Guide to Japanese Wrestling 2010

[Richie Freebird]

I want that DDT show! Anyone who has it for sale send us a PM. That looks absolutely bizarre!

[cobystag]

PM sent.

[PUNQ]

BJPW on COMM - July 30, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

July 30, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,180 fans)

 

1. Shinobu & Ryuichi Kawakami & Takumi Tsukamoto -vs- Daikokubo Benkei & Mototsugu Shimizu & Kazuki Hashimoto [*]

--- The wrestling with the young boys was what made this match fun. Once the Benkei portion on the match was done it was mostly energetic wrestling until Hashimoto was hit with enough Sex Bombers.

6:35 of 10:53 - Shinobu pinned Hashimoto after a lariat

 

 

2. Hercules Senga & Masaki Okimoto & Daisuke Masaoka -vs- Mens Teioh & Onryo & Atsushi Ohashi [* 1/2]

--- Men's Club action which nearly guarantees a good time with light flying and speedy wrestling. Didn't disappoint here either giving the dives and near falls surrounding Ohashi both ways until Okimoto landed a Firebird Splash to beat Ohashi.

5:42 of 14:49 - Okimoto pinned Ohashi after a Firebird Splash

 

 

3. Shadow WX & Ryuji Yamakawa & Yuichi Taniguchi -vs- Abdullah Kobayashi & Brahman Kei & Brahman Shu - (Hardcore) [* 1/2]

--- Big Japan veterans Shadow & Taniguchi helping broken down and beated Yamakawa in this hardcore match brining back the old Dai Nihon spirit against another Big Japan veteran Kobayashi who for some reason decided to team with his Freedoms friends the Sato Twins. And this is probable the most meaningful Taniguchi match in years. Not that it was a classic match of any kind. Just a fair share of Abby gold until he missed a elbow drop and Taniguchi rolled the unselfish Abby up for the upset!

12:52 of 14:45 - Taniguchi pinned Kobayashi with a La Magistral

 

 

4. Takashi Sasaki & Yuko Miyamoto & Kankuro Hoshino -vs- Jun Kasai & Jaki Numazawa & Isami Kodaka - (Scramble Bunkhouse Death Match) [* 3/4]

--- More hardcore. This one featured the barbed wire baseball bat as the main weapon along with chairs which Hoshino got dropped down on countless times as the hardcore kings beat him up with ease. That's it's good to be on a team with two former BJPW Death Match Champions to take care of the actual business of winning a match as Miyamoto landed down on Numazawa with a moonsault and baseball bat! Still a average garbage match.

16:36 of 16:35 - Miyamoto pinned Numazawa after a barbed wire baseball bat moonsault

 

 

5. Shuji Ishikawa & Yuji Okabayashi -vs- Daisuke Sekimoto & Yoshito Sasaki [* 1/2]

--- I'm disappointed. This is the kind of match-up that should blow up the show, instead it mostly blew. Boring, unhappening and sloppy executed most of the way with a little climax the last minute or two as Sasaki and Ishikawa lash out their final hard offence and Ishikawa got the win with a big Splash Mountain.

17:17 of 17:15 - Ishikawa pinned Sasaki with a Splash Mountain

 

 

 

6. Ryuji Ito © -vs- Masashi Takeda - (BJW Death Match Title; Glass and Light Tubes +a Death Match) [** 3/4]

--- Sick and bloody! Takeda started bleeding from the razor blade sign shot and continued even more when he ran down the first glass corner. But he REALLY started bleeding from an accident when a light tube got exploded/crushed in his hands as he was shoving it in Ito's face. Takeda got a spliter right next to the eye and the blood kept pouring out giving the fight some really nasty images. They cut off most of the bleeding by giving Takeda a bandage around his head, but the damage was done and Takeda couldn't see out one of the eyes because of the blood. Takeda got his big comeback of suplexes with the biggest being the German through the second glass! But Ito had more big stuff up his sleeve and pulled out a light tube blanket! Which he rolled around Takeda and splash crushed around him. Takeda felt even more pain then as more light tubes sliced his arm. And then for the big bundle of light tubes for the final Dragon Splash to retain the rare BJPW Death Match Title match in the Korakuen Hall.

21:05 of 21:03 - Ito pinned Takeda after a light tube top rope bodypress to retain the BJPW Death Match Title in his 1st defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: Tame undercard and while the main event death match wasn't the freshest of it's kind it had enough violence and blood to become scary viewing!

 

 

--PUNQ--

 

BJPW on Samurai TV - July 30, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

July 30, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (1,180 fans)

 

1. Hercules Senga & Masaki Okimoto & Daisuke Masaoka -vs- Mens Teioh & Onryo & Atsushi Ohashi [* 1/2]

--- Men's Club action which nearly guarantees a good time with light flying and speedy wrestling. Didn't disappoint here either giving the dives and near falls surrounding Ohashi both ways until Okimoto landed a Firebird Splash to beat Ohashi.

5:42 of 14:49 - Okimoto pinned Ohashi after a Firebird Splash

 

 

2. Shadow WX & Ryuji Yamakawa & Yuichi Taniguchi -vs- Abdullah Kobayashi & Brahman Kei & Brahman Shu - (Hardcore) [* 1/2]

--- Big Japan veterans Shadow & Taniguchi helping broken down and beated Yamakawa in this hardcore match brining back the old Dai Nihon spirit against another Big Japan veteran Kobayashi who for some reason decided to team with his Freedoms friends the Sato Twins. And this is probable the most meaningful Taniguchi match in years. Not that it was a classic match of any kind. Just a fair share of Abby gold until he missed a elbow drop and Taniguchi rolled the unselfish Abby up for the upset!

12:52 of 14:45 - Taniguchi pinned Kobayashi with a La Magistral

 

 

3. Takashi Sasaki & Yuko Miyamoto & Kankuro Hoshino -vs- Jun Kasai & Jaki Numazawa & Isami Kodaka - (Scramble Bunkhouse Death Match) [* 3/4]

--- More hardcore. This one featured the barbed wire baseball bat as the main weapon along with chairs which Hoshino got dropped down on countless times as the hardcore kings beat him up with ease. That's it's good to be on a team with two former BJPW Death Match Champions to take care of the actual business of winning a match as Miyamoto landed down on Numazawa with a moonsault and baseball bat! Still a average garbage match.

16:36 of 16:35 - Miyamoto pinned Numazawa after a barbed wire baseball bat moonsault

 

 

4. Shuji Ishikawa & Yuji Okabayashi -vs- Daisuke Sekimoto & Yoshito Sasaki [* 1/2]

--- I'm disappointed. This is the kind of match-up that should blow up the show, instead it mostly blew. Boring, unhappening and sloppy executed most of the way with a little climax the last minute or two as Sasaki and Ishikawa lash out their final hard offence and Ishikawa got the win with a big Splash Mountain.

17:17 of 17:15 - Ishikawa pinned Sasaki with a Splash Mountain

 

 

5. Ryuji Ito © -vs- Masashi Takeda - (BJW Death Match Title; Glass and Light Tubes +a Death Match) [** 3/4]

--- Sick and bloody! Takeda started bleeding from the razor blade sign shot and continued even more when he ran down the first glass corner. But he REALLY started bleeding from an accident when a light tube got exploded/crushed in his hands as he was shoving it in Ito's face. Takeda got a spliter right next to the eye and the blood kept pouring out giving the fight some really nasty images. They cut off most of the bleeding by giving Takeda a bandage around his head, but the damage was done and Takeda couldn't see out one of the eyes because of the blood. Takeda got his big comeback of suplexes with the biggest being the German through the second glass! But Ito had more big stuff up his sleeve and pulled out a light tube blanket! Which he rolled around Takeda and splash crushed around him. Takeda felt even more pain then as more light tubes sliced his arm. And then for the big bundle of light tubes for the final Dragon Splash to retain the rare BJPW Death Match Title match in the Korakuen Hall.

