(Written by jom)
A matchup that's happened so much, the fans in Japan gave it a nickname! "Aka Oni v Ao Oni", or red demon (Tababa) versus blue demon (Ando). Pretty fitting name in my honest opinion. Ando and Tababa are two of the best tubby crowbars in a modern Japanese indie scene shockingly filled with quality tubby crowbars. With how the industry in general has progressed, you'd think that type of wrestler would be a dying breed, but there's inexplicably more of them around than anyone knows what to do with. These two are given ten minutes to beat the tar out of each other in front of a small Mutoha crowd, and there are very few people more qualified for that type of environment than Ando and Tababa. Even if I've referred to them both as crowbars and demons, they're not the exact same wrestlers, and the little changes in execution between the two are really where this rivalry shines. Ando is an incredibly labored wrestler. Everything he does feels heavy and strained, every kick taking so much power from Ando that it causes his whole body to move with his leg. A universal human experience is every person's first time swinging a large stick. We've felt our own bodies move almost involuntarily, rotating with as much force as possible to send that stick to high heaven. Masao Ando has large sticks for limbs, and he's doing his damndest to swing them directly into the head of Tababa. On the opposite end, Tababa is a precision fighter. Every strike lands with all of the force focused on the sharpest point. When he kicks, the point of his boot is what connects with Ando's ribs. When he knees, the kneecap is what flies into Ando's gut. This isn't an exact summation of his striking, but it's clear that's what his intent is. Ando is full force everything, and Tababa is concentrated power. Beyond all of that pontificating, this is just a great brawl of a shoot style match. Ando slams Tababa hard multiple times throughout the match and nearly breaks his neck with a german suplex, and Tababa's unrelenting with his hyperextending holds and kick flurries. With many matches, the action builds until it boils over and turns into something uncontrollable. This match exists in a state of being boiled over from bell to bell. An amazing display of how awesome wrestling can be when two guys really work like they want to kick each other's asses.
Match Rating: A-
Ryo Tamiyasu vs. Junpuku Yamamoto (J2K 09/23/2003)
Ryo Tamiyasu makes his official return to pro wrestling. I've actually covered his initial return as Riki Senshu on the blog before (in one of my favorite posts from last year), but the name "Ryo Tamiyasu" hadn't been listed on a matchcard since his retirement until now, so there's the official part of it. Any time I watch work involving the J2K guys, I'm always fascinated by the commonalities of their work - the little touches that link all of them back to Masanobu Kurisu. Tamiyasu and Yamamoto are two of the strongest examples when it comes to Kurisu's influence on his trainees. Both love to vocalize. Both have the execution of basics down pat, and aren't afraid to rely on those basics instead of pushing themselves to "innovate" or needlessly change their offense up. Both turn up the heat by introducing more force into their movements. As such, this match is the tightly-worked, hard-hitting affair that I tend to love. It clocks in at just under ten minutes but manages to properly tell the story of a high stakes main event without feeling rushed or forced. Tamiyasu's punches and Yamamoto's uppercuts regularly have audible connection, and an exclamation point is placed at the end of every movement with both men's yelling and shit-talking. Looking beyond all the smaller detail work and connections to Kurisu, both are just so awesome at throwing bombs, especially in a match where the bomb-throwing is built so well considering how little time they use to build it. Yamamoto's piledrivers are disgusting and reckless in the best way, and Tamiyasu's out-of-nowhere northern lights bomb completely blew me away. Maybe you could complain about a match this short having such a climactic-feeling finishing stretch, or you could point out the one or two times where the men could've tightened up the match structure and spacing between work. I won't though. This was great, a total blast of a watch and further proof that Kurisu built an army of monster workers throughout the 90s that'll never truly get the appreciation they deserve.
Match Rating: A-
Masakazu Fukuda vs. Masaaki Mochizuki (WYF 08/04/1998)
The key singles match of the endless WYF vs. Buko Dojo rivalry. The feud kicked off in early 1997, and here we are over a year later. Karatekas hold a grudge. Rather than being a different style fight, this ends up more as Fukuda and Mochizuki successfully predicting the juniors style of the 2000s. Both men are really talented and know how to get into their spots well, and they pull off a ton of little counter sequences, none of which ever go so long that it loses the magic. Mochizuki is a monster kicker who's gone from Kitao's poster child for his karate revolution to a truly masterful hybrid junior. Fukuda fights back against Mochizuki's quick feet with real mat supremacy, grinding him down with arm holds after a mishap results in Mochizuki slamming his arm into the ring post. Does the limb work lead anywhere? Not particularly, but it fills time well and never goes too long as to require some sort of bigger payoff or heightened attention to selling. Honestly, as I write this, I wonder why I loved this match so much. There's so many things about this match that I hold against matches that occurred in the last five years. Limb selling that goes nowhere? check. A somewhat stupid opening spot? They did the double dropkick, so check. An abrupt no-sell? check. On paper, this match has no right getting as much love from me as it does. I think what makes this match different from many other matches to feature these same tropes is not only that this match predates many of those matches by multiple decades, but also that these two execute these spots so well that I really don't care. The no-sell is especially forgiven, as a Mochizuki DDT is immediately no-sold by Fukuda into a deep armbar. There's a quickness and urgency to it that takes it from a corny "I power up through fighting spirit!!!" shitshow and turns it into a genuine burst of energy at the sight of a perfect opportunity. I'd say this is a great match if you turn your brain off, but it's honestly great enough that the brain can stay entirely on and still find a ton to enjoy here. I pray that I one day get to peek into the reality where both these guys found a home in a more fitting fed in their later years like Battlarts or ZERO1. This type of work would've done them very kindly.
