superkix

The final card for 2/25's "HIGH KICK FANTASIA" has been released and features the promotion's first six-man tag match, in addition to several other singles matches. KIMERA "HIGH KICK FANTASIA", 2/25 Ariake Colosseum 1. Strong Rules: Shiro Koshinaka, Shinjiro Ohtani & Akira Nogami & vs. Yuki Ishikawa, Yoshinari Ogawa & Osamu Nishimura 2. KIMERA Openweight Tag Team Title Tournament - Semi-Final: Chris Jericho & Lance Storm vs. Masahito Kakihara & Mitsuya Nagai 3. Hybrid Rules: Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yusuke Fuke 4. KIMERA Openweight Tag Team Title Tournament - Semi-Final: Dan Severn & Bart Vale vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Yuji Nagata 5. Catch Rules: Grom Zaza vs. Kazuo Takahashi 6. Hybrid Rules: Dick Vrij vs. Tatsuo Nakano 7. Strong Rules: Bob Backlund vs. Minoru Suzuki 8. Catch Rules: Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Masakatu Funaki 9. Hybrid Rules: Akira Maeda vs. Kazuo Yamazaki 10. KIMERA Jr. Heavyweight Title - Strong Rules: Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Masanobu Fuchi 11. KIMERA Openweight Tag Team Title Tournament - Final: 12. KIMERA Heavyweight Title - Strong Rules: Vader © vs. Hiroshi Hase

And trash trash of course. Generated by trash people.

The world is not trash. People are trash.

The second in their March '77 trilogy and the longest, drawing at 60:00. Although it's not as cohesive or memorable as their 3/5 match, it's still as good as you'd expect. The build to Billy's double arm suplex is a fun little narrative that threads its way through the match. Robinson stays in control through much of the first fall, working the headlock, transitioning to the back with suplexes and stretches, finally switching to the leg before Jumbo pins Billy following his own double arm suplex! Jumbo stays on Billy's back during the second fall, whipping him into corners (sold brilliantly by Billy) and putting him in a crab hold -- but Billy spikes Jumbo with a killer cradle tombstone to even the score. In the final fall, Billy keeps targeting the neck with a neckbreaker and another tombstone, finally hitting the double arm suplex to no avail. Things break down toward the end, as they engage in back-and-forth spats and spill out of the ring often. The final stretch with a frustrating Jumbo trying everything to finish off Billy, including TWO double arm suplexes, was great, and even after the bell rings the draw, Jumbo's pissed and still attacking Billy. What a series so far.

Robinson’s a lot of fun to watch in the ring, whether he’s schooling someone on the canvas or playing defense, looking for a way out of a predicament. Seems like a rare feat to be able to make a seven minute headlock struggle captivating but Robinson is able to pull it off masterfully. I go back to this often but like any good novel, I appreciate the little attentions to detail. The movements, the strategy, the methods of approach that add a sense of intelligence to any pro-wrestling match. Little things like Billy’s hip attack to stun Jumbo before taking him over with the hip toss, or figuring out a way to escape a side headlock that is unique and effective, not doing the same flopping thing over and over again.The 1970’s stuff feels animated at times, especially in some of Robinson’s more theatrical bumping around and selling, but it’s the matwork and counterwork that keeps me engaged, even if there’s no long-term continuity to it. During the first fall, Robinson is relentless with his attacking Jumbo’s neck, throwing his weight onto it, delivering a vicious neckbreaker. There’s an unstable nature to the match, to a lot of these early Japanese match-ups in general, with the teased strikes and suplexes, boiling up to an explosive third fall. After Jumbo wins the first fall following a pair of running bulldogs, he stays on Billy’s neck to start the second fall, leading to the prolonged headlock struggle with some really neat reversal attempts, like Robinson bridging with the chancery hold. Thesecond fall is a slow burn but it picks up, as Billy’s able to find his way out with a backdrop and evens the score with a backbreaker. He keeps after Jumbo’s back with a side suplex, a second backbreaker and a crab hold, and when that doesn’t get him to submit, Robinson begins chopping his neck out of frustration. Loved that. Jumbo fires off some suplexes but Robinson, who had managed to slink through much of this match, comes away with the victory after countering the O'Connor Roll. Awesome match, one of my very favorites from the 70's.

