Best Matches Seen January 2019 |
Osaka Pro Wrestling Legend Story 1/4/00
Tsubasa & Yoshihito Sugamoto & Super Demekin vs. Black Buffalo & Daio QUALLT & Police Me~n 20:10. Althougth Osaka Pro was a lucha promotion, they had a lot of singles matches & rarely had more than one 6 man per show because they just didn't have a large enough roster to make that feasible. Their bigger tag matches tended to be good though, and this matchup of their up and coming young stars was no exception, though it's not the best example because none of the masters from the Michinoku days were involved, and while the 90's Michinoku stuff still looks great to me, this lesser version hasn't aged that well because it doesn't have a lot going on beyond the moves. Buffalo is always fun to watch though, he'd taken over the mantle as the guy who made these matches tick. Daio always worked well with Buffalo, but was still figuring it out on his own, and the technicos, while not individually amazing except perhaps for Tsubasa, who like Buffalo could have been an asset to just about any company, had enough going on to shine in this setting where you went hard & fast & threw out the best thing you could think of even if it was a dropkick or sunset flip. The rudos did much better as a cohesive unit that had everyone working in unison to make their offense seem better & use their numbers to maintain the advantage, but Tsubasa had his diving Frankensteiner, springboard body attack to the floor, quebrada, and so on, and the others had their moments. Police Me~n was one of the lesser workers, but was still improving, and even had a few things better than what Demekin & Sugimoto could come up with, surprising me by pulling out a shooting star press. They did a dive sequence & the usual staples, but the match was never amazing, it mostly got there through effort & quantity. Though the moves got better as the match progressed, the problem here is the match never really became dramatic; it was all those near falls and saves that really got you invested in the Michinoku classics. The finish where Buffalo had a sleeper on Tsubasa in the corner, and Demekin schoolboyed Police after his attempt to corner charge Tsubasa was greeted with a double boot was pretty anti-climactic. ***
Takehiro Murahama Debut Match, Martial Arts Style Fight 3 minutes 5 rounds: Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Takehiro Murahama R3 1:38. Murahama had been a star in Shootboxing since the mid 90's & worked sporadically for K-1 as well when they used lighter weights, but this quasi shoot style match was his first attempt at pro wrestling. Shoot style was about the furthest thing from what Osaka Pro was about, but that changed in 2000 with the emergence of Murahama as their hottest new star. Hoshikawa was the best possible opponent for him, having dabbled into PWFG & Battlarts on the side, as well as just generally being one of the best workers in the country though he sadly never got his due. He was great here because while Murahama was basically doing a version of what he'd been doing all the time, Hoshikawa really changed his game to make this come off as a real fight. I feel like that was the biggest reason this wound up being one of the best debuts & best wrestler vs. kickboxer matches I've seen. Simple but effective is the way to go when starting out, and Murahama's simple was still very high level technique in his field, but the key for both is Hoshikawa never felt like a stand in for the bag. He moved, asked questions, and answered Murahama so well that you believed he was doing something entirely different than you'd ever seen from him before. It felt urgent for him, and that gave it a sense of realism. Murahama may not have had pro wrestling experience on his side, but I'd suggest that was as much a benefit to the match as a detriment. I loved this match from the outset because they were light on their feet bouncing around, using feints, entries, and set up strikes. They even kept their hands up to block. In other words, they did everything right that pro wrestling always does wrong because people accept every form of laziness & technical incompetence as some kind of machismo. Again, Murahama was just fighting properly, but Hoshikawa had to lose all his bad habits and "fight for real" while actually fighting for fake as always. Even though Hoshikawa is a good pro wrestling kicker, instead of just standing there seeing if he could take enough shots from one of the best pound for pound fighters in the country to somehow beat him, Hoshikawa did his best to get him to the ground, looking to catch a kick or just charge in when Murahama committed or left himself off guard because he's not used to amateur wrestling style takedowns being legal. Though Hoshikawa was able to interfere with what Murahama wanted to do enough to be competitive, Murahama was still winning with his speed & creating enough openings to chip away at Hoshikawa with volume to win the long game the way he would in Shootboxing. When Murahama finally got a knockdown midway through the 2nd, it wasn't a single strike or Hoshikawa's body finally giving in after willfully letting Murahama hit him one too many times, instead Murahama was able to