Spitball Reviews #5

        (Written by jom)

Kazuki Okubo vs. Kozo Urita (Kingdom Ehrgeiz 06/16/2018)

    Kingdom Ehrgeiz is the MMA promotion originally known as the shoot style fed Kingdom. Kozo Urita is an unmasked Tiger Shark. This match takes place under TWF rules, which is basically UWF rules but with three minute rounds. I think that's all the explaining I need to get out of the way? Anyways, this was cool. It's a shoot style match between a Kiyoshi Tamura trainee and a Satoru Sayama trainee, so that's probably not the most shocking news in the world. It's interesting how both guys really fall into those categories in the match. While both are capable strikers, Urita's strikes land with a lot more oomph, and all of his knockdowns come from his striking. At the same time, Okubo tends to outclass Urita on the ground, hunting for armbars and triangle chokes while also pulling out a great capture suplex for a down count early own. The match progresses pretty naturally and has an awesome ending stretch, including a random American (probably an MMA fighter on the show) being heard in the background, seemingly convinced this is a shoot and very confused by the pro wrestling decisions made by both guys. This would be a lesser match in UWF or UWFi, and isn't even the most impressive thing in 2024 when HARD HIT and even GLEAT have hosted better matches. Still, I enjoyed it. Newly-discovered footage of Tiger Shark is something I'll always happily watch.

Match Rating: B-

First Tiger Mask & Toshio Fujiwara vs. Satoshi Kobayashi & Hayato Sakurai (Fujiwara Festival 12/05/2004)

    These "let the martial artists do some pro wrestling" type matches have always fascinated me. They're a peek into the general philosophy towards wrestling as a combat sport in Japan, compared to how it is in America. When MMA fighters have made the jump to pro wrestling stateside, many of those fighters have been derided by MMA fans and looked down upon by certain wrestling fans. There's a real "stay in your lane" kind of mentality from both sides of this stupid war between two of the most annoying fanbases in the world. In Japan, a lot of people seem to have a lot more respect for both forms of entertainment, and workers from both sides getting to test the waters is generally appreciated and cheered on. There's an acceptance of both being individual sports, but also a clear understanding of the constant and objectively vital crossovers between the two over the last hundred or so years. Pro wrestling birthed MMA and all that noise. This isn't meant to be a history lesson, nor is it meant to be an "America sux, Japan number one" think piece; it's just an observation I've had many times being put into writing. Anyways, Sayama comes out and his nameplate says "former WWF Junior Heavyweight" on it which is very funny. A real light-hearted joke for a light-hearted match. There's a handful of serious kickboxing-type exchanges (and Satoshi Kobayashi strikes me as the type of guy who would've done great in some serious pro wrestling), but this is more about popping the crowd with old man Fujiwara antics. The pro wrestling Fujiwara is the guest referee and he's having a fun time too, throwing around kickboxer Fujiwara for his disrespect and sharing some alcohol with him. Is there much else to say about the match? Not really! It's a deeply unserious affair, but one I had fun watching nonetheless.

Match Rating: B-

Riki Hyakumangoku vs. Chindeka Kizoku (KIW 12/12/2015)

    I've tried to stop myself from context-dumping at the start of match write-ups, as I've done that so much in the past and it doesn't tend to read well. However, I feel like this requires context. Kansai International Wrestling is potentially the first uni-born pro feds, predating groups like Guts World and SHI-EN by multiple years. JWA Tokai went pro first, but Tokai was an amateur group and not a university one, so KIW takes that crown. Hyakumangoku and Kizoku are day one KIW guys, with both working the first KIW show in 1999 and continuing to work even to this day. Hell, they just faced each other again last year! Both are tribute acts too, with Kizoku being a Flair idolizer, and Hyakumangoku unsurprisingly working like Riki Choshu. I came into this expecting the match to just be a fun little thing, with both guys doing half-hearted tribute spots and the crowd happy to cheer anything at all. That's how a lot of these matches go! This was not that. There was nothing half-hearted about this. Both men were so committed to their act that it kind of blows me away. One of the most striking things about the match was how great the execution was. It wasn't just great execution either. It felt like the type of movements you'd see decades prior, with lots of focus on proper limb placement and working their way into maneuvers rather than just executing them. There was still some fun work throughout the match, like Kizoku repeatedly bribing the referee into breaking up Hyakumangoku's holds, and the eventual payoff of Kizoku running out of money was pretty spectacular. There were hard lariats, gritty elbow-grinding legwork, and even an incredibly hot finishing stretch. Honestly, I know these two have it in them to do something truly spectacular, just based on the match here. As it stands, this is still borderline great.

Match Rating: B+

Asian Cougar, Masked Halcon, & Tokai Bushido V3 vs. Tomoya Adachi, Spider Warrior, & Heaven (ZIPANG 03/06/1998)

    Before I even start talking about the match, what a venue. From my understanding, this was the only time a wrestling event ever took place in Ebisu East Gallery, which really sucks. This would've been a cool small venue for a lot of the indies of the time to hold shows in. At least ZIPANG got to make their debut on such sacred land. They also made a great choice for their main event; this rocked! This was six guys with a lot of love for and training in lucha libre getting to work a big lucharesu fireworks display. Like many of the other notable lucharesu tags of the era, everyone got their own moments to shine. Cougar and Adachi were unsurprisingly the biggest standouts. By 1998, Cougar is dangerously close to figuring out the perfect spotfest formula, and a lot of the spots he pulled out here would continue to appear for the rest of his career. Adachi was similarly far along in his own formula, albeit he would continue to rewrite said formula for the next 26 years. They only got the chance to face off once in the match, but their encounter was probably the cleanest and most explosive of the whole bunch. Bushido very nearly earned a namedrop alongside Cougar and Adachi, as he was pulling all of his spots off perfectly, including hitting one of the best rider kicks I've ever seen him do. Spider and Halcon served similar purposes as trusted hands with highly developed basics, and each got to pull off their own greatly executed running attack at least five times (Spider's dropkick and Halcon's flying cross chop). Heaven was probably the least of the six, but he still managed to do some great sequences with Cougar as the two Hamada trainees and hit one of the coolest outside dives of the match's customary dive train. Outside of going spot-for-spot, there isn't much else to say. There were moments of roughness and ending the match with the not-so-interesting pairing of Heaven and Halcon probably wasn't the best move, but this match was a lot of fun and I'll probably revisit it many times in the future.

