji Anjoh. I loved his dumb mannerisms after refusing a handshake, how he stomped Otsuka's foot to try and escape a standing armlock and his big sell of a German Suplex. The highlight of the match was probably Otsuka deciding to slap the taste out of Lin amidst a forearm smash exchange and the aforementioned German Suplex. The matwork was a little "bigger" as Otsuka would use Double Wristlocks to stretch Lin instead of just rolling around. ***

Feng Chang Jian vs. Katsumi Oribe-NEW 5.4.2017.

JIan is a guy from IGF's China Dojo, and I believe this is his first wrestling match. There wasn't much shooty in this match-it was more akin to a standard modern japanese wrestling match, with battles of shoulder blocks and forearm smashes, but it was pretty well done, the crowd bought into it, it looked nice and they kept the nonsense to a minimum. Oribe threw some nice kicks, there were too many pinfall attempts that served no purpose, and that's about it. **3/4

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Shinya Aoki-NEW 5.4.2017.

The first match in NEW history faces off a shoot style legend and one of the most notorious japanese MMA fighters of today. When you choose to work a mat-based shoot style match in a more conservative manner, with not many nearfalls and highspots, it's not uncommon to see it become uninteresting. These two absolutely nailed it. Aoki seems to intuitively *get* pro wrestling-their sequences just seamlessly flow. It is like a lucha title match, except wacky lucha holds are replaced with armbars and leglocks, and the use of realistic guard positions almost makes it like a high end jiu jitus exhibition. Almost-because the match retains a certain flair of catch wrestling you'd want a Fujiwara match to have, in that how they utilize their joints to put pressure on their opponents makes for a significant aspect of the match, but they also pull guard, block transitions, use ankle picks and so on, giving the match its own unique feel rather than just copying an old style. Fujiwara tones down the goofiness-there's no ramming his head against the pose or cracking jokes, but he can't help but fake a handshake and blast Aoki with some headbutts (which looked great, and way better than some he was doing 25-30 years ago, no holding his opponent's head with one hand, just a quick straight motion).  Not something I'd imagine people who aren't big on the style would be blown away with, but I doubt NEW is gonna for them anyway. ****

Kenta Kobashi & Junji Izumida vs Akebono & Takeshi Rikio-NOAH 22.1.2006.

A very good 20 minute match that could've been a great 10-15 minute match. Akebono is the focal point of the match-whenever he's in the ring the match is on track. The crowd is livid at the idea of him facing off with Kobashi, and the early sequences clash Kobashi's tenacity with Akebono's sheer size, and it ends up with Akebono running over Kobashi. Unfortunately the Akebono-less pairings deliver nothing for most of the match, you'd think Kobashi was Go Shiozaki by the reactions his offence was getting and his insistance on doing shitty downward chops. The action picks up once Rikio fires up, no-sells Kobashi's pedestrian offence and corners him with sumo palm strikes. From there on Akebono stops playing the invicible monster and embodies a more vulnerable, Vader-esque monster, peaking with Kobashi relentlessly chopping him down in the corner and getting both his payback and moral victory in the clash of the titans. Akebono's slaps and slams are brutal enough that he doesn't lose credibiltiy even if Izumida was beating him up moments beforehand, and him and Rikio come up with neat ways to sandwich their opponents and put their weight to use. A neat glimpse into an alternative universe where a  more mobile and better booked Akebono was a great wrestler. ***1/4

Tamon Honda vs Hayato Mashita-Fortune Dream 8.6.2014.

Apparently this Mashita guy worked Battlarts and Real Japan, it still doesn't ring a bell, I don't remember ever hearing about him. He's basically a poor man's Munenori Sawa here-nothing bad, but nothing especially good either-he throws some kicks and that's about it. Honda is still a joy to watch-the way he grinds a Headlock is a thing of beauty so watching this goof try to escape it over and over again and constantly failing was quite fun. Honda busts some of his signature submissions and pins, not many as the briefness of the match didn't allow him to. A fun and easy watch if you have four minutes to kill. ***

Gary Albright vs Tamon Honda-AJPW 12.9.1995.

