10/5/98 (B-CUP '98 Tournament R1) Yuki Ishikawa vs Mitsuhiro Matsunaga
Good vs Evil, Them vs Us, 2 mother fuckers that don't like each other about to fight. Ishikawa, Battlarts Ace, representitive of clean pure skill based sportsman like grappling & striking contest. Matsunaga, Mr. Danger, dastardly invader, representitive of anything goes, weapon wielding hardcore matches. Matsunaga waste no time getting things started as he whips out a fuckin sword he smugled into the ring and goes after Ishikawa. He then uses every other dirty trick he can think of, he stabs him with a fork, he uses chairs, he chokes, he stomps, he bites him with his vampire fangs, just for the hell of it he goes back to his martial arts roots and tosses in a few karate kicks and a suplex too. Ishikawa fights back here and thear but keeps getting cut off and gets bloodied up. He does kind of wussy blade job on his head actually but all is forgiven when a few mins later he goes to the complete other end of the spectrum of balls out manliness and gets his arm legit carved up by Matsunaga's fork and starts driping blood all over. Finally he's able to catch Matsunaga with something and make his comeback to the delight of the crowd, and since this match is about pride as much as anything he never results to using Matsunaga's own weaposn against him. Instead he proves his style is better and finishes him with holds & suplexes, a quick sleeper puts Matsunaga out and Ishikawa mounts him and rains down punches as the ref calls for the bell and gives him the KO victory. Pro Wrestling can't get any more Pro Wrestling then this match here.
5/14/99 (Bed of Nails Death Match) Yuki Ishikawa vs Mitsuhiro Matsunaga
Bed of Nails is always an interesting gimmick, because of how legit dangerous it no one ever takes any real bumps into the thing and you've gotta come up with unique ways to work around the limitation. In this they flat out just don't touch the thing but they do do a hell of a job teasing it and milking a lot of drama out of almost getting sent into the nails. I dug Matsunaga tying his belt to the ropes to avoid getting pushed off the apron. Eventually Matsunaga bust out the spike and bloodies up Ishikawa again, he brings in a barb wire bat but the ref gets whacked accidently. In a repeat of the last match Ishikawa gets the advantage, takes Matsunaga down with punches and a sleeper but this time with no ref he can't get the win and when he lets go Matsunaga recovers enough to toss a fireball at him then lock in a choke of his own which causes Ishikawa's seconds to toss in the towel. Post match Otsuka runs in to get Matsunaga off and he eats a fireball of his own. Not quite but almost as great as their first match in 98. Matsunaga is so awesome in the old school role of your special guest assasin heel. Someone who'd get old after a while in this environment but if you bring him in once a year for a short run, have him destroy some mid carders, spilling blood and causing chaos along the way then get beat by the big hero in the end it's fucking gold every time. So yeah, highest recomendation for this.
Battlarts 11/9/99 Alexander Otsuka vs Mitsuhiro Matsunaga
Final part of the saga. As I mentioned in the 1st review, Matsunaga vs Ishikawa was very much good vs evil with Ishikawa refusing to stoop to Matsunaga's lvl and out to prove that his way is best. This match is the opposite, Matsunaga has been terrorising the Bat Bat crew on & off for over a year now and Otsuka goes into this match on some eye for an eye type shit. Otsuka has no issues getting down & dirty, attacking before the bell, taking the fight into the crowd, swinging chairs, busting Matsunaga open, riping off Matsunaga's belt and trying to choke him out with it. Overwhelmed, Matsunaga is finally reduced to begging for a clean fight and offering Otsuka the hand of friendship. Reluctantly, Otsuka agrees and we get a minute or two of nice gentlemanly combat. The biggest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist so i've heard. Coming out on the losing end of a fair fight as well, Matsunaga rewards Otsuka's kind trusting nature with a fireball to the face. Follows that up with a spike to the head and oh dear god but Otsuka bleeds...and bleeds...and BLEEDS...EVERYWHEAR. The mat gets soaked, the ref gets soaked and Otsuka is a crimson mess. Matsunaga continues the punishment, stabing him more and more and more, in the head, in the arm, in the hand. Valiantly Otsuka refuses to die and fights back, he's able to fire up enough offense to knock Matsunaga outside and in an awesome visual hits a great bloody tope con hilo to wipe him out. The rest of the match is them going back & forth for a bit. Otsuka finally gains the upper hand again after a series of head butts and the crowd goes ape shit when that allows him to gain controll of the spike and go for revenge. Matsunaga gets saved by the ref and makes one last desperate attempt to win by throwing a 2nd fireball but Otsuka foils him before he can even light up. Otsuka nails him with a few more strikes and a suplex then locks him in a modified scorpion death lock. Knowing he has nothing left Matsunaga instantly taps and as soon as the seconds drag Otsuka off, Matsunaga limps away as fast as he can, a bloodied & beaten man, swinging his sword and cursing the name Alexander. Best match of the 3. I love wrestling :)
