superkix

Liger and Samurai working dirty, rubbing wrist tape in eyeballs and breaking tag rules. Throw in a fiery babyfaced Murahama with his stiff kicks and submissions and hometown Osaka hero, Super Delphin, doing what Super Delphin always does, and you're in for a neat treat. The exchanges between Liger and Muraham are the definite highlight of the match, and boy, does anyone hit a better tilt-a-whirl backbreaker than Liger? He also powerbombs the shit out of Delphin later in the match. At one point, Liger has Murahama in a leglock and Murahama's trying to slap his way out of it and Liger pokes him in the eyes! Classic heel. Samurai and Delphin are the weaker links of the match but Samurai does hit a sweet jumping piledriver on Murahama. Liger sells Murahama's submissions so well and really gets the crowd behind the younger shooter. When he's working the arm late in the match, utilizing the double wristlock against Liger, it's pretty great. In the end, he takes out Samurai with a somersault plancha which allows Delphin to hit a weak ass swinging DDT on Liger and a pair of shoteis for the satisfying victory.

Another pretty good showing from baby Shibata. This time, he tries to catch Minoru off guard with the plancha to the outside. I really liked that when Minoru tried the same tricks he used in their previous match, Shibata was well-prepared, avoiding the kneebar takedown and bridging out of the armlock attempt. He also hits some BIG moves including a top rope bulldog and a German suplex hold for a pretty great nearfall. He one counts a high kick to the head and gets a couple of roll up two counts but Minoru ends up submitting him with the crab hold like a true young lion.

Shibata's been wrestling for less than 2 years at this point and Minoru is a day away from defending the jr. title against Murahama. Decent match with a fun little finishing stretch. Shibata shows off what submission holds he knows early on before Minoru snaps him over with a suplex and starts working the arm. He lays into him with stiff kicks and Shibata shows off that classic tenacity, asking for more. Shibata's still rough around the edges but toward the end, he gets a nice transition from the kneebar into the STF. The finish was cool asMinoru re-applies the kneebar after a swanky takedown and keeps pulling Shibata away from the ropes until he taps out.

This is Yuta Yoshikawa's retirement from professional wrestling. Sadly, Yoshikawa had a short-lived career but boy oh boy, did he go out with a bang -- a lot of bangs. I remember watching this match when it first popped up online and it quickly became one of my favorite tag team matches...and it still is. These guys work an incredibly stiff pace for over 25 minutes and it's insane. Hidaka working in a shoot-style setting is one of my favorite things to watch because the cat is super slick on the mat with his counters and his wily kicks. He and Usuda focus on the submission attempts while Sawa and the retiring Yoshikawa kick the shit out of each other. The selling was really convincing throughout, especially from Hidaka and Yoshikawa, who takes an absolute beating but is still exhaustively swinging away. There are countless brutal strikes, nasty suplexes, including a big dragon from Sawa, and an emotional finish, as Sawa kicks Yoshikawa in the head and Yoshikawa struggles to make it back to his feet before the ten count. Instead of letting him get counted down and moving on with his day, Sawa stops the ref, urging Yoshikawa to get up and keep fighting. And he gets up, he’s all fired up, slapping everyone, including his own partner, before he and Sawa thrash each other a bit longer and Sawa knocks him out with a punch. One of the best BattlARTS matches and a personal all-time favorite.

Is there a better surly old man team than Fujiwara & Fuchi? Probably not and as one might expect, they ruled this match. Unfortunately, it was clipped but you get all the highlights: Nagai and Fujiwara smacking each other silly, Fujiwara and Fuchi faking tag outs, Fuchi wishbone-ing the hell out of Kakihara, with Fujiwara coming in to assist. Brutal looking spot sold well by Kakihara. There are plenty of Fujiwara headbutts, a backdrop by Fuchi, but then the underdogs get some reprieve, with Kakihara taking out Fuchi with the Kakicutter and submitting him with the jujigatame following a double team. I could watch Fuchi and Fujiwara stretch and fuck people up all day long.

This was a lot of fun, and I'm always into a condensed Taue bombfest, with him giving Misawa everything he has in the arsenal while also playing smart defense and avoiding a lot of Misawa's offense. Taue always knows how to make the most of what he's dishing out to get the fans behind him. The chokeslam from the rampway onto the table was pretty gnarly, and I liked his clothesline wristhold into the back-to-back chokeslams. He keeps squashing Misawa's momentum until Misawa starts firing off elbows from all directions, ultimately finishing off Taue with the Emerald Flowsion.

