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TAKA Michinoku vs. Minoru
Tanaka From Battle Station Michinoku & Battlarts 11/3/99 Taped 10/17 Kanagawa Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan (3,403) |
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This was like a Mariko Yoshida ARSION match in that it was mainly a worked shoot, but there were a few pro style spots. The difference is that, with the exception of TAKA's enzui missile kick, the fake spots were utilized so well that they were credible. The set up and timing of them was really good. The transitions on the mat were really nice for pro wrestlers in a shoot environment. Aside from a few lame slaps by TAKA, the execution was pretty much top notch. Jason wrote, "TAKA vs. Tanaka was so awesome. It blows the Sasuke vs. Tokyo match from February right out of the water. The cool thing was that they stayed completely away from the highspots. With most workers, this would be bad, but the matwork and selling of submissions was so good that you don't even notice anything (highspots) is missing. Just a beautiful match!" The downside of the match was that TAKA's knowledge of submissions isn't all that great. This resulted in TAKA resorting to some submissions that you wouldn't see in a shoot, and this was shoot oriented enough that these moves hurt the credibility of the match. "Tanaka is the better technical wrestler therefore his submissions looked more credible than TAKA's, but TAKA's selling was really good so that made Tanaka's submissions look that much better," wrote Jason. Some people will say the slow pace was a downside because these guys are juniors and we know what they are capable of. However, the slow pace worked because the selling was very believable and they were able to convey that they were plotting their next method of attack. I thought TAKA's attitude helped because he makes you want to see him have to sell a move, not just because he's king of the junior sellers, but because he's such a prick. This allows them to repeat a spot until TAKA sells it, which is important in a match like this because 19 minutes is a long time when you can't do a lot of your regular spots. "I had high expectations for this match considering that TAKA and Tanaka are two of the best junior style wrestlers in the world right now. It was a different match that I expected, but it was still great, with TAKA showing that he doesn't have to use any of his signature highspots to really have a great match. Right from the start, Tanaka established the style of the match by almost getting a 'KO' though a stiff kick to the head. TAKA beat the count by rolling out of the ring at the count of nine (this really makes me wonder about the finish of the Kandori vs. Hotta match from 3/10/99). It was all shoot style from here to the finish," wrote Jason. The match got off to an explosive start with Tanaka KO'ing TAKA with a high kick. This set the stage for the rest of the match because it showed the audience that the shoot moves were going to be emphasized, as well as that the finish could come at any time. TAKA managed to stumble to the floor just after 9 to break the 10 count, but then he sold on the floor for about a minute. Tanaka tried to stick to kicking since he knew he was a better kicker than TAKA and it had worked so far, but TAKA was able to take him down. "I think because of the way they started the match, with TAKA looking to work pro style but almost getting 'KO'd' from Tanaka's kick, that it was logical for TAKA to go along with the shoot style rather than get his 'ass kicked.' After Tanaka had hurt his knee with submissions, it was impossible for him to go to his highspots (except for that missile dropkick which did look out of place). There is nothing I hate more than a wrestler getting up after having a leg submission applied for a significant period of time and doing a highspot that relies on the leg like a springboard move, but luckily TAKA didn't go that route. It was cool that TAKA couldn't hold Tanaka's weight when he tried the Michinoku driver II the first time, and even when he did hit it, he still didn't put all the weight on his leg," wrote Jason. They went back and forth for quite a while with neither man being able to gain a sustained advantage. Tanaka slowly gained the advantage because he's better on the mat, but was mainly doing damage as opposed to coming close to winning. One interesting spot was when Tanaka tried to execute an udehishigigyakujujigatame, TAKA rubbed his forearm across Tanaka's eyes to try to get him to release. Instead, Tanaka put his hands on TAKA's face, seemingly threatening to gouge TAKA. TAKA responded by doing the same, so instead of blinding each other, Tanaka let TAKA pull his eye out. Tanaka started laying in the kicks. TAKA showed how tough he was by no selling them and asking for move, but eventually he would have to sell them, or so we thought. TAKA appeared to be nearly KO'd, just beating the 10 count at 9, but having glazed eyes and barely being able to stand. Tanaka figured he'd club his helpless prey with a lariat, but TAKA was playing possum, so he ducked and German suplexed Tanaka then pointed to his head to brag about how smart he is. TAKA did a good job of incorporating the pro style spots he used. For instance, he did a Dragon screw after catching Tanaka's kick and elbowing his knee cap. As soon as Tanaka staggered to his feet, TAKA kneecap dropkicked him then pulled Tanaka's knee pad down and did the fake figure 4. The first sequence where TAKA tried the Michinoku driver II was really nice. Tanaka went over the top and landed on his feet then tried a German suplex, but TAKA landed on his feet, except his knee was bad from damage sustained in moves like the hizajujigatame, so it gave out. The time it took for him to get up cost him because Tanaka kicked him when he ran at him and then went into his Minoru special II (jumping takedown into a cross armbreaker). One of the major problems with the match was that, as good as the selling was, they were in way too many moves that you'd tap out from in a second or two for way too long. This hurt the believability more than trying a German suplex or Michinoku driver II. One sequence that really didn't work was, after an exchange of blows that nobody won, TAKA took Tanaka down and threw a few wild, no-impact slaps to Tanaka's arms (he crossed them over his face to protect himself). Suddenly, TAKA gets up and stomps Tanaka, and somehow this buys him enough time to go to the top for an enzui missile kick. TAKA followed by scooping Tanaka up for the Michinoku driver II, but Tanaka nearly turned it into a hizajujigatame. TAKA blacked that enough to go into his own hizajujigatame, but Tanaka got the ropes. TAKA never really released though, so Tanaka had to knock him off with a nasty knee. Tanaka would rock TAKA with a high kick when TAKA stumbled toward him. By the third time, TAKA knew it was coming so he caught Tanaka in bodyslam position and went into his Michinoku driver II! TAKA couldn't get up right away, but he threw his arms up in the air twice while he was lying on his back because he was so pumped up that he was finally able to drop the bomb on Tanaka. TAKA got up with that trademark TAKA smirk on his face, but he didn't even go for the pin. Instead, he grabbed one of Tanaka's legs because he was going to stick it to Tanaka by beating him at his own game, only to find out that Tanaka still had enough left to trap TAKA in the sankakujime. However, TAKA lifted Tanaka up and slammed him down to get out of that and then went from a katagyakuebigatame to a rakudagatame (camel clutch) for the win. "The finishing sequence was really great with TAKA hitting a Michinoku
driver II that seemed to exhaust him as much as he hurt Tanaka with
it. TAKA then got up and tried for a leg submission but Tanaka countered
with an armbar before TAKA managed to get a camel clutch type choke
for the win. The other segment I really liked was TAKA beating a 10
count and faking that he was out of it then ducking a Special thanks to: Jason Higgs 19:26
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