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Nomura rushed Fudo but quickly got caught in a headlock, forcing him to use an escape early on. He would have to rely on his technique to gain small advantages throughout the match. Nomura delivered a dropkick and followed up with a sleeper to pressure Fudo into using an escape of his own. Fudo was unrelenting in his attack and downed Nomura with a forearm to the face. I especially liked how whenever Nomura was down, Fudo would get impatient and deliver an errant kick or elbow drop to maintain control. When people talk about wrestlers not wasting any motion, more often than not, it's a buzz phrase. Not with Rikiya Fudo, however. The way he applies his side headlocks is captivating. He really cranks on holds to make you feel for whoever's on the receiving end. Fudo was the perfect foil for Nomura, a towering giant for Naoya to overcome on his way to the title tournament finals. Nomura's spear looked fantastic, but Fudo's offensive onslaught was ruthless. He clobbered Nomura with lariats, Vader Hammers to the face, and stiff kicks. That made it all the more gratifying when Nomura, learning from his previous mistakes, caught Fudo off-guard and delivered a flash armbar for the win. A delightful slice of pro wrestling. One of the year's finest sub-ten-minute matches.

I’m only familiar with Sato, one of my favorite prospects in BJW, and Nomura, who defected from AJPW not long ago. Crafter is a masked wrestler who, as far as I can tell, is a CAPTURE trainee. Meanwhile, Fudo is an utter tank of a man. Crafter and Nomura get into a brief spat before the bell over who will start the match, but the former prevails. Crafter has all kinds of flashy tricks in his arsenal, including a jumping spin kick. Sato’s feistiness is on full display as he kicks at Crafter as he’s showboating for the crowd. Sato found himself on the wrong end of a sleeper and used his team’s first escape. Crafter tries to get fancy with a dropkick, and Sato simply sidesteps him. There’s nothing like a well-placed kick to the gut from Crafter to get Sato to break a hold. Wholesale tags to Nomura and Fudo follow, and the elbow strikes start flying. Nomura charges in with a spear, and it barely moves Fudo. Realizing his slam will only keep Nomura down for 9, Fudo decides to start clubbing Naoya in the face. Nomura lands a second spear and immediately transitions into a sleeper to pick up the first fall. Crafter comes in hot, but Fudo charges him with a shoulder tackle that knocks him loopy, allowing Fudo and Sato to pick up the second fall. At this point, it feels like any move can end the match. The match continues with a flurry of dropkicks from Sato to Crafter, with Kosuke showing more aggression. I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but if BJW can tap into that side of Kosuke, they could have a star on their hands. Nomura tried to spear Fudo again but caught with one of the darndest lariats I’ve seen in a minute. Sato came back in and got into a slap fight with Nomura. Nomura got caught in a sleeper, but Crafter broke the hold. Still, Sato wouldn’t relent, but he got hit with a Brainbuster, and Nomura locked in a modified chokehold for the win. Fudo was livid and went after Nomura post-match, with the two having to be separated. This is one of those “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” type matches with so much cool stuff going on at all times. You had Crafter’s showy mat work, Nomura trying to spear the tar out of Fudo and Fudo barely budging, and Sato trying to prove his worth against the veterans of the scene. The falls could’ve easily felt rushed, with the whole match clocking in at just over ten minutes, but it was structured so well that it didn’t matter. Strongly recommend checking this out.

Yamato smothers Nomura on the mat early. But, it only takes one mistake to gain the upper hand. Nomura traps Yamato in a knee bar, and Hiroshi slaps away at him, almost as if to say he can beat Nomura at his own game. Nomura forces him to use an escape, bringing out the yellow card. Both have to scratch and claw their way into holds, with Yamato punching away at the ribs to try and break Nomura’s guard. A hockey fight breaks out, and both competitors start battering each other as hard as possible with chops and kicks. The offense stands out in an intimate environment like this where you can hear the full impact of every strike. Yamato locks in a gorgeous modified armbar and forces Nomura to use his first escape. Yamato sticks with what’s working for him in the armbar, and Nomura eventually slips out by hitting an absurd deadlift suplex. Nomura goes full killer mode and swings wildly on Yamato, dumping him on his head with a suplex. Nomura finishes him off with a kick square in the head. I was unfamiliar with Yamato going in, but he brought the fight to Nomura and came across every bit his equal. This was a brisk yet complete match full of quality striking and compelling mat work. Do yourself a favor and set aside eight minutes for it.

