Isami Kodaka vs. FUMA (BASARA, 1/8/2018)

BASARA - Vajra 56 ~ Osaka Winter Team and People (1/8/2018)

Union MAX Championship: Isami Kodaka (c) vs. FUMA

I have found that Kodaka is the only wrestler in BASARA that you can count on to deliver good matches consistently. FUMA throws a chair at Kodaka's head during a dive and Kodaka blades, which seemed excessive to me, but that's Kodaka for you. This was a breeze to watch; kicks, the set-ups, the cut-offs, all enjoyable.

***1/2

BASARA - Vajra 39 ~ Uchouten Sky (7/5/2017)

1. Heaven Summit Itadaki Block B Decision Match: FUMA vs. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi

**1/2

3. Naoki Tanizaki vs. Takato Nakano

**

4. Tsutomu Osugi & Best Stretchman V3 vs. Yusuke Kubo & Hagane Shinno vs. Trans-Am ★ Shinya & SAGAT

**3/4

5. Magnitude Kishiwada vs. Ryota Nakatsu

***

6. Hardcore Match: Isami Kodaka & Ryuichi Sekine vs. Yasu Urano & Takumi Tsukamoto

***

7. Heaven Summit Itadaki Final - Union Pro MAX Championship: Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi (c) vs. FUMA

DUD

BASARA - 35.5 (5/12/2017)

1. Heaven Summit Itadaki 2017 Block A: Best Stretchman V3 vs. Takato Nakano

DUD

2. Heaven Summit Itadaki 2017 Block B: Ryu Gouma vs. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi

Gouma worked the leg a bit, Hiroshi promptly made his comeback, match over. Gouma pulling out an iPad was interesting, I guess.

**

3. Heaven Summit Itadaki 2017 Block B: FUMA vs. SAGAT

Decent back and forth.

**1/2

4. Ryuichi Sekine & Takumi Tsukamoto vs. Fuminori Abe & Tatsuhiko Yoshino

*1/2

5. Heaven Summit Itadaki 2017 Block A: Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi vs. Yusuke Kubo

Yusuke Kubo moves like he's suffered a stroke these days... Ryuichi wasn't giving anything either. Another lifeless match.

*

6. Heaven Summit Itadaki 2017 Block B: Isami Kodaka vs. Ryota Nakatsu

Kodaka is the only wrestler who gave a damn on this show and he brings out the best in Nakatsu, who wasn't giving off the strongest performance in the early going. The strike exchanges were crisp and enjoyable. Kodaka has been disappointing me lately, but this was good. He is great when he sticks to what he's good at. MOTN, for what its worth.

***1/2

BASARA - Vajra 26 ~ Tettotetsubi ~ (1/6/2017)

1. IRON PRIEST (Madoka & Yusuke Kubo) vs. Fuminori Abe & Shinya Ishida

IRON PRIEST schooling literal whos on the art of metal.

***

3. Cavalry (Ryota Nakatsu & Ryuichi Sekine) vs. Hi69 & Takumi Tsukamoto

Cavalry bores me to tears. So many interesting gimmicks in BASARA and then you have these dudes dancing around with stick horses. That said, they are solid as wrestlers. Really great match.

***1/2

4. Daichi Kazato, Masamune & Tatsuhiko Yoshino vs. SAGAT, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi

SAGAT is a stickler for abuse. Here he gets his nipples twisted (!), has his hair shampooed (?) and then gets humped Paradise Lock-style (!?).

***

5. Union Pro MAX Championship: Isami Kodaka (c) vs. FUMA

These two have had matches in the past, but not like this. Not while FUMA had a heart of heavy metal. Good, despite some flaws such as inconsistent leg selling. Lots of creative offense on display. FUMA's chops opening up the old scars on Kodaka's chest was wicked.

***1/2

BASARA - VAJRA 25 ~SHIPPUJINRAI~ (12/25/2016)

3. Takumi Tsukamoto vs. Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi

I never thought much of Ryuichi Kawakami in Big Japan, he was another hard-hitting dude amongst hard-hitting dudes, but here in BASARA he's been allowed to show range and he's great. Match itself was mediocre.

**

4. IRON PRIEST (FUMA, Madoka & Yusuke Kubo) vs. Jun Kasai, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba

Toba looks like something that blew in off the highway, but he throws gnarly punches. FUMA was getting nailed with hard hits left and right and selling amazingly. The veterans did a great job building up heat for the home team to make the comeback. FUMA's heavy metal heart refused to give in!

****

5. Jun Akiyama vs. SAGAT

SAGAT's selling was awesome in this, he's a freak show but the fans rallied behind him as bald, mean bully Akiyama had his way with him. I liked SAGAT reverting back to his crotch-chewing persona during the final sequence... only to get rocked by a big knee from Jun.

***

7. Union Pro MAX Championship (vacant): Isami Kodaka vs. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi

There was great legwork here that was neglected in the final act which is always a pet peeve of mine, but this was pretty good. Both guys were throwing meaty slugs, especially Trans-Am's lariats.

***1/4

BASARA - Vajra 23 ~ Wu (5/13/2016)

4. Heaven Summit Itadaki Block A: Isami Kodaka vs. SAGAT

Dug this. Kodaka's always doing neat little things in his matches, delivering something fresh even when he's wrestling in front of 73 people in the Ice Ribbon dojo. Finish was swift and brutal.

***3/4

5. Heaven Summit Itadaki Block B: Daichi Kazato vs. FUMA

This is treated as a serious contest between two hard-hitting dudes, but ever so often they inject their cartoony gimmicks into their offense. It's bizarre and over-the-top, but they play it straight in a way that just makes it all come together.

***3/4