Masahito Kakihara vs. Tatsuo Nakano (UWFi, 12/5/93)

Well, for starters, this isn't quite as gory as their previous match-up, which is an automatic downgrade...but hey, it's almost October, I need my slasher wrestling matches. They take their time feeling each other out until Nakano's had enough and starts cracking Kaki's hamstring with his stubby kicks. When Kaki grabs a leg, Nakano tries to keel his way out of it but Kaki fires off some kicks and slaps and Nakano's such a little shit that he's actually taunting Kaki while getting kicked on the mat. Nakano gets back to his feet, slaps and knees Kaki in the face, clearly pissed off by what's taken place, and perhaps the move of the match is his dragon suplex into the grounded full nelson hold. But Kaki's able to escape out and lock in the sleeper, submitting Nakano but Nakano's like "what the fuck, ref?" and again, he's clearly pissed off by what's taken place. I heart Nakano.

Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Minoru Tanaka (BattlARTS, 5/27/98)

A breezy, shoot-inspired juniors match, with handsome Minoru showboating early on with an armbar takedown and a kip up as he plays to the crowd. For the most part, this was an evenly based match, where it seemed like one well-placed submission could end it. The dueling legwork was, for the most part, the crux of this match, with Mochizuki being more of the aggressor with it, chopping at Minoru’s legs with kicks to set up the holds – loved Minoru’s stumbled selling. Both guys were throwing hard kicks, especially Minoru, and at one point, he feeds Mochizuki a nasty kick in the corner. Lots of springboarding around from Mochi and a nearfall off a German suplex hold but Minoru goes from the Minoru Special II (one of my all-time favorite flash moves) to the Minori Special to tap Mochizuki.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW, 1/15/99)

Masahito Kakihara has shown that he’s one of the best wildly unpredictable predictable underdogs in pro-wrestling and deserving of more hearts but Yoshinari Ogawa is one of my favorite sneaks ever and this is a terrific performance from him. Kaki really wants to high kick Ogawa in the head but he gets caught up in the ropes and Ogawa tries to take advantage…but it backfires, and we get an awesome dive tease from Kaki. In general, Ogawa’s able to avoid a lot of Kaki’s big swings, relying on his wiliness to save his skin, but as Kakikara begins to build some momentum, the tide shifts in a cool moment when he throws Ogawa into the ring post and Ogawa slumps to the floor just as Kakihara tries to kick him. Ogawa then goes to work on Kaki’s leg, pulling out the rolling legbars, the legwhips, and the ring post figure-four. When Kakihara’s able to reverse with a hold of his own, Ogawa taps out…err, no, he just repeatedly smacks the canvas. Shrugs. Kakihara stuns him with a big running slap but Ogawa answers with back-to-backdrops. He holds on to a third backdrop but can’t finish him off so Ogawa goes up top and Kaki cuts him off with an armbar takedown. Ogawa being Ogawa yanks the ref in to break up the hold and when Kaki tries again for the armbar, Ogawa’s able to pin his shoulders down to retain. Lovely.

HARASHIMA vs. KUDO (DDT, 9/24/17)

This ruled, reminding me a lot of HARASHIMA’s 2010 match against Hikaru Sato. There was a blatant and endearing familiarity between these two that pervaded the match from the initial lock-up to the grinning snug exchanges. HARASHIMA was being quite nasty here, especially with his stompy legwork, which is never fancy, but always looks excruciating, whether it's uppercutting into a leg crank or just wrenching the ankle into precarious angles. When KUDO resists the suplex lift, HARASHIMA slapping that bad leg in order to hit the Falcon Arrow -- very cool touch. I guess if I had one minor quibble, it's that KUDO's selling could've been a little more profound but his in-the-moment stuff is pretty great and at times, he would just throw himself at HARASHIMA.