Such a neat match. They're both former amateur wrestlers and that's what the match is focused on, you see a lot of mirror spots and one-upmanship. Mostly it's Albright throwing Honda around, since he's the bigger man, but Honda gets some stuff in too and the crowd goes wild when he does, and it's beliavable enough since he's a pretty big man himself and they didn't go all the way with it. Honda would try to German Supley Albright, but instead be forced to go for a takedown or switch it into another Suplex since it was just too ambitious. Albright's Suplexes (and offencein general) are beautiful, but it's really Honda who carries the match-milking the most out of submissions and giving everything urgency. The way he desperately fights off a Dragon Suplex and tries to roll out of the ring are reminiscent of the classic he had with Kobashi. There is some repetition, in that they go for Armbars a lot, and Honda relies on the Headbutt, but both of those are given satisfying pay-offs, akin to a long headlock in a Thesz match-there's something special about going "really, another Armbar? I think they're going overboard" and just as you're processing that thought Albright escapes the hold and punches Honda straight in the face. ***3/4

Jun Akiyama vs Muhammad YoneYone-NOAH 4.3.2007.

Yone attacks Akiyama at the bell, which looks way cooler than those segments usually do since a bunch of smoke comes out when Akiyama climbs on the entrance ramp and Yone takes advantage of that. The kicks he takes Akiyama down with looked clunky, which was the first sign I wasn't going to like this as much as I did however many years ago I'd watched it first. Akiyama's acting is top notch-he gets into Yone's face and goes straight after him, Yone instantly fired back with kicks, Akiyama barely registers it, then gets kicked in the face and has to, then gets serious and Exploders him off the apron. And that pattern continues-Akiyama mocks Yone when in control, tries to half ass it with the pop-ups when in danger but gets kicked in the head again. Eventually Yone hits some big moves, including a brutal head kick which busts Akiyama open. Akiyama manages to somehow kick Yone straight in the face to counter a Diving Legdrop, and from there on it's pure smashmouth as many slaps and knees set up Akiyama's victory. Definitely a quality sprint, but Akiyama seemed unwilling to put himself over as strongly as he should've for a match like this to reach its full potential. He always does *a lot* whereas someone like Kobashi or Takayama may not put as much thought/effort/whatever into facing lower ranked opponents but because of the greatness of their offence and how strongly they present themselves they still put on strong outings, maybe not as good as those Akiyama does, but they don't focus on them as much as he does either. ***1/2

Drew McIntyre vs Oney Lorcan-WWE NXT 5.4.2017.

I've had a long time fascination with short matches so I'm glad to see them become the hip thing these days. I'm not going to rank a match where someone does a backlfip for a thigh slap big boot as one of the absolute best in the genre, but this about as good as it gets for a four minute NXT TV match. McIntyre dominated nicely, his Belly to Belly Suplexes looked great. Lorcan's comeback attempts were really good, his European Uppercuts were on point and his slap attack was straight out of late 2000s/1early 2010s NOAH. A really neat showcase of how smartly utilizing struggle and violence can instantly raise the stakes of even the most throwaway matches and make more memorable. I can't really decide on a rating-my gut instinct says ***1/4. but this better than Lesnar/Goldberg at least from the perspective on not relying on smoke and mirrors so much and providing a more viable style. But the spectacle and the bullshit is also a part of what makes wrestling so lovely so. ***1/4-***1/2,***1/4+, whatever.

Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WWE 2.4.2017.

The match reminds me of the Ibushi-Perkins match from the CWC. It's the type of match that rules in the moment but is also not self sustainable in the long run. I think WWE has historically done a good job of not falling into that trap, although that's been changing in the last few years, whether it's Triple H's rise in power, the influx of indy guys, Cena watching PWG tapes, when the end result is basically 2009 Tyler Black matches happening as WWE main events something's broken. Now....obviously a pop-up after being hit with several suplexes is ridiculous. But did it ever work here. They constructed the perfect match in terms of their capabilities at this point. Every spot was memorable, every transition logical and complementing what they'd established in their previous matches (like Lesnar rolling out of the ring since defeat was imminent after being hit with the second spear). Lesnar's leapfrog was a stark reminder he was never so revered just for his strength but also his overall athleticism, it'd be nice if we got to see that side of him more often since that's usually when the matches are better too. A nice spectacle, but it doesn't hold a candle to something like Ikeda vs Ono for >5 minute matches. ***1/2

KENTA vs Ricky Marvin-NOAH 15.10.2009.

