Captain Lou & JasMan’s Wrestling Adventure #1 or: Puro Catch-Up Party Before AEW Changes the Entire World or Something I Don’t Know
Oh My God, it is happening again.
Back in 2001 a guy in Montreal who went by the online alias Shuriken discovered the marvelous world of Japanese professional wrestling, while at the same time a guy in the Midwest United States who went by the alias MANNING, because he thought it was cool how DEAN on the Death Valley Driver Video Review Board did it that way, and he thought JASON felt too generic, discovered the same thing. Video cassettes like the Super J Cup and J-Crown opened the door, a discovery of an online community that included message boards and real-time chats over the mIRC chat application cemented a stay inside said door. There was other wrestling out there, and this new Internet thing was making it not just available, but building an entire community of happy wrestling friends that were really into this stuff.
The rest of the tale is for another time, as we welcome you to the first edition of the supersize-named Captain Lou & JasMan’s Wrestling Adventure #1, which may or may not be re-named depending on if we get other contributors, in which that case we will simply add an “&” after JasMan and add the new contributors name, thus elongating the name even further. What I’m trying to say is that this is a work in progress, but after a decade of watching wrestling from all over the world followed by a decade of not doing so, it feels like the right time to start writing about the stuff we are watching these days – the catch-up, the curiosity, the surprises, the disappointments. All will be captured as we embark on this Adventure.
For this first issue, the good Captain Lou and I will alternate coverage of three matches with different themes three times. Lou covers WRESTLE-1, Kenta Kobashi’s Fortune Dream, and wrestling finisher-turned-wrestling organization DDT, while I re-visit my beloved Pro Wrestling NOAH, re-discover modern day ZERO-ONE and the joys of modern day Masato Tanaka, and watch some Dragon Gate matches for what might honestly be only the second or third time in my life.
Plus there might be some surprises at the end – I don’t know!
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A LONG OVERDUE RETURN TO NOWA’S ARK (JasMan)
Pro Wrestling NOAH – you beautiful, wonderful treasure. With your green ring and actually carrying on the legacy of mid-90s King’s Road All Japan and all that.
When I was deep into puroresu, NOAH was my favorite. Kobashi, Misawa, Taue and Akiyama continued to be legends, the junior division was heated up with the New Japan feud, and perhaps most important of all NOAH took time to provide a purpose for their undercard of charming goofballs – Masao Inoue, Jun Izumida, and Kishin Kawabata to name a few. Guys like Tamon Honda meanwhile re-defined what I ever thought a main event wrestler was supposed to be.
Misawa died shortly after I stopped keeping up with NOAH, and that death hit hard. It resulted in kind of the way I felt after Eddie Guerrero’s – a general apathy towards anything that recalled this sad story, including the wrestling group he was a part of. I looked from a distance as they went through several stages post-Misawa: the Kobashi phase-out, the too-little-too-late ascension of guys like Marufuji, KENTA, Morishima, and Sugiura, the downturn with Suzuki-gun on top, and the recent steady optimism with the ascension of new faces like Kenoh and Kiyomiya. What I also like about modern day NOAH is that outside of a few guys most of the roster remains in tact. I can still watch Yoshinari Ogawa matches on the reg! And Mohammed Yone and Mitsuya Nagai and for some reason Hi69. What a world.
Hakata Lane Memorial Match: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Yoshinari Ogawa (NOAH 3/17/19)
Is it OK if a wrestling match is relaxing? I think so. And that’s what this was. You’ve got close-up camera shots, a small crowd, and that grungy feel of Hakata Star Lanes, a legitimate bowling alley that can become a wrestling arena, on display one last time before its’ closure. Yoshinari Ogawa, I am happy to say, remains a special combo of old and exactly the same he always was, because he was always old. He’s been training for this stage of his career his whole life! Who else is adapting the styles of Bret Hart and Steve Gray for a Japanese audience while wearing their full name written out in Romanized letters like Yoshinari Ogawa – WHO? The only discernible difference from 2004 is I think he’s stopped doing push-ups every once in a while.
