Shoot To Thrill: Yuki Ishikawa, Daisuke Ikeda (Shoot-Style 2000-2006)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies:

Is there any letter combination pronounced more differently than "Ough". You have though, rough, cough and bough and none of them rhyme. No wonder the rest of the world hates us.

I would shoot all over those

Contrary to belief of many non-wrestling fans, I think trying to understand pro wrestling as a simulation of real fighting is missing the point. However, for those non-wrestling fans that does exist and it called Shoot-Style. The history of Shoot-Style is for a much better wrestling historian than me to describe. To oversimplify it begins with New Japan Pro Wrestling Founder and Legitimate Badass, Antonio Inoki. Inoki built his credibility on Mixed Martial Arts exhibitions, most famously against Muhammad Ali. It has been remarked that Inoki's leg kicks took many years off of Ali's boxing career. Inoki is a world famous grappler in both pro wrestling and MMA worlds. Even though Inoki fancied himself a legitimate competitor his New Japan Pro Wrestling like all Pro Wrestling companies featured pre-determined matches and was booked like a normal pro wrestling company. In 1984, the likes Akira Maeda, Tiger Mask (Super Tiger in UWF), and Yoshiaki Fujiwara  formed the UWF  a shoot-style promotion, which would feature worked finishes, but worked in a more realistic fashion. The UWF folded over visionary disputes between Super Tiger & Maeda and the UWF invaded New Japan. Back in New Japan, Maeda was in two of the more infamous shoot moments in pro wrestling history when he shot on Andre The Giant when both refused to job and when he broke Choshu's orbital bone with a kick. The latter caused him to get fired and the New UWF was started. The UWF would bury New Japan and All Japan as fake and worked while they were legitimate. Of course, they worked matches like the rest, but their style based on submissions and kicks was supposed to simulate what a real match would look like as the wrestlers were well-versed in Catch Wrestling, Amateur Wrestling, Kickboxing and Judo. The shoot-style would splinter into different promotions in the early 90s such as Takada's UWFi (the most popular). Fujiwara's PWFG (I don't know much about), Maeda's RINGS (the most realistic and a eventually a legitimate shoot promotion) and Minoru Suzuki's Pancrase (which was a mixture of shoots & works).  RINGS is how famous MMA heavyweight Fedro Emelianenko debuted and many RINGS matches are counted towards people's official Sherdog's MMA record even though they were works. PANCRASE featured the Shamrock brothers and again Sherdog has a hard time discerning work from shoot. UWFi was the home promotion of "Gracie Hunter" Kazushi Sakaruba. This all to point out that in Japan the difference between work and shoot was often blurred. UWFi folded in 1996 and much like in 1984, Takada invaded New Japan and did gangbusters in box office. As New Japan was doing big business with real judoka, Naoya Ogawa against Shinya Hashimoto, Nobuhiko Takada's newest venture would change the course of puroresu history: PRIDE Fighting Championships.

PRIDE changed the game for pro wrestling and MMA in Japan. PRIDE was a shoot and in doing so effectively killed shoot-style and greatly hurt pro wrestling's draw in Japan. Inoki became obsessed with his wrestlers competing in MMA when they were not suited for that competition and pushing MMA fighters when they were not suited to being great pro wrestlers.  At least pro wrestling is different enough from MMA that there is value in watching pro wrestling, but who really wants to watch a simulated version of the real thing and thus shoot-style was dead in the water. There were brief resurgences here and there. The most meaningful in 2008 when BattlArts just uncorked one fucking great match after another that year, but up until then there was just a smattering of shoot-style matches. Former RINGS grapper, Kiyoshi Tamura tried to recapture his former shoot-style glory by founding the U-Style promotion, but while there were a couple great matches, its existence was short-lived. Shoot-style God, Yuki Ishikawa was the most active in this time period and would be the reason for the BatBat resurgence in 2008. His 2005 match with arch-rival Daisuke Ikeda is a top 20 match of the decade and proof positive that shoot-style still has a place in the modern landscape with MMA being prominently promoted.

