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.

Kengo Mashimo vs. Shinjitsu Nohashi (Futen, 4/26/09)

This kind of match...this is my bread-and-butter. A 12-minute ditty with Kengo Mashimo working like he's too good to be in the same ring as little Shinjitsu Nohashi, who puts on a fun underdog performance. The strikes are stiff, the matwork engaging, and the camera is...uh, adequate. Mashimo starts with these condescending bald head slaps before they scramble around the mat, with Nohashi trying to hold his own. After a good hard kick to the ribs, Mashimo muscles Nohashi up with a deadlift gutwrench suplex and keeps peppering him with the knees and kicks (including an ASS KICK) until Nohashi stops his momentum with a big headbutt. Mashimo is quick to recover, utilizing a crisp takedown into the double wristlock, but Nohashi is able to cut him down with a leg trip, stomping at his face and head before turning him over into the single leg crab. He transitions from the single leg>STF>rear naked choke but Mashimo's able to exert more pressure, turning the hold against him. Finally, Nohashi unloads with some absolutely nasty headbutts (including a running headbutt), bloodying himself in the process. He hits a backdrop suplex, an awesome top rope basement dropkick, and goes right back to the choke. But in the end, he can't hang on and after powering out, Mashimo hits the brainbuster and high kick to the head to KO Nohashi.

Kengo Mashimo vs. Seiken (Futen, 7/18/11)

This was a cute little slugger of a match, with the formally overrated Kengo Mashimo (currently underrated) and a guy I was unfamiliar with going into this match, Seiken, who only wrestled two or three matches for Fu-Ten before skipping dimensions. He's a pretty heavy striker, coming out of the gate strong and taking Mashimo down into a front mount before pounding away at his face with forearms and elbows. Mashimo has to take a minute on the outside to re-consider his current situation (to a bit of laughter) and when he returns, he's able to get a takedown, going from a double wristlock attempt into a front mount, where they both start smacking at each other. I loved Kengo's counter to Seiken's wheel kick attempt, swatting it down, then proceeding to stooge around with Seiken's kicks. But the next wheel kick catches Kengo square in the jaw and Seiken follows that up with a shotgun blast solebutt to the midsection. Something clicks in Mashimo at that point, and he goes on the final offensive, dropping Seiken with a few suplexes, buckling his knee with a brutal low kick, and then unloading with some nasty kicks to the head, KO'ing him with the buzzsaw. Really good sub-ten minute scrap. I'd like to see Seiken's other matches in Fu-Ten.

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!