Dick Togo vs. Takuya Nomura (BJW, 2/18/18)

Welp, I forgot to talk about a match that most definitely will be among my favorites of 2018: slick Dick Togo versus Takuya Nomura in Big Japan. I love Togo, all the little things he does, and of course, my love for Nomura is never in doubt. He understands pro-wrestling better than guys with twice his experience. Savvy matwork to start from both guys, with Togo's experience getting the edge over the younger Nomura. After Nomura kicks the ringpost outside like a dope, Togo supelxes him onto the floor, hits a running senton off the apron to the floor, and continues working the leg inside the ring, putting Nomura in the figure-four. I love how he keeps Nomura's hand away from the leg and ducks the slap attempts. Really good selling of the leg from Nomura, even when he's laying in the kicks. He's able to pull out a flash armbar off a punch attempt and then peppers Togo with some snug open hands. Really liked Togo's first crossface lock off the roll up, and then the finish, catching the PK attempt, sweeping the leg and floating up into the crossface, rolling back when Nomura reaches for the ropes to submit him. Simple formula, good psychology, an invested crowd, and under 15 minutes. This ruled.

Top Matches of 2018

Well, we made it to ten matches. Surprise surprise.

1. Hirooki Goto vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 1/4/18)
2. Hideki Suzuki vs. Takuya Nomura (BJW, 6/20/18)
3. Shotaro Ashino vs. Manabu Soya (W1, 3/14/18)
4. Takuya Nomura vs. Fuminori Abe (BJW, 1/17/18)
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 1/27/18)
6. Zeus vs. Joe Doering (AJPW, 1/2/18)
7. Takuya Nomura vs. Dick Togo (BJW, 2/18/18)
8. HARASHIMA vs. KUDO (DDT, 5/13/18)
9. Hideki Suzuki vs. Daisuke Sekimoto (BJW, 5/5/18)
10. Takuya Nomura vs. Yuya Aoki (BJW, 3/21/18)

Daisuke Ikeda & Takahiro Oba vs. Makoto Hashi & Kengo Mashimo (FUTEN, 10/25/10)

To be honest, I don’t have the strongest stomach when it comes to deathmatches. Anytime syringes are involved or some chubby dude is picking at a guy’s scar-tissued forehead with a broken lighttube…no thanks. But when it comes to heavy-duty strikefests, I’m good…usually. This tag match, however, had me clenching my teeth on more than one occasion. Daisuke Ikeda was the star of this match, taking a brutal, brutal beating, mostly at the hands (or, forehead) of Makoto “Man Tits” Hashi. His selling was phenomenal and despite his constant interfering on his partner’s behalf, I felt for him and wanted to see him reap his vengeance. There’s some lighter-hearted stuff too with Oba being a goofball, falling on his ass on a whiffed kick and flailing his arms around on offense but yeah, this thing was built around the interactions between Ikeda and Hashi. The headbutt exchanges were on another level of uncomfortable, as Hashi busts Ikeda and himself open with some nasty cranium-to-cranium contact.  Then when they’re on all fours like a couple of pitbulls ramming their noggins together, yikes. Not only are the headbutts gnarly but there is zero hesitations behind Hashi’s chops and Ikeda’s kicks.

Mashimo and Oba have some good chemistry together as they trade strikes for a minute and when Kengo’s up against Ikeda, he’s blasting him with kicks and knees, trying to lay him out for the ten count. There’s a great spot where Mashimo ducks the lariat attempt and plants Ikeda with a uranage, following it up with a sick punt kick to the back. The final showdown between Ikeda and Hashi is incredible and  gut-wrenching. Loved the spot where Ikeda gets headbutted by Hashi and he stumbles back to his corner, looking for a tag out, and Oba slaps him in the face! The two of them unload on one another with the stiffest shots they can muster and Ikeda tries to end it via submission but Mashimo breaks it up. Hashi’s pissed now (as if he wasn’t before) and doesn’t let up with the headbutts, repeatedly bashing Ikeda in the corner, turning his forehead into a Margarita pizza pie. Ikeda’s trying to fight back with kicks and he’s finally able to deliver that lariat before laying the final nail in the coffin kicks to Hashi, including one foot to the mouth, which Hashi isn’t able to recover from. Super intense final minutes. What a tag match.

Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW, 6/5/89)

Hot hot hot. Real hot.  Molten crowd + jerkface Jumbo + tenacious Tenryu = one of the greatest matches of the 1980's. Tenryu is ambitious righ tout of the gate, ducking the jumping knee and delivering the German suplex hold for two. Then Jumbo takes over, pounding away, putting the big boots to Tenryu and picking up some heat from the crowd. Tenryu's able to knock Jumbo out of the ring with a lariat and follows up with some nasty forearms, kicks, chops, before Jumbo suplexes him down and settles back into a headlock like a true fucking heel. Then he really starts ramping up his offense, building to the backdrop. He hits the jumping knee, a jumbo-sized lariat, a diving knee drop and he keeps dropping the knees but can't pin Tenryu down, even after a backdrop. The fans are lapping up these two counts like warm milk. The counterwork is really excellent from both dudes but especially Tenryu, as he hotshots Jumbo onto the ropes, sidesteps the corner jumping knee (sans kneepad) to hit an enziguri, and hooking the leg to prevent the suplex attempt. The whole finishing stretch is awesome, and when Tenryu finally hits the powerbomb for a nearfall, the place explodes. He's able to deliver the second powerbomb for the win but what a mountain to overcome in Jumbo.

Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 12/16/88)

Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy are mean, mean bastards already but when you throw them up against two other mean bastards in Genichiro Tenryu and Toshiaki Kawada, you get mean bastard warfare. Tenryu getting smacked around and shitkicked against the ropes by Hansen, or hard chopped by Gordy, with Kawada being the spitfire in-and-out of the ring -- this starts hot and ends hot. It's too much to try and break down but a few of my favorite moments from the match include Gordy's huge lariat in the corner sold beautifully by Tenryu, Hansen stumbling around, he and Gordy breaking pinfalls the fuck up, Kawada getting destroyed on the outside. After Gordy hits the powerbomb on Tenryu, Kawada's able to hobble back into the ring to break it up in a killer save. The fans really want Tenryu on his feet, fighting these gaijin fuckers off, but he keeps getting double teamed while poor Kawada is once again in a world of hurt outside the ring. Tenryu's able to fire back with some nasty chops and slaps to Hansen, knocking him down, but Gordy clobbers him with a lariat. After Gordy breaks up the diving back elbow, he pummels Tenryu with gnarly punches but misses the corner lariat, allowing Tenryu a short but brief comeback. He hits the powerbomb but it's not enough. After Gordy powerbombs Tenryu, Hansen drives the knees to the head and finishes him off with a SICK lariat for the win. Awesomely chaotic and brutal tag team warfare.

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Akira Maeda (NJPW, 6/12/86)

Awesome, awesome match -- one of my personal favorites -- and almost an all-time classic but with an unfortunately shitty finish due to the circumstances. This match sees Tatsumi Fujinami, the trusty hometown ace, taking on the UWF’s top striker in Akira Maeda in his best performances to date (that date being 1986). Like any good ace, Fujinami tends to blow off a lot of offense but here, he really sells the injured leg and Maeda’s kicks as dangerous weapons. Maeda continues to target the leg, although he keeps going back to the arm despite the easy target -- I guess as a way to neutralize Fujinami's dragon suplex or jujigatame? On top of that, Maeda himself keeps teasing the dragon suplex. They trade suplexes, Fujinami with a German and Maeda with his capture, before Fujinami slaps on the sasori-gatame, inducing the fans to collectively shit their pants. What a reaction! Then Maeda clips him with a rolling kick and when Fujinami touches his forehead and sees the blood on his fingers, he collapses. Maeda tries to finish him off with the dragon suplex hold and there's really terrific shock and relief from the crowd at the nearfall. The finish, as forewarned, wasn't good, as Fujinami hits a counter dropkick and it's enough for a double count out. It seems like an audible was called after Fujinami got busted open from Maeda's kick. Oh well, oh well -- still, an incredible match.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Super Tiger (UWF, 9/11/85)

Hey, it's Super Tiger sans mask. The match is reminiscent of their first singles encounter, the emphasis placed on the “pro-wrestling” style rather than the hostility these two displayed throughout their “shoot" style encounters. Regardless, Fujiwara’s no joke here, being much better prepared for Tiger’s kicks and taking him to the ropes quite often. When Tiger’s able to let loose on him, he rocks Fujiwara with his wild kicks and knees, at one point catching him in the front teeth with a spin kick. One of the more disturbing visuals in this series comes when Fujiwara tries to choke Tiger out, cranking his head and neck in an unnaturally acute angle, the guttural hacks of Tiger adding to the realism. When Tiger attempts to finish Fujiwara off with the German suplex hold, Fujiwara’s able to take him down with his own signature armbar, the wakigatame, for the submission.