The legwork didn't do enough to deter KUDO from using his stiff kick-and-knee-based offense, and they soon unload on each other with a ton of kicks and dueling high kicks. HARASHIMA's able to pull off the reverse frankesteiner to set-up the corner Somato but when he tries to drive the nail home, KUDO counters with the knee press. Loved KUDO's duck>slap>smile strategy against HARASHIMA and HARASHIMA's lunging headbutt to answer. The escalation into the finishing stretch was terrific, with both guys bumping like crazy. HARASHIMA smiles big after he spikes KUDO with the over-the-shoulder piledriver and KUDO follows that up with a rope hung double knee drop onto the apron (and a slingshot one to the floor for good measure). By the end of it, they're smacking each other silly, HARASHIMA especially, but after a couple of spin kicks and a buzzsaw to the side of the head, KUDO puts HARASHIMA away with the diving double knees. Hell of a performance from both guys (who are both in their 40s, mind you), and they managed to do a lot with the time allowed, creating an "epic" in under 20:00 -- KUDOS!

Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Masahito Kakihara (AJPW, 07/19/98)

Kakihara pissing off Toshiaki Kawada is something that needs to be witnessed, please, go. He immediately pops Kawada with a slap and Kawada’s selling is fantastic here as he quickly tags out to Taue, who gets popped a few good times himself! Oh boy, when Kawada gets back in there, he takes it to Kaki with slaps, knocks him down, picks him back up, and then smacks the shit out of him. Kawada and Taue work Kaki over for a while, Taue piledriving Kaki at one point, and each time Kaki tries to fight back, Kawada usually shuts him down with a boot to the face or kicks. But he keeps fighting until he gets the jujigatame on Kawada and the tag to Takayama. He eats some Kawada kicks, Kawada eats some knees, but Takayama’s mostly a ghost in this match. The final stretch with Kaki and Taue was alright – I liked Taue just shoving Kaki down when he keeps coming at him, but it lacked the fire of his exchanges with Kawada.

Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Masahito Kakihara (AJPW, 2/28/98)

A total blast, with Masahito Kakihara once again being the consummate thorn in the side and this time, he’s got heavy back-up in the hulking form of Yoshihiro Takayama. I love how confident Kaki is when takes down Akiyama with a dropkick but when he tries to lure him into a “shoot”, Akiyama brushes off some of his judo skills with a takedown and more than hangs with Kaki on the mat.  So Kaki has to rely on his kicks and he quickly chops out Akiyama’s leg and re-asserts himself back on the mat with a leglock. He’s such a prick in this match. Takayama’s the loveable brute, German suplexing Kobashi and knocking Jun off the apron, which leads to Jun rolling back into the ring to confront Takayama and getting nearly KO’d with a big knee. Kobashi’s the best good guy, checking on the welfare of his partner, taking sympathetic beatdowns, working the crowd while trying to combat Kaki’s pesky kicks. After the first Kaki kickdown, I love how Kobashi mad-dogs him and lays into him with chops.

While on the ground, Kaki has Kobashi on the rocks and Jun has to break up the Fujiwara armbar, resulting in Kaki and Jun mean-muggin’ one another. Boy, Kaki’s pissing off everyone. The chemistry between Jun and Kaki was awesome, between the in-ring interactions, the constant taunting and one-upmanship -- I’d love to see a singles match between these two if it exists out there. But the final showdown between Kaki and Kobashi was also terrific. Kakiwara tries for his roll-up kneebar off a German suplex attempt but it doesn’t do the trick here and when he goes back to the kicks, Kobashi’s able catch one and capture suplex him. Loved Kaki’s last spat at Kobashi before Kobashi destroys his world with the short-range lariat for the win. The good stuff.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Kazushi Sakuraba (UWFI, 8/17/96)

It’s a beautiful day for a shoot-inspired pro-wrestling bout between two equally matched friends/rivals. There was a lot of back-and-forth on the mat, until Sakuraba decides to German suplex Kaki but when he gets greedy, Kaki takes him down with the Fujiwara armbar. Here, Kakihara’s FINALLY able to connect with his big spinning heel kick, following it up with a high kick and a slough of shoteis. He delivers an awesome suplex throw but Sakuraba grabs an arm upon impact, trying to work his way down into an ankle hold. But Kaki doesn’t let up, coming at him with a combination of kicks and knees, taking him over with the half hatch suplex to set up the sleeper but in a terrific counter, Sakuraba flips him over and quickly taps him with the jujigatame.