21:05 of 21:03 - Ito pinned Takeda after a light tube top rope bodypress to retain the BJPW Death Match Title in his 1st defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: Tame undercard and while the main event death match wasn't the freshest of it's kind it had enough violence and blood to become scary viewing! This is the TV version and it didn't have the opening match.....not that you missed much at all.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

OSAKA PRO on COMM: KUISHINBO KAMEN PRODUCE - July 30, 2010, Osaka - (1 3/4 hrs)

 

 

July 30, 2010, Osaka Minami Move On Arena (272 fans)

 

1. Atsushi Kotoge & Daisuke Harada -vs- Keizo Matsuda & Kanjyouro Matsuyama [1/2*]

--- The usual Matsuyama comedy stuff with IWA's Matsuda joining in on the activities. Nothing one haven't seen before except Matsuda skipping along with the butterfly pole for Matsuyama. And there was no way Matsuyama wasn't losing this one....

11:29 of 10:22 - Kotoge pinned Matsuyama after a moonsault

 

 

2. Tadasuke -vs- Takoyakida [*]

--- Tadasuke out-powering the stupid Takoyakida. Not much more to say. Effective win for the arrogant one.

6:58 of 7:09 - Tadasuke pinned Takoyakida after the Outkast

 

 

3. Kuishinbo Kamen © -vs- Tigers Mask -vs- Kikutaro - (3-Way; Osaka Pro Owari/World's #1 Titles) [*]

--- The Kikutaro/Kuishinbo show with special guest.....babyface Tigers Mask in his old gray and striped baseball gear! It was all the old comedy spots re-lived. Re-run show of the good kind. Well, I don't expect much from Osaka comedy, but at least it had two of the best doing their thing playing off each other with Tigers Mask showing his comedic qualities aswell. The end was the bit where Kikutaro goes for the cover on Tigers and Kuishinbo calmly at count-2 locks in Kikutaro's leg for the tap just before the 3-count to retain his belts.

17:18 of 17:34 - Kuishinbo made Kikutaro submit to a single leg crab to retain the Osaka Pro Owari/World's #1 Titles in his 1st defence.

 

 

4. Asian Cougar & Ranmaru -vs- Miracle Man & Ebessan III [1/4*]

--- Comedy that didn't draw me in at all. A let down after the previous bout.....

15:27 of 15:27 - Ranmaru pinned Ebessan forward rolling cradle

 

 

5. Magnitude Kishiwada & Masahiko Kochi -vs- Black Buffalo & Kuishinbo Kamen [** 3/4]

--- Damn! Didn't expect this from this show. But a stiff motivated massacre! Kishiwada & Kochi gave Kuishinbo a brutal experience murdering him with one impact blow after the other as Buffalo tried his best to even the score. The chairshots, the drops and pure baddness was delivered with authority and the way it should be. And it was so weird and great to see that being done here for Kuishinbo's produced show featuring himself in the spotlight. It's rare these days that I get this excited about a small indy bout but this one did the trick even if Kuishinbo didn't make it in the end.....

18:59 of 18:28 - Kochi pinned Kuishinbo with a German Suplex

 

 

COMMENTS: Typical filler Osaka Pro stuff on the undercard with a unexpected cool main event delivering nicely.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

SUPER FMW on COMM - July 30, 2010, Tokyo - (1 hrs)

 

 

July 30, 2010, Tokyo - Shin-kiba 1st RING

 

1. Bakabon no Papa & Crayon Shin-chan & Bruce Ray & Akibalion -vs- Batten Tamagawa & Tsuneo Yoshie & Mother Kong & Mr.Poppo

--- .....eh.....a collection of dreadful indy parody characters....thankfully as little as possible aired.

0:57 of 8:53 - Ray pinned Poppo? after throwing him to the mat

 

 

2. Hailey Hatred -vs- Keito [3/4*]

--- Women's action. Not pretty fighting, but ok stiff. Was never anyting to really brag about except a nice backdrop suplex at the end by Hatred finishing off the bout.

5:58 of 5:58 - Hailey pinned Keito after a backdrop suplex

 

 

3. Nobuhiro Tsurumaki -vs- Riki Batsuga [3/4*]

--- Shooter style with two lumps of muscle meat. Hardly too interesting, but they kept to their gameplan and had a shootstyle match with Tsurumaki locking in the leg for the win.

6:42 of 6:43 - Tsurumaki made Riki submit to a leglock

 

 

4. Reina Ayukawa -vs- Yuka Inokuma - (New Half Championship)

--- Tranny title match.....absolutely dreadful....

1:17 of 7:44 - Ayukawa pinned Inokuma after a knee to the head

 

 

5. The Winger -vs- The Shooter

--- WING vs FMW flavoured. Only a couple of minutes shown, but Winger landed that top rope senton so damn well!!!

2:10 of 8:00 - Winger pinned Shooter after a top rope senton

 

 

6. Bambi & Basara © -vs- Aya Yuki & Aki Shizuku - (TLW Women's Tag Title) [*]

--- More joshi action with the TLW Tag Champions Bambi & Basara defending against NEO's Yuki and somebodies Shuzuku. And they could have replaced this Shizuku with anyone really to make it a better match. Ok, maybe not the trannys we saw earlier, but anyone with at least a name in joshi would have been a better choice. But at least we get a rare Basara bout and she does look professional in what she does. Too bad she's burned bridges with Sendai Girls to really get a spotlight. She does win here in a standard joshi sprint German'ing the unknown.

11:11 of 11:11 - Basara pinned Shizuku with a German Suplex. Bambi & Basara retain the TLW Women's Tag Title.

 

 

7. Tarzan Goto & Mr.Pogo & Yuta Nakata -vs- Kintaro Kanemura & Yusaku Obata & Masayoshi Motegi - (Hardcore Street Fight Death Match) [3/4*]

--- Oh my, what a collection of old guys! Goro & Pogo on the same team and washed-up Kanemura & Motegi on the other with a couple of skinny bump-hungry guys filling out the sides. Slow, awkward brawling with broken beer bottles and chairs with Goto powerbombing Obata on a few before finishing the kid off with a lariat. Pogo and Goto fought a bit during the match and will face each other in a 8-person tag on the next months Super FMW show.

16:29 of 16:26 - Goto pinned Obata after a lariat

 

 

COMMENTS: Pure indy sleeze which barely draws flies.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

SECRET BASE on COMM - July 31, 2010, Tokyo - (1 1/4 hrs)

 

 

July 31, 2010, Tokyo - Nishi-Chofu Martial Arts Arena (108 fans)

 

1. Spark Aoki & Space Galaxy Soldier Andros -vs- Sanchu Tsubakichi & ? [*]

--- One of the better Secret Base matches I've seen this year and I don't even know who all the guys are. Well, what made this good was that they did a lot of Battlarts stuff with hard kicking and struff like that and Aoki felt at home in that environment, so did the unknown dude and so did the Battlarts wrestler Tsubakichi who kept knocking Aoki down a lot. But in the end Aoki got to be the hero and roll that black costume kicker up for the pin.

11:54 of 11:53 - Aoki pinned ? with a La Magistral

 

 

2. Ferist -vs- Blue Bicycle [1/4*]

--- This looked..... these guys are backyarders! No physical training. They did a 8 minute match and was totally winded half-way through. And most of what these two masked boys did was just locks and holds having to get to the ropes. And the technical moves looked absolutely dreadful! The way they were slapped on truly was backyardish. Get these shits out of the ring please! Ferist the most experienced shit won with a lucky cradles rull-up.

