I don't necessarily love writing show reviews, don't get me wrong, I love wrestling, certainly enough to deliver long dissertations on it, but I just struggle with the concept of reviewing a wrestling show. I mean, it's a long, arduous process that I never can really feel too attached to writing.
There's a lot of “I” statements that could be made, but there's always something that “we” can all relate to, no? Finding that one small space in the corner of a deep, vast world covered in magic, one that you can closely identify with wanting? As somebody who comes to watch professional wrestling to see people struggle, I had recently found this new home, Mutoha.
Mutoha is (or, I guess now I can say was) a promotion that prided itself on having a roster of dream fighters consistently struggle in contests of supremacy. These wrestlers drain themselves of every last effort in order to put on this Herculean show, as masters of their crafts aimed to find weaknesses in each other's games. Mutoha placed the utmost effort and care into this concept, with the top championship, the Haoh Championship, being as simple as the company itself, merely being represented by a flag. Yet, symbolizing that, the champion is one of the absolute best that professional wrestling has to offer. Holding the weight of not only the essence of professional wrestling, but an extended tradition for years.
It's never easy to say goodbye. Not to any of this, especially not everything at once.
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(screenshot credit to @oblit3rati on Twitter)
Especially to the Haoh Championship.
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Why does saying goodbye hurt so much? It's already shot the same way Yoshino would shoot it, a single camera in the Ice Ribbon Dojo where these two fight for something as small as the collar-and-elbow tie-up.
I will say, I'm genuinely surprised with the techniques that Crusher Takahashi shows, blending a nice base for Hideya Oso took over the arms and legs with, especially since Takahashi looks to be somewhat like the quintessential wrestler, a fat old man who punches and works his way through, consistently stomping and striking, and gauging for opportunities to put in the traditional old-man moves such as a sleeper hold.
One of my favorite bits of this match was Takahashi punching the face of Hideya Iso, throwing him into the corner as well, with every move feeling big because of the intimate camerawork.
Hideya Iso going for moves such as the Fujiwara Armbar, and even grabbing for Takahashi's other arm during it as Takahashi stammers his way on the ground to the ropes, and even being bold enough to try and lift Takahashi for a German Suplex and barely being able to put him down is just stuff that works so beautifully as well as Takahashi is told to open his palm for the thousandth time. It's stuff like this, really. Everything coming together for Iso to continue working on putting down this giant, down to locking in that needed Octopus Stretch to put away Crusher Takahashi.
Something wonderful, close to great by the Dream Fighters to start off the show,
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This is a Unicorn Style match, built after the 61-minute epic that GENTARO & Kenichiro Arai had in February 2023.
Before we dive into this match, we have to get into the rules of Unicorn Style. The match starts off as a 2/3 falls singles match, with a 61-minute time limit. However, it is a trios match at heart, and once there is a fall, it becomes a tag team match, and if two falls occur, the match becomes a trios match. The team captains tonight are Kenichiro Arai and GENTARO. The type of match you save as an idea you swear you'd save for later, but never really use, because you don't really know how to use the idea as much as you're initially thinking.
In actuality, this match doesn't have a more fitting home than in Mutoha.
Especially when the match begins with Kenichiro Arai getting a surprise roll up on GENTARO, turning the match into a tag team match almost instantly, creating an environment so tense that you can tell everybody in that ring is down to hurt each other. The match goes from GENTARO & Arai, to CHANGO & PSYCHO vs. Taro Yamada & Akira Jo, and CHANGO and PSYCHO immediately want to inflict as much harm as humanely possible on Yamada & Jo, immediately singling Jo out in order to land an assault on Yamada.
Of course, there's a right way and a wrong way, and Jo and Yamada take back control, letting them know that even if GENTARO and Arai had gone to a tie before, Unicorn Style is never the place for that.
This match is much flashier than what lets on for Mutoha, with Yamada having a bit of this lucha influence to him, busting out hurricanranas and these aerial moves that feel so out-of-place (in a good way) that when Yamada hits them, they're so distinct and beautiful. Especially when followed up by CHANGO & PSYCHO, especially when they get towards that bigger offense in the small venue, especially when they're foiled by Jo & Yamada.
Even then, no antic from CHANGO & PSYCHO feels out of place, especially when they're doing stuff like tying Akira Jo with the apron, that it's just so good no matter what. When MUSHUKU (Arai's faction) tries preventing Akira Jo from getting back in that ring, it feels stellar, with Yamada forcing them to eat as much dirt as they serve, GENTARO & Arai re-enter the match, and it's always just so beautiful to see.
The vision is recaptured as soon as they start going back to grappling each other, the same stuff, the same match that previously captured for many the exact vision of Mutoha, especially when they start going for roll-ups, for these crazy looking submissions, Arai always has that cheeky, heelish grin that makes you really irk for GENTARO to regain control as the teams are now finalized.