Tatsumi Fujinami & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Nobuhiko Takada & Masahito Kakihara (UWFi, 6/26/96)

I love the Fujis wholeheartedly and I loved this match-up, especially the surly, zero fucks given Fujiwara. I mean, Kakihara’s equally great as the snappy striker riling up the old guys but when he pisses off Fujiwara, Fujiwara wants nothing more than to choke Kakihara out and he tries, again and again, with that classic grinning taunt. When he’s reprimanded by the referee (“No choke! No choke!”), Fujiwara just starts punching Kakihara on the mat. Takada is here to kick and kick hard but Fujinami’s ready for him, countering the first attack with a dragon screw legwhip to set-up the figure four leglock. I thought Fujinami’s selling was fantastic while he’s getting hammered with knees and kicks. Takada uses those strong kicks against Fujiwara to cut out his legs, laying in the punishment before Kaki gets the revenge tag. Oh boy oh boy, here he comes, adrenaline-fueled, smacking the shit out of Fujiwara before he attempts (and misses) not one but TWO spinning heel kicks. With the wind out of his sail, Fujiwara promptly taps him out with the leglock.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Shiro Koshinaka (UWFi, 5/27/96)

Started hot, finished hot, meandered somewhere in the middle, but seeing Koshinaka in the UWFi setting is…entertaining, to say the least. His shoot kicks aren’t quite up to snuff but he’s good at sneaking those knees in. Kaki smacks him silly on the ropes, begging Koshinaka on, and Shiro’s like “you serious?”. Kicks aside, Koshinaka’s pro-wrestling offense looks pretty brutal, from his odd but gnarly brainbuster, his backdrop suplex, and the jackknife powerbomb finish. Kaki’s kicks are once again his main source of offense and he’s able to take down Koshinaka a number of times with them, but he supplements his quick feet with lariats and armbars. Nothing does the trick, however, as Shiro shimmies out of the last armbar and goes on to hit his classic hip attack to set up the finish.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Yuji Nagata (UWFi, 4/19/96)

Sloppy and erratic, full of awkward takedowns, hiccups in momentum, and yawn-inducing matwork. Sounds like a shitshow, right? Well, not really…the scrappiness is somewhat endearing and the match really sizzles when they’re wildly missing strikes and Nagata is throwing suplexes. The beginning and end are pretty great. Nagata clubs the hell out of the back of Kakihara’s neck to get him off the ropes and folds him in two with a German suplex. When Yuji gets him in the jujigatame, Kaki freaks…love a good submission freak out. Kakihara looks to submit Nagata with a heel hold but Nagata’s positioned too close to the ropes so when he stands up, Kaki clobbers him with what looks like a short-arm lariat. He comes at Nagata with knees but Nagata is able to dump him with a dragon suplex. Nagata tries to finish him off but Kaki’s able to pull off that familiar roll-up kneebar for the submission win.

Masahito Kakihara, Hiromitsu Kanehara, Kennichi Yammamoto & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Yuji Nagata, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Shinjiro Otani & Tokimitsu Ishikawa (NJPW, 2/3/96)

