Kotsubo’s hair is a true treasure here. These Tanaka BattlARTS matches are really bizarre. I want to stick with them and the work is technically good for the most part but they lack any energy or urgency. It feels more like a sparring session than an intense battle of grappling. Its so weird given how much fire and energy he has given in his NJPW appearances. I liken it to a MMA fighter that grinds out victories in UFC on the ground where wins and losses can lead to releases or promotions but in another organizations like PRIDE or somewhere where hot action is appreciated above all else, they want to show off their striking. Kotsubo shoulders some of the blame here too of course as he is someone that I am mostly unfamiliar with and left no lasting impression on me sans the bad haircut. Things open up a bit in the last minutes but by that time my investment was waning. Tanaka does display some strong suplexes and throws. The cross armbreaker is the finish for Tanaka which he had hinted at somewhat throughout the match. Disappointing. ***

This was well-worked technically, but had nothing engaging or special about it at all. No struggle or intensity to go with the technique. I have also figured out now based on Kotsubo and thinking about Yone and others before this that crazy hair in BattlARTS usually means disappointing worker. Completely soulless match that just feels like it's checking off boxes.

Never seen Kotsubo before but between his Mocha cota hair and the way he throws Tanaka around, I kinda dig him. This match started with both guys trying to go for a takedown like it's a ufc fight and ends with big suplexes being thrown trying to get a 10. I wouldn't say it's soulless but it is kinda boring. No big strikes thrown or anything like I would expect from battlarts. OK match.

Kotsubo has a lot of hair. This was a mostly mat based encounter with some nice reversals by Tanaka and Kotsubo. This seemed closer to UWFI type shoot style than the stiff type of wrestling associated with Battlearts guys like Ishikawa. They both battled for the arm, but Tanaka finally won out. Good match.

Man, they couldn't have booked a less exciting BattlARTS vs. Yume Factory/MUGA matchup. To be fair, this was almost shockingly watchable, as the grappling early on was largely listless as usual from these guys, but atleast not slow or actively bad. Then Tanaka starts doing his usual bullshit like the robot he is, while Kotsubo gets a surprisingly big run of offense. It wasn't terrible and would have been a decent rookie vs. established guy match, but Kotsubo actually had more experience than Tanaka here. Kotsubo has been in some good matches (probably less than 5 tho), but you can tell why he stayed jobber for life here.

This wasn't very exciting. Kotsubo's decent, love the singlet with the pastel rainbow splashes, but he didn't really bring much to this match to elevate it above the autopilot fluff Minoru defense. This was mostly Minoru showcasing himself, which is mostly armbar takedowns and a couple of back suplexes. I wouldn't mind seeing more of Kotsubo against a different opponent but this match is very forgettable.

I really wanted to get into this and like it, but it felt so lifeless for the most part. The grappling didnt really suck me in as it looked relatively weak and didnt seem like either guy was really struggling to get anything locked in.

 

I did dig the big throws and Minorus Rumina Sato-esque Minoru Special which is awesome, but that was about it.