Match Rating: B

Ryuma Go & Masahiko Takasugi vs. Masashi Aoyagi & Mitsuhiro Matsunaga (Pioneer Senshi 03/15/1990)

    JCTV channel, please go back to uploading. You posted Battlarts and W*ING in 1080p. You gave us previously lost matches like this. Please come back, we miss you... Anyways, here's Pioneer Senshi! A different style tag! Wahoo! This match, at its best, is a Masashi Aoyagi showcase. Aoyagi is a true monster for the first few years of his career. He's a monster for his entire career, but the early Aoyagi matches feel like extended executions. He's in full spiritual black hood here, as he lays into Go and Takasugi for nearly 20 minutes with full force kicks to the face and ribs. He also blades pretty early on and we get to see the always great visual of a white gi stained red. Ryuma Go is his primary dance partner, and while Go can't fill Onita's different style shoes, he can certain fit his own pair. He's solid enough early on, locking in counter holds and going for the occasional strike or throw, but it's only after he starts bleeding that he really excels. Go's a very rigid wrestler, with jerky and stiff movements, but his movements become a lot more sympathetic when his face is covered in blood and it looks like he's collapsing from both the pain and the blood loss. Matsunaga is a good sidekick for Aoyagi. His kicks don't land as well and he's a little too willing to play the submission game for my liking, but he's still an Aoyagi-trained karateka. And then there's Takasugi. Masahiko Takasugi is a bad different style fighter. As a wrestler in a different style fight, your job is to A. sell like a madman, and B. take advantage of every opportunity to the highest extent. You should be a victim. You should fight like hell. Masahiko Takasugi generally doesn't sell much and constantly tries to put on holds. For all of Go and Aoyagi's awesome blood-filled brawling, Takasugi is happy to lay on the ground with Matsunaga for minutes on end, applying worthless double wristlocks and heel hooks. He takes a few moments to show that he could be good if he wanted to, hitting an admittedly mindblowing backdrop and pulling off a great hot tag where he full force stomped Matsunaga's head at least 20 times. Those moments are a fraction of his whole performance though, and he's in the ring much more than Ryuma Go. As a whole, this just ends up being pretty damn good. If Go had a better tag partner, this could've been something really special.

Match Rating: B-

Spitball Reviews #4

(Written by jom)

Southern Cross vs. Tadanobu Fujisawa (H.EVolution 10/12/2014)

    Inexplicably, this is a really good match. I've talked about both of these guys before when reviewing K-WEST, but only Fujisawa elicited praise. He's an incredibly competent Kurisu trainee with the capabilities to be a scary brutalizer, fitting for someone with his lineage. Southern Cross, meanwhile, is bad! I last saw him in 2010 when he wore a mask and had a lanky build, but here he is in 2014, unmasked and possessing the body type of a divorced father. His previously-seen work was sloppy, boring, and practically screamed "I shouldn't be within 500 feet of a wrestling ring". He always came off as the type of wrestler you'd only see "succeed" in a place like FU*CK!, a promotion that would treat his lack of skills like a skill itself. I came into this hoping it would just be a Fujisawa squash, a chance for him to be mean and cruel to a tomato can worker and make me happy with unnecessary violence. What we end up getting is still pretty close to this, but Cross got all the chances he needed to prove that a lot can change in four years. For all of Fujisawa's dick kicks and stiff shots, Cross returned fire with impressive chops and displays of raw power, like a really snappy Tenryu-style powerbomb. He does a damn good job on the receiving end of things, selling Fujisawa's shots with a lot of grunting and recoiling. His blood getting all over his white pants after a Fujisawa shoot headbutt is just the icing on top. I think the best way to describe this match would be a display of Southern Cross's will. The Fujisawa bullying is sick and gross and all that, but I can't help but come away from this with the lasting image of Cross's bloody visage and never-say-die attitude. An infinitely impressive performance from someone I never would've thought could deliver such a thing.

Asian Cougar & Great Sensei vs. Tarzan Goto & Masked Saturn (Samurai Project 01/25/1998)

    I only tracked this match down because of an old Japanese blog post talking about a supposed incident where Goto stabbed Cougar in his left arm with a broken broom and gave Cougar massive scars. That incident never takes place in this match and I have no idea whether the writer was misremembering which Goto vs. Cougar match it was or if it was just a plain ol' lie. Regardless, I have to find that writer's contact information and try to thank them. This match, as a whole, is borderline great. Sensei and Saturn (Hiroshi Hatanaka and Mitsunobu Kikuzawa respectively) only exist to detract. Sensei is a botch machine who slows the pace even if he has some good strikes. Saturn hits good punches and big moves but does nothing to further the match itself. The only two men that mattered on this day were Asian Cougar and Tarzan Goto. 1998 is part of that heavenly period of time where Goto could be put into any situation and deliver a great performance just by being himself, and when Goto wanted to put a little extra effort in? That's when you got the type of stuff that changed my entire perspective on wrestling. 1998 is also the start of Asian Cougar's run as one of the best spotfest workers of all time, but it's also when he sets himself into that role without much deviation for the rest of his career. I love Cougar and I've been very vocal on this blog about how much I love him, but I'd be the first to tell you he's never exhibited much range. He's got a winning formula and very little reason to do much else. This is different; this is the first Cougar performance I've seen where the man is truly a victim. Goto smashes dozens of chairs over his body, throws a table at his head, stabs his face with a broom snapped in half. Cougar's golden mask gets ripped wide open to expose a bright red ocean underneath his skin. Cougar bumps and staggers and collapses like a wounded deer, hopping around looking for any chance to escape. Cougar's greatest work comes once he's able to fight back. No slingshot leg drops; every single leg drop is done off the top rope for maximum damage to himself and his opponent. I've never seen Cougar so reliant on the top rope, so willing to bust his ass to hurt someone that much more. It's a subtle change to his moveset, a single rope difference between Cougar's regular arsenal, and yet it feels like the world has shifted. If this was a Cougar and Goto singles match with even more work between both, there's a chance it could've turned out as something truly special. As it stands though, it's an amazing preview of a match I truly didn't know I needed so badly. 

Minoru Tanaka vs. MIKAMI (Batos Cafe 12/15/2019)

    Two junior legends finally getting to duke it out in a singles match, albeit at least a decade past their primes. Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: 2019 Minoru Tanaka is not 1999 Minoru Tanaka, and 2019 MIKAMI is not 2005 MIKAMI. These aren't the greatest freak athletes in the world anymore. These are two veterans of the indie scene with a lot less to give than they had during the glory days. Coming into this match expecting to see these two busting out the flips and dives like the Y2K apocalypse hadn't happened yet would be a fool's errand. This is a match way more focused on what they can do rather than what they can't, and it benefits greatly from that mentality. Both men have their spots they've perfected over the years, and they do a great job of blending their work together into a seamless match. Minoru Tanaka is, of course, great. Even in his late 40s he still has great execution on all of his work, and, more than anything, he's dependable. At the same time, he's not particularly interested in getting out of his comfort zone. He's much happier using ol' reliable in the exact same way he always does rather than change up his game this late in his career. That's what makes MIKAMI stand out so much more. MIKAMI is a master at taking the pre-established and turning it into something new. He's hit a hundred Mickey Boomerangs throughout his career, but here he is at 45, hitting one on the apron. I've seen him put wrestlers in the Stinger since the mid-2000s, but I've never seen him set it up with repeated double axe handles between the shoulder blades. They're changes to the arsenal that might come off as unnoteworthy to some, but it shows a willingness to keep things fresh that many of MIKAMI's peers don't possess. When MIKAMI eventually calls it quits, wrestling will be losing one of the greatest and most under-appreciated minds in the history of the sport.

