Rising Sun Soliloquy Newsletter #22
April 30, 2009
By: Hunter Golden of WrestleView.com
Swine Flu Overkill Deep Sixes Korakuen Double Shot
The Korakuen double header that is scheduled to take place on May XXXXXX has been largely built around the return of Mistico to New Japan. As of now, it looks like that build may all be for not. Thanks to the swine flu outbreak in Mexico, Mistico, Misterioso Jr., and OKUMURA have been forced to cancel their trips by the Japanese government. Of course Japan is still smarting from the SARS outbreak a few years ago and as a result have become pretty sensitive to these things.
Thanks to the bad news, New Japan is going to be announcing an alternative card in the next few days.
Yano & Nakamura Name Group, 4/23 Results
Toru Yano announced the name of the new faction that has been formed by himself and former RISE leader Shinsuke Nakamura. The group will be called CHAOS and essentially is comprised of everyone in GBH, minus of course Makabe and Honma. It appears that Iizuka will be joining CHAOS. Nakamura seems to be a full blown heel now, and the two have made their intentions clear that they’ll be going after Makabe in hopes of purging him from wrestling, although the group’s long term intentions don’t seem to be clear.
New Japan made the decision to push forward with this angle rather purposefully in the coming months. The feeling within the company was that Makabe’s act, while still over, was running the risk of becoming stale. Nakamura was sort of at the end of the line as well, so the idea was essentially to flip the two to freshen the characters up a bit. The company has belt that Nakamura has been their #2 guy for the last year and keeping him heel gives them a strong face and a strong heel to use at the top of the card.
The move was also made to put Makabe in a position to get a strong push, should they choose to do so. They felt pushing him out of a baby face position would be easier and would essentially establish their fourth big main event baby face, with Tanahashi, Nagata, and Gotoh being the other three. Nakamura would be sitting on top of the heel stack, with Giant Bernard coming in behind him and hopefully pushing Yano into that #3 spot.
NJPW, 4/23/09
Zentsuji Citizen Gymnasium
800 Fans?- No Vacancy
1.Koji Kanemoto & Mitsuhide Hirasawa beat Jushin Thunder Liger & Kazuchika Okada?(12:50)?when Kanemoto used an ankle hold on Okada.
2. Milano Collection AT & Taichi beat Ryusuke Taguchi & Nobuo Yoshihashi?(11:58)?when Taichi pinned Yoshihashi after a super scrap kick.
3. Giant Bernard, Karl Anderson & Black Tiger beat Manabu Nakanishi, Takao Omori & Tiger Mask(14:42)?when Anderson used the Gun Stun on Omori.
4. Riki Choshu, Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue beat Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii?(12:13)when Iizuka was DQ?d.
5. Shinsuke Nakamura & Jado beat Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma?(12:34)?when Nakamura used the Landslide on Honma.
6. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Prince Devitt beat Hirooki Goto & AKIRA?(15:25)?when Tanahashi used the High Fly Flow on AKIRA.
Fukuoka Show Finalized, May Tour Dates Announced
The final card for the Fukuoka International Center has been announced, and it looks to be a strong card, something that isn’t a surprise on any level, seeing as Fukuoka has traditionally been a weaker market for the New Japan brand over the years.
The show will be headlined of course, by Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Hirooki Gotoh for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in a match that has had a lot of build by Japanese wrestling standards. The two met for the title in October of 2007 and the match was considered a huge break out match for Gotoh. He pushed many top heavyweights in the first half of 2008 and ended up being the surprise winner of the G1 Climax tournament last August. Gotoh’s momentum continued as he was featured in the big inter promotional NOAH v. New Japan tag match at the Tokyo Dome before moving on to win the New Japan Cup last month, defeating former leader Shinsuke Nakamura, Yuji Nagata and gaijin ace Giant Bernard in successive rounds. Tanahashi on the other hand, has been on a roll as well, toppling mentor Keiji Mutoh at the Tokyo Dome to win the belt, before running to convincing wins over Shinsuke Nakamura and Kurt Angle.
There will also be four additional big matches. The first will be the ‘Tenjin Deadline’ match, which will finally pit Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma against the new CHAOS leaders Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano. New Japan will also look to capitalize on the recent momentum of the Dragon Gate promotion, and will feature CIMA in a tag team match where he will partner with New Japan legend Jushin ?Thunder? Liger to take on Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask. Yuji Nagata and Takashi Iizuka will have their big rematch from their chain match a month ago. This time around, there’ll still be a chain, but it’ll be a dog collar match.
