[2019-04-04-GCW-Josh Barnett's Bloodsport] Jonathan Gresham vs Masashi Takeda

[ShittyLittleBoots]

MOTHERFUCKER WAS THIS GOOD. Excellent matwork, and then as Takeda gets cut open, the thing explodes & it's like a beast woke up after some light sparring. What a goddamn finishing sequence. ****

[Tenese Sarwieh]

This was a banger. It was nice see Takeda out of his comfort zone from death matches, he’s a good pro wrestler and this performance shows it. Him after getting cut my god was awesome and that knee he hit to Gresham was perfect.

[King of Debt]

I don't think people know that it was STYLE-E that Takeda got his start in, the training promotion of sorts (or at least the rung below U-STYLE) for the youngsters of the U-FILE CAMP run by Kiyoshi Goddamn Tamura. When Takeda wants to go, he can go - and he absolutely went. A very different beast to Thatcher/H Suzuki and Barnett/M Suzuki, short and sweet, quick-flicks between silk-smooth matwork and sickening schlaps. Every sparring sequence in this had me hopping out of my chair. MOTN on a ridiculously stacked card.

[aaeo_]

The initial grappling is super stiff and engaging but the match goes to another level after they fall out of the ring and Takeda starts bleeding. Gresham somehow was the best striker on this show, targetting the cut and actually slipping punches instead of just waiting for his turn to fire back. Takeda just chases Gresham down and knocks him out. Good shit!

[Cap]

This was really the only match of the night that felt like it got properly unhinged a bit and they were really working with organic energy.  The fall out of the ring and then the shots fired once they got back in, wonderful stuff. The KO finish really was a fun way to end this but also - more importantly - reinforced the world we were living in on a shoot show.  This is exactly what I want from my modern shoot, tight grappling, slickness, some real aggression, and a feeling that this is a fight and fights are unpredictable.

 

****1/2

[Boss Rock]

Contender for sprint of the year. Sort of reminded me of the Suzuki-Nomura match last year where it starts with competitive grappling and just completely boils over into a heated fight. Takeda also got to prove he's more than just a great deathmatch worker. Would love to see a rematch between these two.

****1/4.

[SmartMark15]

An insane 10 minute sprint that opened with some good grappling but quickly dissolved into a brawl of strikes once blood got introduced. An awesome display of economy of time.

****

[Bix]

Not much I can add except to say that an already great match probably benefitted from being a change of pace here. Even with the surprising variance in style between each match and Takeda's background, this ended to being the only chaotic style clash on the show after the 2018 version had a bunch. Wonderful match.

[superkix]

I'm going back and re-watching Bloodsport and the 1-2-3 punch between this, Suzuki/Thatcher, and Suzuki/Barnett is hard to beat when it comes to show of the year. Takeda is soaking it all up and it's a blast to watch. He outwrestles Gresham in the opening exchange, headbutts the floor, and picks a fight with Gresham. The last few minutes encapsulate the pro-wrestling love -- crazy slaps and flying armbars out of nowhere, pounding away at bloody eyeballs and a KO finish that look like a KO finish. Can't think of a better sprint in 2019.