This match takes place in a dimly-lit basement in front of approximately 20 people, to give you the vibe. The ring consists of a mat surrounded by guard rails on each side. Using an escape or getting a down results in a yellow card, a second one gets a red card, and a third means you lose the match. Tsubakichi and Jota kick things off, lighting each other up with slaps and kicks to the leg. Tsubakichi grounds Jota and starts pummeling him with punches to the mid-section and knees to the head. Every time Jota gains the advantage, Tsubakichi swings frantically, looking for any strike that will land. The violence is off the charts even in the early stages of the match. Jota forces Tsubakichi into the corner, and in comes Abe. Abe's the perfect wrestler for this sort of environment, bringing focused, gritty mat work and stiff strikes. I'm a big fan of Tsubakichi slapping Abe and immediately making the tag to Goto. Goto and Abe struggle over control of a knee bar, slapping each other silly in the process. Tag to Tsubakichi, and Goto overpowers him and immediately locks in a Boston Crab. The grappling exchanges between Goto and Tsubakichi are equally as gripping as the previous ones, as they weave in and out of holds seamlessly with gorgeous transitions. Jota comes back in and fells Tsubakichi with a quick blow to the head. Tsubakichi grabs an armbar and mounts Jota, but Jota makes him scratch and claw for control. Abe breaking up a Cross Face attempt from Jota by running in and kicking him in the back as hard as possible ruled. This cost the team of Tsubakichi and Abe their yellow card but gave them the upper hand briefly. Tsubakichi got caught in an Ankle Lock, forcing him to use an escape, and quickly tagged out to Goto. Jota, wanting some payback from earlier, broke up a submission attempt on Goto. You could feel the tension between Jota and Abe, and when Jota came back in shortly afterwards, things really started to get chippy. Jota and Abe went blow-for-blow, trading headbutts, kicks, and knee strikes, but it was Jota who came out on top. Goto came in to finish things off with two sentons, but Abe caught him in a submission for the win. This match had a little bit of everything. Shoot headbutts, kicks to the head, unrelenting strikes and thoughtful, determined mat work. Of the three wrestlers I was unfamiliar with, Jota impressed me the most. He's got an attitude to his work and elevated things to another level once he got in there with Abe. If you're in the mood to watch a bunch of wrestlers you've probably never heard of slug it out in a basement in Tokyo, give this one a whirl.

Kitahara/Kawauchi was basically just a gritty uncooperative streetfight. Kawauchi was more aggressive and overzealous here so Kitahara just absolutely beat his ass in between taunting him. Short but good stuff that the fans got really into and I hope this isn't the last I see of Capture International. 

Kitahara/Kurashima was a nifty little battle. Kurashima is naturally at home on the mat and Kitahara is actually willing to work the mat against him. However Kitahara has the advantage because he is a bastard. Kitahara brutally kicks him in the jaw while exchanging leglocks and follows with more boots to the face. Kurashima makes some desperation takedown attempts until Kitahara catches (captures) him for the tap.

Johta/Mineno was another rounds match only this time they had MMA gloves. Why the rounds? Hey, look these ring girls (mat girls?) are totally HOT! They got Capture International style bikinis!!! The match was really good as these two just kick the hell out of eachother and also have good grappling and throws. Basically the worlds greatest worked Shooto. It works because there's no back and forth strike trading, just two guys throwing and evading really fast and aggressively. Little premature ending as this was only half as long as their boxing gloves match, but the finish was pretty damn brutal so what the hell.