The big tag team match will be for the #1 contendership for Team 3D’s IWGP Tag team belts, as Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan will be teaming up, both coming off injury, to take on the gaijin team of Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson.
NJPW ?WRESTLING DONTAKU 2009″, 5/3/09 (WPW/PPV)
Fukuoka International Center
1. Ryusuke Taguchi & Prince Devitt vs. Milano Collection AT & Taichi
2. Wataru Inoue, AKIRA & Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Black Tiger & Jado
3. Riki Choshu & Masahiro Chono vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Takao Omori
4.?Wrestling Dontaku 2009 Special Tag Match – TENJIN Deadline: Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano
5.?Wrestling Dontaku 2009 Special Tag Match – HAKATA Cross Fire: Tiger Mask & Koji Kanemoto vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & CIMA?
6.?Justice Revenge in FUKUOKA – Dog Collar Chain Death Match: Yuji Nagata vs. Takashi Iizuka
7.?TenKoji Return – IWGP Tag Team Title #1 Contender Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima?vs. Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson
8.?IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Hirooki Goto
NJPW ?DIVERGENCE?, 5/5/09 (Samurai! TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Nobuo Yoshihashi vs. OKUMURA
2. Ryusuke Taguchi & Prince Devitt vs. Milano Collection AT & Taichi
3. Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA vs. Takashi Iizuka & Karl Anderson
4. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Yuji Nagata & Mitsuhide Hirasawa vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Takao Omori & Koji Kanemoto
5.?Special Tag Match – NJPW vs. NOAH Battle Intentions: Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada vs. Takashi Sugiura??& Atsushi Aoki?
6. Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii
7.?Special 6 Man Tag Match – Mistico 3rd Impact!!!: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tiger Mask & Mistico vs. Giant Bernard, Black Tiger & Misterioso Jr.
NJPW ?DISSIDENCE?, 5/6/09 (SXW)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Jushin Thunder Liger, Koji Kanemoto & AKIRA vs. OKUMURA, Kazuchika Okada & Nobuo Yoshihashi
2. Ryusuke Taguchi & Prince Devitt vs. Milano Collection AT & Taichi
3. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson
4. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Takao Omori vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Jado
5.?IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Tiger Mask (c) vs. Black Tiger
6.?Falls Count Anywhere Match: Wataru Inoue vs. Tomohiro Ishii
7.?Special Tag Match – Mistico 3rd Impact!!!: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Mistico vs. Hirooki Goto & Misterioso Jr.
Minoru, Toshizu Win Junior Tag League, Triple Crown Situation
The team of Minoru & Toshizu won the All Japan Junior tag league last night, defeating the ?Team 265? duo of Kaz Hayashi & Shuji Kondo. For Hayashi, this is his second consecutive tournament final defeat. Toshizo was able to score the pin fall victory over Hayashi, to secure the inagural tournament title. Things seem to be pointing to a Toshizo-Hayashi Junior title match down the line.
Also of note from the show however, was that perhaps Minoru Suzuki will challenge Takayama after all. They teased the possibility of him challenging his best friend for the belts, after the GURENTAI faction smashed the All Japan team in a six man tag match. Suzuki declared afterwards that All Japan simply wasn’t strong enough to challenge Takayama. The company is still very much undecided on doing this match as the GURENTAI faction is the strongest act in the company right now, and they view a title match between the two as potentially difficult to pull off without having to break the group up, and that’s something no one’s really big on at this point. They’ve already been down the Suzuki path before, and aren’t adverse to doing it again by any means, but the feeling is that they can match Takayama up with a lot of big names and probably draw better.
Also worth noting, management is said to be very big on Petey Williams according to sources, especially after his efforts in the tournament, feeling ‘as if they had gotten a steal’ in TNA dropping him and being able to scoop him up. They were said to have really liked his ring presence and motivation. They said he needs to work on his crowd psychology greatly, but the tools are there for him to be ‘very, very successful’.
AJPW, 4/29/09 (Samurai! TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,800 Fans
1. Seiya Sanada beat Brad Martin?(4:08)?with the Tiger Suplex hold.
2. TARU & Hate beat Nobutaka Araya & Manabu Soya?(3:25)?when Hate used a side cradle on Araya.
3.?Junior Tag League: Petey Williams & Phil Atlas [4] beat KAI & Hiroshi Yamato [4]?(8:52)?when Williams used the Canadian Destroyer on Yamato.
4.?Junior Tag League: Masanobu Fuchi & El Samurai [5] beat NOSAWA Rongai & MAZADA [5]?(6:22)when Fuchi used an inside cradle on Rongai.
