What We Are Watching: The BattlArts/FUTEN Edition, The Hall of Not Quite Good Enoughs

Talk about those BattlArts and FUTEN matches that fail to match your impossibly high standards here.

I'll start us off:

Ryuji Walter / NARITA vs. Tiger Shark / Tsubakichi - BattlArts 12.26.2010

Shark's Sayama-isms have no place in this environment. He should go away. Finally we get some striking but it focuses mainly on the wrong people. I wanted to see more of Walter's juicy shoot punches. NARITA was okay but never was compelling. Tsubakichi brought the best striking over a long period of time but it fluctuated in quality. Still, he spent most of the match in the ring and relegated Tiger Shark to a non-entity on the apron. Brownie points for that. Shark's kicks were hilariously bad. Was he trying to rub Walter's face with his shin?

Not sure if these two matches are nom-worthy as I have watched zero to nothing from 2000, but they both struck me as very good:

BattlARTS 1/30/00
Daisuke Ikeda vs. Mitsuya Nagai

http://www.sendspace.com/file/o9f373

This is worked a lot like the recent Ono vs. Nagai match but a bit less one-sided. Ikeda fighting for survival is a bit unusual bit still really great as Nagai basically drops bomb after bomb on him and then when Ikeda trys to fight back he grabs for a submission. A lot of pro-style maneuvers but I don't care about that as long as it helps the match, and here it does as Ikeda trys to go for his signature stuff early on to counter Nagai kicking him into a pulp but ends up getting blasted even more. A fair amount of wicked shots, some grizzly submission nearfalls and Daisuke Ikeda desperately going for a comeback, and Ikeda is no less good in that role than Ishikawa or Ono, plus he has the advantage that he will kick Nagai's face off.

BattlARTS 1/30/00
Naoki Sano vs. Minoru Tanaka

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZV1OY23P

This was a junior's match but a very good one, we get a long opening mat section and Sano absolutely rules it, methodically going through a number of classic pro-wrestling holds until he is able to slap on a dangerous submission. Not the typical ORGY OF VIOLENCE like most pimped BattlARTS stuff but I enjoyed it throughout simply because it's just quality wrestling with a hot finish.

The way you go about discussing Ikeda/Nagai makes it sound nomination worthy. Anything drag it down?

Yuki Ishikawa / Shoichi Funaki vs. Daisuke Ikeda / Katsumi Usuda - BattlArts 01.13.1996

You're watching this for Ikeda versus Ishikawa. But you already knew that. Daisuke Ikeda is just such a fucking badass. He walks around a beaten down opponent, subtly cocky, stomping on them sporadically. At one point Funaki becomes a punching bag, and Ikeda decides to bring him over to Ishikawa's corner, close enough to tag, displays Funaki to him and then belts Funaki hard in the face. Ishikawa dished out more violence than I'm used to seeing from him here, mostly against his rival. Ikeda obviously gave a lot back - loved the mounted punches.

Usuda was pretty good in this too, with the expected stiff kicks, but he also had a few great throws/slams. As he lifts his opponent over, Usuda folds backward making it seem to have a real sense of weight and effort. This was more strikes than matwork, though there was some of the latter and it had good struggle. Funaki dragged this down. He didn't convey good urgency in his selling. For example, Usuda had a leglock on him but rather than express pain he no-sells it mid-hold and casually shifts over to get a rope break. He also brings a lot of pro-style influences - rope running, a dropkick, a turnbuckle diving headbutt, a plancha to the outside - which I don't usually get cranky about in hybrid shoot-style. But I demand it to still have struggle in its execution, a sense of weight if it's a throw or slam and it must have impact. Funaki's offense had none of the above.

Still, I might upgrade this to a nomination depending on how 1996 turns out for BattlArts.