All the Arai portions feel intense, from dealing with Akira Jo for no matter what, down to GENTARO doing everything he can to try and put him down, it always feels like Arai will always have a way to dig himself out of trouble. However, I don't even think he's the MVP of this match, I'd say it's Akira Jo, as he's dealing with a lot of CHANGO & PSYCHO's antics and leads the charge against them.
Then, when GENTARO takes control against Arai, it all makes sense, when GENTARO's team is placing all this effort against Mushuku, Arai's faction, there's this real feeling that they can put them away, when Arai backs into the corner like a coward, you know he's spent. You can feel it. When Arai has to cheat more by going for GENTARO's hair, starts going for aerial maneuvers in order to fight GENTARO who has kept it on the mat, it's great, you bite onto every little near fall that the match gives you. Then, you bite the hardest once GENTARO is able to finally roll up Kenichiro Arai to end Unicorn Style, and to end the rivalry that feels like it made Mutoha.
I don't know if any match this year will combine athleticism with sheer mat work as great as Mutoha did with this one, with literally nobody having a bad part of the match here. Perfection from bell to bell.
Match of the year.
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This is for the Haoh Championship.
The final match on this show, probably the final match of Mutoha, everything is laid out all for the end, with Sato and Ono slapping each other, knowing they're both made men. Albeit, less dramatic than the Unicorn Style match right before this.
Yet, this goes towards the technical masterclass portion, being much more grounded on the mat than the spectacle of everything in Unicorn Style, with Ono consistently trying to one-up Sato, loading himself up with these nasty submissions for Sato to challenge his way out of, looking for moves such as Russian Leg Sweeps in order to bring Ono down, acting impatient as Ono is out for the count, just for Ono to come back in and deliver some of his own right back at him. Rule number one? Always eat the shit that you give out, and Sato feels just like an expert at this.
One thing I will certainly miss about Mutoha is that the wrestlers will actively sit on the outside if exhausted as the referee counts in order to actually try and recapture their breath, to then come back in with innovative offense, definitely an aspect that feels like it should be featured more.
Even then, not all of Mutoha is grimy mat work, as you can really see and appreciate the rarity and beauty in these small little things like Sato going for dropkicks, torturing the challenger who dared to step up, consistently playing with his food with his submissions in order to keep Shoji Ono far, far away from those ropes, forcing Ono to try and stay as close to those ropes as possible, even if it allows for Sato to occasionally choke him with the bottom rope.
As with everything, Ono still remains cocky, the younger competitor putting everything he can into vicious knees and strikes that aim to punish Sato for the sin of being champion, yet Sato still makes Ono pay with other vicious moves in this ring, suplexing Ono and landing as many power moves that he can muster.
Even then, the match is fought with every last piece of heart that both competitors have, easily seen through these strike offensive flurries, these desperate strikes, quick and rapid, they're all just right there.
That's the thing with this match. It's all just right there.
Sato retains, Sato is (what appears to me to be) the last Haoh Champion.
That's the worst part. There's no more.
I actually don't know. I've been staring at this blank page that I'm writing this on for about five minutes at this point, and I wish I could provide a solid answer. Furthermore, I do feel like I know a slight bit, with GENTARO based out of FREEDOMS, a few of the guys like Crusher Takahashi having homes in EAGLE Pro, and Kenichiro Arai appearing on a part-time basis with Dragongate, fulfilling a role that only an older roster member can, with Arai having been there since the beginning of Dragongate.
I want there to be at least a future for the Haoh Championship, a smaller-scale championship that prides itself on the tradition of professional wrestling, to try and find the best wrestler, the one who can hold themselves both on their feet and on the mat the best, and even if future defenses don't make tape, being defended across small companies in Japan by champion Yasushi Sato, it's still a sign that the spirit of Mutoha is alive.
Hell, even if Arai wins it back and defends it just one time in Dragongate, it's still a slight ease in the peace of mind. But what of it?
What of the efforts to preserve this type of wrestling? Who will be the torch-bearer in the same way Mutoha was? Mutoha at least allowed for this dying style to be showcased and widely purchased for visibility with ease, so I'm hoping that there is the formation of another place that can allow this exact style to thrive, or, if another company like this exists, that footage can be easily and readily available.
The future is uncertain, I know that every one of the Mutoha roster is an indie wrestler at heart, and they'll continue working, but for Mutoha to provide them this space to really showcase it globally, there's so much that I wish I could say.
Thank you, Hasegawa.
Thank you, Yoshino.
Thank you, everybody at Mutoha.
If I could discover this company again, I would choose to do it all over, even if the end of it leaves me the same sullen mess that I am right now. May your efforts never go unpaid.
You may purchase every match from this show from Hasegawa himself. (@itako18jp on Twitter)