When it comes to the BattlARTS bati-bati-boys, I've always gravitated toward Yamamoto, whose matwork and transitions were slick as catshit. Sawa can definitely hold his own on the mat and I actually prefer him working the ground as opposed to throwing baseball punches and Shining Wizards. Really good grappling to open with lots of reversals. There's a great moment when Yamamoto starts elbowing Sawa while he's got him by the legs, which allows him to grab the arm submission. Of course, there's plenty of stiff kicks and face slaps as the match progresses. Yamamoto's defense is really good early, especially in blocking the figure-four attempt. Sawa's dragon screw legwhip into the ropes was one of the more gnarly spots of the match, which he follows up with a bunch of pissy kicks. When Sawa lands his baseball punch, Yamamoto doesn't go down but when he tries for a follow up, Yamamoto smacks him and his his own submarine-style baseball slap. In the end, Sawa wins with a neat trapped kneebar but this match had it all, from the struggle on the mat, cool counters, and stiff exchanges in between.

Short and sweet hate-fueled action backed by a hot Budokan crowd. Ogawa wants Misawa but Rikio says "you gotta get through me" so Ogawa takes in Murakami, who goes nutzo on Rikio with punches. When Misawa gets the tag, he starts popping Murakami with elbows and the fans are losing it. Ogawa comes in but Misawa tags out, building the anticipation for their first exchange, and boy does Rikio piss off Ogawa. Ogawa straight up punches him in the face a bunch, hits a judo throw and when he gets into the front mount, Misawa comes in and elbows him off. The Misawa/Ogawa interactions were a bit of a letdown but in an awesome moment, Ogawa has Misawa in a front mount, tap-tapping him with punches, and from out of nowhere, Rikio bulldozes him off. The finish was interesting, with Murakami attacking Misawa and goading him on, which leads to Misawa hitting a rolling series of backdrop suplexes, holding the third for the pinfall.

Pretty much evenly matched throughout, with them going through their usual routine. I liked the back-and-forth struggle for the Tiger Driver/Exploder, with Misawa hitting the double arm suplex when Akiyama struggles too much. That Tiger Driver on the floor was gnarly and then Akiyama answers with an Exploder on the floor. I liked the collision at the restart and the finish was interesting -- a good match with a couple of great moments.

One of the most atmospheric matches I’ve ever seen and probably my favorite deathmatch. Love the visual of Kudo’s hair blowing in the outdoor breeze like the calm before the storm. The mounting tension and the rope teases were all really well done, with the crowd ooh’ing and ahh’ing with each attempt. The shot in the crowd of Onita hiding his tears was incredible. There's a point in the match where Kudo is shoved into the barbed wire and the way she's hanging there with blood trickling down her arms like she's been crucified is quite surreal. Loved the moment when they both collapse into the exploding wire and the aftermath of them trying to get up to their feet, only to be followed by Kudo destroying Toyoda with brutal bombs to finish her off. Everything post-match just adds to the overall experience. Awesome stuff.

Pretty fun tag match with plenty of good chemistry between all four guys, especially Sawa and Otsuka. Sawa does a really good job of selling the danger of Otsuka’s suplexes. There was good heat between Sawa and Sasaki after some shenanigans but I also really liked the subplot of Yoshikawa being brash and all up in Sasaki’s face. Sadly, Otsuka wasn’t in this all that match but the finish was the best part of this match. Real stiff exchanges between Sawa and Sasaki as Sasaki tries to hulk his way through the some nasty head kicks before ultimately succumbing.

I really liked the old-school late 1970's feel to the hybridized style of BattlARTS, with Nagai playing the mean surly veteran and laying it into the spunky Sawa. Classic psychology and showmanship combined with stiff kicks and submission attempts. Sawa hangs with him awhile on the mat before Nagai takes over, working him with hard kicks and leg holds. While Sawa's in-the-moment selling is good, Nagai's grunting and yelling as he exerts more pressure on the holds really gets the crowd behind Sawa's eventual escapes. Great escalation of back half with tons of nasty strikes and suplexes and by the end of it, that total exhaustion factor that plays so well into many BattlARTS matches. Loved the final knee strike from Nagai and Sawa’s selling on the ten count with the fans firmly behind him. Really great match.

