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

Risa Sera vs. Akane Fujita, Stan Kobayashi (Abdullah Kobayashi), Daisuke Masaoka, Isami Kodaka, Takashi Sasaki, Takayuki Ueki, Yuko Miyamoto, Jun Kasai & Abdullah Kobayashi (Risa Sera Produce 4, 11/14/2017)

Risa Sera Produce 4 - Last Death Match (11/14/2017)

60 Minute Iron Woman Gauntlet Death Match: Risa Sera vs. Akane Fujita, Stan Kobayashi (Abdullah Kobayashi), Daisuke Masaoka, Isami Kodaka, Takashi Sasaki, Takayuki Ueki, Yuko Miyamoto, Jun Kasai & Abdullah Kobayashi

Sera takes her death match gauntlet to its biggest stage in Korakuen Hall. I thought the work was generally good, it breezes through those 60-minutes. I wasn't into the Akane segment, but it picks up when Kasai is in there, and Abby keeps that momentum going. I didn't feel this added anything fresh or new to the Risa Sera death match series, but it was still a lot of fun.

***

WAVE - Weekday WAVE Vol. 108 (6/22/2017)

1. ASUKA vs. Mika Iida

Damn, this was good. IIda was either legimately hurting or doing a great job selling -- in any case, she did a fantastic job putting over ASUKA. They were roughhousing and stiffing the hell out of each other.

***3/4

2. Aoi Kizuki, Hiroe Nagahama & Moeka Haruhi vs. Cherry, Kaori Yoneyama & Misaki Ohata

**3/4

3. Isami Kodaka vs. Keisuke Goto

Goto's turning into a solid wrestler, and he seems easy to work off of. He actually had Kodaka's number towards the end, but the veteran caught him lacking.

***

5. Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Rina Yamashita

Solid heavyweight showdown. I didn't think it reached that 'next level', but they were trading some hard smacks.

***

6. 2 out of 3 Falls: Kyuuri & Mio Momono vs. Over Sun (Yuki Miyazaki & Yumi Ohka)

Enjoyed this a lot, Over Sun are such a fun team.

***1/4

7. Hikaru Shida vs. Ryo Mizunami

What an awesome match, it breezes through those 20 minutes. Shida was working over Mizunami in brutal fashion -- seriously, the outside brawl was one of the best I've seen this year. Those chair-punts to the face of Mizunami were wicked. I really like how Shida has been utilizing those knee strikes lately, they look and sound amazing. Mizunami was struggling to survive, picking her spots when she could and making it count. Fantastic match.

****1/2

Yankee Two Kenju (Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto) vs. Golden☆Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi) (DDT, 11/17/2013)

DDT - God Bless DDT 2013 (11/17/2013)

KO-D Tag Team Championship: Yankee Two Kenju (Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto) (c) vs. Golden☆Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi)

This started off slow with two workover segments; Yankee targets Ibushi's leg, and you know he's not going to sell that long term. When they pick up the pace, the match turns into a wild spotfest, but in a way that was logical. There were cute moments like Miyamoto hitting the diving chop that he never hits, and Omega and Kodaka have this fantastic finishing run with one of the best counters you'll ever see to Croyt's Wrath. Good shit here.

****1/2

Isami Kodaka vs. Takayuki Ueki (BJW, 1/4/2017)

BJW (1/4/2017)

Light Tubes Death Match: Isami Kodaka vs. Takayuki Ueki

I dug this -- It's 12 minutes. Isami works over Ueki with light tubes and kicks, standard stuff, but what makes the match is Ueki's comeback. He makes this hot-blooded, spirited rally and you can't help but root for him to score the win.

****

BASARA - Vajra 48 ~Isami Kodaka 15th Anniversary~ (10/1/2017)

5. Ryota Nakatsu vs. Yuko Miyamoto

Seems the CyberAgent money has allowed DDT to use copyrighted songs. This was a decent match... both of these guys are still learning. Yuko is a great death match wrestler, but he's just not as engaging working normal singles matches.

**1/4

6. IRON PRIEST (FUMA & Yusuke Kubo) & HUB vs. Ryuichi Sekine, Yuji Hino & Yasu Urano

**3/4

7. Union MAX Championship: Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi (c) vs. Isami Kodaka

This was lackluster for a main event celebrating Kodaka's 15th anniversary. Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi exposed himself as a mediocre worker with this reign. He has no depth as a wrestler, and unfortunately Kodaka couldn't drag much out of him.