follow his jab with a right cross to the nose. The only sequence that really felt like pro wrestling was when Murahama entered with a knee to set up a backdrop, which is actually a regularly executed throw in Shootboxing that he's done a number of times, but the way Murahama celebrated it felt more like he was playing it as the one pro wrestling thing he'd managed to incorporate. In any case, Hoshikawa popped up while Murahama was being amazed by himself & hit his (released) German suplex then knocked him down with a high kick as soon as Murahama got up. This was their way of giving Hoshikawa a run without having him out technique Murahama, so Hoshikawa followed with a double leg & worked body punches from half guard. Though Murahama couldn't really grapple given he wore his boxing gloves while Hoshikawa was bare fisted, the deck was still really stacked against Hoshikawa because they had rope breaks, so his path to victory was so easily impeded by Murahama simply not being a turtle. This did cost Murahama a point, but obviously that only matters if the fight last long enough to go to the scorecards. The only problem with this match is Murahama was still learning how to pull his punches, so sometimes he was clearly going too easy on Hoshikawa. Murahama definitely did a better job with his kicks than his punches, but while the first knockdown was great, none of his flurries of quick punches that got him three different knockdows in the 3rd to win the fight were particularly convincing. Still, this was a resounding success. ***1/2
Osaka Puroresu 1st Champion Decision Match: Super Delfin vs. Dick Togo 21:04. Delfin is one of the best examples in Japan of a guy whose stardom exceeded his ability because he had a cool costume & was charismatic. Talent wise, I'd rate him above behind (in no particular order) Togo, TAKA, Sasuke, Hoshikawa, Yakushiji, Shiryu, Hamada, Funaki, MEN'S, & Tiger Mask on the classic Michinoku roster, but he was one of their biggest names, and now the top star of his new split off company. That's not to say he wasn't very good, that was a hell of a roster, and he was often excellent in the big tags where his signature moves, timing, & character work would carry the day so he didn't need to be that diverse or dynamic. Still, he did have a few **** level singles matches with Togo, TAKA, & Sasuke over the years when he was willing to really apply himself. This was the biggest match in the brief history of Osaka Pro, and a fully engaged Delfin was ready to climax what had already been a resounding success, but he's also still Super Delfin. So what do we want to focus on here, I prefer to see this as capping the best solo show in the history of the company with one of the best matches in the history of the company. It wasn't a perfect match, but both men were going the extra mile right from the get go, even their basic stuff was performed with extra energy & care. What I liked about this match that sets it apart from even the really good Delfin matches though is it actually was quite diverse. Apart from Togo just being great in any setting, this was a successful long match because while Togo carried it working over Delfin's leg, Delfin didn't just lay there & take it. Sure, he still largely did Delfin things, but rather than Togo doing all the work until Delfin miraculously hit his signature moves for the win, which would have been their lazy big match, Delfin had to keep coming up with counters to merely stay in it & keep progressing one step at a time to actually hit the moves he basically just did in any other match. Though Togo is always going to be the one to watch here, Delfin made himself interesting by coming up with ways to try to get a foothold in the match while also making the top heel seem stronger as Togo outsmarted and outmaneuvered him, and when that didn't work some good old cheating or outside interference from the rudos could always do the trick. The fact that the match was so back & forth even though Togo dominated the majority made it constantly engaging, and this was definitely one of Delfin's most thoughtful performances. Togo injured Delfin's knee with a chair shot early on after Delfin had a nice tilt-a-whirl headscissors on the floor. Delfin had a hope spot enzuigiri, but Togo stopped his Tiger suplex with a kick to the kneecap & rolled into a kneebar. Delfin kept threatening to regain control only to get quickly cut off, finally seeming to make some progress only to have Togo counter his swinging DDT with a handspring & get the first real near fall with a Ligerbomb. Delfin was able to stop Togo's diving senton, and the fact they were able to keep progressing the match while simultaneously building to & avoding the big spots was a big asset here. They were able to work in a table, outside interference, and so on as misdirection without these things taking away from the basic thrust of the match. Even after Togo knocked Delfin off the ropes to stop another swinging DDT, Delfin surprised him by getting up quickly & dropkicking Togo out of midair. It was annoying that Delfin forgot about his injured leg in the later stages, but the match did keep evolving in steps. Delfin finally countered into a regular swinging DDT, check one thing off and then move on to the next big move he needs to hit to win while still waiting for him to hit the swinging DDT off the 2nd. There were a lot of near falls down the stretch because that's what Michinoku fans expected. I wouldn't say this was the most dramatic finishing stretch by any means, but given the match swayed so far in Togo's favor, Delfin was doing to need to do some things after finally taking over avoiding the diving senton to get the job done & become the first champion. ****
