Posts Tagged ‘Grappler’
SCIENTIFIC WRESTLING: MASAKATSU FUNAKI: VICTORIES, DEFEATS AND CRITICS
“Fuuuuunaki Masakatsu!”
A Japanese man with a stubble, short curly hair and the v-shaped build of Superman emerges from backstage, then strides quickly down the aisle way towards the ring. Before he reaches it, the video cuts to him– his hair now shoulder-length and his face clean shaven– turning from his opponent and falling into a forward roll. In the blink of an eye, he’s upside down scissoring some opponent’s leg and twining his hands about his foot in a picture perfect toe-hold as it becomes clear the shocked opponent was not “some opponent” but mixed martial arts legend Guy Mezger. The pictures cut again to another legend falling to the grappler, and another&. And another. Jason Delucia falls. Bas Rutten& Then Frank Shamrock. The highlight video ends with a return to the older, stubble-chinned version of the warrior as he takes a bow in slow motion. The ring announcer cries out his name once again and the music fades.
The slow motion allows time to notice a hint of sadness on the grappler’s face–still handsome, but maybe a bit wan. Perhaps that’s appropriate, given that the video’s music (credit for which goes to FryeGuy) was somber and nostalgic in tone, rather than triumphal.