5.?Junior Tag League: Kaz Hayashi & Shuji Kondo [6] vs. Minoru & Toshizo [6]?(30:00)?ended in a time limit draw.
6. Osamu Nishimura beat Ryota Hama?(6:42)?with an inside cradle.
7.?All Japan vs. GURENTAI Top 3 Mix: Taiyo Kea, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama beat Keiji Muto, Satoshi Kojima & Suwama?(20:22)?when Suzuki used a Gotch-style piledriver on Muto.
8.?Junior Tag League – Final: Minoru & Toshizo beat Kaz Hayashi & Shuji Kondo?(18:45)?when Toshizo used a super Fisherman Buster on Hayashi (Minoru & Toshizo win the 2009 Junior Tag League).
Junior Tag League Standings
1. Minoru & Toshizo [6]– Kaz Hayashi & Shuji Kondo [6]3. Masanobu Fuchi & El Samurai [5]– NOSAWA Rongai & MAZADA [5]5. Petey Williams & Phil Atlas [4]– KAI & Hiroshi Yamato [4]
KENTA to Produce his own Show
According to NOAH officials, KENTA has been given the green light to produce his own show on May 17th and it will take place at the Differ Ariake in Tokyo. The main event will be featuring a champion v. champion match, as KENTA will take on Jun Akiyama with neither belt on the line. Also, Go Shiozaki v. Shuhei Taniguchi and Takeshi Morishima & Takashi Sugiura v. Takeshi Rikio & Mohommed Yone has been confirmed.
Global Tag League Diary
In perhaps the most shocking news of the tournament, Mitsuharu Misawa took a pin fall today to Bison Smith in the Global Tag League. Smith has been receiving a huge push of late, being billed as a super big deal in ROH and now that seems to have translated into a big push in NOAH now as well. There has been a lot of talk of having him be Jun Akiyama’s next big challenger. Management has acknowledged the lack of a big name foreigner, and this could be their attempt at trying to create one, especially having missed to boat on Kurt Angle and others.
The pin fall victory for Smith was also surprising, considering they had to defeat Mohommed Yone & Takeshi Rikioh the day before, which has been another tandem that’s been receiving quite the push of late. Also, the junior tag team Championships were defended on the Day 7 Show, as Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki were able to defeat the Kensuke Office team of Atsushi Aoki & Akihiko Ito. In perhaps the most surprising development, GHC Heavyweight Champion Jun Akiyama is a part of the last place team.
NOAH 29/04/09?
Yonago Convention Center Big Ship
1500 fans (No Vacancy)
1. Katsuhiko Nakashima?d. Genba Hirayanagi (6:57) by DQ.
2. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki?d. Taiji Ishimori & Ricky Marvin (14:25)?when Kanemaru used an Inside Cradle on Marvin.?
3. Takashi Sugiura?d. Keith Walker (13:40) with an Ankle Hold.
4. Akira Taue, Masao Inoue & Takuma Sano?d. Kensuke Sasaki, Takeshi Morishima & Kento Miyahara (20:02) when Inoue used an Argentine Backbreaker on Miyahara.
5.?Global Tag League:?Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone [6]?d. D-Lo Brown & Buchanan [4] (16:48) when Yone used the Muscle Buster on Brown.
6.?Global Tag League:?Bison Smith & Akitoshi Saito?[6]?d. Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki [5] (19:43) when Smith used an Avalanche-Style Bisontennial on Misawa.
7. Jun Akiyama, Shuhei Taniguchi & Atsushi Aoki?d. Kenta Kobashi, KENTA & Akihiko Ito (23:48) when Taniguchi used a German Suplex on Ito.
NOAH?27/04/09
Zepp Nagoya
1000 fans (No Vacancy)?
1. Takuma Sano & KENTA?d. Masao Inoue & Ricky Marvin (10:03)?when Sano used a Northern Lights Bomb on Inoue.?
2. Buchanan & Genba Hirayanagi?d. Akira Taue & Masashi Aoyagi (1:37)?when Buchanan used the Iron Bomb on Aoyagi.?
3. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki?d. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kento Miyahara (9:26)?when Suzuki used the Blue Destiny on Miyahara.?
4. D-Lo Brown & Keith Walker?d. Mitsuharu Misawa & Taiji Ishimori (5:30)?when Walker used the Walker Driver on Ishimori.?
5. Jun Akiyama, Shuhei Taniguchi & Atsushi Aoki?d. Kenta Kobashi, Go Shiozaki & Akihiko Ito (22:51) when Taniguchi used a German Suplex Hold on Ito.