If you’ve got the patience, this is a pretty beautiful tribute of a match to wrestling history – it’s 2019 and wristlocks and hold-trading can still get over. Marufuji works Ogawa’s arm for a bit, then blasts him in the face with a kick that just feels mean. I loved how Ogawa’s response to that was to take Marufuji’s weak cover and counter it with a HEADSCISSORS, all while his chest reddened from Marufuji’s early chops. Ogawa has been doing the same clever wrestler gimmick for the first 5 minutes and same rope-choking for the next 10 minutes for 20 years and by golly in small doses it works. An exchange of cradles actually does result in a pin, with the capable but restrained Marufuji getting the win. I wouldn’t have had this any other way. ***1/2
Global Tag League – Final: Takashi Sugiura & KAZMA SAKAMOTO vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Go Shiozaki (NOAH 5/4/19)
I haven’t seen any of these guys forever, more recently than anybody it’s been freaking Sakamoto for his run as Lord Tensai’s manager/second/slave/thing in WWE. They have a great match helped along by the dynamic of Nakajima/Go being dickheads opposite SAKAMOTO as this indy scrub who isn’t quite at anyone’s level but will try his ass off, and if all else fails he has Sugiura in his corner ready to F people up. I was just tickled pink to see that Takashi Sugiura is still throwing himself into everything 100%. A running elbow in the corner has zero hesitance from NOAH’s constant, and that’s good when hesitance is pro wrestling’s natural enemy. Sugiura just tees off on Nakajima with elbow after elbow at one point and it’s incredible, so rapid-fire and overwhelming that it made the wrestling feel real. Heel Go kind of tripped me out and much like the new white/red/black ring will take getting used to, but heel Nakajima felt just right. They brought this to conclusion with a tremendous closing stretch, a finish that felt like the end of all ends with extra stiff shots and submissions that were wrenched to their absolute grossest. Badass wrestling. ****
GHC Heavyeight Title: Kaito Kiyomiya [c] vs. Takashi Sugiura (NOAH 6/9/19)
First time viewer of Kaito Kiyomiya here, and my initial thoughts are this: he has the spunk of a classic young lion who’s just a little rough around the edges, like a Yoshihito Sasaki who used to get in anybody’s face as soon as he got in the ring. He pulls out a perfect dropkick and German suplex bridge like any great young lion, but also feels like a sly guy who is one move away from a comeback. He has the aura of a guy who you know COULD be the top guy in the future, but here he is… already the top guy. And I’m kind of into it. My fondness might have also been enhanced by the Misawa Tribute Show this took place on taking place in the classic green ring, the comfort ring of all rings, but much like Kiyomiya’s Ace robe this was GREAT.
With Kiyomiya selling an onslaught from Sugiura, the vet who can knee or choke you out at any moment, the match sometimes felt like a low-budget Okada vs. Suzuki, but like a charming low budget and not bad low budget. It wasn’t perfect, but for that it was better. They went around 30 minutes but every stage was interesting, from Sugiura’s early clean break responded to by Kaito saying F that and them getting right to elbows, to Kaito selling the shit out of Sugiura’s ass-beating, to the spectacular finish that really did feel like a proper tribute to Misawa, with big drama milked from near falls and stiff shots and realistic selling and bonus moves like the Emerald Flowsion and the Tiger Suplex Hold.
Sugiura can still get it done, whether he’s going all in on a bump into the turnbuckle or being a prick and putting Kiyomiya in a camel clutch AND crab hold while he worked over him. He also throws a bunch of knees and every one feels and sounds like it has connected perfectly, which is a perfect thing to go back to any time you need a big moment or dramatic pause… and there were a lot of those. If a knee wasn’t available, there was also the option of Sugiura doing what he did when Kaito made one of his first of many motions to finish the match – he just punched him in the mouth.
