I enjoyed this a lot. They really put a lot of compelling stuff into a slow, mat-based encounter. Funaki could really, really go on the mat, and the pudgy little technician vs. dirty heel mauler was a good story for the match. Ikeda was super gritty here. His legbar was such a Johnny Valentine move. Great finish. Check it out if you're a fan of this stuff.

Feels like this would be pretty easy for non-shoot style/Battlarts fans to get into. Pretty short, clear story, both guys playing up different dynamics, etc. And of course the universal language of someone smashing another someone really hard in the mouth. I liked how Funaki tried to swarm Ikeda because he knew giving him any time or distance to throw grenades was a death sentence. Ikeda clearly got annoyed at how much he was struggling and I loved him just pulling Funaki's nose off. I think he bit him in the face as well. At one point Funaki even weathered the storm and countered a big kick into a legbar. But then he tried it again and as soon as Ikeda stepped through on that dragon screw you knew it was curtains. There's only so many times you can prevent the inevitable. I remember about twelve years ago on another board I said Funaki was a better mat worker than Triple H and I got pelters from every angle (I think they only knew Funaki as the goof who did the "INDEED" shtick). Funaki was a better mat worker than a whole shit load of folks.