They lit the furnace under the ring and boy, oh boy, did they let loose on each other here, with Takaiwa slangin’ elbows and a maskless Kendo Kashin being an especially dirty ditty, swelling up Kanehara’s eye real good with a headbutt. Being a 2/3 Falls match, the falls felt unpredictable, the first occurring early on after Takaiwa plants Sakuraba with a Death Valley Bomb and submits him with the crab hold. I thought Nagata was the standout here, as he brought awesome intensity to his interactions, dumping Yammamoto and Kakihara with suplexes and blasting Sakuraba with a sweet rolling heel kick in the corner. But as much momentum as Yuji builds, Kaki’s able to snag him with the kneebar out of nowhere to submit him and even the score…but they continue heating it up well into the third fall. Yammamoto, who looked a little rough around the edges throughout, finishes the match in beautiful fashion, delivering a perdy German suplex hold before using a kneebar takedown to submit Takaiwa. Not a very cohesive match on a whole but plenty of fiery exchanges

Masahito Kakihara vs. Shinjiro Ohtani (NJPW, 1/3/96)

This was a lovely shoot-inspired pro-wrestling match, with Kaki looking uncharacteristically strong and focused, coming off his frenzied gambit of open hands and a big boy solebutt that downs Ohtani. Ohtani answers with some knees and a German suplex throw, taking Kakihara to the ropes with the cross armbreaker. They fight over a leglock, slapping each other silly, until Kakihara’s able to turn it into a kneebar and continues targeting it throughout. He misses the big spinning heel kick (surprise, surprise) so Ohtani sneaks in with a grounded sleeper but Kaki is able put the pressure back on Ohtani’s leg. Good stuff. Ohtani fires off an awesome backdrop suplex and goes back to the armbar but he can’t close the deal and after a crazy back suplex slam, Kaki hits the Kaki Cutter(!) and submits Ohtani with the choke. Bravo.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Nobuhiko Takada (UWFi, 6/18/95)

Lots of purple and perhaps Kaki is rocking the sleek purple for a reason because he really outshines Takada here. This had that pesky youngster vs. pissy veteran dynamic, which I love, and it created some rather memorable moments. Almost immediately, Sano bitch slaps Takada and Takada seemingly lays down on the mat out of fear for Kaki’s unpredictability. Loved Kaki’s arm-trap necklock to force Takada to the ropes. When Kaki grabs an ankle and twists, Takada loses his cool and doubles down on the kicks, hacking Kaki’s leg to spaghetti and taking him down again and again. Kaki’s last gasp is great, as he catches Takada’s kick, barrages him with slaps, suplexes him to the mat, and then squeezes out an unfortunately positioned armbar.  His big “oooh ahhh” moment before Takada promptly chokes him out. Pretty sweet sub-10:00 match.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Gary Albright (UWFi, 5/17/95)

Remember the Sano match? Well, this borrows that same template of Kakihara getting dominated for about 80% of the match and Kaki sneaking a submission win out, via the same roll up kneebar nonetheless. Gary is being Gary here, taking Kaki down with a belly-to-belly suplex and then just trying to wear him out with the grounded full nelson. Albright uses his girth to essentially smother Kakihara on the mat, and Kaki doesn’t have much to answer with. When he tries striking, Albright snatches a leg and takes him back down or at one point, counters with an awesome leg-catch throw. He folds Kaki up with a big boy German suplex but when he catches another kick, Kaki levels up, blasting Gary with an enziguri. Copy-and-paste finish from the Sano match and Kaki with perhaps one of the biggest upset victories of his career.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Naoki Sano (UWFi, 4/20/95)

What I love about Masahito Kakihara is how spastic and scrappy he is, completing whiffing on his spinning heel kicks, landing about 68% of his strikes, falling all over himself trying to grab a leg or an arm. Sano’s similar to that effect, especially in this match, as he aimlessly rolls around the mat, not quite sure which way he wants to go. I loved the struggle Kakihara conveys when he tries locking on the armbar, with Sano looking the most “in danger” he looks the entire match. Typically, a Kakihara match starts and ends the same way. Here, he trades strikes with Sano, until Sano dominates him down the home stretch, hitting suplexes, knees, and kicks, overwhelming Kaki until he tries for another German and Kaki rolls him up with a kneebar and quickly taps him. Lucky.

Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Gene Lydick (UWFi, 8/13/93)

This was a whole lot of fun, with cool throws, heavy striking from Takayama, and Lydick trying to find the golden ticket on the mat. It's funny because Lydick is definitely not a striker and he eats plate fulls of knees, slaps, and kicks trying to get in close enough to suplex Takayama. Loved the opening scramble as it seemed full of panic and intensity. The first suplex of the match is a German courtesy of Lydick and he follows that up with a second, looking confident early on. Later, he delivers what looks like a uranage before unsuccessfully attempting an armbar. Takayama's knees looked awesome and he kept kicking Lydick in the gut. He delivers his own German, holds on, then cradles him into some kind of leg crank? No clue but it looked clunky and effective. Lydick manages to send Takayam to the ropes a couple of times, at one point getting his nose cracked when Takayama tries booting his way out of a hold. Takayama's last gasp is a brutal combo of knees and kicks in the corner but it ain't enough to keep Lydick down for the count, and good ole Gene comes back with a belly-to-belly, slapping on the single leg and dragging Takayama back to the middle when he gets to the ropes to finally submit him. All day long, bebe.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (UWFi, 11/30/94)

This wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either, due largely to the uninspired matwork. Yamazaki’s on the defensive early on against Kakihara’s signature rush before taking things to the ground for what feels like a long time. At one point, he cracks Kakihara in the armpit with a kick. They trade strikes and German suplexes but Yamazaki’s able to hit a second German, following up with the jujigatame for the win. Meh.

Gene Lydick & Billy Scott vs. Masahito Kakihara & Kazushi Sakuraba (UWFi, 8/18/94)

Similar dynamic to the Lydick/Nelson tag but with more of a mad scramble of takedowns and reversals, looking for an opening to the upper hand. As I mentioned on the podcast, I’m a sucker for the suplex>submission combo, like Scott with the overhead suplex>kimura and Sakuraba with the German suplex>neck crank. This time around, Lydick is a little more prepared for Kakihara’s usual whirlwind of slaps and catches him with an overhead suplex, trying to follow that up with a heel hook, which sends Kaki scrambling for the ropes. I love the way Lydick just grabs his opponent and figures out a way to suplex them while they're trying to squirm out. Kakihara, however, finishes strong, overwhelming Scott with his flurried attack and tapping him with the single leg crab. All day long, baby.

Gene Lydick & Steve Nelson vs. Masahito Kakihara & Kazushi Sakuraba (UWFi, 6/10/94)

Relatively unknown American grapplers Lydick and Nelson come into this match with a cool dynamic of Lydick being the suplex machine and while Nelson still busts out the occasional suplex, he works more of a ground game, forcing both Sakuraba and Kakihara to the ropes multiple times. Kakihara and Sakuraba are the aggressive stand-up strikers here but can be equally as dangerous on the mat. Early on, Kakihara gets control of Lydick’s arm, stuns him with a smack, then transitions to a leglock and Lydick freaks out, pounding away at Kakihara in an attempt to break out. Sakuraba’s kicks appear to be Steve Nelson’s kryptonite – he comes in, his legs get peppered with kicks, and he tags out. Enough is enough. After Lydick overhead suplexes Sakuraba, he cranks on a heel hold and Sakuraba equally freaks, which leads to an awesomely heated scramble around the canvas. The finish ruled, as Sakuraba gets dumped straight on his noggin by Nelson’s overhead suplex before Lydick comes in with a belly-to-belly, scooping him up with an awesome deadlift German suplex for the KO win.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Tatsuo Nakano (UWFi, 9/21/92)

On the debut episode of Fighting Network FRIENDS, Andy and I gushed over this violent little gem between Masahito Kakihara and Tatsuo Nakano. Having been gone through much of the 1980's UWF, Nakano bulldogged his way into my heart with his mullet headbutts and knee strikes. He usually finds himself getting busted open but never stops the fight. This time around, Kakihara splatters Nakano's nose with his classic gambit of E. Honda-style open hands and the blood is gushing. Through the gore, he's able to slow Kaki down on the ground with a leglock and I like the combo of the knee > front neck chancery takeover, throwing some salt in the wound with a cheap shot kick. The blood really adds something to the match, with Kaki's grip slipping during a takedown attempt. As usual, Kakihara sets himself up for the big spinning heel kick but misses, which leads to the brutal finish from Nakano: smack, stomp, submit via single leg crab. One of the best sub-five minute matches I've seen and a terrific job of blurring the line between what's real and what's worked.

