What Is Professional Wrestling?
I'm going to begin this by asking a question and if you would indulge me for a few moments, before you read my thoughts and feelings surrounding this fight I just want you to think about what professional wrestling is to you. What is it that brings you back constantly? What is the driving force behind your fandom? At it's core, to you, what is professional wrestling? Whatever your answer may be, keep it, hold onto it and once you have read my thoughts regarding this go and watch this.
Calling what transpires here a "match" would be a disservice, this is a fight. This is something so raw and pure that in my few experiences with this (both on initial watch and showing it to two friends who have absolutely zero interest in wrestling) will change how you view pro wrestling as a sport and an art form, whichever you see it as first. A fight that sees Jun Akiyama's protégé Makoto Hashi face off against Taro Nohashi, a man trained by Ultimo Dragon and Jinsei Shinzaki. Admittedly, I haven't seen as much Fu-Ten as others and that is something I do plan to remedy in the near future but if you could pinpoint one match, one moment to define what Fu-Ten, what BATI BATI is, it would be this. There are no frills attached to this, it is a ring, it is a referee, it is a few shoddy camera angles and it is Makoto Hashi and Taro Nohashi. You don't get any pageantry or anything, you get two men who are in there to beat the everloving fuck out of each other, nothing more, nothing less.
No time is wasted whatsoever, Makoto Hashi doesn't even get the chance to be introduced before Nohashi launches at him with a dropkick, firing a barrage of forearms before one more nasty dropkick as Hashi is seated in the corner. This really sets the tone for the entire fight really, it goes just shy of 4 minutes and by the end of it you feel as if both men have been to war. Hashi doesn't take the cheap assault lightly though, immediately firing back with a heavy slap before nailing a myriad of knees to the body of Nohashi, unrelenting as he forces Nohashi to the other corner, having to be pulled back by the referee before being administered a yellow card (just imagine PRIDE rules).
It's after this that we get the true "beginning" of the fight, the bell finally rings and both men just go right at each other, hitting each other with open hand strikes whilst still maintaining the cautiousness as to not commit *too* much and leave themselves too exposed for a knockout blow (for those who don't know, Fu-Ten matches end via KO, TKO, Submission or a 10 Count). Eventually, Nohashi hits a headbutt to the midsection, followed up by one more to the head, unfortunately for him, this doesn't particularly have much of an effect on Hashi, who nails a headbutt of his own before knocking down Nohashi with a lariat, beginning the first 10 count of the match, which is quickly beaten by Nohashi.
Once back up to his feet, we get a nice little exchange with both men looking for a Backdrop Driver, with both Hashi and Nohashi finding different ways to escape (a knee from Nohashi and punches from Hashi) before a ducked Lariat allows Taro Nohashi to drop Makoto Hashi with the Backdrop Driver, it's something that only spans about ten seconds at most but the struggle you get from this sells the danger of literally everything so much, anything can end this and both guys know it, they can't afford to take many of these big hits or slams for the fear of not being able to get back up. It is following this little struggle however that we get what i can only describe as one of the most ridiculous, insane and wonderful moments in wrestling history.
As Makoto Hashi gets to a knee, Taro Nohashi lifts him up and nails him with a huge headbutt, a sound akin to headbutting a brick wall emerges from it, with Noshashi holding Hashi's head against his own for a few seconds afterwards. When he finally breaks off, Nohashi steps back, arm raised high before simply placing one, before the other behind his back and screaming at Hashi, who we see, a stream of blood rushing down his forehead, simply wipe it away and oblige to Nohashi's request, placing his own hands behind his back and so... it begins.
What transpires here is one minute of both men, hands behind their back, headbutting each other repeatedly. There is no hesitation, there is no fear, there is simply the will to fucking win. With each headbutt you see the blood rush down Hashi's head, it runs down further and the more the blood runs the more alive you feel watching it. Watching their heads collide, seeing Hashi bleed more and more, seeing Nohashi's head get stained red from the blood of Hashi, it is indescribable. It is something unlike anything else you will ever see in wrestling, which is why this, Fu-Ten as a whole is so special, there is nothing else like this, there will never truly be anything else like this again and the only thing that can stop either man is their bodies giving out.
Both men drop to a knee but no further, pulling themselves back up, Hashi once again looks for a Lariat and much like before, Nohashi ducks, this time however he is caught with a shot to the back of the head, before attempting to lock in a Crossface Chickenwing. There is a real struggle to everything here, Nohashi immediately looking to maneuvere his head so cannot be fully trapped, his attempts to get towards the ropes, his hands clawing the air before attempting to fight off Hashi's hand. Through all this though, Nohashi leaves himself suseptible to being caught in a Choke, quickly fading out before Hashi can even pull him down to the mat and with that, in 3:46, the fight is over.
I want to go back to what I opened this by asking, "What Is Professional Wrestling?", I thought I knew what it was to me, then I saw this (P.S. thank you Ash!!). This is a perception altering experience, something which once you've watched, you will be forever scratching an itch to get something that makes you feel the same way that this did on first watch, even if this style is not for you, even if professional wrestling is not for you (in which case how are you here?), this will make you feel *something*. All of this is enhanced by the fact that neither of these guys are BATI BATI guys, Makoto Hashi was a guy who was just meant to be "a guy" in NOAH, Taro Nohashi is just a Michinoku Pro guy who was just "mini Jinsei Shinzaki" and yet Daisuke Ikeda brings them both to Fu-Ten and they do *this*. That is what professional wrestling is, everything behind it, not just the match but Fu-Ten as a whole. Hashi could've easily been in NOAH for as long as he wants, similarly with Taro Nohashi and Michi-Pro, hell, Daisuke Ikeda has worked the Tokyo Dome but even with all that his *passion* was BATI BATI and at it's core, isn't that what pro wrestling is to all of us? For whatever we watch pro wrestling for, whatever we love pro wrestling for, whether it be the art of it all, the sport and drive to truly be the best at the end of the day: Professional Wrestling Is Passion.
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