Tatsuo Nakano vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (UWFi, 7/22/95)

Tatsuo Nakano gives zero fucks about the size of his opponent. He just runs right at Yoshihiro Takayama and into those giant knees. Takayama's offense in this match is mostly limited to knees because Nakano dominates him for about 90% of the match, blasting him with tons of kicks to the head and quick slappy hands. When he wasn't striking, Nakano showed a lot more on the mat than he usually does, utilizing some cool takedowns and reversals, including a neat choke counter to the armlock. Takayama even gets to show off a bit, using his swanky double wristlock takedown when Nakano teased a German suplex. The German suplex was built up nicely throughout the match, playing into the finish. Takayama, down 11 points, finally Germans Nakano and goes into rolling front necklock to submit him. Nakano's a joy as always.

Hideki Suzuki & Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato (BJW, 1/2/18)

We get our annual Twin Towers tag match to kick off the new year and of course, it delivers. Maybe not on the same level as last year's blood-spattering match against Strong BJ, but it was still a “banger”. Sekimoto gets stuck between a rock and a hard place…the rock being Sato’s kicks and elbows and the hard place being…well, Ishikawa’s elbows. When he gets the hot tag to Suzuki, Hideki comes in with a bunch of suplexes, including a big release German that folds the Big Dawg in half, before and Ishikawa take each other out when the knee meets the elbow. Poor Daisuke gets put back between the rock and hard place, as the Twin Towers lay into him with knees and sandwich elbows. Ishikawa neutralizes Hideki with another gnarly elbow, allowing Sato to pin Sekimoto following the piledriver. Can’t complain about a ten minute slugfest.

Hideki Suzuki & Takuya Nomura vs. Kohei Sato & Kazuki Hashimoto (BJW, 12/30/17)

This is nearly seven minutes of Takuya Nomura showing off what Hideki Suzuki has taught him about being a real tough man. Suzuki has a fun leglock sequence with Sato and throws a couple of suplexes but this was mostly Nomura pissing off Sato. He immediately comes into this match kicking and smacks Sato hard across the face. Of course, Sato dishes everything back twice as hard but Nomura doesn't back down. He's able to work the mat a little with Hashimoto and looks good doing it, but he'll still throw the slaps when he can. He and Kazuki proceed to stiff each other with kicks until Nomura stops it with a nasty headbutt. Suzuki lets him finish it out against Sato and he gets him in the armbar, continuing the work the arm until Sato finally piledrives him for the win. Short and violent.

Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (AJPW, 5/26/00)

What an awesomely scrappy and, at times, brutal match-up, with tons of fighting spirit from Kobashi and Takayama coming off like a big bully. I mean, he high kicks Kobashi in the head before the bell and demands the ref to ring it. The look on Kobashi's face just before Takayama penalty kicks him is priceless. Kobashi is able to hulk up and take control of the situation but when he tries that shit again, Takayama tackles him into the canvas and pounds away at him from the front mount, laying back into a cross armbreaker and refusing to let go after the rope break. What a jerk. He drags him around ringside, stands on his throat, boots him in the head. Kobashi tries hacking at Takayama's head and neck with backchops but Takayama cuts him off again with a nasty climbing knee in the corner. The grunty armwork adds to the grittiness of the match, and Kobashi does a great job selling it as he tries to defend himself with the opposite chop hand. I really liked the struggle on the mat with Kobashi trying to hang on as Takayama pries the arm back into the armbar. As Kobashi spirits his way toward the finishing stretch, the fans rallying him on, Takayama keeps trying to go after the arm but he's clearly exhausted. He's able to hit a beautiful high-angle German suplex hold for a nearfall but can't deliver a second. Instead, they just start popping each other with fists and while Takayama lands a few good shots, Kobashi relentlessly whaps him with back fists. The finish comes a little out of nowhere as Takayama throws Kobashi with a desperate German and then Kobashi comes back with the lariat for the win. Big performance from Takayama, who went well past empty, and Kobashi being the best babyface he can be with some terrific selling.