UFC Fight Night 143 1/19/19: Donald Cerrone vs. Alexander Hernandez R2 3:43. Cerrone returned to lightweight 4 years after his title challenge against RDA for his record 40th fight with Zuffa. He was surprisingly a -205 underdog against a fighter with only 2 UFC fights who Cerrone is considerably bigger than, and while Hernandez looked amazing coming in on short notice & taking Beneil Dariush out in less than a minute, you aren't going to just walk over Cerrone & I wasn't buying he had the experience yet to do the problem solving it was going to take. Hernandez got off to a great start using all sorts of stance shifting to create angles for his shots as he's deceptively sliding into range. He quickly hurt Cerrone with a left uppercut. Hernandez was the better technical boxer & clearly had the speed advantage, using these attributes to pot shot Cerrone while Cerrone warmed up & figured out how to deal with him. Cerrone wasn't going to watch Hernandez do his thing though, he was proactive. Sometimes he'd drop his head & come forward when Hernandez tried to enter to either get the takedown or tie him up so he might take 1, but he land multiple shots before Hernandez could disengage. Mostly it was the same battle we always see in Cerrone's matches, using the knee to keep Hernandez from getting inside to take Cerrone's space away. The fight began to turn once he won that battle, and things just got worse & worse for Hernandez as, winning the battle that tends to determine his fights at this point since everyone knows his weakness by now. Early on, Hernandez was able to exit out the side so he wasn't there for Cerrone's counters, and was instead setting up the next angle for his own shot. As the fight progressed, he wasn't able to maintain his own pace though, and things predictably didn't go well for him when he lazily tried to escape by backing straight out, allowing Cerrone to land right hooks that should have missed or press forward with a combo. The first round was great, but Hernandez lacked the maturity & diversity to make the adjustments to get himself back in the fight. He did recover well between rounds and try a few different things, but couldn't keep Cerrone against the cage & the push kick was fine but that's establishing a range that's advantage Cerrone. Cerrone was mostly just beating Hernandez the same way in the 2nd, stopping him with the knee then pushing forward with a punch combo as Hernandez backed straight out or clinching & landing a few shots on the inside before Hernandez broke free or Cerrone released to set up a big shot on the break. Eventually, his high kick found the mark, and he finished Hernandez on the ground. This was a hell of a war, but what hurts the overall quality of the fight is although there was one major advantage switch, it was solved early, and really the last round was Cerrone just chipping away until Hernandez was broken down enough to get caught. Very good match.
7/8/18 Fire Festival 2018 Block A Match: Jiro Kuroshio [3] vs. Masato Tanaka [3] 16:13 of 30:00. I don't get the concept of wasting time editing matches for YouTube, they're not going to run out of space or something. This was an entertaining match where the clipping mainly just seemed to mess up the flow & thus take the viewer out of the match. It didn't seem to be one of those long matches where they stalled then picked it up, rather it was more a consistent match that never really had a burst to the finish, such as it was. Tanaka did the things he's been doing so well for years, but Jiro is such a wild card it felt like a different match. Jiro was heeling it up since he's the outsider, trying to get no nonsense Tanaka off his game. Though Jiro plays to the crowd more than I'd generally prefer, the match still kept moving & he appeared to be trying to actually win, just with as much style & flair as possible. At one point after Tanaka hit an elbow against the ropes he whipped Jiro across the ring, but Jiro somersaulted over the top onto the runway & walked right out of the arena, eventually charging back to the ring with an enzuigiri. There was a jokey spot where Jiro tried to do a dive through a table after hitting a quebrada, but Tanaka got up & cut him off by throwing a bottle at him then did his body press through the table. This was a bit jokey on the surface, but actually most likely a more effective transition than whatever completely serious way they would have tried to explain Tanaka bridging the gap. Jiro did a bunch of nice flying moves, and Tanaka was solid with his beats as ever. The match seemed to fly by, with the main detractor being the lack of credible near finishes to make you believe it was going to have a victor. Good match.