8:31 of 8:33 - Ferist pinned Bicycle with the KIRIKAESHI clutch

 

 

3. Kazuki -vs- Megumi Yabushita [3/4*]

--- Veteran joshi wrestlers who came out of the Jd' dojo back in 1997 and now spend most of their time in JWP. And you see a clear quality difference in their work straight away compared to the amateurs at Secret Base. Not that this was anything more then a joshi filler standard which was more for fun then take serious. But you see how you lock in holds compared to the how Ferist and Blue Bicycle did it in the match earlier. As for the result. Yabushita should have won, but Kazuki got a real lucky cradle win.

9:54 of 9:56 - Kazuki pinned Yabushita with a cradle cut-back

 

 

4. Bear Fukuda & Kazuhiro Tamura -vs- Chango & Amigo Suzuki [*]

--- Chango & Amigo are trying to change their image from being a caveman and a Mexican they are not established as military buddies or something like that. Change is better, but I'm not sure if this is the right look for them. Does look very 3rd rate, but at least they try to change their ways which was leading them nowhere. At least now they are a combo with matching clothes as they try to take care of a big Bear who really should change his gear because he looks absolutely stupid in that sports wear and shooter wannabe Tamura who was the one keeping this match together as he let the military dudes beat him up in exchange for some good comebacks until it was time to tag Bear in to finish the job knocking Amigo down with his power.

13:47 of 13:48 - Fukuda pinned Suzuki after a lariat

 

 

5. Mototsugu Shimizu & Jun Ogawauchi & Yamada Man Pound -vs- GENTARO & Shigeo Kato & Katsumi Hirano [* 1/4]

--- Nothing here justified going over 20 minutes but GENTARO had brough in some indy guys that don't get much work elswhere on the radar so that the Secret Base wrestlers could fight someone in their own situation. And it was a even affair trying to out-smart each other plus some more brtual suplexes and such. So in that regard it didn't sink low, it kept floating until Shimizu of all people managed to roll big blondy up for the pin!

21:13 of 21:13 - Shimizu pinned Hirano with the Oklahoma Roll

 

 

COMMENTS: Not as dreadful as some Secret Base show can be. At least they managed to keep the matches at an opening match quality and not sink too low with shitty comedy mixed in. Ferist vs Bicycle still showed how bad wrestling can be executed.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

YASU URANO PRODUCE on COMM - January 17, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

January 17, 2010, Tokyo - Kitasenju Theater 1010

 

1. Kazuhiro Tamura -vs- Takao Soma [*]

--- Tamura the more dangerous of the two small guys with his shooter persona and he showed that he was a level above with a nice facekick and then the armbar submission.

9:24 of 9:25 - Tamura made Soma submit to a armbar

 

 

2. Antonio Honda -vs- Keita Yano [*]

--- Curious wrestling of minds locking in the submissions and getting the cradles. Hardly super executed or all that captivating, but considering it was Yano in there it was almost a good match even if he did mess up holding on to the ropes at the point. Honda wins which was what I was hoping for.

13:22 of 13:22 - Honda pinned Yano with a small package

 

 

3. Mineo Fujita & Madoka -vs- Dick Togo & Daisuke Sasaki [* 1/4]

--- Indy action that just kept going without generating anything special. Decent for sure, but so what?! Just a match to fill the time with Fujita getting to look the best taking care of Sasaki with various finishers.

18:04 of 18:04 - Fujita pinned Sasaki after a Swanton Bomb

 

 

4. Masato Tanaka -vs- KUDO [** 1/4]

--- Tanaka might have a fairly repetitive formula to nearly all of his singles matches, but it's one that usually work well and he even got a good match out of DDT's KUDO with it. Nasty moves and finisher kick-outs with KUDO's main moment being the double-knee press while Tanaka landed hard brainbusters before finally connecting with the D to know KUDO out.

15:24 of 15:26 - Tanaka pinned KUDO after a Sliding D

 

 

5. Yasu Urano -vs- Shiori Asahi [* 1/2]

--- Long Urano singles bout for his own show. And it has the same as what a standard 10 minute match would have to offer, so this was dragged out action and dull moments going long just to fill some time and hope the exhaustion drama would drag people in. Of course it didn't because they didn't do anything special or different for it. At least Urano bought himself a solid win over the established K-Dojo wrestler winning with a Tombstone.

26:58 of 26:57 - Urano pinned Asahi after a Tombstone piledriver

 

 

COMMENTS: Tanaka vs KUDO was the real main event of the show. The rest of the match was your usual indy affairs. Oh, and there was a bonus match with a skinny masked guy wrestling a chair.....and it took him nearly 6 minutes for him to lose.....

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

KAIENTAI-DOJO on COMM - April-May 2010, Chiba - (2 hrs)

 

 

April 30, 2010, Chiba Blue Field (108 fans)

 

1. Kengo Mashimo -vs- Ken Ohka

--- 'Highlights' of Mashimo trashing Ken.....

1:43 of 13:05 - Mashimo made Ohka submit to the Mudo

 

 

2. Makoto Oishi & Shinobu & Batten Tamagawa -vs- Shiori Asahi & Yuji Hino & Saburo Inematsu [1/2*]

--- Clipped action with too much of Batten's ass getting shown and Oishi beating his own regular tag partner for the decision.

3:51 of 19:46 - Oishi pinned Asahi with the Jikiden Tornado Clutch

 

 

May 1, 2010, Chiba Blue Field (154 fans)

 

3. Tajiri & Hajime Ohara -vs- Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi

--- The SMASH team coming in to beat the K-Dojo guys with mist and Buzzsaw. Didn't look like a super event, but loved to see Hino get his face sprayed!

2:55 of 11:53 - Tajiri pinned Oishi after a Buzzsaw headkick

 

 

4. Jun Kasai -vs- Saburo Inematsu - (Hardore) [* 1/4]

--- Edited quite a lot, but looked like a fun hardcore bout where thumbtacks became the main ingredient with the two bumping hard and getting their bodies filled with the sharp objects. Inematsu got to kick out of the reversed Tiger Driver and move out of the way of the Pearl Harbor Splash, but Kasai had more up his sleeve and Dath Valley'ed the poor bastard on thumbtacks for the three.

5:30 of 15:22 - Kasai pinned Inematsu after a Death Valley Bomb on thumbtacks

 

 

May 2, 2010, Chiba Blue Field (97 fans)

 

5. Marines Mask & Kaji Tomato -vs- Kenichiro Arai & Daigoro Kashiwa [1/2*]

--- Dragon Gate's veteran Arai joining the with Kashiwa who dressed up just like him, but thats where the friendship ends as things started backfiring upsetting Arai enough to hit his own partner with a bottle so that Marines Mask could easily make the cover.

3:21 of 20:24 - Marines pinned Kashiwa with a La Magistral

 

 

6. Yasu Urano -vs- Kunio Toshima

--- Urano in rookie green gear having a long battle with Toshima that we barely got to see anything beating him less then a minute before the time expired by blocking Toshima's backdrop suplex in mid-air.

1:42 of 29:13 - Urano pinned Toshima after a backdrop suplex cut-off

 

 

May 3, 2010, Chiba Blue Field (85 fans)

 

7. Taishi Takizawa & Kana -vs- Handsome JOE & Yuu Yamagata

--- Ended up being a simple win for Takizawa beating JOE the Mil Mascaras way.

1:57 of 16:04 - Takizawa pinned JOE after a flying cross-chop

 

 

8. Saburo Inematsu & Isami Kodaka & Masashi Takeda -vs- Kengo Mashimo & Hiro Tonai & Daigoro Kashiwa

--- ....funniest bit from the highlights here was the pull-apart with Taka Michinoku out in the alley. Otherwise it was a basic win for Inematsu after dropping the younger guy on chairs hard.