Kenji Fukimoto & Hideaki Sumi vs. Necro Butcher & Mad Man Pondo (FU*CK! 05/04/2007)

    I bought this whole DVD just for this match. Sure, there's other matches on the show that I'd enjoy checking out. If this match didn't happen I'd still probably get it! The fact is this match did happen, and it was the overwhelming force which motivated me to get this DVD. Necro Butcher is possibly the greatest American wrestler of all time, and Sumi is the greatest karate pro wrestler of the 21st century. In my mind, putting them together is money. In execution, it is ABSOLUTELY money. Sumi and Necro do so much great work here, from Necro pantomiming at Sumi that his karate will not work against his brawling, to Sumi's karate doing a damn good job against him after all. Necro is wonderful on selling duty and fights back with lots of gut punches and face grabbing, and after getting embarrassed by Sumi's karate flurries he commits himself to Sabu'ing chairs at Sumi randomly throughout the match. Considering this, Fukimoto and Pondo should be afterthoughts, but both put in their own quality performances. Pondo is in full plunder mode, pulling out a massive knife to cut up Fukimoto's face and beating down both Fukimoto and Sumi with random metal objects. Fukimoto is almost entirely on selling duty, getting bloodied up and screaming for his life, but eventually fights back with some great lariats. This is sadly only eight minutes and there are a handful of awkward miscommunication moments, but, for the most part, this delivers on expectations.

Yusha Amon vs. Minoru Suzuki (Tokyo Tama Luchas 08/18/2013)

    I don't like Minoru Suzuki. I understand the appeal of the "murder grandpa", although I don't agree with its validity, nor do I have any interest in talking with anyone that calls Suzuki that nickname unironically. A regular Suzuki match, at best, is funny because of how bad he is. He's an uncaring "legend" who collects paychecks by putting in the least amount of effort possible during wrestling matches. He's been a consistent net negative on professional wrestling since returning in the 2000s, after spending 10 years having fixed fights in Pancrase. The only type of Minoru Suzuki I truly find interesting is the Minoru Suzuki that works against the best and brightest of the scum indies. Whether it's the New Year's Summit tag where he plastered Keita yano around Korakuen Hall or one of the many neighborhood-spanning brawls he's done in places like Hokuto Pro, something about getting to work in the shoddiest promotions in Japan motivates Suzuki to actually care about his wrestling. This match is no exception, with Suzuki facing international man of mystery and possible Solar trainee Yusha Amon in Amon's own promotion. Minoru Suzuki's performance here isn't particularly out of the ordinary for a Suzuki match of the time, but there's something about the way Suzuki revels in Amon's lack of ability that really works to make me enjoy him here. He spends much of the early match refusing to sell or cooperate with him, laughing along with the crowd at his flubs and failures while grinding him down with the most basic holds possible, posing for photos along the way. He completely disregards all of Amon's offense, and the few times he does acknowledge it he completely denies it. The standout moment from the first two falls of the match (it's worked under "Mexico Rules") is easily when Amon goes for a flying cross chop and gets literally kicked out of the air. It's almost like Suzuki is working a comedy match while Amon is trying his damndest to work seriously. When Amon does start forcing Suzuki to work a little seriously, it feels like a life-changing event for Amon, proof that he can be a force to be reckoned with in professional wrestling. That period of time doesn't last long, but God bless him for getting to have that happen at all. Is this a legitimately great match? I don't know. There's a lot of talking to the crowd, a little to0 much reliance on Suzuki's usual schtick, and I just have bias against the guy. Still, I had way more fun with this than I ever thought I'd have with a 2010s Minoru Suzuki match.

Onita Pro 08/22/1999

  (Written by jom)

    I guess the bi-weekly schedule is back on track? Probably not. I have finals for the next few weeks and then I graduate. Life is about to suck. Four years ago everything I knew changed, and now everything is about to change again. But no matter how many things, places, or people come and go, Onita will always be here for me. Onto the review!

Fushitori Karasu & Walbuta vs. Animal Welfare Association Satan & Rey Pandita

    The first two Onita Pro shows took place in Korakuen Hall. We've finally left the sacred temple, and have arrived in a random field. The outside venue means explosions are finally on the table, but it also means we get natural lighting pro wrestling! It's a weird thing to love so much, but ever since I played SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 and discovered the greatness of the "Tribute to the Troops" arena, I've been a big proponent of outdoor shows, especially ones happening in the daylight. Plus, well-lit outdoor night shows rule, and just from the show-opening music video, this show's going from sunup to sundown.

    I must ask once more: who the fuck is Rey Pandita? He's been the true anchor of these Onita Pro shows, and yet I still don't know for sure who is under the mask. A damn shame if you ask me because he really deserves his flowers for his work here. A better question to ask though would be WHO THE HELL IS ANYONE? We've got FOUR unknown entities here! Well, four in August of 1999, because we actually know who one of these guys are. Fushitori Karasu is... Fushitori Karasu! Although this is his debut as a pro wrestler, he's going to become a regular in the series. He's another Hayabusa knockoff, sitting on an island with luminaries such as Great Takeru and Garuda. He'd wrestle under the Karasu name for his entire career, working a bunch of sleaze indies and eventually becoming a Goto Ippa guy before silently retiring from wrestling (outside of a special appearance on Tokai Bushido V3's retirement show). 

    So... what the fuck was this match? I've watched it twice now, and I still don't really know. We know Karasu is making his debut, but I have a strong suspicion that Walbuta is too. Commentary keeps repeating that they're Hayabusa parodies like you couldn't just guess from the gear. I have a feeling that if you're a Japanese indie fan tuning into an Onita Pro broadcast, you know who Hayabusa is. Although, you can definitely tell that everyone here, from the audience to the commentary to even the wrestlers, has no idea what's going on. 

    Karasu (the person I was most interested in seeing here) was in the ring for maybe a minute, only doing bad matwork and one alright evasion into a shitty rolling solebutt. He seems to actively avoid wrestling, constantly tagging out and forcing a gassed Walbuta to come back in and hit more incredibly sloppy moves. Walbuta is really something to witness here. He throws some alright kicks but all of his aerial offense is dangerously sloppy. Outside of a sloppy-but-kinda-good-because-its-sloppy Asai Moonsault, the safest-looking move he hits is a diving crossbody where he entirely overshoots Satan and almost hits a slingblade on him in the process.