Match Rating: A-
Hiroshi Watanabe vs. Phantom Funakoshi (SGP 05/04/1998)
Is this the best match to ever happen at a flea market? At least within SGP's flea market show history, there's a few contenders, like the great space war where one of the Brahmans breaks an incredibly expensive Astro Boy statue, forcing Great Sasuke to buy it and use it in the next great space war. Still, this has to be the standout match of that catalogue. Watanabe is a Kotetsu Yamamoto trainee and Funakoshi is an Inoki idolizer, so they deliver the type of technical masterclass that would've blown a lot of people's minds if it didn't happen in front of passively-interested passersby. It feels like a higher level midcard match ripped right out of early 1980s NJPW, with incredible displays of body control like Watanabe's awe-inspiring escape from a knuckle-lock, and a real smorgasbord (I should have to pay a tax for using this word) of slick counters for holds and even slicker counters for counters. The work both guys put into all of their holds is laudable as well. Funakoshi spends a solid section of the early match trying his damndest to maintain a side headlock, and the way he rotates his body on the ground to keep Watanabe away from breaking the grip is immaculate. They stick to the grappling for a solid 2/3rds of the match, but once they get rolling with everything else, the quality stays just as high. Both men throw out some really great suplexes, like Watanabe's textbook german or Funakoshi's super impressive uranage. Watanabe even goes to the top rope and hits a crazy looking diving splash for a close 2.9. I try to avoid just listing moves as much as I can, but I honestly don't know what else to do with this match outside of repeatedly stating how perfect the work is. It's a match displaced out of time, meant for a raucous Korakuen Hall in 1982 instead of a flea market sixteen years later. It's no wonder that Watanabe would lead the charge with high-level grappling in the 21st century with Mumeijuku/Mutoha, and it's honestly a damn shame that Funakoshi never got to work there before hanging up the boots earlier this year. This one's available from Hasegawa for only $2. Bite the bullet and enjoy what may be the best technical wrestling match of 1998.
Match Rating: A
MIKAMI vs. Kuishinbo Kamen (Kamen Produce 12/15/2010)
Kuishinbo Kamen's mask has angry eyes for this one. You know it's time to get serious. MIKAMI and Kamen actually have a ton of history, producing some great work in the 90s as both partners and opponents. This is their first time meeting in the ring since Kamen became Kamen, and I guess there was a score to settle? Kamen is an entirely different beast than usual in this match. Gone are the bits and goofs; say hello to Great Kabuki-style uppercuts and punt kicks. This is one of those real great juniors matches that pretty successfully blends a lot of different work together thanks to the talents of both men. MIKAMI and Kamen seamlessly flow from clean and pretty grappling to gritty punching and slapping to high octane juniors sprinting, all while maintaining a great pace and properly escalating everything. MIKAMI gets a busted mouth from all the Kabuki uppercuts and while he never really responds with equivalent violence, he more than makes up for it with massive bombs, like the ludicrous spot on the outside you really need to see to believe. The fans being so behind Kamen for the entire match is almost shocking considering his viciousness, albeit it makes complete sense. This is Kuishinbo Kamen's arena. These are Kuishinbo Kamen's people. Better to cheer on the devil you know than surrender your hopes to the hot guy you don't. Luckily, MIKAMI never tries to go for a sympathetic babyface-in-peril angle, and relies entirely on himself with tricked-out juniors work and a great mind for countering. His flying codebreaker is such an awesome move, easily the best execution of that move I've ever seen and perfectly combo'd with one of his always-great schoolboy pins. Speaking of schoolboys, the cradle rush near the end of this match is so great, and truly works here as opposed to a lot of other matches with this type of spot. MIKAMI and Kamen are trickster juniors and have been for their entire careers. They've won tons of matches with roll-ups and cradles, so out of everyone to spend a minute going for just those, these two are the most apt for the occasion. Even with some moments of dead air, this feels undeniable to me. A wonderful encounter, the type that makes me long for the reality where these two faced off at their physical peaks around 2003.
Match Rating: A-
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