[2002-02-16-NJPW] Yuji Nagata vs Tadao Yasuda

[GOTNW]

God, sometimes I forget how good Nagata was before he became a gimmick wrestler. I’m sure making goofy faces, turning his eyes white and finding a couple of spots to recycle in every match made his life a lot easier, but I definitely don’t consider it as creatively interesting as his early 2000s work. This match isn’t without flaws-at one point you see Nagata do a wacky Release German Suplex before going for a lame leg hook pin, and on the “is this something Inoki would do” scale this gets a stern no. He’d either hit a perfect bridge on that damn Suplex or work the (not huge but still ostensibly present) size difference into the match and opting for a Cradle pin or a Takedown instead. But, the roughness is what gives this match its charm, and Inokiism bring a wonderful pastiche of wacky pro wrestling and MMA really unique to wrestling history, even compared to other “shooty” styles. Yasuda is a former rikishi and thus has an advantage in the clinch, they are about evenly matched on the ground but Nagata possesses a wider array of joint locks Yasuda is just a brute who’s going to put his forearm in Nagata’s throat and go for simple chokes. This dichotomy is present on their feet too although there Nagata’s finesse in kicking techniques helps him prevail over Yasuda’s roughhouseness. Whether you call it genius wrestling storytelling or a simple dedication to identities of wrestling characters-it’s really cool to see Nagata throw lame forearms and get punched out for all he’s good only to realise his only solution is to revere back to his kicking, it’s such a breath of frash air to see something like struggle over underhooks and overhooks and Yasuda blocking Nagata’s Belly To Belly by grabbing his hooks and just steamrolling him into the corner. You get Nagata preying on in an S mount, PRIDE-esque grounded knees and Tiger Drivers and a wacky Indian Deathlock/Figure 4/whatever Nagata Lock I is supposed to be and the internal logic of the match remains consistent, because they are merely (a very visually pleasing, which is very important in a performance art!) substance, the form is what drives this to excellence. ****1/4

[superkix]

Yasuda is something else. Sweaty and sloppy and unrefined. But yet it works well against a stalwart like Nagata. There are definite lulls in the match but Nagata will bring the fire with his kicks and knees while Yasuda keeps trying for the three holds he knows well enough to pull off. But it takes him awhile to get anything locked in as Nagata keeps fighting out and fighting back. Yasuda finally hits a tiger driver to set-up a hold but Nagata makes the ropes. Really liked the knees to the head from Nagata to set up the crossface hold but ultimately, he ends up tapping to one of his own holds in the front necklock. Preferred their April rematch but this still good stuff. 

[Jetlag]

It's no surprise workrate smarks hated Yasuda, as his style was very simplistic and unspectacular. While he was a questionable choice for IWGP champ this wasn't a bad match at all. It was basically built around intense clinches and Yasuda constantly trying to choke out Nagata. Everything was logical and Nagata had one of his better showings trying to struggle out of Yasudas anaconda like grip and roughing him up with fired up strikes. Watching guys struggle over getting underhooks and overhooks rather than doing fighting spirit spots and bomb throwing is refreshing for japanese wrestling. Add in a few neat counters and brutal strike exchanges down the stretch and I'm a fan.

[Ma Stump Puller]

This match does require some background before going into it if you want the maximum experience: Yasuda won his match against Le Banner (one of the best kickboxers ever at the time by essentially overpowering him in half guard and applying a forearm choke (you get the "blade" of your forearm and push against the neck with your bodyweight while the other hand prevents the person from moving their head to the side to escape the pressure) and this is exactly what he uses here early on to scare Nagata into rope breaks throughout the match; it's not just a random hold, it's THE hold that put Yasuda on the map, and he's going to spam it out whenever he can or try setting it up by just clinching and pushing him down. He's consistently trying to get him into position by toppling him in stand-up and then laying on top of him; that kind of style shouldn't work here, but it's really effective, namely because Nagata sells the first attempt by rolling out of the ring and holding his throat in discomfort, so even non-MMA fans know almost immediately that it's a bad hold to be in. It's refreshing to have two guys with clear gameplans actually work towards them with simple, logical stuff.