2:16 of 22:29 - Inematsu pinned Tonai after a Death Valley Bomb on chairs

 

 

May 4, 2010, Chiba Blue Field (99 fans)

 

9. Bambi -vs- Tomoka Nakagawa

--- Not much sticking out except Bambi getting the victory at home.

1:52 of 12:21 - Bambi pinned Nakagawa after a Shining headkick

 

 

10. Taishi Takizawa & Kaji Tomato -vs- Takashi Okita & Satoshi Kajiwara

--- K-Dojo vs Kensuke Office! Looked decent, but didn't get too much out of the clipped action. Takizawa used the Tiger Driver effectively beating Kajiwara with it.

2:47 of 12:40 - Takizawa pinned Kajiwara with a Tiger Driver

 

 

May 5, 2010, Chiba Blue Field (247 fans)

 

11. HIROKI & Daisuke Masaoka & Toru Suguira -vs- YOSHIYA & Handsome JOE & Yuu Yamagata [3/4*]

--- The action looked alright, but only in an opening card game devlivering some action until it was time to plant the boot.

4:39 of 10:26 - YOSHIYA pinned Sugiura after a big boot

 

 

12. Boso Boy Raito -vs- Bambi [1/4*]

--- Wish I was Boso Boy getting whipped by Bambi. Anyway Boso got tied up, but still managed to win doing a Gedo Clucth with his hands tied behind his back.

4:05 of 6:29 - Boso pinned Bambi with a Gedo Clutch

 

 

13. KAZMA & Hiro Tonai -vs- Randy Takuya & Shinya Matsuyuki [1/2*]

--- Light action with little Matsuyaki trying a little before getting trapped....

5:08 of 5:07 - KAZMA made Matsuyuki submit to a front necklock

 

 

14. Kunio Toshima & PSYCHO -vs- Kengo Mashimo & Daigoro Kashiwa - (Toshima's Retirement Match) [* 1/2]

--- An Kaientai Dojo original leaving us. Kunio Toshima quitting after 8 years working with the company he's been involved with since it's start-up in '02. Decent bout too with some hard headbutts putting smiles on my faces and with Toshima getting the tribute win beating Kashiwa with the backdrop suplex. Toshima never has a major career and probable got his biggest push the first few years of his career, including the first ever K-Metal rookie tournament when everyone in K-Dojo was a rookie, so he was a respected wrestler within the company.

11:34 of 19:04 - Toshima pinned Kashiwa after a backdrop suplex

 

 

15. Kazuki Hashimoto -vs- Taketo Iwato - (K-Metal League '10 - Final) [*]

--- Then for this years K-Metal League final for rookies. And it's K-Dojo's Iwato and Big Japan's Hashimoto fighting for the honors. Iwato has barely reached the radar of existance, but Hashimoto is already known by the hardcore fans from his exposure in Big Japan. And he is a few levels above Iwato when it comes to have anything to offer and Iwato had more then enough with trying to stay alive....which he didn't in the end.....Hashimoto is 2010's K-Metal League winner.

5:11 of 12:47 - Hashimoto pinned Iwato after a running knee to win the K-Metal League '10.

 

 

16. Shiori Asahi & Makoto Oishi -vs- Naomichi Marufuji & Taka Michinoku [* 1/4]

--- Cool seeing Taka bring in national NOAH star Marufuji as his tag partner on this show to face the Omega side of Asahi & Oishi! Only a simple affair, but fun enough for such small show with Marufuji's superkick backfiring and Oishi getting to finish off Taka who was helpless at the end.

12:51 of 18:11 - Oishi pinned Michinoku after the Cactus Flower

 

 

17. Yuji Hino & Saburo Inematsu -vs- Taishi Takizawa & Kaji Tomato - (Strongest-K Tag Title) [**]

--- Tag title change! And it's fun side of Takizawa & Tomato who both get to hold the Strongest-K Tag Title for the first time after the heel champs have had their fun with them having fairly good control over the bout. But the end was spectacular. A massive high assisted senton with Tomato standing on the shoulders of a standing Takizawa on the second rope! And it landed beautifully! Great end to a good small show bout!

13:51 of 19:05 - Takizawa pinned Inematsu after a Takitoma Sky High. Takizawa & Tomato become the 14th Strongest-K Tag Champions.

 

 

COMMENTS: Kaientai Dojo's Chiba Blue Field shows. Small, but kind of interesting with the May 5th show getting most of the attention with Toshima's retirement, K-Metal final, Marufuji's appearence and Strongest-K Tag Title bout.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

666 on COMM - August 1, 2010, Warabi City - (1 1/2 hrs)

 

 

August 1, 2010, Warabi City Isami Wrestle Budokan

 

1. Yuko Miyamoto -vs- ? (Ring Announcer) [1/2*]

--- Miyamoto made this mixed race ring anouncer look like a million buck the way he let himself get thrown around, but thankfully Miyamoto bended him enough to get the win.

8:15 of 8:20 - Miyamoto made ? submit to a Boston Crab

 

 

2. Hikari Minami -vs- Chii Tomiya [1/4*]

--- Light Ice Ribbon action which never good very good or interesting apart from a couple of moves near the end with Minami beating the little one.

8:43 of 8:32 - Minami pinned Tomiya with Captured Suplex

 

 

3. Dinasty -vs- Tochiko [1/4*]

--- The match ended a draw because Tochiko dropped all his coins on the floor and had to pick them up with Dinasty helping him.....

10:41 of 11:05 - Dinasty wrestled Tochiko to a Double Count Out

 

 

4. Shinobu & K666 -vs- Konaka Pale One & The 101 [3/4*]

--- It's so weird watching this. A bunch of amateurs playing around doing main stream finishers while looking like rubbish. Kind of fun as quite a few of the moves landed even if execution of this mess was all kinds of screwie. But you had K666 bust out the Shouten and a Go 2 Sleep while Shinobu did a Niagra Driver before finishing off the main story guy in the match, The 101, with a SSP.

19:26 of 19:29 - Shinobu pinned 101 after a Shooting Star Press

 

 

- Penalty Kick (soccer) Tournament.

 

 

COMMENTS: I wish 666 didn't excist. The Penalty Kick tournament came out of a 10-man battle royal which had regular battle royal rules for 3 minutes and then 1 minute of pinfall, but only one got eliminated during that time so they decided to have the football tournament instead which K666 ended up winning showing excellent kicking skills.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

FREEDOMS on COMM - August 1, 2010, Chiba - (2 hrs)

 

 

August 1, 2010, Chiba Blue Field (125 fans)

 

1. Shinobu -vs- Ken45 [3/4*]

--- Not much to say. Ken45 had one fan there who knew his last name was "45". Ken had his pals there too in the Sato Twins and Antonio Honda who helped him a little, but Shinobu fought them all off and won the damn thing!

11:14 of 11:16 - Shinobu pinned Ken45 with a huracanrana

 

 

2. Kazuhiko Ogasawara -vs- Makoto Oishi - (3x10R) [1/2*]

--- Oishi mostly layed down on the mat hoping the man would come down on him. And the match got so frustrating that they started fighting on the outside with no intentions of going back to the ring causing the No-Contest result.

8:09 of 7:55 - Ogasawara wrestled Oishi to a No-Contest 1:55 of the 3rd Round

 

 

3. HIROKI & Kamui -vs- Kazuhiro Tamura & Madoka [* 3/4]

--- Had a quite life this match, but it had it's moments of decent younger guys wrestling even if some of these guys have been around a while. HIROKI is still a guy that can't reach his potential, but he's now toned his body having a personality make-over so we'll see if he can do anything with that as time goes. Otherwise all guys added their flying and impact blows until Kamui had the honor of beating the former K-Dojo wrestler Madoka in the Kaientai Dojo arena using a Firebird Splash.