Volk Han vs. Dick Vrij (RINGS, 7/13/93)

My other favorite match of the first six months of 1993 RINGS, and hey, it's my favorite match-up of 1992 RINGS! Volk Han is much more strike-focused and aggressive in 1993 then he has been, and here, he immediately punches Vrij in the face, kicks him down, and goes after the arm, trying to pin him down with the submission attempt. Vrij is vulnerable on the mat but he doesn't struggle often and Han made him squirm. Han is willing to absorb Vrij's big kicks and knees in order to get close enough for a takedown, knowing full well that he's not going to outstrike Vrij...although he'll try with his spinning backhands. There were times in the match where Vrij looked legitimately frightened of Volk. Han also busts out a shoot Russian legsweeip into the submission, which ruled. But the dynamic between these two -- the cyborg striker vs. the cool submission specialist -- is awesome, and like their first match, it comes down to the final point after Vrij keeps knocking down Han with kicks and knees, and Han keeps sending Vrij to the ropes. In the end, Vrij unloads on him with some really nasty knees in the ropes and then delivers a combo of strikes that ends in a palm thrust for the TKO victory over Han. Terrific match!

Volk Han vs. Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS, 4/24/93)

One of my favorites from Fighting Network RINGS '93 because I love an underdog fired up and within the palms of the Japanese crowd, swinging for the fences with wild abandon. Mitsuya Nagai puts Volk Han on the rocks, here and there, but he definitely puts him on the rocks. Han does his thing, taking him down to the mat to stretch him in ways only Volk Han can do -- at one point, choking him with his own arm. But Nagai keeps coming at him with kicks, catching him with a shot to the face. He's also upped his submission game against Han, using a rolling leglock, a cross armbar, a kneebar...but Han will find ways to slip out and turn the hold against him. I thought the finish was awesome, with Nagai knocking him into the ropes with the big wheel kick, briefly turning him over into the single leg (the crowd losing their shit) before Han forces the submission out of him.

Sirra Fubicha vs. Kalil Valvitov (RINGS, 3/5/93)

This is wrestled in rounds, which is probably a good thing considering the pace these two unknown European dudes were working at. Sirra Fubicha may be of Georgian-descent but don't quote me on that. The first three rounds were awesome. In the first round, Fubicha is all about suplexing and trying to grab a limb, while Valvitov keeps trying for a shoot STF. Fubicha opens the second round by hitting a low-angle Olympic Slam and a deadlift uranage on Valvitov, then gets him in an ankle lock. Valvitov throws a couple of suplexes but he’s trying to get the STF locked in. He's more of the bruiser in this match, clubbing Fubicha down at one point with forearms. Fubicha gets a little too fancy with his headscissors takedown but other than his takedowns and throws, he’s not much of a submission specialist. In the fourth round, he gets a little crazy with the open hand slaps but by the fifth, they’re both spent. They fire off a couple of deadlift Germans but it ends in a draw after the sixth.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Super Tiger (UWF, 7/17/85)

This match is the culmination of the entire rivalry and embraces the viciousness of shoot-style through Tiger’s strikes and Fujiwara’s grappling. Fujiwara puts Tiger through the ringer on the mat, making him work for his rope breaks and at times, refusing to let him out of his grasp. He’s spry and self-assured, bouncing around the ring and looking maybe five years younger here. But once again, he’s starkly reminded of his own kryptonite when Tiger mule kicks him off and punts him in the ribs. As Tiger’s aggression becomes more and more intense down the stretch, Fujiwara’s resolve wavers and ultimately, he’s conquered by Tiger’s kicks – the viewer left with a lasting image of Fujiwara as Tiger’s foot slips through his desperate fingers and he crumbles in complete exhaustion. Awesome match and my second favorite of the series. It's a shame this does not exist in full...or does it?

Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (NOAH, 12/23/00)

EPIC!

This was one of the very first NOAH matches I remember seeing during my initial exposure to Japanese pro-wrestling and, at the time, my high school brain was like "whoooa, dude, what the hell did I just watch?". So having rewatched this, what does my married brain think? It's still pretty damn epic. Is it too much? Yeah, probably, most likely, but it isn't necessarily done for the sake of indulgence. It's young brash Jun Akiyama trying to dethrone King Kobashi with everything he's got and Kobashi...well, dropping Jun on his head a lot and Akiyama with the will to survive. It's long though, and you know, I struggle with overly long, bloated matches. To open, Kobashi pops him with a big chop to the chest to set the stage and mood, encouraging Akiyama to bring it, which Akiyama has to seriously consider after those Kobashi chops. When they lock up, Akiyama does a little swanky maneuvering to turn the tide on Kobashi, taking him over with a double wristsault into the front mount, peppering him with slaps and then trying to lock in a rear choke before Kobashi gets to the ropes. Akiyama doesn't immediately let go and Kobashi lets him having it with more chops, catching him with a rolling backchop in the corner.

Loved Akiyama’s driving elbows in the corner and when he hits that running elbow smash on the ramp, he turns Kobashi's left eye into a swollen mess. But he works through it, focusing on Akiyama's neck after a few DDTs, using a front necklock and deadlifting it into a suplex. Akiyama turns the tide with a nasty dropkick to the knee, allowing himself a breather before they trade suplexes and Akiyama starts in on picking Kobashi's arm apart. But that's what we call filler...well-executed, sure, but filler nonetheless. Soon, Kobashi is dumping him with a sleeper suplex or a half nelson suplex on the rampway. Then Akiyama comes back and hits an Exploder to Kobashi on the floor (sold like death by Kobashi) and tries to set-up for his front necklock finish. When Kobashi grabs the ropes immediately, Akiyama hits the wrist-clutch Exploder for a terrific nearfall. Kobashi lariats his way out of a SUPER EXPLODER, and they're both obviously exhausted by this point in the match. Even when Kobashi hits another lariat, it's a collapsed pin attempt, his eye the size of a grapefruit. Akiyama survives the short-range lariat and when he tries to elbow back, Kobashi stuns him with the spinning backchop and unleashes the ultimate finisher in the Burning Hammer to finally put him away. A really good match, awesome in parts, with a great build and tons of bombs. But why so long?

Toshiaki Kawada & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka (NJPW, 12/14/00)

Easily, one of the best tag matches of 2000. It hits a lot of highs, never any lows, although there's a decent little plateau (mesa) in there at parts. Everyone had a role to play: Iizuka the tough underdog with a thing for sleepers, your asshole Uncle Fuchi, proud dad Nagata, and the man, Toshiaki Kawada. I really loved his messy mat scramble with Nagata to open their exchange before they start throwing each other at themselves with boots and elbows. Iizuka's on the rocks for much of the match, as Fuchi starts breaking him down at the knees, catching a wave in the corner on his Iizuka surfboard. Kawada picks up where he left off with the stomping single leg crab and when he's got Iizuka in the bow-and-arrow, Fuchi pops in to stand on Iizuka's throat like a shithead. 

Iizuka gets bullied inside the ring, Nagata's bullied outside -- and some of his facials are incredible. At one point, it looks like he takes a little cat nap on the ring apron. Iizuka's trying to fight back but can't overwhelm the AJPW team, and when he finally gets a break, he tries to grab the sleeper again on Fuchi. But he tags in Nagata, and Nagata and Kawada go at it. On a whole, I think their exchanges could've used an extra dab of Cholula, but whatever, it was fun. Loved all the enziguris and Kawada's selling before Nagata hits the German suplex hold. They each lock in their submissions, and each submission is broken up by their wounded partners. Really good selling from both Fuchi and Iizuka there at the end. There's stereo submissions from both teams, a dope dropkick to the knee by a stumbling Fuchi, and, and a final kick and face slap exchange between Nagata and Kawada to heat it up just before it cools down on the time limit draw. Draws are hard to pull off, especially tag draws, and I think this had it right for the most part. 