    Pandita is good though! He hits a nice dropkick and slightly overshoots a moonsault (just like Kikuzawa tended to do around this time... I think my "Pandita = Kikuzawa" theory from the last post may have more merit than expected), and that's really all he does here. Satan is entirely worthless until he TURNS ON PANDITA AND FLOORS HIM WITH A FUCKED UP LARIAT. And then he high-fives both of the fake Hayabusas. And then Walbuta hits a bad avalanche hurricanrana. And then it seems like Karasu is gonna hit a match-finishing dive but NO! He points at Walbuta and Walbuta begrudgingly climbs the top rope to hit a bad frog splash for the win. Hayabusa's theme plays as the three walk out. I am unable to process all of this and begin to cry.

    Honestly, if they had just let Walbuta die in the ring from exhaustion, never having Karasu tag in to do slow and boring matwork, this could've been a dogshit classic. All it needed was more actual botches and a faster tempo. However, this match just had too much worthless filler between the incredibly bad wrestling, and that's a recipe for disaster. It's the most baffling match I've seen in the project so far, and also definitely the worst. I can't imagine it going lower any time soon.

    Just as a final note, Walbuta never wrestled again after this. And honestly, I kinda get it. 

Match Rating: D

Crusher Maedomari, Miss Mongol, & Shark Tsuchiya vs. Killer Iwami, RIE, & Tsuppari Mack

    Tsuppari Mack is BACK! I had no idea any of the retired FMW women stuck around after the reunion tag on the last show, but luckily the coolest one of them all is here again (and Killer Iwami). Once again, the random assortment of faces are put against the badass face-painted fouler team of Maedomari, Mongol, and Tsuchiya. And the heels come out eating ice cream!! I don't even know man, this sounds incredibly stupid on paper but something about three devious fiends coming out for a match enjoying ice cream cones kinda rules.

    Sadly, this was another bits match like the reunion tag, except without the context of a light-hearted reunion, and less funny bits. That whole ice cream entrance I talked about? That was probably the highlight of the match. The only person particularly interesting was Tsuppari Mack, who did her weird satchel attacks and also hit a really nice kneel kick on Tsuchiya. Of course, the joke was that everyone in the match besides Maedomari and Tsuchiya is weak, so Tsuchiya took the kneel kick, stood there for a second, and then hit a flat back before leaning up and shaking her head in approval at Mack. Whatever.

    There's nothing to really even say about this match. It started! There were jokes! And then it ended! Were some of the jokes funny? A little bit. I'm not even trying to be a killjoy here, I just don't particularly care for comedy wrestling, and I'm starting to get sick of seeing Maedomari and Tsuchiya do it when they could be doing awesome brawls like the one from the first Onita Pro show.

Match Rating: C-

Asian Cougar & Kurokage vs. Kyohei Mikami & Takashi Sasaki

    Thank God, a DDT offer match. This show started on the worst foot possible with a 1-2 punch of shitty tag matches, but Sanshiro Takagi has sent the troops in to save the day. Cougar and Sasaki were in the last DDT juniors tag, where I pointed out both as being good but not all the way figured out yet (especially Sasaki). But, it's been a few months, and a lot can change in that amount of time. 

    Mikami is also here! And Mikami fucking rules. It's not until he changes his name to MIKAMI and becomes the coolest guy ever that he really reaches his peak, but 90s Kyohei Mikami doing incredibly quick hybrid lucharesu shoot style whatever-the-fuck pro wrestling is a sight to behold. Kurokage (the DDT/WYF one, not to be confused with the other Kurokage trained by Kurisu that teams with Diablo all the time) is the odd man out, as everyone else eventually becomes a big name in the 2000s juniors talent pool, but Kurokage/Hebikage/Masahiko Orihara/etc was always a really talented worker, so it's cool to see him too. 

    So this match fucking rocks. Like, it rocks a lot. Even with my praise of all four men at the start, I still came into this with some hesitation. Maybe three months isn't enough for Sasaki and Cougar to figure everything out. Maybe Mikami isn't ready yet to carry the load if this is the case. Maybe Kurokage actually sucks and my memory is wrong. Luckily, not only was I wrong about all of these concerns, the opposite is true. This is really something special.

    Mikami is by far the biggest highlight here. Talk about a guy capable of doing anything. He does some really great work with Cougar both in terms of grappling and high spots (commentary actually mentions that both men started in Hamada's UWF around the same time as trainees so there's a nice little bit of lore that adds just a little bit to it all), and his work with Kurokage is nothing to sneeze at either. I think Mikami's biggest contribution to this match is just how high-octane it felt any time he was involved. Don't get me wrong, Sasaki kept the action going for sure, but Mikami flying in to hit a perfect hurricanrana or one of the best dropkicks ever while moving at speeds usual humans can't even fathom is the type of work that pushes a match from being "fast-paced" to actually breakneck.

    Asian Cougar is probably the next best person here, and that feels insane to say because once again he doesn't do the Cougar Tope Atomico! But man, does he deliver. He more than makes up for not doing that move by doing a bunch of other crazy ones. I've said this before about Cougar, but there may not be another wrestler ever who's better at setting up their spots than Cougar. Every time he hits a leg drop, it feels like a natural occurrence, like a leg drop was the only thing Cougar could even do in that scenario. At the same time, he's wonderful at setting himself up for moves by other wrestlers, positioning himself well and feeding into spots in such an effortless way. He's a guy that not only does big spots, but actually understands how to do them in the best way. And beyond all of that, he just rules. Nobody else was hitting slingshot leg drops to the floor, and nobody else ever will.

    Takashi Sasaki has it all figured out. I said earlier that a lot can change in a few months, but wow. Sasaki feels almost like an entirely different person here. He does a lot of the same moves, but his work feels so much more driven and aggressive, and he's put a lot more focus into throwing strikes and bullying guys rather than experimenting with new moves. That's not to say he doesn't have some new weapons in the arsenal. At one point he hits a slingshot rider kick to the outside and sends Cougar tumbling across the concrete. At another he pulls out a ridiculous twisting fisherman's buster. Unlike his last appearance though, all of this feels so fitting for him, and like he actually knows what he's doing. This is the start of Takashi Sasaki, the relentless asskicker of the Japanese indies.

    Finally, Kurokage. While he's definitely the least interesting part of the match, he also fills his role perfectly. He's here to take a lot of the bumps for his team, while also getting some chances to bust out big moves every now and then. And man, his moves are big alright. Everything he does feels like a bomb, from the Sankakugeri to Sasaki to the crushing Blue Thunder Bomb to Mikami. His moonsault is also a real beauty, and he works really well with Cougar throughout the match. He's a vital part of the match's flow, and more than fills his portions of the match with cool shit. Really, you can't ask for more.

    Eventually, the match ended after Mikami flattened Kurokage with a beautiful 450 splash. What a war this was. Not only did this serve as a great showcase of all four guys' individual talents, but the match itself was extremely well-structured and flowed at a great pace. It did everything it needed to do as a spotfest without ever devolving into just hitting spots, and the escalation was really well done. This felt like the type of match that would've rocked a compilation tape and blown the minds of a bunch of forum posters during the time period. I feel very comfortable giving this match the the A-range rating of a non-Onita match from this series.