I'm pretty confident in calling this the greatest under two minute match of all time. I was wondering how some of these NOAH matches would hold up for me but this one absolutely did. The match start off with probably theg reatest blindsight dive of all time, you've seen the spot where one wrestler attacks the other before the match starts a thousand times, and a fair share of those have been junior dives, here KENTA is just normally walking around the ring and Marvin comes out of nowhere crushing him. His next move is getting KENTA back into the ring and John Woo Dropkicking KENTA. That's a move that looks badass by itself, but here KENTA's skull crashes into the bottom turnbuckle. Marvin follows it up with a Powerbomb for an early nearfall setting the insane pace. That is followed by KENTA's transition back into control, which has KENTA try a couple of counters that Marvin adjusts to-first by Savate Kicking him, and then when Marvin bounces off the ropes and you already see KENTA countering that with a Front Head Kick Marvin does this amazing Jackie Chan kip-up combo. I really have nothing against flips in wrestling nor anyone wrestling any style, my problem most of the type is simply that many wrestlers don't possess the creativity and wrestling intelligence that Marvin displayed here. You could also have a situation where Marvin would do five of those while his opponent did some other flips, but that doesn't really convey the sense of struggle in that flashy move it did here, where Marvin legitimately looked like a kung fu master. KENTA takes all of Marvin's shots and still comes back with a Discus Lariat. This could've bothered me, but with their difference in hierarchy and how the match was worked I deemed it fitting. From then on it's a game of cat and mouse with KENTA blasting Marvin with huge kicks and attempting the G2S while Marvin attempts desperate flash pins and counters. The second time he goes for the same counters KENTA is ready-and he catches him, counters his counters, knees him and kicks him in the head and goes over. Wonderful pro wrestling. ****

Daisuke Ikeda vs Takeshi Ono-FUTEN 26.9.2010.

Third time I've watched this match and it only gets better. Ono taking it to Ikeda with brutal punches rules, but there are a couple of other things I've picked up as well. Ikeda firing back with shoot headbutts ruled and there was a moment where Ikeda was just starring at Ono and Ono was desperately punching away at Ikeda trying to knock him down and in those few seconds in which they battled over whether Ikeda was going to headbutt Ono or not I realised I truly do enjoy life and professional wrestling. Ikeda did Headbutt Ono, symbolically showing there is no escaping some things in life. Like the god damn Ankle Lock counter to the kick I've seen a million times in Battlarts matches. But Ono bravely fought back and only got Ankle Locked later in the match with a different set-up. And holy shit that knee to the back of the head. There's a reason PRIDE didn't allow those things. Then you have Ikeda doing a flip senton and an elbow drop for no reason, this just might be the most FUTEN-ish match of them all, and it rules so much. ****

KENTA vs Takashi Sugiura-NOAH 13.11.2011.

A month before KENTA has beaten Sugiura in a grueling, thirty minute match to become the #1 contender for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. You can see that tensions are still high even before the match, as their postures and facial expressions tell you they're ready to duke it out, and boy do they ever. This match is kind of like the world's most awesome Pancrase sprint, as they just go out there and slap the hell out of each other, but they don't just exchange strikes by doing the "I strike you-you strike me" spot for two minutes before going to a finish, they bust out combinations, duck, block and counter. KENTA stops for a moment before the Go 2 Sleep, and it's uncertain whether KENTA was genuinely unbalanced, selling his knee which was tapped up or the lines blurred, but it's not even that important as the effect is the same. The finish plays up the urgency really well, as it's not something usually used as a finish, rather a swift adaption to the attacks and a more definitive method than insisting on finisher spamming and a war of attrition unfit for what they were going for here. All time great 2 minute sprint. ***3/4

Takashi Sugiura vs Kensuke Sasaki-NOAH 23.7.2011.

