[1994-02-28-PWFG] Glen Jacobs vs Yuki Ishikawa

[Ma Stump Puller]

God bless Ishikawa for actually getting this match over. Not to say that Jacobs isn't the worst big guy working shoot-style I've seen, but he isn't exactly astounding quality-wise, what with his bad club/slaps to the back and lackluster mat-work. This is mostly a size/technique matchup, with Jacobs playing the stronger and taller guy who could literally squish Ishikawa with sheer physicality alone while his opponent was the more technically skilled kind who had to use smarts to create openings. He actually dominates for a few minutes here as Jacobs' pushes on the mat only lead to having to slap on a rope break when Ishikawa counters his stuff. Jacobs isn't amazing but he already knows how to use his size to good effect, looming over his smaller opponent, throwing him around with vicious judo throws and cranking in the holds good, in particular a nasty back mount Misawa-style forearm head crank. 

Ishikawa is already pretty damn good; he has a lot of bits where he makes you think what he's going to do next before just snapping right into something completely unexpected. Good example was him grabbing on a Guillotine when Jacobs tried to tackle him down, and when he was able to escape Ishikawa quickly went into a modified Fujiwara armbar instead, like that kind of misdirection Catch shit is so enjoyable, especially on a platform like this when you think you've seen it all. Things go well for Ishikawa until Jacobs breaks the rules by hitting him hard with his foot during a Achilles Tendon attempt at the back of the head for a near KO win. After this he does a lot worse as Jacobs is able to wear him down with his size, as well as  nifty submissions like a inverse toe-hold and countering a takedown attempt into a pretty awesome gutwrench suplex. Things do go back and forth a bit though still as Ishikawa pulls tricks out of the hat to try to put the big guy down for good: with that said, you can definitely feel the match slipping away as fatigue starts to build and he starts going for more risky stuff, even trying to outright slam Jacobs: this works, but he can't maintain advantage before getting rolled around into side mount. Despite this potentially stinking the place out, the crowd actually pipes up pretty good for this as Ishikawa ramps up the pressure with more attempts at holds.

Finish was a bit stinky as the two do these really phony slaps that looked less like two trained fighters scrapping out and more like some drunk lads on a Friday night slap-boxing, pretty shoddy stuff. Ishikawa hunts for the foot again for a potential kneebar but Jacobs gets his foot first for a toe-hold in what was essentially the finish to Bas/Jason Delucia years before it was a thing, cool stuff. Ishikawa is more or less done by this point so Jacobs just scoops him up and hooks the arms for a pretty brutal shoulder crank before rolling him over for maximum leverage for the submission win. This was a real great showing from a early Ishikawa: alongside his other early showings, he's pretty solid even for a 1/2 year rookie, both in the mat-wrestling and in how he's able to drag the crowd into really getting behind what was essentially a nothing undercard showing. The unique feature is, of course, Jacobs doing shoot-style, and for what it's worth this is definitely better than the Fujiwara debut match, but the Ikeda match was probably more interesting in terms of a styles clash; this was more of a conventional grapplefest. Enjoyable grapplefest, but still. Jacobs isn't as bad as a few American imports doing shoot-style; he has some good moments and his submissions look convincing; however he is a bit clunky, definitely a big stink of greenness off him for the most part, especially with the selling.