Match Rating: A-

Different Style Fight: Nise Onita vs. Katsuji Ueda

    Almost two months ago, the Onita Pro faithful were introduced to the fraudulent Onita, Toshiyuki Moriya. He fought his heart out against a squadron of different style fighters, with his hero by his side, and he was defeated. Now, Nise Onita is back once more, this time on his own to fight one of the very fighters that defeated him previously. Can he even dream of standing against the might of Katsuji Ueda's boxing gloves? Only time (and this match) will tell...

    ... And he can't! He really can't at all. This is a slaughter. The footage is clipped to hell so maybe he got something in the match at some point, but he gets literally zero offense in the footage we have. All he does is die, die, die. I'd say something like "Ueda took the dog out behind the shed" but that would imply a quick and merciful death. Ueda repeatedly beats on Moriya until Moriya can't stand, throwing lots of punches, kicks, knees, elbows and anything else at the poor man. He unloads combo after combo into Moriya, and to Moriya's credit, he lasts until round three. Then Ueda throws an incredibly gross bicycle knee to Moriya's jaw, and that's the end of him.

    I can't even rate this. I'm sure if I really wanted to I could (Ueda threw mean strikes, Moriya's selling was alright), but it feels so weird to try and rate a match like this, not only considering just how little of it we have, but also what we do have. This wasn't a match. This was a sacrifice. 

Match Rating: (x_x)

Naohiro Hoshikawa & Super Delfin vs. Black Buffalo & Policeman

    I believe that I've noticed a trend. Every single Onita Pro match on this Onita Pro show has been either bizarre, awful, or both. Meanwhile, the only non-Onita Pro match so far was stellar. Hopefully that trend continues here as Osaka Pro throw their hat into the ring. 

    Admittedly, this is the match I was most excited to see coming into this tape, as I've already seen two Onita/Tenryu main events and I haven't checked out any early Osaka Pro in years. Plus, good friend of the blog CFOS just finished his entire watch-through of Osaka Pro (and wrote a nice piece on his findings from the journey which you can read here), and I've been getting bombarded with Osaka Pro information from him for the last few months. I love all four of these guys, so I'm excited to see what they do on Onita's grand stage.

    Wouldn't you know it, but my prediction at the start was correct! This is a fun little match, one that really played to each guy's strengths well.

    Delfin and Policeman are both somewhat interesting, but I don't have much to say about either of them. Policeman does fun spots involving being an officer of the law, and he also hits a nice quebrada. Policeman is one of those genuine "what could've been" scenarios based on his early FMW work under his real name of Yukihide Ueno (I have a friend that has pushed the idea of Ueno being the heir apparent to Onita himself during this time), but even though his career never really panned out as well as it should have, he still always did fun work like he did here. Delfin meanwhile hits a lot of the classics. He's always been a good foil for shooty juniors guys, both as a teammate (see Masaaki Mochizuki) and an opponent (see Takehiro Murahama), so he does a lot of fun tag work with Hoshikawa here. Outside of that, he's just a generally cool dude, and even hits the Osaka Midosuji Stunner, a move I have a great deal of love for since it was my Create-A-Wrestler's finisher for 5 or so years.

    Someone I do have a good amount to say about is Hoshikawa. He really felt perfect for Osaka Pro, and actually stood as a nice representative of where juniors wrestling was heading around this time. Hoshikawa was a perfect hybrid of both sides of the evolving juniors styles, pretty seamlessly mixing the more aerial risk-taking offense with very "jumping out of the screen" shoot-inspired work. Hoshikawa was never able to out-shoot Murahama, nor was he ever able to out-fly Yakushiji, but he was able to do things from both ends of the spectrum in just the right mixture that it worked out perfectly. All of that is to say he's pretty awesome here! He hits cool kicks really quickly and pulls out the meteor knee strike. Thank you for your service Naohiro Hoshikawa. 

    Black Buffalo is the fucking man. I love this bastard so much. I want to preface what I'm going to say next with a little tangent on the idea of "versatility." I'm kind of a critic on the versatility talking point when it comes to analyzing wrestlers' GWE cases, because I've noticed that a lot of people will put high value into guys just attempting other match styles rather than excelling at them. This isn't to say it's bad for wrestlers to be versatile! I may love the one-note workers of the world, but being able to do your job in a lot of different and equally interesting ways is incredibly impressive. Such is the case of Black Buffalo, also known as Keisuke Yamada. The fact that he could go from a scumlord IWA Japan bruiser to such a fun lucha fouler in a place like Osaka Pro is a testament to his abilities. He does so much great work here, moving at Delfin pace without a single slip-up and constantly targeting the balls of his opponents. He also throws in a lot of nice character work, like scraping his feet back like a charging buffalo for all the big running moves. I just can't help but applaud the guy any chance I get. He's someone who'll probably never get the flowers he deserves for the incredible work he did for at least a decade and a half.

    Delfin wins for his team with the Delfin Clutch after the aforementioned Osaka Midosuji Stunner. This wasn't better than the DDT tag, but it filled its role as a fun crowd-pleasing juniors tag with a lot of goofy character work mixed into some genuinely real good wrestling. I already know the Osaka Pro crew probably won't be appearing again anytime soon, but hopefully Delfin and Co. return to this journey through the Onita sphere of influence one day.

Match Rating: B

No Rope Barbed Wire Double Hell Barricade Street Fight Current Mine Explosion Death: Atsushi Onita, Mitsunobu Kikuzawa, Sambo Asako, & Sanshiro Takagi vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Hiroshi Ono, Ichiro Yaguchi, & Shoji Nakamaki

    Outside of this being the first super long Onita stipulation, I really don't have much to talk about. This matchup has been done twice already, and you probably know my thoughts on it by now. I will say though, Onita has made the first notably bad decision of the series by swapping out Okumura for Takagi. Takagi is a very fun wrestler who actually tends to do really well in these types of brawls, but Okumura has been the secret standout of the last two matches. I love Sambo Asako, but if you had to bring Takagi into this, why not get rid of him? Just put Asako in a fun lower card match and let Okumura run wild like he always does. It's disappointing, but I might as well trust Onita's vision on this one. He hasn't led me astray thus far.

    Ichiro Yaguchi makes his entrance coming out with a guitar, shredding on it to Tenryu's theme before flipping off the camera and sticking his tongue out a lot. Already a definite A-range match.