One of the things, I need to catch up on is all the great shoot-style of the 90s and the 00s just whetted my appetite. Shoot-style can be a little dry, but more of than not it is very rewarding in the exciting finishes with crazy strike exchanges and submission battles. I definitely recommend checking out some shoot-style to broaden your horizons.


Match Listing:

Yuki Ishikawa vs Kazunari Murakami - BattlArts 11/26/00 ****
#98 of 100
Very heated. Murakami's relentless strikes vs. Ishikawa's ground game. Bit anticlimatic

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - U-Style 02/04/04 ***3/4

Great matwork, but a bit showy and exhibitionary at times. Hot finish.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Hiroyuki Ito - U-Style 08/18/04 ****
#77 of 100
Great underdog vs veteran story with underdog swinging for the fences and the vet having to dig himself out of a hole

Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda - FUTEN 4/24/05 ****1/2
#18 of 100
BRUTAL! Violent! They hit each other really fucking hard and it is very enjoyable. 

Yuki Ishikawa vs Alexander Otsuka - Big Mouth Loud 9/11/05 ***

More of a NJPW Strong Style match with a lot of fun highspots like a Frankensteiner into a Triangle.

Osamu Nishimura vs Hiro Saito - MUGA 08/02/06 ****
#87 of 100
Amazing selling in this old school affair where every move proved consequential. Suspect finish.

Osamu Nishimura vs Tatsumi Fujinami - MUGA 9/25/06 Two Out of three Falls ****
#86 of 100
Another great old school match with an awesome King of the Mountain sequence leading to a surprise finish.



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Yuki Ishikawa vs Kazunari Murakami - BattlArts 11/26/00

Stay Calm and Keep It On The Mat is Ishikawa's mantra as Murkami tried to unsettle him with his relentless fury of strikes. Murakami and his WHAM! Eyebrows look to knock Ishikawa out early with strikes, but Ishikawa keeps his head down and  before you know it he has Murakami on his back. I loved how heated this was and how Ishikawa was able to counter Murakami's uptempo style by constantly picking for mistakes. Murakami gets a flurry of kicks in and Ishikawa powders. Then we get absolutely awesome crowd brawling with them wiping out a bunch of chairs. I would say the only disappointing element was that the finish was so quick. Murakami bringing Ishikawa back in hardway with a rear naked choke was fantastic, but just as he was looking in command is when Ishikawa caught his foot and punched him in the face. An enziguiri into a rear choke was enough to force the submission. The finish suited the match well enough, but this left me wanting more. ****

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Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - U-Style 02/04/04

Tamura piqued my interest in his match with Ito. I always put delving more into Shoot Style off so I thought I take advantage of another Tamura match among the nominated matches. As a shoot-style novice, I do not know if I really could appreciate the beginning of this match. The work was really smooth and they were always moving, but it felt a little too showy like they were putting on an exhibition. I got the sense that Kohsaka was outworking on Tamura on the ground as he was chaining his moves together better and forced the first rope break at around the 10 minute mark with the guillotine choke. As good 'ol JR would say business is about to pick up as they fired off a thrilling a finish sequence. I liked Tamura responding to the first point loss with a stand up barrage to secure a knockdown and loved the knee that caught Tamura in the midsection in the fracas to put Kohsaka up 4-3. They sequence felt really organic. This is where my shoot style naivete maybe rearing its ugly head, but how come Kohsaka did not sell Tamura's deep half crab after the hold. He was screaming and selling in the hold and the nothing. I get the "real" sports argument you dont show weakness but just a little limp or favoring of that knee would have added. Also are closed fists allowed because Tamura used them liberally to break up submissions late? With Tamura down 2-1, Kohsaka goes for the home run, rolling heel hook, that Tamura counters into a cross-armbreaker in the center of the ring. I thought there were better submission sequences earlier that could have been used as the finish. I will probably appreciate this more once I watch more RINGS. Still I love great matwork and this was very well-executed. ***3/4

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Kiyoshi Tamura vs Hiroyuki Ito - U-Style 08/18/04

