Comprehensive CMA Gym #2

                 (Written by jom)

Kei Tsukada vs. Takeshi Miyamoto (Union Pro 10/16/1994)

    We're back with another CMA Gym article, and of course we're gonna start with one of their straight singles matches to get back into the zone.

    This was pretty similar to the other 1994 singles match reviewed previously, with the main story of the match being Miyamoto using his stiff kicks and grappling ability to fight back against Tsukada's boxing glove onslaught. There were some pretty stiff brawling in the first round, with both guys taking pot shots as much as they could, and the crowd was all there for it which was a really great addition.

    Of the two of them, Miyamoto definitely was more impressive, busting out his sick kicks but also hitting a few wrestling moves which I was not expecting. He let loose a couple really nasty combos, like one that led into a skull-cracking reverse roundhouse kick, and another (shown below) where he tried to scramble Tsukada's brains with some head kicks before spiking him on the top of his head with a DDT.

    Overall, I think this was pretty good, but a step down from the match they would have in Union again two months later. Still, when it comes to these two, you'll always be getting quality.

Rating: B

Kei Tsukada & Ryo Miyake vs. Takeshi Miyamoto & Masahiko Takasugi (Go Gundan 12/21/1994)

    This, on paper, is a very similar match to one reviewed in the previous post (except this time the partners are swapped and Miyake is subbing in for Teranishi). As such, I was expecting this to be just kinda fun but nothing more.

    I was wrong! This was pretty crazy. Miyake and Takasugi had a few moments to shine in the match, with Miyake at one point throwing Tsukada like a missile and Takasugi hitting a stiff lariat and hip attack, but the majority of what was shown was Miyamoto/Tsukada, and my god I don't know what was in the water but some of the stuff they did was insane. Miyamoto threw some of the hardest kicks I've ever seen him throw, with multiple having an audible thud upon contact with Tsukada. This included one head kick that was particularly loud, and actually made me pause the match for a minute to get my bearings back. Probably the most brutal besides that one was this kick directly to Tsukada's neck, which, once again, made a horrifying sound:

    Tsukada wasn't here just to eat shots from Miyamoto though, as he totally dished out some in kind. He threw tons of punch combos, let Miyake throw him like a lawn dart out of the ring onto Miyamoto, and he even was able to hit the diving punch, which looked beast as always. Probably the hardest combo he threw all match can be seen below, where he nearly knocked Miyamoto's whole head off the rest of his body.

    I thought going into this that there was no way this match would be able to reach the level of the last one. In the end though, I think this one actually edged the last one out just a bit. Miyamoto and Tsukada brought even more violence to the table, and Miyake and Takasugi not only held up their own ends of the match, but their contributions ended up elevating the match even more. Overall, another beautiful chapter in the CMA Gym wars.

Rating: B+

Takeshi Miyamoto vs. Ho Des Minh (Samurai Project 04/17/1996)

    Our first ever review as part of this project that doesn't include both gym leaders! Here Miyamoto is taking on Ho Des Minh (aka Poison Sawada and a bunch of other names) for Minh's CMA Certified Heavyweight Championship. As far as I can tell this is the only recorded match for this title, but I'd love to find more considering they'd all probably include either Miyamoto or Tsukada.

    This ended up being pretty solid, albeit a little disappointing. Minh was pretty solid here, working over Miyamoto's leg at different points, such as when he caught a kick and hit a dragon screw, before transitioning into a figure four leglock. He also got to do some of the cool moves in his arsenal, particularly the killer butterfly DDT he does.

    Miyamoto, meanwhile, was solid too, but it was pretty clear his intensity was kinda gone, and there were some clear missteps that reflect a guy who up to that point had spent a lot of his career working different style fights against one person. Even with all that, his kicks landed with a solid amount of thud still, and he did get to bust out a few cool moves like a solid german suplex.

    Overall, this was a solid enough match, but you could really tell Miyamoto was more suited for the weird borderline shoots he had against Tsukada. Minh absolutely did a good job in his role has the pro wrestling bad guy, it was just a case of stylistic difference not being able to entirely mix.

Rating: B-

The Comprehensive CMA Gym

            (Written by jom)

    In 1993, two of the strongest killers in pro wrestling history made their debuts: Kei Tsukada and Takeshi Miyamoto. Tsukada first made his debut on June 10th for W*ING (unless you count the legit boxing matches he had on NJPW shows in the late 80s), defeating Ryo Miyake. Only 3 months later, Miyamoto would defeat Keisuke Yamada at an Oriental Pro show on September 16th. Both matches were contested under Different Style rules, with Tsukada being a boxer and Miyamoto being a karateka. Around this point, these two would seem to develop a kinship over their bond of being martial artists in the world of sleaze pro wrestling, and in 1994, the two would found the Chunkyo Martial Arts Federation, or CMA Gym.

    It was also in 1994 that the two of them would start to be pit against each other, which would very quickly be found to be an amazing idea, as both guys would absolutely brutalize each other in their matches. Tsukada fought like a prototype of Thanomsak Toba, throwing insane punch flurries and blending in some pretty insane highspots based around finding creative ways to break Miyamoto's face. Miyamoto, meanwhile, came off like the hardest fucking karateka to step into a ring. He unloaded some of the grossest kicks I've ever seen, and even had some unexpected grappling game which rounded him out to being a total destroyer no matter if he was standing or on the mat. They became famous on the sleaze indies for their brutal fights, with the feud spanning multiple promotions and coming to be known as "Indy's Favorite Counting Song" ("counting song" being a term seemingly used for long-spanning rivalries) among fans. Eventually, they would start to fade out from the pro wrestling world, with both seemingly gone entirely by the end of 1998.