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Super Tiger (UWF, 12/5/84)

By now, Super Tiger is familiar with Fujiawa and knows he can’t take him on the ground so he doesn’t hold back with the kicks early on. Really terrific footwork from Tiger complimented by Fujiwara’s selling. Similar to their September match, Fujiwara is looking for that German suplex but Tiger’s able to take him down with a beautiful armbar takedown into the kimura. As brutal as Tiger’s kicks and knees are, Fujiwara’s striking is just as awesome, especially when he’s unloading on Tiger in the corner with relentless body blows. He locks in a grounded choke sleeper and Tiger’s hacking and gagging adds an organic component to the match. When Fujiwara tries for his signature armbar, Tiger freaks out and hustles to the ropes. Fujiwara continues focusing on the arm, forcing Tiger to exert his own energy to find a rope break and each break pisses Fujiwara off more and more, as he stomps and kicks at Tiger. Suplexes are thrown but the final minutes are the real meat-and-potatoes of the match, as Tiger is unremitting with his kicks. He stuns Fujiwara with the solebutt and when he lands that high kick to Fujiwara’s head, the crowd explodes. His kneedrops to the back of Fujiwara’s head are incredible and while Fujiwara is still fighting, trying to keep Tiger at bay, he’s beaten and exhausted and he seemingly sacrifices himself to hit that big headbutt. Tiger sinks his teeth in with those kicks and won’t let up, kicking and kicking until Fujiwara can’t fight back any longer. Terrific match, and very likely my favorite of the series.

Koji Iwamoto vs. Fuminori Abe (Hard Hit, 3/17/18)

The boys from the Sportiva Dojo spar it out in HARD HIT, the last vestige of shoot-style in Japan. This was like 6:00 minutes long and it ruled. Fuminori Abe's slick as cat shit on linoleum against Koji Iwamoto, in his ground defense, his counters, his speed and transitions. Iwamoto's able to snag him with an armbar and when Abe tries to fancy his way out of it, Iwamoto shows good control, keeping him check. Love Abe's arm drag takedown and when Iwamoto takes him down with an STO, Abe turns it into a hammerlock, trapping the arm with his leg in order to flip him over into a guillotine check. It's awesome. The striking doesn't get to heavy and Iwamoto uses a little uranage slam but this is mostly a struggle for submissions, and after Iwamoto hits the judo throw from out of nowhere, he cinches in the scarf hold for the tap out. It'll take this over a bloated 37:14 epic any day.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Super Tiger (UWF, 9/7/84)

The first match in their series. They're obviously still developing the "UWF shoot-style" as this felt mostly pro-wrestling but it's still a great match. Fujiwara sticks like a magnet to Tiger’s arm through the first half of the match, countering Tiger’s offense or executing his own piece of offense before promptly going back to the arm. Tiger realizes he’s not going to be able to take Fujiwara on the mat so he switches to shoot kicks but Fujiwara catches a foot and takes him down with the dragon screw legwhip, immediately going back to the arm. There’s some dirty slaps, nasty high kicks to the heads, and some great piledrivers from Fujiwara, including a counter to the triangle and a Gotch-style variation. Tiger gets a chain of offense, which includes kicks and a jumping tombstone but he can’t follow-up with the dive, allowing Fujiwara to take over again on offense. Fujiwara abandons the armwork in favor of attacking Tiger’s legs to weaken the kicks. Throughout the match, he keeps trying for the German suplex as a finish but Tiger is able to evade it up through the end of the match, ultimately submitting Fujiwara with the crossface chickenwing.

Terry & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy (AJPW, 8/31/83)

What can you say about this match? An all-time memorable performance from the “retiring” Terry Funk, with a molten hot Japanese crowd firmly behind the Amarillo brothers. The teams start brawling before the young boys can even clear the ring of streamers and there’s a great lariat tease from Hansen with Terry hanging onto the ropes like a squirrel or something. Dory goes a good job playing the FIP early on, trying in vain to punch his way to freedom only to get beaten down by Hansen and Gordy. Quick tags in and out as they wear down the elder Funk brother and at one point, Terry chooses to attack Gordy in the ring, costing him the opportunity to tag in.