Here's the direct LINK. https://fightingnetworkfriends.podiant.co/e/360b5feae46b60/ to stream, or subscribe to the RSS feed. You can also search us on Apple Podcasts. FNF 013: The Violent Ballad of Ikeda & Ishikawa We are back to two and back talkin' about FEUDS! We FINALLY delve pretty deep into BattlArts here by talking the signature feud - Yuki Ishikawa and Daisuke Ikeda, wrecking each other's faces.There is also an ALL TIME CLASSIC in the 3rd segment. Topics discussed: - Brennan's Flu - Andy's new employment! - What we've been watching in our own lives (not much!) - Talkin' Tetsujin and EURO SHOOT Vs. Shoot Style - Brennan is in The Atomic Elbow zine - go buy a copy. & More Matches: We are covering 8 of the 12ish singles matches Ishikawa and Ikeda have had in their career and most are available on our Youtube page. 1/17/18 - BJW - Takuya Nomura vs. Fuminori Abe 12/11/17 - Defiant Wrestling - David Starr vs. Chris Brookes 6/12/86 - NJPW - Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Akira Maeda 3/20/92 - PWFG - Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Bart Vale Youtube Playlist: http://tinyurl.com/fnf013 Follow us on Twitter: @fightfriends @trillyrobinson @bren_patrick Email at: [email protected] Instagram: @fightnetworkfriends Youtube at: http://tinyurl.com/FightFriends

This was a fun squash and Kikuchi's at his best when he's playing the fired up underdog. Takayama no selling the leg lariats and then destroying Kikuchi was great, as well as Kikuchi's optimistic armwork, including the hanging armbar. Not quite as brutal as I was anticipating but still a dominant performance from Takayama.

Robinson is awesome here. Not to sell Baba short, he was great too, but Robinson’s performance was fantastic. From the apprehension he conveys about locking up with Baba, maintaining a certain distance and treating him like a major threat throughout the match, to his movements, his takedowns, his quick snakebite strikes to the legs. He tries to overwhelm Baba rather than get tangled up in his spindly limbs, chopping him down at the knees. I’ve said it a million times but it’s the little things that add up and Robinson is a master at incorporating them into his matches. The way he pushes his weight back onto Baba’s chinlock in order to pin his shoulders to the mat, or cranking Baba’s leg over his own head, using it as a battering ram to weaken the leg. When Baba realizes Billy’s not going to tie up with him, he starts slapping and chopping away, picking up the first fall after a backdrop. Robinson sells Baba’s strikes so well, making them look extra painful, trying in vain to block them. He starts firing back on offense, hitting a gnarly neckbreaker, and when he’s unsuccessful with the double arm suplex attempts, Robinson takes out the leg and quickly submits Baba with a single leg crab to even the score. And he doesn’t let up, hitting leg enziguris at the start of the third fall, once again trying to submit him before Baba builds any momentum. At one point, Billy drapes Baba’s leg on the ropes and executes a tope onto the leg through the ropes, causing them both to tumble outside! By the end of this thing, Robinson is delivering everything he can in his arsenal to down the giant, including an impressive backbreaker, but when he runs into the neckbreaker drop, it’s game over, emphasizing once again the danger that is Baba and how every move could be the last.