The finish is pretty special in a wrestling world filled with them. It’s got a gutwrench suplex to the floor that can’t not hurt, which gets a good solid 19-count. Sugiura is always going for the kill, charging with knee smashes or raining elbows down. When Kaito finally finds an opening, Sugiura catches him in a reverse headlock and everything seems to be going to shit… until he DEADLIFTS Sugiura and drops him with what seemed like an attempt at an Emerald Flowsion. They threw elbows and slaps until Kaito hit a proper Flowsion and Tiger suplex hold for hot near falls. The moment after this where Sugiura struggles to get up, maybe finally taken back by this young champ, and SCREAMS at him as Kaito throws elbow after elbow at his face is the kind of stuff that used to make ya a MOTYC. Kaito also screams as he sets up another Tiger suplex hold, which finally finally puts Sug down. Among the best things I’ll watch all year and a match that burned brightly with the spirit of Professional Wrestling NOWA. ****3/4
THREE, TWO, ONE, WRESTLE-1 (LOU)
Back in our day, WRESTLE-1 was some weird Muto vanity project that allowed him to book himself, Bob Sapp and Mil Mascaras on the same card in Ryogoku. Today, it’s a fully formed wrestling promotion that seems to be booked by Kaz Hayashi and spotlights some of the most exciting young talent around. Big improvement. Thanks to their partnership with CIMA’s Strong Hearts traveling band, they’ve finally been getting some buzz this year so let’s check it out.
Shotaro Ashino & Kuma Arashi vs. Daiki Inaba & Koji Doi (WRESTLE-1 5/3/2019)
There’s a weird and awesome thing happening in Japan right now where no-bullshit heavyweight wrestling is making a big return as the most exciting style in fake fighting. Whether it’s a reaction to NJPW pushing gaijin-driven, junior/indie style wrestling to the forefront or something else completely, promotions like All Japan, NOAH and BJW are thriving by letting big burly bastards beat the shit out of each other for YOUR viewing pleasure.
This was a match very much worked in that throwback hard-hitting heavyweight style and I loved all of it. Kuma Arashi’s move-set consists of enormous sentons and bear claws, Koji Doi looks like a young Kensuke Sasaki and Shotaro Ashino has ‘’SUPLEX MACHINE’’ in Metallica font on his tights. If you’re a fan of beef, you should already be sold on this match by now.
Doi was making his return from injury in this match, so Enfants Terribles made sure to give him a particularly hard time and controlled most of the action in solid, Southern tag fashion. Tons of great near-falls and last minute saves + an epic match-long struggle between Ashino’s ankle lock and Inaba’s Octopus hold. Not to keep dunking on New Japan, but matches like this and the recent Violence Giants/Strong BJ series show that tag team wrestling should never be an afterthought. ****
T-Hawk © vs. Shuji Kondo – WRESTLE-1 Title (WRESTLE-1 5/3/2019)
The main criticism about the Dragon Gate wrestling style back in the day was that despite all the fanciness, nothing looked like it actually hurt. Too low impact, some would say. Years later, here’s two guys from the Dragon system having one of the most vicious-looking matches I’ve seen all year, completely lighting up Korakuen and telling Phil Schneider to suck their dicks.
Really enjoyed the story of the old and battered Kondo selling his ass off for T-Hawk, putting him over as The Guy. Completely different dynamic from the unkillable power junior guy I used to watch in DG. Meanwhile, T-Hawk is a special kind of son of a bitch because he looks like an underwear model yet comes off as legitimately dangerous with his beyond-brual chops and Tenryu-esque straight punches.
He did a bunch of great little things here that helped bring the whole match to another level. His facial expressions are tremendous and I especially loved the look of disbelief he shot the crowd when Kondo started fighting back with chops: ‘’Oh this motherfucker wants to go!?’’.
The pace was relentless for such a violent match and they pulled off some really intricate sequences around T-Hawk’s Cerberus that had Korakuen losing their god damn mind. I can’t shake off the feeling this was very stealthily clipped by the scumbags at GAORA, but you’ll still want to get on this action ASAP. ****1/4
Kaz Hayashi, Shuji Kondo, Andy Wu, Alejandro & Jun Tonsho vs. CIMA, T-Hawk, El Lindaman, Seiki Yoshioka & Issei Onitsuka (WRESTLE-1 6/2/2019)
Honestly, old man Kaz Hayashi was not something I was mentally prepared for. That being said, this match kicked ass and could’ve easily passed for peak Toryumon if it wasn’t for a few clunky moments between some of the less experienced kids. It warms my heart that in 2019, CIMA is still out there laying out intricate Lucharesu sprints with ode-to-Kaientai 5-man dropkick spots.