When Terry’s in there, the magic happens, with his drunken staggering about and shuffling jabs. Hansen chomps down on his forehead, busting Terry open, and then he starts destroying Terry’s knee with assistance from Gordy. Terry’s despondent selling is incredible, whether it’s hopping around on one leg, jabbing at Gordy or grabbing Gordy’s hair to avoid the spinning toehold, crawling away toward his corner. Loved the finish, with Terry trying to stand up to get away from Gordy’s top rope splash, managing to just barely roll out of the way before connecting with the sunset flip from the top for the victory. Post-match, a pissed off Hansen continues attacking Terry and lariating young boys before they’re able to finally subdue him. “Japan #1, forever!”

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (NJPW, 8/4/83)

This, in my opinion, is the most complete match of their series.  While the line of tension threading these matches has been strained throughout, it finally snaps in what was perhaps the most heated and evenly-contested encounter.  Fujinami’s sense of purpose was a constant source of strength as he tries to overwhelm the slower, more prone to frustration champion. The sooner Choshu can end this, the better, but when he tries to open with a lariat, Fujinami hangs on the ropes in avoidance. He’s finally got Choshu’s number. Fujinami’s able to counter and reverse a lot of the champ’s early offense, once again trying to find a way to beat Choshu with the same sasori-gatame that cost him the previous match. When that doesn’t work, Fujinami tries to end it with the figure-four leglock but Choshu is able to once again fight through the submission attempt, the action spilling it to the outside and chaos ensuing. One of the recurring themes of this series has been the chaotic nature of their exchanges, and that’s once again prevalent here as they rebound off one another like pinballs. 

Fujinami emerges crimson-masked only for Choshu to suplex him back into the ring. Here, overcome with exhaustion, Fujinami gives his strongest selling performance of the entire series. After Choshu inadvertently takes out the ref, Fujinami hooks him with a nasty-looking lariat but doesn’t have the gas in the tank to follow up. The finishing stretch is red-hot and full of great dramatic moments -- stuff like Choshu pointing at his foot on the rope after a suplex and the aggravation that follows as Fujinami peppers him with slaps. Or Fujinami dumping Choshu to the outside on a lariat attempt only to get himself tangled in the ropes, unable to capitalize. But from the start, Fujinami has wanted it more and in the end, he’s able to thwart Choshu’s finishing blow, sending him into the ring post and hitting that crowd-popping enziguri. I loved the countout victory for the frustrated Fujinami, backdropping Choshu on the floor after having been unable to pin him or submit him in the ring.

Toshiaki Kawada vs. Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW, 10/28/00)

There is a lot to love on with this match, especially Genichiro Tenryu's grizzled performance as he absorbs most of what Kawada's dishing out and serves it back twice as spicy. He blows off the kicks early on, peppering Kawada with his terrific jabs in the corner before Kawada starts chopping away at his chest. Loved all the stand up exchanges early on the match before Tenryu catches a foot and dragon screw legwhips Kawada down to set-up the legwork. The legwork was fine but ultimately meaningless, but it did provide us with that awesome face punch sold perfectly by Kawada. Kawada goes back to kicking after that leg segment and gets a little revenge on Tenryu in the corner but Tenryu's the big boss here, standing up to Kawada's peskiness, refusing to lay down.  He blasts Kawada with his own gnarly lariat, Kawada punches him in the face, and then locks in the stretch plum, struggling to keep it in after all that punishment Tenryu handed him.

They both fight for the powerbomb, with Tenryu winning out after failing to mimic Kawada's rolling koppou, Then Kawada muscles Tenryu over with back-to-back backdrops. The selling of exhaustion in this match is terrific, with Tenryu tumbling out of the ring and into the cameraman. Then he takes that nasty boot to the nose when he's on the apron, and his face becomes a bloody mess. The finishing stretch, with Kawada trying to take down Tenryu with kick after kick after kick before Tenryu explodes with the lariat, was pretty great, and the result is Kawada nearly KO'd from the blow, which allows Tenryu to put him away with the Northern Lights Bomb. One of the best matches of 2000 for sure.