Prime time Terry with his Looney Tunes selling and Amarillo, Texas-style, forearm-grinding limbwork. Terrific first fall, as Terry controls early on, working the arm and building to Tsuruta’s inevitable escape, and when it happens, you can see just how hard Funk fought to keep Jumbo in check as he’s out of breath and sweaty. Now Jumbo’s got Terry on the Rocks and I love Funk working to shake Tsuruta off, firing off knight-edged chops and trying to toss him over the ropes only for Jumbo to hold onto the arm and bring him back into the ring. Funk tries to find an opening with an atomic drop but Jumbo scouts the elbow drop and arm drags him back down to the mat, holding on. Just a great sense of struggle throughout. Funk finally delivers the double arm suplex but Jumbo’s too fast for him and pins him with the sunset flip. Between falls, Terry is selling the arm on the outside and back inside the ring, he knows he has to put some distance between he and Jumbo, so Funk cheap shots him during the lock up. Terry focuses on the neck for the second fall, hitting a swinging neckbreaker and a piledriver before he goes to the sleeper hold. The finish here is awesome, as they fight over an abdominal stretch which leads to Funk scoring the second fall following his rolling cradle. By the third fall, the tactical approach is thrown out the window and two go back-and-forth trading suplexes. With all these big bombs being thrown, I thought the finish of the match was a little disappointing, as Terry catches Jumbo throat-first on the ropes and pins him, but it did the trick. Awesome match and build to that explosive third fall.

The first fall of this match is about fifteen of the most beautiful minutes of professional wrestling I’ve seen, combining Destroyer’s methodical old-school approach with the lucha elegante matwork of Máscaras. With Destroyer, every movement has significance, every strain or expression conveys meaning. The transitions, reversals, counters, evasions, and takedowns are all so masterfully executed, not only from Destroyer, but Máscaras as well, who seems more in his element on the canvas than pinballing around the ring. While "Woken Twitter" is quick to proclaim wrestling as an art form over an impressive but largely meaningless aerobatics display, the way these two seamlessly thread their exchanges together throughout the match is a testament to the thought and sensibility put into the telling of a clever, believable in-ring story. There’s something special about the way Destroyer rolls the audience around the palm of his hand like putty, whether it’s his comical “No-no-no-no-no-no”s during Mil’s standing surfboard or the fear he instills when he’s attacking the leg to set-up the figure-four leglock. During the first fall, Máscaras seems as if he's in a perpetual state of change, the way he watches for variations in Destroyer’s step, reading his energy levels and transitioning accordingly if something isn’t working. The sequences are, again, a thing of beauty. As they head toward the finish of the first fall, Máscaras starts to build some momentum as his speed overwhelms Destroyer but when he slips up, Destroyer takes full advantage, driving him headfirst into the corner and following up with the knees to the neck to take the first fall. He lives up to his namesake by continuing to destroy Mil’s neck with elbows, knees, and a neckbreaker into the second fall, which didn't really work, out, as Mil ends up taking the second fall via a flying crossbody. The third fall brings back the fear of the figure-four as Destroyer goes after Mil’s leg a wild dog and when he finally locks it in, the arena freaks the fuck out. Destroyer built such a great atmosphere around it and this final fall features some of Máscaras best selling. Mil gets in plenty of offense with his flying around and his scoop-style suplexes, and the non-finish wasn’t ideal but it also kept in tune with the general unpredictability of the match.

Yatsu is such a heel here, it's terrific, and Nakano shows a ton of fire, coming out of the gate against Fuyuki like he's got a lit bottle rocket up his ass. When Fuyuki's had it with him, he pummels him with pissy little headbutts. Tenryu gets in there and chops the hell out of him and when the kid smacks back at Tenryu, Tenryu promptly shuts him down in grumpy fashion. Loved how Nakano pounds away at Tenryu after he breaks the pin attempt. The hate between Yatsu and Tenryu is on full display. When Fuyuji heats up on offense and gets the big tag to Tenryu, Tenryu murder chops Nakano to set up the diving back elbow drop but Yatsu pulls Nakano out of the way to massive heat from the fans. Tenryu's still able to hit it a bit later but Yatsu breaks up the count. Then he brings out the chair, attacking Fuyuki and Tenryu. The fans are going nuts as Fuyuki sacrifices his body to protect Tenryu from the chairshots. Then Yatsu busts Fuyuki open with a headshit and the fans have had it, throwing garbage into the ring. But in the end, Tenryu is able to lariat Nakano and deliver the powerbomb to send the fans home happy.