With the emergence of MMA in Japan, it spelled the end for shoot-style promotions, which were not as differentiated as their pro wrestling brethren. Shoot-style lives in this weird no man's land. It is essentially the worked version of MMA. I have never seen pro wrestling as the worked version of MMA. In fact, I think a lot of non-fan's hangups with pro wrestling come from the fact they are viewing it through the wrong prism. Wrestling is a carnival attraction and it adapts itself to the times. Shoot-style is the sub-genre of pro wrestling that is the closest replication of actual MMA. I have enjoyed what I have seen of the style (Takada's UWFi), but I am no expert. For instance, this is the first Tamura match I have seen even though I know the ballyhooed Volk Han series in RINGS (I have never seen a RINGS match) is very heavily promoted by the shoot-style proponents. Thus it is hard for me to rate this match in the context of this project. I liked this match a lot, but even though all the matches are worked it still feels like comparing apples and oranges.

Tamura is the ace of promotion and a well-known talent in the shoot style community and a reasonably successful MMA fighter in Pride and such (sporting a record of 32-13-3). Ito is someone I do not know and I suspect was a heavy underdog. Ito definitely prescribed to the adage "a good defense is a great offense" as he came out swinging on every occasion. In fact, for the first half the match he dominated Tamura forcing him to take two rope breaks utilizing palm strikes, knees to the head, triangle chokes and cross armbreakers. Even though, he was put into an early hole, Tamura never lost his cool and wrangled a leg lace, but Ito was able to get a leg lace of his own, but eventually Ito had to use the ropes to escape. After Tamura caught a kick and applied a heel hook, Ito lost his second point.  With the match leveled, Ito concentrated keeping the fight off the ground and tried to win by knockout. They trade knockdowns, but Ito definitely is the more offensive fighter. Tamura presses an advantage and Ito sells his high kicks really well, but Ito is able to sneak in a palm strike to the face to knock him down. One more knock down and Ito wins. Tamura wakes the fuck up and takes Ito to town. He catches Ito's kick and turns it into a half-crab for the win.

I loved Ito taking it to the strong favorite, Tamura at every chance. His performance was so urgent and there was a real sense of struggle on the stand-up. No one would confuse this ground game for an MMA match, but they kept it moving. Besides the dueling leg laces, every submission was sold like it could end it. The real highlight of the match is the very dramatic stand-up sequence with both fatigued and just going for broke. It was very well laid out to have Tamura back up against the wall throwing bombs only to finally catch Ito's leg and finish via submission. I would not say a match of the decade contender, but a very good match. ****  

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Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda - FUTEN 4/24/05

A Japanese Shoot-Style promotion that allows closed fists, my prayers have been answered! As soon as the ref breaks them, Ikeda punches Ishikawa right in the face to get an early knock down. Ikeda never really looks back earning 4 knockdowns and forcing 2 rope breaks to Ishikawa's one knockdown and 2 rope break forces. These punches are incredible how they are laying them in. I was watching Ishikawa punch Ikeda right in the face on the ground and could not believe the force. Ikeda seems better at take downs, striking and submissions. Ishikawa just has crazy resilience and even crazier hair. They work their double wirstlocks from odd angles sometimes. They are definitely better off standing up. I love that Ikeda would not break his leg lace, but once Ishikawa reversed it, he was desperately grabbing the ropes. Ikeda absolutely ripped up Ishikawa fact with boot lace kicks. Is Randy Orton secretly a huge Daisuke Ikeda mark? Ishikawa makes his big comeback with a pair of back drop drivers. Ikeda is definitely the better "pro wrestler" of the two based on how he sells and feeds Ishikawa. I love him climbing up the ropes trying to escape it. Ishikawa ends up closing the gap earning 5 knockdowns and forcing 3 rope breaks against Ikeda's six knockdowns and 3 rope break forces. FUTEN does not use a point system, but it is interesting way to keep tabs on the flow of the match. Ishikawa finally forces a submission with a crossface chickenwing. I preferred the drama of Tamura's U-Style matches with the point system, but this had the way better striking. I am going to put this somewhere around the Tamura/Ito match given it is hard for me to place shoot-style match still at this point even though I really enjoy them.