BattlARTS matches, especially tag matches, have almost no structure. It’s just worked at an incredibly stiff pace with so much going on, it can be overwhelming. Tons and tons of nasty strikes in this one. Yoshikawa being the baby gets worked over the most, his leg being targeted and whenever he tries to fight back, they take advantage of that leg. There’s an awesome four person submission hold spot.The selling is whatever but that tends to be the case with a lot shoot-style/hybrid style match-ups. Hidaka and Ishikawa did a lot of fun counter wrestling and when Sawa’s in there against Ishikawa, he’s just blasting him with gnarly kicks to the head and face. But Sawa also takes it hard to Yoshikawa, especially during the final stretch. Yoshikawa keeps coming back for more, slugging away, slapping faces, getting slapped int he face. And then the actual finish saw some of the most brutal strikes, as Hidaka tries to take off Ishikawa's head with a high kick which allows Sawa to get the grounded octopus hold for the win. Violence escalated.

I'd say on average 3-5 hours. I mainly watch at night after my wife's gone to bed.

Tons of neat little things throughout, nasty strikes and suplexes, blood, finger biting, and zero shits given from the man, Hideki Suzuki. I love how Nomura keeps slapping away Sekimoto's hands as he's trying to reach in...only to then straight up slap Daisuke in the face. When Abe's in there against Suzuki, he's trying to get something on him but Hideki is too big so it's easy to get out. There's an awesome counter out of the armbar by Abe but when he tries for the armbar, Hideki maneuvers up to his feet and stomps Abe's face to break the hold, which may or may not have busted open Abe's lip. Hideki's still a dick from the apron, kicking Abe's foot off the ropes while he's in there against Sekimoto and then coming in and giving him some more shitty little kicks while he's down. Hideki biting Abe's fingers and casually tagging out to Sekimoto was a definite highlight of the match. Abe does a good job of slipping out of Hideki's single leg crab attempt and tags in Nomura, who comes at Hideki with kicks until Hideki catches a leg and capture suplexes him. Loved Nomura's pissy strikes in the corner, with him straight punching Hideki in the face! There's a pretty sweet double team into the reverse armbar by Nomura, with Abe climbing onto Sekimoto with an octopus hold. But Sekimoto powers over to kick Nomura off Hideki before dumping Abe. Then it's total destruction time for the big boys, as Hideki kills Nomura with a release dragon suplex, they Steinerize Abe to eliminate him form the equation, and finally finish off Nomura with the Sekimoto German into the Hideki double arm suplex.

Hey, it's Kimura from RINGS not wrestling a 30 minute draw but something much more exciting! He's more aggressive with the submissions, going after Sawa's arm, fighting through Sawa's slaps and firing back with kicks and dirty stomps to beat him down in order to attack the arm with holds. Even when Sawa mounts a little comeback with the baseball punch and tries to choke him out, Kimura judo throws him down and goes back to the armbar. Good back-and-forth struggle toward the end before Kimura busts out some nasty rear mount headbutts and knee drops. He's able to block the Shining Wizard but Sawa snags him in a triangle for the submission. Fun match.

These two had been feuding through the last half of 2009 so I wanted to see them go all out and...well, they kinda get there by the end of it. After a little comedic exchanges, Sasaki starts targeting the leg and countering a lot of Sawa’s offense with leglocks and kneebars. Really cool work from Sasaki but the end is where the violence definitely escalates, as they start slapping each other and than straight up punching each other in the head, with Sasaki busting Sawa open with a shot. Sawa’s kicks are nasty toward the end and he's able to cinch in the grounded octopus for the win.

This was pretty fun, with Saito trying to hang with bad boys Sawa and Fujita with his skinny arms and weak kicks. I guess the story is Saito trying to find the courage/strength/fire to fight the off. I like that Sawa still wants to fight with Saito even when he's on the apron. Between Sawa thunking him with headbutts and Fujita kicking the shit out of him, dragging him away from his own corner, Saito stays on the rocks. Saito tries to fight out but Hayato drills him with more headbutts and a nasty kick to the head. Tiger Shark is decent here and snaps off a few kicks but this is all about Saito wanting to get a little revenge. And it is little. Fujita dumps him with suplexes and takes turns with Sawa punting poor Saito with penalty kicks. Saito's able to land a few headbutts of his own to Sawa bu tin the end, Sawa submits him with the STF.