6.?Global Tag League:?Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima [8]?vs Yoshihiro Takayama & Takashi Sugiura [3]?(30:00)?went to a Time Limit Draw.?
7.?Global Tag League:?Bison Smith & Akitoshi Saito [4]?d. Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone [4]?(5:54) when Smith used an Avalanche Style Bisontennial on Yone.
Day 7
NOAH 25/04/09?
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
2100 fans (Super No-Vacancy)
0. Kishin Kawabata?d. Mitsuo Momota (7:08)?with a Backslide.?
1. KENTA?d. Kento Miyahara (6:43)?with an Octopus Hold.?
2. D-Lo Brown, Buchanan & Keith Walker?d. Takuma Sano, Kentaro Shiga & Genba Hirayanagi (11:11)?when Walker used a Neck-Hanging Bomb on Hirayanagi.?
3. Takashi Sugiura & Taiji Ishimori?d. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Takashi Okita (13:11) when Sugiura used the Olympic Slam on Nakajima.
4. Jun Akiyama, Kenta Kobashi & Shuhei Taniguchi?d. Mitsuharu Misawa, Go Shiozaki & Ricky Marvin (21:05)?when Taniguchi used a German Suplex Hold on Marvin.?
5.?GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title:?Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki?d. Atsushi Aoki & Akihiko Ito (28:04) when Kanemaru used the Touch Out on?Aoki (3rd defense).
6.?Global Tag League:?Bison Smith & Akitoshi Saito?[2]?d. Akira Taue & Masao Inoue [2] (14:53)?when Saito used the Sickle of Death on Inoue.?
7.?Global Tag League:?Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima [7]?vs Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone [4] (30:00) went to a Time Limit Draw
Day 6
NOAH ?GLOBAL TAG LEAGUE 2009″, 22.04.2009
Zepp Sendai
1000 fans (Super No-Vacancy)
1. Taiji Ishimori?d. Genba Hirayanagi (5:20)?with a?450 Splash.?
2. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki?d. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Takashi Okita (14:54)?when Suzuki used an Inside Cradle on Okita.?
3. Atsushi Aoki & Akihiko Ito?d. KENTA & Ippei Ota (12:08) when Ito used a German Suplex Hold on Ota.
4. Bison Smith, Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue?d. Takashi Sugiura, Takuma Sano & Ricky Marvin (16:54)?when Inoue used a Half-Crab Hold on Marvin.?
5. D-Lo Brown, Buchanan & Keith Walker?d. Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (14:59)?when Walker used the Walker Driver on Kikuchi.?
6.?Global Tag League:?Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki [5]?vs Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone [3]?(30:00)?went to a Time Limit Draw.?
7.?Global Tag League:?Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima [6]?d. Jun Akiyama & Shuhei Taniguchi [2] (3:39) when Sasaki pinned Taniguchi following a Double Impact.
Dragon Gate USA Opens Doors, New Website
Dragon Gate USA has opened its office doors and opened their new website! It can be seen by clicking the link below. The site is pretty sleek, featuring show information, wrestler profiles and other news.
Dragon Gate USA Philadelphia Show Information, Participants
Dragon Gate USA is scheduled to run its first show in Philadelphia on July 25th. As reported earlier this week on Wrestleview, they have announced an agreement with CHIKARA, where there will be talent exchanged. Quackenbush will be booking the CHIKARA matches as Sapolsky felt their booker would know his talent best. 2 Cold Scorpio and The Jacksons are also slated to be on the show.
?Dead of Alive? 2009 Full Card Announced
Dragon Gate has announced the card for ?Dead or Alive 2009? that will be held in the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. Naruki Doi will be facing Akebono for the Open the Dream Gate title, while CIMA is slated to defend the Open the Brave Gate title against Dragon Kid.
5/5/2009 Aichi, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium~DEAD OR ALIVE 2009
1. Akira Tozawa, Kenshin Chikano, Anthony W. Mori vs. RYOMA, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson
2. 3 Way Match: Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa vs. Syachihoko Machine vs. Jackson Florida
3. Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii vs. Naoki Tanisaki, Winner of 4/30 m.c.KZ vs. Super Shenlong
4. 4 Way Match: KAGETORA vs. Shingo Takagi vs. Masato Yoshino vs. Cyber Kong
5. YAMATO vs. BxB Hulk
6. Open the Twin Gate 3 Way Match: Susumu Yokosuka, Gamma vs. Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi vs. Kenichiro Arai, Yasushi Kanda
7. Open the Brave Gate: CIMA vs. Dragon Kid
8. Open the Dream Gate: Naruki Doi vs. Akebono
BattlARTS
BattlARTS held its 4th Anniversay show was held on Sunday at the Kawasaki Plaza Sol in Tokyo in front of a sell out crowd. The show was pretty stacked and said to be quite good, featuring Taka Michinoku, Kengo Mashimo, and Michinoku Pro’s Fujita Jr Hayato. The big angle of the night was played out between Manabu Suruga and Daisuke Ikeda, and it looks like they’ll be the main draw feud for much of the year.