REWATCH THOUGHTS:
That one Ikeda six inch jab to Ishikawa's face coming out of a rope break followed by a wicked, wicked kick to the head was batshit incredible. I stand-by complaint that this was not the best when they took it to the mat. I have definitely seen Ishikawa have better mat-based performance. The stretch run with Ishikawa's face getting destroyed and bleeding profusely from the mouth was riveting. The suplexes and then crossface chickenwing submission was just the cherry on a sundae with extra bite.


 ****1/2

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Yuki Ishikawa vs Alexander Otsuka - Big Mouth Loud 9/11/05

This was not as shoot-style as the competitors listed would led you to believe. Big Mouth Loud used a lot of shoot-stylists and New Japan wrestlers disillusioned with Inokism. It seemed to be closer to the 80s/90s New Japan style than to Shoot-Style. I still had trouble comparing this match to other puroresu. I think it is due to more subtle selling. They register pain, but do not actually sell the pain. It can come off like moves are inconsequential when they are not. I liked Otsuka quite a bit. He was good on the mat constantly outwrestling Ishikawa and getting him in heel hooks. He had some nasty headbutts in this match. Plus he brought out the highspots: Giant Swing, German Suplex and the best, Frakensteiner (as called by announcer) into a triangle choke. I would lose my shit if that ever happened in an MMA match. Ishikawa was his usual badass self. He worked hard and really sold the threat of Otsuka. He had some nasty, nasty punches. I loved his incorporation of throws late by converting a heel gook into a sick, sick, headrop German. Then using a sweet knockout punch into a sleeper for the win. It is an entertaining match that finishes really well, but it is definitely nowhere near Ishikawa/Ikeda or Tamura/Ito. ***

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Osamu Nishimura vs Hiro Saito - MUGA 08/02/06

One complaint I think you can't levy at Japan as a whole in the 2000s is a lack of variety. Yes, the NOAH style was dominant in terms of getting the most praise, but that bombastic style was limited only to NOAH. You had the American/puroresu style of All Japan, the more mat & strike based style of New Japan (Inokism or Strong Style), the lucha/comedy hybird of Dragon Gate, shoot-style promotions and to add to the list we have MUGA. MUGA was headed up by New Japan legend Tatsumi Fujinami to turn the clock back to late 70s and early 80s when men were men and European Uppercuts and Spinning Toeholds were the end all be all of wrestling. I wish we got more of it during this project.

Hiro Saito is built much like the more famous Masa Saito (no relation), but maybe a bit shorter. He was a junior heavyweight for New Japan and All Japan in the 80s and 90s before the junior heavyweight boom led by Liger. At this point, I'm hard pressed to believe he would meet the weight limit bu then again Shuji Kondo was able to, but I think he is a pretty short dude. Nishimura is someone I enjoy, but has yet to blow me away in any match. In fact, my favorite match may have been the random match with Al Snow I watched from ECW Hardcore TV in January of 95 the other night. Rest assured, Nishimura finally knocked one out of the park with Saito in this match.

Nishimura shows up Saito a bit early and Saito gets a bit peeved and starts throwing furniture around. Saito is the more powerful of the two and is able to cinch in an armbrar and transform it into an All Japan surfboard spot. Nishimura gets a big pop for reversing it. Nishimura works a headlock like he is Lou Thesz. The face I can accurately say that is why the Chicago Film Archive has to be commended for doing God's work. Nishimura grabs a sleeper, but Saito hits a jawbreaker. The selling from Nishimura is amazing as he writes in pain. Saito hits his famous senton (according to Wiki, he invented that move). Nishimura bails to the outside for a breather. They work an amazing king of the mountain sequence where Saito keeps find new ways to snap Nishimura's throat across the ropes. It was amazingly compelling wrestling. Nishimura needed to break up the momentum of Saito, but is now paying the price. They do a great ab stretch hope spot, but Saito wins. He goes for the coup d'grace in the form of a piledriver, but Nishimura counters. They do the bridge/backslide counter. Nishmura dumps Saito outside who jams his knee. On two separate occasions, Nishimura whiffs on a knee drop to the outside, but they sell a  countout finish anyways. Saito gives Flair a run for his money in terms of great verbal selling and really making this credible. Nishimura has to stand Saito up just kick his leg out from under his leg. :)