13:43 of 13:42 - Kamui pinned Madoka after a Firebird Splash

 

 

4. Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yuji Hino -vs- Mammoth Sasaki & Keita Yano [**]

--- Not sure what to make of this match. Part slapstick. Part lazy. Part awesome. It's like we had Hino sticking his fingers up Yano's ass and nobody wanted to touch or smell that finger and then you had Mammoth and Hino slap each others chests red and Takaiwa killing Yano with a NASTY MDII and Death Valley Bomb for the win. Plus other silly and devestating stuff.

20:40 of 20:40 - Takaiwa pinned Yano after a Death Valley Bomb

 

 

5. GENTARO & YOSHIYA -vs- Brahman Kei & Brahman Shu [3/4*]

--- Boring stuff with Great Kojika ending up as special referee and seemingly not getting along with anyone, but GENTARO still won with slow count.

15:44 of 16:09 - GENTARO pinned Kei with a cradle reversal

 

 

6. Takashi Sasaki & Jun Kasai & The Winger -vs- Magnitude Kishiwada & Onryo & Antonio Honda [* 1/4]

--- Mostly a mess with powder and interference and not really much sticking out. This feud with Great Kojika and his crew is becoming a total parody at the moment. More for a laugh then anything good wrestling wise. Funniest bit was Kojika throwing powder at Kasai, but he was wearing his googles so no effect. He did get some powder in his eyes on the second throw, but it didn't stop him from beating Honda with the Pearl Harbor Splash not long after.

18:59 of 18:56 - Kasai pinned Honda after a top rope bodypress

 

 

COMMENTS: Very uneven show as Freedoms borrow Kaientai Dojo's arena and include some of their wrestlers to join in.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

KAGEKI PRO on COMM - August 1, 2010, Nagoya - (2 hrs)

 

 

August 1, 2010, Nagoya Tsuyuhashi Sports Center (230 fans)

 

1. Condor & Battle Shark -vs- Dragon Yuki & Kurodo Kondo [* 1/4]

--- One of those decent meaningless opening card matches lasting a while without giving us anything special apart from the standard indy style wrestling. Not bad with Condor and Kondo at least trying to keep it above average even if someone like Yuki is difficult to cover for. Anyway, Condor gets the win leeping at Kondo with the Tenchij Raimei.

17:45 of 17:46 - Condor pinned Kondo after a single-leg dropkick

 

 

2. Azteca & Garuda & U.M.A. -vs- Skull Reaper A-ji & Umanoseke Ueda II & Kenji Fukimoto - (2/3 Falls) [* 1/2]

--- Easy entertaining stuff. Not wasting much time and just keeping it going with two rather quick falls to start and a longer one to finish the 3 falls match. U.M.A. got a bad start losing in 2 minutes, but got his uprising at the end winning the match for the faces.

2:12 of 2:16 - A-Ji pinned U.M.A. after a soccer ball kick

3:24 of 3:25 - Azteca pinned Ueda with a schoolboy

9:21 of 9:18 - U.M.A. pinned Fukimoto after a moonsault

 

 

 

3. Tsubasa -vs- Super Taira [*]

--- Little Taira trying to keep up with Osaka star Tsubasa without looking too good. It was worlds apart between them and whatever Taira got in was forced. At least Tsubasa kept the execution standard high and let Taira get enough time to try and get in his flying without looking too bad. In the end it was a east day for Tsubasa crashing Taira down several times until the fly was dead.

13:51 of 13:52 - Tsubasa pinned Taira with a cross-arm German Suplex

 

 

4. Cosmo*Soldier -vs- El Samurai - (Cosmo 15th Anniversary Match) [**]

--- Cosmo*Soldier has wrestled 15 years?! He debuted back in 1995, but usually keeps to wrestling on Kageki shows and their limited schedule and DVD release. Well here he gets his big spotlight match facing former New Japan junior heavyweight star El Samurai and gets to stand toe-to-toe with the aging veteran. Both landed their big moves like Sammy's top rope reversed DDT and Soldier's Tornado moonsault being the main moments. And then came the finish. And quite surprisingly it was Soldier who took home the victory on Samurai's turnbuckle Frankensteiner reversing the cradle after the landing! Big day for Cosmo*Soldier who looked emotional after the match aswell as he gets honored by his colleagues.

15:41 of 15:41 - Soldier pinned Samurai with a turnbuckle Frankensteiner counter cradle

 

 

COMMENTS: A ok little show with Cosmo*Soldier being the in the center of attention with his special match against El Samurai.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

OSAKA PRO on COMM: MIRACLE MAN PRODUCE - August 1, 2010, Himeji - (1 1/2 hrs)

 

 

August 1, 2010, Himeji Minato Dome (804 fans)

 

1. Tadasuke -vs- Hayata [3/4*]

--- Tadasuke having another easy day at work beating up Hayato rather easily.

7:30 of 7:31 - Tadasuke pinned Hayata after the Outkast

 

 

2. Ebessan III -vs- Naoshi Sano -vs- Takoyakida - (3-Way) [1/4*]

--- Dead shit.....

8:51 of 8:51 - Ebessan pinned Takoyakida afte a throat slam

 

 

3. Asian Cougar & Kabuto Beetle -vs- Daisuke Harada & Yutaka [*]

--- Not too much greatness, but they kept the match rolling along without creating any massive moments. Only a random match where the veteran wins.

10:28 of 10:28 - Cougar made Yutaka submit to the Cougar Lock #2

 

 

4. Black Buffalo & Tigers Mask & Hiroyo Matsumoto -vs- Kikutaro & Kanjyouro Matsuyama & Ranmaru [1/2*]

--- Filled with stupid comedy......but what did you expect. Nothing too funny or good, but thats not surprising either. But it filled the time and the Osaka fans will swollow anything....

15:41 of 16:14 - Matsumoto pinned Matsuyama after a backdrop suplex

 

 

5. Miracle Man & Tatsumi Fujinami & Jaguar Yokota -vs- Kuishinbo Kamen & Himeji-jo & La Senhime [*]

--- A main event to put a polite smile on your face and nothing more. Tribute wrestling featuring legends as Fujinami and Yokota on Miracle Man's team against a team of not so legends..... easy fun wrestling with nothing new to offer then a happy babyface win.

11:43 of 11:42 - Fujinami made Himeji-jo submit to a Draqgon Sleeper, Yokota made Senhime submit to a Cobra Twist and Miracle made Kuishinbo submit to a full-nelson

 

 

COMMENTS: Not much to brag about. A throw away show with aging legends in the main.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

NEO on Samurai TV - August 1, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

August 1, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (987 fans)

 

1. Ryo Mizunami & Hailey Hatred -vs- Aya Yuki & Kagetsu [* 1/4]

--- Kagetsu was thrown around brutally by both Hailey and Mizunami so there was no wonder Kagetsu lost. Not a too competitive match as there was a clear level difference and Mizunami won comfortably with the top rope legdrop over Kagetsu after Hailey had backdropped her good on her neck. If the team had any credible offence it was Yuki who came with it.

3:19 of 9:55 - Mizunami pinned Kagetsu after a top rope legdrop

 

 

2. Asami Kawasaki -vs- Mio Shirai [*]

--- They were trying to do a more shooter oriented fight, but the kicking was looking very weak. Not the style for them. But I must say the final blow landed quite awesomely! Mio got axekicked in a big way falling to the mat nearly dead.

5:01 of 7:30 - Kawasaki pinned Shirai after a axekick

 

 

3. Manami Toyota & Makoto & Miyako Matsumoto -vs- Mima Shimoda & Tsukasa Fujimoto & Hikaru Shida [3/4*]

--- Friends of Etsuko Mita who was sitting in the crowd, but this was not a good showcase for their guest. Too clumsy with Ice Ribbon girls and oldtimers thats too broken down. Toyota even slipped on the ropes making things worse. Lots of running around, but it was mostly embarrassing and not high quality. Toyota wins with the JOCSH over the tall Ice Ribbon girl.

