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Post by elliott on Dec 11, 2017 22:38:31 GMT -5
Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda (BattlArts - 4/15/1997)
The first classic match of what is one of the best rivalries in wrestling history. This is a 30 minute draw with a ton of great mat work and submissions to go along with all the usual brutally stiff striking you'll get from these two.
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Post by microstatistics on Jan 4, 2018 14:10:52 GMT -5
For me, the best of all the Ikeda-Ishikawa bouts. I also think it's the best 30 minute draw ever. Ikeda is pretty much perfect as the injured underdog trying to survive an aggressive and focused Ishikawa. I always got the impression that Ishikawa was presented as the superior wrestler and Ikeda was generally working from underneath in some ways (even when he was the heel) whenever these guys faced off but it was most obvious in this match. Unbelievable sense of struggle throughout the match, superb mix of intense matwork and crazy stiff strikes with classic pro wrestling counters and build. The pinnacle of the hybrid style. Top 10 contender.
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Post by tetsujin on Feb 1, 2018 7:41:27 GMT -5
Third. I like this match but I watched a few years ago, so GME will be a perfect chance of rewatching it and see if it's top 100 material. I remember this as a great grappling battle, struggling and with Ikeda going for his lethal kicks when he needed to comeback.
Also, what are the other classics in their rivalry? Are they nominated or not yet?
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Post by gordi on Feb 2, 2018 6:34:31 GMT -5
Imagine trying to sell someone who watches WWE and is maybe just getting into New Japan and Indies on watching this match:
It goes half an hour. There is no winner. Nobody does any big high spots. Neither guy is a showman. Honestly, neither guy is all that charismatic and neither of them has a great look. They don't play to the crowd. The production values are OK. It's just half an hour of grappling and striking, that's it.
So, how is this a great match? Really, how is this anything a sane person would want to watch?
Definitely making my list. Love this match. Absolute proof that sometimes straight-up grappling and striking are all you need for legitimately great pro wrestling.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Jul 29, 2018 17:39:29 GMT -5
The struggle is real, bruthas. I think I like the FUTEN match better but few matches are better at establishing a brand new style. Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda - BattlArts 4/15/97 Clearly Stephanie watched a lot of Ishikawa vs Ikeda to learn her cross arm breaker defense.  We don't talk about defense enough in pro wrestling. More often than not it is because pro wrestlers don't care about defense. Offense, selling, bumps & highspots are the band of the game and high level pro wrestlers understand transitions. But very few think in terms of defense. These two are superb defensive wrestlers & they put on a defense clinic. Just in case, you are new to the game Ikeda is the stand up striker & Ishikawa is the wrestler in this Tom & Jerry feud of pro wrestling. That is not to take away the capabilities of the other in other's domain. Ikeda applied many submissions and Ishikawa rocked Ikeda with some wicked palm strikes and punches. What makes this great is not how well-rounded in offense these two are but how good they are at defending. Ishikawa was taking Ikeda down at will but once on the mat he couldn't put Ikeda away. In fact many times Ikeda ended up in dominant position. I would say the first half Ikeda held the lead. He was landing the bigger blows. Getting a standing 8 count. Big open hand slaps and some wicked kicks. The roundhouse to throats was nasty. Ishikawa had some good throws back duplex & belly to belly suplex but on the mat he couldn't put Ikeda away. I thought Ikeda was setting up his submissions better by using strikes. In the middle of the match it looked like Ikeda had it with multiple submissions especially a single leg crab. But Ishikawa is a great defensive wrestler in his own right. He navigated out of the submissions but the key was his stand up defense. He was able to catch the big kicks and turn them into legbars. Deeper into the match the more lasting benefit this had. He had a great figure-4 but Ikeda made the ropes he transitioned into a headlock. Ikeda ended up on top it really goes to show you how good Ikeda is at defensive ground wrestling. I think it was Ishikawa that punched Ikeda in the face on the ground with a stiff right to set up a cross arm-breaker. That's what he needed more set up. I loved Ishikawa head butting Ikeda in the back to set up the German. I thought they picked up the urgency in the last five minutes. Ishikawa came flying in with a knee to the head. Ikeda was throwing huge strikes. Big time submissions in the ropes not letting go. Ikeda has a double wrist lock applied as time expires. I like Ikeda on top as rge match went to a draw because if I was scoring on points he won the match. Ishikawa came on really strong at the end but Ikeda mixed in big strikes and submission defense to put together a complete performance. He was letting Ishikawa take him down because he knew he could survive. Ishikawa needed to set up via submissions better as he was relying on his superior takedown ability. Ishikawa can really take a lick and also got better at defending the strikes of Ikeda. It was fitting that such an even, defensive struggle ended in a draw. ****1/2 |
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Post by jetlag on May 8, 2019 15:27:59 GMT -5
Borderline excellent 30 minute long shootstyle match, which was, needless to say, insanely stiff throughout. I mean, it's a given these two will beat the daylights out of eachother, but for 30 minutes straight is impressive. Matwork was very good too also. They would play up the striker/grappler dynamic, but Ikeda would slowly keep gaining advantages on the mat. Ishikawa tries trading fists with Ikeda early and just got destroyed with a brutal savate kick that left him glassy eyed on the floor. Frustrated, he would then more often than not try to target Ikedas injured mid section. While the body of the match wasn't exactly spectacular it never got stale due to enough danger and interesting submission work being present. End run had some crazy strike exchanges and suplexes. Ikeda launching his deadly assault only for Ishikawa to step on his guts was such a simplistic, intense ending. Match was different even from your usual BattlARTS stuff and delivered.