Futen 26/04/09
“Bati Bati 26 – 4th Anniverary”
Kawasaki Plaza Sol
SOLD OUT
1. TAKA Michinoku (8:21 Just Face Lock) Shoichi Uchida
2. Kengo Mashimo (2:11 KO) Shinjitsu Nohashi
3. Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei
4. Fujita Jr Hayato (7:29 KID -> KO) Koichiro Kimura
5. Daisuke Ikeda
Osaka Pro
Osaka Pro announces Upcoming Cards & LIneups
4/28: Atsushi Kotoge, Tadasuke, Kazuaki Mihara, Kuishinbo Kamen, Kanjyuro Matsuyama, Ebessan, Tigers Mask & Black Buffalo
4/30: Billyken Kid, Asian Cooger, Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada, Tadasuke, Kazuaki Mihara & Ebessan
5/1: Billyken Kid, Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada, Tadasuke, Kazuki Niimura, Kanjyuro Matsuyama & Black Buffalo
The lineup for Osaka’s huge 10th anniversary show is complete. ?As reported yesterday, it?ll be Shodai Ebessan (Kikutaro) facing Kuishinbo Kamen in the main event. ?The added matches are Tadasuke facing the Bodyguard in the opener and the newly reunited Sengoku taking on Perro & Kazuaki Mihara. ?
Osaka Pro-Wrestling, 4/29/09
?Osaka Pro-Wrestling
Osaka, Matsushita IMP Hall
1. Tadasuke vs. The Bodyguard
2. Hideyoshi & Masamune vs. Perro & Kazuaki Mihara
3.?Men’s Club Offer Match: MEN?S Teioh, Tsutomu Osugi & Hercules Osenga vs. Atsushi Kotoge, SUSUMU & Daisuke Masaoka
4.?Independent World Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Makoto Oishi (c) vs. Daisuke Harada
5.??KANSAI 1st Issue 10th Anniversary Celebration: Jaguar Yokota, Kyusei Ninja Ranmaru & Ebessan vs. Kanjyuro Matsuyama, Takaku Fuke & Miracleman
6.?Special 6man Tag Match: Billyken Kid, Asian Cooger & Tsubasa vs. Dick Togo, Tigers Mask & Black Buffalo
7.?Special Single Match: Shodai Ebessan vs. Kuishinbo Kamen
Osaka Pro-Wrestling, 5/2/09
?Osaka HOLIDAY PARADISE?
Osaka, Delfin Arena Dotonbori
1. Kazuaki Mihara vs. Black Buffalo
2. Asian Cooger vs. Tadasuke
3. Hideyoshi & Masamune vs. Tigers Mask & Orochi
4.?3WAY Match: Billyken Kid vs. Daisuke Harada vs. Atsushi Kotoge
5. Kanjyuro Matsuyama & Miracleman vs. Kuishinbo Kamen & Ebessan
Osaka Pro-Wrestling, 5/3/09
?Osaka HOLIDAY PARADISE?
Osaka, Delfin Arena Dotonbori
1. Hideyoshi & Masamune vs. Ebessan & Tadasuke
2. Kanjyuro Matsuyama vs. Daisuke Harada
3. Tsubasa & Takaku Fuke vs. Miracleman & Kuishinbo Kamen
4. Atsushi Kotoge vs. Asian Cooger
5. Billyken Kid & Johnel Sanders vs. Tigers Mask & Black Buffalo
Osaka Pro-Wrestling, 5/4/09
?Osaka HOLIDAY PARADISE?
Osaka, Delfin Arena Dotonbori
1. Ebessan & Kazuaki Mihara vs. Tigers Mask & Black Buffalo
2. Kanjyuro Matsuyama vs. Kuishinbo Kamen
3. Asian Cooger & Tadasuke vs. Hideyoshi & Masamune
4. Billyken Kid & Tsubasa vs. Atsushi Kotoge & Daisuke Harada
5.?Special Single Match: Ultraman Robin vs. Miracleman
Osaka Pro-Wrestling, 5/5/09
?Osaka HOLIDAY PARADISE?