7:51 of 17:20 - Toyota pinned Shida with a Japanese Ocean Cyclon Suplex Hold

 

 

4. Yuki Miyazaki -vs- Toshie Uematsu -vs- Emi Sakura - (3-Way) [1/2*]

--- Veterans having a lazy rushed and very sloppy going-through-motions match with the retiring girl pushing both Sakura & Uematsu in the Gedo Clutch to pin them both.

4:35 of 10:28 - Miyazaki pinned Uematsu & Sakura with a Gedo Clutch

 

 

5. Kaori Yoneyama © -vs- Tanny Mouse - (JWP Title) [* 1/2]

--- Yoneyama making her first defence of her JWP Title! And it's against....fucking Tanny. That guaranteed a average experience at best. And with the show already being rather bad, it kind of had to be the best the show had to offer so far with them fighting around the Korakuen Hall. The brawling looked weak and not at all what they should have done. The in-ring action was very Tanny and rookie girl basic. And thats from experienced ladies. A little bit fun, but it never a title match worthy performance by neither girl. Tanny landed the Muscle Buster and double-arm sit-out DDT for her big chances, but Yoneyama has her driving rolling front cradles and thats what resulted in her getting her V1.

10:46 of 15:20 - Yoneyama pinned Tanny with the U.S.-ZOU to retain the JWP Title in her 1st defence.

 

 

6. Shuri -vs- Nagisa Nozaki [*]

--- Nozaki's 1000th Return Match! Thats the girl who's shoulder always pops out of position in each of her return matches. But surprise! It didn't happen this time! Instead it almost looked like Nozaki knew what she was actually doing in the ring. Showing confidence and logic! Whats going on?! Has she done a Hokuto-mild?! Turned into a smarter wrestler because of all the pain and injuries? The match was short and to the point. Not exactly spectacular wrestling either, but still it made some rare sense. Smash girl Shuri ended up winning once she got that shoulder locked in a modified armlock. But credit to Nozaki, she almost looking like a professional in there.

5:26 of 5:25 - Shuri made Nozaki submit to a armlock

 

 

7. Yoshiko Tamura & Ayumi Kurihara © -vs- Kana & Io Shirai - (NEO Tag Title) [**]

--- Then for the top match on the show which simple was the best this Korakuen Hall show had to offer, but even this lacked something to really boost it up to massive level. But solid it was with them playing up Kurihara hurting her knee on her big dive out of the ring making Tamura take more of the workload while Kurihara was in pain limping around. Therefore it didn't become the speed fight one could have hoped for between Io and Kurihara. Kana didn't add too much eiter as it was mainly Io who did all the work showing tallent at balance on flips. But not even a injured Kurihara was possible for the Shirai who was suplexed to death for the champs to retain for the 4th time.

16:36 of 22:39 - Kurihara pinned Shirai after a wrist-clutch throat slam suplex. Tamura & Kurihara retain the NEO Tag Title in their 4th defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: As usual a lot of the undercard is just there without any real effort. It was all about the main event carrying the show with little else done to make the other matches become too enjoyable. This is the edited TV version of the show.

 

 

--PUNQ--

 

NEO on COMM - August 1, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

August 1, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall (987 fans)

 

1. Ryo Mizunami & Hailey Hatred -vs- Aya Yuki & Kagetsu [* 1/4]

--- Kagetsu was thrown around brutally by both Hailey and Mizunami so there was no wonder Kagetsu lost. Not a too competitive match as there was a clear level difference and Mizunami won comfortably with the top rope legdrop over Kagetsu after Hailey had backdropped her good on her neck. If the team had any credible offence it was Yuki who came with it.

9:55 of 9:55 - Mizunami pinned Kagetsu after a top rope legdrop

 

 

2. Asami Kawasaki -vs- Mio Shirai [*]

--- They were trying to do a more shooter oriented fight, but the kicking was looking very weak. Not the style for them. But I must say the final blow landed quite awesomely! Mio got axekicked in a big way falling to the mat nearly dead.

7:30 of 7:30 - Kawasaki pinned Shirai after a axekick

 

 

3. Manami Toyota & Makoto & Miyako Matsumoto -vs- Mima Shimoda & Tsukasa Fujimoto & Hikaru Shida [3/4*]

--- Friends of Etsuko Mita who was sitting in the crowd, but this was not a good showcase for their guest. Too clumsy with Ice Ribbon girls and oldtimers thats too broken down. Toyota even slipped on the ropes making things worse. Lots of running around, but it was mostly embarrassing and not high quality. Toyota wins with the JOCSH over the tall Ice Ribbon girl.

17:20 of 17:20 - Toyota pinned Shida with a Japanese Ocean Cyclon Suplex Hold

 

 

4. Yuki Miyazaki -vs- Toshie Uematsu -vs- Emi Sakura - (3-Way) [1/2*]

--- Veterans having a lazy rushed and very sloppy going-through-motions match with the retiring girl pushing both Sakura & Uematsu in the Gedo Clutch to pin them both.

10:28 of 10:28 - Miyazaki pinned Uematsu & Sakura with a Gedo Clutch

 

 

5. Kaori Yoneyama © -vs- Tanny Mouse - (JWP Title) [* 1/2]

--- Yoneyama making her first defence of her JWP Title! And it's against....fucking Tanny. That guaranteed a average experience at best. And with the show already being rather bad, it kind of had to be the best the show had to offer so far with them fighting around the Korakuen Hall. The brawling looked weak and not at all what they should have done. The in-ring action was very Tanny and rookie girl basic. And thats from experienced ladies. A little bit fun, but it never a title match worthy performance by neither girl. Tanny landed the Muscle Buster and double-arm sit-out DDT for her big chances, but Yoneyama has her driving rolling front cradles and thats what resulted in her getting her V1.

15:20 of 15:20 - Yoneyama pinned Tanny with the U.S.-ZOU to retain the JWP Title in her 1st defence.

 

 

6. Shuri -vs- Nagisa Nozaki [*]

--- Nozaki's 1000th Return Match! Thats the girl who's shoulder always pops out of position in each of her return matches. But surprise! It didn't happen this time! Instead it almost looked like Nozaki knew what she was actually doing in the ring. Showing confidence and logic! Whats going on?! Has she done a Hokuto-mild?! Turned into a smarter wrestler because of all the pain and injuries? The match was short and to the point. Not exactly spectacular wrestling either, but still it made some rare sense. Smash girl Shuri ended up winning once she got that shoulder locked in a modified armlock. But credit to Nozaki, she almost looking like a professional in there.

5:26 of 5:25 - Shuri made Nozaki submit to a armlock

 

 

7. Yoshiko Tamura & Ayumi Kurihara © -vs- Kana & Io Shirai - (NEO Tag Title) [**]

--- Then for the top match on the show which simple was the best this Korakuen Hall show had to offer, but even this lacked something to really boost it up to massive level. But solid it was with them playing up Kurihara hurting her knee on her big dive out of the ring making Tamura take more of the workload while Kurihara was in pain limping around. Therefore it didn't become the speed fight one could have hoped for between Io and Kurihara. Kana didn't add too much eiter as it was mainly Io who did all the work showing tallent at balance on flips. But not even a injured Kurihara was possible for the Shirai who was suplexed to death for the champs to retain for the 4th time.

22:39 of 22:39 - Kurihara pinned Shirai after a wrist-clutch throat slam suplex. Tamura & Kurihara retain the NEO Tag Title in their 4th defence.