Oh but this match is a goodie. You have Tomohiro Ishii pre-Choshuism and CAPTURE boy since the beginning, aswell as the unseen should-have-been-a-star DAISAKU (Shimoda) and his twin brother YUSAKU (Shimoda and half a dozen other names) rocking the gloves and ready to throw down. I'll never understand what motivates these indy guys to get punched in the face in a basement in front of 70 people but I'll always enjoy watching. This goes about 6 minutes and it's basically all 4 guys kicking the crap out of eachother. Really liked the lumpy boys who like to kick hard sections between Ishii and YUSAKU and the attempted fraticide between YUSAKU and DAISAKU was pretty brutal aswell. Daisaku has some huge kicks and thai knees while Yusaku sticks to more traditional pro wrestling stuff punches and knees stuff executed with a CAPTURE sized vicious streak. Also really liked Ishii in his Kawada wannabe tights flying at Kitahara with huge kicks. By no means is this intelligent or well rounded pro wrestling, it's arguably shootstyle in it's most primitive form, and that's why I love it and want to see every single match in this style ever done. So Kitahara if you're reading this there's someone who cares, and Kitahara's neighbours if you are reading this please break into his garage and steal all his VHS tapes for us and don't get spin kicked in the face doing that. 

This is our sole taste of 90s Capture International. It's Aoyagi working a somewhat regular undercard match against Kitahara's boy Nihao (who would go on to be in U-Style – CAPTURE can get you somewhere). Aoyagi working holds isn't quite the same as Aoyagi working a crazy spectacle, but I probably liked this better than Aoyagis undercard work in Wrestle Yume Factory. Aoyagi sure does give Nihao the business with stiff kicks and punches to the mid section and there is one truely brutal near KO. The finish is a really nice moment too. I didn't get a ton from Nihao here but he looked fine.

Capture International is a shootstyle org founded by Koki Kitahara in 1997 and it's even weirder than Kitao Pro. They wrestle on a mat with a barricade around and you can actually grab the barricade to break a submission. They have 2 out of 3 falls matches and some kind of point system which apparently punishes tag partners when they run in to break a submission. It's roster is a pretty random mix of indy undercarers and martial artists. It's roughly 9000% japanese pro wrestling and produces some really violent and entertaining matches. There is not much footage of this... a total of 3 TV episodes and 2 old videos on Kitaharas YouTube channel. Maybe if I talk about it, more will show up? Capture 10/5/2002 Teruhiko Iwashita vs. Hayato Minami Basara vs. Jiraiya Masayuki Mineno vs. Johta Koki Kitahara & Daiyu Kawauchi vs. Shoichi Ichimiya & Kazunobu Nakamura Minami/Iwashita was a nifty undercard shootstyle bout. Won't make you forget U-Style but probably a Top 10 japanese match if it happened tod- ah I'll shut up. Really dug the tenacity and struggle over everything while keeping a steady pace. Highlights include Minami locking Iwashitas arm behind his back and surviving a nasty guillotine while his face turned blue. They have the MMA gloves but aside from a few body punches and low kicks they stick to grappling. Neat finish with several cool armlock variations before one forces the tap. Basara-Jiraya – OF COUUUURSEEEEE this fed has masked guys working undercard quasi shootstyle matches. And what a threat to see Yume Factory boy BASARA again. He seemed to have gained some confidence looking quite aggressive at times. However, not having a ring took away his strongest aspects here – his great powerslam and frogsplash. Jiraya is a japanese wrestler who apparently spent a lot of time in Mexico. Not that you noticed much lucha in his style here, as he was rocking the kickpads and working for armbars on the ground. Neither of these guys is a wrestling master but there were enough smacks to keep this entertaining and the finish was cool. Mineno vs. Johta (or Jyota?) was a boxing gloves match because every japanese sleaze indy company has an annoying guy on the booking team who constantly goes „But where is the booooooxing match?“. They actually do some grappling with double leg takedowns, armbars and suplexes but it was of course limited. However these two guys absolutely slaughtered eachother in the standup with awesome fast punches and spin kicks. No pussy shit here for sure. Plus you get the fun aspect of guys awkwardly falling into the guardrails when getting kicked. This is rounds so they work some actually cool „safed by the bell“ moments. I am stoked to check out these boys in a match with regular MMA gloves. https://youtu.be/rs9ChWMNDwE I assume the main event is like the quintessential Capture match. Lots of wild swinging punches and kicks that connect with full force. Kawauchi, who I saw in his debut match at a 1998 KAGEKI show against Masakazu Fukuda would go on to work Osaka Pro as Hideyoshi and is now grizzled veteran GENKAI in Kyushi Pro, so he has quite the history of japanese indy wrestling. Kawauchi is good as the energetic youngster here with explosive takedowns and pummeling violently on the ground. Ichimiya who is some comedy character in DDT looks credible here as a heavyweight shooter. His super violent, quick assault on Kawauchi in the 2nd fall using the guardrail may have been the highlight of the match. His extremely vocal selling also added some more grit. Kitahara is as you expect. His punches and kicks were Ikeda level but I was also surprised how brutal his chokes (or choke setups) felt. He also got his "Kitahara is a bastard" moment when he kicked Ichimiya in his bandaged arm. The matwork here is mostly working punches from mount and has a really smothering feel to it, though there is the occasional submission attempt and the finish is a neat submission counter. The match is short enough so it totally works.