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Post by andylfc on Jul 10, 2020 5:28:10 GMT -5
Would anyone have a link for this match? Thanks.
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Post by microstatistics on Jul 10, 2020 20:35:40 GMT -5
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Post by andylfc on Jul 11, 2020 16:31:29 GMT -5
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Post by elliott on Jul 11, 2020 18:01:12 GMT -5
What did you think of the match, Andy?
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Post by andylfc on Jul 17, 2020 9:14:06 GMT -5
What did you think of the match, Andy? Hey Elliott, excuse the random flow of thought here but I'm working from my phone. The match was fantastic. It's a match like this that makes me glad I'm participating in the project. When you think you have watched everything essential and then this smacks you in the face. I've been catching up on Battlarts to finish off my rewatch list and it's safe to say I am now a certified Ikeda fanboy. For the match itself, I loved the early grapple exchanges and the speed of Ikeda when he shoots in on Ishikawa for a leg is incredible. That cat is fast for quite a thick looking dude. Seemed like they threw in a little moment of comedy on Ishikawa hurting himself on the headbutt which was cool. I liked the sprinkle of pro wrestling spots throughout such as the dragonscrew by Ishikawa that didn't seem out of place because the reaction and struggle was always there. The brief flurries of violence from Ikeda with the kicks and spinkicks to the jaw looked hellish. Ishikawa with some lovely looking throws with a backdrop suplex and belly-to-belly. The middle section of the match again great struggle over the figure-four and the headscissor/armbar combo from Ikeda. Perhaps my favourite moment in the match involved Ishikawa attempting to hit a German suplex while Ikeda held the ropes and Ishikawa started throwing headbutts from behind. It's a simple detail like that that I love in wrestling. Ikeda muscling Ishikawa up from the mat to hit a dragon suplex was awesome and Ikeda might just have the best lariat in the history of pro wrestling.. It's like a clubbing lariat at an angle across the side of the face. Nasty looking kneelifts from Ishikawa including a jumping kneelift. Incredible sequence and speed by Ikeda again with a deadlift suplex on Ishikawa and then rushing to grab a sleeper hold. Violent flurries and strikes leading up to the finish with Ikeda landing kicks and stomps only for Ishikawa to grab a leg and survive the onslaught with a takedown in the corner. This was 30 minutes that flew by.. Reminded me of the Tamura/Kohsaka 6/98 draw. Brilliant pro wrestling. Violent with plenty of struggle, technique and swings in momentum. Should make my ballot. If only I could find their 5/27/98 match now, which I had on tape many years ago from the tape trading days. ****3/4 |
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Post by KB8 on Feb 23, 2023 12:47:03 GMT -5
Basically an extended (long) version of one of the best match ups ever. With 30 minutes there's a little more downtime than usual, but they use that to put across the exhaustion, to sell the toll of it all, and given what these two are wont to do to each other you have a pretty good idea of how hefty a toll that is. If anything could pass as yer war of attrition it's this. One thing they captured as well as any match ever was the struggle. Every single thing was fought for, more so than in any of their other matches. They both operated at points with a sort of hesitancy, maybe because Ikeda came into the match with taped up ribs and they were playing that up, or maybe just because they knew they were going long and tried to preserve some energy. Whatever the case it worked in putting over how dangerous they knew the other was. At its core it's elite striker v elite grappler, which has really always been the core of Ikeda v Ishikawa, the former a wrecking ball with taped fists and the latter a shoe-leather tough submission machine. But as usual there'd be examples of Ishikawa showing that he can smash someone's face in - some brutal jumping high knees while Ikeda was gasping for air in the ropes - and Ikeda reeling off submissions when he needed to - a sort of straight-legged Boston crab where Ishikawa's ankles were criss-crossed. In true Battlarts fashion some of the strikes were repulsive and in ALSO true Battlarts fashion the selling to match was incredible. Ikeda threw several punches and forearm lariats that sounded like shotgun blasts, hit a grotesque early roundhouse kick, a punt to the head late on while Ishikawa was nearly horizontal, and one spin kick under the chin that was right up there with the very wildest of Battlarts strikes. Ishikawa's dead-eyed stare of the latter was unbelievable, then after absorbing all this punishment he'd get up grinning, which in itself is sort of disturbing. Imagine seeing that across the ring from you? Even a buzz saw the likes of Ikeda must've been questioning some life choices. Ishikawa's refusal to give an inch creates openings alone and of course he'll twist arms and legs at putrid angles. I also loved how he would take subtle shots at the ribs when he really needed to. Nothing overt and he wasn't specifically targeting them, but he wasn't above throwing a dart at the bullseye. Late in the match Ikeda full force boots him in the skull (hideous) and tries to kick him into a coma while Ishikawa is lying on the mat, so Ishikawa lunges into a takedown, they're throwing phone booth shots in the corner, and when Ishikawa manages to stand up he just jumps on Ikeda's stomach.
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