**3/4

Isami Kodaka vs. HARASHIMA (DDT, 3/21/2016)

DDT - Judgement 2016 ~ DDT 19th Anniversary Show (3/21/2016)

KO-D Openweight Championship: Isami Kodaka (c) vs. HARASHIMA

I remember being disappointed in this match when I first saw it, and it does have its flaws (HARASHIMA's spotty leg selling, Kodaka's awkwardness), but it's also a lot of fun. They were trading stiff strikes, there were clever counterattacks -- it felt like a match where two guys just went out there and experimented. The ending sequence with the sweep into the Somato was fucking wicked.

***1/4

Shuji Ishikawa & Isami Kodaka vs. Kyosuke Sasaki & Masashi Takeda (Union Pro, 11/6/2009)

Union Pro (11/6/2009)

1000 Roses Death Match: Shuji Ishikawa & Isami Kodaka vs. Kyosuke Sasaki & Masashi Takeda

Highly entertaining. They find all sorts of neat ways to use the roses. They've got chairs wrapped in roses, rose-covered ladders, Kyosuke wraps his leg with roses and kicks with it. Kodaka was the FIP; he's always willing to take punishment and bump like a mad man. He was bleeding everywhere just moments in. There's a Gotch piledriver from Kyosuke on Shuji that looked disgusting. Shuji's head was too low. Anyway, great match.

****

Isami Kodaka vs. MIKAMI (Union Pro, 6/2/2011)

Union Pro - Nimomakezu Rain

DDT Extreme Championship - Best Two out of Three Falls Match: Isami Kodaka (c) vs. MIKAMI

Honestly, I was concerned for Kodaka watching this match. MIKA was wrestling like the worst type of indie shitter. He botches a Tornado DDT on the outside, he lands directly on top of Kodaka's head with his over-rotated moonsault, he powerbombs the back of Kodaka's head onto a ladder.. lots of nasty stuff. It made the match in a way, because I was anticipating what type of reckless dumb shit he would do next. The ending was weak.

***1/2

Asian Cougar vs. isami (Union Pro, 11/3/2005)

Union Pro - Wrestling Revival (11/3/2005)

Asian Cougar vs. isami

The first half is boring and I began to question why I was even watching this, but the match turns into a slugfest as it begins to unravel. These guys were taking fucking vicious bumps on chairs and stiffing the hell out of each other. I've never heard of Asian Cougar. He is indistinguishable from the other masked indie hacks, but he puts a cruel beating on isami.

***

Isami Kodaka vs. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi (BASARA, 5/14/2017)

BASARA - 36 ~ Oshu Hao ~ (5/14/2017)

Heaven Summit Itadaki 2017 Block B: Isami Kodaka vs. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi

***1/4

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 35 ~ Osaka Club Spring ~ (5/4/2017)

1. Heaven Summit Itadaki 2017 Block A: Takato Nakano vs. Yusuke Kubo

Man, when did Yusuke Kubo decide to become the most boring wrestler in the world?... His control segments were totally empty. I liked the ending; Nakano showed some fire, and then got brutalized. 

*1/2

2. Ryota Nakatsu vs. Tatsuhiko Yoshino

Future ace Ryota Nakatsu gets his nipples twisted, his dick bitten, and then gets screwed over by a paid-off referee! What a burial!

***

3. Heaven Summit Itadaki 2017 Block A: Best Stretchman V3 vs. Ryuichi Sekine

Best Stretchman has not quite lived up to the hype.

**1/2

4. Buffalo & Tsubasa vs. SAGAT & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi

**1/2

6. Isami Kodaka vs. Naoki Tanizaki

This was worked differently than I would have expected (or hoped for) from these two... It was methodical, gradually building into the flashy exchanges that the fans wanted. When you have a Dragon Gate guy booked, you want to see that fucker just go 100 miles per hour with crazy junior action.. aw well. Good for what it was.

***1/4

7. Heaven Summit Itadaki 2017 Block A: Takumi Tsukamoto vs. Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi

Wow... what was this? It was super slow and then suddenly ended just as things were getting good.

**

BASARA - Vajra 34 ~ Shishifunjin ~ (4/29/2017)

0. Isami Kodaka vs. Takato Nakano

***3/4

2. IRON PRIEST (FUMA & Hagane Shinno) vs. Gingin BOYS (Kenshin Chikano & YO-HEY)

***1/2

3.  Super Pro Wrestling Ring Wars 2017 ~Japan Vs Trans-Am~ True Patriotic Pinfall: Fuminori Abe, Masamune & Ryuichi Sekine vs. Trans-Am ★ Tanaka, Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Trans-Am ★ Shinya

***

4. Dick Togo vs. Yusuke Kubo

**

5. Isami Kodaka vs. Yuji Okabayashi

***3/4

7. Union Pro MAX Championship: Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi (c) vs. Ryota Nakatsu

**3/4

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