Well, I assume the main event is what everyone in attendance bought their tickets for. Exactly what Capture promises, 4 guys just beating eachother silly in savage ways. The Mineno/Johta sections were really fun with both guys throwing fast hands and kicks, all ultra stiff of course. Then you had the heavyweights – both Kitahara and Kurashima looked like they were twice the size of either Johta or Mineno – bullying the little guys around. Kurashima is a MUGA boy and he mostly sticks to matwork here, altough he does punish opponents with some brutal throws and inventive submissions. At one point he did a Backlund lift from an armbar into almost a One Winged Angel. Kitahara was an absolute bastard once again, stomping on Minenos face and sucker punching him from behind. Match is really good shootstyle in parts but starts breaking down into chaos towards the end with the referee losing control over who is legal and who isn't, so you would get Kurashima tackling Kitahara while Mineno would try to kick him in the face. Still this is what Capture promise and each fall had a great finish.

Minami/Iwashita was a nifty undercard shootstyle bout. Won't make you forget U-Style but probably a Top 10 japanese match if it happened tod- ah I'll shut up. Really dug the tenacity and struggle over everything while keeping a steady pace. Highlights include Minami locking Iwashitas arm behind his back and surviving a nasty guillotine while his face turned blue. They have the MMA gloves but aside from a few body punches and low kicks they stick to grappling. Neat finish with several cool armlock variations before one forces the tap. 

Mineno vs. Johta (or Jyota?) was a boxing gloves match because every japanese sleaze indy company has an annoying guy on the booking team who constantly goes „But where is the booooooxing match?“. They actually do some grappling with double leg takedowns, armbars and suplexes but it was of course limited. However these two guys absolutely slaughtered eachother in the standup with awesome fast punches and spin kicks. No pussy shit here for sure. Plus you get the fun aspect of guys awkwardly falling into the guardrails when getting kicked. This is rounds so they work some actually cool „safed by the bell“ moments. I am stoked to check out these boys in a match with regular MMA gloves.

I assume the main event is like the quintessential Capture match. Lots of wild swinging punches and kicks that connect with full force. Kawauchi, who I saw in his debut match at a 1998 KAGEKI show against Masakazu Fukuda would go on to work Osaka Pro as Hideyoshi and is now grizzled veteran GENKAI in Kyushi Pro, so he has quite the history of japanese indy wrestling. Kawauchi is good as the energetic youngster here with explosive takedowns and pummeling violently on the ground. Ichimiya who is some comedy character in DDT looks credible here as a heavyweight shooter. His super violent, quick assault on Kawauchi in the 2nd fall using the guardrail may have been the highlight of the match. His extremely vocal selling also added some more grit. Kitahara is as you expect. His punches and kicks were Ikeda level but I was also surprised how brutal his chokes (or choke setups) felt. He also got his "Kitahara is a bastard" moment when he kicked Ichimiya in his bandaged arm. The matwork here is mostly working punches from mount and has a really smothering feel to it, though there is the occasional submission attempt and the finish is a neat submission counter. The match is short enough so it totally works.