This had some fun moments, and I especially thought Sano's performance here was great. Really dug the opening exchange between he and Usuda. Ken is a pretty good scrappy underdog, although unrefined and some of his exchanges with Taira were clutzy. But I liked whenever Taira was playing the dick and goading him on. Sano showed off a bunch during this match, with some big bombs and swanky submission holds on Ken, including a cool double arm hold and the Romero Special into the dragon sleeper. Usuda/Taira didn't have great chemistry but Usuda in general looked good here. Ken firing up after he hits the spear on Sano was good stuff and then Sano destroys him with that powerbomb and really wants to submit him with the crab hold, trying three times before finally succeeding.

This build to Murakami/Ishikawa has been fantastic and while their interactions here were an obvious highlight, I really enjoyed the feisty exchanges between Murakami and Malenko. Nagai was fine here, landing some pretty stiff kicks and throwing some big bombs to bring in Murakami for the finish. And that finish was great, as Murakami just fucks Malenko up for the KO, which leads to the post-match scuffle. Fun stuff.

As Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki continue on their journey of 'mastering' the different styles, the two will be in action on 2/25 against two veterans of the strong and catch styles. Suzuki will meet Bob Backlund under "Strong Rules" while Funaki will go toe-to-toe with Yoshiaki Fujiwara under "Catch Rules". And after Kazuo Yamazaki challenged Akira Maeda to a match last month, Maeda has accepted the challenge and will face Yamazaki under "Hybrid Rules" at "HIGH KICK FANTASIA". KIMERA "HIGH KICK FANTASIA", 2/25 Ariake Colosseum 1. KIMERA Openweight Tag Team Title Tournament - Semi-Final: Chris Jericho & Lance Storm vs. Masahito Kakihara & Mitsuya Nagai 2. KIMERA Openweight Tag Team Title Tournament - Semi-Final: Dan Severn & Bart Vale vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Yuji Nagata 3. Strong Rules: Bob Backlund vs. Minoru Suzuki 4. Catch Rules: Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Masakatu Funaki 5. Hybrid Rules: Akira Maeda vs. Kazuo Yamazaki 6. KIMERA Jr. Heavyweight Title - Strong Rules: Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Masanobu Fuchi 7. KIMERA Openweight Tag Team Title Tournament - Final: 8. KIMERA Heavyweight Title - Strong Rules: Vader © vs. Hiroshi Hase

A fun, fast-paced 15:00 exhibition between two junior heavyweight hosses, full of double stomps, somersault sentons, and open-hand slaps. Hamaguchi plays the bastard grump to Inoue’s plucky protagonist, smacking and boxing Inoue’s ears, gouging his eyes, and at one point, tossing him clear out of the ring in frustration. Inoue has a lot of unique offense for a 1973 match and I liked his early neckwork with the springboard and headscissors takedowns, and that rolling necksnap. After he avoids a top rope legdrop from Hamaguchi, Inoue hits an atomic drop and a somersault senton but when he tries for a second, Animal has him scouted out. He tries to submit Mighty with the crab hold but Inoue is able to roll him up for the victory.

While not nearly on the same pedestal as their 1969 masterpiece, this match showed how the Destroyer can turn a prolonged headlock-dominated first fall into something entertaining. Baba isn’t the most engaging on the mat but Destroyer not only does a solid job selling Baba’s headlock but when the roles are reversed, Destroyer makes the headlock interesting. Whether it’s wrenching Baba’s head back and forth, using his knees to tenderize, or springboarding off the ropes with the takedown, Destroyer breathes life into an otherwise lackluster first fall. He’s jaw jacking to the fans, yelling at Baba “you get paid to lay down!”, but when he runs into the neckbreaker drop, it’s over. The second fall ends just as quickly when Destroyer gets Baba in the figure-four leglock. Baba’s selling in the third fall is tremendous. He hurts himself on the coconut crusher, his leg gives out on the single leg crab hold, but when Destroyer tries to take advantage of the injury, he keeps hurting himself, too! Baba wins the third fall and the match via countout. As always, Destroyer was a joy to watch in the ring and Baba really turned up the drama in the third fall.