Great Sasuke and Yuki Ishikawa vs. Gulliver X and Gulliver XX, BattlArts, 26th December 1996

First of all, Gullivers X and XX do a pirate gimmick replete with an eyepatched manager wielding a rifle and a megaphone, so already they have scored the maximum points (thirty) in the category 'Does this match feature wrestling pirates?'. They are perfectly solid rudos here, which I guess leads me into my main talking point that the match is a real hybrid of lucha and Battlarts. A little weird, maybe, but it worked well, and only lost momentum a couple of times nearer the end with odd manager run-ins. Ishikawa didn't have as much in ring time as Sasuke, but when he was in he was fun working a submission section around the smaller Gulliver. Gullivers were a fun team, they did plenty of cutoffs, the smaller one launched himself into the ringpost near the end and the larger one threw a surprising dropkick. Sasuke leaping into some headbutts was unexpectedly stiff, he followed up with a perfectly aimed spinkick to the head, and he pulls out his no hands somersault tope near the end, which is always impressive. Oh, and the smaller of the Gullivers also has a great tope, followed by Ishikawa immediately jumping off the apron and putting the boots in, in my favourite moment of the match.

Can't remember where I got this. Maybe Dean's sendspace folder?

Daisuke Ikeda vs. Shoichi Funaki - BattlArts 04.06.1996

Good match, but not without its flaws. Funaki no-sells a German Suplex by floating straight into an armbar upon impact. He's also much less compelling on the mat than Otsuka and Usuda, which is unfortunate because the match is based around his continuous attack on Ikeda's leg. It lacks the competitive heat and struggle that makes BattlArts matwork so engrossing. Ikeda's a badass. His eyes convey deep frustration at being caught out by this wannabe in a sleeper hold, so he fucks Funaki up with a DDT. At another point he drives his forearm into Funaki's face, leaving his opponent's facial features hilariously scrunched up against the mat. Ikeda's also not opposed to being a shithead, taking advantage of Funaki being helpless against the ropes. I liked the finish as Funaki attempts a leg-whip/-screw (dragonscrew?) but Ikeda stands in it, leaving Funaki to fall to the mat, before KOing the little bastard with one kick to the nose. It felt like a statement against pro-style ... although I'm not even sure if that move is considered pro-style or not ... Oh well.

They were doing a take off of the Gaspars who were Bob Orton and someone (Barry O maybe?) masked Pirates based on some Manga who invaded NJ in 87-88. I watched way too many shitty Gaspar matches putting together the 80's set. Ishikawa does weird Inoki hero worship stuff sometimes.

Gaspar's v Murdoch/Adonis

http://youtu.be/RhfATZcLHFs

The second Gaspar is either Barry O or the Stampede Jason the Terrible depending on who you ask. I think while they look like pirates the manga characters may in fact just be asshole preppys from rival highschool fencing team.

This is something I'm kind of fascinated by. Are any of those Ishikawa vs Matsunaga matches where Matsunaga is a stand in for Tiger Jeet Singh any good?

I remember liking their spike nail deathmatch that's somewhere in the download folder. Not sure if it was very good however. There's also a Ishikawa vs. brazilian MMA guy named Muhammad Ali somewhere, from the same card that had the Otsuka vs. Rampage shootfight and Murakami vs. Dos Caras Jr., and the match were Mohammed Yone runs away from Yasuda after being Tiger Driven.

Alexander Otsuka v. Daisuke Ikeda 4/26/99

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBbqCkiag90

The good stuff in here was really good, Otsuka dumping Ikeda with suplexes, the headbutt which split Ikeda open, kicks and punches, but there was a bunch of goofy shit too. Ikeda tries an ugly space flying tiger drop, Otsuka does a botchy top rope armdrag. Borderline, but I think the goofy shit drops it out.

Ryuji Hijikata vs Kazuki Okubo - FUTEN 11.14.2010
I'm not sure on the date for this. Max has it listed as 11/14/11. Obviously, that's incorrect ... unless he's going by the Mayan calender or something. If it happened this year then I'm guessing it's either a January or April show. Anyway, this match was the pits. Strikes were quite soft, the mat-wrestling lacked intensity or investment leaving the impression of two guys slowly training (killing any realism in the process), one guy kept no-selling (including bouncing straight up from a German suplex) and none of the slams / throws had any sense of weight or struggle in them. Just about the opposite to everything I want from shoot wrestling.