These two had one of my favorite DDT matches of 2017 and once again, these two proved that their in-ring chemistry is a key to success. I've always had a soft spot for HARASHIMA's matwork, which usually doesn't go anywhere but when it's happening, I dig it. His leg trip to KUDO from the ground was especially neat. HARASHIMA is also one of the more frustrating sellers but when he's on, he's on, and here, he was on. He eats a spinning back kick to the face and I loved him immediately bailing to the outside after making it to his feet before the ten count...only for KUDO to take him out with a big dive! KUDO kicks hard and he kicked a lot in this match. His head kick toward the end of the match looked real nasty. In fact, there were quite a few strike exchanges throughout, from elbows to kicks to slaps, but everything was snug. KUDO is able to hit the hanging double knees, HARASHIMA hits the reverse frankensteiner. I really liked pulling a page from Yuko Miyamoto's playbook and spiking KUDO with the Fire Thunder Driver before finishing him off with the Somato. One of my favorite DDT matches of 2018.

This was a pretty hot-cold match, especially during the early goings. After Kawada nosedives Mutoh with the overhead suplex counter, he starts wearing down Mutoh's neck, which in theory and execution, was cool but Mutoh blows it off for the most part. Loved Kawada's running boot in the corner and the way Mutoh sold it. Wada stopping a frustrated Mutoh from using the chair was pretty great, too. Of course, Mutoh works the leg in the last third of the match and we get a bunch of pretty great dropkicks targeting Kawada everywhere. Mutoh refuses to break the figure-four after a ropebreak and Kawada's selling is better than anything else he does regarding the leg. Didn't care for the final act, other than Mutoh's nasty dragon screw legwhip>proto Shining Wizard combo. This had its moments but on a whole, it wasn't that great.

Yeah, I'm more in line with Childs here. I thought this was okay -- the stuff between Hashimoto and Inoue was easily the most interesting interactions. Honda headbutting Hashimoto was cool, and Inoue's selling was pretty great, whether it was getting punched in the throat by Yasuda or chopped down by Hashimoto. The finish sucked though.

This was pretty good but like a lot of BattlARTS matches, all over the fucking place and hard to keep track of. After a heated opening of slaps and kicks, Hayato throws a few suplexes, looking for his hanging guillotine. Meanwhile, Sawa spends much of the match trying to lock in the figure-four. Tons of strikes, with Sawa getting busted open at one point, but he's finally able to ground Hayato with the figure-four. Hayato tries slapping his way out of it but Sawa keeps applying the pressure until Hayato submits.

Lots of counterwork by Ishikawa to open, mixed with some hard strikes and Sawa trying to be a little flashier than usual, only to get taken down by Ishikawa into some kind of submission hold. It's the story of the master schooling the former pupil, knowing what to counter when. I like that at one point, Sawa escapes a leg hold by punching Ishikawa in the face a bunch. There are a ton of hard slaps to the face, Sawa dumps Ishikawa with a dragon suplex, and then the finish is pretty great, as they're both exhausted, throwing out whatever they have left in the tank. Ishikawa catches a kick and turns it into his sweet leg-trap German but Sawa won't stay down so Ishikawa punches him, kicks him head, and then continually headbutts him in the back of the skull until the ref calls for the bell.

Togo was pretty dang great as the dick rudo in his match against Billy Ken Kid. I mean, he attacks Kid in the midst of his streamers, beating him up on the outside and hitting a senton from the ramp to the floor. He badmouths fans, he poses in the corner, he teases the removal of Kid's mask and then just starts ripping it apart. Straight rudo activity. Kid finally gets a little reprieve by taking out Togo and crew with a beautiful tope con hilo, then busts Togo open with a corner dropkick. He can't build enough momentum to put Togo away and when he tries for another dive, he flies straight into a steel chair, which allows Togo to rip the mask completely off, proudly displaying it for the crowd. Kid's trying to stay covered with a towel but when he's finally thrown a new mask, he enters superhero mode. The match lulls for a bit here until Togo hits an RKO out of nowhere! He busts out all the signatures, including the Pedigree>diving senton combo but Kid survives, busting out all of HIS signatures before putting Togo away for good with the Firebird Splash. Dick Togo rules but Kid's a fun babyface in peril.