Thursday, October 30, 2014

Union 9/15: Main Event Delivers in TANKERS!

Union Harvest Festival 2014

(2014/9/15)


4.       Hiroshi Fukuda vs. MEN’S Teioh

Good match, Fukuda’s quickly climbing my own ranks, he does American style better than many, many American wrestlers. Teioh still busts out some good shit here and there.

***


5.       UWA World Tag Team Championship: Shuji Ishikawa & SAGAT vs. Isami Kodaka & FUMA ©

Huge disappointment. The challenging duo had the significant size advantage, but Shuji was the only one actually using it, as SAGAT was preoccupied with doing stupid shit, what a dumb hack. He basically ruined what could’ve been a good match.

**


6.       Union MAX Championship: Daichi Kazato vs. Hikaru Sato ©

Daichi Kazato is a small lowcard wrestler who yelled his way through the title shot against the dangerous shoot genre soldier Hikaru Sato. In order to meet the roster’s big expectations, he goes all in for his career defining match. But is it enough to dethrone the savvy, gritty and invading Pancrase/All Japan crippler? Find out by watching this high end, legit MOTYC. I’m struggling to think of two or three better matches than this one in 2014, in all the world. Just glorious on so many levels.

*****

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Brand New Shoot Style... Again! Well Done, Internet!

Hard Hit Holy Land Pilgrimage

(2014/10/13)


1.       Shibata vs. Hiroshi Kozakai

Decent opener, not bad.

**3/4


2.       Hayato Mashita vs. Yukio Sakaguchi

Squash! Yukio was a beast here.

**1/2


3.       Tomoya Miyashita Memorial: Kosei Kubota & Manabu Hara vs. Shuichiro Katsumura & Mitsuhisa Sunabe

Very good match, exciting and fast paced, with slick matwork, painful holds and hellish strikes. Well done, this is why I love the genre.

***3/4


4.       Super Tiger vs. Ryo Kawamura

Didn’t dig it at first but then it got significantly better down the road with all the killer kicks, palm strikes and grueling holds, good match, Tiger seems suited for this thing.

***1/2


5.       HARASHIMA vs. Hikaru Sato

Another good match between the former rivals from DDT, SHIMA displayed his dangerous versatility against the well known and highly respected representative of the genre. Some of the “pro” moves were beautifully incorporated.

***1/2


6.       Kenichi Yamamoto 20th Anniversary & Retirement Match: Ryuki Ueyama vs. Kenichi Yamamoto

Good anniversary/retirement match for Yamamoto, you could really feel the UWF aura, that touch of the 90s. The ending was killer.

***1/2


Hard Hit is definitely not for everyone, even if you like/love the shoot style it’s not a guarantee you’ll like/love Hard Hit. It’s probably the most rigid shoot style league you’ll ever see, traditional in-ring cooperation is completely absent or invisible, and they’ll easily sacrifice suspense and drama to make a match as realistic as possible. All that being said, I like the product and hope they grow, hoping to see them in Korakuen Hall one day.

DDT Special 2014: Greatness Everywhere


DDT Special 2014

(2014/10/26)


1.       Cherry & Yasu Urano vs. Makoto Oishi & Saki Akai

Mediocre semi-comedy opener, nothing to write home about. Urano deserves a push.

**


2.       KUDO & Masa Takanashi vs. Keisuke Ishii & Soma Takao

Damn fine tag, the structure was typically by-the-numbers, but shit, these guys are so good, everything gets executed to a T. Well, Soma Takao is not good, I don’t think much of him but he’s not useless in tags. Seeing Masa score a win over him made me a happy camper. Ishii/KUDO chemistry is great.

***1/2


3.       Tetsuya Endo vs. Kazuki Hirata

Short but good. Endo is usually an underdog young gun in DDT, but he’s been on one helluva roll recently, which positions him a clear cut favorite against the happy-go-lucky dancer Hirata. BUT, Hirata scored a big upset win in a 6-man tag recently, so everything is possible here.

***


4.       Super Sasadango Machine vs. Yukio Sakaguchi

Well, here we go again! It’s time for another legendary Sasadango PowerPoint presentation. I don’t understand too much of Japanese, but apparently he introduced a new submission finisher that’s supposed to eat opponents’ health points like a motherfucker. Good luck, Sasadango!

****


5.       FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE - Kenny Omega Last DDT Match: Danshoku Dino & Konosuke Takeshita vs. Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi)

This was a fitting farewell match for Omega, a full throttle epic done in wacky, Dramatic style. Trust me when I say you’ll enjoy this one whether you’re familiar with Omega and DDT or not.

GOLD


6.       GIVE UP ONLY for DDT Extreme Championship: Antonio Honda vs. Akito ©

I can’t describe you my excitement when I heard they booked this match, and when I found out about the stipulation… my penis exploded! Probably my favorite two DDT wrestlers meeting in what could be an instant cult classic, fuck yes, it’s the early Christmas. Akito won the title from Dino and is looking for a more serious and competitive reign instead of Dino’s gay stuff with bare asses. That’s quite a change in approach and DDT is the right place to do it. Everything around the match has a very sportslike feel, and again, it’s the 180° from what Dino was doing. This is a “Give Up Only” match, which means you only win by submission; right off the bat we got Akito targeting and working on Honda’s left leg, I’ve said this many times before and I’m saying it again – no one in the world of pro-graps works their opponent’s legs better than Akito. One or two luchadors and Tanahashi come to mind, but that’s about it. Akito is just so goddamn persistent and relentless, systematically dismantling your legs until you’re amatz. Like I said, that was the case here as well, and of course Honda sold it down to a T, he’s so damn great in it. Honda’s attacking strategy was targeted at Akito’s right hand/arm, so in terms of structure and tactics this was a very simple and by-the-numbers match, but as Bruce Lee once said “simplicity is the key to brilliance”, and believe me, it’s so fucking true. When you’re selling your pro-wrestling, you’re doing it right, and these two are aware of it. The very primal instinct of pro-wrestling is selling, Honda and Akito are doing it extraordinary. What a match!

****3/4


7.       KO-D Openweight Championship: Isami Kodaka vs. HARASHIMA ©

Kodaka finally gets his one-on-one title shot at HARASHIMA, so it’s time to justify his campaign by dethroning the dominant champ. Kodaka’s also motivated to prove himself, once again, he’s more than a deathmatch guy, and what better opportunity than winning the top indie championship. However, HARASHIMA is a merciless machine who can fuck you up on 100 different ways, and Kodaka’s chest learn it very early in the match. Nifty workovers, fighting spirit, drama. Who will prevail?

****


*** After the main event, we got a rock-paper-scissors tournament to determine the new challenger for HARASHIMA. I love you DDT, please never change. Thank you.

Oh, who won? Unfortunately, Soma Takao, the guy I don’t like, but I’m very curious to see how he does in a big match like this one. I have faith in SHIMA to carry him. ***