Koji Kanemoto vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (NJPW, 5/27/00)

This ruled. Stiff strikes, focused legwork from Kanemoto with some uncharacteristically great selling from Takaiwa, neat little nuances here and there, and a few bombs for good measure. Even with a couple of minutes missing, we got the complete story. Kanemoto promptly shotguns him with a kick to the left leg and Takaiwa sells hard for it, before he starts trying to clobber his way to the driver's seat. The lariats into the guardrail were great but then he gets caught with the overhead suplex on the floor and Kanemoto goes to town on the leg. Fun stuff like Takaiwa grabbing the ref's shirt while in the figure-four or Kanemoto backhanding him in the face after he drops down with the spinning toehold. I love that when Takaiwa tries for his own figure-four, it's immediately reversed and he's put on the rocks. Then Kanemoto pulls off the knee pad and starts punching the bandaged knee. Takaiwa is able to work around the bum knee and throw some bombs, including a sweet Death Valley Bomb hold off a tiger suplex attempt. His double powerbomb is obviously weakened because of the leg and he knows it so he pulls Kanemoto up instead of pinning him and clubs him with a lariat. The finish was cool, too, with Kanemoto rolling through his own frankensteiner into an ankle hold to submit Takaiwa. Everything I want out of a sub-15:00 junior heavyweight match.

Daisuke Ikeda & Takeshi Ono vs. Alexander Otsuka & Satoshi Yoneyama (Inoki Festival, 12/1/96)

For a stiff as day-old catshit BattlARTS exhibition tag, this match ruled. Everyone had a role to play in this, and Ikeda’s willingness to get dumped on his head by Otsuka’s brutal suplexes will never not impress. Yoneyama’s the unknown underdog rocking the Tiger Mask IV pants and for a guy I’d never heard of, my first impression is a thumbs up, as he dished out some punishment as much as he took it, especially in the end against Ikeda. Ono was awesome with his wiliness both on the mat and on his feet slinging kicks. I liked the way he nonchalantly tapped Otsuka with kicks or kick his opponents from the apron. Both he and Ikeda did a good job of patrolling submission holds, so mostly, this was about the fold-up suplexes and hard hits. The finishing stretch was ugly beautiful, as poor Yoneyama tries to quickly submit Ikeda with the front necklock but that backfires and Ikeda solebutt kicks him in the throat, kicks him in the head, and when Yone won’t stay down, he slaps him silly and kicks him back down for good.

Hirooki Goto vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 1/4/18)

Incredible performances from both men in a no-nonsense contest that really played to their individual strengths. Minoru Suzuki was at his most callous without the Suzuki-goons bringing him down, and Hirooki Goto did a fantastic job of selling that classic Suzuki sadism. In a night that was mostly about trying to outdo the overdone, this was simple, brutal, and under twenty minutes. My kind of my match. Immediately, they stagger each other with hard slaps to the face before Suzuki grabs the sleeper and hangs Goto from the turnbuckle with it -- the visual of Goto's body going limp in the corner and lying motionless on the mat was unbelievable. Suzuki doesn't let up, throwing Goto out of the ring, cracking him with a chair, then swatting him in the face while he's down. Goto tries fighting back but Suzuki only cackles and levels him with an elbow. I loved how the sleeper hold > Gotch piledriver set-up played into the match, and Suzuki connects with one of the most awesome dropkicks I've seen in quite some time. The way he unloads on poor Goto with that never-ending combination of slaps and jabs, busting open his lip...so so good. Goto is finally able to build some momentum heading into the finishing stretch, reversing the top rope sleeper into a super Ushigoroshi. He hammers Suzuki with elbows, stopping him mid-swing with a lunging headbutt, before putting him down for the count with the GTR. My current 2018 MOTY, kiddos.