Yasushi Sato

[Grimmas]

Jetlag said: 

The case of Yasushi Sato is even more mysterious than Watanabe. From what I know he only started wrestling in the mid-2000s, at a pretty old age, and barely ever making tape. But when he does, this guy looks like a wrestling genius. He is incredibly efficient working technical matches built around his leg grapevine moves. He also has a neck for unique amateur spots and cradles, a bit like a smaller Tamon Honda. I wouldn't hesitate to call his match against Masamune a match of the decade contender, and for someone who shows up on tape so little his hit rate of great matches is incredibly high. Definitely someone everyone should check out.

Recommended matches:

vs. Masamune (Mumejuku 6/3/2018)

vs. Hiroshi Watanabe, Mumejuku 4/17/2019

w Konaka Pale One vs. Hiroshi Watanabe & Hideya Iso, Mumejuku 2/5/2017

[Jetlag]

So recently I learned that SPORTIVA (which was the home promotion of Yasushi Sato and a few other guys like Shigehiro Irie) used to livestream matches on a service called USTREAM every wednesday 10 years ago. Unfortunately that streaming service is no more but it's still archived here, sadly the videos don't work anymore but you can still look at the thumbnails and video lengths

https://web.archive.org/web/20130925165112/http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sportiva-ch

At the very least this confirms some of those matches were filmed and I hope they can surface again. It's too bad nobody including me knew what the fuck SPORTIVA was in 2013 because they ran some absolutely mouth watering match ups like a 60 minute Yasushi Sato vs. Konaka ironman match which is definitely a holy grail for me

 

Couple more Sato matches have surfaced on the internet since that last post

 

vs. Dekai Ichimotsu, ?? 12/15/2013

Satos opponent here isn't even a pro wrestler but it's still a really good match. Feels like a good example of Satos signature match, lots of matwork, nifty spots and suplexes, some great counters etc. Dig the crazy amateur throw he busted out.

w Hiroshi Watanabe vs. Manabu Hara & Raito Shimizu, 1/13/2020

Great tag with two wily technicians facing a pair of shooters. Sato vs. Hara is just magical and surprisingly stiff. Again Sato looked like the best guy in a match with a bunch of really good guys in it.

vs. Taro Yamada, 10/26/2014

Another great match, Yamada is a pretty game grappler himself. Really good grappling, neat psychology and some amazing counters as always.

vs. Shinichiro Wakita, 8/12/2019

Just a short match against a rookie but Sato does pretty well for himself here. The rolling legbar into the figure 4 is nothing short of genius

 

There's also some highlights on the Sportiva channel, like check out the highlights of this match against Konaka, absolutely sick looking stuff. Right now every Yasushi Sato match I came across is a total gem and totally worth seeking out, he's also had some amazing matches against the likes of Hiroyuki Kondo, Hakaru Imai and GENTARO which aren't online at the moment but you should totally purchase if you come across them in somebodies tape listing. If some of those Sportiva archive matches start popping up I could see Yasushi Sato doing insanely well on my list because he's totally my kind of pro wrestler. The guy made me believe in a Russian Leg sweep and if that is not the sign of a great worker then I don't know what is.

 

[Jetlag]

Recently @itako18jp on Twitter started selling videos which really helps the case of guys like Yasushi Sato. I suggest you get a twitter and contact them, it's super chill to buy from them and the footage is well worth the price. We have gotten a few more Yasushi Sato singles matches out of it all of which are great. So far I've watched Sato vs. Konaka, vs. Hideya Iso and vs. GENTARO, all of which are awesome and pretty different. He's also really good in the big Unicorn Road match from 2018. The Konaka match is really unique, I watched it on the same day I re-watched Negro Casas vs. Santo from 1992 and while both are on the same level Konaka/Sato is clearly better. They also got the Yasushi Sato vs. Masamune match which I recommended 2 years ago in case you didn't watch it. GENTARO match is also really unique and great, two guys grappling and trying to score weird pins for 20 minutes, and Sato vs. Iso is completely awesome too. At this point Sato is definitely a lock for my list, the guy can do no wrong. There's a lots of early career Yasushi Sato against awesome looking opponents that we don't have yet, there are more Konaka matches including a 60 minute match, another GENTARO match, a match against Michio Kageyama who was a reckless karate kicker at the time, a match against Kengo Takai which looks insanely stiff from the highlights. If more of that stuff surfaces at some point I could see Yasushi Sato being in my Top 10.

 

They also put this match on YouTube: Sato & Yuiga vs. Taro Yamada and Aki Shizuki . Naturally they go 30 minutes with no ring but it's really good, Yasushi Sato/Taro Yamada stuff is great and maestro-ish, there was also a crazy stiff headbutt exchange at one point. The women are bit wonky, but Sato vs. Shizuki is pretty good also, Shizuki is so big that the intergender factor barely matters and they just have some good exchanges. When you can have a match this good with no ring you are definitely something special