This is a lot closer to how many japanese matches are worked these days than the Kensuke matches I've recently reviewed, partly due to when it took place and partly due to who he was facing. There isn't a lot to it-there's a million strike exchanges which make up almost the entire match, Sasaki overwhelms Sugiura in the beginning, beat the shit out of him and Sugiura gradually comes back before the match finishes in total parity with a double KO. Lacking the other ingredients needed to reach greatness, but it's still fun two see two guys just shitbeat each other without any eye-rollingly dumb spots, and these two sure brough the violence, and also varied their striking combinations a lot, particularly as the match went on, and appropriately finished it off with shoot punches. It is telling of how poorly Sugiura protected his offence that winning a strike exchange got a significantly louder reaction than his Dragon Suplex. Kensuke using elbow strikes once a year and them then being sold like death brings me joy. The German Supex popping up in a 2011 match won't surprise anyone, but this match felt chaotic enough that it hardly mattered. There are probably inherent limitations in a match where you limit how much the input variables can matter, but this match isn't relevant enough to thoroughly analyse that. ***1/2

Kenta Kobashi vs Kensuke Sasaki-NOAH 18.7.2005.

Such an amazing spectacle, kinda like Hogan vs Warrior if they were both great wrestlers. I was surprised by how much I liked this, it left a much stronger impression on me than the first time I saw it. They're absolutely phenomenal at commanding the crowd, and everything from the lock-ups, the staredowns to them getting back in the ring feels like an iconic event. The chop battle is kinda like Maradona's goal vs England at the world cup, there have probably been many better, but the combination of time and place realy makes it more iconic than any other. The match is really held together by their selling that never allows the match to go from a battle of stupid male determination into sheer stupidity. Kensuke getting up from a Superplex got a huge reaction, but if he suplexed Kobashi outside the ring instead of eating a Half Nelson one straight away the quality of the match would've been much different. The chop battle perfectly encapsulates how they kept the crowd involve-they didn't just stand there and throws two hundred chops in a row, even if that's how you might remember it. They fired up, got in each other's face, pushed each other into the corner, channged the pace of the chop throwing and so on. In a way the pop-ups eliminate the nearfalls-there are a couple near the end, but nothing near the amount you might expect. Any match that captivates me so much is going to get a high rating, and I'm really struggling to come up with any valid criticisms of it. ****1/2

Kensuke Sasaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kota Ibushi vs Mitsuharu Misawa, Taiji Ishimori & Ricky Marvin-NOAH 25.10.2008.

A fun mess. Match starts out with Nakajima and Marvin, and while you may expect them to do some contrived junior sequences they instead proceed to just slap the taste out of each other's mouth, setting the pace and the heat for the match. And it's not like it was hard for them to sustain that-you get Ibushi pinballing for Misawa, Misawa and Kensuke slugging it out, Kensuke destroying juniors, all intriguing ideas that were executed well (I loved MIsawa saying fuck it mid-strike exchange with Kensuke and tagging out). Misawa is at his most Giant Baba-ish here, at the end of the match he can't even run halfway across the ring, but anyone other than Kensuke that gets close to him gets elbowkilled. Marvin and Nakajima were unfortunately the heat killers too, as Marvin tried to use more of his more juniorish offence in their next match-up and Nakajima didn't really know how to react. In an interesting turn of events Ibushi and Ishimori were the ones to get the heat back by doing even more junior stuff, but with fluidity and good execution. It being a six man tag also allows them to incorporate more complicated spots easier without ridiculous set-ups, like Marvin's ramp run and Ibushi's sudden Springboard to cut-off the double 619, you don't even notice that stuff when there's simulatenous action going on. ***1/2

Kensuke Sasaki vs Osamu Nishimura-NJPW 20.3.2001.

Most of the match is worked in Nishimura's style, lots of matwork and spots you're used to seeing in his matches like the neck bridge test of strength and so on, Sasaki mostly plays along and occasionally utilizes his strength to escape Nishimura's holds, which is the only thing setting it apart from the usual Nishimura sequences. The finish leans more towards Kensuke's style, as he takes the initiative and starts rocking Nishimura with bigger moves while Nishimura tries to avoid them and utilize his throwback techniques like Cobra Cluthes, the Octopus Stretch, Inoki's low kicks from the Ali fight and so on to fight back. Both guys are good at whey to but it felt like they needed a few more years of seasoning to really mesh in a way that could produce greatness. ***1/4

Kensuke Sasaki vs Yuji Nagata-NJPW 4.1.2004.