Keiji Mutoh & Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW, 11/1/90)

This was a pretty fun tag match that really heats up in the back half. Kensuke Sasaki was a fan-favorite here and whenever he got the tag in, he'd bulldog Mutoh and Chono around while Hase brought the finesse. I thought Mutoh was especially good here, building off his rivalry with Hase. They work so well together. Loved him kicking out Hase's leg during the bridge, which nobody does. Hase gets isolated, then Chono, and the midsection sort of meanders into the final few minutes of the match. After a sweet ura-nage, Hase puts the sasorigatame on Chono, Mutoh breaks it up, then Sasaki comes in, superplexes Chono, and puts the sasorigatame back on. Gotta get it. When Mutoh tries to break it up, he and Sasaki get into it with slaps until Hase dumps Mutoh to the outside, allowing Sasaki to hit a German suplex hold on Chono. In the end, Mutoh's able to hit a dragon suplex hold and the moonsault press on Hase for a crazy nearfall, but after Sasaki cleans house, Hase pins Mutoh with the Northern Lights suplex hold for the big win.

UWF Atlantis (10/25/90)

This show was an absolute blast and recommended to those who may be turned off by the art of fake fighting that is "shoot style". You've got four of the biggest shoot personalities going toe-to-toe, and an early look into the spastic underdog that is Masahito Kakihara. So in the words of Dr. Stephen Brule, PhD, let's check it out.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Takaku Fuke

Young Kakihara is already showing signs of what's to come with the immediate slap after the handshake. Kakihara's lightning-quick with his kicks and slaps and Fuke does all he can to try and slow the whirlwind down, at one point catching a leg and countering with a cool capture-style powerslam. Once Fuke's got him on the ground, he's able to send Kaki crawling to the ropes by targeting the legs, supplementing the holds with an occasional kick or knee to the face. He's able to catch him in a guillotine choke, smartly trapping the legs to prevent the break. There's plenty of takedowns and scrambling around the mat throughout, with Kakihara finally securing a head-and-shoulder-lock for the submission win.

Masakatsu Funaki vs. Akira Maeda

Loved the flurried slap-action to open and the frantic way Funaki counters out of the rear waistlock to ground Big Boss Maeda with the wakigatame, really cranking it on like he's fixing a leaky pipe. They convey good struggle for control and for the most part, Funaki's able to roll with a lot of Maeda's punches so to speak...you know, except for when Maeda is repeatedly rocking him kicks on the ropes. But I like that even when they're on the mat, Funaki is still trying to drive home a few knees and boots. Maeda's able to execute a beautiful German suplex hold but it doesn't do much to slow down Funaki, who comes at him with some good hard smacks, busting Maeda's nose. He slows him down with some focused legwork and plants him with a nasty capture suplex but still, Funaki keeps coming until eventually Maeda has to choke him out. Really great match.

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara

Aside from his sometimes heavy striking, Takada doesn't do a whole lot for me, especially on the mat, but when he's paired against Fujiwara, I find myself more invested in him as a performer. He sells Fujiwara's awesome lunging headbutts like a million bucks and what I love about the headbutts is that can come from out nowhere and quickly turn the tide of the match. Fujiwara's methodical here in that he'll try to manipulate a limb into a hold but when there's struggle, he'll shift to another body part entirely. He's a real danger on the mat, and Takada recognizes that -- at one point, Fujiwara's able to reverse a leglock and Takada freaks out with boot shots in an attempt to escape. Of course, we get the classic grinning Fujiwara here, brushing off Takada's kicks and hanging out in the corners. Takada tries chopping out Fujiwara's leg and then starts trying to knock him with with kicks and knees but Fujiwara uses the corner as a home base to keep from falling. But when Takada's corner strikes get to be too much, Fujiwara slumps to the canvas in a fantastic moment, still managing a smile when he makes it back to his feet. Fujiwara's able to knock Takada down with another headbutt but ultimately, the old dog runs out of downs and Takada's finally able to get the TKO victory after a knee strike. Another terrific match.

