Daisuke Ikeda

[elliott]

I ranked Daisuke Ikeda 90th and I blew it with that one. I've never liked him as much as Ishikawa, Otsuka or Greco, but he still belongs in the top 50. 

[Microstatistics]

I was the high vote on Ikeda in 2016 and am proud of it. I know most prefer Ishikawa but Ikeda was an all time great seller, had incredibly brutal offense and worked really well as a heel or face. Was good in a pro-style setting (NOAH) as well. 

[KB8]

I'd lean Ishikawa as well, but I don't think there's too much between them.

Their strengths are different, but I think both are absolutely great when it comes to borrowing a page from the other's playbook. Like, Ishikawa is an all-time amazing punching bag fighting from underneath and absorbing punishment, but there have been instances of Ikeda in that role as well, where he'll take a complete hammering and sell brilliantly and basically play Ishikawa about as well as Ishikawa (some of the 2010s FUTEN stuff comes to mind). On the flip side, Ishikawa could be an unbelievable dickhead bully and just destroy someone about as well as Ikeda (albeit probably more with grappling than brutal striking).

They're both amazing and I'll have them both top 20 (again). 

[Jetlag]

I did an Ikeda post today looking at some NOAH midcard matches:

https://reverseviperhold.blogspot.com/2021/05/gwe-watching-5-daisuke-ikeda.html

The biggest problem with Ikedas NOAH run is that he was almost never treated as someone important. You can tell they had him there to make their guys look strong. But he still makes even throwaway matches better. Always working stiff and selling well.

[KB8]

I had Ikeda at number 18 in 2016 and that'll probably be about where he ends up in 2026 as well (maybe a couple spots higher next time). He's one of the greatest ass-kickers in history and the rivalry with Ishikawa is amazing. I already talked a bit about Ikeda in this thread so there's no point going over that again, but he's probably one of my five favourite Japanese wrestlers ever and I should properly jump into more of that NOAH run. 

 

DAISUKE IKEDA YOU SHOULD WATCH:

v Yuki Ishikawa (PWFG, 8/12/95)

w/Takeshi Ono v Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka (Battlarts, 10/30/96)

w/Katsumi Usuda v Takeshi Ono & Yuki Ishikawa (Battlarts, 1/21/97)

v Alexander Otsuka (Battlarts, 11/5/97)

v Yuki Ishikawa (Battlarts, 5/27/98)

v Yuki Ishikawa (Battlarts, 8/29/99)

v Tamon Honda (NOAH, 9/1/01)

v Yuki Ishikawa (FUTEN, 4/24/05)

w/Katsumi Usuda & Super Tiger II v Yuki Ishikawa, Alexander Otsuka & Munenori Sawa  (Battlarts, 7/26/08) 

w/Takeshi Ono v Manabu Suruga & Takahiro Oba (FUTEN, 4/9/09)

v White Moriyama (FUTEN, 4/22/10)

v Takeshi Ono (FUTEN, 9/26/10)

w/Takahiro Oba v Makoto Hashi & Kengo Mashimo (FUTEN, 10/24/10)

w/Takeshi Ono v Hikaru Sato & Kengo Mashimo (FUTEN, 1/22/12)

v Yuki Ishikawa (wXw, 3/7/20)