You don't see a brawling bloodbath in the Dome every day, a very intriguing match and definitely worth a watch. There is no wasted movement in the opening as they immediately fire at each other with slaps and forearms, but the match really picks up once they start bleeding. Sasaki catapulting Nagata into the ringpost with a Lariat to the neck ruled and the ringpost shots themselves were well done too. Face punching makes for good wrestling, Nagata's selling can often verge into silliness, but it was oddly fitting as he was selling dizziness from blood loss. Kensuke not even going for covers and just nuking Nagata with Lariats and repteadly punching him ruled, and provided a nice alternative to Nagata kicking out of a million moves. Nagata's flash High Kick was the perfect transition into the finish, you could totally buy Kensuke getting careless and not sensing an inch of threat from Nagata, and he followed it up with a nice flurry to seal the deal. I could see the finish bothering many but I like it, too many times you see guys just laying in holds before letting them go or providing an unsatisfying transition out of it, if there was ever a time for a match to end by two minutes of a Nagata Lock IV it was after he kicked someone with significant blood loss in the head five times. ****

Shinya Hashimoto vs Kensuke Sasaki-NJPW 4.1.1995.

Very well structured and built heavyweight battle with plenty of struggle and smart teases of big moves. Hashimoto's transitions were really great, there was a sequence where Kensuke started chopping him and advancing forward and Hashimoto just cut him off with a Kesagiri and it looked like he'd beheaded him and another one where Kensuke went to Lariat him and he just punched him in the arm. The aforementioned punch started the armwork which didn't last long, there was not enough of it for it to make Kensuke's normal use of his strikes and throws intolerable but just enough of it so they could call back to it when he went for his wacky Strangle Holds. Could've done without the pop-up after the DDT but the context it was done in made it more bearable. Exciting finish with some swell nearfalls. ***1/2

Shinya Hashimoto vs Kensuke Sasaki-NJPW 9.4.2001.

I remember hearing about this match, I think I read an old article from SSS Stuart which depicted it as a disaster and shit on the booking and the Inokiism in it. Luckily I'm way too into absurdism to care about who wins in pro wrestling (especially in a fifteen year old match) and the way it was described really made me want to see it. Honestly this might be the best Hashimoto-Kensuke Sasaki match. I'm not sure how many matches they've had against each other but of the top off my head I can think of a Hash IWGP Title defence vs. Power Warrior, one in the Dome and a G1 match and I would have this one above all of them. It's billed as a "no rules deathmatch", that doesn't mean you're going to get garbage spots and heavily gimmicked stuff, just more punches to the face and also a very clever submission spot built around the stipulation. Hashimoto comes out wearing boxing gloves and man do these two beat on one another, they throw a lot of nasty shots in close range and while clinching before the match evolves into ridiculous bomb throwing. I could see the uniqueness of the pacing and (somewhat of) the finish throwing some folks off but I really appreciated them. It's esentially a proto-Futen match. ****

Kensuke Sasaki vs Genichiro Tenryu-NJPW 15.8.2004.

The world's strongest 54 year old man clashes with a "Muscle Volcano" in one of my favourite sprints. It's funny, I mainly remembered the match for them busting out a bunch of junior offence, and on a rewatch that ruled too, but I also noticed other things that made the match as badass as it is. Tenryu's facial expressions when Kensuke corners him and starts pounding on him are a thing of beauty and really remind you this man is old enough to be a grandparent, particularly how he'd act like he was out of breath after being Lariated on the neck. Kensuke winding up for a Lariat and then eating a punch just as he was about to execute it ruled and the counter flash finish was great and caught me off guard yet again, and as great as Tenryu is that kind of quick counter really feels like the onyl way he could beat Kensuke at this point. Hectically kicking the air while being pinned can look silly but it was absolutely fitting here. Bonus points for Tenryu continuing to sell after the match. ***3/4

Kensuke Sasaki vs Leatherface-IWA Japan 31.8.2004.

IWA Japan has to be the best promotion no one ever talks about, the magnitude of the bizarness of the matches they would book cannot be put into words. Here they book Kensuke Sasaki against some weird cosplayer, maybe Leatherface was the Abyss of IWA Japan. Kensuke comes out wearing a shovel because, hey, it's IWA Japan! He then proceeds to hit his stuff and go over in three minutes. I like Kensuke's offence a lot and will gladly watch him beat up a backyarder with funding. Leatherface will tell his grandchildren about the time he hit a neckbreaker on Kensuke Sasaki. **3/4

Kensuke Sasaki vs Katsuyori Shibata-Big Mouth Loud 2.7.2006.

