How Great is Sasuke? (Part one of many)

I’ve been thinking about the Great Sasuke recently. He’s a guy who I watched when I first got into puro, through the usual gateway tapes. He’s one of the guys whose got a long list of must-see 90s junior matches, and when you’ve seen no puro before, it’s kind of perception changing. Then I watched him in 2007 and at first I have a lot of trouble getting into the absurdist comedy brawls and general ridiculousness he now fosters.

Lately, though, I’ve really been starting to think about him as one of my favourite guys in Japan. The point where this happened was the Puroresu Summit show where Sasuke works a light tube death match as an almost surrealist piece of performance art. I’ve really liked his two title matches in June, and there’s plenty of minor performances as well. Even at 40-years old, he takes insane bumps, and will carry an otherwise unremarkable match purely by the lengths he’s willing to go to create excitement. Despite the mask, he places great emphasis on selling and facials, sometimes excessively so – the silliness of some of the brawls lead to some fairly bizarre weapons which can’t possibly cause the amount of damage he suggests. But, given the choice, I’d rather watch someone oversell than undersell. Maybe more than anything, he commits to everything. Watch the way he plays the gullible mark throughout the Minoru Fujita feud.

So, I’ve decided to take some time and try to get a measure of his entire career (20 years old this year). Partially, I’m interested in the evolution of his style. Partially, I’m interested in going back and rewatching those mid-90s junior classics and seeing how they hold up given how my opinion of junior wrestling has shifted over the last few years. It’s also an opportunity to finally get around to watching Michinoku Pro’s glory years. I get the impression when watching him that some time ago Sasuke decided that while he might never be considered the greatest junior from the peak period in the mid-1990s, he was always going to be the most interesting. Let’s find out if that hypothesis holds up to my deadly scrutiny.

Great Sasuke vs. MIKAMI, Michinoku Pro, March 2nd 2003

The highspots in this were pretty spectacular. I don’t know that there was an issue here, but both guys go for the violence straight away in a way that felt more heated than a regular singles match. Take your pick for highlights – the german suplex into the ladder looked nasty, and I love how Sasuke barely rolled out of a cover. One thing I notice is that Sasuke conveys pain much more strongly than many guys - in an age when it is fashionable to undersell or ignore it in favour of fighting spirit spots, this is refreshing. The missed somersault senton to the ladder was made to look agonising (probably aided by the fact that it definitely was agonising). MIKAMI brings an impressive array of high flying moves – his own somersault senton to the outside was unbelievable and one of the most lunatic highspots I can remember. I appreciated Sasuke selling all the chest-crushing damage. The finish is classic last burst of energy series of Sasuke finishers, which works for me.

For what was basically a spotfest, I felt that they made an effort with the transitions, and that the spots were well placed and had some sense of structure rather than the less satisfactory your turn-my turn stuff that often pervades high end junior wrestling.

Masaaki Mochizuki & Great Sasuke vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & El Blazer, Kensuke Office, May 21st 2009

This match was kind of fascinating. Its major purpose was the kick off the Mochizuki-Nakajima feud. You can tell they are feuding because they kick each other, over and over. Not hard, of course, because if they had, you’d expect there to be some evidence of cumulative damage or wearing down. They probably would have carried on kicking each other until they got hungry and had to leave for dinner. In the meantime, Sasuke, who has a minor role here, puts in a delightful performance. I loved little details like him diving at Blazer from his corner whilst Blazer was positioned waiting for Mochi to finish his rope running and kick him. It makes so much more sense that a guy standing idly by just because his partner is mid-sequence.

Also, and perhaps obvious, but when he’s hit on the head, he reacts like he’s been hit on the head (for comparison, when Mochi is kicked in the leg, he reacts like his leg has been surgically enhanced). At one point, Mochi hobbles around after a reasonable length of time on defence, then boots Blazer, walks a few steps and THEN he shakes his knee. Ghastly. I like that Sasuke didn’t throw in crazy spots to overshadow the main story, as poorly executed as it might have been, but keeps the body together while the main guys are brawling around. I’m not sure there’s a sell in wrestling I find more splendid that Sasuke’s “Oh God, what did I do that for” contorted mouth after a missed somersault senton. He’s an ageing junior, and he sells like it. Even after a successful spin kick, there’s a little hobble. Sugi is fine here – he does a poor job while he’s on defence, but he’s good for quick burst of spectacular flying, even though it was pretty standard El Blazer spots here, and this provides an effective counterpoint to all the kickbag stuff.

Not enough to outweigh the bad for the match, but great to see Sasuke outwork the more fashionable juniors, predominantly with his mind.

Great Sasuke, CIMA and Gamma vs Tanizaki, Oishi & Asahi, Dragon Gate, July 8th 2009

There’s not enough goofy Sasuke bits to drag this comedy match towards being good. Sasuke is a great stooge for these sort of matches – he plays his part earnestly, perpetually gullible, his well-meaning actions usual backfire for everyone’s amusement. The majority of this is a combination of fast-paced lucharesu spots, dodgy comedy spots and CIMA and Gamma doing something that makes the camera pan away. Pretty much what you expect. Forgettable.


Great Sasuke vs. Sanshiro Takagi, DDT, August 23rd 2009

Utterly ludicrous match. A new weapon is introduced every minute or so. They range from hot water, trashcans, a bike (Sasuke slowly circles the ring, only for Takagi to knock him off with a bat in a ridiculous spot), several women, a barrel (cue the somersault senton back bump that will probably kill Sasuke one day), a cupboard full of mummies, a pre-recorded message from Sasuke encouraging the crowd the jeer Takagi and cheer Sasuke, and a camera phone (with Sasuke refusing to have his photo taken, shielding his face with a badminton racquet). They throw in some crazy spots at the end – Sasuke sets Takagi on the cupboard, places the barrel over his head and does another somersault senton; it took so long to set up Takagi had moved ages before, and just watched as Sasuke plunged head-in-a-barrel first into the cupboard. I can tolerate DDT’s special brand of parody wrestling in short doses, and this also benefits from a few moments of lunacy and several more that are just patently absurd. Fun stuff.