This was my first time seeing a lot of people in this match and I gotta hand it to the boy Seiki Yoshioka. He won me over as soon as he started kicking the shit out of poor Andy Wu down in the corner. I’m a man of simple taste and kicky Japanese wrestlers will always do it for me. Tonsho and Onitsuka seemed more on the generic side of things, but they were solid enough to (mosty) keep up with the frenetic pace. FUN! ***1/2
Shotaro Ashino vs. Seigo Tachibana – WRESTLE-1 Grand Prix (WRESTLE-1 6/2/2019)
One of the very rare occasions where a Limb Work Match delivers as a fully satisfying pro-wrestling experience. Fuck, this was really great. They established the relationship between each other perfectly in the opening 2 minutes with Ashino cockily wrestling circles around Seigo, only for Tachibana to retaliate angrily with the BIG SPEAR out of nowhere to set-up the laser-focused attack on Ashino’s arm.
The arm work came off as an organic part of the match with brilliant payoffs all over the place, from Ashino being unable to use his trademark suplexes to Tachibana countering every comeback attempt into an arm submission. Ashino impressed with his selling and Tachibana came through with some awe-inspiring ingenuity.
Shit got real during the ending stretch as Ashino got randomly busted open hardway and Tachibana just sent the crowd into a pure frenzy by unloading every big move in his arsenal and even stealing one from Shotaro’s former rival Ikemen Jiro. I love a good ankle lock struggle and the one that ended this match felt like an all timer. Tachibana screaming in pain and desperately trying to roll out of the hold only for Ashino to stay right on top of it. This was actually my first Tachibana match and I’m instantly sold on the guy. Meanwhile, Ashino seems incapable of producing anything less than awesome professional wrestling. ****
Manabu Soya vs. Koji Doi – WRESTLE-1 Grand Prix (WRESTLE-1 6/2/2019)
This didn’t have the personality or creativity of the previous match, but it totally got the job done as a beefy heavyweight slug-fest. The match almost had a 90’s Choshu-era New Japan vibe, what with all the lariats, chops and Soya busting out the STRANGLE HOLD GAMMA. They kicked off the match with one of the better test of strength spots I’ve seen lately, as both guys gave up on the idea of overpowering each other and just used the finger lock-up position as an excuse to repeatedly shoulderblock the living hell out of each other.
A whole lot of Heavyweight Japanese Wrestling boxes were ticked off: a Kobashi/Kensuke-esque chop war, a dueling Backdrop fighting spirit no-sell spot, a 1 count spot. All of it was executed well and with beefy authority, but it probably should have gone on before Ashino/Tachibana. ***1/2
ZERO-ONE IS STILL AROUND AND HAS PRETTY MUCH THE EXACT SAME ROSTER (JasMan)
ZERO-ONE was a fun thing back in the day, first as a place for Shinya Hashimoto to experiment with his dream of pro wrestling and then as a place for Shinjiro Otani and Masato Tanaka to be awesome for a while as guys like Kohei Sato and Ryouji Sai kind of sort of took their place. As for ZERO-ONE in 2019, it both speaks to the greatness and strangeness of this business that it continues to exist. I was excited to check out a sampling of some of their more interesting matches from this year.
World Heavyweight Title: Daisuke Sekimoto [c] vs. Kohei Sato (ZERO-ONE 1/1/19)
I’ve always appreciated the balls of Z1 post-AWA to name their championship not the Z1 World Heavyweight Title, but simply the World Heavyweight Title. Sato enters in a mysterious black robe, Sekimoto waltzing through the crowd as if his dick is out and waving about, for here comes the strongest man in the world. Sato’s back tattoo is a little faded and skin a little ragged, while Sekimoto’s as bulky as ever with a few more battle scars – it’s 2019 and these two are still just getting it done. It’s easy to get right back into it – these are guys who will happily both dish out and take satisfyingly stiff kicks and lariats and elbows and chops, until they cannot take them anymore.