A good match, but unfortunately not much more than that. They couldn't find a fitting format the channel the violence-I don't mind that the much was based on so many strike exchanges, it's that they really didn't have an idea on what it would be. Shibata attacked Kensuke at the bell, but the match lacked the urgency of an all out hate filled shorter brawl. There were probably instances in the strike exchanges where they sold too much-or, to be more accurate, randomly sold after an x amount of moves instead of building a striking exchange and then delivering a final strike that would differentiate from the previous ones and register with the viewer as something that would knock them down. It's not like that's the only way to go-one type of strike hit for the seventh time finally knocking them down could work too, but the point is to build the repetition, or the peril of the strike, or SOMETHING, and they didn't. It's a good match to watch if you have 1~15 minutes to kill and just want to see some nice violence, Kensuke really knows how to put weight into his strikes, watching him and someone today throw a chop is like night and day, and it's not just the chops, his Lariats are amazing and he'll just clob people in the neck and the back or side of the head. I appreciate that in the strike exchanges they didn't just spam one strike all the time but would constantly change things up until something worked. Props to Shibata for kicking away manically when Kensuke got him up for the Northern Lights Bomb, most wrestlers just doing nothing when they're picked up in the mair makes that an especially resonating image, though I can't fathom why it's not used more often, such a simple way to build drama and suspense. Kensuke bumping for Shibata's mocking stomps/punts was silly.  ***1/4

All Things Kazunari Murakami

Kazunari Murakami is one of my absolute favourite wrestlers. His ability to portray a barely interested, mildly disgusted yakuza loan shark that somehow ended up pro wrestling is second to none. He likes to punch people in the face and stomp their head in and I like to watch it. I hope you enjoy it too. He specializes in (shooty) brawls and I his understanding of using negative space is such that I could watch him walk around and yell at people for half an hour.

Classic

Great
Kazunari Murakami & Enson Inoue vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka-Big Mouth Loud 26.2.2006.
Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Minoru Suzuki vs Kazunari Murakami & Kensuke Sasaki-Big Mouth Loud 19.4.2006.
Kazunari Murakami & Minoru Suzuki vs Suguru Miyatake & Yoshihiro Takayama-Tokyo Gurentai 1.12.2015.

Very Good
Kazunari Murakami vs Yuji Nagata-NJPW 4.1.2006.
Kazunari Murakami vs Kensuke Sasaki-Big Mouth Loud 22.3.2006.

Good
Kazunari Murakami vs Hiroshi Tanahashi-NJPW 28.10.2001.
Kazunari Murakami & Zeus vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Super Tiger II-Alexander Otsuka Produce 28.10.2015.
Kazunari Murakami & Tomohiko Hashimoto vs Hideki Suzuki & Yuji Hino-Tokyo Gurentai 4.4.2016.

Mediocre/Skippable

All Things Naoya Ogawa

Naoya Ogawa is someone who often gets a bad rep due as traditional western jwres fandom wisom says he isn't good at wrestling because he's a shotoer and also he's a terrible person who ruined New Japan's business by beating up Hashimoto for real but that's enough about him let's talk about how great Tanahashi's abs are. Now, since Judo plays a much bigger role in my life than collecting tapes of foreigners who worked AJPW tours in 1984 does, I have a little different perspective. I also like shoot style (and its various hybrid and bastard children) a lot-it's my favourite prowres style basically. Ogawa's matches really aren't some hardcore shoot style exhibitions you need to have grappled for tens of hours to appreciate, they're big, wonderful spectacles with plenty of melodrama, seasoned with the shootiness that only makes sense for a man of his skill to bring.


Classic

Great

Very Good

Good

Mediocre/Skippable

Kazuyuki Fujita vs Kensuke Sasaki-NJPW 9.10.2004.

The promo video for the match is great-they show Kensuke playing with his sons, and him and Hokuto talk about his role in the family, Fujita as a pro wrestler/MMA fighter, being a monster champion, the risks of facing him and so on. The match lasts for only two and a half minutes, as Fujita pins himself in a sleeper to lose the belt. They exchanged some nice shots while the match lasted but the angle itself is so much more fascinating. Kensuke is pissed, not happy he won that way whatsoever, as Fujita seemingly threw the match. That is more of a result of all the backsta politicking that was taking place at the time than a result of some geniously planned angle, but it does make one wonder how something like that could be used for storyline purposes. Divorced from all the emotion and rage fans at the time experienced my observation was that it was fun and unique, though obviously not a good business model. ***

Kazuyuki Fujita vs Toshiaki Kawada-NJPW 14.8.2005.