Osaka, Delfin Arena Dotonbori
1. Takaku Fuke vs. Kazuaki Mihara
2. Tsubasa & Ebessan vs. Hideyoshi & Masamune
3. Asian Cooger, Miracleman & Daisuke Harada vs. Kanjyuro Matsuyama, Kuishinbo Kamen & Atsushi Kotoge
4. Billyken Kid & Tadasuke vs. Tigers Mask & Black Buffalo
5.?Osaka Battle Royal Title Match
Osaka Pro-Wrestling, 5/6/09
?Osaka HOLIDAY PARADISE?
Osaka, Delfin Arena Dotonbori
1. Hideyoshi vs. Kazuaki Mihara
2. Masamune vs. Tadasuke
3. Billyken Kid vs. Kuishinbo Kamen
4. Tsubasa & Daisuke Harada vs. Tigers Mask & Black Buffalo
5. Kanjyuro Matsuyama & Miracleman vs. Asian Cooger & Mede Tiger Mask
Osaka Pro Announced Return to Korakuen Hall
Osaka Pro will be running the Korakuen Hall on May 20th and have finalized the card. Billyken Kid will face Dick Togo in the main event, while Kensuke Sasaki will be making a special appearance, as he’s slated to take on ?The Bodyguard? in a special single’s match. Also, Dragon Gate stars will be appearing as Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fuji will be taking on the team of Hideyoshi & Masamune.
Osaka Pro-Wrestling, 5/20/09
?Osaka Pro-Wrestling 10th Anniversary Celebration Show~Tenkatouitsu?
Tokyo, Korakuen Hall
1. Naoki Setoguchi vs. Kazuaki Mihara
2. Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada & Tadasuke vs. Yuji Hino, Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi
3. Kikutaro, Miracleman & Kanjyuro Matsuyama vs. Kuishinbo Kamen, Ebessan & Apple Miyuki
4. Masaaki Mochizuki & Don Fujii vs. Hideyoshi & Masamune
5.?Special Single Match: Kensuke Sasaki (Kensuke OFFICE) vs. The Bodyguard
6.?Osaka Pro-Wrestling Tag Title Match: The Great Sasuke & Asian Cooger (c) vs. Tigers Mask & Black Buffalo
7.?Special Single Match: Billyken Kid vs. Dick Togo
Osaka Pro Announces Annual Tag Festival
Osaka Pro announced its details about their annual Tag Festival on Sunday. It will be from June 6th through to the 28th, featuring six teams in a round robin style format. The Finals will be held on the 28th at Matsushita IMP Hall.
HUSTLE
Hustle ran a show on the 23rd and used the time to bring back Magnum Tokyo. He defeated Monster HG in the main event. Former WWE stars Rene Bonaparte (Rene Dupree) and Lance Cade also participated on the card, defeating Bono-kun (Akebono) & Shiro Koshinaka.
Yoshihiro Takayama v. Joe Doering, All Japan 4/7
In a Champions Carnival where there was a lot of sleepers to jump on, one of the wrestlers whose name came up quite frequently in those discussions was gaijin Joe Doering. He’s been more or less the muscle of the ?Voodoo Murders? faction and has shown some pretty steady improvement over the past few years, significantly more than his counterpart Zodiac, known perhaps best as Aaron Aguleira here in the states. He had a brief run in the WWE as the ?Jesus? character, Carlito’s bodyguard.
So when you look down the schedule and you see this match, they tend to stick out. With Takayama being triple crown champion, he’s in a bench mark position for the purposes of this tournament. Usually in these things, the champions never have a very easy time. They’re constantly getting pushed by younger stars or guys who are sleepers. Sometimes, they even get beat as if to point to a guy and say ‘look out for that guy’. So nonetheless, this is one of those interesting matches to watch.
They keep it pretty basic, with Doering attempting to consistently out power Takayama. He gets mixed results, as he’s able to briefly gain advantages, but never really gain control with it. So he switches on the fly to play 2, which is beat the sh!t out of Takayama’s leg long enough, so that I can take away the power baser and THEN be able to assert some control with the power. Makes sense. His leg work is OK, as he wraps Tak’s leg around the pole, lands some stiff kicks to the knee cap, and even takes down the knee pad to try and do his thing. The problem is that the crowd just doesn’t get into it too much. They seem more interested in watching Takayama get closer to blowing his stack than they are Doering pulling out OK-good leg work. Once Tak gets rolling a bit, he too struggles to dominate, but as you would suspect, he has an easier time hitting his big stuff than Doering does his. We get some nice back and forth and even a cool dueling big boot to the face, but in the end, Tak is able to wiggle around Doering and turn the lights out with the everest German Suplex.