    This is probably the most fascinating Onita brawl yet, entirely because of how it plays on the formula established by the first two matches. The biggest change so far is, of course, the additions and limitations of the explosive environment. One of the vital aspects of the first two matches was the extensive crowd brawling, turning Korakuen Hall into a complete warzone with guys traveling all around the venue and throwing each other who knows where. In this new place though, that type of work really doesn't work. Onita and Tenryu spend a little bit of time fighting amongst the fans, but it's less them splitting the action in two and more the two captains leaving their soldiers to be the main attraction for a little bit. Otherwise, most of the match takes place in the ring, and a lot of the brawling is a lot slower because of this. Not worse per se, although definitely hampered by this more confined space. The guys still deliver the goods though, with Nakamaki and Takagi especially getting into a lot of very spirited exchanges (Nakamaki takes a bunch of unprotected chairshots and does the chicken walk after each one of them; it's very good).

    However, this new territory also brings about the incredible power of the explosion, something neither of the last two matches had any way of embracing. And my god, do they embrace the explosions here. There are at least ten different explosions in this 15 minute match, and the crowd goes wild for all of them. The previous Onita brawls were concerned with the gradual degradation of each wrestler, contests of endurance to see how much each side could take until one person cracked. This match completely flips that idea on its head, with wrestlers instead trying to avoid the one-shot killers surround the ring on all sides. There's this genuinely incredible moment early on, when Onita takes the first explosion bump and time just stands still. All the action in the ring just stops. Everyone ducks for cover and stares in awe at the mighty power of the boom. "If such flimsy wire could do that to a guy like Onita, what the hell could it do to me?"

    The way previous spots get adapted into this new world is equally interesting. Yaguchi and Nakamaki had set a precedent in the previous two matches with their double team suplex barbed wire hanging move, and they once again do the move in this match, with Takagi being the victim. However, the second that wire underneath Takagi's stomach explodes, there's a real feeling of dread that sets over. The last two times they did it, the move was a nice way to deal some big damage. This time, it feels like they might've actually killed the guy. I don't feel like I need to explain that explosions add gravity to a situation, but man, they really fucking do.

    Karma is a cruel beast. Yaguchi and Nakamaki go for another one of their signature spots later on, attempting to rip the wire from the ropes on one side to wrap a poor soul up in it. Their hubris, thinking they have any control over this environment, is their downfall, and the wire explodes in their faces. I think this one moment really does a great job of illustrating the real story of the match. This isn't about one team trying to overcome the other directly. This is about everyone trying to figure out how to cope with being surrounded by certain death. The winner is just the first team to do it.  

    Onita, of course, figures it out first. This is home turf. He and the rest of his boys fight back, and Kikuzawa even makes a noble sacrifice by getting knocked into the hell pit with Ono. Onita gets to Ono, his clothing ripped and charred from the explosion in the pit, and a Thunder Fire Powerbomb seals the deal. Onita leads the hundreds in attendance through an impassioned Onita Theatre (definitely the coolest one yet), and everyone goes home happy.

    To be entirely honest, this is my least favorite of the three Onita brawls so far. I know I just wrote a whole thesis on the power of the exploding barbed wire, but I truly just love a good old fashioned street fight, and the venue-spanning chaos of the first two matches just hits all the right buttons for me. Still, this is a great piece of work, and I had a ton of fun watching guys blow up. It's an Onita Pro main event brawl. Of course it's fucking good.

Match Rating: A-

    Theoretically, this should be my lowest rated show yet. The first two matches were pretty damn bad, and the Nise Onita squash was almost indescribable in terms of "quality." However, the peaks of this show were damn good. Even if the highest rating I gave was an A-, I gave two of those, which I didn't think would happen so soon, if ever at all. A very wide-ranging show in terms of quality, but I will always value great peaks over a consistent level of good.

Show Rating: B

Comprehensive Super Rider #4

        (Written by jom, photo credit to Extreme Party)

Super Rider, Asian Cougar, & Yuki Nishino vs. Ni Hao, Thanomsak Toba, & Takashi Sasaki (DDT 11/25/1999)

    I cannot say enough how great it is that so much early DDT has appeared throughout the years, because good lord, what a murderers' row. I've talked a lot about most of the people in this match, but somehow, I've never talked about Ni Hao before this. It makes sense considering just how little of his work is available, but really, every time a prime Ni Hao match is found, it feels like a cause for celebration. Ni Hao was Koki Kitahara's protege and the crown prince of CAPTURE, working at the top of CAPTURE cards while also starting the original REAL BLOOD with Tomohiro Ishii. He's a scrappy as hell shooter who can do tight grappling while throwing bombs with the best of them, usually working as a fired-up underdog but sometimes showcasing a mean streak reminiscent of his mentor. I honestly believe that Ni Hao could've been something special in pro wrestling given more exposure, and in an alternate universe, he was one of the top prospects of the dying days of the first Battlarts.

    With a match like this, I would usually focus on the best performers, only giving a little bit of time to the lesser men. That's gonna be hard to do for this match though, because everyone was fucking killing it! Rider and Ni Hao were of course my focus points for the match, and they had some magic lineal Sayamaist exchanges throughout. Their work together was the slowest of the match, but it absolutely worked with both guys being really deliberate and fighting for all their holds. Even with noting how slow they worked though, Rider served as the pace-setter for this match by rushing Ni Hao with an insane running Rider Kick right when the bell rang (shown below) before just flinging himself out of the ring with a huge suicide dive. Their work against other wrestlers was really cool too, with Ni Hao busting out a huge waterwheel drop on Nishino and Rider having some pretty awesome exchanges with Toba.

    Toba and Sasaki were the perfect asskickers to put with Ni Hao to build a total monster team. Toba was sadly not in the match as much as you'd hope, but he always made the most of his time, peppering guys with nasty punches and throwing cracking kicks. His aforementioned work with Rider was really cool, and he also got a nice moment with Nishino where Nishino just ate all of Toba's strikes before getting nearly knocked out cold by a brutal right hook. Sasaki was also on point here, coming in and throwing mean kicks while also dropping dudes on their heads with big lariats and a dangerous D-Geist. This team even had some really nice chemistry as a unit, doing some awesome combos including this one where Sasaki and Toba each threw a stiff as hell shot before Ni Hao dropped Cougar on his head with a german suplex:

    Nishino and Cougar both did some really immense stuff in this match as well. Nishino came into this match painfully aware of the asskicking he was gonna get from the Ni Hao/Toba/Sasaki trio, and decided to make sure he got his own licks in, throwing some thunderous chops and busting out a few huge moves like a perfect powerslam he hit on Ni Hao. He even got this really awesome hulk-up moment with the trio were all beating down on him, throwing those gross chops of his at Ni Hao and Sasaki before smashing Toba with a brutal headbutt. Cougar wasn't as much of an asskicker as the other five in this match, but he still held his own with some truly awe-inspiring spots. Cougar is, in my opinion, probably one of the best "spots" guys ever, tending to work matches focused entirely on pulling off the Cougar classics, but making sure every time to integrate them into the match as smoothly and naturally as possible. There were slingshot leg drops galore, and every single one of them fucking rocked, especially the ludicrous one he hit on Sasaki while Nishino had him held over the top rope. Cougar's moves outside of the slingshot leg drops rocked too, especially one amazing dive he hit on Sasaki. Really, he was the most dependable guy in the match when it came to doing crazy shit, and he did as much crazy shit as he could.