Neat match. My only complaint would be that some of Kawada's transitions were a little predictable, I'm a giant Choshu supporter so the headlock>backdrop spot isn't something that bothers me, but the way it was done here with Fujita grabbing a headlock after hitting two big knees was nonsensical, and it can be pretty clear he's going to kick an opponent that's bouncing off the ropes. The violence is what makes this-even the dreaded elbow exchanges work, as you have Fujita push Kawada into the corner and then Kawada fight back and both guys try to win the damn battle instead of just standing there and exchanging strikes with five second pauses. Kawada's last hooray where he just went off and punched Fujita in the face before being put away ruled, as did his sell in the post-match where he made it look like he didn't know where he was, and the awesome Guillotine Choke sequence perfectly showcases all the possibilities of naturally intertwining moves without making them lose credibility, even if they are escaped/countered. ***3/4

All Things Kensuke Sasaki

Kensuke Sasaki is a wrestler every second japanese heavyweight outside of New Japan tries to wrestle as but no one is as good as he was, as they've copied the long chop exchanges but not what made them work and also the million other badass, unique things Kensuke like just club people straight in the neck and one handed powerbombs. He is somewhat remembered these days, as the places he worked aren't something that often gets focused on (ie. 90s-early 2000s New Japan, mid 2000s All Japan, late 2000s NOAH). As I'm quite fond of his work I'll try to put some shine on him.

Classic
Kensuke Sasaki vs Naoya Ogawa-NJPW 4.1.2002.
Kenta Kobashi vs Kensuke Sasaki-NOAH 18.7.2005.

Great
Shinya Hashimoto vs Kensuke Sasaki-NJPW 9.4.2001.
Kensuke Sasaki vs Yuji Nagata-NJPW 4.1.2004.
Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Minoru Suzuki vs Kazunari Murakami & Kensuke Sasaki-Big Mouth Loud 19.4.2006.

Very Good
Shinya Hashimoto vs Kensuke Sasaki-NJPW 4.1.1995.
Kazuyuki Fujita vs Kensuke Sasaki-NJPW 8.10.2001.
Kensuke Sasaki vs Genichiro Tenryu-NJPW 15.8.2004.
Kazunari Murakami vs Kensuke Sasaki-Big Mouth Loud 22.3.2006.
Kensuke Sasaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kota Ibushi vs Mitsuharu Misawa, Taiji Ishimori & Ricky Marvin-NOAH 25.10.2008. 
Takashi Sugiura vs Kensuke Sasaki-NOAH 23.7.2011.

Good
Kensuke Sasaki vs Osamu Nishimura-NJPW 20.3.2001.
Kensuke Sasaki vs Leatherface-IWA Japan 31.8.2004.
Kazuyuki Fujita vs Kensuke Sasaki-NJPW 9.10.2004.
Kensuke Sasaki vs Katsuyori Shibata-Big Mouth Loud 2.7.2006.

Mediocre/Skippable

Kazuyuki Fujita vs Hiroshi Tanahashi-NJPW 5.6.2004.

I absolutely love this match. A mismatch in styles creates a special type of energy. I can imagine Tanahashi doing something like grabbing his neck in fear after avoiding a kick against Goto/Shibata/Nakamura 5-10 years later but it evokes a much stronger reaction when he's fighting one of PRIDE's top heavyweights and also playing a proper FIP that sells most of the time. Because Fujita is so dominant for so long he can let Tanahashi shine during comebacks without losing credibility, but he's also not going to let Tanahashi pull of twisting nonsense moves on him. Tanahashi's performance here is good-the tackle countered into a flash pin ruled and the rabid suicide dives ruled and even the running small package felt like the appropriate thing to do in the moment. The only thing they have in similar is the amateur background whic they use as a meeting point (as well as the strike exchanges). Fujita brings the violence you'd want out of a badass shooter-his soccer kicks and knee lifts are second to none, and the smug expressions he makes after he bodies Tanahashi are just priceless. ****1/4