So I go to this match searching for a possible sleeper candidate and then see exactly 1.) Why he was a guy people were buzzing about; and 2.) Exactly why he wasn’t the guy who got the ‘sleeper’ push… all in one match. Doering is a guy that looks better, and compared to the match these two had at the beginning of the year, this blows it away, but then again this isn’t saying much. While Doering is coming along, he still certainly appears to be a guy whose still a work in progress and not ‘as there’ as others. Takayama doesn’t seem totally into this either, as there’s several points where he’s fumbling about with his offense. His selling is fantastic in certain instances, horrible in others. Either way, this is a fun match, but not totally worth going out of your way to see. **1/2
Osamu Nishimura v. Kaz Hayashi, All Japan 4/7
Here’s another match from the schedule that really intrigued me. Nishimura is one of my favorite acts in Japanese wrestling and heck, probably all of wrestling. He CAN be hit and miss due largely to his age and physical limitations, but the character is kind of unique in a lot of ways. I’ve always admitted to being a mark for old-man wrestlers, but rarely are they pushed the way Nishimura is. Nishimura is basically like the Yoda of All Japan in many ways. Old, feeble, but very dangerous and capable. Nishimura is ‘good’ not because he’s powerful, athletic, or even crafty like say, they would use with a Ric Flair. Nishimura is dangerous because of his ‘technique’. The commentators literally push him because he ‘knows how to execute all of his moves correctly’ which in a fake sport is kind of funny, but for whatever reason works with Nishimura. What makes it even more interesting is that they base THAT gimmick around a guy whose older. You THINK on the surface that it’d be an issue with a guy whose physically deteriorating, but Nishimura always uses moves within his capabilities, and isn’t a dude who goes around busting out German suplexes and top rope moves. He keeps things grounded and fairly simple.
Kaz Hayashi, is probably the #1 Junior in All Japan, and has a lot of nutty spots. I usually hate the junior wrestlers, but Hayashi is at least capable enough to be able to bring himself more to Nishimura’s style. So long as he can execute, this should be pretty decent. And it is.
The thing I really like about this is that Nishimura’s European uppercuts are fabulous. He really lays the meat in on the younger, more athletic Hayashi, and uses them effectively enough to keep Hayashi off his leg, which is the constant theme of the match. Hayashi gets more frustrated by not being able to break and old man’s bones, Nishimura gets frustrated that he can’t keep a younger punk from trying to break his brittle bones.
Hayashi’s mat work is pretty good and they work a ‘mirror-ish’ back and forth match without getting too masturbatory. The counters aren’t too far fetched either, which is a good thing and they work within some pretty realistic boundaries. The finishing roll up fest seems like a little much at first, but within the context of the whole ‘Nishimura is a technique-y dude’, it works and you come away thinking the old man got the best of the younger guy.
There are some very visible issues here. Nishimura’s selling is selective, but then again, he remains pretty stationary for most of the match, so it doesn’t come across as blatant. Hayashi’s move selection is a little weird and the roll out figure four spot didn’t seem to fit too well, but for the most part, this is a pretty solid match. **3/4
Minoru Suzuki v. Keiji Mutoh, Champions Carnival Semi Finals, All Japan 4/12
So here’s the first of the Final Four day of the Champions Carnival. I’m really skeptical heading in here because as a rule of thumb, most Mutoh matches today are pretty bad and Suzuki can really get caught up and lost in the silliness on occasion, so i’m a little worried here.
But this turns out OK Not bad, not good, but OK.. which is OK Minoru kind of surprisingly takes Mutoh’s match to Mutoh by going right for the legs. Get rid of those shining wizards and lesson the likelihood of the big dragon screws and that makes sense enough. Mutoh, despite being totally one dimensional these days in terms of what he does in the ring, is hugely over in Japan and I don’t know if it was the fact that this whole show seemed ‘whatever’ that made me think of it, but his star power and charisma is so apparent here. Suzuki has a taped shoulder and I guess he’s OK selling it, but then again, Mutoh doesn’t really go after it in any meaningful way. This is just Suzuki controlling the action by knowing what’s coming, having difficulty countering the big Mutoh offense, but still managing to counter it, and essentially playing his way through to the win and the finals. This really lacked emotion though for whatever reason. So in sum, the stuff is OK, the action is decent, but it lacks any real desire from either guy. A totally miss-able match. *3/4
Kaz Hayashi v. Satoshi Kojima, Champions Carnival Semi Finals, All Japan 4/12
A big upgrade over the first semi-final, but still, has some big-ish holes in it. These two were former tag team partners, one guy the Cinderella and the other guy the big smashing ace who was basically the big, smashing ace in the first round meeting in the semi-final.
