The Urban Ken Archive #2

(Written by yeelord)

    And we're back! I've watched another three Urban Ken matches and oh boy, these are some banger matchups! Unfortunately I can only provide one link as the other two are confidential. I think you'll enjoy the link I have provided though, as it's certainly a must-watch matchup.

    At this point in Kenny's career, he's made quite the name for himself, and it shows in how much he shines at this point. He's a very simple, yet very exciting wrestler that's worth all of your time! With this said, let's get into the matches

Daijiro Matsui vs. Urban Ken (BattlARTS: Nov. 26, 2000) Watch

   It's the battle of the matching gears as PRIDE's (and Takada Dojo's) own Daijiro Matsui takes on our boy who's sporting some new gear! The new gear won't last long, which is a shame as I kind of prefer it over his longer trunks. Ken has packed a lot more energy on this night and it shows as soon as the bell rings. 

    Yes, Urban Ken just speared Daijiro fucking Matsui across the damn ring... and it really sets the pace for this match. The only time this match slows down is when Daijiro leaves the ring to catch a breath. Even then, he teep kicks Ikuto Hidaka for no apparent reason other than because he can! Daijiro proved that he can be a menace if you try to take things on the mat throwing punch after punch. The ref has to separate him but he wouldn't comply. Ken does his usual schtick but Daijiro was quick to adapt to all of it. Quickly he applies a beautiful Rear Naked Choke to Ken which forces the tap out. Absolutely gloriously booked matchup in which both men got both of their shit in, it was back and forth up until the end, and had everything I could ever ask for in a match. Wondering how long this match went? 4:50. Four minutes, fifty seconds. This is quite possibly the best sub-five minute match in wrestling history. Go check this out right now!

Rating: 9/10 (Amazing) 

Alexander Otsuka vs. Urban Ken (BattlARTS: Dec. 3, 2000)

    Huge match for Kenny! He's going up against one of what I call the "Big Three of BattlARTS". The other two being Yuki Ishikawa and Daisuke Ikeda. Yes, I'm aware Ikeda was in NOAH at this point, but still. Anyway, this match went nothing like I had expected it to go. In fact, KENNY is the one who dominates this match! Yes! Almost the entire match is just Kenny showing us why he was an absolute unit not to be underestimated. Unfortunately for Otsuka, that's what he had done, underestimated. For about 5 minutes straight Ken is just giving everything to Otsuka. All of his signatures were in play here. That is until Otsuka thought to himself "Wait, what the hell am I doing?" and bonks Ken with a headbutt, sending him crashing to the mat. Otsuka had taken back his ring, locking Ken in a brutal looking half crab. Not too long afterwards Otsuka made Ken tap. Loved this match, especially when you're doing this specifically to watch Ken. This is a great match if you want to get a feel for Ken's moveset, I recommend checking this match out if you know where to find it

Rating: 7/10 (Great step in Ken's short career)

Hisakatsu Oya vs. Urban Ken (FMW: Feb. 23, 2001)

    Wait, FMW? Yes, Urban Ken had only worked 2 more matches for BattlARTS before going out on his own for a little bit before retiring. He did a few dates for Big Japan Pro Wrestling before making his way to FMW where he worked the entire Winning Road 2001 tour. Before then, he made his debut here at the very last day of the Cluster Battle 2001 tour taking on fellow matwork hero Hisakatsu Oya. The commentators are shocked at the arrival, surprisingly enough and Kenny's even sporting some new ring gear; a Dog Collar with a very long chain, classic.

    Onto the match... I don't really have to say about it. It was very back and forth and submission heavy. They didn't do much else besides trade submissions. I'll admit it got a bit boring after a while until Ken decided that he had enough of that and starting doing his slaps and spears. That didn't last very long either as Oya had caught him with a beautiful Backdrop for the three count. Slow, a bit boring in the beginning, but toward the end Ken had picked up the pace. Decent enough match if you love slow wrestling, though!

Rating: 6/10 (Very slow for the first 5 minutes)

    

The Urban Ken Archive #1

 (Written by yeelord)

    If you've never heard of Urban Ken, I don't blame you. his career only spanned a little under 2 years (1999-2001) and he was incredibly outshined by the rising stars of BattlARTS. However, even though he didn't do anything of note, that's not to take away from his wrestling ability. In fact, he's one of the most underrated wrestlers of BattlARTS' long history. In this post I'll be reviewing EVERY SINGLE match of his that were taped.

Ryuji Hijikata vs. Kenny (May ??, 2000)

    I might as well zip past this one since I had just saw that this was taped as I was typing the introduction. Samurai only gave us about 30 seconds of this match but it well showcased the future Urban Ken. He scored a good takedown on Hijikata before securing the Cross Armbar victory!

Rating - ??/10 (Too clipped to rate)

Takeshi Ono/Ryuji Hijikata vs. junji.com/Urban Ken (Sep. 7, 2000)

    This was a very fun, quick matchup packed with a lot of heat behind it for no reason other than because it's BattlARTS. Ono and Hijikata bring in their striking game and proves to serve them well against the two. Our boy Urban Ken is still sticking with his quick and great mat-work offense, putting in hold after hold. lots of great tag team moves being done here. With all that being said there, they might have been working a bit too fast for their own good as there were a couple moves being sloppily thrown together. Fortunately, that doesn't take away how good this match was though. Very tough to think that all 4 of these guys would have a very "under the radar" future ahead of them...

Rating - 7/10 (Very fun match!)

Naoki Sano/Naoyuki Taira vs. Katsumi Usuda/Urban Ken (Sep. 10, 2000)

    20 minute Urban Ken match, oh boy! Can't wait to watch 20 minutes of Urban Ken kicking ass? well... you're not going to get that. You see, this is one of those matches were somebody has to take the bulk of the damage, and unfortunately for us, it's the smallest man in the match Urban Ken. He has slight bursts of offense here and there. Mainly busting out his signatures (The Spear, Slaps, and the occasional Headbutt) but for the most part, he's getting the ever loving piss beaten out of him. The rest of the match is good, specifically Taira's flashy kicks and good slams (His background is Shootboxing). Usuda is a killer as per usual. And Sano brings in the more traditional Pro-Wrestling into the mix. The match ends with Sano making Kenny tap to a Boston Crab, the ol' "Young Boy Finish". All in all, it's genuinely a great match and worth your time if you need 22 minutes to kill.

Rating - 7/10 (Great match)