Yuki Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda (Futen, 4/24/05)

Six years later, both Ishikawa and Ikeda look like they’ve seen some hell, and they're about to put each other through hell in a match all about the violence of the strikes. Ikeda's man enough to shake Ishikawa's hand and then immediately punches him at the sound of the bell. Tons of sick punches, elbows, kicks, with some queasy camerawork trying to capture the action. Built around the struggle, there's still some neat little things, like Ishikawa kicking out Ikeda's arms when he tries to push for for leverage during a leglock. But when it hits, it hits hard. Ishiakwa gets busted open with a gross punt kick to the face, Ishikawa folds Ikeda up with backdrop drivers, and then they're punching each other in the face and headbutting, finally scrambling around for a final submission hold in a cool departure from the brutality of the match. In the end, Ishikwa finally catches him in the rear naked choke for the submission.

Yuki Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda (BattlARTS, 8/29/99)

At the very least, tied with the May 1998 match as my favorite in their series of beatdowns. This is the final of the Young Generations Battle '99 -- and keep in mind that Ikeda had worked a 15:00 match prior to this against Mohammed Yone to get him to this point. As with many of their matches, it starts in similar fashion with Ikeda trying to hang on the ground and Ishikawa prevailing. But clearly, Ikeda is more worn out here and he doesn’t quite have the same fire. He’s more desperate,  wanting to just slug it out with Ishikaw -- and they do and of course, it’s stiff, gritty, and uncompromising. Ishikawa finds some leverage on the ground and starts working him over but Ikeda is too relentless, kicking him against the ropes, Ishikawa doing his best to try and block the brunt of them before he fires back hard with elbows. Ikeda's able to put him in a tired triangle choke and even tries for the crossface chickenwing he lost to in their earlier tournament match – I mean, you get the sense that he really wants to beat Ishikawa and Ishikawa is just trying not to lose. After finally leveling Ishikawa with a lariat on the third try, Ikeda puts him in a pretty badass kimura but Ishikawa makes the ropes. Ishikawa, on the otherhand, is throwing dope suplexes and trying to choke him out but Ikeda won’t die. In the end, he uses whatever energy he has left to drop Ishikawa with the Death Valley Bomb and tap him with the armbar. What a fight!

Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW, 10/9/00)

I kinda hate the term "banger of a match" but when it fits, it fits. Kensuke Sasaki isn't interesting when he's trying to find his way out of a paper bag on the mat but when he's clobbering and chopping and throwin' bombs, he's pretty great. Toshiaki Kawada is trying to work a side headlock and Kensuke bam-bams his way out of it, blocking the gamengiri and straight punching Kawada in the face. They chop it out, with Kawada really selling Sasaki's hands, they slap it out, and when Sasaki starts to get the better of him, Kawada socks him in the face! Big heart. Kawada unloads on him with nasty kicks in the corner, more chops, folds him in two with a backdrop, and then STRETCH PLUM! I mean, Sasaki sells it like it's kryptonite but then kicks out at one. I didn't have a problem with that because it was almost like a knee-jerk reaction to the ref's hand hitting the canvas. Sasaki steamrolls through with a couple of lariats and the sasori-gatame, Kawada fires back with his own lariats, then they collapse following DUELING lariats -- lots of lariats. I liked the finish, with Kawada landing these enziguris that won't take Kensuke off his feet and Kensuke's finally able to lariat an attempt down, only to run into the biggest enziguri kick of them all to end his reign. A pissed off Kawada lobbing stiff shots is hard to top.

Andre the Giant vs. Stan Hansen (NJPW, 9/23/81)

One hell of a hoss battle -- I mean, you could fry up a couple of eggs on the atmosphere alone. Andre’s monster presence resonates throughout the arena, to the point where Andre's yelling at the fans to shut up. Hansen proves that with enough grit, sweat, and ball-bustin’, you can bleed the dragon if you keep jabbing it with the sharp end of the stick. Hansen really sells the enormity of fighting a giant but Andre’s offense comes off so crushing, from the way he wrings Stan’s arm over his shoulder to his mighty clubs and chops to Stan’s chest, sometimes accompanied by that deep-barreled laughter. Hansen’s missed elbow drops provide some of the best moments of the match, especially coming after the big bodyslam. After the restart (with a little intimation from Andre), Hansen turns up the bruising and starts pounding on Andre, tying him up in the ropes and and lariating him out of the ring! On the outside, Andre tries to load up the elbow pad and the ref’s all over him trying to get it off. Out of frustration, Andre swats him with a lariat and the match is thrown out but the fun don’t stop there as the two keep fighting, lion cubs get clobbered, and a pissed Hansen chucks a chair into the ring.