As will happen in wrestling, the selling is the trick here. Sekimoto’s wide-eyed stare with his cheek pressed against the bottom turnbuckle padding towards the end was some poetic stuff, especially when it was taken advantage of by Sato who threw an onslaught of kicks from Sato. When Sekimoto finally finds an opening after taking a beating, his look of disappointment after Sato puts knees up to counter him is epic. They go hard, they sell big, for they are manly wrestling men. ****
Kohei Sato vs. Shinjiro Otani (ZERO-ONE 3/3/19)
I remember liking their match way back when in 2001 when Sato was a rookie that was a disturbing level of skinny and Otani still had some gas left in him. This is not that match, for this is nearly two decades later and these days these two know they must take their time. Everything early on, outside of the occasional decision to slap the shit out of each other, is slow and deliberate and there’s a charm to it. Otani, embracing his bald spot, makes you want him to have a Fuchi run somewhere else. There’s a spot where Otani throws a slap, Sato responds with a headbutt, and an Otani legsweep sends them both to the mat and it’s kind of compelling to see them just lay there, trying to comprehend if this is even worth it anymore.
On the other hand, without any history, this sometimes felt like a real average match trying to get by on the legs of its’ history. He’s an all-time great, but Otani grabbing the ropes and doing his sell after a few kickouts nobody bought as near falls gave me a very Triple H vibe in a way that bothered me. They got a lot out of a little here, but I mean it was really really little. They’re still fighting for the same thing they were in 2001, but the fire just didn’t feel right there anymore. **3/4
Yuji Hino vs. Masato Tanka (ZERO-ONE 3/3/19)
Meanwhile, here’s Masato Tanaka to bring that fire. Guy has till got it. And why didn’t anybody tell me Yuji Hino got FAT? HUGE! He’s full-on WAR boss level, throwing some incredible chops that feel more like straight-up forearms to the throat. When Hino looks at his opponent all pissed, sizing them up and ready to fight, or when he is taken aback by something and screams OWAAAA, you can feel it through the TV. Tanaka was just throwing himself into everything here as if he isn’t in his mid-40s and didn’t get powerbombed through a zillion tables in his mid-20s and hasn’t been working non-stop since. These guys just went at it from the bell and provided a wonderful no-bullshit awesome match with a bunch of painful-looking strikes and a real desire to win around the whole thing. After he’s unable to get his hands around the big guy, Tanaka holds his hands behind his back and takes a lariat (for a near fall!), then Hino delivers a powerbomb that goes so high Tanaka’s ass ends up at the back of Hino’s head (it’s called the Fucking Bomb!) and wins it. Amazing. ****1/4
NEVER FORGET KENTA KOBASHI (LOU)
Every year, the honorable Kenta Kobashi produces FORTUNE DREAM, a WAR-esque card that pits some of his favorite wrestlers of the moment against each other in chop death matches. Here’s a few highlights from this year’s extravaganza.
