Yuki Ishikawa vs. Hideki Suzuki (BattlARTS, 10/24/10)

Two masters at what they do (i.e. wrestling/grappling/destroying) doing what they do best. Approximately 97% of this match is spent on the mat, working holds. The highest impact move is a gutwrench suplex by Hideki Suzuki, who is still a young boy at this point in his pro-wrestling career but already better than guys who've been working 10+ years. A straightforward chess match on the canvas and if you can dig the slower pace, this is a match well worth checking out.

Munenori Sawa & Ikuto Hidaka vs. Yuta Yoshikawa & Katsumi Usuda (BattlARTS, 2/7/10)

This is Yuta Yoshikawa's retirement from professional wrestling. Sadly, Yoshikawa had a short-lived career but boy oh boy, did he go out with a bang -- a lot of bangs. I remember watching this match when it first popped up online and it quickly became one of my favorite tag team matches...and it still is. These guys work an incredibly stiff pace for over 25 minutes and it's insane. Ikuto Hidaka working in a shoot-style setting is one of my favorite things to watch because the cat is super slick on the mat with his counters and his wily kicks. He and Katsumi Usuda focus on the submission attempts while Munenori Sawa and the retiring Yoshikawa kick the shit out of each other. The selling was really convincing throughout, especially from Hidaka and Yoshikawa, who takes an absolute beating but is still exhaustively swinging away. There are countless brutal strikes, nasty suplexes, including a big dragon from Sawa, and an emotional finish, as Sawa kicks Yoshikawa in the head and Yoshikawa struggles to make it back to his feet before the ten count. Instead of letting him get counted down and moving on with his day, Sawa stops the ref, urging Yoshikawa to get up and keep fighting.  And he gets up, he’s all fired up, slapping everyone, including his own partner, before he and Sawa thrash each other a bit longer and Sawa knocks him out with a punch. One of the best BattlARTS matches and a personal all-time favorite.

Dick Togo v. Billy Ken Kid (Osaka Pro, 2/11/10)

Hey, did you know I like Dick Togo a lot? Well, I do, and he was pretty dang great as the dick rudo in his match against Billy Ken Kid. I mean, he attacks Kid in the midst of his streamers, beating him up on the outside and hitting a senton from the ramp to the floor. He badmouths fans, he poses in the corner, he teases the removal of Kid's mask and then just starts ripping it apart. Straight rudo activity. Kid finally gets a little reprieve by taking out Togo and crew with a beautiful tope con hilo, then busts Togo open with a corner dropkick. He can't build enough momentum to put Togo away and when he tries for another dive, he flies straight into a steel chair, which allows Togo to rip the mask completely off, proudly displaying it for the crowd. Kid's trying to stay covered with a towel but when he's finally thrown a new mask, he enters superhero mode. The match lulls for a bit here until Togo hits an RKO out of nowhere! He busts out all the signatures, including the Pedigree>diving senton combo but Kid survives, busting out all of HIS signatures before putting Togo away for good with the Firebird Splash. Dick Togo rules but Kid's a fun babyface in peril.

Takeshi Ono vs. Daisuke Ikeda (Futen, 9/26/10)

This is more or less fives minutes of Daisuke Ikeda getting rocked with headshots, trying to find a way to promptly submit Takeshi Ono in order to put an end to the relentless barrage of punches and kicks. He’s able to catch a stray kick and plant Ono with a capture suplex early on but Ono’s back up and at ‘em with more brutal straight punches to the skull.  Ikeda fires off the occasional kick and when he’s finally able to stun him with a headbutt, he’s unable to take advantage of it as Ono is a persistent little bastard. After a brutal spinning backfist, Ono throws Ikeda with a tiger suplex before kicking him directly in the face. Yikes. They trade hard strikes and Ikeda is able to get him on the mat, where there’s some jockeying for position and control. Ono shifts into a front mount and starts in with the punches but once Ikeda’s able to snag one of his arms, he puts on the Fujiawara armbar and it’s over just as quickly as it began. Short on time and like watching two dudes beat each other silly? Check this one out.

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.

Hikaru Sato vs. HARASHIMA (DDT, 11/14/10)

Dueling limbwork, anyone? You know I'm all about it when it's pulled off in a smart way. This match manages to do just that, with Sato priming the arm for the jujigatame and HARASHIMA trying to alleviate Sato's kicks by working the leg. This follows the traditional DDT "Main Event" template, with scrambled matwork to start, bouts of snug slap and kick exchanges, and the sudden escalation into bigger offense. The slaps are especially stiff, as Sato's lip gets busted, and HARASHIMA's legwork gets nasty at times with some of those targeted kicks. When HARASHIMA's got him on the ground in a leglock, Sato grabs the hair and HARASHIMA returns the favor just because he can. Sato's able to go back to the armbar, transitioning into a triangle and as HARASHIMA begins to power out, Sato uses the ropes for a rope-hung armbar, choking HARASHIMA to the point of foaming. Sato's outside running PK takes a lot out of him, which allows HARASHIMA to dropkick the leg out from underneath him on the apron to regain control. They start exchanging signatures and counters, go back-and-forth with the strikes, with Sato at one point straight punching HARASHIMA, and in the end, when HARASHIMA springboards in, Sato catches him in the armbar. The final struggle is terrific, with HARASHIMA trying to boot his way out, then grabbing onto the referee, before finally giving up. Niiiice.