Yuki Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda (BattlARTS, 5/27/98)

This may be my favorite match of the series...but we'll re-evaluate that when we get to 1999. This is, by far, the most brutal of their match-ups chronologically. Yuki Ishikawa is in no mood to play Daisuke Ikeda's game and immediately drops to the mat, beckoning Ikeda to grapplefuck, only to headbutt him, which takes as much out of Ishikawa as it does Ikeda. Again, this is a match where neither man can keep the advantage for very long, and any minor mistake can be costly, as seen when Ikeda grabs the surprise armbar when Ishikawa leaves his arm open for too long. Ishikawa will play Ikeda's striking game long enough to grab a submission, while Ikeda will manage to find a submission of his own through a little hustle and grind.

When Ikeda bails to the outside following Ishikawa's armbar, it's like he came back into the ring trying to appease his demon, because he becomes a real dirty daddy, batting Ishikawa around with forearms, straight punting him in the head, and then hitting one of the meanest lariats I've seen in awhile. He beats the shit out of Ishikawa, who sells the beating quite convincingly, to the point where he looks completely out of it. Then Ikeda suddenly runs into a whopper punch to the face and Ishikawa heats up, snapping him over with a backdrop, connecting with the enziguri to set-up the octopus in his best Inoki impression. But in the end, the submissions ain’t cutting the mustard for Ishikawa, and after Ikeda spin kicks him in the fucking face, he gets KO’d by a head kick. Awesome match/battle/asskicking.

Shotaro Ashino vs. Manabu Soya (W1, 3/14/18)

Now, I'm not a big fan of Wrestle-1, which is to say, I don't go out of my way to watch it: however, the reign of Shotaro Ashino has been an interesting thread to follow. Ashino is a guy who looks like a million bucks but he often came off as cosplaying a "technical wrestler" and lacked the edge that fit his throwback aesthetic. While I enjoyed his match against Manabu Soya from last year, his performance didn't quite connect with me on the level I was expecting. That being said, his rematch with Soya from last month checked most of my pro-wrestling boxes. Here, Ashino played the self-assured badass champ, and Soya the loveable Manabu Nakanishi underdog. They opened in standard fashion with Soya showing off his strength and Ashino his technique. But the match really shifted into gear with Ashino's aggressive armwork, trying to neutralize Soya's lariat while still teasing his signature ankle lock, which he's used to win all of his previous matches. Soya's selling was really good, even when mounting a comeback on offense, throwing Ashino with a big German suplex. He blasts Ashino with a gnarly headbutt but when he thinks he can finish him off with the lariat, Ashino bitchslaps the attempt away in an awesome moment and drops Soya with his own WWE German.

Ashino works the ankle lock for awhile, which results in him maneuvering the mat in order to maintain control, but the next turning point in the match was Soya's awesome superplex, which felt like the biggest move of the match (and was sold brilliantly by Ashino), despite Soya later hitting Ashino with a Death Valley Bomb and package piledriver. He's able to deliver a lariat to the back of Ashino's head but when he tries again to finish him off, Ashino catches him in a Fujiwara armbar, working that a bit, before he proceeds to remove the tape and destroy the arm with a fall-a-way armbreaker. Then he smartly traps the arm and re-applies the ankle hold. Soya's able to powerbomb his way out of an arm triangle and when Ashino catches the arm again, Soya tries to lariat him with the opposite arm. Ashino's able to duck it but Soya knees him in the gut and short-arm lariats him down for a convincing nearfall, finally turning him inside out with that brutal lariat for the win. Despite having his arm worked on through much of the match, Soya was determined to finish Ashino off with that lariat but he had to really fight for it, and you got that sense of pain and struggle from his performance. Probably my favorite match from W1 from recent memory and easily Ashino's best overall performance.