Battlarts Est. 1996

Battlarts Extreme Brawl October 26th 2001 £7 vhs / £8 dvd
On an emphatically shoot-style card, former King of Pancrase Bas Rutten makes his pro wrestling debut. The one defiantly pro-style match on tha tape (the opening lucha encounter) literally collapses - when the ring ropes break. Bah. Mr. Sakai vs Pablo Marquez… Manabu Sato vs Mr. Kitamura… Takehiro Oba vs Tony Pray… Ikuto Hidaka vs Japurin… David vs Turei (kickboxing)… Kiyohito Nakada vs James Steel (kickboxing)… Mohammed Yone vs Takeshi Ono… Yuki Ishikawa vs Katsumi Usuda… Alexander Otsuka & Carl Malenko vs Bas Rutten & Amiru

Battlarts Fifth Anniversary Show May 10th 2001 £7 vhs / £8 dvd
Arguably the best Battlarts show ever, with Ishikawa's submission experts facing Japan's top junior heavyweights. Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs Junji.com… Katsumi Usuda & Takeshi Ono vs Gedo & Jado… Daijiro Matsui vs Carl Malenko… The Great Sasuke vs Takeshi Ono (NWA Middleweight Title Match)… Masato Tanaka vs Mohammed Yone… Alexander Otsuka vs Shinjiro Ohtani… Kazunari Murakami vs Yuki Ishikawa

Battlarts New Millennium March 25th 2000 £7 vhs / £8 dvd
Mohammed Yone vs Ryuji Yamakawa… Minoru Tanaka vs Ikuto Hidaka (Independent World Junior Heavyweight Title Match)… Takeshi Ono & Kaw Kaw vs Mach Junji & Shinobu Kandori… Yuki Ishikawa & Naoki Sano vs Alexander Otsuka & Kazunari Murakami… Daisuke Ikeda vs Katsumi Usuda

Battlarts/ARSION King & Queen Tournament March 13th - 21st 2000 £7 vhs / £8 dvd
Six-person tag tournament in which the Battlarts boys each get to team up with two of the lovely ladies of ARSION. There are better Battlarts tapes, and better ARSION tapes for that matter - but this one has its own grubby appeal. Takeshi Ono, Ran Yu-Yu & Mach Junji vs Daisuke Ikeda, Devil Masami & Kayoko Haruyama… Yuki Ishikawa, Kana Mizaki & Tsubasa Kuragaki vs Alexander Otsuka, Azumi Hiuga & Hikari Fukuoka… Daisuke Ikeda, Devil Masami & Kayoko Haruyama vs Mohammed Yone, Dynamite Kansai & Maya Hashimoto… Katsumi Usuda, Commander Bolshoi & Carlos Amano vs Alexander Otsuka, Azumi Hiuga & Hikari Fukuoka… Mohammed Yone, Dynamite Kansai & Maya Hashimoto vs Alexander Otsuka, Azumi Hiuga & Hikari Fukuoka (King & Queen Tournament Final)

Battlarts Young Generation Battle '99 July 20th - August 29th 1999 £7 vhs / £8 dvd
Two 90-minute volumes from Battlarts' annual singles tournament, including two classic Ikeda vs Ishikawa rock-ups and a string of stirring performances by Mohammed Yone. Picture isn't great for the first 5 minutes, but sorts itself out for the remaining 175. Carl Malenko vs Katsumi Usuda… Minoru Tanaka vs Masao Orihara… Alexander Otsuka & Ikuto Hidaka vs Daisuke Ikeda & Ryuji Hijikata… Mohammed Yone vs Yuki Ishikawa… Alexander Otsuka & Katsumi Usuda vs Ikuto Hidaka & Ryuji Hijikata… Carl Malenko vs Takeshi Ono… Minoru Tanaka vs Mohammed Yone… Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda… clips of 14 YGB matches… Mohammed Yone vs Katsumi Usuda… Yuki Ishikawa vs Carl Malenko… Alexander Otsuka vs Takeshi Ono… Daisuke Ikeda vs Minoru Tanaka… Mohammed Yone vs Carl Malenko... Daisuke Ikeda vs Mohammed Yone (tie-breaker)… Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda (YGB Final)