Tarik Solak Promotions 1999
Jake Behic vs Steve Douet 6R UD. An insane all offense war operating entirely under the best defense is a good offense mentality. Douet was the more dangerous fighter in the early rounds because his hooks were so powerful, but having had the flu the past 2 weeks, this nutso pace of fighting 6 two minute rounds like it was a 1 round fight was a big advantage to Behic, who just never gave him any opportunity to rest & completely broke down his footwork as the fight progressed. Douet was really effective when he could throw his hooks on the inside, but Behic was going to keep coming forward & make Douet to burn a ton of energy no matter what, either forcing Douet against the ropes or making him press forward to hold his ground but still fight on the inside in a more advantageous position. Douet was most successful when he could cut off the ring and just throw a flurry of hooks, but generally Behic had a lot better footwork & more energy to prevent this. Douet excelled a lot more when he was able to make it a wild brawl, but while Behic was the better technical fighter, he was trying to win the long game so he more than willing to engage in his share of high activity exchanges. Behic finishing his combos with low kicks whereas Douet was mostly looking to pile on another hook really contributed to the attrition aspect of his game. Douet's legs began to go in the 2nd half, but because his inside fighting was so strong he was able to hang with Behic even with his back on the ropes, using the hooks to set up the right uppercut. Both fighters landed so many shots in each round it was hard to feel confident about the scoring. It felt like Behic was winning because he had the better tactics, ring generalship, & cardio, but his corner emphasized that he needed the last 2 rounds. Behic's best round was the 5th, really wearing on Douet with body hooks & low kicks against the ropes. Before the final round, Douet's corner told him, "If you don't pick it up the next round, I'm going to stop it after that round, alright? It's finished!" Douet gave a big effort in the 6th, landing some nice body hooks & uppercuts with his back against the ropes, but Douet began to take over midway through after a big uppercut & worked him over in the corner with his relentless pressure. Behic won a unanimous decision. Excellent match.
ISKA World Super Middleweight Title: Gurkan Ozkan vs Tibor Vermes R4. Tarik Solak emigrated to Australia from Turkey when he was five, and went from running a gym featuring fighters of Turkish decent such as Ozkan to promoting his own shows in 1993, eventually running the K-1 Oceania shows. Promoters of a league are always going to be more invested in one fighter than another, but at least since both fighters are under contract with the promotion one man's loss tends to be the other man's gain a lot more often. In this case, Solak was simply promoting a superfight with his officials based around one of his top stars fending off a younger, undefeated fighter who was poised to be the next big thing except Solak had no vested interest in him. The result was cringeworthy even to someone who grew up watching Gary Shaw Productions. As a kickboxing fight, it was an entertaining action oriented affair, but with the amount of nonsense, it could easily have been a pro wrestling match booked by a Vince. Ozkan was overmatched, but got himself worked up enough to make it a fight after getting KO'd Bisping style at the end of the 2nd. Vermes had the length & the speed, and was able to keep coming in & beating Ozkan up with clinch knees. Ozkan's strategy was to land a big shot while Vermes was coming in, and he certainly had some success with this, but Vermes was landing consistently & controlling the range while Ozkan was hoping to land a single shot. Vermes' size advantage was such that he could land the step knee coming in then just grab the clinch & continue with a series of knees. Ozkan's shenanigans started early when he landed a left straight then ducked into a bodylock & tripped Vermes, which would have been a great move if this was MMA rather than kickboxing. Ozkan landed some punches when Vermes gave him space, but wasn't able to use them or anything else to keep Vermes off him. Vermes opened up a bad cut above the left eye late in the 2nd. In the closing seconds, he clearly KO'd Ozkan with a clinch knee against the ropes with Ozcan crumbling to a knee then faceplanting, but instead of calling the fight they just let the round end. Ozkan did manage to get up, and I think the timing was legitimate, but referee Dave Hedgecock ignoring the way he fell & just worrying about getting Vermes to the opposite corner seemed odd. Ozkan fought most of the 3rd with his back on the ropes, but Vermes burned himself out failing to finish, which allowed Ozkan to finally come on, landing a right that was his best punch of the fight and actually getting Vermes on the