Daisuke Sekimoto & Hideyoshi Kamitani vs. Satoshi Kojima & Shinjiro Otani (FORTUNE DREAM 6/1/2019)
Troubling fact: 2019 Shinjiro Otani looks exactly like 2001 Masanobu Fuchi. This one went a little too long for the kind of meat and potatoes wrasslin’ match they put together, but had enough fun moments to keep you hooked. While everyone seemed to be either going a through the motions or showing off their wrestling fundamentals, Otani and his Final Form Bald Spot were intent on stealing the show. Incredible face wash spot with Sekimoto taking the scrapes in the corner but Kamitani receiving the final boot down at ringside, epic strike-fest with Sekimoto where Otani purposefully charged into every chop as a self-sacrificial tactic to damage Big Daisuke’s hands, glorious high flyin’ missile dropkick near the end of the match. This cranky old fuck still has it. ***
Yuji Hino, Zeus & Taishi Takizawa vs. Shuji Ishikawa, Kohei Sato & Jake Lee (FORTUNE DREAM 6/1/2019)
A super fun 6-man that was more fanservice exhibition than nail-biting dramatic pro-wrestling BUT SUPER FUN NONE THE LESS. Everyone in this match is a notorious ass kicker (although Takizawa might have just been brought in for his beautiful Moonsault), so it was a little weird to see the stiffness played for laughs initially. That being said, Hino and Kohei trading chops in front Kobashi and Shiozaki in the commentary booth was actual genius. Shiozaki giggling at their respectful bows before and after the chops was the icing on the comedy cake. Love me some comedy cake. Once they got past the Kobashi tributes and more light-hearted bits, the good stuff came flying left and right, including an uber-violent sequence between Jake and Takizawa that ended with one of the gnarliest INAZUMA LEG LARIATS ever from Lee. Good stuff. ***1/2
OPEN THE GATE BACK UP JUST DO IT (JasMan)
Dragon Gate has always been a company that both simplifies it for and alienates the outsider, offering complicated stable histories but also a clear hierarchy and many young good-lookin’ fellas doing crazy wrestling exchanges. I’ve always viewed it from afar and here aimed to accomplish two things: 1) see a new PAC match and 2) have a good mix of old favorites and guys I’ve never seen before.
Open the Twin Gate Unified Tag Team Title: YAMATO & BxB Hulk [c] vs. Masaaki Mochizuki & Shun Skywalker (Dragon Gate 9/24/18)
Shun Skywalker was a name I’ve heard like a dozen times recently and now I see him in the flesh. I did not expect a masked guy, to be honest. He’s feels all scuzzy indy at first then he flies over the top rope like a seasoned pro. The match is good for a while then becomes great, mostly thanks to Mochizuki who is an ever-present awesome, whether it’s his immediate targeting of a limb early or throwing some of the most incredible kick combos you’ll ever see at the end. I mean I’m sure he’s doing these all the time but these felt extra special. YAMATO and Hulk were just getting started when I stopped following the ongoings of Japanese professional wrestling, and I am happy to see they’ve advanced from spunky young upstarts to “this is who I am now, bitch.” They looked fine and were key ingredients to the excellent finish, but them working over Skywalker for a bit only went so far. That finish though… great dramatic stuff. Mochi is running all over the place, elbows and kicks are thrown with an intensity only felt when a championship is on the line, and a great sequence ends with a Skywalker dive to the floor that he almost loses himself on but doesn’t. It takes a bit to get going but a wild match. ****
4-Way Match – Open the Twin Gate Title: Big R Shimizu & Ben-K [c] vs. DoiYoshi (Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi) vs. Tribe Vanguard (Kagetora & YAMATO) vs. Bandido & Flamita (Dragon Gate 12/23/18)
Like any aging wrestling commentator experiencing a bunch of quick colorful fellas all at once, the best I can do here is try and keep up folks. There was a lot going on. Big R Shimizu, who is a big boy that wears a bright red singlet, and Ben-K seem to be new kids on the block having a run. Yoshino and Doi are guys who seemed to just be hitting their stride back when my Puro Love faded around 2008-2009 and I’m excited to see what they are still capable of. Kagetora is a guy I remember being a little thing in Michinoku Pro, and now here he is with YAMATO, who I can’t recall much about other than that he doesn’t have long hair anymore. On top of all that we’ve got the buzzy Lucha guys touring the world, Bandido and Flamita.