This was fun. Really slick matwork from Hoshikawa to start, peppering Togo with kicks to soften limbs, before Togo’s finally had enough, smashing a chair over Hoshikawa’s head, sending the cushion flying, and then piledriving him onto another chair. He continues being a (for lack of a better term) DICK in the ring and tries to bring in the table but Hoshikawa proceeds to headbutt him to the floor in a really gnarly spot, and then smash a chair over his head. Togo’s bloody, Hoshikawa rubs salt into the wound in the form of his knuckles, and when Togo tries for the table again, it backfires and Hoshikawa German suplexes him for two. That failed ace crusher through the table was nuts, and leads to the nearfalls, with Togo hitting the Pedigree>senton combo to no avail and Hoshikawa kicking him in the head a bunch before finally pinning him with another German suplex hold.

The intensity that these two go at it on the mat, the fervid energy, the way Brisco throws his body into a hold – this is exciting stuff. Brisco brings such a refreshing dynamism to this match. During the first fall, he goes after Inoki’s leg with some vicious stomps, forcing Inoki to reevaluate on the outside. Brisco hits a beautiful deadlift double arm suplex for a two count and out of frustration, he starts pounding Inoki’s head into the turnbuckle. After getting himself tangled in the ropes after Inoki’s attack, Brisco is able to counter the cobra twist with a lateral press for the first fall. Things slow down a bit during the second fall, as Inoki works the arm, utilizing a rolling armbar before firing off the sudden German suplex hold to tie it up. Brisco’s selling the effect of that German suplex was fantastic and Inoki takes advantage of it, dominating him throughout the third fall before submitting Brisco with the cobra twist to claim his victory. Real good stuff.

A much more subdued tag for the M-Pro crowd than what we saw in BattlARTS. A lot more mat-based with Ono getting the most exposure, whether it's being worked over or trying to squeeze out holds when he can. The strikes aren't quite as murderous here, but Otsuka does take a bunch of head kicks at the end to get TKO'd. The stuff between Ishikawa/Ikeda isn't as exciting, apart from a cool high kick counter by Ishiakwa. There's some very light crowd brawling, Otsuka manages a couple of suplexes and the giant swing, but nothing too special.

This time, that little shitbag Ono is on Ishikawa's team but he isn't quite as obnoxious. In fact, he and Usuda put on quite the mat show with their scrambling and reversals. Usuda is super stiff with his kicks, to both Ono and Ishikawa, and as expected, Ikeda and Ishikawa are trying to kill each other. Early on, Ikeda delivers this beautiful takedown and immediately kicks Ishikawa in the face but Ishikawa being the man still manages to snag the leg and send Ikeda to the ropes. Usuda's pretty much in the Ono role for this match, kicking Ikeda from the apron, being a dick. Ono kicks him in the face and tries for an armbar but Usuda slickly maneuvers into a kneebar, and then they slip-and-slide around the canvas looking for an advantage. Ono and Ishikawa try to destroy Ikeda's leg toward the end of the match, with Ono landing some big head kicks to Ikeda in the corner but still peppering the leg with low kicks. But in the end, Ikeda obliterates Ishikawa with a brutal clubbing lariat and Usuda comes in with the choke sleeper, picking up the submission. Great stuff.