Battlarts Feelin' Come Bachi Bachi June 20th & 25th 1999 £7 vhs / £8 dvd
This tape is by no means as bizarre as its title, featuring two Minoru Tanaka matches from a time when Tanaka was revelling in his dual roles in Battlarts and NJPW. Daisuke Ikeda & Mohammed Yone vs Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka (clips, January 12th)… Rastaman vs Ryuji Hijikata… Minoru Tanaka vs Katsumi Usuda… Yuki Ishikawa & Mohammed Yone vs Daisuke Ideda & Ikuto Hidaka… Minoru Tanaka vs Ikuto Hidaka… Yuki Ishikawa vs Katsumi Usuda… Daisuke Ikeda & Takeshi Ono vs Mohammed Yone & Masao Orihara

Battlarts Masami Soronaka Memorial Show June 9th 1999 £7 vhs / £8 dvd
Tribute to the late official of the title - with the lovely subtitle 'Mr. Referee Forever!' - on the seventh anniversary of his death. Has some very fine junior matches on the undercard, while the main event serves as Joe Malenko's last ever match in Japan. Don Arakawa vs Tsubo Genjin… Mach Junji exhibition match… Tsunehito Naito & Cannonball Kazu vs Hodes Min & Masahiro Hashibe (highlights)… Mohammed Yone & Mach Junji vs Takeshi Ono & Ryuji Hijikata… Tiger Mask IV & Minoru Tanaka vs Gran Naniwa & Masaaki Mochizuki… Tiger King (Satoru Sayama) vs Ikuto Hidaka… Masami Soronaka memorial… Naoki Sano vs Katsumi Usuda (Independent World Junior Heavyweight Title Match)… Joe & Carl Malenko interview… Joe & Carl Malenko vs Yuki Ishikawa & Daisuke Ikeda

Battlarts Battle Fiction '98 November 23rd 1998 £7 vhs / £8 dvd
Commercial tape of Battlarts' first Sumo Hall sell-out, assisted by indie royalty from Michinoku Pro, FMW and BJPW. Bob Backlund's oddball tour of Japan concludes with the final. Taka Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki vs Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita… Masaaki Mochizuki & Mach Junji vs Masaru Seno & Ryuji Hijikata (clips)… Victor Krueger & Carl Greco vs Masao Orihara & Takeshi Ono (clips)… Hayabusa vs Rey Bucanero (clips)… Naohiro Hoshikawa vs Minoru Tanaka (JYB Super Bout Final)… Yuki Ishikawa vs Hisakatsu Oya… The Great Sasuke vs Bob Backlund (B-Cup Semi-finals)… Daisuke Ikeda vs Katsumi Usuda… The Road Warriors vs Alexander Otsuka & Mohammed Yone… Yuki Ishikawa vs Bob Backlund (B-Cup Final)

Battlarts B-Cup '98 October 5th & 23rd 1998 £7 vhs / £8 dvd
The highlight of this entire tape is Alexander Otsuka's priceless impression of Bob Backlund. The B-Cup itself, which features talent plucked from wrestling's every crevice, has a similarly strange appeal. Picture is occasionally shaky, but otherwise very good. Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita vs Masato Yakushiji & Naohiro Hoshikawa… Minoru Tanaka vs Katsumi Usuda… Naohiro Hoshikawa vs Masaaki Mochizuki (JYB Super Bouts)… Yuki Ishikawa & Bob Backlund vs Alexander Otsuka & Hisakatsu Oya … Hisakatsu Oya vs Greg Valentine… Daisuke Ikeda vs Bob Backlund… The Great Sasuke vs Victor Krueger… Yuki Ishikawa vs Mitsuhiro Matsunaga (all B-Cup Quarter-finals)

Battlarts Start Up January 13th 1996 £7 vhs / £8 dvd
Debut event from Yuki Ishikawa's promotion. Most of the workers were half-inched from Yoshiaki Fujiwara's ailing PWFG, although FMW provides a helping hand. Satoshi Yoneyama vs Minoru Tanaka… Takeshi Ono vs Thunder Okutoa… Ricky Fuji & Hisakatsu Oya vs Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Koji Nakagawa… Daisuke Ikeda & Katsumi Usuda vs Yuki Ishikawa & Shoichi Funaki. Also includes two 30-minute Spirit of the Ring shows, starring Nobuhiko Takada and Mima Shimoda.