Nagata's frustrations do come through via sharp strikes, which Yasuda quickly shuts down with his sumo slaps and sheer size advantage. Nagata does also get some successful submissions off but Yasuda uses ground and pound to disrupt them and go into his own stuff, namely head and neck chokes; again establishing what these two are trying to pull off here. The crowd really gets into this as time goes on as Nagata has to struggle through a ton, using a mix of rope breaks and clever counters (namely countering a rear naked choke into a figure-four toehold via his legs) and the crowd REALLY pop when he manages to apply his Nagata Lock off the opportunity. Nagata pushes more with a great strike combo and a cross armbreaker but fails. Yasuda answers with a Tiger Driver, a head/arm choke on the mat before trying for a front face lock, but gets countered into a Crossface Nagata Lock, which while successful doesn't cause a tap-out and soon he tires out and has to go for a pin instead due to fatigue. Eventually Nagata shoots for takedowns once too many times and gets tapped out with the Guillotine.

While Nagata is obviously the better man here workrate wise I think Yasuda is vastly overhated when it comes to how much he needs carried in general. Dude works his part of the match just fine and his selling was mostly solid, especially when struggling in submissions. His mat-work is inoffensive and is surprisingly robust in places as he mostly takes advantage of the weight difference in intelligent spots. Outside of the result and the following Yasuda experiment failing tremendously it's a pretty damn spotless match bar some of the false submission finishes getting tired at the end. Pretty much Inoki-Ism done right.

 

[Superstar Sleeze]

Yuji Nagata vs Tadao Yasuda - NJPW 2/16/02 Vacant IWGP Title 

I enjoyed their April 2003 match with the blood a lot and am intrigued by this match for the Vacant belt. It is unclear to me that they were fully behind Yasuda and just plugged the plug after the Tenzan defense or the plan was always to have Nagata lose this one and get it back in time for Takayama in the Dome on May 2nd. 
 

The people above really do a good job defending Yasuda and I agree with all of it. Just as a counterweight, I would say there is a ceiling to Yasuda. I would get into this argument from time to time with Matt D over people like Demolition. There is only so much staying true to your character and story can do. Eventually you do need interesting execution to take you to the next level and a lot of Yasuda’s stuff can be boring even if it is sensible. There’s a reason I watch pro wrestling and very little MMA. Most MMA I find boring because it is exactly the stuff Yasuda does. Maybe education on my part would help but I can only offer review based on my world view.

They establish the size advantage for Yasuda that he can throw his weight around in the clinch, takedown and on the mat. Nagata needs to us technique and strikes to win the day. The first peak is Nagata’s kick barrage in the corner…I believe a spinning heel kick and kappou kick. This rocks Yasuda and seems to give Nagata some confidence. He ends up slapping Yasuda which snaps Yasuda back into it. My recollection is Yasuda starts winning the takedown/mount battles. 
 

The most execution part for sure was Nagata’s Volk Han-esque ankle cross escape out the choke and going into the Nagatalock. It was not just the sequence of moves that had heat but Yasuda’s selling was incredible. He was writhing and screaming. Terrific. All chokes should be broken by ankle crosses. 
 

Nagata seemed to have it pouring it on with kicks and a German Suplex but Yasuda won a double undertook struggle (Nagata wanted a belly to belly). Yasuda bullied Nagata into the corner. Yasuda loves his double underhooks. Tiger Driver! Yasuda gets the Head-Arm Triangle. Yasuda looks to have it with a Guillotine (dude is all about the choke) but Nagata reverses into a Crossface. Yasuda is just throwing bear paws once gets the rope break. He is wounded and is just flailing trying to connect with something. Great selling and response to Nagata offense. Nagata running out of steam tries to throw kitchen sink at him including a Kappou Kick. Nagata shoots for takedown but is caught with the Guillotine and taps out.

 Once the ankle cross happened this got really good. I thought Nagata being so aggressive was awesome. Yasuda creates a pretty natural Everest to climb. The beginning was pedestrian but it was a rousing finish. Two dudes sticking to their characters and the story just naturally unveiled itself. ***1/2