    In the end, Cougar missed a big diving headbutt on Sasaki, leading to a decapitating lariat from Sasaki getting the win for his team. As a whole, this match was great, just lots of smash-mouth wrestling and insane moments. There were absolutely some slight botches and a few moments of roughness, but none of it ever really detracted from the match. Only real point of criticism I can levy at this is that it made me sad that we never got a Ni Hao/Rider singles match in CAPTURE, as that would've probably been the perfect environment for them to do the gritty matwork and stiff striking they showed off here. Other than that, awesome stuff from early DDT, and a great showcase of the talents of all six guys involved.

Rating: A-

Super Rider vs. Junji.com (Battlarts 01/28/2001)

    Two years later, we are in Tokyo FM Hall for a B-Rule match between Rider and Junji.com (AKA Junji Inazuma AKA Mach Junji AKA Junji Tanaka). B-Rule is a pretty complex ruleset, with the wrestlers only being allowed to grapple while also sharing five rope breaks rather than having a set amount for each of them. Any time either of them uses a rope break, the overall amount of allowed breaks will go down (ex: one person grabbing the ropes twice and the other person grabbing them three times would result in all the rope breaks being used up). After five total breaks have occurred, the ref will no longer break up a hold when someone is in the ropes. If a match goes to a time limit draw, the winner is decided based on who grabbed the ropes the least amount of times, and if both are equal in rope usage, the loser is the one who grabbed the ropes first. This probably seems overly complicated (it is), but it's resulted in some really awesome and creative spots before, so I personally enjoy the ruleset a good deal.

    This, of course, ended up being a very cool little match, with Junji and Rider approaching the match with pretty differing ideologies on grappling. Junji primarily utilized his speed rigid technique to constantly hunt for holds he knew how to apply, using more basic holds like cross armbars and rear naked chokes that he could confidently execute without having to worry about spending too much time thinking about the hold. Meanwhile, Rider was all about fluidity and slick movement on the mat, looking out for stray limbs to latch onto and transitioning between holds to find the right way to apply the most amount of pain. 

    Outside of solely the grappling, there were some really interesting story beats primarily based around Rider and his aggressive style of working. At multiple points, Rider had to fight back his instincts telling him to throw punches or kicks (with the ref having to remind Rider over and over again that this wasn't under Seikendo rules), and a few times, Rider took a little long to let go of holds when Junji had a rope break. This culminated pretty well when Rider took a few extra seconds to let go of a kneebar, and in response, Junji busted out a lightning-fast kneebar of his own immediately after, forcing Rider to go straight for the ropes.

    It wasn't long after this though that Rider put on a deep STF, forcing Junji to use the final rope break in the match. Both men kept the intensity up as they approached the ending stretch, and Junji got his own chance to do some creative work, using the ropes to pull himself up while Rider had him in a kneebar and gain enough leverage to apply a tight cross heel hold. Rider would get revenge for this however, as when Junji had him in a front necklock soon after this, Rider kicked himself off of one of the corners, breaking the necklock by slamming down Junji hard. Without hesitation, Rider pounced on him and got a perfect cross armbar in for the tapout victory.

    I thought this was really good for what it was. It never entered into full-on great territory for me, but instead stayed at a very solid level of quality before finishing with a fun and well-built ending. Grappling matches like this are definitely an acquired taste, but if you're able to ride along for pure matwork and drama derived from holds and transitions, then you'll probably enjoy this match too.

Rating: B+

Super Rider & Tiger Shark vs. Hideki Hosaka & Kazuhiko Matsuzaki (RJPW 12/07/2012)

    Back to normal pro wrestling, we are now 11 years older and in the midst of WAR~! For god knows how long, Sayama and Atsushi Onita have been leading their armies into bloody and violent conflict (a lot of multi-man tag matches), and of course, first lieutenant Super Rider is here to fight on the front lines. He's teaming with favorite of the blog and fellow Seikendo trainee Tiger Shark against Hideki Hosaka and Kazuhiko Matsuzaki. Hosaka is really just a wrestler that exists, a solid enough worker who has never really inspired any strong feelings in me. Matsuzaki meanwhile is  one of the most consistently great indie guys of the last 30 years. With pro wrestling training under Ryuma Go and karate training under Masashi Aoyagi, he's been practically built to be one of the best sleaze indie guys in the world, and getting to see him at any point is always a treat.

    Once again, Rider delivers a fun enough match. The invader army of Hosaka and Matsuzaki were pretty cool here, mainly Matsuzaki. He was throwing some really nice worked punches and when he got to do some offense he busted out some great shit like his signature flying neckbreaker drop and the beautiful backdrop suplex shown below. Hosaka was mostly nothing here as always, but he did at least have one very fun moment where he stopped a pinfall attempt by attacking the referee. Dumb shit like that just appeals to me a lot, I don't know what else to say. 

    The real stars here were Shark and Rider though. Tiger Shark was really able to step up in this match and was honestly borderline great, especially in the ending stretch. He threw hard kicks, pulled off some really nice big moves like a weird snap side powerslam and a mean tombstone piledriver, and the moonsault he hit on Matsuzaki was an absolute thing of beauty. That moonsault led directly into the finish too, as when Matsuzaki kicked out, Shark immediately grabbed his arm and locked in the always awesome Shark Death By Lock II to get the win for team Real Japan.

Nearly 13 years to the day, Rider once again started the match with an insane suicide dive, this one being even crazier than the one he hit on Ni Hao as he actually flew over the guardrail and into the crowd. The Super Rider suicide dive is slowly becoming one of my favorite dives ever because this guy really throws himself out of the ring like he has a death wish. While Rider mostly stuck to busting out the classics like the Rider flying cross chop, Rider flipping senton, and Rider elbow drop, the Rider classics are my jam so I was having the time of my life. Plus, he hit another suicide dive later on in the match. This man was 50 years old busting out planchas for fun. Absolute legend.

    This match wasn't some incredible epic or anything like that. It was a throwaway midcard tag match on a throwaway Real Japan show (and Real Japan itself is a throwaway promotion). However, there was still some really fun stuff going on here, and the ending stretch between Shark and Matsuzaki was awesome. Plus, two different Super Rider suicide dives. What more can you ask for?

Rating: B

Comprehensive Rikiya Fudo/Super Rider #3 (DDT 11/20/1999)

                    (Written by jom)

    For the first time, two Comprehensives in one! The matches I'm reviewing today are all from the 11/20/1999 DDT show, which featured a one-night round robin trios tournament. Rider and Fudo (under his Yusaku name) both participated in the tournament in the B block, so that means we got 3 matches featuring them from this show, as well as the only recorded interactions between Rider and Fudo, so I'm very excited to see how those pan out.