 

 

COMMENTS: As usual a lot of the undercard is just there without any real effort. It was all about the main event carrying the show with little else done to make the other matches become too enjoyable. This is the unedited Commercial Release version of the show.

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

ZERO-ONE MAX on Samurai TV - August 4, 2010, Tokyo - (2 hrs)

 

 

August 4, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall

 

- Fire Festival Highlights (7/24 - 8/2)

 

 

 

1. Yuzuru Saito -vs- Shota Takanishi [1/2*]

--- Young guys with Saito looking kind of doomed because of a heavily taped shoulder. But it didn't stop the kid from fighting back and grabbing the win with a sliding kneekick! Wasn't a very impressive match.

3:49 of 10:07 - Saito pinned Takanishi after a sliding kneekick

 

 

 

2. Daisuke Sekimoto & Kohei Sato -vs- Yutaka Yoshie & Ryuji Sai [** 1/4]

--- Fire Festival participants who didn't reach the final. It was a slow grower, but they got in most of their big spots during the course of 20 minutes. Got to love the end where Sekimoto exploded landing a released German and a lariat which got kicked out of before the REAL German came! There was little things to enjoy through out the match like the double-German from Sekimoto & Sato on big Yoshie and Yoshie using his belly effectively a few times. Overall a fun bout without feeling too important.

19:58 of 20:10 - Sekimoto pinned Sai with a German Suplex

 

 

 

3. Minoru Fujita & Takuya Sugawara & Kaijin Habu Otoko -vs- Ikuto Hidaka & Munenori Sawa & Shoichi Funaki [**]

--- Okinawa Pro's Kaijin Habu Otoko (aka Zero in Osaka Pro a few years back) coming to Zero-One! That's the best worker in that company along with GAINA/Shisaou so it's a welcome pleasure seeing him get to work with more tellented wrestlers then what he usually dwells with. And he's here to establish a feud with Hidaka and his friends over the NWA Internationl Lightweight Tag Title that Hidaka & Sawa currently hold. This was a fun match, but not a optimal experience because Fujita & Sugawara isn't exactly people who bring too much anymore and Funaki just isn't the same after spending over a decade in WWE. It's like he has nothing more to offer. But Hidaka, Sawa and Otoko gave the goods! More fun action then spectacular stuff, but they gave Otoko the push straight away letting him beat Hidaka with the top rope splash to make it clear he means business.

17:58 of 16:50 - Otoko pinned Hidaka after a top rope bodypress

 

 

 

21. Shinjiro Otani -vs- Masato Tanaka - (Fire Festival '10 - Final) [*** 1/4]

--- And so comes the Fire Festival 2010 decider! And it's the two kings of the tournament. Both have won this one 3 times before. Otani in 2001, 2002 & 2005 while Tanaka dominated the tournament from 2006, 2007 and 2008! So in the 10th's this tournament is hosted either Otani or Tanaka will become the true king of the Fire Festival. One problem about this is that this isn't exacly a fresh approach and won't bring the company forward and create anything new. But then again it's these two that's the heart of the promotion so I guess this is the dream final the hardcore Zero-One fans want. And this match did follow a familiar formula. Slow start, then as time went more and more finishers was busted out. And you know which ones if you've seen these two in big matches before. Sliding D's from Tanaka and Otani's various suplexes and bombs. And the fans went ballistic! And it did feel like a big deal to me too and you could sense this ment a lot to Otani especially and he drew the fans to him wanting him to get the hugh win after a downward spiral in recent years. And don't you know, he got his wish! I guess it helps being the boss of the company, but the fans welcomed it with Otani landing a spinning-style powerbomb to have Tanaka beat after everything else had failed. Otani a 4-time Fire Festival winner!

21:47 of 22:38 - Otani pinned Tanaka with a Spiral powerbomb to win the Fire Festival 2010.

 

 

COMMENTS: The Fire Festival Final was lovely! The two tag matches prior to it was fun too, but there was only one match that mattered!

 

 

--PUNQ--

[PUNQ]

ZERO-ONE MAX on Samurai TV - July-August, 2010 - (2 hrs)

 

 

July 24, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall

 

1. Joe Legend -vs- Kohei Sato - (Fire Festival '10 - Block B ) [* 1/4]

--- Sato was having a difficult time with Joe. Sato really is struggling against foreigners at the moment having just lost his Zero-One Title to Chris the Bambi Killer and now he loses to Just Joe in another embarrassing performance. Not good Sato.

3:20 of 13:05 - Legend pinned Sato after the Hospital Jam

 

 

2. Shinjiro Otani -vs- Daisuke Sekimoto - (Fire Festival '10 - Block A) [** 1/4]

--- Otani the Zero-One soul against the KO-D Champion and the soul of Big Japan serious wrestling Sekimoto. And things was served for doing something special with this one as Sekimoto is a longtime affiliate with Zero-One and the Fire Festival. And Sekimoto for once looked like he had a chance getting pushed hard in several promotions while Zero-One's stick is falling while Otani desperatly trying to hold on to the Shinya Hashimoto spirit that established Zero-One back in 2001. And Sekimoto went straight to work on Otani's leg grounding him more then usual while Otani countered by going for the arm. You could sense they were going to keep at it a while and they did. Too long as we got no winner before the time limit expired. A draw with Sekimoto nearly having Otani beat the final minute with the German Suplex, but Otani kicked out just like Sekimoto had of his Dragon Suplex. The match was good in parts, but they sort of lost a lot of the focus in the later stages not creating too much to note.

3:52 of 30:00 - Otani wrestled Sekimoto to a 30:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

3. The Predator -vs- Yutaka Yoshie - (Fire Festival '10 - Block A) [* 1/2]

--- It had the freakshow aspect as the Bruiser Brody guy and FAT~Yoshie kept clashing, but it wasn't the kind of match that managed to keep the fans interested. Best bits was Predator always falling into the crowd and some of the heavyweight blows, but letting them go past 10 minutes was unneccessary. And it was also kind of strange seeing Predator winning with a simple kneedrop after all that powerfull slugging. But I know, it was a King Kong kneedrop so.....

3:58 of 14:11 - Predator pinned Yoshie after a kneedrop

 

 

4. Ikuto Hidaka -vs- Masato Tanaka - (Fire Festival '10 - Block B ) [***]

--- Two veteran aces of Zero-One. Tanaka has been the top heavyweight for years and Hidaka has been the top junior heavyweight for years. By normal Japanese booking the result would be a given as a heavyweight always beats a junior heavyweight, but not this time! Hidaka got his much deserved CLEAN win over Tanaka! Just that in itself is worth seeing this bout. Didn't hurt that it's one of the best bouts to come out of the promotion this year. Loved how Hidaka countered one of the Sliding D's into a cradle. He was close to winning on that one too! Well, Tanaka did own most of the match including landing a Sliding lariat and a Sliding D which Hidaka kicked out. But this hasn't really been Tanaka's year in Zero-One and he lost to Hidaka with fans seeming very happy about that!

4:08 of 21:43 - Hidaka pinned Tanaka after a headkick

 

 

July 25, 2010, Niigata Bandai City Park Special Ring

 

5. Takuya Sugawara -vs- The Predator - (Fire Festival '10 - Block A) [1/4*]

--- Sugawara starts off this years Fire Festival quite good managing to fool the beast luring him out among the crowd. The chain to the foot trick didn't work as the animal got lose right away, but Sugawara still managed to keep him out of the ring and win by count out!

2:49 of 7:42 - Sugawara defeated Predator by Count Out

 

 

6. Kohei Sato -vs- Ikuto Hidaka - (Fire Festival '10 - Block B ) [*]

--- Hidaka trying his luck at another Zero-One heavyweight. One that's struggling quite a bit in recent months and things started well for Hidaka, but ended badly as Sato finally woke up and murdered him with a piledriver, Northern Ligh Bomb and a German Suplex, all of which landed superbly and that was it.....

