[2001-08-12-BattlARTS] Mohammed Yone vs Carl Malenko

[GSR]

The match is joined in progress, Malenko in control.  Side headlock takedown and he transitions from one submission attempt to another on the arms, Yone eventually having to go the ropes for the reset.  A stiff clothesline, but that hurt Yone too due to Malenko’s earlier arm work.  After a legdrop, Yone starts cranking away on Malenko’s neck.  These pro wrestling spots like legdrops are the one thing I’m not really digging in my BattlARTS viewing.  Malenko escapes the sleeper, reversing into a cross face chicken wing.  He grounds Yone and has him all tied up with a great combination oma plata/crossface.  That looks nasty the way he’s wrenching back.  Power guillotine, however on the takedown they roll into the ropes.  Yone fires back with a headbutt to the mid-section and it becomes pure pro wrestling with a suplex followed by middle rope legdrop.  Single leg crab.  Malenko grabs the ropes, so Yone drags him back to the centre of the ring and applies the full version.  It looks like he might be close to tapping, instead though rolls through, flipping Yone over and ending up on top.  Cross armbar.  Double underhook, Malenko dropping Yone face first into his knee and then locking in a Butterfly stretch, leading to another rope break.  Yone catches him with a spinning heel kick, Musclebuster, a second single leg crab and this time Malenko taps.               

I’d not watched any BattlARTS prior to PWO2K and while I like the pure shoot style matches, these hybrid ones which mix the shoot elements with pro wrestling I’m not quite so sure of.  Malenko is very good though and what I didn’t like about this match had nothing to do with him.