Bas Rutten vs. Carl Malenko (BattlARTS, 10/14/01)

In addition to his time in NJPW, Bas Rutten wrestled twice in BattlARTS and this was the better of the two (the other being an okay tag match with Amir(?) against Malenko and Alexander Otsuka). That being said, the match itself was decent. The matwork felt restrained and there were some awkward hesitations most likely due to Rutten adjusting to the worked "shoot-style" environment. Rutten keeps staggering Malenko with high kicks but can't really cinch anything in on the ground except for a kimura, whereas Malenko keeps sending Rutten to the ropes by focusing on the arm but obviously can't outstrike Rutten. In the end, Rutten's kicks win out, when he connects with a shot to Malenko's ribs, downing him for the TKO victory.

Jumbo Tsuruta, Masanobu Fuchi & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi (AJPW, 10/19/90)

Masanobu Fuchi is such a surly fucker in this, between his chair jab and dirty, nose-busting stomps to the face. Of course, the bloodied Kenta Kobashi plays a terrific face in peril but the underlying narrative of the match is that the young lads can't quite catch a break. Sure, they get a little revenge here and there, like Kawada suplexing Taue on the floor and Kobashi's moonsault press and German suplex hold to Fuchi. But even when Kawada gets that hot tag after Kobashi's beatdown, he unloads on Taue only to get shut down soon thereafter. The crowd turns molten when Misawa gets the tag and starts elbowing Jumbo in the corner, taking the fight to the outside but getting taken out by an awkward Taue plancha. Daddy Jumbo eventually gets the kids reined and I love that final interaction with Misawa, stopping Misawa's attempt to save Kobashi from the powerbomb with an elbow to the face. Kobashi tries one last comeback effort but the thorn in his side, Fuchi, cuts him off up top, allowing Jumbo to the super backdrop and a regular one to put Kobashi away. As always, this is the good stuff.

Koji Kanemoto vs. Bas Rutten (NJPW, 10/26/02)

Bas Rutten was brought in New Japan in 2002 and wrestled a total of six, including an IWGP Heavyweight Title challenge against Yuji Nagata and a European Catch Rules match against Osamu Nishimura (which if someone has seen, please @ me). His last match in NJPW was against Koji Kanemoto for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title and, not to my surprise, he actually plays pro-wrestler quite well. Sure, he's got some goofy...uh, dropkicks...but he knows how to work the fans and he sells Kanemoto's legwork well. I like the way he sort of ragdolls Kanemoto around in the double arm hold, then transitions into the front guillotine and supplements with knees. Rutten's able to use his raw strength to muscle Kanemoto into predicaments or escape them, like his awesome powerbomb counter to the triangle. At one point, he just starts slamming Kanemoto's head into the canvas. And of course, we get some slick matwork from Bas. During a kick exchange, Bas is able to catch a leg for a takedown, floats around into an armbar then shifts into a heel hook to force Kanemoto to the ropes. Kanemoto is clearly overshadowed here, and while he'll get in some mounted tantrum slaps or go back to the leg to set-up the finish, Rutten really makes this match an interesting spectacle of sorts. After he hits Shining Wizard!!, Bas doesn't go for the pin but instead, plays to the crowd, like "hey, I can do this too", but it costs him, as Kanemoto's able to snag the ankle hold for the submission victory. An interesting match-up and from what I've seen, Rutten's best pro-wrestling performance...and sadly, his last.