    In the first Comprehensive series on the Dragon Screw blog, I'll be reviewing as many taped matches featuring Miyamoto and Tsukada as I can, and hopefully by doing this, I'll be exposing more people to the legend of the CMA Gym.

Reviewed Matches (in Chronological Order):

Kei Tsukada vs. Takeshi Miyamoto (Union Pro 10/16/1994) - B

Kei Tsukada & Ryo Miyake vs. Takeshi Miyamoto & Masahiko Takasugi (Go Gundan 12/21/1994) - B+

Kei Tsukada vs. Takeshi Miyamoto (Union Pro 12/25/1994) - B+

Isamu Teranishi & Takeshi Miyamoto vs. Masahiko Takasugi & Kei Tsukada (Tokyo Pro 02/23/1995) - B-

Kei Tsukada vs. Takeshi Miyamoto (Go Gundan 01/16/1996) - A

Takeshi Miyamoto vs. Ho Des Minh (Samurai Project 04/17/1996) - B-

Comprehensive CMA Gym #1

           (Written by jom)

Kei Tsukada vs. Takeshi Miyamoto (Union Pro 12/25/1994)

    Starting off is a straight singles match between the two men in question for this series, and my lord does it go hard. Maybe the best way to express how great this rivalry was is the feeling out process of this match, which consists of both guys taking potshots at each other just to see what'll work and what doesn't. Tsukada lands one or two blows to the face and Miyamoto lands a few cracking leg kicks, and we've got ourselves this match's story. Tsukada is a wrestler that really falls perfectly into that category of "based glove punchy guy" that is also occupied by Toba and Shinjuku Same, most of his punches don't come off as one-hit killers but he goes so absolutely nuts with combinations that it seems like any string of punches he throws could stop the match right there.

    Meanwhile, Miyamoto fought like he was on a mission from god to destroy Tsukada's leg. He dished out some fucking insane kicks all over Tsuakada's body, but whenever he shot at the leg it seemed borderline cruel, with every single one of them producing a sickening noise that really has to be heard to be believed. He didn't just throw outside leg kicks either, as seen right here when he throws a truly evil kick to the inner thigh that pretty much took Tsukada's mobility away for the rest of this round.

    The finishing stretch of this match was just fucking amazing too. Really wrapping the story together, Tsukada went for a crazy windup punch but Miyamoto just barely caught him with one more kick to the inner thigh, which just cripples Tsukada right away. Tsukada was able to get a few more killer shots in on Miyamoto after this and even got Miyamoto down to a 7 count, but the end result of the match was pretty much known after that thigh kick. A couple head kicks and a real stiff side headlock are all it takes for Miyamoto to get the win.

    This is probably all you would want from a straight "Karate vs Boxing" match. Both guys threw caution to the wind and held back nothing with their strikes, resulting in some awesome action. Definitely check this one out if you enjoy this type of wrestling at all, you won't regret it.

Rating: B+

Isamu Teranishi & Takeshi Miyamoto vs. Masahiko Takasugi & Kei Tsukada (Tokyo Pro 02/23/1995)

    This was a very different match from the last one. While the last was a different style fight with a karateka and boxer going as hard as possible, this was more of a fun undercard tag, but Miyamoto and Tsukada still were able to make the best of it with their own brand of violence, while also showing that in the last two months, both guys had gotten significantly more pro-wrestling in their arsenals.

    Just to get it out of the way, Teranishi and Takasugi did next to nothing in what was shown, so I won't be really talking about them at all here. Tsukada was much more like Toba in this match than he was in the last one, still peppering Miyamoto and Teranishi with punches but also throwing in some awesome diving punches like the one seen below.

    Miyamoto meanwhile was way more vicious than the last match, at one point dragging Tsukada outside the ring to attack him with a chair. He also incorporated more grappling into his moves, like this pretty damn good german suplex he hit Tsukada with near the end of the match.

    Very soon after this, the match ended with Miyamoto rolling up Tsukada for the three count. This was definitely a step down in terms of overall quality compared to the last match, but it absolutely served its purpose well and showed that both Miyamoto and Tsukada had been developing themselves into becoming more suitable as wrestlers than solely being different style fighters.

Rating: B-

Kei Tsukada vs. Takeshi Miyamoto (Go Gundan 01/16/1996)

    I'm not even going to give a preamble or anything. This match was fucking phenomenal. Miyamoto and Tsukada both had a perfect understanding of how best to blend pro wrestling and martial arts at this point, and the crowd at this show were red hot for this match, resulting in one of the best different style fights I've ever seen.

    Tsukada was absolutely on fire here. At this point in his career he's integrated spinning backfists into his moveset and jesus christ they're disgusting. He's also still doing the diving punches which the crowd love, as well as throwing some of the hardest punches I've ever seen him throw, busting Miyamoto's nose open with the combination shown below.

    Miyamoto absolutely responded in kind however. He blasted Tsukada throughout the match with his signature kicks, mostly targeting the stomach this time around and probably giving Tsukada digestive issues for the rest of his life. This culminated in an amazing moment where Miyamoto was seemingly down for the count and Tsukada turned away to start celebrating, before Miyamoto did this:

    Miyamoto at this point had also introduced powerbombs into his arsenal, and my lord was he destroying Tsukada with those powerbombs. Most of them were borderline deadlifting too, which really goes to show how insanely powerful Miyamoto was. Eventually, the match ended with Miyamoto hitting a final disgusting powerbomb, only for the bell to ring before he could get a 3 count, ending the match in a time limit draw.

    I said it at the beginning but it bears repeating, this match was fucking wonderful. Possibly the best match these two ever had, a perfect example of the pure violence these types of matches can produce and more proof that CMA Gym was filled with killers.

Rating: A