Violent, chaotic, beautiful. Ono is such a little prick throughout this match, you just can't wait to see him get smashed. From the start, he's kicking and stomping Ishikawa from the apron, and whenever Ishikawa or Otsuka manages a submission hold, he's quick to interject himself and break it up with more shitty kicks. At one point later in the match, Otsuka delivers a Northern Lights suplex to Ikeda and tries to transition into the double wristlock...before Ono comes in and kicks his fucking hand while he's trying to apply the hold! No submission is safe. Ikeda is a dick, too. He manages to piss off Otsuka on the apron, who comes in and dumps Ikeda on his head with a gnarly suplex before the two are back-and-forth, trading headbutts. Ono continues to pissing on everyone until Otsuka finally grabs him and gives him one of the best Giant Swings I've seen. Otsuka's also there to throw some dope suplexes, including a deadlift German to Ikeda. I loved Ikeda kicking his way out of Ishikawa's leg hold before it breaks down into them punching and smacking each other. Otsuka finally takes Ono out of the equation by German suplexing him in half, which allows Ishikawa to secure the Fujiwara armbar on Ikeda for the submission.

Riki Choshu should count. And lets not forget one of the kings of Japanese indy sleaze, Ricky Fuji.

This was a pretty fun match that sets up the Ikeda/Ishikawa rivalry. Really liked the pissy opening matwork between Ishikawa and Ikeda, and how Ishikawa works his way into a cool fisherman suplex. Funaki is, more or less, the whipping boy in this match and eats a lot of kicks and suplexes from Ikeda/Usuda. At one point, Usuda hits a nasty looking spinning back elbow followed by some good knee strikes to Funaki. Like Pete said, Funaki gets in some token pro-wrestling offense but it doesn't feel out of place. When Ishikawa gets the 'hot tag', he ends up cutting Ikeda open after a flurry of strikes.

Giant Baba is an interesting cat -- gangly, awkward and at times, clumsy, but he somehow makes it work. He may not be the stiffest worker but he’s one of the smartest, knowing his limitations and how to utilize those long limbs in effective ways. Even with his size and strange build, Baba’s early takedowns and reversals looked silky smooth. The Destroyer is about the best kind of heel you can ask for: dastardly, perfectly despicable, and a wrestling savant on the canvas. When he’s working Baba’s arm, he’s gnawing on the fingers, punching the hand, making the hold multifaceted and interesting. Baba’s limbwork isn’t nearly as enthralling but Destroyer makes the struggle and eventual escape really fun to watch. There’s a bit of a cat-and-mouse game between the two as Destroyer keeps getting caught with Baba’s leg scissors after each successful escape. At one point, Destroyer cackles in freedom, only to get trapped yet again. There’s an awesome moment where Destroyer tries to attack the arm again and Baba counters with the leg scissors. The narrative throughout this first fall is clearly Baba thwarting Destroyer with those lanky scissors holds. Destroyer then starts playing dirty, rubbing shit in Baba’s eyes, busting him open with a loaded mask headbutt, using a “mystery weapon” from his trunks to bloody Baba even more. This only pisses Baba off and after coconut crushing him, Baba picks up the first fall by using his weight to counter the double leg cradle. Destroyer starts the second fall by biting Baba’s face! True heel! They keep teasing the figure-four leglock as Destroyer continually works over Baba’s leg and when he finally gets it on, Baba quickly submits. But everything falls apart in the end as Destroyer’s American cowboys get involved, resulting in the referee getting socked and Baba winning via DQ. Shit finish but Destroyer ruled this match and Baba more than held his own with those big ass leg scissors.

This was a lot of fun. Nakano spent the early minutes shielding himself from Miyato's quick hands and Anjoh's elbows. He does get off a nice throw>elbow to the back of Anjoh's head before he tags in Yamazaki. Yamazaki and Anjoh mostly fight for holds on the ground, which is fine, but when Miyamoto destroys Nakano's nose during a spat of palm thrusts, the match really settles in for a great bumpy ride. Nakano's pissed and retaliates with a German suplex. When Yamazaki tags in, he immediately high kicks Miyato in the head. Whenever Nakano and Anjoh are in there, they're sneaking in dirty elbow shots to the head -- Anjoh really gives it to Nakano at one point. As GOTNW mentioned, Yamazaki's selling during the finish stretch where he's just taking punishment from both Miyato and Anjoh was really good.