Yusaku, Daisaku, & Yuki Nishino vs. Kazunori Yoshida, Koichiro Kimura, & Takao Iwasaki

    Starting off this special edition of comprehensive is the Shimoda bros, and they're teaming with Yuki Nishino, a former SPWF guy who throws awesome headbutts and moves at a really violent pace. Yoshida is another guy I've been a big fan of, as is Kimura. I've honestly never seen Iwasaki before this match, but the fact he was put on a team with Yoshida and Kimura makes me think he's probably solid enough.

    This was pretty sweet and extremely heated. Nishino was solid here, doing some nice grappling and hitting a few bombs like one crazy backdrop suplex on Yoshida. Daisaku was also pretty good, laying in some kicks and knees with real force and doing some cool scrappy work against Kimura and Iwasaki. Yusaku was definitely the best part of his team though, as he was just a beast here. He started the match by plowing through Yoshida with a lariat, and he kept that energy the entire time he was in the ring, with some big lariats and headbutts. He also hit some awesome bombs like this great sit-out spinebuster:

    For the other team in the match, everyone involved ended up having a good showing. Iwasaki was alright here, not really doing anything crazy but throwing some cool kicks. Yoshida also was a little more reserved than I've usually seen him, but he still busted out some great stuff like an awesome pop-up dropkick. Kimura was the most notable member of the team, purely through the level of violence he inflicted on the Shimoda bros, especially Yusaku. Honestly, with how hard he was hitting them and how little he was getting hit himself, I think that he might've been genuinely shooting on Yusaku. He doesn't have the greatest reputation for taking care of other wrestlers, so it wouldn't be entirely out of character. At bare minimum though, it made for some real sick stuff, like the combo seen below where Kimura just beat the dogshit out of Yusaku before putting on a really mean standing armbar.

    Overall, this had some pretty crazy sections, but as a whole felt somewhat disjointed. Still, those moments it did have were really good, so if you are just interested in seeing guys do cool shit to each other without the need for clean pacing and structure, you'd probably be pretty into this match.

Rating: B-

Super Rider, Asian Cougar, & Thanomsak Toba vs. Kazunori Yoshida, Koichiro Kimura, & Takao Iwasaki

    Next up we have the Yoshida/Kimura/Iwasaki team from the previous match taking on the sleaze legends team of Rider, Cougar, and Toba. I've of course talked at length about how great Rider is, and I just talked in the most recent post before this about how awesome Cougar is. Toba is someone I've somehow not covered until now, but he's maybe one of my favorite martial artist type wrestlers of all time. He throws some extremely violent punches and kicks, with his spinning backfist being maybe the greatest of all time.

    This match ended up being pretty awesome! Cougar was cool busting out some of his usual big spots like the corner kneel kick into slingshot leg drop, and he also got to hit some stuff I have rarely seen from him, including a crazy tope over the corner. He wasn't part of the match as much as Rider or Toba, but he made his contributions felt for the parts he was in. Toba was a god damn menace here, throwing his trademark horrific strikes, including a lightning-quick flurry of punches that he threw at all three of his opponents (with his sequence against Yoshida gif'd below). He also threw some genuinely scary kicks at Kimura, including one that hit Kimura's jaw with one of the loudest cracks I've heard in a while. Rider, for his part, was also really cool here, doing some phenomenal grappling with Kimura and laying in a few hard strikes like some brutal headbutts on Iwasaki. He even had a few fun moments, like doing a spot where he kept fucking up a scoop slam because he's more of a fighter than a wrestler, eventually leading to the payoff of him actually doing one correctly, with the crowd popping big for it.

    All three guys on the other side of the ring more than held up their end of the match too. Kimura was great in this one, doing some really solid grappling with Rider and hitting some big bombs like an awesome butterfly suplex into an armbar, or the great transition into a fujiwara armbar seen below. He definitely wasn't working with the level of hate he had in the previous match, but he made up for that with some overall extremely solid mat work. Iwasaki was much better here than he was in the last match, pretty much being in a sink-or-swim situation with Toba and responding by throwing some strong kicks and pulling out big holds, like a stiff side headlock. Yoshida was probably the best part of the match for his team though, as he got to hit a ton of awesome stuff even with the roof of the building being so low. He hit a great springboard dropkick, an awesome suicide dive, and a crazy springboard arm drag which he really shouldn't have been able to pull off considering how little space he had to do it.

    This was better than the last match I went over, albeit not by a ton. I think all six men put in a really solid performance, but the match never really brought itself up to being great or anything like that. As it stands though, this was still a really enjoyable match.

Rating: B

Super Rider, Asian Cougar, & Thanomsak Toba vs. Yusaku, Daisaku, & Yuki Nishino

    Finally, we have arrived to the match I was most excited for going into this. Not only does this have the only known interactions between Rikiya Fudo and Super Rider, but it also features 4 other extremely awesome wrestlers as part of the match. This actually takes place before the match I just reviewed, but considering the importance of this match in terms of the blog, I'm reviewing it last.

    ...having said that, let's rip the bandaid off now: Yusaku didn't enter this match once. My best guess is that the dude was still pretty fucked up from the beating he got from Kimura, leading to him only entering the ring at the end to do a little bit of brawling with Toba during the finish. It fucking sucks to see that Yusaku and Rider seemingly never actually had any interactions in their careers after all, but at least this match still ruled very hard. Nishino is really damn great in this match compared to the last one he was in. While he had a solid performance there, he was fighting like his life was on the line in this match, throwing some gnarly headbutts including one to Cougar that sent him flying off the apron and into the crowd. Daisaku rocked even harder than him, busting out some awesome grappling against Rider such as when he countered Rider's triangle choke into a kneebar. He also did some great strikes and combos, like the flurry of high kicks he threw at Toba, as well as this great combo:

    Asian Cougar was pretty awesome here (it's very rare for him to not be at least awesome). He pretty much just hit the classics, but not only do the Asian Cougar classics rule, he also hit them with a lot of urgency. He did the slingshot leg drops (both inside and outside the ring), he hit his awesome running corner kneel kick, etc. Toba was really good too, laying in some hard strikes on Daisaku like a combo that led into a pretty disgusting kick straight to Daisaku's face. The best part of the match to me though was Super Rider, who had a truly awesome performance. He hit some mean strikes, such as a pinpoint solebutt to Nishino's jaw, as well as some stiff mounted punches to Daisaku. He pulled off some great grappling, like a great transition into an armbar from a wristlock and the gif seen below of him countering a snapmare perfectly into a kneebar. He even bust out some high spots, like a crazy suicide dive he hit on Nishino, as well as the always awsome rider kick.

    Overall, I really enjoyed the work we got in this match. It was honestly pretty short (a little over 7 minutes long) , and the fact that Yusaku did literally nothing probably damaged the rating enough to guarantee it wasn't gonna get into the A-grade range, but it was still a really sweet six man tag and everyone who participated put on a really fun performance.

Rating: B+