They work this 4-Way Tag like a 4-Way Singles match, with 4 in the ring at once, and I honestly couldn’t tell you if it’s a normal thing in Dragon Gate or not. This is a match about movement, seamless impressive movement including double teams, dance breaks, and dives to the floor. There might also be subtle moments of storytelling or important one-on-one battles of supremacy in the middle of everything, but I just could not call tose out. Doi and Yoshino stood out the most here, just doing their thing after all these years. Flamita, who seems bulkier than I remember, throws one of the highest angle tope con hilo’s there is – guy goes FLYING. They don’t/can’t/shouldn’t keep this thing hot the entire time, but they did keep it moving and I dug what I saw. ***1/2
Open the Dream Gate Title: PAC [c] vs. Dragon Kid (Dragon Gate 5/6/19)
I. Missed. PAC. Dragon Kid too, though I’ve always just fondly imagined D-Kid still doing his occasionally one-note but ultimately amazing thing all these years. It gave me a comfort of sorts that he was still at it, and by the example here I was re-assured that that was indeed what was happening, though his pants got progressively more baggy due to what I assume are an obscene amount of knee braces. PAC meanwhile was just hitting his stride when he dropped off the face of the planet, but here he is being The Champ. And nobody in 2019 gets more out of kipping out of an armbar like PAC – NOBODY. Kid can still fly like a champ, but the way PAC effortlessly took everything might be more impressive. The Dragonrana is still the best, and Kid bumping for a PAC clothesline in the corner so big that he ended up propped on the tope rope was amazing. There was a point or two here where pages got shuffled and it seemed like PAC wanted to milk a moment for a little longer, like Jamie Noble was still watching in the back ready to critique, and Kid was like “c’mon let’s go man” – but otherwise this rocked, two legends having themselves a quality title match. ***3/4
DDT HAS FREE SHIT ON THEIR YOUTUBE CHANNEL (LOU)
If you’re like me and are perpetually on the fence about signing up to DDT Universe, well the company’s YouTube channel is a pretty good place to sample their latest stuff. CASE IN POINT:
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yuki Ueno – King of DDT – Round 1 (DDT 4/29/2019)
For the longest time, I was convinced Konosuke Takeshita just wasn’t for me. Dude seemed too vanilla, without much personality to sink your teeth into. Well shit, this match just might’ve made me a believer. This was put up for free on DDT’s YouTube channel and it’s filmed with a single house show camera that gets really close to the action. The proximity gave the match some serious gravitas and made it easier to notice the Little Things.
For example, the opening chain wrestling bit came off as properly competitive rather than an exhibition and all of the mat-based stuff looked super impressive. More importantly, it made me appreciate Takeshita’s ACE COMPOSURE and the subtle ways he was guiding Ueno through the match while boosting his underdog charisma.
Air-tight match structure with Takeshita cutting off Ueno left and right, making him work for all of his hope spots and comebacks. Some of the bigger spots (like that springboard rana off the apron) looked like they could’ve easily gone awry but Takeshita’s catching game held it all together nicely. Also, special shoutout to his amazing ‘’What the fuck just happened!?’’ face after Ueno’s Ultra Hurricanrana.
BONKERS ending stretch that nicely paid off all of the big moves (German suplex, big V-Trigger-esque knee, lariat of death) that had been teased throughout the match AND made Ueno look strong in defeat. Mission accomplished, my dudes. ****
Isami Kodaka vs. Tsutomu Osuugi – Itadaki Round 1 (BASARA – 6/16/2019)
Isami Kodaka wears a full on Dragon Ball monkey tail and I can only respect this decision. These guys went for a crazy ass high-level Pure-O-Resew strike-dodging opening and it ended up looking like absolute amateur hour. It’s a shame, because once they moved past the Ibushi/Ospreay cosplay attempt and settled down to work some holds, the wrestling was rock-solid.
Osuugi (of the Speed of Sounds tag team) was particularly impressive here going after Kodaka’s leg like a shark and keeping him under control with all sorts of speedy cutoffs and funky submissions. The flying knee strike might be the mover overused move in Japan right now, but Osuugi really made it look amazing in this match. Kodaka was fine on defense and sold really well, but I had a hard time taking his offense seriously. ***1/4
NEXT TIME, HOPEFULLY: A TRIBUTE TO ATSUSHI AOKI. SOME THOUGHTS ON STARDOM. MAYBE SOME AMERICAN STUFF. BIG JAPAN AND REAL JAPAN AND WHATEVER ELSE IS ON RUSSIAN YOUTUBE. AND PROBABLY MORE NOAH BECAUSE OH MY GOD THERE IS SO MUCH TO CATCH UP ON. AND LUCHA? SHOULD WE GET INTO LUCHA AT 30-SOMETHING?