Mitsuya Nagai vs Madoka - FUTEN 11.14.2010
Madoka is some pretty boy punk who jumps Nagai before the bell. He rope runs, springboards and no-sells so fortunately he's mostly being beat on in this. I fucking loved Nagai dodging the springboard attack and caving in Madoka's chest with a kick to cut-off his opening flurry. In fact Nagai's kicks and knees throughout were satisfyingly meaty and unrestrained. Madoka would fold up and bump for them nicely too, adding to their effect. Nagai punishes Madoka for being such an audacious little prick, he even scoop slams him three times in rapid succession just to prove a point, and in general is just beastly. Madoka has another hope stretch but ultimately he succumbs to the larger opponent. Even with Nagai's strikes this wouldn't have seemed out-of-place on a normal pro-style card. Fun match, flawed in places, but I expect better and different from Futen.

Its 11/14/10

Fujita "Jr" Hayato vs. NARITA (FUTEN 1/30/11)
Looks like Fujita has found a new home. And, fucking hell, he belongs in FUTEN after this. A vicious, vicious performance as Fujita pulverises NARITA's face into a bloody, mangled pulp. At points this was more like a prolonged torture scene that would not cut away. Repeatedly Fujita targets NARITA's head and face with sick knees, kicks, palm thrusts, headbutts ... just about anything he can do, really. There was no concern for NARITA's health as Fujita would blindside him with strikes as he was on the ground, in the corner, attempting to stand up - all manner of positions where he couldn't do much to protect himself. Finish was brutal as the conclusive blow seems to have broken NARITA's nose. Blood spurted out, there was a audible crack, referee immediately called the match. Honestly I might nominate this later. Certainly the most violent Hayato match from all his BattlArts/FUTEN work I've seen.

Katsumi Usuda vs. Ryuichi Sekine (FUTEN 1/30/11)
Sekine had shitty stretches on offense and brushed off strikes so he can piss off. I don't like Usuda using pro-style headbutts but there's no denying he's capable on the canvas. His grappling was good here, and I really liked the finish as Sekine was trying to kick out of a grapevined ankle lock so Usuda grabbed it and put on a reverse figure four whilst continuing the previous hold.

Yuki Ishikawa / Daisuke Ikeda vs. Kengo Mashimo / Makoto Hashi (FUTEN 1/30/11)
I found myself disappointed with this. Ikeda and Ishikawa's interactions were distracting - why did Ikeda break up Ishikawa's hold? If they were designed to build tensions it certainly didn't work as it came off comedic and light-hearted. Oba at ringside was annoying too. Ikeda wasn't his usual self. Besides another disgusting string of headbutts with Hashi, where he kept downing himself, he didn't really deliver much violence in this. And he had a rope-running, no-selly sequence with Mashimo. And it was IKEDA who was bouncing up from the mat during it. Ishikawa still looked kingly on the mat and he had a FIERCELY competitive grappling sequence with Mashimo about midway through that ruled. But I expected better.

Daisuke Ikeda & Daisuke Sekimoto vs Yuki Ishikawa & Kazunari Murakami (BattlArts, 2/25/07)

Massively disappointing for a match that has Ikeda and Ishikawa on opposite sides of the ring. They had a few good moments together but the part where Ishikawa fell into the Inoki vs Ali position and backed Ikeda to the corner and up the turnbuckle was kind of weird. There was a lot of cute shit here that felt out of place. I mean, maybe that double figure four would have worked if it was timed better but here it just looked like everybody was waiting for Ikeda. It just didn't feel as organic as multi man subs in lucha or even in other BattlArts matches. Murakami and Ishikawa helping each other counter the figure fours was pretty cool though. Sekimoto got way too much time to do shit in this match which he mostly spent throwing chops and suplexes. Watching Otsuka get three times as much mileage out of one Deadlift German Suplex in the tag I just nominated than Sekimoto got out of multiple Deadlift Germans in a row here says a lot about both of those men. Murakami's brawling outside the ring was nice as usual but never felt as intense as it should have. More than anything this match just felt boring.

Daisuke Ikeda & Manabu Suruga vs. Yuki Ishikawa & Munenori Sawa- Futen 7/18/11

This was as bad a Sawa match as I've ever seen. Lots of yuk-yuks, some weak ass matwork and a shitty finishing stretch to boot. No one else really picked up the slack, either. Suruga was okay, and Ishikawa and Ikeda had their moments together, but it's probably nothing that would make this better with a second viewing. Too bad, I was really looking forward to this. I hope this is the last I see of Sawa in wrestling.