ropes for a few seconds. Ozkan started taunting Vermes before the start of the 4th & seemed energized fighting on negative emotion. Hedgecock called time out & admonished Vermes' corner after breaking the fighters with Ozkan in the ropes, and while he had his back turned Ozkan just charged over to Vermes & started fighting again, which should have been a point deduction. Once Hedgecock restarted the fight, Vermes got one of his many clinches, but this time Ozkan dragged him down in a headlock & started choking him out like it was a schoolyard scrum. When Hedgecock finally pulled Ozkan off after telling him to break & tapping him failed, Ozkan grabbed Vermes around the neck as he was getting up & pushed him, which again should have been a point deduction. Vermes was all rattled & out of sorts by this street fighting nonsense & while Hedgecock was busy threatening to finally take a point if Ozkan cheated some more, Vermes stepped out of the ring seemingly to leave. He got back in the ring after his cornerman patted him on the side, but Hedgecock turned around in time to see him on the outside. Nonetheless, he ensured Vermes that it wouldn't happen again, as if he was in any sort of control, & claimed he was actually going to take a point to assuage him. Hedgecock was about ready to restart the fight, though no point had been taken, however Solak had jumped on the ring apron & waved the fight off then hopped in the ring & raised his fighters hand. Hedgecock should have disqualified Ozkan for his promoter being in the ring, but given that Solak is Hedgecock's boss, he instead played toadie & called the fight off when he was informed by his superior that the fight was over because Vermes left the ring, a rule Vermes' team clearly didn't know of given his trainer Dana Goodson actually asked Solak to show him the rules. Efforts were made to continue the fight, but not on Solak's part as that obviously would not have benefitted the guy he wanted to win. Nor would the suggestion of going to the scorecards given his fighter had lost every round. The fans were verging on rioting before Solak got on the mic, and things were just getting worse the more he acted like a cheap, sleezy dick. Shadiness to this extent may be unsurpassed in western kickboxing, but luckily the result wound up being switched to a no contest by the commission. This should have set up the the "rematch of the century", but it never happened as Vermes never fought again, getting busted as part of a weed enterprise. Ozkan was also imprisoned years later for a high speed chase with the police after they tried to bust him for doing 170km in an 80km residential. Good match in spite of the nonsense.
ONE 31 Odyssey of Champions 9/27/15: Koji Ando vs. Roger Huerta 3R UD. Huerta is a fun fighter to watch partly because he likes to mix it up & partly because he just enjoys himself out there, always smiling & being enthusiastic about the process. Huerta came out trying to defend first, using his speed & head movement to avoid & then fire back with his diverse & unpredictable striking game. Huerta did a nice job of switching stances, and it seemed like his gameplan should have worked, but Ando, who was literally just out there boxing, was too accurate, particularly with his straight punches. Ando was stalking Huerta & walking him down, and while Huerta would try to push back aggressively, even though he would land some shots he wasn't hurting Ando or striking any fear into him. Huerta connected with a lot of teeps & roundhouse kicks, but again, none of them really did what they were supposed to as Ando was able to walk through them. Huerta tried to change things up to start the 2nd, coming out fast with kicks to set up the takedown but Ando defended & began to walk Huerta down again. Huerta was slowing down as Ando's pressure kept him against the cage taking more straights, and it was much more of a scrap in the 2nd half. Huerta circled off midway through the 2nd & tried a 1-2 combo, but Ando answered with his own, stunning him. Huerta struggled hard for the desperation takedown, but ate a knee & got battered with hooks on the inside on the break. Huerta tried to fight his way through, and this was some kind of crazy brawling as they just swung wildly until Huerta's takedown failed again & he got battered on the ground. Ando was able to sustain his game throughout, whereas Huerta's legs & head movement were nowhere near the same in the 2nd half. Still, Huerta wouldn't give up or somehow even go down, and made a big push at the end, brawling until the final bell. Huerta landed some good hooks on the inside down the stretch, though he took some as well, the brawling was a better distance for him in that Ando was better at technical boxing using his straights than this sort of winging. Huerta was never able to hurt Ando, and while there was a great pace throughout & ton of action, it was an easy call for Ando. Very good match.
