[1998-05-27-BattlARTS] Minoru Tanaka vs Masaaki Mochizuki

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

This is a little more juniors-ish than typical BattlARTS, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But it resembles some of the more mat-based matches like Otani-Samurai as much as it does BattlARTS. Mochizuki really looks good here, and Tanaka has a lot of natural charisma. I don't think this was at quite the level of my favorite stuff from this group so far this year, but I still thought it was fun to watch. The matwork was solid, but Tanaka's personality sold this.

[Childs]

Yeah, this was a flashy juniors match, with some of the flash coming from matwork spots. If you think of it in terms of the whole card, it provided a nice counterpoint to the Ishikawa-Ikeda slugfest in the main event.

[soup23]

Agreed that this was a pleasant surprise for me and a nice mixture of junior speed with stiff strikes. Tanaka did get a good showing in this and Mochizuki is someone I have never given much thought to but had a good showing too. A great little 15 minute match to end the disc on. (***1/4)

[PeteF3]

Pinfall attempts in BattlArts--wow. Yeah, this sort of feels like a UWFI vs. NJPW match, with juniors. Mochizuki throws some awesome kicks but it's almost like his wrasslin'-style attacks like springboards and moves off the turnbuckles really keep Tanaka off-balance. Tanaka eventually weathers the storm and puts Mochizuki away the way he knows how. Not a transcendent match but a lot of fun and leaves you wanting to see more of both guys, both in this setting and elsewhere.

[TravJ1979]

I don't know what it is, but I have not been able to get into BattleArts at all. It's not that it's faux shoot because I like Rings, and UWF(i). I like Tanaka as well. This wasn't bad, but just couldn't get into it.

[PeteF3]

I don't know what it is, but I have not been able to get into BattleArts at all.

 

It's the atmosphere. The heat and "look" of 1998 BattlArts absolutely sucks most of the time, with quiet crowds in Memphis Power Pro-worthy buildings. I had similarly superficial reasons for not really getting into PWFG.

[superkix]

A breezy, shoot-inspired juniors match, with handsome Minoru showboating early on with an armbar takedown and a kip up as he plays to the crowd. For the most part, this was an evenly based match, where it seemed like one well-placed submission could end it. The dueling legwork was, for the most part, the crux of this match, with Mochizuki being more of the aggressor with it, chopping at Minoru’s legs with kicks to set up the holds – loved Minoru’s stumbled selling. Both guys were throwing hard kicks, especially Minoru, and at one point, he feeds Mochizuki a nasty kick in the corner. Lots of springboarding around from Mochi and a nearfall off a German suplex hold but Minoru goes from the Minoru Special II to the Minori Special to tap Mochizuki.