Oddly enough though, they don’t go for the David v. Goliath thing here. Maybe they save that for the final or whatever, but it struck me as odd, especially seeing the dramatic size difference between the two. Hayashi gets absolutely f-ing crushed with some big stuff from Kojima, but keeps on coming back, using his head and wrestling acumen to stay in the swing of things. Sure, that SOUNDS like David and Goliath, but they really go out of their way to make Hayashi look a whole hell of a lot more capable, which again, Strikes me as odd, seeing as he played the underdog against most everyone in the first round. They’re tag partners, so the fact he’d be able to ‘out-wrestle’ or counter Kojima makes sense, but even at that, STILL. It just didn’t feel right. Kind of a lame argument, I know, but when you watch as much stuff as I do, you get that now and then.
The action on the other hand, is perfectly fine, even though the dynamic is all weird and strange. We get a really fun and oddly humorous shoulder tackle sequence, some crazy, crazy German suplex holds that Kaz eats. The action is way better paced here an interesting. Whew, needed that. The ending roll up section was perfectly fine and the only real way you’re going to get Kaz through. I hated the finisher finish in the Doering match, and I’m glad they avoided here. Little guys shouldn’t put big guys down with stuff that doesn’t put away most little guys. So this worked. **1/2
Minoru Suzuki v. Kaz Hayashi, Champions Carnival Final, All Japan 4/12
Final time!
They stuck to this pretty well and for as much as I’m just not a Hayashi fan on any level, he was pretty great here as the underdog face. HERE’S David & Goliath, they were hanging out in the back room apparently eating string cheese. Didn’t seem like a party without them.
This is a pretty darn good match and its kind of a shame the crowd could seem to give a crap. Hayashi’s facial expressions are awesome here, as he fights through the pain and comes up with a million and one cool ways to come back from the overwhelming Suzuki onslaught. Suzuki on the other hand, is good here, brimming with over confidence, sure he’s in for a walk through He treats Hayashi like absolute garbage with great open hand slaps and keeps right on the arm. The finishing stretch slap battle is awesome, as Hayashi has plenty of fight in him, but not enough gas left in the tank. Suzuki is just one hill too many to climb. **3/4
Hunter’s Mindless, Ongoing, Who-Cares-what-he-thinks!? Best Puro Matches of 2009
I’m hoping by that at the end of this nonsense, I’ll have a nice 10-15 match list for you guys to check out at the end of the year. Heck, maybe even a top 20~. Just so you guys know, I f-ing hate star ratings. I just do. I used to love them, had great affection and maybe even got caught by my wife with them i n the past, but hey, I just don’t think ******** is a replacement for actually knowing what you’re talking about and wish to communicate. Take them with a grain of salt, but anything that pops up on THIS list, you should probably check out.
1.) Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Shinsuke Nakamura, IWGP Heavyweight Championship, New Japan 2/15 ****
2.)Shinsuke Nakamura & Hirooki Gotoh v. Mitsuharu Misawa & Takeshi Suguira, New Japan 1/4 ***3/4
3.) Takashi Suguira & Go Shiozaki v. Shinsuke Nakamura & Milano Collection A.T., NOAH 3/1 ***1/2
4.) Minoru Suzuki & Taiyo Kea v. SUWAMA & Shuji Kondo, World Tag Team Championship, All Japan 3/15 ***1/4
5.) Hirooki Gotoh v. Giant Bernard, New Japan Cup Semi Fi nals, New Japan 3/22
6.) Takashi Iizuka v. Yuji Nagata, Chain Match, New Japan 4/5 ***1/4
7.) Mammoth Sasaki & Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Shinya Ishikawa & Yoshihito Sasaki, Big Japan ? ***
8.)Hirooki Gotoh & Jushin ?Thunder? Liger v. Yuji Nagata & Tiger Mask, New Japan 1/31***
9.) Alexander Otsuka v. Daisuke Sekimoto, IGF 3/15 ***
10.) Yuji Nagata v. Hirooki Gotoh, New Japan 2/15 ***
11.) Giant Bernard v. Yutaka Yoshie, New Japan Cup Semi Fi nals, New Japan 3/22 ***
12.) Yuji Nagata v. Masato Tanaka, Zero1 World Championship, New Japan, ? ***