3:40 of 16:13 - Sato pinned Hidaka with a German Suplex

 

 

7. Masato Tanaka -vs- Ryuji Sai - (Fire Festival '10 - Block B ) [3/4*]

--- These two have had great battles in the Fire Festival before including two finals and Sai is the reigning Fire Festival winner and he's up against someone who can nearly be called Mr.Fire Festival winning the tournament in 2006, 2007 and 2008! But with a weak start for Tanaka losing to Hidaka you wouldn't expect Sai to win this one. And while Sai hit a very nice suplex off the turnbuckle aswell as some other lighter moves, you knew it would be over once Tanaka started landing Sliding D's.....

3:24 of 17:45 - Tanaka pinned Sai after a Sliding D

 

 

July 30, Minato Shopping District Akatsuchi Park

 

8. Shinjiro Otani -vs- Takuya Sugawara - (Fire Festival '10 - Block A) [1/2*]

--- Sugawara tried to tape Otani to a childrens slide in hope of winning by count out again, but Otani got help from a kid to get loose! And from then of it was a easy road for Otani winning with a Spiral Bomb.

2:23 of 14:12 - Otani pinned Sugawara with a Spiral Bomb

 

 

July 31, 2010, Minokamo City Central Gym Plaza

 

 

9. Yutaka Yoshie -vs- Takuya Sugawara - (Fire Festival '10 - Block A) [1/2*]

--- Sugawara continued the count out gimmick rolling Yoshie around the gym. But he just couldn't handle the fat.

3:09 of 11:11 - Yoshie pinned Sugawara after a top rope bodypress

 

 

10. The Predator -vs- Daisuke Sekimoto - (Fire Festival '10 - Block A) [1/2*]

--- Sekimoto trying to fly The Predator down with bodypresses, but the monster was just too strong for Sekimoto to handle and the beast won with a King Kong Kneedrop again. Booooo!

3:39 of 15:00 - Predator pinned Sekimoto after a kneedrop

 

 

11. Joe Legend -vs- Ikuto Hidaka - (Fire Festival '10 - Block B ) [1/2*]

--- Legend continues to look like a monster regardless of Hidaka's efforts who was sent to hospital with the Hopital Jam. Ok, maybe not, but he lost.

3:24 of 23:11 - Legend pinned Hidaka after the Hospital Jam

 

 

12. Kohei Sato -vs- Ryuji Sai - (Fire Festival '10 - Block B ) [3/4*]

--- Zero-One's own born generation and the two that met in last years Fire Festival Final. Sai won that one, but not this one as they knocked each other silly with Germans, chops and kicks for the Double KO result.

3:57 of 21:16 - Sato wrestled Sai to a Double KO

 

 

August 1, 2010, Osaka Prefectural Gym #2

 

13. Daisuke Sekimoto -vs- Takuya Sugawara - (Fire Festival '10 - Block A) [1/4*]

--- Sugawara tried it AGAIN. But Sekimoto tried to put a stop to the count out business wanting to throw Sugawara back in the ring, but Sugawara kept on blocking and pushing Sekimoto off and soon enough they both were counted out.

3:08 of 15:08 - Sekimoto wrestled Sugawara to a Double Count Out

 

 

14. Yutaka Yoshie -vs- Shinjiro Otani - (Fire Festival '10 - Block A) [1/2*]

--- One hell of a headbutt and the top rope splash stuck out. How good the match was otehrwise was difficult to tell. Yoshie won at least.

3:36 of 16:46 - Yoshie pinned Otani after a top rope bodypress

 

 

15. Masato Tanaka -vs- Kohei Sato - (Fire Festival '10 - Block B ) [3/4*]

--- Another draw for Sato. This time a time limit one, but I guess it was the best he could have hoped for even if he was close on that German Suplex just before the time. Looked like a even fight too based off the little that was shown.

3:44 of 30:00 - Tanaka wrestled Sato to a 30:00 Time Limit Draw

 

 

16. Ryuji Sai -vs- Joe Legend - (Fire Festival '10 - Block B) [1/2*]

--- Sai's footstomps took care of business!

3:17 of 12:36 - Sai pinned Legend after a top rope double-footstomp

 

 

August 2, Nagoya - Zepp Nagoya

 

17. Ikuto Hidaka -vs- Ryuji Sai - (Fire Festival '10 - Block B ) [1/2*]

--- Hidaka started and ended the tournament well, beating Tanaka the first day and defeating Sai here on the final day of the group play. The end was cool as Hidaka blocked Sai's move and made it into a leg roll clutch on the go. But this is not enough to go to the final.

3:16 of 13:36 - Hidaka pinned Sai with a Japanese leg roll clutch hold

 

 

18. Masato Tanaka -vs- Joe Legend - (Fire Festival '10 - Block B ) [* 1/4]

--- The match to decide who goes to the 2010 Fire Festival Final from Block B. And Legend was better here then on any of the other nights it seemed and knocked Tanaka down when needed and taking the punishment like a man. But when the Sliding D landed, and it did real good, it was over and Tanaka is in the final!

4:36 of 13:52 - Tanaka pinned Legend after a Sliding D

 

 

19. Daisuke Sekimoto -vs- Yutaka Yoshie - (Fire Festival '10 - Block A) [3/4*]

--- What a shitty tournament for Sekimoto. Only two draws and no wins going into the final night of the group stage. That's 2 points against Yoshie's 4. And all he can really do is block Yoshie from entering the final. And he really went in for beating Yoshie doing so with German's. The first one looked insane! The winning one was more difficult, but Sekimoto still bridged nicely!

3:32 of 14:32 - Sekimoto pinned Yoshie with a German Suplex

 

 

20. Shinjiro Otani -vs- The Predator - (Fire Festival '10 - Block A) [1/2*]

--- Who faces Tanaka in the final? Predator goes to the final with a draw and Otani needs a win. And not surprisingly Otani wins. And he does so with 3 backdrop suplexes on the big guy.

3:46 of 13:56 - Otani pinned Predator after a backdrop suplex

 

 

August 4, 2010, Tokyo - Korakuen Hall

 

21. Shinjiro Otani -vs- Masato Tanaka - (Fire Festival '10 - Final) [*** 1/4]

--- And so comes the Fire Festival 2010 decider! And it's the two kings of the tournament. Both have won this one 3 times before. Otani in 2001, 2002 & 2005 while Tanaka dominated the tournament from 2006, 2007 and 2008! So in the 10th's this tournament is hosted either Otani or Tanaka will become the true king of the Fire Festival. One problem about this is that this isn't exacly a fresh approach and won't bring the company forward and create anything new. But then again it's these two that's the heart of the promotion so I guess this is the dream final the hardcore Zero-One fans want. And this match did follow a familiar formula. Slow start, then as time went more and more finishers was busted out. And you know which ones if you've seen these two in big matches before. Sliding D's from Tanaka and Otani's various suplexes and bombs. And the fans went ballistic! And it did feel like a big deal to me too and you could sense this ment a lot to Otani especially and he drew the fans to him wanting him to get the hugh win after a downward spiral in recent years. And don't you know, he got his wish! I guess it helps being the boss of the company, but the fans welcomed it with Otani landing a spinning-style powerbomb to have Tanaka beat after everything else had failed. Otani a 4-time Fire Festival winner!

21:47 of 22:38 - Otani pinned Tanaka with a Spiral powerbomb to win the Fire Festival 2010.

 

 

COMMENTS: The annual Fire Festival special which shows extended highlights of all the Fire Festival matches. You get little over 3 minutes of each match plus a near complete final.

 

 

--PUNQ--