TAKA Michinoku vs. TAJIRI (K-Dojo, 4/22/18)

TAJIRI's recent AJPW junior title run was met with its fair share of criticism but I actually enjoyed most of it and I dig TAJIRI's more grounded approach to wrestling in his older age. Of course, TAKA can still go, especially when he's on his home turf and not just ZSJ's mouthpiece. This was a pretty neat 10:00 match with some very good, focused armwork from TAJIRI and a couple of great kicks.  Early on, TAJIRI bails out of the ring, he wipes his face with TAKA's towel, and then he goes to work on the arm. After a high kick into the pin attempt, he catches TAKA in a double wristlock off the kickout. There's a neat little sequence into the facelock but when TAKA lifts him up for a scoop slam, TAJIRI legscissors the bad arm, allowing him to take TAKA down with a rolling double wristlock. TAKA's selling is subtle but it works. He counters the buzzsaw kick into the facelock, then uses the legscissors and wrenches on the arm. He's able to hit the Michinoku Driver but Tajiri turns it into a pin attempt and buzzsaw kicks him. In the end, though, TAKA hits another for the win. Nothing blow away but a neat little match with a great TAJIRI performance.

Daisuke Sasaki vs. Shiori Asahi (K-DOJO, 10/15/17)

Simple but smart junior heavyweight wrestling is the best junior heavyweight wrestling, in my opinion, and Daisuke Sasaki is one of the unheralded wizards of the style. This isn't a match that is going to blow many away and that's okay, that's not what they were setting out to do. But it had a little bit of everything, including a great counter-based approach, a couple of high risk spots, and a little comedy with the ropes shenanigans, Asahi's cobra strike, and the ref bumps. Shiori Asahi has a lot of the right tools, especially in his counterwork, but he tends to try to do too much in his matches. He was more grounded here (sometimes not by choice) but he's got a lot of neat touches to his style, like his simple counter to a side headlock. Sasaki goes after the neck early on to set-up for his crossface hold, and like Asahi, he's wrestling more of a grounded approach, though he does pull out his great diving elbow drop to the outside. I thought the octopus hold merry-go-round was fun, and I loved Asahi's answer to the backslide struggle by slipping through the legs into a swanky pin attempt. He's able to slip out of the crossface holds a few times but when Sasaki finally catches him, he uses the crossover version and Asahi quickly taps. An easy, breezy watch well worth your time.

Minoru Suzuki vs. TAKA Michinoku (K-Dojo, 11/13/12)

Essentially a glorified squash match but masterfully executed by both guys, with TAKA Michinoku trying to outwrestle a pudgy Minoru Suzuki to no avail as each counter is promptly reversed. After a little touch-and-go, Suzuki asserts his dominance with a cravate, maintaining control through TAKA's bridge attempts and then hooking the leg, looking for the manjigatame. Suzuki ragdolls TAKA on the mat, stretching all limbs and working in the aggressive legscissors. When TAKA tries to slip out and slide into a headlock, Suzuki immediately puts him back in the legscissors. Knowing he can't outwrestle Suzuki, TAKA employs his usual tactics, grabbing Suzuki's top knot, or smacking Suzuki in the ribs when he's got him on the ground, that shit-eating grin on his face. The strikes pick up in the backend, with some snug open hands exchanged and Suzuki chopping TAKA in the throat. TAKA tries for the classic eye poke but opts for the shin kick, only to get slapped silly in the face and unloaded on in the corner with some bad boy slaps. I really enjoyed the abruptness of the finish, with TAKA starting to heat up on offense but when he tries for the Michinoku Driver, Suzuki grabs him and puts him away with almost a stump Gotch-style piledriver. Play time's over, TAKA. A sweet showcase for Suzuki and TAKA being the gnat buzzing round his intricately shaved head.

Ayato Yoshida vs. Kyu Mogami (K-DOJO, 5/5/16)

Since watching the one day Super  J-Cup qualifying tournament in K-DOJO, I’ve been wanting to check out some more of Ayato Yoshida. His 5/5 K-METAL LEAGUE match-up with Mogami was a pure and simple textbook wrestling match, with nothing too pretentious. It was a back-and-forth struggle of the sleeper hold/chickenwing facelock versus Mogami’s butterfly lock, supplemented with strikes. Ayato had some particularly hard-hitting open hands and a great looking high kick to the head.  After a flash pin attempt, Mogami smartly rolls right back into his butterfly lock. Unlike most of the Super J-Cup tournament matches, the finish wasn’t rife with poorly executed “junior movez”. After blocking the fisherman buster, Ayato outslaps Mogami, hitting another high kick to the head before dumping him with a big backdrop for the win. Simple, effective, and fun...my kind of match. 

Kengo Mashimo vs. Hiro Tonai (K-DOJO, 9/14/14)

I’m catching up on matches from 2013-2014, since I wasn’t watching much of anything. But this…this is my kind of match. Tons of meaningful submission work, great counters and reversals, and a satisfying finish. After some touch-and-go to open, Tonai tries to get the flash pin with a cradle and follows it up with a Shining Wizard for a two count. I like that Mashimo alternates between working the arm and the leg, and Tonai does a good job of selling, especially the leg. It’s a sound strategy that actually plays into the finish. There’s a great little back-and-forth sequence around the leglock and cross armbreaker, with some fun, innovative arm work by Tonai. In the end, Mashimo has Tonai in the scissored armbar and as Tonai works his way over to the ropes, Mashimo traps the leg, preventing the escape and ensuring the submission victory. Excellent stuff all around! 

Hiro Tonai vs. Kyu Mogami (K-DOJO, 2/25/16)

Solid submission work throughout, with a great payoff in the end. Some basic 'catch point' wrestling to open. Tonai shows his ring awareness early on with the rolls throughs and maintaining the arm control. Mogami works the neck with a cravate and I like how he incorporates the knees into the hold. Overall great counterwork, especially from Tonai. At one point, he sweeps the leg out from Mogami and hits a gnarly kick to the injured arm. He keeps forcing Mogami to the ropes but Mogami fights back and traps Tonai in like a grounded octopus hold. When he tries for the fisherman suplex, Tonai gets a hold of the arm and Mogami quickly rolls through to escape. After Mogami hits a fisherman suplex for two, they go counter-for-counter with the submission attempts until Mogami can pin Tonai's shoulders to the mat for a believable nearfall. Without missing a beat, Mogami goes right back into the grounded octopus hold. After fighting out, Tonai counters a whip attempt into a cool springboard armbreaker and goes right into the seated armbreaker. Mogami makes one last go at the ropes but Tonai rolls him through and quickly re-asserts the armbreaker, forcing him to submit. The crowd was invested, the matwork technically sound. Really good match.