Nishimura actually misses the knee drop this time. Saito hits two bridging Germans and is able to hold him down on the second. He couldn't stand, but he could bridge. I don't know about that one. The selling was off the charts in this one. Nishimura trying to fight just to get back into the ring was very compelling. Saito's selling of the knee was so great that it makes the finish all that much more curious. ****

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Osamu Nishimura vs Tatsumi Fujinami - MUGA 9/25/06 Two Out of three Falls

Nishimura's performance in this reminded me of Sasuke's in Sasuke vs Dragon or Suzuki's in Suzuki vs Mutoh. They are all giving these out of the world great performances, but their opponents are just not up to snuff. It is interesting because Dragon, Mutoh and Fujinami had all slowed down a lot in terms of output in the middle of the decade. You could see they could still be carried by an opponent that was firing on all cylinders, but they just did not have enough gas in the tank to match their opponent.

If the tone set in the first fall was maintained throughout the match then you would have a MOTDC on your hands. Nishimura starts off aggressive with European Uppercuts that would make Dory Funk Jr. proud. Fujinami seems a bit taken aback, but is able to use the aggression against him and snap off a Dragon Leg Screw. He goes for the Figure-4, but an inside cradle nabs the first fall for Nishimura. It only lasted under a minute, but it was an incredible fall.

The second fall they get a little too cute for me. They seem more keen on showing off. Instead of flips, it is bridge outs and double wristlock takedowns. An exhibition is an exhibition. Fujinami rides high on a leg lace and gets caught in a short arm scissors. Nishimura applies a cross-armbreaker. The New Japan timekeeper has the hammer raised in case there was  a submission and I agree with him. If you respect the cross-armbreaker, I respect you. I do NOT respect you, Mr. Fujinami. Of course, I am being facetious, but it is my number one pet peeve when wrestlers treat the cross armbreaker like a headlock. It is at best them not keeping up with the times and at worst being ignorant and lazy. Yes, I thought Fujinami's performance was lazy at times. This match is the ultimate missing the forest for the trees match. You have Fujinami doing great little things like lunging for the ropes with his feet, but not selling his arm. Or Nishimura working the injured finger of Fujinami while in a cross armbreaker, but why does it matter because Fujinami has killed the viability of the cross armbreaker as a finish. To be fair to Fujinami, Nishimura did bridge out of a cross-armbreaker, which is pretty ludicrous. Basically this match took a big shit on the cross armbreaker.

Now, once the match moved from Nishimura on offense to Fujinami on offense the match got a million times better. Just like the Sasuke match, Dragon was not interested in selling and neither was Fujinami. However, put them on top and have the wrestler who wants to work on bottom and you got magic. Fujinami goes after Nishimura's knee with a swift low kicks like Inoki in Inoki/Ali. Nishimura bails. Fujinami targets the knee, but Nishimura in desperation goes for Fujnami's knee with a spinning toe hold, shades of Dory Funk Jr, BABY! Fujinami kicks him off and a figure-4 knots it all up.


What I love about Nishimura matches, is you understand how this can be a double edged sword. Yes, you are getting time to walk it off and break up your opponent's momentum, but you are giving him the high ground. With the high ground, the opponent can dictate the match and make it very difficult for you to get back into the ring. I used to say that Akira Taue was the undisputed king of working the apron, but damn if I see more Nishimura that could change. Nishimura rocks Fujinami with a European Uppercut and crashes burns with a bombs away knee drop. What a dumbshit! He blocks the figure-4 and is able to bail. Nishimura is fed up with all this bullshit on the apron and says you want my knee you can have it, but you will not have ME, FUJINAMI! Fujinami attacks the knee and pulls him into the ring. He applies the sleeper to sap that last bit of fight out of him. Fujinami applies the figure-4 and just when you think he has it, Nishimura reverses the pressure and Fujinami has not alternative, but to submit.


This is pretty much on par with the Saito match. Saito does not feel as much of a threat as Fujinami even though he wins the match so this match had more in terms of drama. Saito works a lot harder than Fujinami, who only seemed interested in being on offense. Nishimura gives two tremendous performances within two months of each other. We need more Nishimura footage. The finish is a lot hotter in this one and that is usually my tiebreaker so I have this one edging out the Saito match. ****